Regardless of the reason, residents of Lake Charles are going to find it hard to understand why the Diocese of Lake Charles is relocating the historic St. Louis Catholic High School. Clearly, relocating the school has been a longtime debate over the years. Many feel the Bank St. property limits the school s expansion for a stadium, baseball field, additional students, etc. However, the building of a new campus may provide for a bigger student body. Ironically, there are no plans to build a sports complex or stadium at the new location.
The community that surrounds the school, students, local businesses, alumni, teachers, and parents are speaking out about the move. They say families have built their lives around the historic school that opened in the 1800s and it should stay where it is. They say the school is the anchor of the neighborhood and downtown area. Nevertheless, a decision has been made to rebuild the school on property near the new Morganfield Subdivision in southeas
The Louisiana Investigative Auditor s Office recently released a report on their findings surrounding former District Attorney
John DeRosier s program allowing individuals to buy out of court-ordered community service hours. The now retired 14th Judicial D.A. fell under investigation to determine the authenticity surrounding his nonprofit gift card program run through his office. Auditors reported the program allowed defendants to pay their way out of community service by donating gift cards and money to the D.A. s Community Assistance Program.
A summary of the report and its finding are available
here. It looks like hundreds of thousands of dollars in gift cards were involved in the program. In addition, the auditor s office is said to have uncovered at least six instances where the former D.A. violated the law. The violations cited include use of funds for personal benefit, transfer of some $556,598 through the program, DeRosier s failure to disclose his role in the program, a