Drug Arrests by Sheriff's Department April 29, 2022 A number of suspects were arrested by Evangeline Parish Sheriff's deputies this past week in their efforts to stem drug trafficking in Evangeline Parish. Sheriff Charles R. Guillory reported to KVPI News on the following arrests: On Wednesday , the Sheriff's Department Narcotics Unit conducted a traffic stop on a car for a traffic violation. Following a search, illegal narcotics were found. Arrested was Christopher Bolfa, age 33 of Ville Platte was charged with possession of PCP and he had three outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court. On Thursday, the sheriff's department Narcotics Unit conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Pine Point road. After a search of the vehicle, the following subject was arrested: Douglas Keith Fontenot age 24 of Ville Platte charged with possession of methamphetamine. Also on Thursday at 8:00pm, the narcotics unit and patrol division executed a search warrant on a residence on L'anse Bleu road in the Chataignier area. Agents made entry and detained four subjects with out incident. The residence and property were searched and illegal narcotics were located. Arrested were: Kyle Brent Godeaux age 44 of Ville Platte and Megan Elizabeth Bealleau age 37 of Ville Platte, both charged with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a firearm in the presence of controlled dangerous substance, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, and possession of controlled dangerous substances in the presence of a minor. Godeaux was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon; Belleau was also charged with a warrant for failure to appear for court. Lindsey Rose Deville age 34 of Ville Platte charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent distribute fentanyl; and Jason Fontenot age 41 of Ville Platte charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and a warrant for failure to appear in court.

Drug Arrests April 27, 2022 Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory reported to KVPI News that his department recently conducted a number of drug arrests. On Wednesday April 20, the sheriff's department narcotics unit conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on St. Landry Highway. Agents made contact with the driver and a brief roadside interview was conducted. K-9 Diego was deployed and gave a positive alert to the presence of narcotics. Agents searched the vehicle and located illegal narcotics. Arrested was Paige Nicole Prudhomme, age 29 of Ville Platte who was charged with possession of Methamphetamine and a traffic violation. Also on April 20, the narcotics unit stopped a vehicle in Pine Prairie on a traffic violation. The driver, Terra Faith Bellard age 19 of St. Landry, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia; On April 20, the sheriff's office narcotics unit conducted a traffic stop on Veterans Memorial Highway. Agents, as they approached the car, could smell the overwhelming odor of marijuana. Arrested was Christian David Deville age 42 of Ozark, Arkansas cited for possession of marijuana and traffic violations. On April 22, the narcotics unit conducted a traffic stop in Ville Platte and once again, agents noticed an overwhelming smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Arrested was Dustin Johnson age 30 of Ville Platte, cited for possession of marijuana and traffic violations. On Monday April 25, the narcotics unit along with the patrol division, executed a search warrant at a home on Acadian Drive in the Bayou Chicot area. The warrant was prepared after receiving numerous complaints. Agents entered the home and camper trailer on the property and detained six people. Agents conducted a search of the property and discovered narcotics and a firearm. Arrested were::Sonny Joseph Gagnard age 30 of Woodworth was charged with possession of Methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in the presence of controlled dangerous substances; William Jagneaux age 52 of Ville Platte was charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in the presence of controlled dangerous substances and an outstanding warrant, Ashley Nicole Fontenot age 34 of Ville Platte was charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in the presence of controlled dangerous substances; and Ashely Denise Lamb age 31 of Ville Platte was charged with two counts of possession of schedule four drugs and four outstanding warrants.

