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THE PUBLIC WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE COMMENTS ON THE I-49 CONNECTOR PROJECT AT AN OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEDNESDAY. THE OPEN HOUSE WILL BE FROM THREE TO SEVEN AT THE PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH CENTER IN LAFAYETTE, WHERE 19 PROPOSED CONCEPTS OF THE 5-POINT-5 MILE CONNECTOR WILL BE ON DISPLAY. THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HAS SUBMITTED A LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT ON TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT ABOUT SEVEN THINGS THEY SAY MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT. THE LETTER BY THE AUTHORITY SAYS THAT THE CONNECTOR HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE AN ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR THE AREA, BUT IT MUST BE “DONE RIGHT.”
Officials say a Kinder couple died in a house fire early Saturday morning.
KPLC-TV reports that Tommy and Melissa Boudoin, both 48, died in the fire, according to Brant Thompson, chief deputy with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The fire began before 3 a.m. Thompson says there were no working fire alarms in the house.
A 21-YEAR-OLD CROWLEY MAN WAS KILLED IN A DRIVE BY SHOOTING SHORTLY BEFORE FOUR SATURDAY MORNING. JARAI ANDRUS WAS RIDING IN A CAR IN THE 600 BLOCK OF ROSS AVENUE IN CROWLEY WHEN A PERSON IN ANOTHER VEHICLE FIRED SHOTS. ANDRUS WAS HIT IN THE HEAD AND WAS LATER PRONOUNCED DEAD AT ACADIA GENERAL HOSPITAL. POLICE BELIEVE THE SUSPECTS MAY BE FROM RAYNE, BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE A MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTING.
The former Ku Klux Klan leader who earned a runoff spot in Louisiana’s 1991 governor’s race is linking his latest political comeback try to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Sixty-six-year-old David Duke has never regained the political stardom he achieved in his unsuccessful 1991 race against Edwin Edwards. Now, he’s one of 24 people who signed up for an open U.S. Senate seat and his campaign rhetoric includes the claim that Trump and the Republicans now embrace his vision. Republicans are repudiating him and political analysts question whether he can achieve political success again.
PROPERTY TAX BILLS COULD BE HIGHER THIS YEAR FOR LAFAYETTE PARISH RESIDENTS. THE PARISH ASSESSOR’S OFFICE HAS DETERMINED THAT PROPERTY VALUES IN THE PARISH ROSE BY AN AVERAGE OF 8-POINT-5 PERCENT SINCE THE LAST REASSESSMENT IN 2012. PARISH ASSESSOR CONRAD COMEAUX SAYS THAT, DESPITE THE RECENT ECONOMIC DOWNTOWN, HOMES HAVE RETAINED OR INCREASED IN VALUE IN MANY PARTS OF THE PARISH. THE CITY PARISH COUNCIL WILL HAVE TO VOTE ON WHETHER TO ROLL BACK THE MILLAGES TO KEEP REVENUES THE SAME OR KEEP THE TAX RATES AT THE SAME LEVEL, WHICH WILL RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN TAX COLLECTIONS.
A man accused of killing his first wife in 1962 is scheduled for trial Aug. 8.
KPLC-TV reports that Felix Vail’s lawyer will ask for a trial outside of Lake Charles for the Mississippi native. Andrew Casanave spoke Friday after arguing pretrial motions before Judge Robert Wyatt. Vail is charged with the second-degree murder of Mary Elizabeth Vail.
A federal judge has refused to allow a south Louisiana sheriff, accused of making anti-Semitic threats, to carry a gun while awaiting trial on charges he directed officers to assault prisoners. During a hearing Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna said he can’t “turn a blind eye” to statements like those that Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal allegedly made on tape. Prosecutors said an “unsolicited informant” recently provided them with recordings of a conversation in which Ackal claims he threatened to shoot a prosecutor between his “Jewish eyes” after the prosecutor vowed to send him to prison. Ackal has been prohibited from possessing firearms since his March indictment, but his attorney argued that recent killings of police officers in Baton Rouge and Dallas demonstrate he needs a gun to protect himself.
MORE THAN 400 NEW LOUISIANA LAWS TAKE EFFECT TODAY. JULIE DARCE TELLS US ABOUT A FEW OF THEM.
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