POPE FRANCIS IN CRITICAL CONDITION WITH EARLY KIDNEY FAILURE 3A
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
M o n d ay, F e b r u a ry 24, 2025
$2.00X
Inmate dies ahead of scheduled execution Christopher Sepulvado was convicted of 1992 murder
BY JOHN SIMERMAN and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writers
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
New Isle resident Wallace ‘Johnny’ Tamplet, 70, stands on his front porch on Tuesday. His neighborhood is the first-of-its-kind government effort to help people move to higher ground from Louisiana’s disappearing coastline.
Relocation anxieties New homes come with costs residents can’t afford
BY ALEX LUBBEN | Staff writer NEW ISLE — Just over two years ago, Wallace “Johnny” Tamplet moved into his new house with help from the government to escape the vanishing, flood-prone island where he’d lived for years. Already, the 70-year-old retired carpenter worries he won’t be able to afford to stay. “I’m getting ready to sell my truck so I can go down and get whole on my taxes and get everything up to date,” he said from his home in the newly built subdivision of New Isle, roughly 40 miles farther inland. “The first of next year, I have no idea what I’m going to do.” Tamplet’s relocation from Isle de Jean Charles in lower Terrebonne Parish was part of a first-of-its-kind government effort to help dozens of families move to higher ground from Louisiana’s disappearing coastline. Many of those families are members of the state-recognized Jean Charles Choctaw Nation. The state hoped it would serve as a model for future relocation efforts, expected to become increasingly necessary as storms intensify and sea levels rise. But residents are finding that their
rate semi-governmental agency that could help ad24 dress some of the concerns. 1 Lake New Orleans But the families will eventuRaceland Salvador MAP 90 ally have to make it on their AREA Lockport own, they say. Gulf of Mexico 182 It may be a struggle due to Houma their unique circumstances, “New Isle” Larose and Tamplet is emblematic resettlement Cut Off of the problem. Existing location Montegut After contracting pneumolevee 665 nia in late 2023, which led to Chauvin Theriot 57 cascading health issues, he 55 Golden 5 miles couldn’t afford his tax bill. Dulac Island Rd. Meadow 315 His home was offered in a 56 tax sale, and a Nebraska1 based company bought a lien MorganzaIsle de on the property last June. Leeville to-the-Gulf Jean If he can’t pay off the debt levee Cocodrie Charles within three years, including fees and interest, he could Terrebonne Bay lose his house. He owes Staff map around $4,000 in back taxes. “If I can’t sell my truck, and I can’t bring my taxes up By 2026, when most New Isle residents will begin to date, at least for this year, paying their own homeowners’ insurance, the state the possibility is that next Office of Community Development estimates that the year, someone could take my by paying the taxes,” average policy there will be $4,078. Wallace ‘Johnny’ house said Tamplet. “Then where Tamplet’s is estimated to be around $4,500. am I going to be?” Tamplet, who is not a tribe member, is among 37 housenew homes come with costs thetic, but there are limits to holds who have moved to they’re not sure they can af- what they can do. They point New Isle since the program ford, raising serious ques- out that the homes were began in 2016. Built with a tions over the program’s provided free of charge and $48 million federal grant, homeowners’ insurance is it was part of a landmark long-term viability. State officials who have fully covered for five years. pilot program to help a They are hoping to hand overseen the voluntary program say they are sympa- the project over to a sepa- ä See RELOCATION, page 6A Thibodaux
Baton Rouge
Christopher Sepulvado, the 81-yearold death row prisoner who was scheduled to be executed on March 17 as Louisiana is set to resume executions after 15 years, is dead. Sepulvado died overnight at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, according to both his attorneys and state officials. He’d remained on death row for more than 30 years. His attorneys said doctors had recommended Sepulvado for hospice care days before DeSoto Parish District Attorney Charles Adams secured a judge’s signature this month on an execution warrant. Sepulvado was the oldest of the 57 people on death row in Louisiana. He was convicted in the 1992 murder of his 6-year-old stepson, Wesley Allen Mercer.
ä See INMATE, page 4A
Federal layoffs ripple through Louisiana Workers in the state brace for more cuts
BY BLAKE PATERSON | Staff writer Chante Powell struggled to choose among several job offers last year as she looked for the next step in her career. In December, she settled on a new position as an auditor at the National Finance Center that would let her return to her native Louisiana. The little-known federal agency, headquartered in New Orleans, processes payroll for nearly 700,000 federal workers. Powell’s job was to review financial statements and root out waste, fraud and abuse. That is, until Valentine’s Day, when she was called into a conference room and handed a letter. “The Agency finds, based on your
ä See LAYOFFS, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 65 LOW 46 PAGE 12A
Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................9A Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C Opinion .....................10A Commentary .............11A Metro ...........................8A Sports ..........................1B
OVERTIME COACHES SHOW
2/26 LIVE FROM TJ RIBS ON ACADIAN THRUWAY 6:30PM
100TH yEAR, NO. 239
CORPORATE PARTNER GUEST
ATTORNEY GENERAL LIZ MURRILL LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE