7-13-18
A LAFAYETTE WOMAN, WHO CLAIMS SHE WAS RAPED BY AN UBER DRIVER LAST OCTOBER, IS SUING THE COMPANY. THE VICTIM SAYS SHE WAS PICKED UP FROM A DOWNTOWN BAR BY THE UBER DRIVER, 55-YEAR-OLD MAURICE RACCA, WHO THEN ALLEGEDLY FORCED HIS WAY INTO HER APARTMENT AND ASSAULTED HER. RACCA WAS ARRESTED THE SAME DAY AND, IN MAY, WAS CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE RAPE AND AGGRAVATED BURGLARY. UBER SPOKESPERSON JODI PAGE TELLS THE ADVOCATE THAT RACCA’S ACCESS TO THE COMPANY’S PLATFORM WAS REMOVED AS SOON AS THE ASSAULT WAS REPORTED TO THEM, BUT THEY DECLINED COMMENT ON THE COURT PROCEEDINGS.
A SURVEY OF CALCASIEU PARISH RESIDENTS ON THEIR TOP CONCERNS HAS HELPED THE POLICE JURY IDENTIFY SIX PRIORITY AREAS FOR THE FUTURE. THE TOP CONCERN IS INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS DUE TO POPULATION GROWTH. PARISH ADMINISTRATOR BRYAN BEAM SAYS AN 18 MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT TO EXTEND COACH WILLIAMS DRIVE FROM OLD SPANISH TRAIL TO HOUSTON RIVER ROAD WILL HELP A LOT IN THE MOSSVILLE AREA AND WEST CALCASIEU PARISH. HE SAYS THEY ARE ALSO OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS MOVING FORWARD WITH SEVERAL DETENTION POND PROJECTS WHICH WILL HELP WITH DRAINAGE, ANOTHER TOP CONCERN, ACCORDING TO AREA RESIDENTS WHO WERE SURVEYED.
OPELOUSAS POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING A SHOOTING THAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT. ONE PERSON WAS WOUNDED IN THE 400 BLOCK OF COLORADO AVENUE. THAT PERSON WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL, BUT THERE’S NO WORD ON THAT PERSON’S CONDITION. POLICE HAVE NOT RELEASED ANY INFORMATION ON A POTENTIAL SUSPECT.
The federal government’s Aug. 15 oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico will offer slightly more acreage than officials originally announced. A news release Thursday said the government’s final notice of sale is offering 78 million acres. That’s about 700,000 acres more than described in March. This is the third sale offering all unleased acreage in the Gulf.
THE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FOR LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE HAVE INDICATED THEY WILL CLAIM HIS FREE SPEECH RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED IN HIS UPCOMING TRIAL AND THAT HE IS BEING SELECTIVELY PROSECUTED. POPE FACES SEVEN FELONY CHARGES INCLUDING MALFEASANCE IN OFFICE AND PERJURY. POPE WAS CHARGED WHEN HE REFUSED TO COMPLY WITH A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST FROM THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IN 2015. THE CASE CENTERS AROUND A NEWS CONFERENCE HE HELD IN UNIFORM WITH SOME OF HIS DEPUTIES IN WHICH HE ENDORSED A CANDIDATE FOR LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF.
Endangered whooping cranes released into the wilds of Jeff Davis Parish have had their best hatching season so far, with five chicks foraging in crawfish ponds. The majestic birds barely escaped extinction: the 670 alive today all are descendants of 15 counted in Texas in 1941. Work in many states and Canada to preserve the species includes raising chicks for release into the wild. Four pairs of whooping cranes released as youngsters in southwest Louisiana built nests in crawfish ponds this year, hatching five chicks.
THE RAYNE AND LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENTS TEAMED UP FOR ACTIVE SHOOTING TRAINING AT RAYNE HIGH SCHOOL ON THURSDAY. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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Louisiana authorities are seeking a court order that would rule out any executions in the state for at least one more year. A lawsuit challenging the state’s lethal injection protocols has blocked Louisiana from carrying out any death sentences since 2014. Its last execution was in 2010. Drug shortages have forced Louisiana’s corrections department to rewrite its execution plan several times since 2010.
