3-27-25
SUNSET POLICE CHIEF LUIS PADILLA RESIGNED YESTERDAY EFFECTIVE AT FIVE P-M. HIS RESIGNATION WAS PART OF A PLEA DEAL TO AVOID JAIL TIME. PADILLA PLED GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT LAST WEEK TO UNREASONABLE USE OF FORCE. MAYOR CHARLES JAMES SAYS ASSISTANT CHIEF HEATH THREADWAY WILL SERVE AS CHIEF UNTIL HE APPOINTS AN INTERIM POLICE CHIEF.
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION CADE BRUMLEY AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TOURED THE W-D AND MARY BAKER CAREER CENTER IN LAFAYETTE YESTERDAY. THEY WERE ABLE TO WITNESS FIRSTHAND THE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS WHO PLAN TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIGH SCHOOL. THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM IS ADVANCING AN INITIATIVE TO MAKE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION A KEY COMPONENT OF ITS CURRICULUM. BESE MEMBER RONNIE MORRIS SAID THEY NEED TO STRENGTHEN FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS SUCH AS READING BEFORE EXPANDING CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SKILLS.
YESTERDAY GOVERNOR LANDRY’S ADMINISTRATION RELEASED A NEW STRATEGIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN. IT INCLUDES A ROADMAP FOR MAKING INVESTMENTS IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR AND OTHER GROWING INDUSTRIES, ACCORDING TO THE ADVOCATE. THE PLAN, WHICH IS FORTY PAGES LONG, WAS PRODUCED BY A TEAM OF CONSULTANTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. IT’S HOPED THE PLAN WILL PROVIDE A BLUEPRINT TO BUILD THE MOST ROBUST, INNOVATIVE AND HIGH GROWTH ECONOMY IN THE SOUTHEAST.
AUTHORITIES SAY A CROWLEY MAN WAS INVOLVED IN A DEADLY CRASH TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN ALLEN PARISH. GEORGE FAUST HAS MORE.
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YESTERDAY AN EVANGELINE PARISH GRAND JURY RETURNED A SECOND-DEGREE MURDER INDICTMENT AGAINST RAY CHARLES FONTENOT JUNIOR FOR THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE. IN APRIL OF TWENTY-TWENTY-THREE, BRITTANY GUILLORY FONTENTOT WAS FOUND DEAD IN HER VILLE PLATTE HOME AS A RESULT OF THREE GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE HEAD FROM TWO DIFFERENT GUNS. HER DEATH WAS ORIGINALLY RULED A SUICIDE BUT LATER HER HUSBAND WAS ARRESTED. FONTENOT WILL BE ARRRAIGNED ON MAY FIFTH.
THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RED LIGHT AWARENESS CAMPAIGN HAS TWO WEEKS REMAINING. SERGEANT KEITH DEROCHE SAYS THEY ISSUED ONE HUNDRED SIX RED LIGHT VIOLATIONS AND ANOTHER EIGHTY WERE HANDED OUT IN FIVE DAYS LAST WEEK. HE SAYS RUNNING RED LIGHTS IS GETTING PEOPLE KILLED. DEROCHE SAYS THEIR OBJECTIVE IS TO INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY WHILE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES AND GRIEVOUS INJURIES.
FOUR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ARE ON THE BALLOT STATEWIDE THIS SATURDAY. GOVERNOR LANDRY WAS AT THE ROTARY CLUB OF BATON ROUGE YESTERDAY TO ADVOCATE FOR AMENDMENT TWO. IT WOULD INCLUDE LOWERING THE STATE INCOME TAX RATE FROM FOUR-POINT-SEVEN-FIVE TO THREE-POINT-SEVEN FIVE PERCENT. LANDRY CALLS IT THE LARGEST TAX CUT IN STATE HISTORY TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY FISCAL REFORMS THAT WILL BENEFIT THE STATE FOR A LONG TIME. AMENDMENT TWO WOULD ALSO BUILD INTO THE STATE BUDGET A TEMPORARY TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR STIPEND FOR TEACHERS.
THE ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS INVESTIGATING MULTIPLE VEHICLE BURGLARY THEFTS IN THE AREA OF HARVEY AND EVEREST ROADS IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE PARISH. VIDEOS SHOW SUSPECTS ENTERING UNLOCKED VEHICLES ON MARCH TENTH AND ELEVENTH. WALLETS, CASH AND A BLACK GLOCK HANDGUN WERE REPORTED STOLEN AND ONE VEHICLE WAS STOLEN AS WELL THOUGH LATER RECOVERED. OFFICIALS WARNED RESIDENTS THAT, AS YOU’RE LEAVING YOUR VEHICLE, REMOVE PROPERTY FROM IT AND MAKE SURE IT’S LOCKED.
