7-31-15
IN A RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FROM THE MEDIA, THE LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH GOVERNMENT RELEASED SEVERAL 9-1-1 CALLS FROM LAST WEEK’S SHOOTING AT THE GRAND 16 THEATRE. THEY RELEASED SIX OF THE EMERGENCY CALLS OUT OF THE MORE THAN 500 DIRECT CALLS TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, MOST OF WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN REVIEWED BY THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT. HERE IS ONE OF THOSE RECORDINGS.
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THE CITY PARISH GOVERNMENT ALSO RELEASED RECORDINGS OF CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN POLICE AND DISPATCHERS, AS WELL AS SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF THE SHOOTER, JOHN RUSSELL HOUSER, PURCHASING A TICKET.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it confiscated $10,000 worth of alligator eggs from two southwest Louisiana men accused of collecting them without a permit. Enforcement spokesman Gabe Giffin says 47-year-old Paul Canik (KAN-ik) of Grand Chenier showed agents his permit to collect alligator eggs, but the trail of marsh grass bent by his airboat led to nests outside the area covered by the permit. He says Canik and 24-year-old Christopher Trahan of Lake Charles were ticketed July 21. Giffin says taking alligator eggs without a permit carries a first-offense fine of $400 to $900 and up to 120 days in jail.
A STATE DISTRICT JUDGE HAS DECLARED A MISTRIAL IN THE CASE OF A EUNICE MAN ACCUSED IN THE DEATH OF HIS GIRLFRIEND’S 19 MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER IN FEBRUARY OF 2013. ROY RICHARD, THE ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT MILLER THE THIRD, ASKED FOR THE MISTRIAL BECAUSE THE JURY HEARD PORTIONS OF A TAPED INTERVIEW WITH MILLER, THAT HAD BEEN RULED INADMISSABLE. THE TAPED STATEMENT INCLUDED ALLEGATIONS OF PAST CRIMINAL ACTIVITY BY MILLER. RICHARD SAYS JUDGE ALONZO HARRIS SCHEDULED A NEW TRIAL FOR MILLER IN NOVEMBER.
Hundreds of new Louisiana laws take effect tomorrow. Anyone who shares a nude or partially-nude cell phone picture or video without permission will now face up to two years in jail and a fine reaching $10,000. Victims of domestic violence will have more freedom to break a lease to escape an abuser. More information will be distributed to the public about Louisiana’s safe haven law that allows a parent to relinquish a baby until they’re two months old. And state wildlife officials will be able to enforce federal requirements for shrimp nets to include escape hatches for sea turtles.
INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY NOW KNOW WHO FIRED THE SHOT THAT KILLED A LAFAYETTE MURDER SUSPECT. HERE’S JEFF HORCHEK.
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A GROUP OF FRENCH SPEAKING LEGISLATORS FROM CANADA, FRANCE, BELGIUM AND LOUISIANA VISITED THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE STATE YESTERDAY TO VIEW THE ECONOMIC RESOURCES THERE. THEY STARTED THE TOUR AT CHENIERE ENERGY IN CAMERON AND MADE THEIR WAY TO THE PORT OF LAKE CHARLES. STATE SENATOR ERIC LAFLEUR OF VILLE PLATTE, WHO ACCOMPANIED THE GROUP, SAYS THEY ARE VISITING THE STATE TO SEE HOW FRENCH IS PROMOTED, BUT ALSO TO LOOK AT THE ECONOMICS HERE. ONE LEGISLATOR, MIKE ELLIS OF ALBERTA, CANADA, SAID YESTERDAY’S TOUR WAS VERY HELPFUL BECAUSE HE COMES FROM AN AREA RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES AS WELL, SUCH AS OIL AND GAS.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CROWLEY IS CELEBRATING THEIR 125TH ANNIVERSARY THIS MONDAY. THEY ARE INVITING THE PUBLIC TO A SPECIAL SERVICE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT TWO P-M. REVEREND JIM WALMSLEY OF GRACE PRESBYTERIAN IN LAFAYETTE WILL LEAD THE SERVICE WITH MUSIC PROVIDED BY A COMMUNITY CHOIR. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN BEGAN AT THE ACADIA COLLEGE CHAPEL ON NORTH PARKERSON AVENUE ON AUGUST THIRD, 1890, AND HAVE BEEN IN THEIR CURRENT BUILDING AT 321 EAST FOURTH STREET SINCE 1929.
A hearing about whether to throw out former Lafayette Parish Superintendent Pat Cooper’s breach-of-contract claim for damages is scheduled Sept. 8. Cooper, who was fired by the Lafayette Parish School Board in November, filed a claim for damages alleging breach of contract in response to the board’s demand that he repay the board for expenses incurred for not complying with board decisions.
Those expenses included: more than $5,000 to cover Cooper’s legal bill; the salary of Thad Welch, an employee whose salary the board eliminated from the budget but Cooper continued to employ; and expenses incurred when Cooper refused to implement the board’s adopted budget in 2014. The Advocate reports the hearing is related to Cooper’s initial legal challenge against the board where he questioned its handling of the budget process.
