4-25-16
Federal prosecutors say a Lafayette-based oil company has agreed to pay more than $700,000 in fines in connection with three crude oil spills in the Atchafalaya River basin. The U.S. Justice Department announced Friday it had entered a consent decree with ORB Exploration . The company is accused of violating the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws when crude oil spilled from its facilities in Frog Lake and Crocodile Bayou. Prosecutors say the spills spewed more than 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the river basin.
The Jefferson Davis Parish School Board has reversed itself and agreed that Native American students may wear eagle feathers as part of their graduation garb.
The American Press reports that the board told seniors at Elton High School on Thursday that each Native American could wear an eagle feather or an acceptable alternative. Senior Sophia John is the reigning Coushatta Tribal princess. She says wearing the feather is a symbol of pride and rite of passage for Native American seniors.
Federal prosecutors are weighing additional charges against an Acadiana sheriff and one of his top lieutenants in a case linked to alleged beatings of jail inmates.
The Advocate reports that prosecutors are asking a judge to postpone a June 6 trial date for Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal and his lieutenant, Gerald Savoy. A court filing Friday by prosecutors doesn’t elaborate on the nature of the additional charges that they intend to pursue. Ackal pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he ordered inmates to be beaten in retaliation for a lewd comment and complaints about jail conditions.
Louisiana lawmakers have reached the halfway mark of their regular session, with financial decisions in limbo and the budget still the session’s focus. Only six bills — out of more than 1,600 filed for consideration — had received House and Senate passage and reached the governor’s desk by Friday. Those named a Calcasieu Parish highway after a slain state trooper and made largely technical changes to insurance laws. The House Appropriations Committee will vote on its version of next year’s budget during the week of May 9, with the full House planning to debate it later that week.
LAFAYETTE POLICE ARE SEARCHING THE PERSON OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE THEFT OF AN EXPENSIVE ACCORDIAN. IT WAS TAKEN FROM THE REAR SEAT OF A GMC SIERRA TRUCK THAT WAS PARKED ON SOUTH PIERRE STREET WHILE THE VEHICLE’S OWNER WAS ATTENDING FESTIVAL INTERNATIONALE SATURDAY NIGHT. THE KING BRAND ACCORDIAN IS WORTH OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION IS URGED TO CALL THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
BRIDGE INSPECTIONS ARE CONTINUING WHICH WILL LIKELY CAUSE SOME TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON THE INTERSTATES IN LAKE CHARLES. THE INTERSTATE TEN WESTBOUND RIGHT LANE ON THE CALCASIEU RIVER BRIDGE WILL BE CLOSED FROM EIGHT A-M TO THREE P-M. THE I-TEN EASTBOUND RIGHT LANE WILL BE CLOSED AT THE I-210 ON RAMP NEAREST TO SULPHER FROM EIGHT TO ELEVEN A-M. AND THE LEFT LANE OF I-210 EASTBOUND AT THE I-TEN ON RAMP NEAR LAKE CHARLES WILL BE CLOSED FROM 11:30 THIS MORNING UNTIL TWO P-M.
A former executive director of the Morgan City Housing Authority and a former employee have pleaded guilty to charges they conspired to steal more than $500,000 in bonus payments from the agency. U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley’s office says 78-year-old Charles E. Spann and 38-year-old Tori D. Johnson face maximum sentences of five years in prison and $250,000 fines following their guilty pleas Friday. Spann, now a resident of Kingsport, Tennessee, served as the housing authority’s executive director from April 2007 until June 2013. Finley’s office says Spann, Johnson and two other employees received nearly $515,000 in bonus payments to which they were not entitled.
First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending April 16 decreased from the previous week’s total. The state labor department figures released Friday show the initial claims fell to 2,791 from the previous week’s total of 2,997. For the comparable week a year earlier, there were 2,789.
The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,692 from the previous week’s total of 2,714.
