9-7-23
THE TRIAL FOR FORMER SAINT THOMAS MORE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER AND COACH ANGEL CARDONA HAS BEEN SET FOR FEBRUARY THE TWENTIETH. CARDONA WILL BE TRIED ON TWO COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND ONE COUNT OF ENTICING A MINOR TO ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY. CARDONA WAS HIRED BY SAINT THOMAS MORE HIGH SCHOOL TO BEGIN TEACHING THIS SCHOOL YEAR BUT HE WAS FIRED IN JULY AFTER HIS ARREST, BEFORE HE SET FOOT IN A CLASSROOM. THE TRIAL IS EXPECTED TO TAKE FOUR DAYS, NOT INCLUDING JURY SELECTION.
S-FOUR-K, AN AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM FOR KIDS IN SAINT LANDRY PARISH, IS SET TO MOVE INTO A NEW BUILDING ON THE PREJEAN HIGHWAY ON OCTOBER SECOND. DIRECTOR SHAUNA SIAS SAYS THE OWNER OF THE BUILDING, GWEN GRADNEY, TOLD HER THE LORD DIRECTED HER TO GIVE THE PROGRAM THE SPACE SO THEY CAN BE AT A CENTRAL LOCATION. SIAS DESIGNED S-FOUR-K TO PROVIDE A SAFE PLACE FOR KIDS TO GO TO AFTER SCHOOL. THE MISSION IS TO TEACH KIDS ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS AND PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE KIDS CAN LEARN TO COMMUNICATE.
PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE TO CONTAIN WILDFIRES IN WESTERN LOUISIANA, ACCORDING TO THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. THE TIGER ISLAND FIRE IS NOW SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT CONTAINED. THE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT IS STILL BURNING IN MORE THAN THIRTY-ONE THOUSAND ACRES AND THREE HUNDRED FIFTY PEOPLE ARE ON THE GROUND ACTIVELY FIGHTING IT. THE HIGHWAY ONE-THIRTEEN FIRE NORTHWEST OF OAKDALE IS NOW SIXTY-THREE PERCENT CONTAINED.
THE REMAINING TWO ESCAPEES FROM A COTTONPORT JAIL HAVE BEEN RECAPTURED. SEVEN WOMEN IN ALL ESCAPED EARLY TUESDAY BY PICKING THE LOCK ON A FIRE DOOR IN A DORM. THREE OF THE ESCAPEES WERE RECAPTURED IN BUNKIE AND THE REMAINING FOUR WERE FOUND IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF AVOYELLES PARISH. ALL SEVEN WOMEN WERE BACK IN JAIL BY TUESDAY EVENING.
MONCUS PARK HAS BROKEN GROUND ON A NEW DOG PARK THAT IS DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR LARGE DOGS SIXTEEN INCHES AND OVER. THE BEST FRIENDS BARK PARK WILL FEATURE THIRTY-FOUR THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED SQUARE FEET OF OFF-LEASH PLAY SPACE. THERE ARE PLANS FOR A ONE THOUSAND FOOT OVERLOOK, PROVIDING PANAORAMIC VIEWS. THERE ARE ALSO PLANS FOR TWO WATER FOUNTAINS, WASTE RECEPTACLES EQUIPPED WITH DOG WASTE BAGS, AND A DOUBLE-GATED ENTRY AND EXIT SYSTEM.
IBERIA PARISH PRESIDENT LARRY RICHARD ANNOUNCED THE CLOSURE OF L-A ONE EIGHTY-TWO BETWEEN L-A THIRTY-TWO-TWELVE, OR THE NORTHWEST BYPASS, AND L-A EIGHTY-EIGHT, OR COTEAU ROAD. THE CLOSURE IS FOR CREWS TO CONTINUE CLEANUP EFFORTS FROM A TRAIN DERAILMENT THAT HAPPENED AUGUST TWENTY-FIRST. THE CLOSURE GOES INTO EFFECT AT NINE A-M THIS MORNING. IT WILL BE LIFTED SOMETIME TOMORROW UNLESS AN UNEXPECTED ISSUE ARISES.
Environmentalists opposed to a planned liquified natural gas terminal and pipeline in southwest Louisiana have lost a federal court battle over a permit for the project. The Sierra Club and the Healthy Gulf organization had asked an appeals court in New Orleans to review and vacate the permit granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Driftwood project. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the effort in a Wednesday afternoon ruling. The corporation that owns the project, Tellurian Inc., has said it hopes to begin production by 2027.
A JEANERETTE WOMAN HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH NEGLIGENT HOMOCIDE IN CONNECTION TO A FATAL CRASH IN EUNICE ON AUGUST THIRTEENTH. THIRTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD AUREIL (AR ee uhl) MICHEL LE OLIVIER HAD TOLD OFFICERS SHE WAS A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH BUT AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED SHE HAD BEEN THE DRIVER. HER CAR HAD OVERTURNED IN A DITCH AND HER PASSENGER, THIRTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD PORSHA LASHANTE GUILLORY OF EUNICE, HAD TO BE EXTRICATED. SHE LATER DIED AT THE HOSPITAL. WHEN OFFICERS ARRIVED ON THE SCENE OF THE CRASH, OLIVIER WAS NOT THERE, HAVING BEEN TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF MINOR INJURIES.
