Police Jury finalizes wish list for hurricane recovery funds (11/20)

Posted November 20, 2009 at 12:31 am
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By ELONA WESTON
AMERICAN PRESS

Calcasieu Parish police jurors on Thursday signed off on the parish’s spending proposal for Louisiana Recovery Authority funds, sending it to the state.

The parish has $17.7 million to spend on recovery efforts associated with Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. For months, parish officials have gathered input on recovery and community development needs.

Clair Thomson, senior grants planner for the parish, said the plan will be submitted to the state on Monday.

Thomson said it will also be available for residents to view in its entirety next week online at the Police Jury’s Web site: www.cppj.net.

The panel approved the draft plan last month. The proposal was unveiled on Oct. 27, and a 21-day public comment period followed.

The Police Jury is charged with the plan’s preparation on behalf of all parish municipalities, and the plan must ultimately be approved by state and federal officials.

Thomson has said that the plan “aims to serve the entire parish by implementing projects that have a parishwide impact.”

According to Police Jury figures, $10 million of the almost $18 million allocated would go toward parishwide projects under the proposed plan. The remaining amount would be allocated to the six incorporated areas of the parish and some unincorporated parts.

Projects listed on the draft proposal include generators for public facilities, a homelessness prevention program, and the strengthening of some area water plants and other public facilities.

Also on the list are wastewater upgrades and updates to Burton Coliseum and the Lake Charles Civic Center.

Thursday’s approval came despite a request by Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach to use a portion of the funds to establish a housing assistance program that would benefit city residents whose property sustained hurricane-related damaged.

Lake Charles City Councilman John Ieyoub outlined the city’s wishes to police jurors on Thursday before the plan was approved unanimously.

Police jurors on Thursday also heard from Bill Shearman, YMCA board member, who said he and fellow members are eyeing funding avenues to help rehabilitate the Kirby Street downtown facility, damaged in 2005 during Hurricane Rita.

Shearman said members have been working with an architect who has estimated initial repairs to the facility to cost around $1.5 million.

Shearman said the $1.5 million would cover upgrades to the facility’s first floor and some measures that would bring the building up to code.

“We don’t want a castle, we just want a functional building,” he said.

Police Jury President Hal McMillin said that there may be other resources available to help rehabilitate the building. He said parish staff could assist in the funds search.

Thomson said the parish’s spending proposal focused solely on projects related to Gustav and Ike, and that she would defer to the LRA on the eligibility requirements of the YMCA project.

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Victim’s girlfriend admits to lying (11/20)

Posted November 20, 2009 at 12:30 am
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By VINCENT LUPO
AMERICAN PRESS

Closing arguments will be heard today, Nov. 20, before jurors determine the fate of Joshua K. Darby, who is accused of stabbing to death Kareem Bacon, 28, on Aug. 29, 2005.

Darby, 28, is standing trial this week in state district court on a charge of second-degree murder. If convicted as charged, he faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole.

Bacon was killed around midnight after he and his girlfriend, who were walking in the 3400 block of McKinley Street, were attacked by Darby and his friend, Frank Johnson.

Johnson testified for the prosecution Wednesday. He pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to manslaughter — and faces up to 40 years in prison — rather than stand trial on the murder count. He will be sentenced later by Judge Robert Wyatt, who is presiding over Darby’s trial.

Prosecutor John Coffman’s key witness, Amanda Papion, Bacon’s then-girlfriend, admitted Thursday that she lied to police detectives about several matters but contended she did not lie about Darby’s having been the one who stabbed Bacon.

She said she saw the knife shortly before Darby used it on Bacon. She said she believed at first Darby was just punching Bacon while he was down, but then realized the victim had been stabbed.

She said she only saw one stab wound. But the parish coroner, Dr. Terry Welke, said Bacon suffered five to six wounds to the chest. Papion, now 21, is an Army sergeant and was flown in from Kuwait, where she is stationed. She told jurors the stabbing resulted from a feud between Johnson and her uncle, Charles Gobert. At that time she was dating Bacon, whom her uncle recruited to help fight for him.

Darby was a friend of Johnson’s. Papion did not know Darby until the day of the stabbing. Earlier that day, she said, Gobert and Bacon had argued with Johnson, but that there was no fighting involved.

Later, because she was angry at both her boyfriend and her uncle, she set up a fight between them and Johnson, who brought along Darby and three others. During that altercation, she said, Bacon had a knife, but later dropped it. The fight “ended on its own,” Papion said.

She said she later got into a “physical fight” with Bacon in which she struck him with an iron pole and he smashed her head into a wall. She said she was injured but not cut, and she put a bandage on her head.

Papion said she and Bacon later went to Walmart to talk things over. On the way back, as they were walking down McKinley Street, Johnson drove up with Darby and a female she did not know — later identified as Rashema Roy, who testified Wednesday.

