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THE PROSECUTION WILL CALL THEIR FINAL WITNESS TODAY IN THE SECOND DEGREE MURDER TRIAL OF KERRY BERTRAND, WHO IS ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS STEPDAUGHTER, SKYLAR CREDEUR, IN AUGUST OF 2013 AT HER HOME IN RAYNE. CREDEUR’S BODY WAS FOUND SUBMERGED IN WATER IN THE BATHTUB, AND CORONER DR. TERRY WELKE TESTIFIED THAT SHE DIED FROM DROWNING AND NOT ELECTROCUTION, AS SOME HAD SPECULATED. CREDEUR ALLEGED THAT BERTRAND HAD SEXUALLY ABUSED HER OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND HAD SOUGHT A PROTECTIVE ORDER AGAINST HIM WHEN HE WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON. SKYLAR’S UNCLE, EDMOND CREDEUR, TESTIFIED YESTERDAY ABOUT FINDING BERTRAND ATTEMPTING TO HIDE IN THE ATTIC OF HER HOME JUST HOURS AFTER HER BODY HAD BEEN FOUND.
THE 77TH ANNUAL SOUTHWEST DISTRICT LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO BEGINS TONIGHT. IT CONTINUES THROUGH SATURDAY AT THE BURTON COLISEUM. IT KICKS OFF WITH THE WESTERN HERITAGE PARADE THAT BEGINS AT FIVE P-M AT THE INTERSECTION OF LAGRANGE AND PATRICK STREETS AND ENDS AT MCNEESE COWBOY STADIUM. THE OPENING RODEO PERFORMANCES START AT 7:30 TONIGHT.
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD REJECTED PROPOSALS FROM TWO COMPANIES TO PUT CAMERAS ON SCHOOL BUSES TO MONITOR ACTIVITY IN THE SCHOOL BUSES AND TO CATCH PASSING MOTORISTS WHO VIOLATE TRAFFIC LAWS. INSTEAD THE SCHOOL BOARD ASKED THE COMPANIES ABOUT PURCHASING THE EQUIPMENT FROM THE COMPANIES THEMSELVES WITHOUT THE MONITORING AND TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT. THE COMPANY REDFLEX ADVISED AGAINST IT, WHILE THE OTHER COMPANY, FORCE MULTIPLIER SOLUTIONS, SAID THEY DON’T SELL THEIR EQUIPMENT. BOARD MEMBER JUSTIN CENTANNI TOLD THE BOARD THAT THE LAW REQUIRES THEM TO GO THROUGH A BIDDING PROCESS WHEN PURCHASING NEW EQUIPMENT.
LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF PRESENTED A 60 MILLION DOLLAR STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS TO THE SCHOOL BOARD. SUPERINTENDENT DONALD AGUILLARD SAYS IT BUILDS ON FORMER SUPERINTENDENT PAT COOPER’S TURNAROUND PLAN TO INCREASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. HE ASKED THE BOARD TO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE PLAN AND ADVISE THEM OF ANY CHANGES THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE. THE PLAN CALLS FOR KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS TO BE READY TO LEARN, THAT CHILDREN IN THE FOURTH GRADE BE AT THAT READING LEVEL, STUDENTS IN NINTH GRADE BE PROFICIENT IN MATH AND SCIENCE, AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES BE READY FOR COLLEGE OR A CAREER.
Louisiana’s public school financing formula won’t be proposed for cuts next year from Gov. John Bel Edwards, despite the state’s deep budget gaps. Edwards assured a group of educators at a town hall-style meeting Tuesday night that he wouldn’t seek to reduce the $3.7 billion funding formula. But he also told the audience that he didn’t expect financing for K-12 public schools to be boosted in the budget year that begins July 1, saying educators should expect flat funding from the state. Public schools have received some increases in the financing formula over the last eight years even as other programs and services across state government have taken cuts.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is keeping his predecessor’s picks to lead Louisiana’s juvenile corrections office and the state’s financial regulatory agency. The governor announced Wednesday he is reappointing Mary Livers as deputy secretary for the Office of Juvenile Justice and John Ducrest as commissioner of the Office of Financial Institutions. Livers was appointed to the position in October 2008 by former Gov. Bobby Jindal after working in three other states’ corrections agencies. Ducrest has been in his job for more than a decade for two previous governors, Kathleen Blanco and Jindal.
MEMBERS OF THE ST. MARTINVILLE NEWCOMERS CLUB ARE CLAIMING A VICTORY IN FEDERAL COURT. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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LIFESHARE BLOOD CENTERS IN LAKE CHARLES IS ASKING ANYONE WHO’S BEEN IN AN AREA THAT HAS HAD AN OUTBREAK OF THE ZIKA VIRUS TO DELAY GIVING BLOOD. MANAGER KRISTI MORRIS SAYS THOSE PEOPLE SHOULD WAIT 28 DAYS UNTIL AFTER THEY RETURN TO THE U-S TO DONATE BLOOD. LABORATORY SUPERVISOR DON HUMBLE SAYS THAT’S THE PERIOD OF TIME IT TAKES BEFORE A PERSON WITH THE VIRUS BEGINS SHOWING SYMPTOMS, WHICH INCLUDES FEVER, RASH AND JOINT PAIN. OUTBREAKS OF THE MOSQUITO-TRANSMITTED VIRUS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES AND IN PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
