5-20-21
I-TEN WESTBOUND IS CLOSED AT HENDERSON BECAUSE OF A JACKKNIFED TRACTOR TRAILER. TRAFFIC CONGESTION HAS REACHED APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO TAKE AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE.
LAFAYETTE POLICE RESPONDED TO SHOTS FIRED NEAR SIMCOE STREET YESTERDAY EVENING. CAROLINE MARCELLO REPORTS.
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OPELOUSAS POLICE ARE SEARCHING FOR A MAN WHO MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT EARLY YESTERDAY MORNING. AT AROUND TWO A-M, A WOMAN ARRIVED AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO HER LEGS. SHE TOLD POLICE SHE HAD BEEN SHOT WHEN SITTING IN A VEHICLE AND HER BOYFRIEND, JOHN DEREK BROWN, MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT AS WELL, BUT HE FLED ON FOOT AND HASN’T BEEN SEEN SINCE. PATROL DIVISION COMMANDER MAJOR MARK GUIDRY SAYS THEY DO NOT HAVE A SUSPECT IN THE SHOOTING OR A MOTIVE BUT A WHITE VEHICLE SEEN IN THE AREA OF MCCARTHY LANE, WHERE THE SHOOTING HAPPENED, MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED.
Louisiana business organizations have called on Gov. John Bel Edwards to join Republican-led states in cutting off the extra $300 in federal unemployment assistance going to the jobless. The groups argue the added benefit is harming employer efforts to rehire workers. The Democratic governor said Wednesday that he doesn’t intend to immediately end the weekly federal aid, but he left open the possibility of doing so later. Many of Louisiana’s neighboring states have opted out of the benefit.
CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOLS AND FACILITIES WILL REMAIN CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. IN A PRESS RELEASE, THE SCHOOL BOARD ANNOUNCED THEY PLAN TO REOPEN SCHOOLS ON MONDAY. THEY CITED FLOODING THAT IS STILL IN SOME AREAS AND WEATHER PREDICTIONS IN THEIR DECISION. GRADUATION CEREMONIES IN CALCASIEU PARISH ARE PLANNED TO TAKE PLACE AS SCHEDULED.
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD HAS APPROVED THE REPLACEMENT OF THREE SCHOOLS THAT COMES WITH A PRICE TAG OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS. THE FIRST ONE WILL BE PRAIRIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. IT IS EXPECTED TO BE BUILT AT A SITE ON RUE DE BELLIER AND BE READY BY THE TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE SCHOOL YEAR. THE NEXT TWO SCHOOLS TO BE REPLACED ARE CARENCRO HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY AND LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL.
SEARCH EFFORTS WILL CONTINUE TODAY FOR A MISSING MAN WHOSE VEHICLE WAS FOUND SUBMERGED IN A COULLEE OFF OF ETTIENNE ROAD IN MAURICE. THE FAMILY OF CLEVELAND DUHON TELLS KATC THERE IS SURVEILLANCE VIDEO THAT SHOWS DUHON DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND THEN TURNING RIGHT INTO THE COULLEE. POLICE CHIEF GUY NERREN SAYS THEY LOCATED THE VEHICLE AT AROUND TWO THIRTY A-M TUESDAY BUT NO ONE WAS INSIDE THE VEHICLE. A HELICOPTER, SONAR AND A SCUBA DIVING TEAM FROM THE LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE SEARCH BUT IT’S BEEN HAMPERED BY DEBRIS IN THE COULLEE.
COVID-NINETEEN HOSPITALIZATIONS ROSE BY EIGHT IN YESTERDAY’S REPORT FROM THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. THAT PUTS THE TOTAL BACK ABOVE THREE HUNDRED. THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS EDGED UP BY TWO. LOUISIANA REPORTED FOUR HUNDRED AND TWO NEW CONFIRMED CASES, AND THERE WERE NINE MORE DEATHS STATEWIDE.
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD NO NEW DEATHS FOR THE SECOND DAY IN A ROW. ACADIANA HAD THREE MORE DEATHS, ONE EACH IN ACADIA, ST. MARTIN, AND ST. MARY PARISHES. THERE WERE FORTY-SIX NEW CASES IN ACADIANA, INCLUDING TWELVE IN ACADIA PARISH. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ADDED SEVENTEEN NEW CASES, LED BY CALCASIEU PARISH WITH THIRTEEN.