Johnson and Darby jumped out of the vehicle and attacked Bacon, who quickly fell to the ground. It was during this fight that Bacon was stabbed.

Papion ran to her grandmother’s house down the street — where she was living at the time — and told her uncle to call police. Gobert told her he had already done so. He followed her back to the crime scene and told her to lie by telling police that he was there when the stabbing occurred.

She said she doesn’t know why he wanted her to say that, but she maintained that lie until retracting it in June 2006 when she was questioned by an attorney and an investigator.

Papion admitted she also lied to police when she said she suffered the injury to her head during the fight that ended in the stabbing. She told detectives she had hit her head on the concrete while trying to get Johnson and Darby off Bacon.

She admitted withholding information from police, such as being the instigator of the earlier fight. But, she claimed, she was being truthful Thursday, and maintained, as she always had, that Darby stabbed Bacon.

Papion described the knife as having a black handle with about a 4-inch blade. It wasn’t a folding knife. Both Johnson and Roy said they saw Darby with a chrome-colored knife when they returned to their car. They said they assumed he threw it out the car window.

No knife was ever recovered. Blood was found both on and in Johnson’s car.

Defense attorney Todd S. Clemons played for jurors tapes of interviews witnesses had with police. He emphasized the discrepancies in the versions of events surrounding the stabbing, as well as the differences between what witnesses said when first questioned and what they said under oath this week.

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Bucs face once-beaten Hahnville (11/20)

Posted November 19, 2009 at 11:55 pm
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By JOHNATHAN MANNING
AMERICAN PRESS

Barbe will meet a team similar to itself when it travels to Hahnville today for a Class 5A regional round playoff game.

Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Like ninth-seeded Barbe (9-2), eighth-seeded Hahnville (10-1) likes a balanced offense.

Quarterback Brian Ensminger, nephew of former LSU QB Steve Ensminger, has thrown for 2,032 yard, while running back Alfred Blue has run for 1,672 yards for Hahnville.

“They have all the ingredients: a big tailback that can run, a good quarterback and a couple good receivers,” said Barbe head coach Jimmy Shaver. “When I picked the top teams at the beginning of the year, I had Central of Baton Rouge, Hahnville and maybe West Monroe.

“That was my top three.”

Barbe heads into its second consecutive game with sophomore Jared Foster at quarterback. Foster, who has thrown for 920 yards and 12 touchdowns against five interceptions, missed five games after breaking his collarbone against Sam Houston in Week 4. In his first start since the injury, he threw for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 57-22 win over South Terrebonne.

“Every day he gets better. He’s very close to where he was. He’s getting it back,” Shaver said, then added jokingly, “if we could play about three more weeks, he’d be OK.”

Kevin Berard filled in for Foster and threw for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions. But the return of Foster allows Berard to move back to wide receiver, where he is a much bigger threat. He has 21 catches for 427 yards and eight touchdowns.

“When we’re mixing it up with the run and the pass, we’re a whole lot better football team,” Shaver said. “It takes out those limitations.”

Barbe has been a scoring machine, averaging 38 points per game behind running back Michael Guillory’s 1,212 yards and 18 touchdowns.

But so has Hahnville at 41 points per game. Blue has rushed for 32 touchdowns and Ensminger has thrown 23.

“(Ensminger)’s good, he’s got that same Ensminger touch,” Shaver said. “He throws the ball well and manages the offense really well. Then you put that 6-foot-3, 220-pound running back there and they can control the football.”

Hahnville runs a man-to-man defense, something Shaver said the Bucs have seen limited amounts — some by LaGrange and some by Acadiana.

“If we’re going to be in this game, we’re going to have to move the ball good,” Shaver said.

Last week, LaGrange, Barbe’s District 3-5A rival, had Hahnville on the ropes, down 26-17 at halftime. But Ensminger threw two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Tigers to a 38-32 win.

“I’m not sure Hahnville gave (the Gators) credit for being as good as they were, kind of like us against Sulphur,” Shaver said. “When they came out in the second half, they were a whole different team. They dominated. But LaGrange did a good job of staying in the ballgame. It was whoever crossed the line last.”

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City: Repair signs (11/19)

Posted November 19, 2009 at 12:29 am
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By Laura Heller
AMERICAN PRESS

It’s a sign of the times — the Lake Charles City Council wants all local business owners to repair and maintain their businesses’ signs.

At its regular meeting Wednesday, the council signed off on an amendment to an existing ordinance that clearly outlines business sign guidelines, as well as the procedures for notifying and handling violators.

City attorney Billy Loftin Jr. read the ordinance, which states that signs need to be painted every two years and be properly maintained. If a business sign is damaged and not repaired on a timely basis, city officials will notify the owner that they have 90 days to repair it. If the property is not an active business, the owner will still have to repair the sign and instead of a business name, display a blank sign face and the address of the property.

