8-25-17
WITH HURRICANE HARVEY LOOMING IN THE GULF, CAMERON PARISH EMERGENCY OFFICIALS HAVE ISSUED AN EVACUATION ORDER. JEFF HORCHAK HAS MORE.
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A STATE OF EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED FOR CALCASIEU PARISH BY THE POLICE JURY. PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR ALLEN WAINWRIGHT SAYS THEY PLAN ON CLEANING DITCHES AND BARRICADING AS MANY STREETS AS POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND. POLICE JUROR HAL MCMILLIN IS URGING MOTORISTS TO STAY OFF THE ROADS THIS WEEKEND. HE SAYS IT’S GOING TO BE A BAD SITUATION IF DRIVERS PUSH WATER INTO HOMES.
Texas residents and officials are preparing for Hurricane Harvey, which the National Hurricane Center says has strengthened to a Category 2 storm. Harvey grew quickly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane. Early Friday, the center reported it’s now at a Category 2. Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, the storm is projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane.
The possibility of heavy rain from Hurricane Harvey is bad news for farmers hoping to harvest their rice crop. LSU’s Agricultural Center says Harvey threatens a 2017 rice crop already plagued by various weather problems. In Calcasieu Parish, the center says, about 80 percent of the crop is in. But farmers in the Vinton area have been unable to harvest and the rain could mean more delays.
LAFAYETTE-BASED HOME BANK HAS ACQUIRED ST. MARTIN BANK AND TRUST COMPANY IN A STOCK AND CASH DEAL VALUED AT 96-POINT-1 MILLION DOLLARS. ST. MARTIN BANK, BASED OUT OF ST. MARTINVILLE, HAS 12 BRANCHES IN ACADIA, JEFF DAVIS, LAFAYETTE AND ST. MARTIN PARISHES. THE PRESIDENT AND C-E-O OF HOME BANK, JOHN W. BORDELON, SAYS THE DEAL IS A WIN-WIN FOR CUSTOMERS OF BOTH BANKS. HE SAYS IT WILL PROVIDE THEM WITH MORE BANK LOCATIONS AND ENHANCED PRODUCTS TO SERVE THEM.
COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS IN VILLE PLATTEARE DECRYING WHAT THEY PERCEIVE AS RACISM IN LAW ENFORCEMENT. THEY CITE THREE BLACK MEN, WHO WERE RECENTLY HIT BY A CAR WHILE WALKING ALONG A ROAD, BUT WHO ENDED UP CHARGED WHILE THE DRIVER WAS NOT, BECAUSE THE PEDESTRIANS WERE NOT WEARING REFLECTIVE CLOTHING AT SUNSET. THERE’S ALSO A WALK FOR JUSTICE HELD EVERY THURSDAY IN VILLE PLATTE FOR DEJUAN GUILLORY, WHO WAS KILLED IN AN ALTERCATION WITH A SHERIFF’S DEPUTY ON JULY SIXTH. COMMUNITY ACTIVIST ARTHUR SAMPSON TELLS KLFY TV THAT EVERY TIME THERE’S AN INCIDENT INVOLVING A BLACK AND WHITE PERSON, AND WHEN THE BLACK PERSON IS A VICTIM, IT SEEMS THERE IS NO JUSTICE AND, HE SAYS, IT’S TIME TO STOP.
A LAFAYETTE LANDMARK IS GETTING A NEW HOME. A FIBERGLASS HORSE HAS STOOD ABOVE THE CAL’S WESTERN WEAR SIGN ON JOHNSTON STREET FOR AROUND FIFTY YEARS, BUT THE STORE IS CLOSING IN OCTOBER. PARISH TAX ASSESSOR CONRAD COMEAUX PROPOSED MOVING THE HORSE TO MONCUS PARK, WHICH IS THE OLD HORSE FARM, TWELVE BLOCKS NORTH OF THE STORE. THE OWNERS AGREED AND COMEAUX GOT A DONOR TO PAY FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE HORSE AND ITS REFURBISHMENT.
OPELOUSAS POLICE HAVE ARRESTED THREE MEN INVOLVED IN THE ALLEGED DISTRIBUTION OF ILLEGAL SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVED A TIP THAT THE SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA WAS BEING TRAFFICKED AT A HOME ON HOGAN DRIVE. POLICE SEIZED SIX POUNDS OF THE SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA WITH A STREET VALUE OF 54-HUNDRED DOLLARS, AND A 38 CALIBER REVOLVER. THREE MEN AND A CHILD WERE AT THE HOME AT THE TIME OF THE INVESTIGATION.
