8-29-23
SAINT MARTIN PARISH CORRECTIONAL DEPUTY WAS ARRESTED AND FIRED FOR ALLEGELDY PARTICIPATING IN A LARGE FIGHT LAST WEEK. THIRTY-YEAR-OLD MYRA HORTON OF SAINT MARTINVILLE WAS CHARGED WITH TWO FELONIES, SECOND-DEGREE BATTERY AND SECOND-DEGREE RIOT. DEPUTIES RESPONDED TO A COMPLAINT ABOUT A PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE AT A BUSINESS ON CATAHOULA HIGHWAY THURSDAY EVENING. DURING AN INVESTIGATION THEY LEARNED THAT HORTON, WHO WAS OFF-DUTY, WAS ALLEGEDLY AMONG SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE DISTURBANCE THAT RESULTED IN INJURIES TO THE COMPLAINANT.
THE RECENTLY FIRED DIRECTOR FOR THE LAFAYETTE PARISH LIBRARY SYSTEM SAYS HE BELIEVES HE WAS FIRED OVER THE PROPOSED NORTHEAST REGIONAL LIBRARY. DANNY GILLANE TELLS THE ADVOCATE HE DOESN’T BELIEVE THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL LIBRARY WILL BE BUILT BECAUSE, HE SAYS, LIBRARY BOARD PRESIDENT ROBERT JUDGE DOESN’T WANT IT BUILT. JUDGE ON THURSDAY TOLD THE ADVOCATE HE DOES WANT IT BUILT. A PETITION HAS BEGUN CIRCULATING ONLINE TO HAVE JUDGE REMOVED FROM THE BOARD.
A MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR THE TOWN OF MERRYVILL IN BEAUREGARD PARISH HAS BEEN LIFTED, BUT IS STILL IN EFFECT FOR AREAS EAST, NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF MERRYVILLE. RECENT RAINS HELPED FIREFIGHTERS BRING THE TIGER ISLAND FIRE TO FIFTY PERCENT CONTAINMENT. THE BEAUREGARD PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS MORE THATN THIRTY-THREE THOUSAND ACRES BURNED IN THE WILDFIRES. OVERALL CONDITIONS WILL BE DRY AND HOT, WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO PRESENT A CHALLENGE FOR FIREFIGHTERS.
THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IS WARNING RESIDENTS WHO LIVE IN AREAS WHERE WILDFIRES ARE BURNING NEARBY, OR WHERE AIR QUALITY IS POOR, TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACTS ON YOUR HEALTH. THEY SAY THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY OR CARDIAC PROVLEMS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR DOCTOR. THERE HAVE BEEN HUNDREDS OF WILDFIRES THROUGHOUT THE STATE DUE TO THE DANGEROUSLY HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL ISSUED A BURN BAN STATEWIDE THREE WEEKS AGO.
THE LOUISIANA BAPTIST DISASTER RELIEF MINISTRY HAS BEEN PROVIDING HELP TO THOSE AFFECTED BY THE WILDFIRES IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. MARK MORELOCK, THE ASSOCIATE STATE DIRECTOR FOR THE ORGANIZATION, TELLS KPLC-TV THAT THEY ARE PROVIDING ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED MEALS A DAY, AND THEY ARE FEEDING RED CROSS SHELTERS, AS WELL AS LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS, THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND A COUPLE OF OTHER CHURCHES. MORELOCK SAYS MEALS PROVIDE COMFORT, BUT WHEN THEY GET TO PRAY FOR PEOPLE AND HEAR THEIR STRUGGLES, THAT’S MOST IMPACTFUL.
THREATS MADE THROUGH AN EMAIL ABOUT PIPE BOMBS AT ALL EVANGELINE PARISH SCHOOL CAMPUSES LED TO A LOCKDOWN YESTERDAY MORNING. IT WAS LIFTED AFTER DEPUTIES SWEPT ALL CAMPUSES AND DETERMINED THERE WAS NOT THREAT. THE EVANGELINE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE WILL CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE. SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE STATE WERE CANCELLED OR DELAYED AFTER A RASH OF BOMB THREATS YESTERDAY.
A TWENTY-ONE MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT TO REHABILITATE TWO SECTIONS OF HIGHWAY NINETY IN LAFAYETTE PARISH WILL BEGIN NEXT TUESDAY. THE FIRST SECTION IS THE EVANGELINE THRUWAY FROM THE RAILROAD JUNCTION TO EAST PINHOOK, AND THE SECOND SECTION IS HIGHWAY NINETY BETWEEN L-A NINETY-TWO TO L-A EIGHTY-EIGHT. THE CONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE PLACE MONDAY TO THURSDAY FROM EIGHT P-M TO SIX A-M AND WILL TAKE PLACE CONTINUALLY THROUGH THE WEEKEND BEGINNING AT EIGHT P-M FRIDAY UNTIL SIX A-M MONDAY. THE PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SPRING OF TWENTY-TWENTY-FIVE.
A TEENAGER FROM PORT BARRE WAS KILLED IN A SINGLE VEHICLE CRASH ON L-A ONE TWELVE IN BEAUGARD PARISH JUST BEFORE TEN A-M YESTERDAY. THE DRIVER OF A UTILITY TRUCK WAS COMING TO THE EDGE OF THE ROADWAY WHEN HE OVERCORRECTED AND THE TRUCK OVERTURNED. EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD SI GABRIEL SONNIER, A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE, WAS NOT WEARING A SEATBELT AND WAS EJECTED AND PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. THE DRIVER, WHO WAS WEARING A SEATBELT, SUFFERED MODERATE INJURIES.