Sometime after Hurricane Rita, the council passed an ordinance targeting the repair of business signs damaged by the hurricane.

“The ordinance after the storm was so generic, it didn’t address (many signs),” Loftin said. “We are trying to address all situations.”

Signs should be repaired to their “initial permitted condition,” he said. Sign poles must now be able to sustain 110 mph winds. Before Hurricane Rita, the wind speed requirement was 100 mph.

Business owners need a permit to replace sign poles, according to John Cardone, city administrator. Owners needing to replace a sign’s face do not need permits.

According to Loftin, there are a lot broken signs in the city.

“It’s a big issue,” he said. “They’re a problem because they are unsafe and unsightly. They don’t meet safety requirements.”

Loftin said the process of getting all the city’s business signs up to code is “going to take a long time.”

“It’s going to be a long process, and this is just the beginning,” he said.

The amendment passed unanimously.

The council members received an update on lakefront development proposal requests.

The city is requesting proposals for parts — or all — of the project, with a focus on the south portion of the Civic Center grounds.

“This is stronger than our previous request because it allows for responses on all four tracts,” said Lori Marinovich, director of Downtown Development.

Attorney Brian Arabie said developers can send in their proposals for any or all of the tracts.

“The last time, we looked for a single developer, but (that didn’t work) with present financial conditions,” he said. “A lot of work has gone into making this an attractive package.”

The request will be issued this week. City officials expect proposals will come in during the next month or so.

For information on the proposal request and the project, visit cityoflakecharles.com. The information should be posted by Friday.

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Witness accounts of death differ (11/19)

Posted November 19, 2009 at 12:27 am
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One says suspect said he ‘gutted’ victim; another didn’t hear that

By VINCENT LUPO
AMERICAN PRESS

A witness testified Wednesday that she heard Joshua K. Darby, 28, say he “gutted” Kareem Bacon on Aug. 29, 2005. But Frank Joseph Johnson, riding in the same car with the witness, said he never heard Darby make that remark.

Darby is standing trial this week for second-degree murder in connection with Bacon’s Aug. 29, 2005, death. If convicted as charged, Darby faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole.

Johnson, who was also set for trial this week on a similar charge, pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to a reduced charge of manslaughter. He faces up to 40 years in prison.

Both Johnson and Rashema Marie Roy, 21, testified as prosecution witnesses for Assistant District Attorney John Coffman. Roy was arrested in connection with the incident, but grand jurors declined to indict her.

Both came under intense cross-examination by defense attorney Todd S. Clemons, who emphasized discrepancies between their statements and what others told police.

The stabbing resulted from a feud Johnson was having with a man named Charles Gobert. According to Johnson, Gobert would get others, such as Bacon, to fight for him.

Earlier on the day of the stabbing, Johnson and Darby had an altercation with Gobert, Bacon and others. The incident broke up after Gobert’s mother came outside with a gun and police were called.

Most of the parties reside in the Greinwich Village area just west of La. 14.

Close to midnight on Aug. 29, Johnson, Darby and Roy were riding down La. 14 when they saw Bacon walking with Amanda Papion on McKinley Street.

Johnson said he turned his vehicle around so he could go fight with Bacon. He said he only intended to beat up Bacon and put an end to their fighting.

Both Johnson and Darby exited the vehicle, and Johnson proceeded to fight with Bacon. Johnson said he eased up a bit on Bacon when Darby ran over and began “uppercutting” him.

Meanwhile, Roy, who remained in the vehicle, yelled for them to stop and to come back to the car. Papion also hollered for the fighting to stop.

Roy said she heard Darby tell Johnson when he returned to the car, “I gutted the f— out of that motherf—–.”

But Johnson said Darby told him, “I hit him, I hit him.” As Johnson looked down, he saw that Darby was holding a knife, and he assumed that Darby had stabbed Bacon.

Johnson and Bacon said Darby apparently threw the knife out of the car window, but neither saw him do it.

When the trial resumes at 11 a.m. today, Coffman is expected to call Papion to testify. Now in the Army, Papion was on active duty in Kuwait and was flown home so she could appear as a witness.

Coffman does not plan to call Gobert because he cannot be found. Gobert reportedly told police he was walking with Papion, who is his niece, and Bacon when Darby and Johnson spotted them immediately before the stabbing.

Papion told police Gobert ran off a short distance as the others slowed their vehicle.

But in a 2007 letter discovered by Coffman on Tuesday night, Gobert claimed he lied about being present because he wanted justice.

Johnson and Roy said they did not see Gobert walking with the others. Johnson said he saw Gobert outside his house as the trio drove off from the scene of the fight.

Bacon died during surgery at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Both the surgeon and parish coroner are expected to testify today before Coffman completes his case.

Judge Robert Wyatt is presiding over the trial.

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