Part of I-10 closed in Louisiana

[CajunMama]

A natural gas well caught fire about 100 yards from the span of interstate 10 that crosses the Atachafalaya Basin. The basin bridge as we call it here has been closed since Friday and now they're not expecting it to reopen until at least Dec. 4. They thought the bridge was going to reopen last night. What a traffic nightmare for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you're traveling I-10 thru louisiana, don't expect to travel I-10 between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/NEWS01/711190318/1002

[Ed Mahmoud]

I can't remember if it was Scott or Rayne, but one of the I-10 towns near LFT busted a Vietnamese immigrant from Texas who was driving to Louisiana to buy a shrimp boat, and was carrying cash, and planted marijuana in his car so they could seize the money. This was about ten years ago now. The cop that did the planting left his video camera on and he fisherman's lawyer got hold of the tape. I was working out of Broussard at the time. But ABC did a report, quite a few of the Acadien parishes liked to pull people over and plant drugs to seize the cars. I think Jeff Davis and Acadia Parishes were the worst. People with out of state tags that knew about it took the big detour, and took I-20 through Northern Louisiana, where the corruption isn't as endemic.


Don't know if anything has changed. But at the time, Louisiana had a seizure law that placed the burden of proof on the motorist, and I believe the judge that signed the order got a percentage of the take. Bad move in the only state in the country with more ingrained corruption than New Jersey.

[arkess7]

OMG!!! Hope everything is ok

[gtalum]

Don't know if anything has changed. But at the time, Louisiana had a seizure law that placed the burden of proof on the motorist, and I believe the judge that signed the order got a percentage of the take. Bad move in the only state in the country with more ingrained corruption than New Jersey.

Many if not most states have seizure laws like this. it's disgusting in an allegedly free country that the RICO statutes give local police so much leeway in stealing our property. In Florida you don't even have to do anything illegal to have your car impounded. If you're carrying a large sum of cash ("large sum" determined by the arresting officer), the police can seize it and your vehicle until and unless you can prove that the cash is yours and was obtained legally. The thing is, there's no way to prove that.

Welcome to the American police state.

[CajunMama]

they just flashed across the tv screen that I-10 is fully open between lafayette and baton rouge. A week ahead of schedule. That should make alot of drivers happy especially those who commute.