6-5-17
TRAFFIC CAMERAS IN LAFAYETTE WERE TO HAVE BEEN UNPLUGGED AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT AS THE CITY’S CONTRACT WITH REDFLEX EXPIRED. MAYOR PRESIDENT JOEY DUREL HAS ASKED FOR AN INCREASED POLICE PRESENCE AT THOSE INTERSECTIONS WHERE TRAFFIC CAMERAS WERE INSTALLED UNTIL A NEW CONTRACT IS IN PLACE, WHICH COULD TAKE MONTHS. THE CITY IS NEGOTIATING WITH AMERICAN TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS, WHICH, ROBIDEAUX SAYS, IS IN MUCH BETTER FINANCIAL HEALTH THAN REDFLEX. HE SAYS ONCE A CONTRACT IS NEGOTIATED, HE WILL SUBMIT IT TO THE CONSOLIDATED COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION.
THE U-S COAST GUARD HAS SUSPENDED A SEARCH FOR A MISSING DIVER OFF THE COAST OF CAMERON PARISH. THE DIVER, CHET CASSELL, WENT MISSING ON FRIDAY. CASSEL, A MAN IN HIS MID-40’S, IS FROM ALEXANDRIA. THE COAST GUARD RECEIVED A MAYDAY CALL WHEN CASSELL, WHO HAD GONE SPEARFISHING OFF A BOAT WITH A FRIEND, DID NOT RESURFACE.
THE SOUTH PARK CIVIC CENTER IN OPELOUSAS WAS DESTROYED AFTER A FIRE BROKE OUT OVER THE WEEKEND. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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Republican House lawmakers say they’re concerned the Senate version of the state operating budget would leave Louisiana vulnerable to another round of midyear cuts next year. The House spending plan sought to leave $206 million unspent, even though the state income forecast predicts the dollars will be available. House GOP leaders say they want to give the state a cushion against their expectations the forecast is too optimistic. If the forecast comes up short, cuts would have to be made during the budget year that begins July 1.
Drivers-in-training can soon expect lessons on how to respond to police during a traffic stop. A bill by Sen. Ryan Gatti, a Bossier City Republican, adds “appropriate driver conduct when stopped by a law enforcement officer” to content requirements for driver education courses and the driving test required to get a license. His legislation is aimed at decreasing tensions between officers and motorists to keep encounters from becoming violent or deadly. The House backed the bill in a 96-0 vote Sunday, sending it to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law.
A RECENT STUDY HAS FOUND THAT LAFAYETTE AND BATON ROUGE ARE RANKED AMONG THE LEAST LIKELY TO HAVE MARRIED COUPLES FROM DIFFERENT RACIAL BACKGROUNDS. LAFAYETTE WAS TIED FOR EIGHT FROM THE BOTTOM ON THE LIST, COMPILED BY THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER, AT NINE PERCENT OF INTERACIAL COUPLES, WHILE BATON ROUGE WAS SEVENTH FROM THE BOTTOM AT EIGHT PERCENT. THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IS 17 PERCENT COMPARED TO THREE PERCENT BACK IN 1967. THE STUDY FOUND THAT, ACROSS THE NATION, ASIANS AND HISPANICS ARE MOST LIKELY TO MARRY SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER RACE OR ETHNICITY.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED ON A FOURTH OFFENSE D-W-I AFTER CAUSING A THREE VEHICLE CRASH AND FLEEING THE SCENE. AT AROUND FOUR A-M SUNDAY, A HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER STRUCK A PARKED VEHICLE ON HIGHWAY 90 NEAR GOODMAN LANE IN LAKE CHARLES, AND PUSHED THAT VEHICLE INTO ANOTHER PARKED CAR. TROOPERS FOUND THE HIT-AND RUN VEHICLE, WHICH WAS DISABLED ABOUT A HALF MILE FROM THE CRASH SCENE. SERGEANT JAMES ANDERSON SAYS THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE WAS 43-YEAR-OLD ERIC GRISHAM, WHO HAD AN OPEN CAN OF BEER WITH HIM AND WAS SHOWING OBVIOUS SIGNS OF IMPAIRMENT.
A WELL-KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, AUTHOR AND ADVOCATE FOR THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN HAS DIED. GREG GUIRARD, WHO WAS 80 YEARS OLD, PASSED AWAY AT A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL FROM MENINGITIS. HE LIVED ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE BASIN IN ST. MARTIN PARISH. HE AUTHORED SEVERAL PHOTO BOOKS OF THE ATCHAFALAYA INCLUDING “ATCHAFALAYA AUTUMN” AND “INHERIT THE ATCHAFALAYA”, AND HE WAS A PROFESSOR AT
U-L LAFAYETTE.
