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THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD WILL HAVE TO STEP UP ITS EFFORTS TO FIND A NEW SUPERINTENDENT. THAT’S BECAUSE THIS WEEK, INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT BURNELL LEJEUNE ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT THIS SUMMER. BOARD PRESIDENT TOMMY ANGELLE TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER HE WAS SURPRISED BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT, AND HAD HOPED LEJEUNE WOULD STAY FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR. HE SAYS THEY WILL ADDRESS A TIMELINE FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH AT A WORKSHOP THEY HAD PLANNED FOR NEXT WEDNESDAY.
STATE SENATOR RONNIE JOHNS OF LAKE CHARLES SAYS THE STATE IS FACING ITS WORST BUDGET CRISIS IN HIS 16 YEARS IN THE LEGISLATURE. THE REVENUE ESTIMATING CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED LAST MONTH THAT THEY ARE PROJECTING A ONE-POINT-6 BILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. JOHNS, WHO SITS ON THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE, TELLS THE AMERICAN PRESS THAT THIS IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE HE’S HAD IN TRYING TO BALANCE THE BUDGET. JOHNS SAYS PART OF THE PROBLEM IS LAST YEAR WHEN THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDED, OIL PRICES WERE AT 108 DOLLARS PER BARREL, AND TO BE CONSERVATIVE, THE STATE BUDGETED AT 88 DOLLARS PER BARREL, BUT NOW OIL PRICES ARE JUST OVER 48 DOLLARS A BARREL.
CROWLEY POLICE HAVE TAKEN A SUSPECT INTO CUSTODY IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF 24-YEAR-OLD DANIEL TEZENO JUNIOR OF CROWLEY, WHICH HAPPENED ON JACOBS AVENUE AT AROUND TWO A-M YESTERDAY. POLICE CHIEF K-P GIBSON SAYS TEZENO WAS IN A VEHICLE WITH 24-YEAR-OLD DARIUS V. THOMAS OF CROWLEY WHEN A STRUGGLE ENSUED. GIBSON SAYS THOMAS ALLEGEDLY SHOT TEZENO WHEN FLEEING FROM THE VEHICLE. HE SAYS THEY BELIEVE THE MOTIVE BEHIND THE CRIME IS ROBBERY.
Opponents seeking new ways to upend Louisiana’s use of the Common Core education standards have targeted the standardized tests students will take in mid-March. A handful of parents are refusing to let their children take the assessments, and some education officials are concerned the “opt-outs” will become more widespread. Common Core critics, including Gov. Bobby Jindal, are using the concerns to try to reopen state education board debate on the grade-by-grade English and math standards adopted by more than 40 states. Supporters of Common Core say it makes no sense for parents to keep their children from testing that determines how much students have learned during the school year.
L-A 95 IN DUSON WAS CLOSED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON BECAUSE OF A BIG RIG ACCIDENT. AN 18-WHEELER, THAT WAS CARRYING ACRYLIC ACID, OVERTURNED LEADING AUTHORITIES TO CLOSE THE HIGHWAY BETWEEN THE INTERSTATE AND HIGHWAY 90 AT THREE P-M. IT TOOK ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES TO CONTAIN THE LEAK. THE HIGHWAY REMAINED CLOSED UNTIL THE EVENING BECAUSE WORKERS WERE TRANSPORTING THE REMAINING ACID TO ANOTHER CONTAINER.
SULPHUR POLICE ARRESTED AN 18-YEAR-OLD MAN AT AROUND FOUR A-M YESTERDAY, MORE THAN 32 HOURS AFTER HE HAD FLED FROM THEM DURING A TRAFFIC STOP. SPOKESMAN MEL ESTESS SAYS THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA DYLAN LEDAY BEGAN WEDNESDAY MORNING, AND POLICE SPOTTED HIM AGAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT AT A HOTEL ON RUTH STREET, WHICH LED TO A FOOT CHASE. THE PURSUIT CONTINUED INTO A RESIDENTIAL AREA, WHERE LEDAY FORCED HIS WAY INTO A HOUSE, WHICH WAS SURROUNDED BY POLICE AND WHERE HE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY.
AN ALLEGED DRUG DEALER IN OPELOUSAS WAS ARRESTED WEDNESDAY AFTER POLICE EXECUTED A SEARCH WARRANT AT HIS HOME AND FOUND THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF CRACK COCAINE. OPELOUSAS POLICE CHIEF DONALD THOMPSON SAYS HIS SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIT ALSO FOUND A SMALL AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA IN THE HOME OF 30-YEAR-OLD GLENN THOMAS BABINEAUX, AND A GUN, THAT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN STOLEN FROM A RESIDENCE IN LAFAYETTE. THOMPSON SAYS THIS IS BABINEAUX’S THIRD ARREST IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS ON DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGES. THOMPSON TOOK OFFICE IN JANUARY AFTER RUNNING ON A CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO SHUT DOWN DRUG TRAFFICKING IN THE CITY.
The Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health Program is offering mammograms and Pap tests at no cost to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women across the state. The program was recently awarded a $2 million grant for 2015. The program says Louisiana ranks second highest in breast cancer and fourth in cervical cancer death rates. People not getting screened — or being unable to afford screenings — they say is one reason Louisiana’s death rates are so high.
