8-2-18
Louisiana authorities say there’s a connection between a woman’s report that she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and held for weeks in the woods and a shooting that grazed a male trespasser. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office says the woman and the man were taken to a hospital Wednesday, and deputies are there and at the scene. Maj. Eddie Thibodeaux says in a news release that when deputies were told about the woman, they were told her attacker was still in woods near Krotz Springs, a town of about 1,200. While investigators headed there, a landowner’s son called to say he had shot a trespasser who shot at him first.
ONE PERSON WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN LAKE CHARLES LAST NIGHT. AT AROUND 8:40, POLICE RECEIVED REPORTS OF SHOTS FIRED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF LAKE STREET AND IDLEWILDE LANE. THE PERSON WHO WAS KILLED HAS NOT YET BEEN IDENTIFIED. THERE ALSO HAVE BEEN NO ARRESTS.
Many Louisianans with health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s individual exchange are set to see premiums drop. The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports premiums are expected to drop by an average of 6.9 percent next year. The Louisiana Department of Insurance revealed expected rates Wednesday that show declines ranging from 4 percent to more than 15 percent. The decline comes after years of rate hikes for the more than 100,000 Louisianans insured through the individual exchange.
WITH LESS THAN A WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, LAFAYETTE PARISH HAS 35 TEACHING VACANCIES. TWENTY ARE REGULAR TEACHING POSITIONS SUCH AS FOR MATH, ENGLISH AND SCIENCE, AND THE OTHER 15 ARE SPECIAL EDUCATION POSITIONS. THE IBERIA PARISH SUPERINTENDENT, CAREY LAVIOLETTE, SAYS THEY HAVE ONLY FIVE VACANCIES, WHICH IS GOOD FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. ACADIA PARISH SUPERINTENDENT SCOTT RICHARD SAYS THEY ONLY HAVE A HANDFUL OF OPENINGS BUT THEY’VE GONE AHEAD AND DECLARED A CRITICAL SHORTAGE SO THEY HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO REHIRE RETIRED TEACHERS, IF NECESSARY, TO FILL OPENINGS, WHO WOULD NOT LOSE THEIR BENEFITS.
SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION IN LAFAYETTE PARISH IS EXPECTED TO GO MUCH SMOOTHER WHEN SCHOOL BEGINS THIS YEAR. LAST YEAR, THERE WERE MANY COMPLAINTS FROM PARENTS AFTER THE SCHOOL BOARD CUT ONE-POINT-8 MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE TRANSPORTATION BUDGET, RESULTING IN THE ELIMINATION OF 23 BUS ROUTES. ALSO BUS DRIVERS DIDN’T GET THEIR ROUTES UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST. OFFICIALS SAY THIS YEAR, THERE HAVE BEEN NO CUTS, AND BUS DRIVERS HAVE HAD THEIR ROUTES SINCE MAY, GIVING THEM THE WHOLE SUMMER TO PREPARE.
A BREAUX BRIDGE MAN WAS FOUND GUILTY OF CONSPIRING WITH THREE LAFAYETTE RESIDENTS TO SELL HEROIN IN ACADIANA IN 2016 AND 2017. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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A LAKE CHARLES WOMAN WAS ARRESTED YESTERDAY FOR ALLEGEDLY SETTING A FIRE TO THE BATHROOM AT A BUSINESS OFFICE AT LAKE CHARLES MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, WHERE SHE WORKS. THE JULY FIRE FOLLOWED TWO OTHER SUSPICIOUS FIRES IN THE SAME OFFICE BUILDING AT THE END OF JUNE. 41-YEAR-OLD SUZANNE SONNIER WAS BOOKED INTO THE CALCASIEU PARISH JAIL ON AN AGGRAVATED ARSON COUNT. WITNESSES TOLD INVESTIGATORS THEY SUSPECTED SONNIER BECAUSE SHE WAS THE LAST PERSON IN THE BATHROOM BEFORE THE FIRE AND TRIED TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM ENTERING THE BATHROOM AFTER HER.
More than 1 million Entergy Louisiana customers will see their utility bills drop this month after the debts from repairing and restoring service after hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been paid. The company says residential customers will see monthly charges drop in the range of about $2.57 to $4.35 based on average usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours, depending on where they live. Louisiana’s utility regulators praised the announcement Wednesday. After the storms, Louisiana officials created a quasi-state government agency for Entergy to borrow $1 billion to pay for utility restoration.
