5-18-16
A Canadian information technology company’s new 50,000-square-foot technology center has been formally dedicated at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Research Park. A news release from the Louisiana Economic Development office said the CGI Federal technology center was dedicated Tuesday. The $13.1 million facility will employ 400 people in information technology jobs. According to the state, CGI already employs 250 workers in Lafayette and is recruiting candidates for 50 current openings.
TWO MORE WORKFORCE HOUSING FACILITIES FOR CALCASIEU PARISH ARE CLOSER TO REALITY. THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD GAVE THEIR APPROVAL FOR A FACILITY TO BE BUILT BY NORTH BAY PROPERTIES WEST OF SULPHUR ON HIGHWAY 90. THE BOARD ALSO UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A ZONING CHANGE FOR THE MAGNOLIA LODGE, WHICH WILL HOUSE 650 WORKERS ON BAYOU D’INDE ROAD. ALSO AT THE BOARD’S TUESDAY MEETING, TWENTY ADDITIONAL R-V SPOTS WERE APPROVED ON OLD TOWN ROAD.
TWO P-E COACHES AND THREE STUDENTS IN ST. LANDRY PARISH WERE ARRESTED WERE ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH AN INCIDENT INVOLVING THREE OTHER STUDENTS. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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Gov. John Bel Edwards intends to sign into law a ban on a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure. Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo says amendments placed on the bill eliminated previous concerns the Democratic governor had with the measure. The Senate gave final legislative passage to the ban with a 36-2 vote Tuesday, sending it to Edwards’ desk. The bill by Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican from Bossier City, will ban a procedure called dilation and evacuation, with pro-life groups describing the procedures as “dismemberment abortions.”
Lawmakers in the Louisiana House have rejected a proposal that would require facilities that break state and federal environmental guidelines to line their fences with air monitors to detect leaked pollutants. Supporters of the bill by Rep. Patrick Connick, a Marrero Republican, said they’ve been sickened by chemicals released into their communities. The bill was opposed by facility representatives who said it would force them to use expensive, but flawed technology on their sites around the state. Only 24 House members voted for Connick’s bill Tuesday.
LAST NIGHT THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL VOTED 7-TO-2 TO EXTEND BY ONE YEAR THE CONTRACT WITH REDFLEX TRAFFIC SYSTEMS, WHICH OPERATES THE CITY’S TRAFFIC CAMERA PROGRAM. MAYOR PRESIDENT JOEL ROBIDEAUX ASKED FOR THE EXTENSION TO GIVE HIM TIME TO REVIEW THE PROGRAM. CITY PARISH CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER LORRIE TOUPS SAYS STAFF WILL LOOK INTO A PROPOSAL MADE BY COUNCILWOMAN LIZ HEBERT FOR THE CITY TO TAKE OVER OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM. COUNCILMAN WILLIAM THERIOT, WHO VOTED AGAINST THE EXTENSION, WANTS THE PUBLIC TO BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE ON WHETHER TO CONTINUE THE TRAFFIC CAMERA PROGRAM.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN SET FOR THE FORMER MAYOR OF SULPHUR. 69-YEAR-OLD CHARLES REED DIED MONDAY AT HIS HOME AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS. REED WAS THE MAYOR OF SULPHUR FROM 1990 THROUGH 2002. THE FUNERAL WILL TAKE PLACE FRIDAY MORNING AT ELEVEN AT IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SULPHUR WITH BURIAL TO FOLLOW AT MIMOSA PINES CEMETARY SOUTH IN CARLYSS.
A HOUMA WOMAN WAS ARRESTED MONDAY BY ST. MARY PARISH AUTHORITIES FOR A KIDNAPPING AND BEATING THAT HAPPENED IN 2009. 27-YEAR-OLD CHANTEL GUILLOTTE AND TWO OTHERS ARE ACCUSED OF FORCING A WOMAN INTO A VEHICLE IN YOUNGSVILLE AND BEATING HER. THE WOMAN, WHO SUFFERED A BROKEN JAW AND OTHER INJURIES, WAS LATER RELEASED IN ST. MARY PARISH WHERE SHE WAS FOUND WALKING ALONG HIGHWAY 182 NEAR JEANERETTE. ONE OF GUILLOTTE’S TWO ALLEGED CO-CONSPIRATORS, LIONEL PELLERIN, HAS ALSO BEEN ARRESTED, WHILE THE OTHER, JULIE MENARD, IS STILL WANTED BY THE ST. MARY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE.
