Election Returns November 18, 2023 Complete but unofficial election returns show that District Six in Evangeline Parish has a new police juror. Challenger Brent Guillory defeated incumbent police juror Eric Soileau in balloting Saturday night. The final vote was Brent Guillory with 466 votes or 55 percent of the vote to Soileau’s 368 votes or 44 percent. All local millage tax propositions were renewed by voters. For the Elderly Services proposition , the millage tax was renewed by parish voters with 2394 people cast yes votes while 1091 votes were against the measure. For the 9-1-1 Communications District millage tax renewal, it passed with 2363 voters voting yes and 1142 voters voting no; For the Police Jury Ward One millage renewal, the millage tax was approved by 510 to 296; For School District Number Seven in the Basile School area, the millage tax renewal was approved 159 to 64; In the Mamou Gravity Drainage District Number Five , the millage tax was renewed with 127 voting yes and 55 voting no; In Statewide races, Evangeline Parish voters did the following: For Secretary of State: Nancy Landry defeated Gwen Collins Greenup with Landry getting 2966 votes and her opponent 696 votes; For Attorney General: Liz Baker Murrill easily defeated Lindsey Cheek, 2977 to 671; For State Treasurer: John Fleming with 2904 votes beat Dustin Granger who received 748 votes. In the constitutional amendments: Amendment #1, Evangeline Parish voters approved the amendment 2094 votes with 1327 against which deals with the timing of gubernatorial action on bill; Amendment #2 deals with repealing certain funds in the state treasury passed by parish voters: 1765 votes yes and 1648 votes no; Amendment #3-provides for ad valorum tax exemptions for certain first responders. That measure was approved by parish voters with 1874 yes votes and 1560 no votes; Amendment #4-dealing with the use of money in the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund. That measure was voted down by parish voters: 1827 voted no and 1555 voted yes. KVPI’s Misty Parker and Mark Layne were there broadcasting complete return coverage on Classic Hits 92.5 KVPI.

Suspect arrested for theft of stolen ATV and another suspect arrested for bomb threat Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory reported to KVPI News the following suspects were arrested: On November 3, deputies responded to the 2000 block of West Main Street in reference to a stolen ATV. Through the use of tracking devices, sheriff’s deputies went to the location where the stolen ATV was tracking. They discovered the missing ATV and another ATV inside a shed and later determined it was stolen too. The suspect , Jaquan Lavergne, age 18 of Enola Street. He was charged with two counts of possession of stolen things with bond set at $30,000. He is currently in the parish jail. On November 16, a suspect, Heath Morris Cintron age 49 of Eunice was located by the state police in Rapides Parish and arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant for “Communication False Information of planned Arson”. His bond was set at $15,000. The charges are in connection with a bomb threat at his former place of employment, Cabot Corporation. Sheriff Guillory urges the general public to contact his office to report any type of criminal activity at 337-363-2124. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Evangeline Parish Superintendent of Schools Darwan Lazard Comments Regarding Evangeline Being Ranked in the Top 5 School Districts in the Louisiana "All of these accolades and awards for outstanding academic achievement are extra special since they reflect the hard work and commitment of our employees, students and community of stakeholders. In August, we were recognized for having the 2nd highest “growth to mastery” LEAP score out of 69 school districts in this state and, in October, we were recognized by the State School Board (BESE), for being a Top 10 Improvement District! Now, to be acknowledged by the Louisiana Department of Education for having the 5th highest overall academic improvement ranking out of 69 school districts, is historic and truly amazing! We are grateful to God for these blessings! These outstanding state test scores represent the work of outstanding teachers, administrators, and support workers, who worked untiringly with our precious students, as they were undergirded by their parents, families and communities. I have no doubt the students of the Evangeline Parish School District are blessed with wonderful and caring educators and support staff. Despite overwhelming obstacles and opposition, no other group could turn our pandemic exacerbated challenges into educational opportunities with positive academic outcomes for the students of Evangeline. Truly, God has turned, once again, those things that were meant for defeat into glorious victory! These historic gains represent another giant LEAP onward, upward, and forward for education in Evangeline Parish!".

