2-7-18
DECOMPOSING ANIMAL CARCASSES WERE FOUND DUMPED IN CARENCRO BUT OFFICIALS DO NOT BELIEVE IT WAS FOUL PLAY. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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THE CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED A TUITION PLAN FOR THEIR PRE-K PROGRAM. LAST YEAR, THE SCHOOL BOARD DECIDED TO CREATE A BRIDGE YEAR WHERE THEY WOULD DECIDE IF THEY WANTED TO CONTINUE FUNDING THE PRE-K PROGRAM FOR NON-ELIGIBLE STUDENTS OR DECIDE ON A TUITION. THEY DECIDED ON THE TUITION PLAN, WHICH WOULD REQUIRE A TUITION OF 550 DOLLARS A MONTH FOR NON ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. 400 SLOTS WILL BE OPENED FOR THOSE CHILDREN IN THE PROGRAM IF THERE’S ROOM AND TEACHERS ARE AVAILABLE.
The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued four people from a downed plane in St. Mary Parish. A U.S. Coast Guard release says four people were traveling from Slidell to Patterson yesterday when the plane began to run low on fuel. It says the pilot shut the engines down to conserve fuel and made an emergency landing in the Atchafalaya River. A helicopter was dispatched from the Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and took the four people to Patterson.
Louisiana continues to spend more slowly than expected on Medicaid services, a pace projected to leave the state with $26 million in savings this budget year.
The latest Medicaid forecast, released Tuesday, shows the $12.5 billion program is expected to spend as much as $612 million less than estimated for the financial year that ends June 30. Most of that money would be unused federal spending authority, not dollars that can be allocated to other state programs. But the Louisiana Department of Health says $26 million would be a state general fund surplus that could be spent elsewhere, if the trend continues.
A MAN WAS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY ROBBING A CLOTHING STORE IN LAFAYETTE. 25-YEAR-OLD MICHAEL CANADY IS ACCUSED OF BRANDISHING A KNIFE WHEN HE ENTERED THE STORE AND DEMANDING MONEY. HE LEFT THE STORE WITH AN UNDISCLOSED AMOUNT OF CASH BUT WAS CAPTURED AND ARRESTED BY POLICE WITHIN MINUTES OF HIS EXIT. THE STORE WAS LOCATED IN THE 33-HUNDRED BLOCK OF AMBASSADOR CAFFERY.
THE LAKE CHARLES NORTH REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HELD ITS FIRST COMMUNITY MEETING LAST NIGHT. THE PURPOSE IS TO UPDATE RESIDENTS ON THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE AREA. CRAIG MARKS, A MEMBER OF THE AUTHORITY WHO HELPED INITIATE THE MEETINGS, TELLS KPLC TV THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PRESSING ISSUES IN NORTH LAKE CHARLES AND THEY’RE AT THE POINT THAT ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN. HE SAYS THE MEETINGS WILL GIVE RESIDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY LOCAL OFFICIALS.
The body of a missing boater has been recovered from a bayou in St. Martin Parish. State wildlife officials say in a news release that the body of 54-year-old Richard Pellerin of St. Martinville was pulled from Bayou Amy about 8 a.m. Tuesday. The search had begun Monday after authorities were alerted to a capsized vessel in the bayou. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents joined deputies from St. Martin and Iberia parishes in the recovery effort.
A new effort to force out Louisiana’s top public schools leader has failed. District Court Judge Todd Hernandez rejected a lawsuit from critics of Superintendent of Education John White seeking to oust the schools chief. The Advocate reported Tuesday that Hernandez ruled that the lawsuit’s plaintiffs — represented by state Sen. John Milkovich, a Shreveport Democrat — didn’t have legal standing to bring the matter to court. Hernandez did not rule on the merits of the challenge, which is a question of whether White legally is in office since the state education board didn’t revote on his contract when the new term began in 2016.