Grand Jury Indictments April 202, 2022 Evangeline Parish District Attorney Trent Brignac reported to KVPI News that the Evangeline Parish Grand Jury on March 30 and 31, returned indictments in five cases. In the first case, the grand jury returned the following indictments on Artay Joseph LeJeune age 27 of Jennings on the following charges: three counts of First Degree Rape, three counts of Oral Sexual Battery and two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm. The charges stem from incident which occurred on or between Dec 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. The grand jury also returned indictments against LeJeune on additional charges for three counts of First Degree Rape and three counts of aggravated assault in connections with incidents between December 15, 2020 and March 30, 2021 In another case, the grand jury on March 31, indicted Jeremy Jamar Breaux age 34 of Duson on the following charges: Second Degree Battery and Domestic Abuse Battery in connection with an incident which occurred on or about July 18, 2020. The grand jury, in another matter, indicted Jasquez Compton age 31 of Mamou on the following charges: First Degree Rape with a victim under the age of thirteen and Oral Sexual Batter with a victim under age 13 and three years younger than the offender. The charges are in connection with an incident which occurred on or between March 9, 2019 and February 1, 2022. In another case, the grand jury indicted Tony James Brasseaux Jr age 30 of Sunset on the charge of Sexual Battery. The charges stem from an incident which occurred on or about June 10, 2021. Arraignments on all of these cases are set before Judge Chuck West. Brignac would like to thank the members of the grand jury for their service and he also complimented his felony prosecutors: Stan Vidrine, Bo West and Jacob Fuselier on their efforts.

Budweiser Bud n Boiling Contest Winner April 13, 2022 KVPI had our grand prize drawing this morning in our Bud n Boiling promotion from all of the listeners who qualified during the last two weeks. Congratulations to our grand prize winner: Amy Palmer. Amy has won a 24 pack of Budweiser beer, a sack of medium to large crawfish compliments of B&L Seafood in Mamou and a crawfish pot and boiling kit compliments of Vidrine Ace Hardware. We want to thank everyone who qualified. If you're a qualifier and have not picked up your 12 pack of beer, come in as soon as you can. Our special thanks to Southwest Beverage, Budweiser distributors for teaming up with Classic Hits 92-5 KVPI. Happy Easter everybody.

Dr. Lawrence Menache, Oncologist was the guest speaker at Rotary April 12, 2022 Savoy Cancer Center Radiation Oncologist Dr. Lawrence Menache was the featured guest speaker at Tuesday's meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. He has been in medicine for the past 32 years primarily in the Alexandria area. Dr. Menache praised the local health care team at Savoy Cancer Center for the quality of health care in a rural setting. He works alongside hematology oncologist Dr. Paul Zhang specializing in chemotherapy. Dr. Menache said he is excited about the new equipment being installed at Savoy Cancer Center. The new "Linear Accelerator" machine will be able to provide pin point accuracy for the treatment of tumors so only the affected areas are targeted. He also gave tips and recommendations on cancer screenings such as colonoscopies, Breast Cancer, prostate and lung cancers. In closing he said " Get your cancer screening and be a partner with your doctor." Dr. Menache was the guest speaker of Rotarian Angela Fontenot. Rotarian Larry Lachney reminded club members that the annual club Spring Social is planned for April 26 at the Knob Hill camp.