Rotary Club Meeting – 11-7-23 The Rotary Club met on Tuesday, and our speaker, presented by Rotarian Jimmy LeBlanc, was Dr. Erin Bendily. Dr. Bendily is with the Pelican Institute for Public Policy - a non-profit and non-partisan institute whose purpose is to help the state of Louisiana to thrive and move forward. Louisiana has multiple ports, the Mississippi River, a good cost of living, a beautiful culture, plus so many things that should equate to prosperity. However, poor policy decisions have caused the problems that Louisiana is now facing. Dr. Bendily addressed some of the areas of concern. The first was revenue. The state budget is $51 billion dollars, which is double what it was 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the population has declined over that same time period, resulting in less revenue, and that is creating an unsustainable situation. So, the question is, are our tax dollars being used well? Louisiana has one of the most complex, convoluted tax systems. It has one of the most unfriendly corporate tax structures. Fixing this is now a necessity. The sales tax system is also one of the most complex in the country, causing businesses to relocate. Tax reform probably won’t come up until 2025 because the legislature only takes up this issue every other year. However, work is now being done to work toward correcting this problem. The next issue was spending. The state continues to spend more without evaluating the expenses. More care needs to be made to look at what is working and what is not, and there needs to be more restraint. Twenty percent of the population lives in poverty. It is very difficult to access programs for help, and a lot of research has been done to improve this system. Crime is coming down, but it remains too high. Data collection is important to determine what the outcome of programs actually is, and this has become a priority. Right now, the truancy rate is 45% in our school system. Only 33% of our students are proficient at their grade level. It is improving, but there is still more work to be done. There are many policy items that are being studied – technology, innovation, licensure, etc. Elections have taken place with runoffs coming soon. It is now time to address these concerns. Make sure to push the candidates for Transformational Change for Louisiana. Find out more at ourlouisianacomeback.com. Other Rotary News: • Rotary continues to take names for the 10 Christmas baskets. • The program for November 14th will be presented by Ryan LeDay Williams.

Evangeline Parish Police Jury – November 6, 2023 The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held their monthly meeting on Monday night. The Christmas Jury meeting has been scheduled for December 12th at 2:00. This will be their all French meeting. In old business, the Sheriff’s department has started acting on the Nuisance Ordinance, and the first batch of citations has been issued. In committees, public hearings were set for November 18th for the following: • Adopt the Ordinance for the Acadiana Watershed District • Constable and JP pay increases • Oquin Loop – reduce speed limit from 45 mph to 25 mph • Cabot Road – reduce the speed limit from 25 mph to 15 mph • Adopt the 2023 Budget Amendments and 2024 Budget Appropriations • Award bids for Fiscal Year 2024 The Crooked Creek committee discussed the planned bath house. The architect should have plans drawn this month. The plan is also to build the pavilion at the beach and tear down the old mechanic’s shed. Once the plans are complete, the project will be submitted for bids. Mr. Kim Ortego updated the Jury on the park operations. Visitors have increased, and they are working with a vendor to create a simple website to include a description and pictures with links for current events and to make reservations. Cemetery Boards were appointed for 4 year terms for both the Vandenburg Cemetery and the Ferguson Cemetery. Bridgette Homer with Capital Area Finance Authority asked for a Resolution from the Jury to be adopted to allow CAFA to add a bond option to help reduce interest rates for their clients. The Public Works Director discussed moving drainage and maintenance crews where needed. He also discussed looking into CDL training. The Engineer Reported on capital outlays for a chilling system. They should close on the water sector project land next week, and then the project can go to bid. The Secretary/Treasurer reported that the budget had been distributed. IDB met last week, and there has been significant progress made. They are waiting on the response from the Solar Company to the Board’s proposal. Acadian Ambulance is in compliance, as always. There was a discussion about health insurance, and open enrollment is proposed for the week of November 27th. Tax Collections for the month were $387,648.83. The Jury handled the annual business and other regular business items and approved the budget for 9-1-1. The removal of the speed bump on Henry Cole Lane was approved. And the committee also approved transferring the old Mosquito Spray unit to the City Of Ville Platte. The next regular meeting will be on Monday, November

