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ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
T h u r s d ay, F e b r u a ry 20, 2025
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$2.00X
Lewis removed as PSC vice chair Move comes after coarse criticism of Gov. Jeff Landry
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Student athletes sprint together with their scorekeepers in the 50-meter sprint during the Special Olympic Time Trials at Dutchtown High School on Wednesday.
OLYMPIC EFFORT
The state Public Service Commission on Wednesday removed Commissioner Davante Lewis as its vice chair after he called Gov. Jeff Landry an “a**hole” on social media. On a 3-2 vote, the commission chose to replace Lewis with Commissioner Eric Skrmetta in that role on the board. The vote followed public comment from a line of people arguing the move violated Lewis’ right Lewis to free speech. Sharon White, a retired state employee from Ascension Parish, said she was “just in disbelief at this point that you’re willing to remove an official because of their freedom of speech.”
ä See LEWIS, page 4A
Ascension students take to the track for Special Olympics Time Trials
Some Trump policies creating uncertainty for Louisiana CEOs Business leaders remain largely supportive of president BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
Kaiden Schilling competes in the long jump during Wednesday’s event.
Student athletes and friends Lester Nevai, left, and Dylan Bailey hug after finishing first and second respectively in the 100-meter sprint during the Special Olympic Time Trials at Dutchtown High School on Wednesday.
In his first month in office, President Donald Trump has enacted a series of executive orders aimed at fundamentally changing some of the nation’s foreign, domestic and economic policies. Business leaders in Louisiana, a deep red state that Trump carried with 60% of the vote, say the changes have created a sense of uncertainty, making it hard to predict what the world will look like in six weeks, let alone six years. In more than a dozen interviews over the past week, CEOs and executives at many of the state’s
ä See POLICIES, page 4A
Assaults drop at La. youth prisons
Judge upholds rejection of St. James solar farm
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL
Staff writer
Louisiana’s state-run youth detention centers have reported significant decreases in assaults, something officials attribute to a new detention facility for particularly at-risk youth and enhanced therapeutic approaches in the juvenile prison system. In the juvenile justice system, a therapeutic model
ä See ASSAULTS, page 5A
WEATHER HIGH 45 LOW 26 PAGE 6B
Vacherie project would have been among largest in La. Staff writer
A state district judge has upheld St. James Parish’s decision last year to reject a 2,200-acre solar farm that would have added to Entergy Louisiana’s renewable portfolio, finding the local government acted with “appropriate and well-founded concerns” about how the large facility would fit with the parish land-use plan. The ruling on the Vacherie projSTAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON ect, which would have been one of A St. James Parish judge has upheld the parish government’s decision to the largest solar farms in the state, block a 2,200-acre solar farm project in Vacherie. comes as renewable projects face
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
new headwinds under the Trump White House’s scrutiny of billions of dollars in loans, grants and tax credits offered under the Biden administration to power the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels. Even before the new administration took power in January, though, solar and other renewable projects with big footprints or visual impacts have seen resistance from local governments across the nation. In Louisiana in recent years, several parish governments have sought to slow things down until they could adopt their own landuse rules, though, unlike in St. James’ case, many of those projects later were approved.
ä See SOLAR, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 235