9-29-16
A GOVERNOR-APPOINTED TASK FORCE ON TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT WAS IN LAFAYETTE YESTERDAY TO GATHER IDEAS ON ROAD PROJECTS AS WELL AS HOW TO PAY FOR THEM. ABOUT 60 PEOPLE ATTENDED THE MEETING HELD AT THE LITE CENTER. AMONG THE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO FUND THE PROJECTS WERE RAISING THE TAX ON GASOLINE AND ENACTING A TOLL SYSTEM. THE TASK FORCE HAS UNTIL JANUARY FIRST TO COME UP WITH A PLAN THAT THEY WILL PRESENT TO THE GOVERNOR.
ECONOMIST DR. LOREN SCOTT IS PREDICTING LOUISIANA WILL LOSE MORE THAN 17 THOUSAND JOBS THIS YEAR AND THE STATE WILL STILL BE FEELING THE EFFECTS OF LOW OIL PRICES NEXT YEAR. HOWEVER, DR. SCOTT SAYS LAKE CHARLES IS EXPERIENCING AN ECONOMIC BOOM UNLIKE ANY ITS EVER SEEN. HE SAYS THE CITY WILL SEE AN INCREASE OF SIX THOUSAND JOBS BETWEEN NOW AND 2018, WHEN THE JOB GROWTH RATE WILL DECREASE BECAUSE SEVERAL MAJOR PROJECTS WILL BE WRAPPING UP THEN. DR. SCOTT WAS SPEAKING AT THE SEED CENTER IN LAKE CHARLES YESTERDAY.
- MARTIN PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARE SEARCHING FOR CLUES IN A SUSPICIOUS DEATH INVESTIGATION. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
VOICER G :20
A study group aimed at recommending changes to state tax and budget policy will miss its second deadline for pulling together its suggestions. Legislative leaders have agreed to give the task force, created by state lawmakers, until Nov. 1 to turn in its recommendations and report, rather than Friday. It’s the second extension the group has received. The report is expected to form the basis for negotiations on a revamp of Louisiana’s tax structure planned for debate in the 2017 legislative session.
THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS UPHELD A LAWSUIT BY THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER AGAINST LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE. POPE’S ATTORNEYS ARGUED THAT THE PAPER HAD NO LEGAL STANDING TO FILE THE SUIT BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THEIR REPORTERS WHO HAD REQUESTED PUBLIC RECORDS, BUT THE COURT DISAGREED. THE INDEPENDENT FILED THE SUIT ALLEGING THAT POPE FAILED TO TURN OVER ALL THE PUBLIC RECORDS THAT WERE REQUESTED. THE APPEALS COURT ALSO UPHELD 100 DOLLAR-A-DAY PENALTIES AND ATTORNEY’S FEES THAT WERE LODGED AGAINST POPE.
THE VINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS CAPTURED SOMEONE THEY BELIEVE BURGLARIZED BETWEEN TEN AND 15 VEHICLES ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND POLICE CHIEF RICKY FOX IS CREDITING A HOME SURVEILLANCE VIDEO. FOX SAYS THEY CIRCULATED THE VIDEO AND FOUND JONATHAN RUIZ-MORALES AT A LOCAL APARTMENT. FOX SAYS THAT IF EVERY CITIZEN IN VINTON HAD HOME SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS, HE BELIEVES IT WOULD BRING THE CRIME RATE TO NEAR ZERO. HE URGES RESIDENTS TO REMEMBER TO LOCK THEIR VEHICLES.
A LONGTIME ST. LANDRY PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY PASSED AWAY THIS WEEK. MORGAN GOUDEAU WAS 87 WHEN HE DIED FRIDAY AFTER A LONG BATTLE WITH CANCER. GOUDEAU WAS APPOINTED DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN 1973 AND HELD THE POST UNTIL HIS RETIRMENT IN 1997. HE WAS ALSO THE CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN SOUTH LOUISIANA FOR PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND CONTINUED TO SERVE THE PRESIDENT AFTER HIS ELECTION IN 1960.
The public is getting its first look at a police body camera video that shows two deputy city marshals opening fire on a car, killing a 6-year-old boy and critically wounding his father in Louisiana. Prosecutors showed the tape in court Wednesday to support their claim that one of the deputies, Derrick Stafford, had a pattern of using excessive force — including last November’s fatal shooting of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis in Marksville. Defense attorneys argue the deputies acted in self-defense and claim the boy’s father, Christopher Few, rammed into a deputy’s vehicle before they fired. However, state District Court Judge William Bennett said it doesn’t show Few using his car as a “deadly weapon” at the time of the shooting.
