8-5-15
The parents of students at 11 low-rated Lafayette Parish schools can request transfers to higher-performing schools, beginning this week. The Advertiser reports the schools are Alice Boucher Elementary, Carencro Heights Elementary, Carencro High, Duson Elementary, Evangeline Elementary, J.W. Faulk Elementary, Lafayette Middle, S.J. Montgomery Elementary, Northside High, Ossun Elementary and Westside Elementary. All of those schools received a “D” or “F” grade from the Louisiana Department of Education when school performance scores were released last fall. Students transferring from lower-performing schools will be provided with bus transportation.
SULPHUR POLICE HAVE ARRESTED A MAN FOR RAPING A CONVENIENCE STORE CLERK LATE MONDAY NIGHT. POLICE, USING SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AT THE STORE, IDENTIFIED THE SUSPECT AS 26-YEAR-OLD JAMES J. DOMINGUE OF SULPHUR, WHO WAS LATER CAPTURED AT THE CORNER OF SOUTH POST OAK AND ETHEL STREET, ACCORDING TO KIM MYERS OF THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE. DOMINGUE ALSO ALLEGEDLY STOLE MERCHANDISE FROM THE STORE BEFORE LEAVING. DOMINGUE WAS CONVICTED OF RAPE FOUR YEARS AGO, AND SERVED THREE YEARS IN PRISON.
THERE USED TO BE ALL ACCESS TOURS AT THE TABASCO PLANT ON AVERY ISLAND, BUT THAT ENDED IN 1982 OVER CONCERNS ABOUT THE PRODUCT BEING TAMPERED WITH BY VISITORS. IN TWO OR THREE MONTHS, TOURS WILL BE EXPANDED PROVIDING A MORE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE FOR VISITORS, WITH MORE ACCESS TO THE DIFFERENT PEPPER GROWING STAGES. THERE’S ALSO NEW CONSTRUCTION TAKING PLACE AT AVERY ISLAND, INCLUDING A NEW RESTAURANT, MUSEUM AND AN EXPANDED VISITOR’S CENTER. THE SENIOR MANAGER OF BRAND SALES ANGIE SCHAUBERT TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T BEEN TO THE ISLAND FOR A FEW YEARS WILL FIND IT TO BE A HIDDEN TREASURE.
Scientists say the Gulf of Mexico area with too little oxygen to keep sea creatures alive is the 11th largest measured and nearly 18 percent bigger than predicted.
They say the reason is that heavy June rains throughout the Mississippi River watershed carried nutrient-rich runoff from farms and other human activities into the gulf. Nancy Rabalais of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium says the dead zone is about as big as Connecticut plus Rhode Island, covering 6,474 square miles. Last year’s dead zone was about the size of Connecticut.
THE LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT WILL RECEIVE NEARLY 280 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN A SETTLEMENT WITH B-P FOR SALES TAX LOSSES RELATED TO THE COMPANIES GULF OIL SPILL IN 2010. ASSISTANT CITY PARISH ATTORNEY STUART BREAUX SAYS ABOUT 15 PERCENT OF THAT FIGURE WILL GO TO THE LEGAL TEAM THAT HELPED NEGOTIATE THE SETTLEMENT. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER LORRIE TOUPS SAYS THE REMAINING AMOUNT WILL LIKELY GO INTO THE GENERAL FUND AND CAN BE USED HOWEVER THE CITY PARISH COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION SEE FIT. THE LAFAYETTE CONVENTION AND VISITORS COMMISSION REACHED A SETTLEMENT OF JUST OVER 61 THOUSAND DOLLARS WITH B-P FOR TOURISM LOSSES.
SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE AT THE WEST CAL ARENA IN SULPHUR YESTERDAY FOR THE ANNUAL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT. IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH RESIDENTS. POLICE CHIEF LEWIS COATS TOLD KPLC TV THAT AN EVENT LIKE THIS HELPS THEM BUILD A BRIDGE TO THE COMMUNITY, ALLOWING THE COMMUNITY TO SEE OFFICERS IN THEIR NON-COP MODE. THERE WERE ANTIQUE CARS, FACE PAINTING, LIVE MUSIC, FOOD, AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCMENENT AGENCIES DEMONSTRATED SAFETY TIPS.
THE OPELOUSAS POLICE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING FOR A SUSPECT WHO, THEY BELIEVE, FIRED 17 GUNSHOTS IN THE SEVEN HUNDRED BLOCK OF MADISON STREET. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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Louisiana’s annual sales tax holiday is Friday and Saturday, just in time for families preparing to send their children back to school. The holiday provides an exemption from the state sales tax on the first $2,500 of the purchase price of most individual items of tangible personal property for non-business use. The holiday applies only to the 4 percent state sales tax. It does not apply to sales taxes levied by parishes, municipalities, school boards, and other political subdivisions of the state.
