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THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM ANNOUNCED A NEW INITIATIVE AIMED AT PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE WORKFORCE. SUPERINTENDENT FRANCIS TOUCHET SHARED DETAILS OF THE PLAN YESTERDAY WHILE TAKING STATE OFFICIALS ON A TOUR OF ACADIANA HIGH AND THE DAVID THIBODEAUX STEM ACADEMY. HE SAID THEY WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH ACADEMICS BUT ALSO FOCUS ON CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS NOT PLANNING TO ATTEND COLLEGE. THE DISTRICT IS HOPING THE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE WILL BE INCLUDED IN SCHOOL PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS, WHICH EMPHASIZES PRACTICAL SKILLS ALONGSIDE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS WIND GUSTS REACHED UP TO ONE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR IN THE EUNICE AREA AND RURAL ACADIA PARISH ON MONDAY WHEN A STORM PASSED THROUGH. IT CAUSED DAMAGE TO MORE THAN A DOZEN LARGE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES AND KNOCKED OVER SOME LARGE TREES ONTO HOMES. THE DAMAGE WAS OVER A THREE MILE STRETCH, WHICH SOME RESIDENTS CALLED A MINI-TORNADO ALLEY.
A MAN WAS ARRESTED AFTER HE ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED A SEVENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN JENNINGS. AUTHORITIES SAY THEY WERE CALLED TO A HOME ON MERRY STREET WHERE THE WOMAN WAS ALLEGEDLY DRAGGED INTO A BATHROOM AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED. OFFICERS FOUND THIRTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD CHRISOPHER ELMO ISTRE WALKING ALONGSIDE L-A TWENTY-SIX NEAR THE I-TEN PARK. HE WAS TAKEN TO THE JENNINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR QUESTIONING AND THEN ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF FIRST-DEGREE RAPE AND SEXUAL BATTERY OF THE INFIRMED.
A FORMER U-S SENATOR FOR LOUISIANA, J. BENNET JOHNSTON, DIED YESTERDAY AT THE AGE OF NINETY-TWO. HE SERVED TWENTY-FOUR YEARS IN THE SENATE AFTER HE WAS FIRST ELECTED IN NINETEEN-SEVENTY-TWO. HE WAS A DEMOCRAT BUT KNOWN FOR HAVING MODERATE TO CONSERVATIVE VIEWS AND HAD CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PRESIDENTS NIXON, REAGAN AND BUSH WHILE LOCKING HORNS WITH PRESIDENT CARTER, ACCORDING TO THE ADVOCATE. HE DIED IN SPERRYVILLE, VIRGINIA, JUST OUTSIDE WASHINGTON, WHERE HE HAD BEEN LIVING.
FIVE PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED MONDAY AFTERNOON IN LAFAYETTE ON DRUG AND WEAPONS CHARGES. IT HAPPENED WHEN POLICE WERE CALLED TO LAMAR STREET NEAR THE U-L CAMPUS BECAUSE OF REPORTS OF PEOPLE BRANDISHING FIREARMS. AN INVESTIGATION AT THE SCENE LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF THREE PISTOLS, ONE OF WHICH WAS STOLEN, AND FORTY-SIX GRAMS OF MARIJUANA IN THE POSSESSION OF MULTIPLE INDIVIDUALS. THE FIVE WERE BOOKED INTO THE LAFAYETTE PARISH JAIL.
SAINT MARTIN PARISH OFFICIALS CONFIRMED THAT ONE OF THREE PEOPLE, WOUNDED IN A SHOOTING THIS PAST WEEKEND, HAS DIED. GEORGE FAUST REPORTS.
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A LAKE CHARLES MAN, WHO WAS INVOLVED IN A CRASH THAT KILLED A MOTORCYCLIST MONDAY NIGHT, HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE. MICKALL ALLISON WAS FOUND TO HAVE A BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION THAT WAS OVER THE LEGAL LIMIT. WHILE TRAVELING ON
L-A THREE-NINETY-SEVEN, ALLISON ENTERED INTO THE PATH OF THE MOTORCYCLIST WHILE TURNING ONTO MARY ANN STREET. THE MOTORCYCLIST, TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH BOURQUE OF IOWA, WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE.
IN ACADIA PARISH EARLIER THIS MONTH, A MAN PLED GUILTY TO SEVEN COUNTS OF INDECENT BEHAVIOR WITH JUVENILES UNDER THE AGE OF THIRTEEN. TWO NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRLS PROVIDED FORENSIC INTERVIEWS DETAILING THE ABUSE BY DANIEL BRYAN BROUSSARD, WHICH TOOK PLACE BETWEEN JUNE AND SEPTEMBER OF TWENTY-TWENTY. BROUSSARD WAS THE BOYFRIEND OF THE GIRLS’ MOTHER. HE FACES UP TO TWENTY-FIVE YEARS HARD LABOR FOR EACH OF THE COUNTS WHEN HE IS SENTENCED ON AUGUST TWENTY-EIGHTH.
