6-12-15
A FORMER LAFAYETTE DOCTOR WHO INJECTED HIS GIRLFRIEND WITH H-I-V WAS DENIED PAROLE YESTERDAY. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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FORMER KINDER POLICE CHIEF GARY PELICAN, WHO WAS TO BE SENTENCED YESTERDAY, HAS HAD HIS SENTENCING DATE MOVED TO AUGUST FIFTH. IN FEBRUARY, PELICAN PLED GUILTY TO MALFEASANCE IN OFFICE AND THEFT OF OVER 15-HUNDRED DOLLARS, FOR USING TOWN CREDIT CARDS TO PURCHASE FUEL FOR HIMSELF AND FAMILY MEMBERS. HE COULD GET UP TO 15 YEARS IN JAIL AND UP TO EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS IN FINES. THE SENTENCING WAS RESCHEDULED BECAUSE JUDGE JOEL DAVIS WAS OUT OF TOWN.
CROWLEY POLICE ARE ASKING THE PUBLIC’S HELP IN IDENTIFYING A SUSPECT WHO IS BELIEVED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A RASH OF VEHICLE BURGLARIES ALONG BAYOU OAKS DRIVE. THE SUSPECT WAS SEEN ON VIDEO SURVEILLANCE GETTING OFF OF A BICYCLE. HE ALLEGEDLY BURGLARIZED SEVERAL VEHICLES ALONG THE ROADWAY ON MONDAY. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION IS ASKED TO CALL CRIME STOPPERS AT 789-TIPS.
Louisiana lawmakers have wrapped up this year’s legislative session, reaching agreement on next year’s $24 billion budget and the tax plans that will keep public colleges and health services from deep cuts. The deal was struck and approved in the 60-day session’s final hours yesterday. To escape vetoes of the financing plans, the House caved into a demand from Gov. Bobby Jindal that they find a way — at least on paper — to help him keep his no-tax increase pledge. To balance the budget, the House and Senate agreed to raise cigarette taxes 50 cents per pack, shrink tax breaks and scale back business subsidies, to drum up hundreds of millions of dollars.
BAIL HAS BEEN SET AT 125 THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A LAFAYETTE WOMAN, WHO HID THE REMAINS OF HER NEWBORN BABY FOR 14 YEARS. 57-YEAR-OLD REBECCA LANDRY FACES A CHARGE OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER. A LAFAYETTE POLICE DETECTIVE TESTIFIED THAT LANDRY TOLD HIM SHE SUFFERED FROM ALCOHOLISM WHEN THE BABY WAS BORN AT HER HOME, AND, WHEN THE BABY DIED A FEW DAYS LATER, SHE PUT THE BODY IN A CARDBOARD BOX WITH WOMEN’S CLOTHING. THE BABY WAS DISCOVERED IN THE BOX BY A MAN WHO HAD PURCHASED THE CONTENTS OF A STORAGE UNIT, BECAUSE LANDRY’S MOTHER HAD BEEN DELINQUENT ON PAYMENTS FOR MORE THAN A MONTH.
PLANS FOR DEVELOPING THE OLD HARRAH’S PROPERTY IN DOWNTOWN LAKE CHARLES WERE PRESENTED AT A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY YESTERDAY. ARCHITECT STEVE OUBRE SAYS THE NINE ACRE MIXED USE PROPOSAL INCLUDES RESTAURANTS, RETAIL STORES, A HOTEL AND RESIDENTIAL UNITS. HE SAYS THE GOAL OF THE PLAN IS TO INJECT LIFE INTO THE DOWNTOWN AREA, ESPECIALLY DURING THE EVENINGS. CITY LEADERS SAY HAVING A DRAFT PLAN FOR THE PROPERTY WILL ALLOW POTENTIAL DEVELOPERS TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY.
LAST NIGHT THE ST. LANDRY PARISH SCHOOL BOARD AGREED TO HAVE SUPERINTENDENT EDWARD BROWN COME UP WITH A RECOMMENDATION ON HOW MANY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS THE DISTRICT SHOULD HAVE. A PROPOSAL HAD BEEN MADE TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF PRINCIPALS TO THOSE SCHOOLS THAT HAVE STATEWIDE TESTING. BOARD MEMBER RANDY WAGLEY SAYS TWO SCHOOLS – WASHINGTON VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL AND THE ST. LANDRY ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL – HAVE PRINCIPALS BUT THE STUDENTS AT THOSE SCHOOLS DO NOT TAKE PART IN STATEWIDE TESTS. THE BOARD DIRECTED BROWN TO RESEARCH AND COME UP WITH A PROPOSED POLICY FOR WHICH SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT SHOULD HAVE PRINCIPALS.
Eleven days before trial, Louisiana has asked a federal judge to throw out one of two arguments against its law requiring doctors who perform abortions to be able to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles. Attorney Kyle Duncan says Tuesday’s ruling for a different Texas law erases the clinics’ planned arguments about their claim that legislators passed Louisiana’s law to keep women from getting abortions. He says the appeals court covering Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi found that disagreement over whether a law is medically necessary does not imply anything about its purpose. The other question before Judge John deGravelles (duh-GRAV-uhls) is whether abortion doctors would be able to get admitting privileges.
