3-20-24
A SUSPECT IN A FEBRUARY HOMOCIDE IN NEW IBERIA HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. DETECTIVES WITH THE NEW IBERIA POLICE DEPARTMENT ARRESTED TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD LAMARSON JAMES BENOIT ON NUMEROUS CHARGES INCLUDING FIRST-DEGREE MURDER. HE’S ACCUSED OF KILLING NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD MADISON OLIVIER OF NEW IBERIA. SHE WAS FOUND BY POLICE SHOT TO DEATH IN A VEHICLE LOCATED IN THE FOUR HUNDRED BLOCK OF CALHOUN STREET ON FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN WAS ARRESTED SUNDAY FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY. TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD ESTEVAN PAPPION CLAIMED THAT HE ARRIVED AT HIS HOME ON EAST OPELOUSAS STREET TO FIND HIS DOG HAD BEEN SHOT AND KILLED. HE SAID HE SHUT THE DOOR AND CALLED POLICE. BUT UNDER FURTHER QUESTIONING BY POLICE, PAPPION ADMITTED TO DEPUTIES HE SHOT THE DOG AND WAS ARRESTED FOR AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AND CRIMINAL MISCHIEF.
LAST NIGHT, THE LEADER OF THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM ADDRESSED LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ABOUT A PARTNERSHIP HE WANTS TO FORM WITH THE COUNCIL. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS THE DETAILS.
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BOTH THE LAFAYETTE CITY AND PARISH COUNCILS APPROVED A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE I-FORTY-NINE CONNECTOR PROJECT. THE PROJECT WOULD COVER A FIVE-AND-A-HALF MILE STRETCH FROM I-TEN TO THE AIRPORT. MAYOR PRESIDENT MONIQUE BLANCO BOULET SAYS THE CONNECTOR WOULD BE A MAJOR GATEWAY INTO LAFAYETTE AND A CRITICAL EVACUATION ROUTE DURING A HURRICANE. DEIDRA DRUILHET, THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT, SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT THEY ARE CURRENTLY CONDUCTING A SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE CONNECTOR .
IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE, LAWMAKERS WANT TO TACKLE THE PROPERTY INSURANCE CRISIS HEAD-ON WITH A SLATE OF BILLS DESIGNED TO BOLSTER A FREE MARKET, WHILE CONSUMER ADVOCATES FEAR IT WILL LOOSEN PROTECTIONS FOR POLICY HOLDERS. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS MORE.
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Louisiana is joining a national push to outlaw blowup dolls that look like children, with a bill that would make it a crime to knowingly possess, distribute, sell or manufacture such items. The bill, which received unanimous bipartisan support from members of the Senate and advanced to the House, addresses a problem that multiple lawmakers say they were not aware of. According to proponents of the bill, the dolls resemble children 12 and younger and are used for gratification. Sen. Beth Mizell, the author of the bill, said she herself had not heard of the issue until a recent conversation with a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent.
A HISTORIC BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN OPELOUSAS COULD BE SAVED FROM DEMOLITION. THE BUILDING AT THE CORNER OF GROLEE AND MAIN STREET, WHICH IS MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD, IS CONSIDERED A POTENTIAL DANGER BECAUSE OF A COLLAPSING ROOF AND DAMAGED INTERIOR. THE CITY COUNCIL DECIDED TO GIVE THE MAIN STREET PROGRAM NINETY DAYS TO COME UP WITH ALTERNATE PLANS TO SAVE THE BUILDING FROM BEING TORN DOWN. COUNCIL MEMBER MARVIN RICHARD SAYS HE HOPES THEY CAN FIND INVESTORS THAT WILL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO UPGRADE THE BUILDING.
STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING A CRASH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING ON HIGHWAY EIGHTY-EIGHT IN IBERIA PARISH THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A BICYCLIST. A DRIVER OF A DODGE RAM HIT THE BICYCLIST FROM BEHIND WHILE BOTH WERE TRAVELING WEST. FIFTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD SHANNON JUDE VIATOR OF NEW IBERIA WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. HE WAS WEARING DARK CLOTHING AND HIS BIKE HAD NO LIGHTS OR REFLECTORS.
