8-23-17
A LANE REDUCTION ALONG A SECTION OF CONGRESS STREET IN LAFAYETTE HAS LED TO FEWER ACCIDENTS. ABOUT TEN MONTHS AGO, THE CITY RESTRIPED CONGRESS BETWEEN SECOND STREET AND UNIVERSITY, REDUCING IT FROM FOUR LANES TO TWO LANES. IN A NORMAL YEAR, THAT SECTION SAW 57 CRASHES, BUT SO FAR SINCE THE CHANGE, THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 32 ACCIDENTS. LAFAYETTE TRAFFIC ENGINEER WARREN ABADIE SAYS THAT, DESPITE THE SUCCESS, IT WOULD BE HARD TO APPLY THE TWO LANE ROAD ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY BECAUSE THERE’S TOO MUCH TRAFFIC.
THE HEAD OF THE CALCASIEU SHERIFF’S MARINE DIVISION IS WARNING BOATERS TO BE AWARE OF THE SLINGSHOT EFFECT WHEN PULLING SOMETHING. THE WARNING COMES IN THE WAKE OF AN ACCIDENT THIS PAST WEEKEND WHEN A BOY WAS KILLED AND ANOTHER INJURED AFTER BEING THROWN OFF A TUBE THAT WAS BEING PULLED BY A BOAT. LT. RON JOHNSON SAYS THAT WHEN A BOAT MAKE A SHARP TURN THE PERSON BEING TOWED SHOOTS OUT FROM THE WAKE AND CAN GO TWICE AS FAST AS THE BOAT. HE SAYS IT’S EXTRA RISKY WHEN DOING IT ON A RIVER BECAUSE THE DRIVER OF THE BOAT CAN’T ALWAYS SEE WHAT’S COMING UP AROUND THE BEND.
THE LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR WAS CRITICAL OF THE ST. LANDRY PARISH GOVERNMENT FOR A SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCY OF INTERNAL CONTROLS WHICH LED TO THE THEFT OF 120 BAGS OF DONATED FOOD LAST YEAR AT THE ANIMAL SHELTER ON HANGAR ROAD IN OPELOUSAS. PARISH PRESIDENT BILL FONTENOT SAYS THEY DO THEIR BEST TO SECURE ITEMS, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN, SOMETHING GETS STOLEN. EARLIER THIS YEAR, ANOTHER 100 BAGS OF DOG FOOD WERE STOLEN, BUT THE ST. LANDRY PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE MADE AN ARREST IN THAT CASE. SHELTER MANAGER STACEY MCKNIGHT SAYS THEY HAVE ADDED NEW SAFEGUARDS INCLUDING SECURITY GATES AND ENHANCED LOCKS.
The leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency traveled to Louisiana to discuss the state’s ongoing recovery from last year’s damaging flooding, as officials eye the threat of another storm. FEMA Administrator Brock Long met Tuesday with Gov. John Bel Edwards as the remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey appear headed to Texas and could cause heavy rain in parts of south Louisiana. Edwards says he spoke with Long about Harvey, the rebuilding work from the March and August 2016 floods and the continuing recovery from prior hurricanes. Long says he’s working to lessen federal red tape in storm recovery.
A NEW IBERIA MAN, RIDING HIS BIKE TUESDAY MORNING, WAS KILLED WHEN HE WAS HIT BY A CAR. JEFF HORCHAK REPORTS.
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THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT HELD A PUBLIC MEETING IN LAKE CHARLES TO DISCUSS THE PLANNED EXTENSION OF NELSON ROAD. THE IDEA IS TO EXTEND NELSON ROAD TO THE CONTRABAND BAYOU WHERE MOTORISTS CAN CROSS A 56 FOOT BRIDGE TO WEST SALLIER STREET, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO REDUCE TRAFFIC ON LAKE STREET. THE PROJECT WAS FIRST TALKED ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO, BUT PROJECT MANAGER JOSEPH CAINS THE THIRD SAYS THEY HAD TO DO AN EXTENSIVE SHIP SURVEY TO SATISFY COAST GUARD REQUIREMENTS AND TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS ADEQUATE BRIDGE SURVEY CLEARANCE. THE D-O-T-D WILL BE ACCEPTING INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC ON THE PROJECT THROUGH SEPTEMBER FIFTH.
A former post office janitor has admitted stealing mail in Louisiana. The acting U.S. attorney in Lafayette says 39-year-old Jerome Guidry of Bayou Vista pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of theft of mail by a post office employee. Alexander Van Hook says in a news release that Guidry admitted taking a $50 store gift card and a $500 Postal Service money order. He says Morgan city police investigated a complaint that the gift card never reached its recipient and investigators found more gift cards in Guidry’s vehicle, and the money order in his home.
FOUR OF THE SEVEN U-S DISTRICT COURT JUDGESHIPS IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA ARE VACANT AND A FIFTH WILL BECOME VACANT IN DECEMBER. LOUISIANA’S TWO U-S SENATORS, BILL CASSIDY AND JOHN KENNEDY, ARE WORKING TO FILL THE VACANCIES BUT IT’S A SLOW PROCESS. THE CHIEF JUDGE FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT, DEE DRELL, SAYS HE’S PUSHING CASES HE WOULD NORMALLY HEAR IN THREE OR FOUR MONTHS BACK TO APRIL OR MAY. THE WESTERN DISTRICT INCLUDES LAFAYETTE, LAKE CHARLES, AND ALEXANDRIA.
