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The owners of a Lafayette nightclub have until Friday to draft a plan on how they’ll stop marijuana smokers from lighting up inside their downtown business. During a special hearing on Monday for Southland Entertainment, Inc. — the company behind b.e.d. Niteclub & Lounge — The Advocate reports undercover narcotics agents, a former security guard for the club and one of the club’s co-owners testified to witnessing patrons smoke in the club. Commissioner Troy Hebert, of the state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, warned b.e.d. co-owner Justin Lee to expect “strict penalties” when he rules on the matter and ordered him to provide a detailed plan, by Friday, on how he expects to curb drug use at the establishment.
A MEMBER OF THE LAKE CHARLES MAYOR’S ARMED FORCES COMMISSION SAYS THE BUILDING THAT IS EXPECTED TO BE THE SITE FOR AN INTERIM V-A CLINIC IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. COLONEL JIM JACKSON TOLD THE AMERICAN PRESS THAT THE BUILDING, LOCATED IN THE 800 BLOCK OF WEST MCNEESE STREET, IS VERY NICE, BUT IT WILL REQUIRE MAJOR RENOVATIONS. JIM MURPHY OF THE ALEXANDRIA V-A CLINIC SET A TARGET DATE OF NOVEMBER FOR OPENING THE NEW INTERIM CLINIC, BUT JACKSON SAYS THE RENOVATIONS NECESSARY TO TRANSFORM THE BUILDING WILL MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO MEET THAT DEADLINE. TAMMI ARNOLD OF THE ALEXANDRIA V-A HEALTH CARE SYSTEM CONFIRMED THAT A LEASE HAS BEEN SIGNED FOR A NEW INTERIM CLINIC FOR LAKE CHARLES, BUT WOULD NOT SAY IF THE BUILDING ON WEST MCNEESE WAS SELECTED.
A HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER WAS KILLED IN A CAR CRASH TUESDAY EVENING. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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A report finds that Louisiana ranks fourth in a disturbing category: the rate of women murdered by men. An annual study released Tuesday by The Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., analyzed FBI homicide statistics for 2013, the most recent available. Researchers found that murders involving one female victim and one male offender took place at a rate of 1.99 per 100,000 residents in the state. South Carolina was first, with a rate of 2.32, following by Alaska, 2.29 and New Mexico, 2.00.
Authorities say a man tried to escape from a county jail in the Florida Panhandle just two days after he escaped from a Louisiana jail. Chase Courville of Lafayette was being held Tuesday at the Walton County jail. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Courville and two others during a traffic stop Friday, after their escape from the Tensas Parish Detention Center in northern Louisiana. Chief A.J. Smith tells the Northwest Florida Daily News that they were stopped in a stolen vehicle.
A LOGGING TRUCK ROLLED OVER OFF THE SIDE OF L-A 113, NORTH OF REEVES IN ALLEN PARISH, YESTERDAY MORNING. THE DRIVER OF THE TRUCK, 38-YEAR-OLD DAVID DRYDEN OF PITKIN, SAYS THE STEERING LOCKED UP, CAUSING HIM TO LEAVE THE ROADWAY. HE WAS NOT INJURED AND WAS CITED FOR DEFECTIVE VEHICLE EQUIPMENT. THE LOGS SPILLED ONTO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WILL BE PICKED UP TODAY.
MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER THE PURCHASE OF THE TECHE HOLDING COMPANY, IBERIABANK HAS ANNOUNCED THE CLOSURE OF EIGHT BRANCHES. THREE OF THE BRANCHES ARE IN ACADIANA. IBERIABANK WILL BE CLOSING BRANCHES ON MEMORIAL DRIVE IN ABBEVILLE AND ON ST. PETER STREET IN NEW IBERIA. THEY ALSO ARE CLOSING A BRANCH IN DOWNTOWN LAFAYETTE.
Sales of oil and gas drilling rights on Louisiana state and local lands fell to $476,400 in September. The state saw relatively lucrative lease sales in June and August despite falling oil prices. NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the Louisiana Mineral and Energy Board awarded 10 leases covering nearly 1,600 acres during the Sept. 9 sale. The four participating companies nominated 36 tracts covering more than 54,000 acres to be included in the sale. Sales rise and fall depending on the amount of data oil and gas companies have on reserves on state and local land.
