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T u e s d ay, F e b r u a ry 25, 2025
READING AHEAD
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Federal appeals court halts case
Long-running legal challenge to La. execution protocols could be reopened BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
As Louisiana students make big strides in reading, state officials have credited schools’ embrace of the ‘science of reading.’ Schools in St. Charles Parish were early adopters of the new way to teach reading.
St. Charles Parish revamping how kids learn to read BY ELYSE CARMOSINO
A federal appeals court in New Orleans has halted a judge’s decision to reopen a legal challenge to Louisiana’s execution protocols while it considers an opposition from Attorney General Liz Murrill. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a one-sentence order on Monday, issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s ruling from last week. Dick ruled Friday in favor of attorneys for death row inmates who are seeking to fend off the first Louisiana execution since 2010. They had asked Dick, a nominee
ä See CASE, page 4A
Staff writer
Inside a classroom in St. Charles Parish, a group of first graders sit around their teacher as she points to an easel with a large piece of paper titled “READING.” Under it, six steps lay out how to identify a word using its vowels and syllable type. Today, the group is working on consonant blends, when two or three consonants appear next to one another in a word. The students start by reviewing “S” blends, reciting the words wasp, crisp and clasp. “We’ve got to say that blend to help us read the word correctly,” Toni Dugas, a reading intervention teacher at Norco Elementary School, tells her students. To an untrained observer, it might have looked like a typical reading lesson. But in fact, it’s a big departure from how reading has been taught in many U.S. schools, where phonics instruction is kept to a minimum and students are encouraged to use context clues to read unfamiliar words. In sharp contrast, the approach used in Dugas’ classroom is based on a body of research known as “the science of reading,” which teaches students to decipher words letter by letter and sound by sound. This year, national data showed Louisiana led the country in fourth-grade reading gains on a closely watched test and outpaced other states in post-pandemic reading improvement. State education leaders credit the success to a series of
A teacher shows a flashcard to a child on Feb. 17 as part of a reading program at Norco Elementary School in Norco. laws and policy changes over the past four years that have pushed Louisiana schools to adopt practices rooted in the science of reading. It’s an approach that’s gained traction throughout the U.S., with 40 states passing similar policies over the last few years. St. Charles’ school system has been on the front lines of the shift, having spent years transitioning to methods informed by the science of reading that are meant to systematically teach students how to read words one sound or letter pattern
at a time. While the process was difficult, Norco staff and teachers say that their students have seen undeniable success, as demonstrated by rising test scores. The old methods “served us really well at certain times in the past, but now we have more advanced research,” said Assistant Superintendent Erin Granier, who called the new approach “a game changer.” Now, “we know how kids learn to read.”
ä See READING, page 4A
Trump backs Musk as he roils federal workforce BY CHRIS MEGERIAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, even as government agency officials were told that compliance with Musk’s edict was voluntary. Confusion and anger over the situation spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the federal workforce.
ä See WORKFORCE, page 5A
Beer sales in stands banned at Cajuns baseball games Singing hawker left without a job
BY JA’KORI MADISON
Staff writer
When it comes to college baseball, it’s hard to beat the fan experience at a Ragin’ Cajuns game at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park. The fans know the players’ walkup songs. They stand and sing “Centerfield” during the sev-
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enth-inning stretch — even when there’s no music. There is also a sense of shared tradition when spectators hear, “Get your cold beer!” It was Anthony Daniels, known professionally as Moose Harris, who in recent years has been the roving beer salesman in the stands at “The Tigue.” In fact, Daniels has traveled throughout colleges in south Louisiana showcasing his talent and selling cold beer for 25 years.
But his time in the stands has come to an end. In 2024, the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control issued an order prohibiting roving beer sellers at college sporting events. According to the Daniels ATC, the ban is an old policy that is seeing renewed enforcement.
“For an independent concessionaire, it simply allows for the sale of alcohol products, which, again, is a regulated product, within the concession areas,” ATC Commissioner Ernest Legier said in a 2024 interview, noting that state law does not necessarily mention the practice of hawking. LSU was the first to see the tradition end in 2019 when the Southeastern Conference passed a rule prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages by vendors within the
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seating areas. LSU is the only Louisiana school in the SEC. Legier said enforcement of the rule is a way to limit underage drinking. It’s also about being consistent, he said. “Our agency ensures that alcohol sales at these facilities are consistent under our practices and are done under the watchful eye of the regulatory authority and service is restricted so we can make sure
ä See BEER, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 240