KAJN Jesus FM 102.9


6-6-18

A MAN IS FACING SEVERAL CHARGES IN A STRING OF FIRES.  JEFF HORCHAK REPORTS.

 

VOICER H :25

 

A volunteer firefighter for the Longville Fire Department in Beauregard Parish has been arrested on a charge of simple arson.  24-year-old Chance Felice of Longville was arrested Monday for allegedly setting an air mattress on fire, which subsequently spread to his home. The town’s fire chief told investigators he was suspicious of Felice’s involvement due to unspecified comments made prior to the 911 call and the fact that Felice had been suspended twice in the past year.

Felice initially said he knocked over a torch but later admitted torching the mattress, which he unsuccessfully tried to extinguish with a garden hose.

 

A TEAM OF U-L LAFAYETE GRADUATE GEOLOGY STUDENTS HAVE WON AN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE THIRD TIME.  THEY WERE FOUND TO BE BEST AT DETERMINING WHERE TO FIND OIL.  168 TEAMS REPRESENTING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD COMPETED IN THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS’ IMPERIAL BARREL AWARD COMPETITION, WHICH HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 2007.  U-L ALSO TOOK FIRST PLACE IN 2012 AND 2014, THE ONLY UNIVERSITY TO WIN THREE TIMES.

 

The budget passed by Louisiana lawmakers in the final frantic minutes of the special session will steeply reduce spending across much of state government and college campuses next month.  Gov. John Bel Edwards intends to call another special session, hoping to reach a deal with lawmakers that would add more money into the spending plan for the financial year beginning July 1.  It remains uncertain if the tax stalemate will end.  Edwards hasn’t said if he’ll veto the budget and ask lawmakers to try again.

 

A RAYNE MAN WAS KILLED IN A TWO VEHICLE ACCIDENT YESTERDAY AFTERNOON NEAR BRANCH.  54-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH GOODWIN WAS TRAVELING SOUTH ON L-A 35 WHEN, FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, HE DRIFTED INTO THE NORTHBOUND LANE AND STRUCK A TRACTOR TRAILER DRIVEN BY 43-YEAR-OLD DUSTIN MATTE OF CHURCH POINT.  GOODWIN, WHO WAS WEARING A SEATBELT, WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE WHILE MATTE, WHO ALSO WAS WEARING HIS SEATBELT, WAS UNINJURED.  TROOPERS DO NOT BELIEVE EITHER DRIVER WAS IMPAIRED BUT TOXICOLOGY SAMPLES WERE TAKEN FROM BOTH DRIVERS AND SUBMITTED TO THE STATE POLICE CRIME LAB.

 

THE CLOSURE OF LANES ON THE I-210 BRIDGE IN LAKE CHARLES FOR A REDECKING PROJECT COULD HAVE SERIOUS ECONOMIC CONSQUENCES, ACCORDING TO ECONOMIST DR. MICHAEL KURTH.  HE SAYS CLOSING TWO LANES ON THE BRIDGE WILL INCREASE TRAFFIC DELAYS BY 25 PERCENT, COSTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY NEARLY 15 THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY.  BUT, HE SAYS, IF THERE ARE UNANTICIPATED DELAYS SUCH AS ACCIDENTS, IT WOULD COST NEARLY A MILLION DOLLARS AN HOUR AND THE COST PER HOUR INCREASES THE LONGER IT TAKES TO GET TRAFFIC FLOWING AGAIN.  HE SAYS IF PEOPLE IN WEST CALCASIEU PARISH HAVE TROUBLE GETTING TO LAKE CHARLES, THEY COULD INSTEAD CHOOSE TO GO TO BEAUMONT FOR SHOPPING AND FOR THEIR MEDICAL NEEDS.

 

LAST NIGHT THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL VOTED TO GIVE NOTICE OF ITS INTENT TO CREATE A FIRE DISTRICT FOR THE UNINCORPORATED PARTS OF THE PARISH.  THE COUNCIL WILL FIRST HAVE TO PASS AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE DISTRICT.  THEY WILL ALSO LIKELY ASK VOTERS TO PASS A NEW 7-POINT-6 MILL PROPERTY TAX, WHICH WILL BE PAID BY RURAL RESIDENTS TO FUND THE NEW DISTRICT.  THAT ELECTION COULD TAKE PLACE ON DECEMBER EIGHTH.

 

THE ABBEVILLE CITY COUNCIL HAS PASSED A BAN ON SMOKING WHICH GOES INTO EFFECT ON SEPTEMBER FIRST.  THE BAN WOULD INCLUDE ESTABLISHMENTS SUCH AS BARS AND BINGO HALLS.  THE OWNERS OF THESE ESTABLISHMENTS HAVE SAID THEY BELIEVE A SMOKING BAN WILL RESULT IN LESS BUSINESS.  THE ORDINANCE THAT PASSED DOES ALLOW OWNERS TO CREATE SMOKING AREAS, BUT THEY HAVE TO BE OUTSIDE OF THE PRIMARY BUSINESS.