3-2-26
Monday, March 2, 2026
A CRASH INVOLVING THREE EIGHTEEN-WHEELERS SHUT DOWN I-TEN WEST ON THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN BRIDGE IN SAINT MARTIN PARISH SATURDAY. ALL LANES WERE REOPENED BY AROUND TWO P-M. STATE POLICE DID NOT SAY IF THERE WERE ANY INJURIES. THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH IS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
THE TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE PARADE WAS HELD YESTERDAY IN LAFAYETTE. CROWDS LINED MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL PARKWAY TO CHEER ON THE PARTICIPANTS. ORGANIZERS SAY THE PARADE HAS GROWN STEADILY OVER THE YEARS BOTH IN CROWD SIZE AND THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS. THEY SAY THE PARADE IS BOTH A CELEBRATION AND A REMINDER OF THE RESILIENCE, ACHIEVEMENTS AND CULTURAL INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ACADIANA.
LOUISIANA’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION RESPONDED ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S DECISION TO LAUNCH COORDINATED STRIKES WITH ISRAEL AGAINST IRAN. SENATOR BILL CASSSIDY SAID IT IS PRESUMABLY A PLANNED EXECUTION THAT DOES NOT PUT THE UNITED STATES IN A FOREVER WAR, WHILE SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY SAID THE AYATOLLAH KHAMENI CHOSE WAR AND PAID WITH HIS LIFE. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE MIKE JOHNSON SAYS HE WILL REMAIN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE PRESIDENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR WHILE THE OPERATION PROCEEDS. LOUISIANA CONGRESSMAN CLEO FIELDS SAYS TRUMP BYPASSED THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS AND CONGRESS MUST RESPOND ACCORDINGLY.
MERRYVILLE POLICE OFFICER FLOYD MARTIN WAS ARRESTED THURSDAY ON ONE COUNT OF DOMESTIC ABUSE. THE CHARGE STEMS FROM AN ALLEGED ALTERCATION WITH HIS FATHER THAT HAPPENED THREE WEEKS AGO. ACCORDING TO A SOCIAL MEDIA POST FROM THE DEPARTMENT, MARTIN HAS STEPPED DOWN FROM HIS POSITION WHILE THE INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY.
THE NEW IBERIA FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS DECIDED TO RESTRICT ALL OUTDOOR BURNING ACTIVITIES FOR THE AREA. FIRE CHIEF GORDAN COPELL SAYS THEY ARE ANTICIPATING RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES OVER THE NEXT WEEK. THERE’S ALSO BEEN SEVENTY PERCENT LESS THAN NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND THE COMBINATION LED THEM TO ISSUE THE BURN BAN. COPELL SAYS DRY GROUNDS AND ELEVATED WINDS CREATE CONDITIONS WHERE FIRES CAN SPREAD QUICKLY, CREATING SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES FOR ANY FIRE DEPARTMENT.
CARENCRO POLICE ISSUED AN ALERT ABOUT TEXT MESSAGING SCAM THAT HAS BEEN CIRULATING. GEORGE FAUST HAS MORE.
VOICER K
L-S-U WILL BE PUTTING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN CLASSROOMS. PRESIDENT WADE ROUSSE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY THEY WILL COMPLY WITH STATE LAW THAT REQUIRES THE POSTING OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE CLASSROOMS OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES THAT ACCEPT STATE MONEY. ROUSSE SAYS, IN HIS PERSONAL OPINION, SHINING A LIGHT ON GOD IS NEVER A NEGATIVE THING. GOVERNOR JEFF LANDRY SAID ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT IT’S REFRESHING TO SEE THIS SENTIMENT ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS.
A SAINT LANDRY PARISH GRAND JURY HAS INDICTED TWO MEN FOR THE SHOOTING DEATH OF TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD MARKEE BENJAMIN OF OPELOUSAS. HE WAS A PASSENGER IN A CAR WHEN HE WAS SHOT ON DECEMBER TWELFTH AND DIED EIGHT DAY LATER. TWENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD DOMINIQUE TROTTER AND TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD KURTEL GALLIEN, BOTH OF OPELOUSAS, HAVE EACH BEEN FORMALLY CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE MURDER. A TRIAL DATE HAS NOT YET BEEN SET.