Election Returns October 14, 2023 Complete but unofficial election returns from Saturday’s Primary election shows the following: In the Clerk of Court’s race, incumbent randy Deshotel was reelected over opponent Jebby Cormier. Deshotel received 70 percent of the vote or 5343 votes to Cormier’s 2278 votes or 29 percent of the vote; For Police Juror in District One: incumbent Keith Saucier defeated challenger Freeman Celestine. Saucier received 51.5 percent of the vote or 494 votes to Celestine’s 464 votes; In Police Jury District Two, incumbent Sidney Fontenot was re elected over challenger Jamie Fontenot. Sidney Fontenot received 55 percent of the vote or 432 votes to Jamie Fontenot’s 353 votes or 44.9 percent; In Police Jury District Four, challenger Tim Causey defeated incumbent police juror Lelia Johnson Thrasher. Causey received 56.6 percent of the vote or 677 votes while Thrasher got 518 votes or 43.35 percent; In Police Jury District Six, there will be a runoff election. Incumbent Eric Soileau with 514 or 49 percent of the vote was the top vote getter will be going into a runoff with challenger Brent Guillory who got 502 votes or 42.9 percent of the vote. The third person in the race was Donald Vidrine who received 31 votes; In Police Jury District Seven, incumbent Bryan Vidrine defeated Kevin Cabon Fontenot. Vidrine received 71 percent of the vote or 606 votes whole Fontenot got 237 votes or 28 percent of the vote; Police Jury District Eight, the winner is Darion “Brother” Arvie with 532 votes or 50.76 percent of the vote defeated both of his opponents: Sherman “Deedee” Wilson with 379 votes and Earl “Tenny” Doucet with 137 votes; In Millage tax elections: The Town of Mamou 12.45 mill property tax proposition passed for a ten year term by a vote of 283 voting yes and 170 voting no; The Mamou Fire Protection District No. 1 8.007 tax renewal for another ten year term was approved by voters: 1424 voting yes and 296 voting no; The Duralde Gravity Drainage District #4 8.17 mill tax renewal for a nother ten years was approved by voters: 104 voting yes and 21 voting no; Constitutional Amendments: Amendment #1 prohibit use of private funds in elections was approved by parish voters 5427 voting yes and 2089 voting no; Amendment #2 dealing with th e freedom of worship was approved by parish voters: 6088 voters voting yes and 1477 voting no; Amendment #3 dealing with the state retirement system was approved by parish voters with 3977 voters voting yes and 3386 voters voting no; Amendment #4- dealing with tax exemptions was approved by parish voters: 4605 voting yes and 2811 voting no; In statewide races, here in Evangeline Parish For Governor: the top vote getter was Jeff Landry with 5624 voters followed by Shawn Wilson with 1574 votes; For Lt. Governor: incumbent Billy Nungesser was the top vote getter with 5010 votes in the parish and Willie Jones came in second with 1182 votes’ For Secretary of State: Mike Francis was the top voter in the parish receiving 3082 votes followed by Nancy Landry with 1080 votes; For Attorney General:, Liz Baker Murrill was the top vote getter in the parish with 3402 votes followed by John Stefanski with 1967 votes; For State Treasurer: John Fleming was the vote getter with 4107 votes followed by Dustin Granger with 1788 votes; For BESE Board Member in District eight :Preston Castille was the top vote getter in the parish with 4392 votes and opponent Delores Cormier Zenon 2ith 1753 votes. The KVPI News team., Misty and Mark, did a live broadcast from the Clerk of Court’s Office for the entire election returns with Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel.

