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Construction has started on St. Julien Park, a $27 million-plus public sports complex being built on 122 acres of land in Broussard. The park will offer a variety of venues: baseball and softball fields with batting cages and practice fields for both, volleyball courts, basketball courts both indoors and out, and tennis courts. Mayor Charlie Langlinais tells The Advocate the facility will include a million square feet of artificial turf. In a November 2011 election, Broussard voters approved a half-cent sales tax dedication to the park.
TWO MEN CHARGED WITH MURDERING A LAKE ARTHUR MAN HAVE BEEN ORDERED HELD IN PRISON WITHOUT BOND. 18-YEAR-OLD RODERICK CAWTHORNE AND 26-YEAR-OLD BRETT DANIEL HEBERT, BOTH OF LAKE ARTHUR, ARE FACING FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND ROBBERY CHARGES FOR THE DEATH OF 73-YEAR-OLD CHARLES TALEN. THEY COULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY IF CONVICTED. MEANWHILE, JEFF DAVIS PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARRESTED FOUR PEOPLE LAST NIGHT FOR ALLEGEDLY AIDING CAWTHORNE AND HEBERT BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE CRIME.
A NEW IBERIA TEENAGER PLEADED NOT GUILTY YESTERDAY TO BURGLARIZING A FIREARMS BUSINESS IN YOUNGSVILLE ON DECEMBER 28TH. 17-YEAR-OLD LAMAR BROOKS WAS SHOT ONCE BY THE OWNER OF THE POST EXCHANGE, 45-YEAR-OLD GEORGE FOURNET, AND HIS ALLEGED ACCOMPLICE, 19-YEAR-OLD LATORIOUS WALKER WAS SHOT AND KILLED. BROOKS FACES TWO COUNTS OF SIMPLE BURGLARY AND ONE COUNT OF RESISTING AN OFFICER. HE REMAINS IN JAIL ON A 100 THOUSAND DOLLAR BOND.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has picked up a challenger to his re-election efforts. Political newcomer Matt Parker, a businessman from West Monroe, officially announced his candidacy Monday for the Oct. 24 election. Both men are Republicans. In the most recent round of campaign finance reports, Donelon said he had more than $442,000 in his campaign account, while Parker showed a balance of just under $14,000.
THE LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED COUNCIL GAVE CITY PARISH PRESIDENT JOEY DUREL THE GO-AHEAD TO START THE APPRAISAL PROCESS FOR A NEW POLICE SUBSTATION. JULIE DARCY HAS MORE.
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A COURT HEARING BEGAN YESTERDAY IN LAKE CHARLES TO DETERMINE IF CONVICTED MURDERER JASON REEVES IS MENTALLY DISABLED AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE PUT TO DEATH. REEVES WAS CONVICTED IN 2004 OF THE RAPE AND MURDER OF FOUR-YEAR-OLD MARY JEAN THIGPEN, WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND IN A GRAVEYARD NOT FAR FROM HER HOME IN MOSS BLUFF. CALCASIEU PARISH SPECIAL PROSECUTOR HUGO HOLLAND SAYS REEVES DESERVES TO BE PUT TO DEATH, AND HE WILL WORK TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN. THE U-S SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE MENTALLY RETARDED CANNOT BE EXECUTED.
YESTERDAY DOZENS OF ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY MEMBERS AND VETERANS TOOK PART IN A RABBIT HUNT AT A CAMP NEAR WASHINGTON, IN ST. LANDRY PARISH. IT WAS ORGANIZED BY HERO HUNTS, WHICH HELPS RECONNECT MILITARY VETERANS TO THE OUTDOORS, WITHOUT ANY COST TO THEM. MURPHY GUILBEAU OF KAPLAN, A VOLUNTEER, SAYS THEY BROUGHT OUT 68 VETERANS LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR THEY HAVE A WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE BOAT THAT THEY ARE GOING TO USE FOR FISHING TRIPS. HE SAYS HERO HUNTS PLANS TO SPONSOR 35 FISHING TRIPS THIS YEAR AND ANOTHER 35 HUNTS. APPLICATIONS TO PARTICIPATE ARE AVAILABLE AT HERO HUNTS-DOT-ORG.
After months of worry that Louisiana’s colleges would face steep cuts next year, campuses remain in a precarious position with the release of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget. Much of the funding Jindal proposes to pay for higher education, $372 million, is dependent on uncertain tax credit changes. Another slice of financing totaling $211 million would require lawmakers to sift through money-generating ideas that aren’t even included in the budget. If lawmakers and the governor don’t settle on ways to raise annual revenue streams, higher education faces a worst-case of losing up to $583 million in state financing — more than 60 percent of what it receives this year.
