3-23-21
CREWS WITH THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT ARE PREPARING TO PUT UP CABLE BARRIERS ALONG I-TEN IN ACADIANA. THE FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT WILL COVER FORTY-ONE MILES FROM THE ACADIA JEFF DAVIS PARISH LINE TO THE LAFAYETTE SAINT MARTIN PARISH LINE. PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DEIDRA DRUILHET SAYS THE CABLES WILL PREVENT VEHICLES FROM CROSSING THE MEDIAN INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHILE ALSO ABSORBING ANY COLLISION SO THAT THE VEHICLE DOESN’T BOUNCE BACK ONTO THE ROADWAY. CONSTRUCTION WILL BEGIN IN ABOUT THREE MONTHS.
A CITY COURT JUDGE DENIED A REQUEST BY ST. MARTINVILLE MAYOR MELINDA MITCHELL, WHO WANTED TO DISQUALIFY AND REMOVE THE CITY ATTORNEY IN HER CASE FOR VETO POWER. LAST YEAR MITCHELL VETOED A DECISION BY THE COUNCIL TO REDUCE HER POSITION FROM FULL TIME TO PART TIME, BUT THE COUNCIL TOLD HER SHE DIDN’T HAVE VETO AUTHORITY AND WAS BACKED BY THE CITY ATTORNEY. MITCHELL SAYS THE CHARTER IS SILENT ON THE ISSUE AND IN THAT CASE YOU ROLL OVER TO THE LAWRASON ACT, WHICH GIVES HER VETO POWER. MITCHELL SAYS SHE’S GOING TO TALK TO HER ATTORNEY TO DECIDE IF THEY WILL APPEAL.
Louisiana senators have opened their latest budget hearings with concerns about using short-term federal cash to pay for ongoing services and programs. Gov. John Bel Edwards proposed using more than $600 million in enhanced federal Medicaid payments to help balance his $36 billion-plus spending proposal for the budget year that begins July 1. Members of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday questioned whether the state will have enough cash in later years to offset the federal aid when it disappears. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne says the administration believes Louisiana’s economy will continue to rebound from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Allen Parish authorities say a 17-year-old was hospitalized with injuries sustained in a fight that broke out during a party following a high school prom. The sheriff says the teenager was taken by ambulance to a hospital with minor injuries early Sunday following the fight at an after-party held at a private home near Kinder. The sheriff says the teenage boy was treated and released. Several other teens sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
THE MURDER SUSPECT ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED EARLY AND CAPTURED IN GEORGIA HAS BEEN EXTRADITED TO LAFAYETTE. CAROLINE MARCELLO HAS THE DETAILS.
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A LAFAYETTE MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED LATE FRIDAY MORNING ON I-TEN IN ACADIA PARISH. SHERIFF K-P GIBSON SAYS A CALL WAS RECEIVED ABOUT SHOTS FIRED AT A VEHICLE AND SCOTT POLICE WRE ABLE TO LOCATE THE VEHICLE AND STOP IT. THERE WERE FOUR PEOPLE IN THE VEHICLE WHICH WAS SHOT BUT NONE WERE INJURED. TWENTY-YEAR-OLD JAYVON THOMAS MARTIN WAS BOOKED INTO THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER ON FOUR COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED SECOND DEGREE MURDER.
LOUISIANA HAD JUST SIX CONFIRMED COVID-NINETEEN DEATHS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES INCREASED BY THREE HUNDRED NINETY-THREE TO A TOTAL THAT’S JUST OVER THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND. THE NUMBER OF COVID-NINETEEN PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS ROSE BY THREE WHILE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS INCREASED BY ONE.
ACADIAN HAD NO COVID-NINETEEN DEATHS IN TODAY’S REPORT. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD ONE WHICH WAS IN CALCASIEU PARISH. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA REPORTED EIGHTY NEW CONFIRMED CASES, INCLUDING FORTY-NINE IN CALCASIEU PARISH. ACADIANA ADDED TWENTY-SIX NEW CASES. SAINT MARTIN PARISH HAD THE MOST WITH FIFTEEN.
