42 Sex Charges, A Lake Charles Man Faces
December 31, 2009
A 30-year-old Lake Charles man faces 42 counts in connection with alleged sexual contact with a juvenile family member.Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office officials arrested Justin E. Lee on Tuesday.
The teenage victim reported that Lee had committed sexual acts with her since May of this year and, according to investigators, Lee confirmed the allegations.
Lee was booked with 20 counts of aggravated incest, two counts of oral sexual battery and 20 counts of sexual battery.
Bond was set at $1.05 million.
Authorities say Lee also faces two counts of aggravated incest in Beauregard Parish. Those charges stem from alleged sexual activity with a juvenile family member at Ragley homes.
Authorities Urge New Year’s Caution
December 31, 2009
From north to south, Louisiana residents are gearing up for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
From the Cane River in Natchitoches to the Mississippi at New Orleans, professional fireworks exhibitions are planned. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies around the state urge caution for those who choose to set off firecrackers and other fireworks themselves. Some communities outlaw fireworks sales and use.
Another concern for police: the annual problem of revelers who fire guns into the air to celebrate the new year.
Shreveport police issued a statement Wednesday reminding residents of the dangers posed by falling bullets. The firing of guns on New Year’s Eve is an annual problem in many areas. In New Orleans, a tourist was killed by a falling bullet on New Year’s Eve in 1994.
Social Services to cut $14.1M from budget
December 31, 2009
The state Department of Social Services plans to cut $14.1 million in state funds from its budget in reponse to a projected mid-year state budget shortfall.The agency operates with an overall $1.1 billion budget. About $186 million, or 17 percent, comes from the state general fund.The majority of budget cuts come in the Office of Community Services and the Office of Family Support. The agency will use federal funding for some child welfare expenses instead of state money for a $3.6 million savings and will spend federal money instead of state funding for foster and adoption recruiting activities for a $794,954 savings.The agency’s Office of Family Support will eliminate child care assistance for people looking for work for a $1.9 million savings.
Other savings will come from reducing lease spaced used by the Office of the Secretary and Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, and a reduction in non-essential contracts. The leases include an emergency preparedness lease for storage in Shreveport, two Office of Community Service regional offices in the New Orleans area and seven Louisiana Rehabilitation Services office around the state. State officials will identify the LRS offices to be closed in the next few weeks, Williams said.
Report Reveals Several Opportunities To Increase Container Cargo Traffic
December 31, 2009
Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) released the results of an analysis commissioned by the two departments to assess Louisiana’s competitiveness relative to attracting a major increase in container traffic volumes, as well as to examine a variety of options for achieving increased container volumes over the next 20 years.
“International trade has long been a major driver of Louisiana’s economy. With the upcoming expansion of the Panama Canal, the timing was right to take a hard look at how Louisiana can best position itself relative to attracting containerized cargo over the next 20 years,” said LED Secretary Stephen Moret. “The results of the analysis certainly suggest a significant growth opportunity for container volumes, but they also indicate that we should not neglect our traditional strengths in bulk products where we have several distinct competitive advantages. Accordingly, we plan to focus additional attention on identifying opportunities to strengthen our competitiveness in bulk products.”
“This is an excellent report that, combined with other recent port analyses, provides a blueprint for public policy decisions with respect to ports and containers,” said DOTD Secretary William D. Ankner, Ph.D. “I look forward to working with LED and the port community to capitalize on the opportunities presented in this report.”
Key findings of the analysis, which was conducted by A.T. Kearney, include:
· Louisiana container ports are most competitive on two trade lanes: (1) trade between any overseas market and the local Louisiana/Arkansas market and (2) the North-South trade lane with Latin America.
· Louisiana’s container volume is expected to nearly triple over the next 20 years, from approximately 235,000 20-foot-equivalent-units, or TEUs, in 2008, to approximately 660,000 TEUs in 2028.
· Louisiana’s current container facility at the Port of New Orleans’ Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal should be able to accommodate the forecasted container volumes through 2028 by making some operational improvements and limited infrastructure development.
· Any greenfield, transformational port concepts intended to add significant incremental container volumes would have several economic and operating challenges to overcome. These challenges include increased distance for vessels to travel, extended end-to-end shipping cycle times, additional handling costs, a requirement for supporting infrastructure and/or potential competitive responses from railroads and trucking carriers.
· Louisiana enjoys a unique competitive advantage for bulk products because of its geographic location and the Mississippi River. Additional targeted efforts to expand bulk products opportunities (not an objective of this particular project) likely would yield positive results.
A.T. Kearney’s analysis was based on four major inputs: the comparative results of an end-to-end supply chain cost model (including analyses of time and cost for containerized cargo transit between various markets in the U.S. and around the world); interviews with a variety of Louisiana stakeholders; interviews with shipping lines, railroads and other subject matter experts; and the comparative results gathered in a Port Attractiveness Framework, which examined the attributes of Louisiana’s current and potential ports relative to 35 leading North American ports.
