10-24-16
A HOUSE FIRE SUNDAY IN KAPLAN CLAIMED THE LIVES OF AN ADULT AND TWO CHILDREN. JULIE DARCE REPORTS.
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THE CALCASIEU PARISH POLICE JURY IS CONSIDERING A PROPOSED ORDINANCE THAT WOULD PROHIBIT SMOKING AND VAPING AT ALL POLICE JURY BUILDINGS AND PARISH PARKS. THE PROPOSAL WOULD INCLUDE SETTING UP DESIGNATED SMOKING AREAS AT POLICE JURY BUILDINGS BUT NOT AT THE PARKS. THE JURY WILL GIVE FINAL CONSIDERATION ON THE ORDINANCE AT THEIR NOVEMBER 17TH MEETING. IF APPROVED, IT WOULD GO INTO EFFECT ON JANUARY FIRST.
Louisiana voters will sift through six constitutional changes proposed on the Nov. 8 ballot. The highest-profile constitutional amendment would give Louisiana’s four public college system management boards the ability to set tuition and fee rates without needing legislative approval. Other amendments would change Louisiana’s corporate tax structure; create a trust fund to help Louisiana cope with the fluctuations of oil prices and business tax collections; and enact qualifications for new registrars of voters. Another proposal would exempt surviving spouses of military personnel killed in the line of duty from having to pay local property taxes on their homes.
THE U-L LAFAYETTE BOOKSTORE HAS AGREED TO CARRY FAIR TRADE APPAREL. THE BOOKSTORE HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH ALTA GRACIA APPAREL, WHICH IS OUT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, AND THEY HAVE A MISSION TO PAY LIVING WAGES TO ITS WORKERS. THE BOOKSTORE IS WORKING WITH THE COMPANY TO GET THEM LICENSED, WHICH WILL ENABLE THEM TO MAKE OFFICIAL U-L LAFAYETTE LOGO APPAREL. THE AGREEMENT WAS PROMPTED BY THE UNIVERSITY’S CHAPTER OF CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES STUDENT AMBASSADORS, WHICH ADDRESSED HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES.
Out-of-state fees for most online degree programs and graduate-certificate programs at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are being cut by more than half in Spring 2017. KATC-TV reports the university finalized the rate decrease last month. Under the reworked fee schedule, students enrolled in an online degree program will pay the same rate — whether they live in Louisiana or outside of the state. Director of Distance Learning Luke Dowden says the new competitive price will enable more students to access the university’s “first-rate faculty and curricula.”
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PRESENTED A LAKE CHARLES WOMAN WITH THE KEYS TO HER NEW HOME SUNDAY. TWO YEARS AGO, TIFFANY CERIL APPLIED FOR A HOME AND, SINCE MARCH, VOLUNTEERS HAVE BEEN BUILDING IT. YESTERDAY THE CALCASIEU AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HELD A HOME BLESSING FOR CERIL AND A CANDLE LIGHTING CEREMONY. PRESIDENT KATHY LEWIS-THOMAS TOLD KPLC TV SAYS THE GROUP’S MISSION IS TO SEE EVERYONE GET A DECENT PLACE TO LIVE THAT THEY CAN AFFORD, AND IT’S A GREAT FEELING TO SEE A PERSON RECEIVE THE KEYS TO THE HOME THEY’VE ALWAYS WANTED.
A 37-YEAR-OLD OPELOUSAS MAN HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH MURDERING HIS WIFE. A SPOKESMAN WITH THE OPELOUSAS POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS NIKI TURNER AND HIS 36-YEAR-OLD WIFE, DELESHA, GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT SATURDAY AFTERNOON. NIKI THEN ALLEGEDLY SHOT AND STABBED HIS WIFE, KILLING HER. NIKI WAS ARRESTED AND HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE MURDER.
White supremacist David Duke has qualified for a televised debate in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race. Duke’s campaign hasn’t said whether he plans to attend the debate, which will be held at historically black Dillard University. Raycom Media commissioned an independent poll to determine which candidates to include in its Nov. 2 debate in New Orleans, which will air live on its TV stations across much of the state. Any candidate with 5 percent or more in that poll received an invite — and Duke narrowly hit the mark, getting 5.1 percent in the telephone survey done by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.
