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TWO LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS ARE ON LEAVE. CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER ANNETTE SAMEC IS ON AN INDEFINITE LEAVE OF ABSENCE BECAUSE OF MEDICAL REASONS WHILE THE DIRECTOR OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ROBIN OLIVIER IS ON LEAVE THROUGH JUNE AND HAS SUBMITTED DOCUMENTS THAT INDICATE SHE INTENDS TO RETIRE. SAMEC AND OLIVIER ARE AMONG SEVERAL ADMINISTRATORS NAMED IN A FEDERAL LAWSUIT, BUT IT’S NOT CLEAR IF THERE IS A CONNECTION TO THEIR CURRENT LEAVES. THE LAWSUIT, FILED BY A FORMER EMPLOYEE, AZADEH YAZDI, CLAIMS SHE WAS HARASSED AND THREATENED AFTER SHE ALLEGED THAT THE SCHOOLS OF CHOICE LOTTERY WAS RIGGED.
DEVELOPERS ARE HOPING TO PUT UP AN INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING MEGA-SITE IN VINTON. THEY ARE ASKING THAT TEN THOUSAND ACRES BE REZONED FROM AGRICULTURAL TO LIGHT INDUSTRIAL. ONE OF THE APPLICANTS, MIKE MCMURRY, SAYS THE AREA IS PERFECT FOR A MEGA-SITE BECAUSE THERE’S PLENTY OF LAND AND IT SITS NEXT TO A MAJOR INTERSTATE. ON JUNE 19TH, THE CALCASIEU PLANNING AND PARISH ZONING BOARD WILL VOTE ON THE REQUEST, AND THEIR RECOMMENDATION WILL GO TO THE POLICE JURY, WHO WILL MAKE THE FINAL DECISION.
THE IBERIA PARISH CORONER HAS RELEASED THE IDENTITY OF A MAN WHO DROWNED IN BAYOU TECHE ON MAY 16TH. HE IS 27-YEAR-OLD AARON ROGERS. A HOMEOWNER IN THE 39-HUNDRED BLOCK OF NORTHSIDE ROAD TOLD DEPUTIES THAT HE CONFRONTED A SUSPICIOUS MAN ON HIS PROPERTY, WHO THEN RAN AWAY AND JUMPED INTO THE BAYOU. THE HOMEOWNER SAYS HE WATCHED THE MAN SWIM FOR ABOUT ONE HUNDRED YARDS AND THEN GO UNDER THE WATER WITHOUT RESURFACING.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has stripped 40 projects from Louisiana’s $3.6 billion construction budget before signing it into law. The governor’s office announced the line-item vetoes Wednesday, describing removal of $39 million in local projects as a prioritization of Louisiana’s limited construction dollars. Most of the projects jettisoned by Edwards are located in parishes represented by Republicans who often vote at odds with the Democratic governor. Vetoed projects include dollars for road work in Acadia, St. Landry, Iberia and Vermilion parishes and a $12 million road extension in Lafayette was stripped. The Port of Iberia won’t get road money. Drainage work in Iberia, Vermilion and Rapides parishes was jettisoned, as well.
The just-ended special session was largely a bust, but Louisiana’s working poor families won a tax break from state lawmakers in the final hours. Some Democrats, particularly members of the Legislative Black Caucus, held their support for a sales tax renewal until they successfully expanded a tax break program for the working poor with children, called the Earned Income Tax Credit.
THIS WEEK, THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL REJECTED TWO FORMAL APPEALS FILED BY RESIDENTS OF A NEIGHBORHOOD AGAINST A PROPOSED SEVEN ACRE PARKING LOT. THE LOT IS FOR A PROPOSED ACURA DEALERSHIP THAT WILL GO UP ALONG JOHNSTON STREET. THE LOT WAS REZONED IN FEBRUARY TO ALLOW THE NEW DEALERSHIP, BUT RESIDENTS OF A NEARBY NEIGHBORHOOD, WHO OPPOSE THE PARKING LOT, HAVE TRIED TO STOP IT. ONE OF THEIR CONCERNS IS THAT THE PARKING LOT WILL WORSEN THEIR RISKS OF FLOODING.
A WOMAN WHO WORKED AT A NOW DEFUNCT DRIVING SCHOOL IN LAKE CHARLES HAS PLEADED GUILTY TO CHARGES OF STALKING. ANGEL OWENS WAS ACCUSED OF TARGETING SOME OF HER STUDENTS AND TRYING TO CONTACT THEM BY PHONE OR MESSAGES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. DENISSE PARALES, A SEVERE CHILD ABUSE PROSECUTOR FOR CALCASIEU PARISH, SAYS SHE THREATENED THE STUDENTS IF THEY DIDN’T ANSWER HER MESSAGES OR PHONE CALLS. OWENS WON’T GO TO PRISON UNLESS SHE VIOLATES THE TERMS OF HER PROBATION, AND SHE HAS TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.
THE CITY OF RAYNE HAS DEVELOPED A TOOL THAT WILL CLEAR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS OF SLUDGE MORE QUICKLY AND COST-EFFICIENTLY. REPRESENTATIVES FROM ACROSS THE STATE CAME TO RAYNE YESTERDAY FOR A TRAINING SESSION WITH THE NEW TOOL THAT WAS HOSTED BY MAYOR CHUCK ROBICHEAUX. THE MAYOR OF BOGALUSA, WENDY PERRETTE, SAYS THEY HAVE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH RAYNE CITY OFFICIALS TO LEARN THE NEW SYSTEM AND BRING IT THERE. MAYOR JENNIFER VIDRINE OF VILLE PLATTE SAYS THEY ARE GETTING THE TOOL THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
