THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
M o n d ay, M a r c h 17, 2025
$2.00X
How La. changed on death penalty
Protesters ask Landry to stay Shifting politics led to restart of executions, nitrogen gas option execution. ä
PAGE 1B
BY SAM KARLIN
Landry’s office had asked Muscarello, R-Hammond, to sponsor legislation to blanket informaOn a busy day at the State Capitol tion in secrecy about companies in 2019, a freshman legislator was providing execution drugs to the state. It was part of a bid to end a about to run into a buzz saw. State Rep. Nicholas Muscarello decadelong pause in executions in took a seat at a committee table to Louisiana. A lawyer from Landry’s office joined Muscarello as they present a controversial bill. Then-Attorney General Jeff presented the bill to the Senate Ju-
Staff writer
USDA ends school food program
diciary B Committee. The panel had a Democratic majority picked by former Senate President John Alario to act as a backstop for John Bel Edwards, who was governor at the time. They swiftly killed the legislation. Edwards was in the middle of a tightly-contested bid for reelection. He would not come out pub-
licly against the death penalty until years later, on his way out of the Governor’s Mansion. Still, it was widely understood that the governor was uneasy about the death penalty and didn’t like the bill. “It was a whisper campaign,” Muscarello said. “Everybody knew it. It was the worst-kept secret in the Capitol.”
Five years later, Landry and Muscarello teamed up again and turned the tide on the death penalty, part of a frenetic effort by the newly-elected Republican governor to reshape the state’s politics in his image and usher in a red
ä See EXECUTIONS, page 4A
AT THE FINISH LINE
La. losing $11.8M in change that affects 253,000 students
BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
The Trump administration is halting funding for two farm-totable food programs, one of which was slated to provide an additional $11 million this year for getting fresh food into to Louisiana schools. The announcement that the money would no longer be available is causing child nutrition advocates to sound the alarm about students losing access to healthy meals at school, where research indicates is where American students receive the most nutritious meals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that it was ending two programs that help schools, child care centers and food banks purchase local food. The food-to-schools program have provided about $3 million annually to Louisiana schools since they started in 2022. In addition to that $3 million for 2025, the state was allocated an additional $11 million that it now won’t receive. The state also received about $13 million this year for a program that brought fresh, local food to food banks. Another $6 million was on the table but has now been eliminated. Existing agreements are expected to be fulfilled, but the USDA said it did not plan to award additional money that had been set aside for the year but not yet used. The programs were created under
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP
ABOVE: Half marathon runner Ron Junrau, second from left, is helped across the finish line by Lawson Juneau, center, on Sunday during the 2025 Zydeco Half and Full Marathon in downtown Lafayette. FAR LEFT: Half marathon runners Wesley Penn, left, and Brook Rhodes run to the finish line. LEFT: Half marathon runner Jonathon Moore, left, takes a photo with his sister, Stephanie Rodriguez, after finishing the run.
ä See FOOD, page 4A
‘We went from health care heroes to ... almost villains’
point in trust in medicine, and the Louisiana, and a steady stream of saluting front-line em- of gratitude. Five years after COVID Orleans, Nearly five years later, the ap- state’s declining vaccine coverage misinformation online. ployees in a monthslong battle That shift in trust now shows up against COVID-19. The Krewe of preciation has faded, and so has is a measure of the long shadow hit La., trust in it cast and the politics that have in exam rooms: There are more Red Beans was organizing food the public’s trust. vaccines is falling drop-offs for weary staff, many of “We went from health care he- evolved in its wake. What began as questions about vaccinations and
whom were sleeping in separate rooms from their families or stripping down and hosing off outside Staff writer before stepping indoors. Across In May 2020, health care work- the state, communities rallied — ers gathered on the rooftops of sewing masks, donating meals, hospitals as the storied U.S. Navy posting signs in the yards of health Blue Angels flew over metro New care workers overnight as shows
BY EMILY WOODRUFF
WEATHER HIGH 74 LOW 44 PAGE 10C
roes to now … we are almost villains at this point, and not to be trusted,” said Dr. Kara Ward, a critical care and emergency medicine physician in New Orleans. “There is a huge mistrust now in health care.” The pandemic marked a turning
pushback to COVID-19 mitigation efforts has widened into broader resistance to routine immunizations. Health care workers are now navigating deepening skepticism amid a measles outbreak in neighboring Texas, the nation’s first bird flu death in southwest
Classified .....................4B Living............................5C Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A
more patients referencing things they saw on social media. Fearful parents delay routine shots. Adult patients second-guess flu and shingles vaccines. Longtime doctors find themselves on the defensive
ä See COVID, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 260