1-12-15
Works of the world-renowned, Louisiana-based artist George Rodrigue are coming to New Iberia’s Bayou Teche Museum in a new exhibit. The Advertiser reports the memorial exhibit, titled “Rodrigue Comes Home: Under Iberia’s Live Oaks with George Rodrigue and his Blue Dog,” will be on display for three months starting Wednesday. A press release from Bayou Teche Museum says the exhibit will include some never-before-seen works in addition to Rodrigue’s classic “Blue Dog” paintings. The exhibit’s overarching theme will be the iconic Iberia Parish oak trees. Electric car company Tesla Motors has opened a new station in southwestern Louisiana, where its clients can charge up their vehicles. WWNO radio reports that the company says its new location in Lake Charles will enable drivers of its Model S vehicles to replenish a half charge in 20 minutes. A half charge enables a Model S driver to travel about 150 miles. A fully-charged Model S has a range of about 265 miles, the company says. AFTER TWO YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION, U-L LAFAYETTE IS READY TO OPEN THEIR NEW STUDENT UNION BUILDING. AT 178 THOUSAND SQUARE FEET, IT IS MUCH LARGER THAN THE OLD STUDENT UNION, AND INCLUDES A LARGER DINING HALL, MORE FOOD STATIONS, AN ART MUSEUM, AND A COURTYARD OVERLOOKING CYPRESS LAKE. SOME OF THE NEW FEATURES OF THE BUILDING ARE STILL BEING WORKED ON AND WILL OPEN AT A LATER DATE. THE FORTY MILLION DOLLAR COST FOR THE NEW STUDENT UNION WAS FUNDED BY STUDENT FEES. Gov. Bobby Jindal is headed to Europe, on a trip seeking new foreign investment for Louisiana, with the added opportunity for the possible presidential candidate to burnish his foreign policy credentials. The travel contingent was leaving Sunday for an economic development mission that starts in London and continues in Switzerland and Germany. Jindal, his wife, chief of staff and economic development secretary are all included. The Republican governor also intends to deliver a foreign policy address to the conservative Henry Jackson Society and to meet with political leaders in the United Kingdom while overseas. A Ville Platte man arrested in the death of his grandmother in November has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. The Evangeline Parish District Attorney’s Office tells KATC-TV that the trial for Christopher Goodley has been set for June 8. Goodley pleaded not guilty on Thursday. If convicted, Goodley would face a mandatory life sentence. Prosecutors are deciding whether to file new charges or appeal a judge’s order dismissing an indictment in the fatal shooting of a pastor during a Lake Charles revival service in 2013. The American Press reports that State District Court Judge Clayton Davis dismissed a second-degree murder indictment Tuesday. District Attorney John DeRosier says he has 30 days to appeal the dismissal or file new charges. Authorities say Woodrow Karey fatally shot Ronald J. Harris at Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center on Sept. 27, 2013. ABOUT 75 PEOPLE TOOK PART IN A MARCH IN DOWNTOWN LAFAYETTE YESTERDAY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE COUNTRY OF FRANCE, WHICH HAS SUFFERED FROM TERROR ATTACKS THIS WEEK, IN WHICH 17 PEOPLE DIED. THE MARCH WAS ORGANIZED BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH IN LOUISIANA, AND BEGAN AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS AND ENDED AT THE 9-11 MEMORIAL. THE MARCHERS PAUSED AT A SYNAGOGUE, THE TEMPLE REDEPH SHALOM, TO REMEMBER THE JEWISH VICTIMS IN THE ATTACKS. STATE REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN ORTEGO, WHO TOOK PART IN THE MARCH, SAYS THEY DIDN’T JUST WANT TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST TERRORISM, BUT SHOW SUPPORT FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS. Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas have taken their stands against same-sex marriage before a federal appellate court in New Orleans. Lawyers for gays and lesbians challenging marriage bans compared them to racial segregation laws. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia. But the states’ lawyers argued that gay marriage rights are so new in terms of recorded history that states must be allowed to protect their citizens against any unforeseen consequences.