New Minimums on Liability Insurance
December 31, 2009
Come Friday drivers in Sabine and across the state will see see new minimums on liability insurance. Louisiana law currently requires car and truck owners to have at least “10-20-10” liability coverage. The new law changes the levels to “15-30-25.”
The average increase will be about 70 dollars a year, and many drivers are expected to be caught off-guard because insurance companies weren’t required to notify policy holders.
New Laws Come In With New Year
December 31, 2009
There are some new laws that will greet Sabine parish residents and the rest of the state residents, Janurary 1st. Nearly two dozen new state statutes take effect with the start of the New Year. The new laws will bre:
–Impose a 2 percent fee on packages of prepaid cell phone minutes, with revenue to go to statewide improvements to 911 systems.
–Increase the minimum auto insurance liability coverage required for drivers, boosting costs for motorists who carry only the minimum.
–Create a public safety campaign to warn Louisianans about alleged risks of consuming Chinese seafood, even if it is deemed safe by the state’s seafood nspection program.
–Prohibit the sale of novelty cigarette lighters, with exceptions for lighters manufactured before 1980, those considered collectibles and devices designed to ignite grills or fireplaces. Violators could be fined up to $250.
Department of Public Safety Develops Strategy for Mid-Year Budget Cuts
December 30, 2009
Under an executive order issued by Governor Bobby Jindal, all state agencies are directed to enact a budget reduction of state general fund dollars. This across- the- board 7.56 percent cut will reduce the Department of Public Safety’s general fund allocation by $2,740,923.
Colonel Michael Edmonson, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Public Safety, has announced his agency will be reducing expenditures over the remaining fiscal year by identifying areas in which reductions could be made without affecting the level of public safety services provided to citizens. This plan includes the elimination of a Louisiana State Police cadet academy class scheduled to begin in February 2010. This class would have filled 40 existing trooper vacancies that currently exist in State Police due to attrition. Colonel Edmonson has also suspended all off-duty use of state-issued vehicles by commissioned personnel; reduced all state-funded travel; and placed a freeze on new fleet vehicle purchases for this fiscal year.
“One of the most challenging aspects of serving as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Public Safety is mitigating the budgetary crisis under which our state is currently operating.” Said Colonel Michael Edmonson. “In these challenging economic times, difficult decisions must be made to ensure that our mission is accomplished in the most efficient and effective means possible. It is imperative that we examine the way we conduct business and take proactive approaches to lessen the impact to our personnel. These decisions are not easily made and I assure you that these changes are a necessity for our Department.”
Starting Monday, H1N1 vaccine to be widely available
December 30, 2009
The H1N1 flu vaccine will be available to the general public starting Monday.Doctors and hospitals around the state started offering the vaccine to target groups in October.
Now, anyone interested in receiving the vaccine may contact his or her health care provider or go online at www.FightThe FluLA.com to find a provider.
State health officials estimate that 216,000 people statewide have been ill with H1N1 since it was discovered in April.
Flu-like illness has declined in the last several weeks, but flu activity is expected to continue for months, said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, state health officer.
Cleco’s multi-fuel power plant now expected to operate in early 2010
December 30, 2009
Cleco Corp.’s Rodemacher 3 plant will not be in commercial operation by the end of 2009, as was hoped, but the company says it is close to starting to supply electricity to nearly half of its customers.A news release issued by the Pineville company says commercial operation of the plant near Boyce will start early in 2010.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” said Bill Fontenot, vice president of generation development for Cleco. “We had a couple of good weeks, then we had a couple of bad weeks. If everything goes well, I would like to say we’ll be going in a couple of weeks. But it all depends on how things work. It may take longer than that.”
Workers have been testing the plant’s twin boilers since November. The boilers were brought separately and then together to 50 percent output. The next steps are to bring them individually and then together to 100 percent output.
Fontenot did not say how long those tests will take.
The delay is more due to longer-than-anticipated construction time on the $1 billion addition to Cleco’s existing power-generating facilities than to the testing process, according to Cleco.
When fully operational, Rodemacher 3 will be capable of generating between 4 million and 4.5 million megawatt hours per year. Cleco sells about 10 million megawatt hours per year.
The plant is expected to burn petroleum coke, an oil byproduct that can be purchased from refineries. Pet coke is the cheapest source of fuel for the plant at this time, Cleco officials say. About 400,000 tons of pet coke are stored at Rodemacher 3, enough to power the plant for three to four months.
Rodemacher 3 is designed to use other fuels, such as natural gas, coal and lignite. It also can work off biomass, one of the alternative energy sources being pushed by President Barack Obama’s administration as a means of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
Trinity Baptist Church In Many To Hold New Years Eve Concert
December 30, 2009
Trinity Baptist Church in Many are hosting a New Years Eve Watch Night Singing Concert with perfomances by The Slaughter Family and Lee Eddie Self and The Blue Grass Boys Thursday December 31 at 7:30 p.m. Trinity Baptist invites you to join them as they bring in the new year with singing, fellowship and refreshments. They are located at 2826 Natchitoches Hwy in Many.
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