PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today to the Abbeville Meridional or Gueydan Journal or Kaplan Herald.
Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees will be conferred during the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Spring 2017 Commencement ceremonies on Friday at the Cajundome and Convention Center and at Bourgeois Hall. (Photo by Doug Dugas/University of Louisiana at Lafayette)
LAFAYETTE — Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees will be conferred during the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Spring 2017 Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 12, at the Cajundome and Convention Center and at Bourgeois Hall.
The General Assembly will be held at 11 a.m. at the Cajundome. Doctoral candidates will be hooded at this session. All graduating seniors and faculty members will attend, wearing full academic regalia.
Master’s and bachelor’s degrees will be conferred at ceremonies for each academic college. A schedule and locations are below.
Cajundome
8:30 a.m. College of Liberal Arts
1:30 p.m. B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration
Cajundome Convention Center - Exhibit Hall A and B (1st floor)
8:30 a.m. College of Education
1:30 p.m. College of Engineering
Cajundome Convention Center - Festival Ballroom (2nd floor)
8:30 a.m. College of the Arts
1:30 p.m. Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
Bourgeois Hall
8:30 a.m. College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions
1:30 p.m. University College
The General Assembly will be broadcast on the Internet via livestream. It can be accessed for free via computer, smartphone or tablet. Users can create an account or log in with their Facebook account information.
Parking for the general public will be available at Cajun Field; motorists are encouraged to enter through Gate 8 on West Congress Street, and through Gate 11 on Souvenir Gate. Security measures will be in place at the Cajundome and Convention Center, and at Bourgeois Hall. University Police officers will examine the contents of purses, bags, and packages of attendees. Extremely large bags or oversized packages won’t be permitted inside the Commencement venues.
Learn more about Spring 2017 Commencement at commencement.louisiana.edu.
Charles Lee
An Abbeville man now sits behind bars after being arrested by the Abbeville Police Department for allegedly firing a gun inside of a car that had two people in it.
Neither of the two people in the car were struck by the bullets. It occurred at the corner of Martin Luther King Street and Schlesinger Street.
Arrested was Charles Lee, 25, of Abbeville. The Abbeville police charged Lee with six different crimes, including two attempted murder charges.
His total bond for the six charges totals $177,500. Lee, who lives at 807 N. East Street in Abbeville, still remains in jail as of today.
Here are the charges and the bond amount of each charge: 2 counts of attempted first degree murder: ($50,000 bond for each charge); Illegal use of weapons ($15,000); Illegal carrying of weapons ($10,000) and Contempt of Court ($2,500).
Briana Touchet of Abbeville
A black .40 caliber pistol was allegedly found in Briana Touchet's car.
ERATH - Briana Touchet of Abbeville learned the hard way about speeding on the La. 14 Bypass in Erath.
Early Sunday morning, Touchet, 22, was driving through Erath on the bypass when an Erath patrolman pulled her over for allegedly speeding.
According to Erath Police Chief Anna LaPointe, Touchet was allegedly travelling 66 miles per hour in a 55-mile per hour zone.
Officers Brandon Perrin and Jeff Vincent made the traffic stop. The officers allegedly noticed burnt marijuana buds on the passenger’s side floor. A search of Touchet’s car was conducted by the officers.
The officers found cocaine, marijuana, 66 oxycodone pills (all different milligrams) and THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the chemical substance in marijuana.
If that was not enough, the Erath police officers located a .40 caliber black Smith and Wesson pistol in her car.
There were other people in her car when she was pulled over, but only Touchet was arrested.
She was booked into the Erath jail and then brought to the Vermilion Parish jail, where she remains as of today.
Her entire bond has not been set as of Monday afternoon.
She was charged with: two counts of possession of schedule II CDs, one count with possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of schedule 4 drug, illegal carry of a weapon, drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
Lexine Marie Belaire Curtner
Lexine Marie Belaire Curtner
March 26, 1946 ~ May 6, 2017
Abbeville—Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Lexine Marie Curtner, 71, who died Saturday, May 6, 2017.
She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Deacon Francis Cao officiating the services.
She is survived by her husband, Thomas Curtner; step-daughter, Debra Ramsey; three grandchildren; and one great grandchild..
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lexie Belaire and the former Marie Broussard; and brothers, Kimble Belaire and Russell Belaire..
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Monday, May 8, 2017 from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Tuesday, May 9, 2017 from 8:00 AM until time of services.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.
Morgan Brittnie Mouton
Morgan Brittnie Mouton
September 28, 1987 ~ May 7, 2017
Abbeville—A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Morgan Brittnie Mouton, 29, who died Sunday, May 7, 2017 at her residence. She will be laid to rest at a later date. Reverend John Vining will officiate the service.
Morgan was a 2010 graduate of Abbeville High School. She was currently a consumer at the Vermilion ARC and the Bares Center. She was very active in Special Olympics participating in bowling, track and field, horseshoes, and basketball. She also enjoyed equestrian events such as rodeos and trail rides.
Morgan was a fun-loving friend to all. She always enjoyed a good party. She was a fixture on any dance floor. Morgan loved music, coloring, and hanging with family and friends. She especially enjoyed spending time with “the light of her life” her niece, Hazel Grace.
Morgan is survived by her mother, Deborah Townley Vallot and her husband, Charles “Peanut” R. Vallot, Sr.; father, Mark Brian Mouton and his wife, Susan Daigle-Mouton of Plaisance; sister, Andre’ Michelle M. Hargrave and her husband, Kyle of Mouton Cove; brother, Bayley Michael Broussard of Abbeville; niece, Hazel Grave Hargrave of Mouton Cove; and grandmother, Rachel W. Morton of Abbeville.