Ville Platte Police retrieves suspect back to Evangeline Parish October 12, 2023 Ville Platte Chief of Police Al Perry Thomas reported to KVPI News today that he traveled to Port Arthur, Texas to extradite Marcus Paul Arvie age 23 of Ville Platte. Arvie was arrested by Texas authorities and placed on a hold for Ville Platte officials. Arvie was charged with Accessory After the Fact of Second Degree Murder. His bond was set at $250,000 and he is currently in the Evangeline Parish Jail. He was arrested and charged in connection with the death of Vashonskee Charles age 17 of Ville Platte on August 29. His body was discovered on Colt Avenue. Arvie is accused of assisting in the disposal of the victim’s body outside of Ville Platte. Jared Freeman was extradited earlier from Los Angeles, California and is charged with second degree murder in the death of Charles and is under a two million dollar bond. Ville Platte Police are still searching for two suspects in the case: Jaylon Thomas and Dalonzo Alfred. Chief Thomas told KVPI News that his department are still running down leads in the investigation of the shooting death of a Baton Rouge man who was shot to death last Friday night. He was shot four times and his body was found near his vehicle along Court Street. His identity was not released but he is a black male in his 30’s. Police are looking at possibly a passenger in the vehicle may have been the shooter. In another case, Chief Thomas reported that his department is investigating an armed robbery that occurred Wednesday night at the Dollar Store on West Main across from the funeral home. The incident occurred around 9:30pm. There were no shoppers only two employees at the time of the holdup. The robber stole some $2600 from the store.

Rotary Club Meeting – 10-10-23 The program at the Rotary Club meeting on Tuesday was presented by Rotarian Clem LaFleur. Clem introduced his daughter, Yontria LaFleur. Yontria has been a model and an actress, and she is now forming her own Image Consulting business. She helps her clients select clothing to best express their body type and preferences, which in turn helps to build confidence. Her clients include attorneys, teachers, doctors, politicians and others. She helps people with clothing for every day, events, and special occasions. Yontira also plans to start a mentorship program, which she will likely form as a non- profit. Her first event was at Ville Platte High. She invited fitness and health coaches, a yoga instructor and others. Her purpose was to teach the students how to present themselves in public and how to dress for interviews and other important events.  She plans to remain actively involved in Ville Platte, because this is home. Other Rotary News: • Bryan Ardoin presented a potential new member for the first time – Carleen Jones, Campus Director for SLCC • Rotary will start taking names for the Christmas baskets • Annette Johnson explained the Rotary statements • Nicole Wenger announced that Larry Lachney will present the program at the next meeting, October 17th. • The District Governor will be visiting the Ville Platte Rotary on October 24th. The plan is to put together a Gumbo and seasoning basket as a gift for the District Governor. • Wayne Vidrine updated everyone about planting Azaleas at Chicot Park with Sacred Heart. If there is enough rain, planting will take place on December 3rd, and there will be about 100 azaleas to plant.

We had royalty in our KVPI studios early this morning. Three queens representing the Tournoi Association visited KVPI studios to record interviews that will air Friday at 12:45. We had the new 2023 Tournoi Queen Shelbi Lynn Guidry, Ms. Tournoi Queen Gabrielle Dawn Alleman and Junior Tournoi Queen Addyson Ann Boutte. Also, listen to special messages from the Tournoi Queen inviting listeners to attend the Tournoi Sunday afternoon at 2;)0pm. If you can't attend, be sure to listen to Classic Hits 92.5 KVPI . The KVPI road crew, Misty, Mike and Mark will be there covering it from start to finish.

We had two educators visit us at KVPI studios this morning to record an interview to promote the College, Career and Job Expo planned for Wednesday morning from 9-12 at the Mamou Community Center. Our guests were Liz Chatelain, Secondary Supervisor and Coordinator for the Reimagine Academy and Carmen Faul, Curriculum Specialist. You can hear the interview Tuesday at 12;35pm on KVPI AM and FM. KVPI's Misty Parker and Britney Speyrer will be covering the career day.

