5-20-16
BELL HELICOPTER ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY THAT THEY WILL BE ASSEMBLING THE NEW 505 JET RANGER X IN CANADA INSTEAD OF IN LAFAYETTE. BELL BUILT A 26-POINT-3 MILLION DOLLAR FACILITY NEXT TO THE LAFAYETTE REGIONAL AIRPORT WITH THE INTENT TO BUILD THE NEW JET RANGER HELICOPTER THERE, WHICH WOULD HAVE CREATED 115 NEW JOBS. CEO AND PRESIDENT MITCH SNYDER SAYS THE LAFAYETTE PLANT WILL INSTEAD WORK ON THE CABIN ASSEMBLY FOR THE 505 RELENTLESS HELICOPTER AND HANDLE MODIFICATIONS FOR NORTHRUP GRUMMAN’S MQ-8C FIRE SCOUT HELICOPTER. SNYDER SAYS THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES HIRED AT THE LAFAYETTE FACILITY WILL DEPEND ON THE COMPANY’S LABOR NEEDS.
LAST NIGHT THE CALCASIEU PARISH POLICE JURY UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED THREE TEMPORARY WORKFORCE HOUSING PROJECTS. EACH OF THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN APPROVED BY THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMITTEE. AMONG THE PROJECTS IS A 196 SPACE R-V PARK ON SOUTH LAKE STREET AND A TWENTY SPACE R-V PARK TO BE LOCATED IN THE 27-HUNDRED BLOCK OF OLD TOWNE ROAD. THE JURY ALSO APPROVED A TEMPORARY HOUSING FACILITY TO BE BUILT IN THE 27-HUNDRED BLOCK OF BAYOU D’INDE ROAD.
About 80 workers face layoffs in July at the Danos and Curole Marine Contractors’ fabrication division facility in Morgan City. In a notification to the Louisiana Workforce Commission Thursday, the company said that the layoffs at its Amelia yard will occur between July 13 and 27 because of “a significant downturn in business.” he company says some employees will be transferred to other locations.
The state’s labor department said re-employment services are available for affected workers through its local Business and Career Solutions Center and LWC’s Rapid Response team.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed legislation that will force women in Louisiana to wait 72 hours before getting an abortion. Five other states have similar waits, the longest in the country. A woman in Louisiana currently has to wait 24 hours from the time she consults with a doctor and gets a mandatory ultrasound until getting an abortion. On Aug. 1, the wait will grow to three days.
Louisiana lawmakers have called on their colleague to apologize for suggesting on the House floor that gentlemen’s club dancers should be in their 20s and no more than 160 pounds. Republican Rep. Kenny Havard provoked outrage Wednesday when he briefly proposed the amendment to an anti-human-trafficking bill aimed at blocking those clubs from hiring dancers younger than age 21. Female colleagues said the amendment was offensive and disrespectful. Havard defended it as a joke, a commentary on government over-regulation.
LAFAYETTE DETECTIVES ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE IF THREE ARMED ROBBERIES THAT OCCURRED WITHIN A FOUR HOUR PERIOD ARE RELATED. THE ROBBERIES HAPPENED AT 11:15 WEDNESDAY NIGHT ON NORTH PIERCE STREET, AT ONE A-M ON MOSS STREET AND AT 3:15 THURSDAY MORNING ON CLAUDIA DRIVE. EACH OF THE ROBBERIES INVOLVED TWO MEN, AND IN THE LAST ROBBERY, THE FEMALE VICTIM WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE THE ROBBERS STRUCK HER IN THE HEAD WITH A GUN. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION IS ASKED TO CALL CRIME STOPPERS AT 232-TIPS.
THE VERNON PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS A PERSON OF INTEREST IN THE HOMOCIDE OF TWO-YEAR-OLD WILLOW RENTERIA MOLINA LEFT A NOTE SAYING HE HAD TAKEN THE GIRL THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED. MOLINA’S BODY WAS LATER FOUND IN A WOODED AREA OF BEAUREGARD PARISH AND HER DEATH WAS RULED A HOMOCIDE BY THE CORONER. RODNEY BAILEY JUNIOR, WHO LIVED WITH THE MOM, WILLOW AND ANOTHER SIBLING, WAS THE ONE WHO WROTE THE NOTE. HE HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED IN HER DEATH BUT IS IN JAIL ON DRUG AND GUN CHARGES.
THE VERMILLION PARISH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT MAY BE FIRED. SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT ANTHONY FONTANA, WHO SUPPORTS SUPERINTENDENT JEROME PUYAU, SAYS THAT HE BELIEVES THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR OF THE EIGHT BOARD MEMBERS WHO WANT TO TERMINATE HIS CONTRACT, WHICH EXPIRES NEXT JANUARY. IT WOULD REQUIRE FIVE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS FOR PUYAU TO BE FIRED. FONTANA SAYS SOME BOARD MEMBERS ARE UPSET WITH PUYAU BECAUSE OF HIS ALLEGED INTIMIDATION OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS.