Ville Platte City Council Meeting April 12. 2022 Several concerned citizens attended Tuesday's meeting of the Ville Platte City Council to voice their concerns over conditions at the City Dog Pound. Jill Stevens and Melissa Gibson shared the following list of grievances: only six kennels out of 16 are holding dogs. The same dogs have been in those kennels for months and there is no place for new dogs to come in. They stated that medical and other supplies have been donated for the care of the dogs and are not being used by the care taker. The dogs are not being given even basic care. Fencing material was donated but they never been installed. They mentioned that the care taker at the pound could be given free training on the proper handling of animals at the shelter. Stephens, an architect, has drawn up plans for a proposed new city animal shelter that could hold 16 kennels. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine told Stevens and Gibson that she is planning to meet with a welder at South Louisiana Community College to help work on making improvements at the dog pound. She also announced that she will appoint an advisory committee to work with city officials to oversee the proper operation of the city dog pound and invited concerned citizens to contact city hall. She thanked both ladies for their concern and compassion. In other business, the city approved a new ordinance, fashioned after a similar one in Lafayette dealing with restaurants serving alcoholic beverages in outside patio areas. Also, the city council approved a request from Tri Comm Real Estate to erect a new cell phone tower at the old Cedillo store location on west main in Ville Platte; Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announced there will be an Easter Egg Hunt at the Martin Luther King Park Saturday at 1:00pm for children and a second egg hunt for adults. The public is invited. The Girls and Boys Club will open June 3 with registration for those 8-16 and will operate daily from June 6-July 22. Fire Chief Chris Soileau announced there were 14 calls in March including two structure calls, one vehicle call involving a fatality and seven alarm activations. Long time Ville Platte firefighter Robert Perron was recognized by Jerri LeDoux with Congressman Mike Johnson's office with a congressional commendation for his 50 years of dedicated service to the fire department. City Engineer Ronnie Landreneau announced the patching of streets have begun which will lead to the overlay of some 25 city streets. Also in the budget will be improvements to all three city parks with the addition of splash pads, walking trails and pavilions . Sarahi and her husband Steven Sawtelle announced to the city council their plans for a "Day of Prayer" at noon May 5 at Hundredfold Coffee Shop. They personally invited the mayor and council to attend their event. Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue announced the police department answered 720 calls for the month of March, made 12 arrests including 9 felony arrests and worked 18 vehicle accidents including one fatality. Also the city council approved the hiring of two new part time jailers; Two new businesses wishing a city occupational license were referred to the city's attorney for review and guidance. Kyle Marsh, a local law enforcement officer is planning to open a new business in his home for the manufacture and sale of firearms such as AR-15's. The business will be called "Evangeline Tactical". Also, Amanda Snoke and her husband , the owners of Sooner Auto, are planning to operate a food truck in the Ville Platte area and wanted guidance and info on getting a license to operate. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine reminded residents that Acosta Foundation is sponsoring a clean up day in Ville Platte on April 23.

Financing a new jail continued to be the topic of discussion at the Evangeline Parish Police Jury meeting on Monday, April 4. After the proposal to rededicate parish health unit and parish library funds was voted down on March 26th, the police jury has now been forced to go back to the drawing board to come up with another plan to fund either the construction of a new jail or the expansion of the current jail. Police Jury President Bryan Vidrine said, "If anyone has any other ideas on how we could move forward, I'm all ears. I know at one point we had talked about possibly adding on to the existing facility." Police Juror Daniel Arvie, asked if a previous deal was still on the table that would consist of the sheriff assisting with payment of some police jury expenses until the police jury could build a jail? According to Vidrine, that is not an option at this time. Vidrine suggested that the jury go back to the sheriff one more time to discuss what they can afford in terms of building a jail. If the sheriff can't work with those numbers, Vidrine said, "I think at that point we need to make a decision. Do we want to start talking with an engineer to start looking at expanding our jail?" Police Juror Kevin Veillon then added, "It's time to start moving forward before all the money is gone. It's time to move forward and do what we got to do." In terms of moving forward, Police Juror Lelia Thrasher stated, "My biggest concern is if an agreement is made for the sheriff to pay what the police jury can't pay, will that carry over to the next sheriff." Legal counsel for the police jury, Jacob Fusilier, said, "Statute explicitly requires the jury to pay operations." Fusilier shared that if a future administration refuses to abide by the agreement and it's challenged in court, he "can't promise that it will hold up." In closing, Vidrine said, "If we don't have an agreement by next month, we can't continue, because it's costing us $60,000 of our money that we could be using to go toward the jail each month. That's what we are spending outside the parish on inmates." If the police jury and the sheriff are unable to reach an agreement, Vidrine said they will move forward with hiring an architect to give them a price on expanding the current jail. In other business: Secretary Treasurer Donald Bergeron reported that a Fiber Cutting Ceremony will be held on April 11 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Evangeline Parish Courthouse. He also shared the 2 percent sales tax collections for roads and drainage projects were $362,056.30, which represents a year-to-date increase of 27.85 percent. Joseph W. Deville was appointed as a board member to the Evangeline Parish Water District #1.

The Classic Hits 92-5 KVPI road crew, Karlee, Mike and Ray, did a live remote broadcast at James Stephens Elementary Montessori School during their Career Day event this morning.. We got to meet lots of students and teachers. We want to thank the school for inviting us.