3-9-18
LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM JAIL. HE WAS SENT THERE ON FEBRUARY 28TH BY JUDGE JULES EDWARDS FOR FAILING TO COMPLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AS PART OF HIS PROBATION FOR A CONTEMPT CHARGE. POPE HAD ASKED THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL TO REVERSE EDWARD’S DECISION TO REVOKE HIS PROBATION. THE APPEALS COURT PUT A STAY ON HIS JAIL SENTENCE WHILE THEY REVIEW THE CASE.
WORK ON THE I-TEN BRIDGE IN LAKE CHARLES THAT BEGAN LAST SATURDAY IS CAUSING CONGESTED TRAFFIC IN SULPHUR. IT’S BEEN PARTICULARLY BAD AT THE INTERSECTION OF MAPLEWOOD DRIVE AND PRATER ROAD. ONE RESIDENT, CHRISTINE FUSELIER, WHO WORKS AT A DAYCARE ON PRATER ROAD, TELLS KPLC TV THAT ON TUESDAY, IT TOOK HER AN HOUR AND FIFTY MINUTES TO GET HOME, WHILE ON WEDNESDAY, IT TOOK OVER TWO HOURS. SULPHUR POLICE ARE URGING DRIVERS TO USE MAIN ROADS AND AVOID USING MAPLEWOOD DRIVE AS AN ALTERNATE ROUTE.
Louisiana’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit accusing the Vermillion Parish school board of stifling public debate at a meeting in January disrupted by the video-recorded arrest of a teacher being handcuffed on a hallway floor. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s lawsuit accuses the Vermilion Parish School Board of violating the state’s Open Meetings Law at its meeting Jan. 8 in which a teacher criticized a district superintendent’s pay raise. Teacher Deyshia Hargrave, whose arrest sparked outrage after the video spread online, called the suit good news for “anyone who speaks at public meetings.” It asks a court to nullify the meeting’s voted pay raise for the superintendent.
GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS IS BACKING A PROPOSAL TO LOWER THE VALUE OF STUDENT TEST RESULTS IN A TEACHER’S EVALUATION. UNDER A BILL BY STATE REPRESENTATIVE FRANK HOFFMAN OF WEST MONROE, THE TEST RESULTS WOULD GO FROM 35 PERCENT TO 15 PERCENT OF A TEACHER’S EVALUATION. EDWARDS ALSO BACKS ANOTHER BILL BY HOFFMAN THAT WOULD EASE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A TEACHER TO ACHIEVE TENURE. THE 2018 REGULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS ON MONDAY AT NOON.
THE DISCOVERY OF ASBESTOS HAS DELAYED THE DEMOLITION OF THE LAFAYETTE NATURAL SCIENCE MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM. HENDERSON CONSTRUCTION WAS SET TO BEGIN THE DEMOLITION IN DECEMBER, BUT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, UPON LEARNING OF IT, INFORMED THE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT THAT A CERTIFICATE WAS NEEDED TO SHOW THE PREMISES WAS FREE OF ASBESTOS. THAT’S WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THERE WAS ASBESTOS IN THE BUILDING. IT’S RESULTED IN A DELAY OF SEVEN MONTHS TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT AND A 40 PERCENT INCREASE IN THE DEMOLITION CONTRACT.
THE MAYOR OF JENNINGS SAYS HE’S TIRED OF VANDALISM THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE CHRISTMAS AT FOUNDER’S PARK. HE TELLS KPLC TV THE VANDALS HAVE TRIED TO STEAL BENCHES, AND THE LIGHTS AND ELECTRONICS HAVE BEEN DAMAGED. HE SAYS POLICE WILL START PATROLLING THE AREA MORE OFTEN AND HE PLANS TO SET UP SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS. GUINN SAYS THAT IF THE VANDALS ARE ADULTS, HE WANTS THEM TO SERVE PRISON TIME.
HAM RADIO OPERATORS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH WILL BE GATHERING IN RAYNE THIS WEEKEND FOR THE 58TH ANNUAL HAMFEST. IT’S BILLED AS THE LARGEST HAMFEST ON THE GULF COAST AND TAKES PLACE AT THE RAYNE CIVIC CENTER BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON AT THREE AND CONTINUING TOMORROW MORNING AT EIGHT. TOP MANUFACTURERS OF RADIO EQUIPMENT WILL BE ON HAND TO DISPLAY AND SELL THEIR WARES. USED AND ANTIQUE GEAR WILL BE SOLD AND TRADED AT SWAP TABLES.
A BOIL ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOME RESIDENTS IN MAMOU. IT’S DUE TO A BUSTED WATER LINE. THE FOLLOWING STREETS ARE AFFECTED: SECOND TO FOURTH STREETS AND MAIN TO HACKBERRY STREETS. ANY QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO MAMOU CITY HALL.