Rotary Club Meeting – 9-26-23 The program at the Rotary Club meeting on Tuesday was presented by Rotarian Eric Gil. Mr. Gil introduced his son, Sam Gil. Sam is a student at McNeese University. He experienced both COVID and the hurricanes that devastated the Lake Charles area as a student. Sam jumped right in, and served as a Freshman Senator in the Student Government Association. He went on to be a Representative and then the Speaker of the House. Sam introduced a Student of the Year Program, helped with mental health legislation, increased parking, and took advantage of the University being open to suggestions. During that time, McNeese lost 1000 students, which represented a 15% decrease to the annual budget. Sam became President his Junior year. He had a really good year and expanded the SGA’s reach. As a second term President, Sam ran for President of the Louisiana Council of Student Body Presidents. While he was unsuccessful in that attempt, he successfully ran for the Louisiana Board of Regents. He defeated the candidates from LSU and the Southern System. He was responsible for a $3.45 billion dollar budget and 32 institutions. He is working on digital payment methods for the school. He represents over 214,000 students. Sam has worked for the Louisiana Governor, and he has served as a national officer for his fraternity, Kappa Sigma. Sam attributes much of his success to what he learned as a young man growing up in Ville Platte. He is very grateful to the people and for the experience, and he learned the value of building and fostering strong relationships and working hard for your goals. Sam remains committed to Sacred Heart High School, and his future plans are to attend law school and then potentially earn a PhD in either Public Policy or Higher Ed. Other Rotary News: • The program for the next meeting on October 3rd will be presented by Rotarian Annette Johnson • The District Governor will be visiting the Ville Platte Rotary on October 24th.

Ville Platte City Council - Meeting, Tuesday, September 12th The Ville Platte City Council met last night (Tuesday), and they were updated on the Animal Shelter. Planned improvements have been completed, but the shelter still failed the inspection. Problems include draining in the wrong direction, so trenches aren’t draining. There are no doors on the back of some kennels for cleaning, and the shelter requested roofs on at least two of the kennels so that the jumping and climbing dogs can’t escape. Back gates need to be repaired. The Mayor and City Council will work with the contractors to fix these problems. The Council was presented with the new City website. Megan Norris, showed the new functions and pages on the website. Parts of it are still under construction, but it will be very user friendly, contain valuable links to pay bills, keep informed of events and activities in Ville Platte and link to important related websites. The site is cityofvilleplatte.com Bill Fontenot provided the update for the City Engineer. The sludge removal project is under way, and the city is working hard to take care of the sewer problem. An Architect has been hired to prepare drawings for the park project. The Ville Platte Fire Department received a Class 2 Rating out of 10 (with one being the best) from the Public Fire Protection inspection. The department improved 2% to 86% since the last inspection. This is great news for both protection and insurance purposes. The Fire Department received a FEMA grant to replace breathing apparatus and communications equipment in the amount of $134,000. Fire Prevention week starts October 8th with a theme of Cooking Safety Begins at Home. They have officially closed on the new site for the station and work will start immediately. There is an Open House tentative scheduled for October 21st. There were 45 incidents in the month of August. John Deville provided the Police Department update. They responded to 657 calls in the last month that included 8 felony arrests out of 12, and 25 accidents. The Mayor announced that the Ville Platte Fire Chief Chris Soileau received his Fire Officer IV Firefighter and Emergency Responder Certification from the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshall Public Safety Services.

Tournoi Eliminations September 11, 2023 Eliminations runs took place Sunday at the Tournoi track Sunday at the Industrial Park to select ten additional competitors for this year’s Tournoi run. Here they are: #11- Brandi Snoke #12- Garrett Manuel, #13- Nick Miller, #14- William Fontenot, #15- Drew Vidrine, #16- Shane Lee, #17-Keith Saucier, #18- Cody Manuel, #19- Jody Trahan and #20 Shane Deville. There were no accidents with the horses. The new competitors join last year’s Top Ten that include: Last Year’s Champion- John Ross Guillory.. #2- Eric Guillory, #3 Marcus Guillory, #4 Cody Guillory, #5 Alex Haller, #6-Lisa Crane, #7 Paul Fontenot, #8-Bryan Fontenot, #9- Chuck Manuel and #10- Kent Saucier. The 2023 Tournoi Court include: Miss Tournoi- Shelbi Guidry, Ms. Tournoi- Gabrielle Alleman, Teen Miss Tournoi-Jilian Frederick and Jr. Tournoi Queen- Addyson Boutte. The Tournoi will be dedicated to the memory of Gary Brignac of Mamou and Jarrod Matte of Belaire Cove. The running of the historic running of the Tournoi will be held Sunday October 15 at 2:00pm at the Industrial Park after the Cotton Festival Parade. KVPI will be there to broadcast the entire event for those who cannot attend I n person.

