ACADIANA Dec. 2018 - Vol. 1 No. 10 Complimentary Copy
Business & Industry | Community Affairs | Events & Entertainment
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
COVER STORY
TM Landry Fallout
Teles Fremin Named Interim Director of LUS Fiber
Mayor-President Joel Robideaux has appointed Teles Fremin as Interim Director of LUS Fiber until a permanent Director is named. Since the start of the new fiscal year on Nov. 1, LUS Fiber has been recognized as a separate entity from Lafayette Utilities System (LUS), and with this appointment, Fremin is the first Director of LUS Fiber. Prior to this year, the same director managed both LUS and LUS Fiber. Fremin joined LUS more than 17 years ago and has worked in various roles throughout her career with LUS and LUS Fiber. In her most recent role, she was responsible for leading the
LUS Fiber Continued on page 10
By Dwayne Fatherree-Freelance Journalist
The viral video of Ayrton Little opening his Harvard University acceptance letter, a week after his older brother Alex was accepted to Stanford University, made the young men media darlings. They made the rounds of syndicated talk shows last year. News outlets called for interviews. Well-wishers applauded the brothers and the school, TM Landry Prep in Breaux Bridge, that they attended. But with that adulation and attention came a spotlight that cast a long shadow over the school in early December when the New York Times published a story detailing school founder Michael Landry’s history of abuse and violent temper as well as allegations of academic fraud. The story also questioned
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS Mail Slot
As LA Crawfish Industry Grows, Concern Remains Over White Spot Disease
(LA Radio Network) Louisiana’s crawfish industry produces more than 300-million dollars a year, but there’s a dark cloud hovering over producers. LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist Greg Lutz says the white spot virus is a threat to this growing industry. “It’s been there for quite some time, but over the last couple of seasons it’s really seems to be
the value of TM Landry’s educational methodology, painting the school and its owners, Landry and his wife, Tracey, as choreographers of a grand charade that has left scores of students behind their peers and illprepared for the college rigors they faced upon graduation. The story, based on interviews with 46 current and former students and parents, court documents detailing Michael Landry’s plea of guilty in 2013 to a charge of simple battery, copies of erroneous transcripts and multiple interviews with the Landrys, led the school to issue a statement Friday evening through its lawyer. “As a result of the article published today by The New York Times and in the midst of running the daily operations of the school, Michael Landry and Tracey Landry, the owners of T.M. Landry College Prep Foundation (“T.M. Landry”), have received multiple inquiries into the
TM Landry Continued on page 6
spreading and hurting some individual farms,” said Lutz. Lutz says all it takes is for one crawfish to get white spot syndrome and all of the mudbugs in a pond can get sick. He says for some producers it’s been a real issue. “It’s the large crawfish that succumbs to this virus, the young crawfish are scooting around the pond just fine, but it’s the big ones that die. Of course it’s the big ones that are producers need to harvest to turn a profit.” Lutz says white spot disease is harmless for humans. He says it’s been issue worldwide in the shrimp industry and the virus was first detected in Louisiana in 2007. He
ENTERTAINMENT
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EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT on page 22
IN THIS ISSUE:
• The Bird? • LFT Regional Airport • Discover Lafayette • New Laws For Exotic Dancers • DOTD Upgrades Site & APP • People On The Move • Road closures • Commentary & Opinions • Events & Entertainment says they need more research dollars in order to examine what’s causing white spot disease. “It’s really of concern to some of us industry observers and we’re hoping to find a way to do some work on it,” said Lutz.