3-16-26
THREE PEOPLE WERE FOUND SHOT TO DEATH YESTERDAY IN LAFAYETTE PARISH JUST OUTSIDE YOUNGSVILLE. LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES DISCOVERED THE THREE BODIES WHEN THEY RESPONDED TO REPORTS OF A SHOOTING. AN ADULT MAN AND WOMAN AND A SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY WERE FOUND INSIDE A RESIDENCE LOCATED IN THE FIVE HUNDRED BLOCK OF BRAXTON STREET. NO OTHER DETAILS HAVE BEEN RELEASED.
SAINT MARTINVILLE POLICE ARE TRYING TO FIND A PERSON, WHO WAS SHOT WHILE HE WAS IN BED. IT HAPPENED FRIDAY MORNING AT AROUND FOUR-FORTY-FIVE AT A RESIDENCE ON WEST BRIDGE STREET WHERE SHOTS WERE FIRED THROUGH A BEDROOM WINDOW. THE VICTIM WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH WOUNDS THAT WERE CONSIDERED NOT LIFE-THREATENING. POLICE SAY THE SHOOTER MAY HAVE KNOWN THE VICTIM.
A BILL MOVING THROUGH THE STATE LEGISLATURE WOULD ADD A NEW SECTION TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION CREATING A STATE LIVEABLE WAGE. THE BILL BY STATE SENATOR REGINA BARROW WOULD RAISE LOUISIANA’S MINIMUM WAGE BY THREE DOLLARS TO TEN DOLLAR, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS PER HOUR EFFECTIVE JANUARY FIRST. IT WOULD ALSO BE READJUSTED FOR INFLATION ON SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH EVERY YEAR. IF THE BILL MAKES IT THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE, VOTERS WOULD HAVE TO APPROVE OF IT IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.
STATE POLICE HAVE BEEN CALLED IN TO INVESTIGATE A SHOOTING INVOLVING CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THEY HAD RECEIVED A CALL ABOUT A DISTURBANCE ON MILLER AVENUE IN WESTLAKE AND, WHEN THEY ARRIVED, FORTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD KRISTOPHER HANKS REFUSED TO COME OUT OF THE HOME OR LET AN ELDERLY PERSON AND TWO JUVENILES LEAVE. PUBLIC AFFAIRS TROOPER ROY JONES SAYS THAT, AFTER SEVEN HOURS, HANKS CAME OUT OF THE HOME ARMED WITH A HANDGUN AND WAS SHOT BY MULTIPLE DEPUTIES AND HE WAS KILLED. NO DEPUTIES WERE INJURED.
A MOTORCYCLIST WAS KILLED FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN LAFAYETTE PARISH WHEN THE DRIVER OF A PICKUP TRUCK TURNED IN FRONT OF HIM. IT HAPPENED ON DUHON ROAD NEAR LAGNEAUX ROAD. STATE TROOPERS SAY THE DRIVER OF A PICKUP TRUCK FAILED TO YIELD AND THE MOTORCYCLIST WAS THROWN FROM HIS VEHICLE IN THE COLLISION. THE MOTORCYCLIST, TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD GAVIN RECKTENWALD OF DUSON, WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE.
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IS SPREADING AMONG DEERS IN NORTHERN LOUISIANA. AS A RESULT, DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES SECRETARY TYLER BOSWORTH ISSUED AN EMERGENCY DECLARATION THURSDAY EXPANDING THE STATE’S DISEASE CONTROL AREA TO INCLUDE ALL OF OUACHITO PARISH AND PORTIONS OF SIX NEIGHBORING PARISHES. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IS FATAL TO DEERS, ATTACKING THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. THERE HAVE BEEN FIFTY-FIVE CONFIRMED CASES IN LOUISIANA.
AN ACADIA PARISH PRIEST PLED NOT GUILTY LAST WEEK TO THREE COUNTS OF INDECENT BEHAVIOR. FATHER KOREY LAVERGNE SUBMITTED HIS PLEA IN WRITING MEANING HE WILL NOT HAVE TO APPEAR IN COURT THIS WEEK FOR AN ARRAIGNMENT. A BOY CLAIMED THAT LAVERGNE INAPPROPRIATELY TOUCHED HIM ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS LAST YEAR AT SAINT EDWARD CATHOLIC CHURCH IN RICHARD. ANOTHER PRIEST FILED A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST LAVERGNE IN EARLY DECEMBER AND LAVERGNE WAS ARRESTED IN JANUARY AFTER A SIX WEEK INVESTIGATION.