Football game shooting suspect arrested August 27, 2023 Ville Platte Police Chief Al Perry Thomas reports to KVPI News that that a 15 year old juvenile from Opelousas was arrested by City Marshal officials in connection with a shooting near the Jamboree football game Friday night. Chief Thomas said the suspect was picked up and his weapon, a 9 mm handgun, was also seized by authorities about 15 minutes after the shooting took place. No one was injured in the shooting. Police found that a broken mirror from a parked vehicle was damaged from the shots fired. The shooting took place between Harvey LeBas and Court Street and police believed it was a “retaliatory” shooting in connection with recent shootings. Two shots were fired outside the football stadium around 9:00pm. School officials cancelled the final game that was about to begin as a precaution. Players, coaches and fans quickly left the stadium after hearing the shots. In another matter, one person was injured in another shooting that occurred Saturday night at the corner of Lincoln and North Stagg street. The victim was injured in the leg, treated and later released. Police believe there are three suspects involved in this shooting. No one has been arrested in this case Chief Thomas said he will be attending a special meeting called by the city for Wednesday night at 6:00pm August 30 at 6;00pm at the Ville Platte Civic Center to discuss the rash of shootings and increased crime in the city. The public is invited to attend.

Evangeline Parish School Board Meeting – August 16, 2023 The Evangeline Parish School Board met on Wednesday night. Ville Platte Elementary School faculty and staff were recognized for outstanding academic growth on the 2023 LEAP State Assessment. This is a wonderful achievement for the entire community – faculty, staff, parents and students. Raises for Support Personnel were requested. Several speakers spoke in support of raises for the Cafeteria workers and support staff across the board, and there was significant discussion. Although the Board was generally in favor of raises, the matter was tabled until the Executive Committee meeting so that a detailed evaluation of the request and the budget could be undertaken. Then, the matter can be brought back to the Board. The revised 2022-2023 General Fund, Parish-wide Maintenance, Basile Maintenance, BHS Athletic Fund and CNP Program were presented by CFO Amy Lafleur. She also presented the 2023-2024 Consolidated Budget. The budgets will be reviewed in depth by the Executive Committee on Tuesday, August 22nd, and will be brought back to the Board for a vote on September 6th. The Board approved adding two secretarial positions at the Central Office. All the requisitions and invoices were approved as well as the Consulting Agreements. Superintendent Darwan Lazard let everyone know that the school year has gotten off to a relatively smooth and successful start. Most of the campus projects are complete with the exception of the air conditioning in the Mamou Gym, projects at James Stevens and Mamou Elementary, and the Ville Platte Athletic Track. There will be Ribbon Cuttings on Monday, August 21st, at Bayou Chicot Star Academy at 10:00, Mamou Star Academy at 11:00 and Reimagine Academy after that. Superintendent Lazard is hoping that Governor John Bel Edwards’ schedule will allow him to be at Mamou and Reimagine Academy. Lastly, the French Immersion Program received two private donations from Ms. Chicken and Mr. Winky Aucoin for the programs at Ville Platte at Mamou for grades K-7.

Qualifying Second Day August 9, 2023 Only three candidates qualified on Wednesday to run for office in the October primary election, according to Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel Those candidates were: Rhonda Butler, incumbent for State Representative, 38th Representative District; Dr. Thomas Fontenot, incumbent Parish Coroner Kevin “Cabon” Fontenot, candidate for Police Juror in District 7. Qualifying will end Thursday at 4;30pm at the Clerk of Court’s Office in the courthouse.

