Choice cuts from Acadiana's news media for Monday, Dec. 30, 2013:
Choice cuts from Acadiana's news media for Monday, Dec. 30, 2013:
Another housing authority scandal
In this report from Eunice Today, a recently released annual audit shows the assistant director of the Basile Housing Authority has been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Though she denies the theft, Eunice Today reports the assistant director (her name is not cited in the story and there's no website for the public body) has agreed to pay back the missing $4,600 in exchange for keeping her job. C'est what?
Why grown men shouldn't live with mom and dad
After an argument with his father, Justin Bartlett of Lafayette reacted by allegedly setting fire to the family's home this morning, and according to this report from KATC-TV3, it wasn't his first attempt. The 24-year-old Bartlett, KATC reports, is slated for trial later this month for allegedly attempting to set the same home on fire in June 2012. One difference between the two fires: the 2012 incident resulted from a fight with his mother.
The smoking issue revisited
The issue of indoor smoking in nightclubs is resurrected in this story from The Daily Advertiser, with anti-smoking advocates like musician Chubby Carrier calling for a parishwide ban. The problem: Club owners, who seem torn over the issue, fear a ban will ultimately hurt the bottom line.
The corps' flawed coastal plan
A coastal protection and restoration plan recently released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers falls short of a similar study conducted by the state, and according to this story from the Acadiana Advocate, state officials say the federal report - which targets three parishes, including Vermilion - only addresses about one-third of the projects called for in the state's plan.
Dead Man Walking's brother dies at Angola
Eddie James Sonnier, brother of Elmo Patrick Sonnier, died this month while serving a life sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for the 1977 murders of two St. Martinville teens. As reported here by The Daily Iberian, Sonnier's death was unexpected, and follows his brother's execution in 1984 - made famous by the best-selling book turned feature film Dead Man Walking.