3-23-17
TWO PEOPLE AND ONE CANINE OFFICER WERE KILLED AND ONE OFFICER INJURED IN A SHOOTING IN CROWLEY. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
VOICER H :23
A JURY HAS BEEN SELECTED IN THE SECOND DEGREE MURDER TRIAL OF ALI LEE BARCONEY. ON SEPTEMBER 25TH OF 2014, NATHANIEL REYNAUD WAS SHOT AND KILLED AT WHAT LAKE CHARLES POLICE SAY IS A KNOWN DRUG HOUSE ON ALLEN STREET. FIVE PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INCIDENT, BUT ONLY BARCONEY WAS CHARGED WITH MURDER. ONE OF THOSE EXPECTED TO TESTIFY IN THE TRIAL IS DWAYNE WILLIS, WHO ALSO WAS SHOT ON THAT DAY, BUT SURVIVED BY PLAYING DEAD.
A federal judge has cleared the way for a foreign-born U.S. citizen to get a marriage license in Louisiana, despite a law that took effect last year requiring him to have a birth certificate. U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle blocked the law Wednesday. Viet Anh Vo and Heather Pham of Lafayeette had planned to marry last year. But Vo couldn’t get a license because he had no birth certificate. The law was aimed at deterring foreigners from gaining visas and citizenship through sham marriages.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans will be asked to reconsider its ruling allowing student-led prayer at school board meetings. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that such prayers don’t run afoul of the prohibition against government-established religion. An attorney with the American Humanist Association said Wednesday a request for a hearing by the full 15-member court will be filed in the next two weeks. The Liberty Counsel on Wednesday lauded it as a “stinging rebuke to groups that want to cleanse America of prayer.”
RETAIL SALES IN LAFAYETTE WERE UP IN JANUARY, MAKING IT FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF YEAR-OVER-YEAR RETAIL SALES INCREASES. BEFORE THOSE FIVE MONTHS, SALES TAX COLLECTIONS WERE DOWN FOR 16 MONTHS STRAIGHT. ACCORDING TO THE LAFAYETTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, LAFAYETTE SAW SALES OF MORE THAN 449 MILLION DOLLARS IN JANUARY, WHICH IS TWO-POINT-5 PERCENT HIGHER THAN JANUARY OF LAST YEAR. LEDA ALSO REPORTS THAT SALES IN THE YEAR 2016 REACHED 5-POINT-7-8 BILLION DOLLARS, WHICH WAS HIGHER THAN THE PROJECTION OF 5-POINT-5 TO FIVE-POINT-6 BILLION.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR PHYSICALLY ABUSING TWO SMALL BOYS THAT HE WAS BABYSITTING. THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE RECEIVED A COMPLAINT THAT 23-YEAR-OLD JARON J. WEST WAS ABUSING AN ACQUAINTANCES TWO-AND THREE-YEAR-OLD BOYS. WHEN DEPUTIES ARRIVED, WEST ADMITTED HE SPANKED THE BOYS ON THEIR BARE BOTTOMS AND LEGS. THE DEPUTIES DETERMINED THAT BRUISING AND CUTS ON THE BOYS WERE CONSISTENT WITH OVER-AGGRESSIVE STRIKES WITH THE BELT.
- LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARRESTED ONE MAN AND ARE SEARCHING FOR TWO OTHERS IN CONNECTION WITH A SHOOTING IN THE GRAND COTEAU/SUNSET AREA LAST WEEK. 21-YEAR-OLD KENDEL GREEN OF BROUSSARD, 19-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH MALBRUE, AND A THIRD MAN ARE ACCUSED OF ENTERING THE HOME OF A MAN, WHO HAD ASKED ONE OF THE THREE TO STOP SELLING DRUGS NEAR HIS HOME ON BOXIE ROAD. THE HOMEOWNER, FREDERICK CARMOUCHE JUNIOR, SUFFERED SIX GUNSHOT WOUNDS, BUT FOUGHT WITH THE INTRUDERS, AND GREEN AND MALBRUE GOT SHOT AS WELL. GREEN WAS ARRESTED AT A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL WHERE HE WAS GETTING TREATED, AND HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND AGGRAVATED SECOND DEGREE BATTERY.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has chosen a 26-year Louisiana State Police veteran from north Louisiana to lead the agency as interim superintendent. Maj. Kevin Reeves, who commands a state police quick reaction force, will start the interim job Saturday. He’s taking over from Col. Mike Edmonson, who retired after coming under increasing criticism for his leadership of the agency. Edwards intends to have a permanent superintendent chosen by June, to present for Senate confirmation before the upcoming legislative session ends.
