Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Written by Leslie Turk
Ugly allegations that Lafayette Police Maj. Glen Dartez, an experienced medic, refused to render emergency aid at a domestic dispute that left a woman dead and her boyfriend facing a murder charge should not come to a tidy conclusion with the 34-year veteran’s impending retirement.
Sources close to the internal affairs investigation alleging wrongdoing by Maj. Glen Dartez, one of the highest ranking officials in the Lafayette Police Department, tell The Independent Weekly that Dartez is planning to retire in an effort to avoid criminal prosecution of alleged wrongdoing in an ongoing murder case.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Written by Walter Pierce
With neither gridlock nor gridiron, the charter commission is off to a dull start.
The Lafayette Charter Commission got back to work Monday after a two-week hiatus necessitated by City-Parish Council budget hearings. Although the meeting took place after this issue of The Independent went to press, and commissioners were scheduled to vote on whether to put a council term-extension proposal before voters by next spring, I can safely say it was mostly another dull but necessary affair — dull because the better part of the first three months of the nine-month process is given over to pedestrian presentations from department heads and other officials delineating the functions and processes of Lafayette Consolidated Government; necessary because, insomuch as the consolidated government beat is mine, understanding the complexities and nuances of the institution is vital. I didn’t know that I didn’t know much about LCG until this commission got going.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Written by Jeremy Alford
As the only Democrat running the 3rd Congressional District, Ravi Sangisetty got a pass from the weekend primary elections, but GOP operatives didn’t hold back.
The only candidate in the 3rd Congressional District who already had a comfortable spot last week in the November general election was Democrat Ravi Sangisetty. Unlike his Republican counterparts — Houma’s Hunt Downer and New Iberia’s Jeff Landry and Kristian Magar — Sangisetty didn’t have to slug it out during Saturdays’ party primary elections. Sangisetty is the only Democrat in the race and therefore advanced without a challenge.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Written by The Independent Weekly
C’EST BON When a bipartisan think tank, summoned by President Barack Obama...
PAS BON Now that 3rd Congressional District hopefuls Hunt Downer and Jeff Landry are in a runoff, expect a sling-off between now and Oct. 2 — as in mud slinging.
COUILLON The same week Baton Rouge’s Advocate newspaper garnered a Sunshine Award from the Society of Professional Journalists...
The Lafayette City-Parish Council, following more than two and a half hours of discussion Tuesday, tabled a vote on whether to impose a two-year liquor license revocation against downtown night club Karma.
The Independent Weekly has just learned that the Lafayette Housing Authority official in charge of the embattled Disaster Housing Assistance Program, Jonathan Carmouche, is breaking the law every time he gets behind the wheel of an automobile, including LHA-owned vehicles.
The current terms in office of the Lafayette City-Parish Council and City-Parish President Joey Durel will not be extended by one year; a proposal to put a proposition before parish voters doing just that was tabled last night.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation placed New Orleans-based First Bank and Trust under a cease and desist order in July, accusing the institution of unsound banking practices.
The Hub City ranks a respectable 14th among American cities in news/politics website The Daily Beast’s list of the 20 cities most resistant to the recession.
While the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been reporting a mostly clean bill of health for Gulf of Mexico seafood, oysters have been a bivalve of question.
Jambalaya stuffed in a crepe for breakfast? Turtle cappuccino with truffle spuma and cubes of sherry gelée? Let’s just say I remain curiously skeptical.