Rotary Club Meeting – 1-30-24 The Rotary Club program today was presented by Rotarian Joey Soileau. He invited Chris Guillory, the Evangeline Parish Assessor and his guest, Josh Fontenot, the Chief Deputy and CPA, to provide updates on the effect on Millage Totals for Evangeline Parish that will be provided by the Pine Prairie Energy IDB. The grand totals for tax year 2023 will be $2,571,683.66. This is significant for the Parish. This amount is roughly equivalent to the addition of 1000 - $300,000 homes in the area. The next IDB meeting will be held on February 6 at 4:00 at the Coreil Campus. The Assessor also presented information about a potential Solar Project and how that could affect taxes. These negotiations are all confidential, and have not been concluded. Other Rotary News: • Wayne Vidrine reported on the success of the Azalea planting at Chicot Park. The weather cooperated, and they were able to get the azaleas planted with the help of the Rotarians who volunteered and the students. He acknowledged how great it was to have the Reimagine Academy Students out to help. • Money is being collected for the Super Bowl pool. Beau Wilson would like to have all funds collected by next week's meeting • Rotary Bills have been mailed. Check with Annette Johnson with any questions. • The tentative date for the next Board Meeting is February 6th. This will be confirmed. • The speaker for the next meeting will be presented by Kirk Soileau.

Drug Arrests January 29, 2024 Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory reported to KVPI News the following drug arrests: On Thursday January 25, 2024, Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office received a call from a local store owner in Ville Platte stating that there was a female in the store who was becoming disruptive. Upon the arrival of Narcotic Agents came in contact with a white female identified as Mindy Soileau 28 years old of Ville Platte. Soileau was arrested and charged with Possession of 3.54 grams of methamphetamine and 3 unopen packs of Suboxone Sublingual strips 8mg each. On Tuesday January 23, 2024, Narcotic Agents were conducting Criminal Patrol in the town of Mamou, specifically traveling down Mulberry Street, when they observed a male subject, agents identified as Leroy Moses ,38 of Mamou who was known to have active warrants through the Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office. Upon making contact with Leroy Moses, he was advised he was under arrest due to warrants. Agents then conducted a routine pat search of Leroy Moses. During the search Agents located an unopened pack of Suboxone. Leroy was taken to jail on the active Warrants. The Agents secured an arrest warrant for Possession of Suboxone without a prescription. On Wednesday January 24,2024 Narcotic Agents conducting Criminal Patrol in the Chataignier community conducted a traffic stop for vehicle violations. Upon making contact with the driver who was identified as Ricky Dabney a 39 year old from Opelousas. Narcotic Agents recovered approximately 1.3 grams of marijuana and 2.23 grams of cocaine. A criminal summons was issued for the marijuana, citied for traffic citations and arrested for Possession of schedule II Cocaine.

Assistant Supt. Of Schools Mike Lombas reported to KVPI News that all public schools in Evangeline Parish will not have classes due to the flooding conditions. Keep tuned to KVPI for further announcements. Evangeline Parish is under a flash flood warning for today.

Evangeline Parish Police Jury Meeting January 22, 2024 The Evangeline Parish Police Jury, in a special meeting Monday, accepted the recommendation of its parish engineer to delay the awarding of a contract on major improvements at the Wyble Subdivision sewer plant. Engineer Ronnie Landreneau told jurors that the lowest bid out of three bids submitted was for $1 million 99 thousand, which is about $100,000 budget over the parish budget estimate. The project funds are coming from a sewer grant. The engineer said he will work with the bidder to see if they can scale back the project to fit within the budget amount. Jurors also discussed the financial issues the parish has been facing with the operation of its ten sewer plants scattered throughout the parish. The parish has about 1000 customers with about a 30 percent delinquency rate. One customer owes the parish some $3,000 in delinquent fees. Jurors say the sewer fees which are $22 a month are too low to sustain the costs of operating the plants. The monthly sewer fees should be almost double the amount they are now charging. Jury President Bryan Vidrine said the state is helping by putting delinquent sewer customers a tax lien on their state taxes. Juror Kevin Veillon said the sewer plants are "draining our budget and putting a strain on our employees". The sewer plant employee is on medical leave so the jury is having to move their parish road and bridge maintenance supervisor over to make necessary repairs and work on the sewer plants which is backing up road and drainage projects. In other action, the police jury appointed Dirk Deville as new interim secretary treasurer to replace Chester Granger who is retiring February 17. Granger served 25 years as maintenance supervisor and the last year as Secretary Treasurer.

