4-28-15
NEARLY 29 THOUSAND ACADIANA RESIDENTS LOST POWER YESTERDAY MORNING AS THE STORMS BARRELED THROUGH THE REGION. WIND SPEEDS WERE UP BETWEEN 50 AND 60 MILES AN HOUR IN LAFAYETTE, WHILE WINDS ALONG THE COAST WERE EVEN MORE POWERFUL, REACHING ONE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR AT MARSH ISLAND. THE VERMILLION RIVER YESTERDAY AFTERNOON ROSE TO A FOOT ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. A PORTION OF THE BREAUX BRIDGE HIGHWAY WAS CLOSED FOR A FEW HOURS BECAUSE OF LOW HANGING POWER LINES.
THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ARE STILL WITHOUT POWER THIS MORNING. THE STORMS YESTERDAY KNOCKED DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES, WHICH RESULTED IN THE POWER OUTAGES. AS OF EARLY THIS MORNING, NEARLY FOUR THOUSAND BEAUREGARD ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS DID NOT HAVE ELECTRICITY. MOST OF THOSE WERE IN BEAUREGARD, ALLEN AND VERNON PARISHES.
JULIE DARCE JOINS US NOW WITH AN UPDATE ON SCHOOL CLOSURES IN THE AREA.
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A proposal to raise Louisiana’s cigarette tax to match the rate charged by Mississippi has won approval from the House tax committee, as part of broader budget-balancing negotiations. The bill was a smaller tax hike than health advocates wanted. But Rep. Harold Ritchie agreed to the change, saying that was the only way to get it out of committee. As it heads to the House floor, the proposal would raise Louisiana’s cigarette tax from 36 cents per pack to 68 cents.
INVESTIGATORS ARE STILL TRYING TO FIND TWO PEOPLE WHO SHOT A MAN IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE AND CHILD AT THE KATHY MEADOW APARTMENTS IN CROWLEY LATE FRIDAY NIGHT. MAXINE TRAHAN OF THE ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THE TWO MEN WERE WEARING DARK CLOTHES AND SKI MASKS WHEN THEY ENTERED THE APARTMENT AND SHOT THE VICTIM THREE TIMES. HE IS IN STABLE CONDITION AT AN AREA HOSPITAL. TRAHAN SAYS THEY HAVE NOT DETERMINED THE MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTING YET, THOUGH THE TWO GUNMEN DID NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM THE APARTMENT.
THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS ORDERED A LAKE CHARLES ATTORNEY TO BE RELEASED FROM JAIL YESTERDAY. CHRISTIAN CHESSON WAS ORDERED TO JAIL AFTER HE WAS LATE FOR A COURT HEARING YESTERDAY. CHESSON, WHO WAS A CANDIDATE FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY LAST YEAR, WAS ORDERED TO APPEAR BEFORE JUDGE GUY BRADBERRY YESTERDAY FOR ALLEGEDLY VIDEO TAPING A COURT SESSION ON HIS CELL PHONE. HIS ATTORNEY SAYS CHESSON SHOULD NOT BE SENT TO JAIL AND HIS DUE PROCESS RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED. THE THIRD CIRCUIT AGREED AND CHESSON WAS RELEASED AT 7:30 LAST NIGHT.
A STRONG STORM FRIDAY CAUSED A BREAUX BRIDGE FAMILY TO LOSE THEIR HOME, AN OLDER MOBILE HOME ON GRAND BOIS ROAD. BETTY ROBIN’S TRAILER AND OUTDOOR KITCHEN AREA WAS TORN APART BY, WHAT THEY THOUGHT, MIGHT HAVE BEEN A TORNADO. BETTY’S BROTHER-IN-LAW, DALTON, TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT, WHEN THE STORM GOT VERY INTENSE FRIDAY AFTERNOON, THE FAMILY MOVED TO A CAR, AND THAT’S WHEN THE ROOF OF THE MOBILE HOME COLLAPSED. IF YOU’D LIKE TO HELP BETTY ROBIN, WHO IS ON A FIXED INCOME, YOU CAN CALL HER SISTER LEONA FOR INFORMATION AT 258-31-49.
The Louisiana House wants to put the brakes on spending state gasoline tax money for items other than roadwork. Lawmakers voted 92-5 Tuesday for a proposal by Rep. Terry Landry, a New Iberia Democrat, that would cap the dollars that can be diverted from the gas tax trust fund to state police operations each year. Under Landry’s bill, up to $40 million from the trust fund could be spent on state police in the fiscal year that begins July 1. A year later, that would drop to $25 million, and after that, it would be limited to $10 million annually.
