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LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCILMAN BRUCE CONQUE HAS PROPOSED CUTTING THE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL’S OFFICE BY MORE THAN 730 THOUSAND DOLLARS. CITY PARISH APPROPRIATIONS MAKE UP ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CITY MARSHAL OFFICE’S REVENUES, WITH THE REMAINDER COMING FROM FEES AND COMMISSIONS. CONQUE CRITICIZED CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE FOR EMPLOYING TWENTY DEPUTIES, WHICH HE BELIEVES IS TOO MANY. AT A BUDGET MEETING LAST NIGHT, POPE ACCUSED CONQUE OF ACTING OUT OF A PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST HIM.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF TWO MEN WHO COMMITTED AN ARMED ROBBERY ON JULY 19TH. 21-YEAR-OLD CHANCE O’NEAL DUNCAN WAS ALREADY IN THE CALCASIEU PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER FACING ANOTHER CHARGE AND NOW HE’S BEEN CHARGED WITH ARMED ROBBERY AND ARMED ROBBERY WITH A FIREARM. O’NEAL AND ANOTHER MAN ALLEGEDLY ROBBED A MAN ON FALL STREET OF HIS WALLET, CELL PHONE, AND OTHER PERSONAL EFFECTS. THE VICTIM IDENTIFIED O’NEAL AS ONE OF THE SUSPECTS.
THE TOWN OF DELCAMBRE WILL BEGIN INSTALLING NEW WATER LINES AND NEW WATER METERS IN THE NEXT MONTH. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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Louisiana expects to spend $649 million on homeowner rebuilding aid after the 2016 floods, only about half the federal money Congress set aside for the effort.
The Advocate reports 44 percent fewer households than anticipated are expected to access money allocated for homeowners in the Restore Louisiana program. Despite heavy publicity, a new state report says more than 20,000 south Louisiana households with significant damage never took the first step to tap into the $1.3 billion in assistance. Community development director Pat Forbes says some people in Louisiana just don’t want help.
Officials in Acadiana’s largest city are hoping to lure residents to a commercial and business district. KATC-TV reports Lafayette officials are promoting plans to redevelop the city’s Oil Center district, once a hub for petroleum exploration offices. Downtown Development Authority CEO Geoff Dyer says the plan aims to make the Oil Center more walkable and increase business at night. The city could add on-street parking along a major thoroughfare and narrow travel lanes to reduce driver speed.
LAKE CHARLES POLICE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR A SUSPECT WHO FORCED HIS WAY INTO A SOUTH LAKE CHARLES HOME AND ASSAULTED THE WOMAN, WHO WAS HOME ALONE. THE MAN WAS CAUGHT ON SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AND SERGEANT JEFFREY KEENUM SAYS IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THEY CATCH THE SUSPECT, WHO IS A TALL BLACK MAN WITH A SLENDER BUILD. THE WOMAN, WHO WAS IN HER 60’S, WAS HOSPITALIZED AFTER THE ATTACK AND ROBBERY. NEIGHBORS TELL KPLC TV THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAS HAPPENED AND IT HAS LED THEM TO TEAM WITH POLICE TO FORM A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH GROUP.
THE EVANGELINE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD HAS PURCHASED WALK-THROUGH METAL DETECTORS FOR EACH SCHOOL IN THE PARISH. SUPERINTENDENT DARWAN LAZARD TELLS KLFY TV THAT THIS PUTS THE SCHOOLS IN THE BEST POSITION TO BE SAFE. HE SAYS IT SHOULD DETER ANY POSSIBLE ATTEMPT TO BRING A GUN ON CAMPUS. LAST YEAR EVANGELINE PARISH SCHOOLS SAW A NUMBER OF LOCKDOWNS AND SOME CANCELED DAYS DUE TO SHOOTING THREATS, LEADING THE SCHOOL BOARD TO PURCHASE THE METAL DETECTORS.
Louisiana’s recreational red snapper season has closed. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced Saturday evening that anglers were expected to reach their quota of 743,000 pounds of red snapper on Sunday. The weekends-only season ended at one minute before midnight Sunday. The department secretary may reopen the season if final data shows anglers far enough below their quota to allow additional fishing for the popular sport and table fish.
