7-13-15
U-L LAFAYETTE WILL BE DEMOLISHING SOME OLDER, UNUSED BUILDINGS IN ORDER TO MAKE ROOM FOR MORE GREEN SPACE. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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A BURGLARY SUSPECT SHOT HIMSELF TWICE IN THE FOOT YESTERDAY WHILE HE WAS BEING HELD IN THE BACK OF A LAKE CHARLES POLICE CRUISER. A VIDEO IN THE POLICE CRUISER SHOWED THAT THE SUSPECT FOUND THE GUN IN AN EQUIPMENT BAG THAT WAS LEFT IN THE BACK SEAT. IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHETHER THE SUSPECT INTENDED TO SHOOT HIMSELF OR WAS TRYING TO SHOOT THE OFFICER. THE TWO OFFICERS IN CHARGE OF TRANSPORTING THE SUSPECT TO A DETENTION CENTER WERE PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE PENDING AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION.
TODAY IN BATON ROUGE, A SUSPECT IN THE 1984 MURDER OF A CROWLEY BUSINESSMAN WILL GO ON TRIAL. LAST YEAR, RONALD DUNNAGAN PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO SECOND DEGREE MURDER FOR THE DEATH OF GARY KERGAN. HIS ALLEGED ACCOMPLICE, LEILA MULLA, PLED GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER. SHE RECEIVED A THIRTY YEAR PRISON SENTENCE IN EXCHANGE FOR HER COOPERATION.
The main group representing the Louisiana film industry has decided it won’t file a lawsuit over a new law aimed at paring back the state’s generous film tax credit program. The Advocate reports that the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association will instead focus on proposing reforms to the legislation. The new law, which passed in the closing hours of the session that ended last month, says a maximum of $180 million in film tax credits can be cashed in during each of the next three fiscal years, starting this month. The association says it will not sue because Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration has so far interpreted the new law in industry-friendly terms.
The longtime secretary to former Lafayette Parish District Attorney Mike Harson has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in a yearslong bribery scheme that involved DWI offenders. The Advocate reports 61-year-old Barna D. Haynes, who pleaded guilty in 2013, was ordered Friday to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 20. Haynes was a central figure in a federal investigation that resulted in guilty pleas from other members of the 15th District Attorney’s Office and the DWI scheme leader, former private investigator Robert Williamson. Harson was not identified as a target of the investigation, but federal prosecutors wrote in court filings that the scheme was carried out without Harson’s knowledge because of a “lack of oversight and safeguards.”
THE BODY OF A DERIDDER MAN, WHO DROWNED IN THE SABINE RIVER NEAR NIBLETT’S BLUFF PARK, WAS RECOVERED EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. 28-YEAR-OLD SHANNON GODFREY DROWNED ON JULY 4TH, AND CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF TONY MANCUSO THANKED HIS MARINE DIVISION, WHICH, HE SAYS, WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK FOR SEVEN DAYS IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND THE BODY. GODFREY HAD GONE INTO THE RIVER TO RETRIEVE A BALL THAT WAS BEING USED FOR A GAME OF KICKBALL. HIS BODY WAS FOUND LESS THAN A HUNDRED YARDS FROM WHERE HE HAD GONE UNDER.
Louisiana State Police say a motorcyclist was killed Saturday in a two-vehicle accident on state Highway 82 in Vermilion Parish. State police identified the victim as 35-year-old Stephen Gilkey of Lafayette. Police say Gilkey died when a car apparently turned in front of his motorcycle and he could not avoid the collision. Police say the accident remains under investigation.
First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending July 4 remained the same from the previous week’s total of 2,707. For the comparable week a year earlier, the state department of labor said Friday there were 2,301 claims. Construction had the largest decrease in initial claims, followed by administrative and waste services. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 2,758 from the previous week’s average of 2,924.
