3-11-19
LAFAYETTE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING A HOMOCIDE AFTER A BODY WAS FOUND SATURDAY. POLICE RECEIVED REPORTS OF A BODY ON LEBESQUE ROAD AT AROUND 11:45 SATURDAY MORNING. FAMILY MEMBERS TELL KLFY TV THAT THE VICTIM IS 25-YEAR-OLD PERNELL BOUDREAUX OF LAFAYETTE, WHO WAS SHOT TO DEATH. A RESIDENT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, CLAIRE HERNANDEZ, TOLD KLFY THAT SHE HAS LIVED THERE ALL HER LIFE AND THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYONE SHOT OR KILLED THERE.
Residential water rates in Lake Arthur are about to more than double. Mayor Sherry Crochet says it has been 31 years since the last water rate hike, and the department has a big deficit. The Town Council voted unanimously for the increase on Wednesday, and the American Press reports that nobody in the audience of nearly 50 spoke against it. Residential customers in town now pay $8 a month. That’s going up to $18 a month, starting in April.
THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE CAUSE OF A HOUSE FIRE IN OPELOUSAS THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A 70-YEAR-OLD WOMAN. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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Louisiana researchers are getting $1 million for research on a plant that helps hold wetlands in place. The LSU AgCenter says the money will go to study roseau cane and threats that include rising water and an insect called the roseau cane scale. LSU AgCenter entomologist Rodrigo Diaz says in a news release that by understanding how stresses affect the cane, researchers hope to develop restoration plans tailored to specific regions in the delta. Diaz and other AgCenter researchers have found that roseau cane health varies around the delta.
A HOUSE ON WEST BACHERT STREET IN LAFAYETTE SUFFERED MODERATE FIRE AND SMOKE DAMAGE SATURDAY NIGHT. THE FIRE BROKE OUT SHORTLY AFTER TEN THAT NIGHT AND WHEN FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVED, FLAMES WERE VENTING THROUGH A REAR WINDOW, ACCORDING TO FIRE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN ALTON TRAHAN. THE FIRE WAS CAUSED BY AN EXTENSION CORD PLUGGED INTO A WINDOW UNIT AIR CONDITIONER THAT SHORTED. TRAHAN SAYS THE HOMEOWNER DIDN’T HAVE INSURANCE SO THE RED CROSS WAS CALLED TO ASSIST.
THE SULPHUR, WESTLAKE AND IOWA POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO TRY AND SOLVE VEHICLE BURGLARIES THAT THEY BELIEVE ARE CONNECTED. SERGEANT NICHOLAS JOHNSON WITH SULPHUR POLICE SAYS THEY ARE SHARING INFORMATION, VIDEO SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTS IN HOPES THAT THEY’LL BE ABLE TO CAPTURE THE BURGLARS. THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED VEHICLE BURGLARIES IN SULPHUR AND VINTON OVER THE LAST MONTH. JOHNSON SAYS THEY BELIEVE THE MAIN TARGET OF THE BURGLARS ARE GUNS.
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD CHILD DROWNED IN THE JEANERETTE AREA ON SATURDAY. IT HAPPENED ON THE CHITIMACHA TRAIL, ACCORDING TO KLFY TV SOURCES. THE ST. MARY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAS NOT RELEASED THE CHILD’S NAME OR THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DROWNING. AN AUTOPSY IS PLANNED AND ONCE THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE DETECTIVES GET THE RESULTS, THEY WILL RELEASE MORE INFORMATION.
THE CRAWFISH SEASON IS OFF TO A SLOW START THIS YEAR, LEADING SOME ACADIANA RESTAURANTS TO CHARGE AS MUCH AS NINE DOLLARS A POUND. SCOTT BROUSSARD OF ACADIA CRAWFISH IN CROWLEY TELLS THE ADVOCATE THAT THE PROBLEM GOES BACK TO THE CONSTANT RAINS OF AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, WHICH LED CRAWFISH TO COME OUT OF THE GROUND AND LAY THEIR EGGS BEFORE FARMERS FLOODED THE FIELDS. MICHAEL FRUGE OF CAJUN CRAWFISH AND FRUGE AQUAFARMS IN BRANCH SAYS THE CONDITIONS THIS YEAR ARE SIMILAR TO 2014, WHICH WAS ALSO SLOW. HE SAYS THAT BY THE MIDDLE OF THIS MONTH, WITH WARMING TEMPERATURES, THE CATCH SHOULD RETURN TO NORMAL AND PRICES WILL DROP.
