YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Raceland man gets second life sentence for Larose double homicide By Dan Copp Daily Comet Staff Writer
A 39-year-old Raceland man found guilty of ordering the 2013 killing of a confidential informant has W been sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said. Toronzo Thompkins, 38, was convicted May 26 of the seconddegree murToronzo der of Nikki Thompkins Landry, 41, of Larose. The jury also found him guilty of negligent homicide in the death of Landry’s acquaintance, 54year-old Harry Lefort, of Cut Off. The victims were shot Sept. 22, 2013, in Landry’s apartment on West Fourth Street. Landry was to testify against Thompkins in his cocaine distribution trial that week. Thompkins was convicted of the drug charge despite Landry’s death and is now serving life in prison at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. He faces another life sentence for the murder conviction. Thompkins son, Traveyon Blackledge, has already been convicted of both killings, and a third accomplice
Lockport man arrested for desecrating graves
The Lockport Lockport Chief of Police David Harrel- video, they observed a man, later identiPolice Department son Jr. announced the arrest of a Lockport fied as Falgout, damaging the gravesites. At around 1:15 a.m. on Thursday, respectfully requests man for desecrating several graves at a local cemetery. Jared Falgout (age 36) was April 19, officers responded to a residence that anyone with arrested early Thursday morning in on Delatte Lane in Gheens, along with damage to their famdeputies from the Lafourche Parish Sher- ilies’ tombs please Gheens. On the morning of Wednesday, April iff’s Office, in reference to a report of Fal- contact Chief Harrelson or the assis18, officers responded to the Holy Savior gout being at the location. Cemetery on School Street in Lockport in Upon arriving at Delatte Lane, officers tant chief, Sergeant reference to several graves being dam- spotted Falgout standing outside a resi- Ricky Breaux Jr., at aged. Officers found more than 30 gravest dence, where he was taken into custody (985) 532-9799, in Jared Falgout had been damaged. Several headstones without incident. order to obtain inhadSbeen pulled down, flower holders were formation such as Falgout was transported to the V MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE ripped from their mountings, and several monetary costs to repair or replace any Lafourche Parish Detention Center in ThiC • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE plaques were ripped away from tombs. bodaux where he was booked for Desecra- damaged items such as flower pots, flags, When officers reviewed surveillance tion of Graves. His bond is set at $10,000. plaques, or statues.
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Festival fun time …
Entergy Louisiana to return millions in tax savings to customers State regulators approved agreement Wednesday
See Life Page 3-A
MEETINGS MONDAY, APR. 23
LAF. FIRE DISTRICT #3 Board of Commissioners 6:30 p.m. Fire Central 17462 W. Main - Cut Off TUESDAY, APR. 24
Staff Photo
Three-year-old Abbey Darda of Mathews enjoys the boat ride Thursday night during the Lockport Food Festival’s Sneak-A-Peak night. The Festival offers great Cajun food, family fun, live music, games and rides for all ages all weekend long, continuing until Festival closing time Sunday evening. The Festival is located on Church Street in Lockport.
Louisiana House approves budget with deep health cuts
LAF. PARISH COUNCIL 5:00 p.m. Mathews Govt. Complex 4876 Hwy. 1 - Mathews LAFOURCHE LODGE 7:30 p.m. 6542 W. Main - Cut Off
WEDNESDAY, APR. 25 LAFOURCHE PORT COMMISSION Committee Meetings 10:30 a.m. 108 A.O. Rappelet Rd. Port Fourchon
INSIDE
Arrests.........................5-A Calendar of Events.....2-A
Classifieds...................4-A Horoscopes.................5-A
Lottery.........................2-A News In Brief..............5-A
Obituaries....................4-A Worship Directory........6-A
VOLUME 29 NUMBER 34
pass this one,” Johnson said. “Shame on us if we do.” In a press conference after the vote, Gov. John Bel Edwards returned to his now-familiar calls for a special session to raise revenue. “I think the far better approach, the sounder approach, the more honest approach, is to go into a special session where we fix the revenue and fashion the budget at the same time,” Edwards said. “At the end of the day, we are going to find a way to make sure we fashion a responsible budget, and today didn’t do it.” Edwards criticized House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, and other House Republicans for what he described as a tendency to say they support compromise before voting against it. The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee on Monday passed a version of the budget allocating $230 million to TOPS, fully funding the program. See Budget Page 3-A
By Devon Sanders, Ryan Noonan and Paul Braun LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE — Tensions were high Thursday as the Louisiana House voted 55-47 to pass a state budget that called for cutting TOPS funding by 20 percent and stripping most of the funding for partner hospitals and other health services for the poor. This proposal came after state officials estimated that federal tax changes would bring in an extra $346 million in state revenue next year, lowering the projected budget deficit to $648 million. Some legislators, like Democratic Caucus Chairman Robert Johnson of Marksville, expressed serious concerns about the bill and its impact on Louisianans, especially the 31,000 nursing home residents who would lose Medicaid funding and be forced out of facilities with no places to go. “We are constitutionally obligated to pass a budget, but we are not constitutionally obligated to
USDA (Trimmed)
7114 Hwy. 1 - Lockport 13086 Hwy. 3235 - Larose 2113 S. Alex Plaisance Blvd. - G.M. Prices Good Through Tuesday, April 22
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BATON ROUGE, La. – Entergy Louisiana customers will see a series of rate reductions over the remainder of 2018 under an agreement approved Wednesday by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC). The first of the reductions will occur in May as a result of $210 million in federal tax reform-related savings, $105 million of which will be returned to customers over the next eight months, with the remaining half of these savings returned to customers over the following four years. As a result, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month will see a roughly $4.20 decrease on monthly bills from May through December of this year. A second reduction of approximately $2 per month on residential See Entergy Page 3-A
House kills bill that would have opened some closed private waterways By Ryan Noonan LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE — The House rejected a hotly debated bill Tuesday that would have opened up closed waters for public access and navigation. The bill, which failed 58-38, essentially would have allowed recreational fishermen to fish in some privately owned waters and waterways without fear of legal consequences.
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