August 4,1949
Malefactors in Evangeline Parish may now be treated to a dose of tear gas- if conditions and circumstances make this treatment necessary.
Sheriff A. Bruce Soileau has just received for his office a small trunk containing all necessary equipment to reduce to a showdown all mobs, barricaded villains, and recalcitrant offenders.
The trunk contains tear gas bombs with ranges up to 325 yards and a penetrating force sufficient to pierce an ordinary door from a range of 100 yards. To shoot these little persuaders, Sheriff Soileau has a 37MM portable tear gas gun which will propel the missiles in nothing flat.
August 25, 1949
A St. Landry woman and a man with whom she fled the confines of her home were in jail here last week after her husband filed charges in both Evangeline and St. Landry parishes to be sure he had the right parish.
The woman, mother of two children, and Edward David, were arrested last Tuesday in Welsh after her young husband sounded an alarm over her abrupt departure.
Dupre charged that his wife had wrapped their baby tightly in a heavy blanket on the night of August 13 and left the premises with David. He awoke from slumber, he told officials, to find her gone and the baby unconscious. The child, revived by a physician, was reported as being well.
August 1, 1974
An order enjoining the Evangeline Parish Democratic Executive Committee and Secretary of State Wade O. Martin’s office from holding a primary election for School Board on August 17 has been signed by U.S. District Judge Nauman Scott.
It also declares that the present board members who were up for re-election will stay in office until such time as a new reapportionment plan is approved and an election can be called under said plan.
The judge gave both parties in the reapportionment suit 30 days in which to file pleas and or plans for apportionment in federal district court. The suit, seeking reapportionment of the School Board and the Police Jury, was filed last February by Harold Manuel, former Ward 3 police juror and now a candidate for state representative. Manuel was later joined in his suit by the local NAACP.
August 8, 1974
A break-in and theft of several thousand pills from the office of Dr. Barney J. Fuselier is among a number of cases investigated by the office of Sheriff Elin Pitre over the weekend.
The theft at Dr. Fuselier’s office is being investigated in conjunction with the city police. According to the sheriff’s office report, the robbery apparently took place Saturday or Sunday night and was discovered Monday morning.
Entrance into the building was made by forcing open a side window. The door to the drug room, made of wood and reinforced with steel bars, was pried open, and a cabinet drawer was also forced open to remove about $7,000 pills of various kinds.
August 22, 1974
The cost of financing public education was one of the highlights on the agenda of the Evangeline Parish School Board meeting Thursday as the board pondered the nonarrival of Title One funds, the lack of money to hire school aides under Title One, and lopped off recent increases given to school bus drivers. The board also opened bids from Wholesale milk distributors and for repair work at Chataignier and approved the tentative general fund budget for 1974-75.
Supt. Hart Perrodin told board members there is still bo money available from Title One federal funds, in spite of the fact that a news release from Baton Rouge last week stated these funds in the amount of $563,078.26 had been approved.
Perrodin said the board will probably have to borrow money to meet its obligations until the Title One monies are received. He also pointed out there is “a possibility” of getting an additional $63,000 through Title One under a new federal law recently enacted, provided the bill is signed by President Ford. This money, together with an additional $17,000 would be needed to pay teacher aides.
August 6, 1989
Board members of Evangeline Parish Water District No. 1 unanimously agreed to proceed with plans to enter into a joint venture with the Village of Pine Prairie in the construction of a detention center to house illegal aliens if legal questions can be answered.
Initial financial discussions with bonding attorney James Brown indicate funding for the $3 million plus construction project can be readily obtained, a corrections specialist told the water board during its meeting Thursday night.
Members reviewed the options and tentative plans with Tom Tubre of Corrections Management of Bunkie, prior to attending the village council meeting to determine if the village board shared the same enthusiasm for the project which could bring as many as 30 jobs to the water district.
August 10, 1989
A problem with public drinking and loitering in the area of Pine and Dr. Carver Streets may result in the city’s first ordinance governing public alcohol consumption.
Alderman Bill Jeanmard raised that issue during the City Council meeting Tuesday night because of traffic congestion and loitering that currently occurs on the well-traveled intersection
He said the number of people drinking at the intersection sometimes makes it impossible for residents of that area to even back out of their driveways.
August 24, 1989
After holding a public hearing, the Ville Platte City Council approved the first ordinance in the city’s history governing public alcohol consumption.
The ordinance prohibits the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages and liquor in public streets and on the outside of business buildings, with the exception of certain special events.
The ordinance, which was approved during a 15 minute session, was prompted by a problem with public drinking and loitering in the area of Pine and Dr. Carver Streets.
August 27, 1989
“We have a lot of support in this area,” Rep. David Duke shouted over a background of Cajun music in Fred’s Lounge Saturday morning. “A lot of people want us to run against J. Bennett Johnston.”
The famed lounge was the first stop for the Metairie Republican state representative and his legislative assistant, Callie O’Pry, a native of Pine Prairie. The day’s agenda included a stop at Liberty Theatre in Eunice and an appearance at the annual meeting of the Beaver Creek Hunting Club at Gene Welch’s camp.
Rep. Duke will return to Evangeline Parish as the guest of Jack Fruge at the Ville Platte Rotary Club noon meeting on Tuesday.