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THE LAFAYETTE EDUCATION FOUNDATION HAS ANNOUNCED THE TEACHERS WHO HAVE WON TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE GRANTS, WHICH GIVES THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH MORE ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM. MORE THAN 31 THOUSAND DOLLARS WAS AWARDED REACHING AT LEAST 13 SCHOOLS. RECIPIENTS INCLUDED RAQUEL DAVID OF L-J ALLEMAN MIDDLE, KACEY EDGAR OF THE THIBODEAUX STEM MAGNET ACADEMY, KELSEY FAULKNER OF WESTSIDE ELEMENTARY, AMANDA HEATHER GREGORY OF BROUSSARD MIDDLE, AND KAREN LATIOLAIS OF PAUL BREAUX MIDDLE. ALSO WINNING GRANTS ARE CHRISTY TAYLOR AND ANNA KEDINGER OF WOODVALE ELEMENTARY AND NIKKI THEVIS, WHO TEACHES AT SEVERAL SCHOOLS.
Louisiana police say a homeless man is accused of bludgeoning a 68-year-old man to death. Lake Charles police say in a news release that they have arrested 29-year-old Rolando Anthony Massingill on a warrant accusing him of first-degree murder in the death of Wayne Keith Reynaud. Deputy Chief Mark Kraus says detectives got information that Massingill was in Kinder, about 35 miles northwest of Lake Charles. He says they, Kinder police, federal marshals and Allen Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested him in a motel.
Louisiana troopers determined that a fatal crash originally believed to have one vehicle involved had a second as a 22-year-old woman has come forward saying she drove it. State police say in a statement that Brittany Coupel of Opelousas told troopers she was driving a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am eastbound on U.S. Route 190 that collided with a 2002 Chevrolet in St. Landry Parish early Saturday. The crash killed 17-year-old Aaron Quebedeaux of Krotz Springs. Troopers say that Coupel had been in the right lane when she failed to negotiate a curve, entered into the left eastbound lane and struck Quebedeaux’s vehicle, and then fled the scene.
Louisiana’s social services agency has been so short-staffed amid repeated budget cuts that it didn’t ensure the safety of its foster children. That’s the finding of a new Legislative Auditor’s report covering the Department of Children and Family Services from 2012 through 2016, during former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. The audit says the agency didn’t always conduct required background checks on foster parents and allowed some to take in children even after accusations of abuse and neglect. Department Secretary Marketa Garner Walters says that since then, she’s reorganized, shuffled foster care caseworkers to address shortage areas and beefed up training for employees and foster parents.
A LAFAYETTE MAN, WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, WAS APPARENTLY TRYING TO BREAK UP AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES. 31-YEAR-OLD CHRIS CHAISSON AND OTHERS WERE WALKING TO THE ROSA PARKS TRANSPORTATION CENTER PARKING LOT AT AROUND 1:30 WHEN THEY SAW THE FIGHT. AFTER CHAISSON WAS SHOT, SEVERAL PEOPLE STAYED AND PRAYED WITH HIM UNTIL THE AMBULANCE ARRIVED, AND HE DIED ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL. 20-YEAR-OLD TYLER BENOIT WAS ARRESTED AND FACES A SECOND DEGREE MURDER CHARGE.
A civil rights organization says it’s suing to get public records regarding inmates held apart from other prisoners at a lockup in Louisiana. The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center says the warden of the Allen Correctional Center in Kinder has failed to comply with a public records request made nearly two months ago. MacArthur Center Director Katie Schwartzmann says in a Monday news release that other Louisiana prisons have complied with such requests regarding inmates held in solitary confinement and segregated housing.
Allen Correctional officials did not respond to a phoned request for comment Monday evening.
CON ARTISTS ARE USING THE ACADIA PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT’S PHONE NUMBER TO SCAM RESIDENTS OUT OF THEIR MONEY. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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Louisiana is recruiting coastal landowners, trappers and hunters for its fight against nutria — an invasive rodent that eats so much aquatic vegetation that it threatens swamps and marshes. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Catherine Normand says a lot of private property isn’t enrolled, and the owners are missing a chance to protect their property and the coast. Nutria eat constantly, demolishing the plants that hold together fragile marshes. Those who want to collect Louisiana’s $5-per-tail bounty can hunt or trap the rodents themselves, but the department can connect others with interested hunters and trappers.