She was preceded in death by her maternal grandfathers, Gregory Townley and D.D. Morton; paternal grandparents, Miller and Hazel Mouton; and cousin, Jennifer Townley.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 from 2:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 6:30 PM; Wednesday, May 10, 2017 from 8:00 AM until time of services.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.
Erath High's Ethan Suire.
BATON ROUGE – Ethan Suire withstood his most challenging test on the season’s biggest stage on Saturday.
The Erath High junior needed both grit and closing speed to capture the Class 3A 1600 meter run in a time of 4:32.15 at the LHSAA State Meet at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium.
“The early pace was slow,” Suire said. “No one wanted to go with me. I had to set the pace, then hold on to the end.”
Like Regional action a week earlier, Suire had to hold off a determined surge by E.D. White’s Lucas Marcello, a pesky runner-up at 4:32.95. Jack Moran of University Lab was third in 4:36.10.
“I do have a good kick,” Suire said. “I was OK against everybody but Marcello. I knew he was right there, but I wasn’t going to let him pass me.”
The title capped a stellar season for the Bobcat star, whose focus is not solely on his own efforts.
“I’m doing this to help the team get better,” he said. “There’s a young runner on the team I’m helping. When the team gets better, I get better.”
Golden moments like that were hard to find for Vermilion Parish athletes.
EHS’s Stephen Vallot was third in the dicscus (134-5) and Kaplan’s Kristopher Harrington tied for third in the pole vault (13-0).
In girls’ 3A action, Kaplan was led by Tyra Francis (2nd, shot put, 37-9.5; 3rd, discus, 103-2), backed by Rylie Frick (2nd, discus, 103-10) and a third-place 10-6 in the pole vault by Sidney Dartez.
Kaplan’s Tory Riggs was fifth in the 100 (12.64).
Erath’s Lady Bobcats got a runner-up 14.78 in the 100 hurdles from defending champion Troynae Walker (also 4th in the 300 hurdles) and a fourth-place 17-1.5 long jump by Monette Bolden. Kyler Walker of NV was fifth (16-9).
“I did OK,” Walker said. “I took off a couple of months during the indoor season after I was hurt in a car accident. The pressure to defend a title is always there. I think my time was better than last year.”
Class 4A saw similar roadblocks.
Abbeville’s versatile Annemarie Broussard placed second in the pole vault (12-0), third in the 100 hurdles (15.20) and out of the money in the 300 hurdles.
“I cleared 12 feet at the Parish Meet, and again today,” she said. “Being ranked first in the 100 hurdles just made me want to run fast. I just do the best I can.”
AHS’s Coy Darby, meanwhile, brought home a second place 6-6 in the high jump.
Erath’s Elijah Mitchell was fifth in the shot put (50-1).
Joey Russel pitched the final innings for North Vermilion Saturday afternoon.
LEROY - After the North Vermilion Patriots scored 18 runs Saturday morning against Iowa in the first game of a double header, they could only score two in the second game.
The Patriots were eliminated from the Class 3A playoffs on Saturday, falling to Iowa, 8-2.
That morning, North Vermilion beat Iowa 18-7 to force a third and final game.
The game was tied at two with Iowa batting in the top of the sixth when Iowa’s Hanson Raymond singled off of NV pitcher Bryce Landry, driving in one run and putting Iowa ahead for good.
Iowa scored three runs in the seventh inning. Iowa’s big inning was driven by a triple by Jared Gaspard.
In the game, NV’s Charlie Galluser and Hebert each drove in one run to lead the Patriots.
Iowa had 10 hits in the game.
North Vermilion collected seven hits.
Garrett Becker had two hits for NV. Gallusser had a home run. Others with hits for NV were Connor Dupuy, Brett Saltzman, Evan Dubois and Blake Hebert.
NV used four pitchers: Landry, Tanner Fee, Becker and Joey Russell.
Erath pitcher Andre Touchet checks a Brusly runner at first base.
BRUSLY - The third and final game in the Class 3A quarterfinal playoff game did not go as planned for the Erath Bobcats on Saturday.
The Bobcats won the first game on Friday against Brusly, but lost two on Saturday.
Saturday, in the morning, the Bobcats fell 10-0, forcing a third game Saturday night.
Unfortunately, Erath lost 4-2. It was the second year in a row, the Bobcats lost in the third game of the quarterfinal round.
Erath jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Andre Touchet’s 2-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.
However, Erath had a chance to extend the lead in the same inning with the bases loaded but could not get it done.
Brusly, the No. 1 seed, got one run in the bottom of the third inning and three runs in the fourth inning that put Brusly ahead for good.
EHS starting pitcher Andre Touchet held Brusly in check for most of the game until the fourth inning. EHS head coach Jeremy Picard changed pitchers and went with Shea Duplechain.
Erath had its chance in the late innings but could not bring runners home.
Brusly’s pitcher kept Erath’s bats off balanced. He struck out eight.
In the first four innings, Touchet allowed five hits and three earned runs. He struck out two.
Duplechain threw two innings and gave up one hit.
Touchet had three hits to lead EHS.
Other Bobcats with hits were Mason Granger, Bren Faulk and Tucker Bourque.
Brooke Laperouse and Blaise Touchet
Mr. Edmond T. and Mrs. Monique N. Laperouse of Abbeville are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Brooke Noel Laperouse, to Blaise Matthew Touchet, the son of John S. Touchet III and Ms. Shannon M. Touchet of Abbeville.
The wedding ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, 2017, at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville. Fr. Michael Richard will officiate the ceremony.
The bride-elect is a graduate of Vermilion Catholic High School and South Louisiana Community College.
The prospective groom is a graduate of Erath High School.
318 N. Main St.
Abbeville, LA 70510
Phone: 337-893-4223
Fax: 337-898-9022
219 North Cushing Avenue
Kaplan, LA 70548