Sheriff Office Arrests January 22, 2024 Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory reported to KVPI News, on Thursday January 18, narcotics agents while conducting criminal patrol on the Lanse Bleu road observed an occupant in a vehicle commit traffic violations. The traffic stop resulted in the arrest of Jessica Deville on a charge of possession of 6.78 grams of Methamphetamine and was issued a ticket for driving under suspension. Also, on January 18, sheriff's office narcotics agents conducted a search warrant at a residence at 570 Bayou Marron road. Richard Manuel was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute 28 grams of Methamphetamine and Possession of a firearm in the presence of illegal narcotics. In another case, on January 5, narcotics agents with the sheriff's office and the Allen Parish Swat Team executed a No-Knock narcotic search warrant at 115 West Jefferson Street in Ville Platte, the residence of Kaybrien Ardoin. As a result of the search warrant, Ardoin was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute 492.1 grams of marijuana, 8 MDMA pills and possession of a weapon in the presence of illegal narcotics. Also, a juvenile suspect was arrested in connection with the theft of two ATY's stolen December 8 from the tow yard of R&T Towing. The business owner reported that suspects gained entry into the tow yard and had stolen two ATY's. It was later learned that the business owner had video evidence of suspects that committed the burglary. The juvenile was later arrested and charged with simple burglary, criminal trespass, criminal damage to property and unauthorized entry of a place of business. The investigation is on going and more arrests are likely. Sheriff Guillory urges the public to contact his office to report criminal activity at 337-363-2161. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Despite the chilly weather, the annual Evangeline Parish Jr. Market Animal Show and Sale for 4-H and F.F.A. students was a big success today at the Chauncey Pitre Ag Arena sponsored by the LSU Ag Center. The Classic Hits 92-5 KVPI road crew, Misty Parker and Mike Perron, were on the scene talking with Ag officials and students. A big thanks to all our sponsors.

Sacred Heart School Closed Tuesday January 15, 2023 Here is a special message from Sacred Heart School Development Director Kimberly LeJeune: "Based on an advisory from our local weather service, as a result of anticipated unsafe driving conditions due to extreme weather, Sacred Heart School will be closed Tuesday January 16. We will update everyone as soon as we receive additional information."

Evangeline Parish School Closure January 15, 2024 Evangeline Parish Supt. Of Schools Darwan Lazard reported to KVPI News: "In communication with the local 9-1-1 Office of Emergency Preparedness an based upon the most recent National Weather Service advisory indicating extremely cold temperatures with a possibility of unsafe driving conditions , the Evangeline Parish School District, all campuses and district offices will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday Jan. 16 and 17. The safety of our students and employees remains our top priority. We anticipate that we will resume regular operations Thursday January 16. Check local media outlets, school board website and social media platforms for updates."

Ville Platte City Council Meeting January 10, 2023 The Ville Platte City Council Tuesday heard from Linda Fontenot who is in charge of a program to help young people called "Save Our Community Kids Adventure Camp". Her group plans activities and events for young people including workshops the arts and science. Her headquarters is on Jack Miller Road. This past year, her group mentored some 35 young people. Ville Platte Mayor Ryan LeDay Williams, in his mayo's report announced that the city will be adding another retail business that will bring in another 40-50 new direct jobs to our area. The mayor said the agreement with the new firm forbids him from disclosing more information about the business. He said ground breaking will take place late this summer. The city council reviewed the cost of utility deposits in the city as compared to deposits that residents in other municipalities are paying. It was learned that Ville Platte residents are paying more than in other comparable size cities. No action was taken by the council. The council approved annexing property along US 167 Opelousas road from Crimson Lane to the East Side Water system office. Fire Chief Chris Soileau reported there were 22 incidents for the month of December including two grass fires and two building fires. For the year 2023, the fire department worked 308 fire incidents. The Ville Platte City Council approved a request to raise the salaries of paid firefighters by two percent for a cost of $8800 a year. The city approved the hiring of Chirstopher Jordan Dupre as a new firefighter. Police Chief Al Perry Thomas reported there were 784 calls for December. The police wrote 8 traffic tickets, made 28 arrests including 7 felony arrests, and worked 27 traffic accidents and one fatality. The city approved hiring John Christophel and Javonte Freeman as new police officers. In other business, the city: --Approved advertising for bids for the refurbishing of 19 sewer lift stations using funds from a five million dollar grant; --voted to name Councilwoman Anna Frank as Mayor Pro tem for the year 2024; -approved moving the February council meeting date to Feb. 6 due to the Mardi Gras holiday.

