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ABOUT TWO DOZEN RESIDENTS OF THE BELL DOWNS APARTMENT COMPLEX ON GUILBEAU ROAD IN LAFAYETTE WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES AFTER AUTHORITIES DEEMED IT TO BE SAFE AT AROUND ONE A-M YESTERDAY. ONE OF THE RESIDENTS, 34-YEAR-OLD JACOB DAIGLE, WAS ACCUSED OF FIRING SHOTS OUTSIDE OF HIS APARTMENT MONDAY NIGHT, WHICH LED POLICE TO CONDUCT A SEARCH OF THE APARTMENT. THEY FOUND A LARGE CACHE OF WEAPONS, INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE MILITARY GRADE EXPLOSIVE, WHICH WAS REMOVED BY THE LAFAYETTE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND A BOMB DISPOSAL UNIT FROM FORT POLK. DAIGLE WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL AFTER HIS ARREST, BUT LIEUTENANT NICOLE BENOIT OF THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS THEY CAN’T SAY WHAT HE IS BEING TREATED FOR BECAUSE OF HEALTH PRIVACY LAWS.
LAKE CHARLES FIRE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATORS ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF A FIRE AT EASTWOOD PENTECOSTAL CHURCH. IT HAPPENED AT AROUND 4:15 WEDNESDAY MORNING IN THE EDUCATION BUILDING, DESTROYING DESKS, CHAIRS AND SCHOOL DOCUMENTS, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPAL OF EASTWOOD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY JIMMY TRAHAN. HE SAYS, SINCE IT IS SO CLOSE TO THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, THEY LIKELY WILL LET STUDENTS OUT EARLY FOR THE SUMMER AND HAVE THEM MAKE UP ANY CLASSES IN THE SUMMER OR THE FALL. TRAHAN TELLS KPLC TV THAT THEY MAY LOSE THAT WHOLE SECTION OF THE BUILDING, AND, IF THEY DO, THEY’LL REBUILD.
ONE MAN WAS KILLED AND ANOTHER INJURED IN A TWO VEHICLE CRASH WEDNESDAY MORNING ON THE EUNICE IOTA HIGHWAY. ACCORDING TO STATE POLICE, 24-YEAR-OLD BROCK LEBOUEF OF EUNICE OVERCORRECTED HIS VEHICLE AND SPUN IT COUNTERCLOCKWISE INTO AN ONCOMING DODGE PICKUP TRUCK. LEBOUEF WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE, AND THE DRIVER OF THE OTHER VEHICLE, 55-YEAR-OLD DOUGLAS SHORT OF IOTA, SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES. NEITHER DRIVER WAS WEARING THEIR SEATBELTS.
Louisiana won’t be lifting its ban on sales of unpasteurized milk. With a 5-3 vote, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee rejected a proposal to allow sales of raw milk from farmers to the public. It was the second year the panel has killed the measure, siding with opponents who say safety is more important than personal choice. Supporters of Sen. Eric LaFleur’s bill said law-abiding citizens should be allowed to decide what they and their families drink.
LAST NIGHT SEVERAL LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS SAID THAT IT’S TIME TO LOOK AT CHANGING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ZONES BECAUSE OF OVERCROWDING AT SOME SCHOOLS, WHILE OTHERS HAVE EMPTY CLASSROOMS. THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT, DONALD AGUILLARD, SAYS HE WILL BEGIN TACKLING THE REZONING ISSUE IN THE NEXT TWO TO THREE MONTHS, AFTER HE’S HAD A CHANCE TO GET A BETTER FEEL OF THE SITUATION. THE BOARD LAST NIGHT VOTED 7-TO-1 TO MAKE MYRTLE PLACE ELEMENTARY A COMPLETE FRENCH IMMERSION SCHOOL. KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS, WHO ARE ZONED FOR THAT SCHOOL BUT DO NOT WANT TO BE IN FRENCH IMMERSION, WILL ATTEND BROADMOOR OR S.J. MONTGOMERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
A LAKE CHARLES POLICE OFFICER WAS HONORED YESTERDAY FOR CAPTURING AN ARMED ROBBERY SUSPECT LAST DECEMBER. OFFICER CHRIS BAUDIN, WHO’S BEEN WITH THE DEPARTMENT FOR TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS, APPREHENDED TIMOTHY WAYNE HILL AFTER A CHASE BY VEHICLE AND ON FOOT. HILL ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED A STRING OF ARMED ROBBERIES OVER THREE DAYS, INCLUDING AT THE CATHEDRAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IN DOWNTOWN LAKE CHARLES. BAUDIN, WHO WAS GIVEN A VALOR AWARD, DEFLECTED THE PRAISE, SAYING HE HAPPENED TO BE IN THE RIGHT SPOT, AND ANY OTHER OFFICER IN THE DEPARTMENT WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING.
17-YEAR-OLD KORYN HAWTHORNE WAS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION YESTERDAY IN HER HOMETOWN OF ABBEVILLE. HAWTHORNE, WHO IS ONE OF FIVE FINALISTS ON THE VOICE, TOOK PART IN A PARADE AND PUT ON A CONCERT AT MAGDALEN SQUARE. SHE WAS BACKED BY A BAND FROM CROSSROADS CHURCH, AND THE CHOIR FROM HER CHURCH, LIGHTHOUSE FOR JESUS MINISTRIES, SANG BACK UP FOR HER ON A SONG. HAWTHORNE, WHO IS A JUNIOR AT LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, TOLD THE CROWD THAT SHE HAS BEEN BLESSED, AND URGED THEM TO NEVER GIVE UP, AND TRUST IN GOD.
A proposal to give domestic abuse victims new protections from eviction narrowly received passage from the state Senate. Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, a Baton Rouge Democrat, said her bill was an attempt to keep victims of domestic violence from being rendered homeless. The proposal would make it illegal to refuse to rent or to terminate a lease based on a domestic dispute. The Senate sent the bill to the House with a 21-16 vote Wednesday, one more than it needed.
