8-13-15
ONE ACADIANA IS URGING STATE OFFICE HOLDERS TO MAINTAIN EDUCATION REFORMS MADE OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS AND INCREASE FUNDING FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. OFFICIALS WITH ONE ACADIANA, AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR THE REGION, TALKED ABOUT PUBLIC EDUCATION AT A NEWS CONFERENCE YESTERDAY IN LAFAYETTE. C-E-O AND PRESIDENT OF ONE ACADIANA, JASON EL KOUBI, SAYS LOUISIANA HAS MADE GAINS OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, INCREASING BASIC LEVEL SCORING BY TWENTY POINTS, BUT THE STATE STILL LAGS IN COMPARISON TO THE REST OF THE NATION. ONE ACADIANA WANTS THE STATE LEGISLATURE TO MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE ACADEMIC STANDARDS, KEEP AND IMPROVE THE ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM THAT GUAGES THE STANDARDS, AND KEEP CHARTER SCHOOL OPTIONS OPEN FOR FAMILIES.
A JEFF DAVIS PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTY SAVED THREE PEOPLE FROM DYING IN THEIR BURNING HOME EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. DEPUTY JOSH BIENVENU RECEIVED A CALL ABOUT THE FIRE AT A HOUSE IN LACASSINE AND WHEN HE ARRIVED HE SAW SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE HOME. BIENVENU TELLS KPLC TV THAT HE RECEIVED A CALL NOT TO ENTER THE HOME, BUT FELT IT WAS HIS DUTY NOT TO LEAVE THE PEOPLE IN THERE. BIENVENU SAYS HE FOUND THE THREE, WOKE THEM UP, AND LED THEM OUT OF THE HOUSE.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN SET FOR TRACY FRANQUES, THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORTER KILLED IN A CAR CRASH ON I-TEN TUESDAY. JULIE DARCE HAS THE DETAILS.
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Dozens of Louisiana shrimpers — ranging from Vietnamese-Americans to Cajun fishermen — rallied Wednesday in downtown New Orleans to bewail low prices, farm-raised shrimp imports and other woes in their industry. Shrimpers spoke out at a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, a body of industry and government representatives that regulates fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The group is meeting in New Orleans this week. The shrimpers say they’re struggling against a flood of cheap farm-raised imported shrimp, market uncertainties, hurricanes, the lingering effects of the massive BP oil spill and high fuel prices.
TWO YEARS AGO, THE LAFAYETTE PARISH ASSESSOR’S OFFICE BEGAN INVESTIGATING WHETHER THOSE CLAIMING HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS ON THEIR PROPERTIES WERE LEGITIMATE. ASSESSOR CONRAD COMEAUX SAYS SO FAR THEY HAVE CHECKED OUT 16 THOUSAND CLAIMS, OF WHICH 400 WERE INVALID. HE SAYS THAT RESULTED IN MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS BEING ADDED TO THE PROPERTY TAX ROLLS FOR THE PARISH, AND IT COST ABOUT 68 THOUSAND DOLLARS TO CHECK THOSE PROPERTIES. HE SAYS WHEN THEY FINISH CHECKING ALL THE PROPERTIES, IT COULD BRING IN A TOTAL OF 600 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
A MISSIONARY TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WITH TIES TO THE SULPHUR AREA DIED LAST WEEK AFTER SAVING THREE TEENAGERS FROM A RIPTIDE AT A SANTO DOMINGO BEACH. 41-YEAR-OLD JOSHUA STEPHEN WESSON AND A FOURTH TEEN DROWNED. WESSON AND HIS FAMILY, INCLUDING HIS WIFE, JOY, WHO ALSO IS FROM SULPHUR, AND FOUR CHILDREN, HAVE BEEN IN MISSIONS FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS. A FUNERAL SERVICE WILL BE HELD AT TWO P-M FRIDAY AT GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH IN SULPHUR.
THE WIDOW OF MELVIN LEBLANC, WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY TWO CROWLEY POLICE OFFICERS, FILED A LAWSUIT MONDAY AGAINST THE TWO OFFICERS AS WELL AS THE CROWLEY MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF. AMY LEBLANC CLAIMS IN THE LAWSUIT THAT THE OFFICERS HAD THEIR BODY CAMERAS OFF AS THEY SHOT HER HUSBAND EXECUTION STYLE. IN A STATEMENT RELEASED YESTERDAY, POLICE CHIEF K-P GIBSON SAYS STATE POLICE INVESTIGATED THE CASE AND THE 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE DECLINED TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST THE OFFICERS. HE QUESTIONED THE TIMING OF THE LAWSUIT COMING AS HE RUNS FOR ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF.
Louisiana’s lottery is raking in more cash from players. The state lottery corporation announced Wednesday it took in nearly $454 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The corporation says that’s up about $3.3 million from the prior year and the lottery’s second-largest haul since operations began in 1991. Lottery President Rose Hudson said in a statement that the biggest increase was in scratch-off tickets, with sales up 13 percent.
