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THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD WILL LIKELY CONSIDER MOVING ALL FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AS PART OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM’S OVERALL REZONING PROJECT. SUPERINTENDENT DONALD AGUILLARD TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT FIFTH GRADE INSTRUCTION IS MORE POSITIVE WHEN IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SETTING. NEXT MONTH, THE BOARD IS EXPECTED TO VOTE ON KEEPING GIFTED FIFTH GRADERS AT WOODVALE ELEMENTARY BEFORE MOVING ON TO PAUL BREAUX MIDDLE. ANY OTHER CHANGES TO ATTENDANCE ZONES WILL BE DECIDED LATER AND WOULD LIKELY NOT TAKE EFFECT UNTIL AUGUST OF 2017 AT THE EARLIEST.
THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE BELIEVES THEY HAVE LOCATED A MISSING SWIMMER OFF OF THE I-TEN BEACH IN LAKE CHARLES AND HE’S ALIVE. THREE WITNESSES SAID THEY SAW A MAN SWIM OUT PASSED THE BOUYS MONDAY, WAVE HIS HANDS AND DISAPPEAR. AT FIVE P-M YESTERDAY, A MAN MATCHING THE DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSING SWIMMER ARRIVED AT THE BEACH TO SWIM, AND TOLD DEPUTIES THAT HE SWIMS AT THE BEACH EVERY EVENING. THE THREE WITNESSES POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED THE MAN.
PORT BARRE POLICE AND AUTHORITIES WITH UNION PACIFIC ARE INVESTIGATING AN ACCIDENT YESTERDAY MORNING IN WHICH A TRAIN HIT AN 18-WHEELER. THE DRIVER OF THE TRUCK HAD JUST MADE A DELIVERY AT DIXIE STORAGE NEAR U-S HIGHWAY 190 AND THOUGHT HE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO CROSS THE TRAIN TRACKS, ACCORDING TO PORT BARRE POLICE CHIEF DEON BOUDREAUX. THE TRAIN HIT THE TRAILER SPLITTING IT IN HALF. THE UNION PACIFIC TRAIN WAS CARRYING TANKS WITH ETHYLENE OXIDE, A TOXIC CHEMICAL, BUT THERE WERE NO LEAKS.
National advocacy group Human Rights Watch says Louisiana’s locally-run jails fail to provide inmates with proper HIV testing and treatment, in a state with some of the highest HIV infection rates in the country. Megan McLemore, author of the 70-page report released Tuesday, calls Louisiana “ground zero” for nationwide HIV and incarceration issues. She says Louisiana ranks second only to Washington, D.C., in new HIV infections, but only five of the state’s 104 parish jails offer routine testing. According to the report, some inmates say they’ve requested moves from parish jails to state facilities for treatment but the transfers were delayed or never occurred.
BELL HELICOPTER PLANS ON INCREASING HIRING AND PRODUCTION THIS YEAR AS THEY READY TO BEGIN BUILDING THEIR NEW JET RANGER 505X MODEL AT THEIR LAFAYETTE PLANT. SO FAR THE COMPANY HAS HIRED 27 EMPLOYEES AND THEY PLAN TO BE FULLY STAFFED WITH 115 EMPLOYEES AND FULLY OPERATIONAL BY LATE NEXT YEAR. THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE LAFAYETTE FACILITY, PAUL WATTS, SAYS BELL HELICOPTER HAS 350 LETTERS OF INTENT TO BUY THE JET RANGER FROM CUSTOMERS AROUND THE WORLD. THE ASSEMBLY PLANT WILL MAKE 200 JET RANGERS ANNUALLY.
ABOUT 25 STUDENTS WITH MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY’S BAPTIST COLLEGIATE MINISTRY ARE USING THEIR SPRING BREAK TO HELP FLOOD VICTIMS. STUDENT HEATHER DOWERS TOLD KPLC TV THAT THEY ARE HELPING MUD OUT HOMES AND LOVING PEOPLE. YOUTH PASTOR JARED CAUSEY SAYS THE FLOOD VICTIMS ARE HAVING A HARD TIME AND THEY WANT TO BE THERE TO HELP THEM EMOTIONALLY AND SUPPORT THEM ANY WAY THEY CAN. ADULT LEADER DIANE CONNOR SAYS THE WILLINGNESS OF THE STUDENTS TO TAKE TIME FROM THEIR SPRING BREAK TO HELP PEOPLE SHOWS THEY HAVE A SERVANT’S HEART.
A ONE-AND-A-HALF MILE STRETCH OF THE BAYOU TECHE BETWEEN JEANERETTE AND CHARENTON WILL BE CLOSED TO TRAFFIC FOR A WEEK WHILE AN OIL SPILL IS CLEANED UP. A SPOKESWOMAN WITH THE U-S COAST GUARD’S MARINE SAFETY UNIT IN MORGAN CITY SAYS OIL SPILLED FROM A TANK AT P-S-C- INDUSTRIAL OUTSOURCING INTO A CONTAINMENT TANK THAT HAD AN OPEN VALVE. MORE THAN TWELVE THOUSAND GALLONS OF CRUDE OIL LEAKED, SOME ONTO LAND AND SOME INTO THE WATERWAY. A SHELTER-IN-PLACE ORDER FOR RESIDENTS LIVING NEAR THE SPILL WAS LIFTED AT AROUND EIGHT A-M YESTERDAY.
Louisiana senators voted to scrap a law that prohibits Louisiana from issuing driver’s licenses that comply with the security measures of the federal REAL ID act. The Senate advanced the proposal — pushed by Gov. John Bel Edwards — to the House with a 31-7 vote Tuesday. Supporters of the measure by Sen. Yvonne Dorsey Colomb, a Baton Rouge Democrat, worry that without REAL ID compliance, Louisiana residents could need a passport to board domestic flights starting in 2018. Sen. John Milkovich, a Keithville Democrat, opposed the proposal, calling REAL ID a federal government effort to create a national database to spy on people.
