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A FRONT TIRE FAILURE IS BEING BLAMED FOR A MULTIVEHICLE CRASH ON I-TEN IN ACADIA PARISH NEAR DUSON THAT RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF TWO MEN. STATE POLICE SAY SIXTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD NICHOLAS ANTHONY OF NEW IBERIA WAS TRAVELING EAST ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN HE LOST CONTROL OF HIS EIGHTEEN WHEELER BECAUSE THE FRONT TIRE WENT DOWN. HE STRUCK A FORD F-TWO-FIFTY AND DRAGGED IT THROUGH THE MEDIAN INTO WESTBOUND TRAFFIC, HITTING A TOYOTA RAV-FOUR AND A DODGE RAM PICKUP. THE TWO VICTIMS WERE THIRTY-YEAR-OLD JOHN COOPER GUIDRY OF IOWA, WHO WAS A PASSENGER IN THE RAM PICKUP, AND THIRTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD JOSHUA LEE BABINEAUX OF LAFAYETTE, WHO WAS DRIVING THE RAV-FOUR.
IN TWENTY-EIGHTEEN, THIRTEEN PEOPLE IN LAFAYETTE PARISH DIED FROM A FENTANYL OVERDOSE. THAT NUMBER WENT UP TO TWENTY-FIVE IN TWENTY-NINETEEN, THEN FIFTY LAST YEAR, AND, SO FAR THIS YEAR, THIRTY-SEVEN DEATHS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO FENTANYL OVERDOSES, ACCORDING TO THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORONER. LOCAL ACTIVIST GROUPS SAY THE DRAMATIC GROWTH IN THE DEATHS IS DUE TO FENTANYL BEING FOUND IN NEARLY EVERY DRUG ON THE STREET. KADY DOUGLAS OF THE GROUP ACADIANA HARM REDUCTION SAYS FENTANYL IS VERY DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT ONLY TAKES THE EQUIVALENT OF FOUR GRAINS OF SAND TO KILL.
Louisiana’s Black state lawmakers are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the patterns and practices of the State Police. Tuesday’s announcement comes as the law enforcement agency’s treatment of African Americans is under scrutiny. The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus letter calls on the DOJ to determine if troopers have systematically violated the constitutional rights of Black people. Federal officials already are conducting a civil rights investigation into the fatal arrest of Ronald Greene, a Black man who was punched and dragged by troopers before his death in May 2019.
CITGO Petroleum Corp. has agreed to pay $19.7 million to restore natural resources damaged during a 2006 spill at its southwest Louisiana refinery that saw millions of gallons of waste oil and wastewater sent into the Calcasieu River estuary. The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports the agreement involving CITGO’s Westlake refinery came in a consent decree the company entered with the U.S. Justice Department and federal and state trustees in federal court. The new deal means CITGO must pay almost $115 million in fines over the damage the spill caused, when combined with earlier settlements.
ELECTED LEADERS FROM PARISHES AROUND ACADIANA ARE PROPOSING GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS AND THE STATE LEGISLATURE TAP INTO MILLIONS IN FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS FOR LOCAL FIBER INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS MORE.
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LAST NIGHT THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL UANIMOUSLY APPROVED THE CREATION OF A CITY PARISH ALIGNMENT COMMISSION. THE NINE MEMBER COMMISSION WOULD BE GIVEN THE TASK OF PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE WORKING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PARISH AND CITY COUNCILS. AMONG THE NINVE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION WOULD BE MAYOR PRESIDENT JOSH GUILLORY. THE COMMISSION WOULD LAST FOR SIX MONTHS.
Attorneys fighting mandatory state bar association membership and dues in Texas and Louisiana have won important victories at a federal appeals court in New Orleans. The court said Texas must stop requiring attorneys to join or pay dues to that state’s bar association unless and until it gives them a better opportunity to object to some of the ways the money is spent. The appeals court also revived a lawsuit in which a Louisiana attorney objected on First Amendment grounds to being forced to join the state’s bar association. The suits are among at least six being pursued by lawyers in some of the 31 states requiring bar association membership.
A HOUSE THAT CAUGHT FIRE IN NEW IBERIA MONDAY NIGHT WAS RECENTLY SEARCHED IN CONNECTION TO THE DEATH OF KITTY RIDEAUX. THE FIFTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD WOMAN’S BODY WAS FOUND ON JUNE FOURTH BEHIND AN ABANDONED HOUSE AND IT WAS DETERMINED SHE DIED FROM BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. THE HOUSE THAT BURNED BELONGED TO THE BOYFRIEND OF RIDEAUX, AND THEY HAD ONCE LIVED TOGETHER. NEIGHBORS ARE WONDERING IF THE FIRE WAS INTENTIONALLY SET OR IF IT COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY LEFTOVER FIREWORKS FROM JULY FOURTH, ACCORDING TO K-A-T-C.
