5-11-18
A FIRE BROKE OUT IN THE JUDICE AREATHURSDAY NIGHT IN THE TWO THOUSAND BLOCK OF DENAIS ROAD. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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THE CITY OF LAKE CHARLES HAS ADDED TWO NEW TRANSIT BUSES TO THE FLEET THAT ARE POWERED BY PROPANE FUEL. MAYOR NIC HUNTER SAYS PROPANE FUELED VEHICLES ARE LESS COSTLY TO OPERATE AND ARE BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. THE CITY HAS BEEN PURCHASING MORE PROPANE POWERED EQUIPMENT OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS. IN ADDITION TO THE BUSES, THEY HAVE 34 PROPANE POWERED MOWERS, FOUR FORKLIFTS, AND THREE LIGHT DUTY TRUCKS.
THE OPELOUSAS CITY JAIL IS BEING SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF HEALTH DEPARTMENT VIOLATIONS. THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HAS GIVEN THE JAIL SEVERAL NOTICES BECAUSE OF SINKS THAT DON’T WORK AND TOILETS THAT NEED REPAIRS. MAYOR REGGIE TATUM AND POLICE CHIEF DONALD THOMPSON DECIDED TO SHUT DOWN THE JAIL UNTIL REPAIRS COULD BE MADE OR A NEW JAIL IS BUILT. THE FOURTEEN INMATES AT THE JAIL WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE PARISH JAIL.
A ban on hand-held cellphone use while driving is advancing in the Louisiana Legislature, steps from final passage. Rep. Mike Huval, a Breaux Bridge Republican, had to bring the proposal up twice to get the 53 House votes needed to pass it. The Senate transportation committee continued advancing the measure Thursday, sending it to the full Senate for debate without objection. State laws that already prohibit texting or posting to social media sites while driving would extend that prohibition to manually using the phone in any way.
A Louisiana private investigator is appealing his 18-month prison sentence for repeatedly trying to access Donald Trump’s federal tax information several weeks before the 2016 election. Jordan Hamlett filed an appeal notice on Wednesday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles sentenced Hamlett last month and ordered him to report to prison by May 28. The 32-year-old Lafayette resident had faced a maximum of five years in prison after pleading guilty in December to misusing Trump’s Social Security number.
THERE WAS A SHOOTING YESTERDAY EVENING AT THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 171 AND HAGAN STREET IN LAKE CHARLES. ACCORDING TO INITIAL REPORTS THE SHOOTING WAS SPARKED BY AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN NEIGHBORS. A MAN AND A WOMAN WERE SHOT AND TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT. POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING.
LAST NIGHT THE CROWLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HELD THEIR ANNUAL MEETING. SUPREME RICE MILL WAS PRESENTED THE 2018 BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD. THE RECOGNITION WAS GIVEN BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY. THE HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD WAS GIVEN TO STELLA GUIDRY.
State education officials say the percentage of Louisiana students graduating from high school in four years has hit an all-time high. It was 78.1 percent in 2017, up from 77 percent a year earlier. The national average is 84 percent. According to a news release Thursday from the state education department , the graduation rate has increased by nearly 6 percentage points since 2012, and by more than 12 percentage points since 2008.
