9-14-15
LAFAYETTE PUBLIC AGENCIES AND PRIVATE BUSINESSES ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO FUND A NEW SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS AND FOR THOSE WHO COMMIT PETTY CRIMES. LAFAYETTE PARISH CORRECTIONS DIRECTOR ROB REARDON SAYS, WITH THE SHELTER, OFFICERS WILL HAVE AN OPTION TO PLACE AN INDIVIDUAL WHERE THEY’LL GET BETTER TREATMENT AND NOT GET ENTANGLED IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORRECTIONAL CENTER PROCESSES AN AVERAGE OF FIFTY HOMELESS PEOPLE A MONTH, MOSTLY FOR NONVIOLENT CRIMES SUCH AS VAGRANCY. MORE THAN A DOZEN DOWNTOWN LAFAYETTE BUSINESSES HAVE CONTRIBUTED FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THE SHELTER AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS SET ASIDE FORTY THOUSAND IN IT’S NEXT FISCAL YEAR BUDGET TO HIRE AN OUTREACH DIRECTOR.
A LAKE CHARLES MOTORCYCLIST WAS KILLED IN A SINGLE VEHICLE CRASH IN JEFF DAVIS PARISH YESTERDAY. AT AROUND FIVE P-M, 38-YEAR-OLD JARED DAIGLEWAS TRAVELING ON L-A383 WHEN FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON, HE WENT OFF THE ROAD ABOUT 200 FEET, STRUCK A CULVERT, AND WAS EJECTED FROM THE MOTORCYCLE. SERGEANT JAMES ANDERSON OF STATE POLICE TROOP D SAYS TOXICOLOGY TESTS ARE PENDING, BUT ALCOHOL IMPAIRMENT IS SUSPECTED. THERE HAVE BEEN FOUR MOTORCYCLISTS KILLED THIS YEAR IN THE TROOP D AREA, ALL SINGLE VEHICLE ACCIDENTS.
A Kaplan police officer has been arrested on charges including obstruction of justice and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling. Kaplan Police Chief Boyd Adams told KATC-TV Friday that the officer, 35-year-old Melissa Istre, says she was the target of a complaint. Adams says he told Istre that the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office should handle the case because of Istre’s employment with the Kaplan police department. The sheriff’s office was not immediately available for comment on why Istre was arrested, though Adams says it’s unconnected to Istre’s work as a police officer.
GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL HAS PROCLAIMED TODAY AS A STATEWIDE DAY OF PRAYER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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LAFAYETTE PARISH IS EXPECTED TO SEE A POPULATION GROWTH OF AROUND 66 THOUSAND OVER THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS, WHICH WILL LEAD TO TRAFFIC AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS. THAT’S ACCORDING TO JOE MINICOZZI OF THE CONSULTING FIRM URBAN THREE, WHO GAVE AN ECONOMIC M-R-I PRESENTATION TO LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND OFFICIALS LAST THURSDAY. HE SAID THE PARISH CAN’T AFFORD TO MAINTAIN ITS CURRENT INFRASTRUCTURE, LET ALONE BUILD TO ACCOMADATE THE NEW RESIDENTS. HE SAYS THE AVERAGE 150 THOUSAND DOLLAR HOME PAYS 15-HUNDRED DOLLARS IN PROPERTY TAXES, AND OF THAT, ONLY 150 DOLLARS GOES TOWARD ROADS.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR ABUSING A SIX-YEAR-OLD FAMILY MEMBER. KIM MYERS OF THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS 31-YEAR-OLD LADDY R. LEDOUX SPANKED THE BOY ON THE BACK OF THE THIGHS, LEAVING DARK-COLORED BRUISES, AND PUNCHED HIM IN THE STOMACH, RESULTING IN DISCOLORATION THAT WAS STILL VISIBLE FIVE DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT. LEDOUX TOLD DETECTIVES THAT THE BRUISES CAME WHEN THE BOY FELL OFF OF HIS BICYCLE. LEDOUX’S BOND WAS SET AT 135 THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND HE MUST STAY AWAY FROM THE BOY UNTIL COURT PROCEEDINGS ARE COMPLETED.
IT TOOK LESS THAN AN HOUR OF DELIBERATION ON FRIDAY BEFORE A BATON ROUGE JURY FOUND RONALD DALTON DUNNAGAN GUILTY OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER. DUNNAGAN WAS ACCUSED OF MURDERING CROWLEY BUSINESSMAN GARY KERGAN IN 1984. THE TESTIMONY OF HIS ACCOMPLICE, LEILA MULLA, WAS KEY IN CONVICTING DUNNAGAN. MULLA IS SERVING A THIRTY YEAR PRISON SENTENCE AFTER PLEADING TO A LESSER CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER.
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration is taking a different approach to ousting Planned Parenthood from Louisiana’s Medicaid program, a move the administration says nullifies a federal lawsuit filed by the organization. Initially, the state health department terminated the Medicaid provider agreements with Planned Parenthood’s clinics without providing a reason. But that reasoning ran into strong questioning from a federal judge, who was considering a restraining order request from Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. Since then, the Jindal administration changed its plans and announced it will block Planned Parenthood’s clinics from the Medicaid program “for cause.”
