8-11-15
SEVERAL GROUPS HELPED RAISE AT LEAST 275 THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THE VICTIMS IN THE GRAND 16 THEATRE SHOOTING LAST MONTH. THOSE GROUPS MET TOGETHER LAST NIGHT TO DETERMINE HOW TO DISTRIBUTE THE MONEY. THE UNITED WAY OF ACADIANA IS HELPING THE GROUPS IDENTIFY WHO SHOULD GET THE MONEY AND HOW MUCH EACH VICTIM SHOULD RECEIVE. ELEVEN PEOPLE WERE SHOT, INCLUDING TWO KILLED, BUT DETECTIVE STEPHEN BAJAT, THE LEAD INVESTIGATOR IN THE SHOOTING, SAYS THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE THEATRE, WHO WERE TRAUMATIZED BY THE EVENT, ALSO SHOULD RECEIVE SOME HELP.
FBI and federal Department of Homeland Security agents are searching marsh near the Interstate 10 bridge in Lake Charles, but officials say only that it’s a crime scene. The American Press reports that an earth mover and dump truck have cleared a bit of marsh near a boat launch and the bridge. KPLC-TV reports that crews focused Monday on brush near the boat launch and water directly under the bridge. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Myers says she sent a brief news release saying the area had been declared a crime scene so motorists would know there was not any danger to them.
ONE ARREST HAS BEEN MADE IN CONNECTION WITH A PERSON WHO TRIED TO STEAL AN ATM WITH A BACKHOE. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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A transportation advocacy group says Louisiana’s next governor should back an increase in the state’s gasoline tax, to help shrink the state’s backlog of infrastructure needs, fill potholes and ease traffic. Louisiana has a backlog of highway and bridge improvements and repairs that tops $12 billion. The Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation Association recommended Monday at least a 10-cent hike to the state’s 20-cent gas tax, to raise $250 million to $280 million annually. None of the state’s four major gubernatorial candidates has committed to support a gas tax hike.
U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley says a 31-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for claiming there was a bomb on a university campus to distract police from an attempt to rob a bank. Finley says in a news release that District Judge Richard Haik sentenced Devin Haywood of Lafayette on Monday for the incident in July 2014. Haywood pleaded guilty in March to one count each of attempted bank robbery and using a facility in interstate commerce — a cellphone — to threaten or maliciously convey false information. As part of that plea, he admitted making a bomb threat that forced evacuation of all students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and trying to rob a bank.
AN OVERFLOW CROWD WAS ON HAND FOR LAST NIGHT’S SULPHUR CITY COUNCIL MEETING AS THE COUNCIL LOOKED AT AMENDING THE SMOKE FREE AIR ORDINANCE. THE ORDINANCE WENT INTO EFFECT THREE WEEKS AGO, BUT SOME BUSINESSES HAVE REPORTED A MAJOR DROP IN REVENUES SINCE THEN. THE COUNCIL PROPOSED AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD ALLOW SMOKING AT BARS, CASINOS AND BINGO HALLS. THE COUNCIL WILL HOLD A SPECIAL MEETING TO CONSIDER THE AMENDMENTS FURTHER ON AUGUST 24TH.
STUDENTS AT ACADIA PARISH SCHOOLS WILL NOTICE THE CLASSROOMS ARE BRIGHTER THIS YEAR. THE SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS INSTALLED NEW L-E-D LIGHTS, AND SUPERINTENDENT JOHN BOURQUE TELLS KATC TV THAT IT’S AMAZING WHEN YOU SEE THE CLASSROOMS LIT UP. IN ADDITION TO THAT, CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING UNITS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED AT FIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: IN EGAN, EVANGELINE, ESTHERWOOD, MERMENTAU AND MORSE. TEACHERS WILL NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE NOISE CREATED BY WINDOW UNITS THAT USED TO COOL THOSE BUILDING’S CLASSROOMS.
Despite controversy about Louisiana’s use of the Common Core education standards, only a few hundred people have submitted comments for a public review process of the English and math benchmarks. The Department of Education said Monday that during the first month of an ongoing comment period, 723 individuals sent in 29,809 “pieces of feedback” on the multistate standards of what students should learn at each grade level. Sixty percent of commenters described themselves as educators, 23 percent as parents, 7 percent as district or school administrators and the rest as members of the public or other education institutions. The first meeting of the education standards review committees is set for Aug. 19 in Baton Rouge, with final recommendations to be made in February.