Rotary Club Meeting August 8, 2023 The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) had as their guest speaker, Justin LaFleur, the director of “Beyond the Horizons” substance abuse clinic in Mamou. Justin has been the director of the program for the past two years and has 12 years of experience. The program has 24 beds for a 28 day period for patients with alcohol and substance abuse issues. The program includes a 12 step program toward recovery. He cited a statistic the completion rate at “Beyond the Horizons” is 81 percent while the national completion rate for similar type programs is at 60 percent. He said some 50 percent of cases involving inmates in prisons today are drug related. The program works with families in the recovery process. He was the special guest of Rotarian Angela Fontenot. In other Rotary club news, the service project committee of Pat Duplechain and Mabel Forman will be in charge of securing and preparing care baskets for needy families during the holidays; Also, the Rotary District Governor will be making his official visit to the Ville Platte Rotary Club on August 29.

Louisiana State Police Investigators have charged 23-year-old Vonteeko Lamar Anderson with 1st Degree Murder following the officer-involved shooting death of a Ville Platte City Marshal, Barry Giglio on July 31. Anderson was rebooked into the Evangeline Parish Jail on August 2, 2023, shortly after 6:30 P.M. Anderson was already being held in the jail following an investigative search preceding the Ville Platte shooting on Monday, July 31st. During that search, a weapon was found along with illegal narcotics. He was booked on the following charges: • Possession of a firearm with certain CDS offenses or while committing a crime of violence • Manufacture, distribute or possess with intent to distribute schedule I CDS At least two subjects were shot and transported to local hospitals with critical injuries; one of those subjects later died. One officer was shot and pronounced dead at the scene. Anyone with information and/or pictures and video is urged to share that information with LSP Detectives by calling 337-332-8080.

Parish Jail Escapee July 23, 2023 Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory reports to KVPI News that a prisoner has escaped from the Evangeline Parish Jail. The inmate has been identified as Willie Javonne Price. He is a black male, approximately 5 feet,one inch tall, brown eyes, black hair with multiple tattoos. He is known to carry weapons. If you see, please notify the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Department at 337-363-2161 or 9-1-1.

Evangeline Parish School Board Meeting – July 12th The Evangeline Parish School Board met on Wednesday night. After approving the minutes to the previous meeting and the Policy Committee meeting, the Board moved to address each policy items from the Policy, Athletic & Curriculum Committee meeting individually. The Board approved leaving the policy regarding Personnel Transfers in place as is except that they added the deadline of June 30th, when possible. The Policy regarding Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices was also unchanged. There was significant discussion about the School Dress Code. A motion was made to add the school colors to the uniform polo shirt options and to allow t-shirts. Speakers presented information about the Parish income levels to request that spirit color shirts not be approved as a dress code option. Further, the dress code policy calls for a notice of 60 days prior to making any changes, so the argument was made that it is too late to make any changes for this school year. The Board voted to leave the Dress Code Policy in place as is. The Sales Tax Comparison chart was presented to the Board. Year-to-date collections total $9,600,694 – 121.53% of the budget for the fiscal year. The Employment Calendar for the2023-2024 school year was presented to the board reflecting the 4 day school week and all personnel classifications noted. The proposed MFP Budget for the current year was voted down by the Department of Education, so the budget will revert to the previous year of $40,494,154. The Department of Education did approve a one-time payment. The Department of Education will be issuing guidelines soon. The Board approved a motion to follow the DOE guidelines. Modified Block Scheduling was discussed for the 4 day school week. The ultimate outcome of this discussion was that it is too late to change the scheduling for the current year. This method of teaching requires additional training and personnel, so the schedules will remain as is for this school year. The Board approved low bid quotes from Trident Industrial for maintenance work to be done. The Board approved the proposed requisitions and invoices. The 2023 – 2024 Student Handbook and Reference Guide was presented to the Board. The Superintendent made the following personnel announcements: At Basile, Johnny Deshotel was appointed Principal and Tony Bertrand the Assistant Principal. Mr. Lazard thanked Mel Bordelon for her service at James Stevens Montessori. He announced the new Principal – Fran Prince Lemelle. Nicole Johnson was announced at the new Assistant Principal . Ms. Julie Guillory was announced to fill the vacancy at Mamou High School. The new Assistant Principal at Pine Prairie High school is Kelly Dunnigan.