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A MAN WHO WAS SHOT BY A LAFAYETTE POLICE OFFICER SUNDAY AFTERNOON IS IN JAIL FACING MULTIPLE CHARGES. TWENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD DREVIAN DUGAS ALLEGEDLY HELD THREE WOMEN AT GUNPOINT AND LED POLICE ON A HIGH-SPEED CHASE AFTER BEING SHOT, WHICH ENDED IN A CRASH THAT SENT THREE PEOPLE TO THE HOSPITAL. IT ALL BEGAN AT A HOME ON SHADY RIDGE LANE IN LAFAYETTE WHERE DUGAS PULLED A GUN ON THE THREE WOMEN, WHICH INCLUDED HIS GIRLFRIEND. DUGAS FACES TWO COUNTS OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, TWO COUNTS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE BATTERY, AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT.
GOVERNOR JEFF LANDRY HAS EXTENDED STATE FUNDING FOR DEBRIS PICKUP IN SAINT LANDRY PARISH FROM RECENT STORMS. THE CLEANUP PROCESS, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO BE FINISHED BY MAY EIGHTH WILL NOW LAST UNTIL MAY TWELFTH. SAINT LANDRY PARISH PRESIDENT JESSE BELLARD SAYS THE FIVE CONTRACTORS WORKING WITH PARISH WORKERS WERE EXPECTED TO PICK UP AROUND EIGHT HUNDRED TONS OF DEBRIS IN THE ORIGINAL TEN-DAY PERIOD, BUT THEY EXCEEDED THAT IN THE FIRST WEEK. HE ADVISED ANYONE WITH DEBRIS STILL IN THEIR YARDS TO REACH OUT TO PUBLIC WORKS.
Federal judges who threw out a congressional election map giving Louisiana a new mostly Black district have told state lawyers to determine whether the Legislature could draw up a new map in time for this year’s elections. The order was spelled out in a federal court filing Monday. Supporters of the rejected map have not yet filed an expected Supreme Court appeal. In another development, a group of LSU and Tulane University professors have filed a suggested map with the court.
THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS SEEKING THE PUBLIC’S HELP IN IDENTIFYING THE DRIVER IN A HIT-AND-RUN ON APRIL TWENTY-SIXTH. DURING THE INVESTIGATION, DETECTIVES WERE TOLD THE DRIVER OF A GRAY FORD F-ONE-FIFTY, TRAVELING EAST ON YOU WINN ROAD IN LAKE CHARLES, CROSSED THE CENTER LINE AND STRUCK A SMALL WESTBOUND S-U-V. IT’S BELIEVED THE TRUCK WILL HAVE DAMAGE TO THE FRONT DRIVER’S SIDE. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON THE CASE IS URGED TO CALL 491-38-46 AND ASK FOR THE LEAD INVESTIGATOR, SERGEANT CASEY STEECH.
THE ACADIANA NURSE HONOR GUARD HOSTED A PROGRAM HONORING NURSES WHO PASSED AWAY IN THE LINE OF DUTY. AFTER A SLIDESHOW PRESENTATION, NEW MEMBERS WERE INDUCTED INTO THE GUARD. DIRECTOR ELIZABETH WEBER, WHO WORKED FORTY YEARS AS A CRITICAL NURSE, SAYS SHE WANTED TO CREATE THE GUARD AS A WAY TO HONOR NURSES, WHO ARE ALL ABOUT SHOWING LOVE AND COMPASSION TO THEIR PATIENTS. THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL NURSING BANQUET WILL BE HELD IN LAFAYETTE THIS WEEK AS A SECOND TRIBUTE TO ALL NURSES.
THE RAYNE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS ARRESTED TWO ROMANIAN NATIONALS AS PART OF A STATEWIDE FRAUD INVESTIGATION. GERALD GRUENIG HAS MORE.
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A NEW POLL BY THE ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER SHOWS GOVERNOR JEFF LANDRY HAS HIGH APPROVAL RATINGS ON MOST ISSUES. HOWEVER, HE GETS POOR MARKS FOR HIS HANDLING OF THE INSURANCE CRISIS, WITH SIXTY PERCENT DISAPPROVING COMPARED TO TWENTY-ONE PERCENT APPROVING. NEW INSURANCE COMMISSIONER TIM TEMPLE RECEIVED A TWENTY-ONE PERCENT FAVORABLE OPINION WHILE TWENTY-EIGHT PERCENT HAD AN UNFAVORABLE OPINION. THE POLL SURVEYED EIGHT HUNDRED VOTERS AROUND THE STATE AND HAD A MARGIN OF ERROR OF THREE-POINT-FIVE PERCENT.
AN OPELOUSAS MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED ON A CHARGE OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER FOR THE KILLING OF A LAWTELL MAN IN SEPTEMBER OF TWENTY-TWENTY. SIXTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH VALLIAN WAS FOUND BY DEPUTIES LYING FACE DOWN IN THE KITCHEN OF HIS HOME WITH HIS HANDS BOUND BY A LEATHER BELT AND OVER TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, JEWELRY AND IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WERE MISSING FROM HIS SAFE. A BANDANA WITH BLOOD ON IT WAS FOUND IN A LAUNDRY BASKET AND WAS MATCHED WITH D-N-A TESTING TO THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD LESTER RAY JOHNSON JUNIOR. JOHNSON WAS ALREADY IN THE SAINT LANDRY PARISH JAIL ON UNRELATED CHARGES.
