Sick council members force meeting cancellation

Three sick members of the Bogalusa City Council forced a cancellation of Tuesday's regular meeting, which included condemnation hearings, and left those coming to City Hall greeted only by a hastily scrawled sign.

As a result, City Judge Robert Black was at the front door of City Hall, meeting persons who were coming for the condemnation portion of the lengthy agenda.

"We work to notify people and we may have someone coming from out-of-town," Black told wpnewsblog. "It would be right to contact them, tell them we were going to have a hearing and then have them show up to a locked building."

Just as Black was explaining why he was there, four members of a family walked up to the door, asking about the hearings.

"We won't have the hearing," he told them, "but we can sit down and discuss what is going on and what options you may be facing."

Tuesday's agenda was a lengthy one, including four resolutions alone pertaining to the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Program. Additionally, business operators could be facing another cost of doing business, based on the details of an ordinance that would allow for the creation of a tax on the "pursuit of business."

There is no indication as to whether council will call a special meeting or wait until the next session, scheduled for August 16.

Arrest made Friday in woman's murder

Crystal Marie Iglehart
(Courtesy Mississippi DOC)

Lafelix D. Miller, 29, first arrested two hours earlier on a variety of charges, is also being held in connection with the murder of 24-year-old Crystal Marie Iglehart of Columbia, Miss.

Miller was arrested on the murder charge early Friday morning.

"When the body was discovered in his front yard (about 2 a.m.), he immediately became a suspect," said Bogalusa Chief of Police Joe Culpepper.

Lafelix Miller

Culpepper said Miller had been arrested about two hours earlier on a complaint about a disturbance. That complaint led officers to charge him with indecency, as he was running naked down the street. He was also charged with resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.

Miller is said to have an extensive criminal record.

Culpepper said evidence frecovered from his person, the crime scene, the autopsy and from witness statements led to his arrest earlier Friday.

Iglehart's last known address was 610 Park Ave. in Columbia, according to the Mississippi Parole Board. She had been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and flight-escape. She pled guilty on Jan. 16 in Columbia to charges of escape of a felon.

An area merchant said street talk was that the victim was a prostitute thought to be a “new arrival” in Bogalusa and that she had been severely beaten and strangled.

On Friday morning, Culpepper said police had no evidence that Iglehart was a prostitute.

(This is a reader news tip story.)