Ville Platte Rotary Club Meeting January 9, 2023 The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Rotarian Annette Johnson speak about an event that occurred in 2011 when the local club buried a time capsule in connection with the centennial celebration of Evangeline Parish. Johnson showed photos and newspaper articles detailing the various events that took place at the courthouse square in honor of the parish' 100th birthday. Rotarian Jimmy LeBlanc read a proclamation that was included in the time capsule that will be opened in 2061. The time capsule was buried in front of the bell tower. The time capsule was donated by Chad Soileau of Soileau Industries and the marker was provided by Centurion Monuments. A number of items were included in the capsule including some 70 photographs of homes and businesses in the Ville Platte area. Annette Johnson was the guest speaker of Rotarian Ronnie Landreneau. In other business, the rotary club: --have scheduled January 23 to gather to plant azaleas at Chicot State Park assisted by Sacred Heart and Reimagine Academy students; --heard from Larry Lachney who announced the winners in the football pool. The pool is used to provide two $1250 scholarship winners for its youth leadership program "Ryla".

On Wednesday night, Sacred Heart School presented Christmas Under The Oaks. KVPI was there and spoke with Ms. Rebecca Ardoin, the Religion Administrator at Sacred Heart School. The students have been working on this program for several months and did a wonderful job! They presented the Nativity of our Lord. The Junior Class presented a Live Nativity Set. The Elementary Choir sang beautiful Christmas carols, and the Praise Team performed a beautiful dance for the Celebration. It was a lovely evening for Christmas Under the Oaks!

Rotary Club Meeting – 1-2-24 The Rotary Club program on Tuesdqy was presented by Rotarian Dan Poret. He invited Colisse Dupont, the Executive Director of Enrollment Services at SLCC. The strategic plan for SLCC is to boost enrollment by developing plans to increase the programs being offered, particularly outside of Lafayette. Since COVID, application numbers have doubled in Ville Platte, and overall enrollment has increased by 3%. SLCC is now offering Agricultural Science. They offer an on-line program in Education and Oil and Gas Production. Business Office Technology has been added, and they have added Virtual Programs. Tuition has not increased, and SLCC is now offering assistance for students who need laptops. There is a food pantry to help with food insecurity needs. Other programs being offered include Welding, Criminal Justice, Practical Nursing, Business, Adult Education and an excellent Dual Enrollment program. The Advisory Boards have been revitalized. SLCC is working on a Medical Assistant Program and an Advanced Manufacturing Program that should be available in 2025-2026. They are offering Engineering packages within the General Studies program. When determining the educational packages to be developed, they look at the industries in the communities and determine what skills are needed to fill those industry jobs with the goal of educating the youth to keep them here living and working in this community. In conjunction with the State Mission, SLCC has a goal of completing 46,000 students by 2030. Other Rotary News: • Larry Lachney spoke about the College Championship Football pool. This game is scheduled for January 8th, and there will be 2 scholarships in the amount of $1250 each awarded from the proceeds. • The next meeting will be on January 9th, and the program will be presented by Ronnie Landreneau • The Azalea Project for Chicot Park is planned for January 23rd or 24th or both, depending on whether the project is completed. The plan is to plant 150 azaleas. The Interact Club at Sacred Heart will be involved, and students from Reimagine Academy have also been invited.