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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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S at u r d ay, M a r c h 22, 2025
BRPD to charge for parade, event security
Move comes as department faces budget issues
$2.00X
Landry pushing tax overhaul amendment Measure is one of four on the March 29 ballot
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
this is my checking account. This is how much money I have, and 90% of that is payroll and overtime,” Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr. said in an interview. “That’s the biggest way I can cut. I don’t have a lot of wiggle room to be able to provide officers for free.” Morse estimated the department spent about $250,000 in February alone on overtime pay related to special events.
Gov. Jeff Landry is crisscrossing Louisiana, running an advertising campaign and appearing on talk radio shows to get voters to approve the next big item on his agenda: a tax overhaul on the March 29 statewide ballot known as Amendment 2. At the governor’s behest during a special session in November, the Legislature reduced income taxes, raised the sales tax, abolished a tax on big businesses known as the corporate franchise tax, imposed a tax on digital goods and lowered taxpayer subsidies for film producers and developers of historic “Amendment buildings. 2 will set Those changes are now Louisiana on state law. But Landry and lawmakers a course to want to make a host of other create more changes to the tax section of jobs, grow the the state constitution that reeconomy and quires a vote of the people. “Amendment 2 will set put more money Louisiana on a course to cre- in the pockets ate more jobs, grow the econ- of hardworking omy and put more money in Louisianans, the pockets of hardworking teachers and Louisianans, teachers and our senior our senior citizens,” Landry wrote in a column published citizens.” in the Ouachita Citizen on GOV. JEFF LANDRy Wednesday. Amendment 2 has the support of several prominent advocacy groups, including the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Americans for Prosperity and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, among other groups. Groups on both the left and the right are mounting a grassroots campaign against Amendment 2 for divergent reasons. Those on the left say it would lead to spending cuts on such vital needs as education and health care, while those on the right say one provision could cause churches to lose property tax
ä See BRPD, page 7A
ä See LANDRY, page 6A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
For decades, the Baton Rouge Police Department has provided police officers to block intersections, manage crowds and provide public safety among parade attendants. BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
Under pressure from a shrinking budget, the Baton Rouge Police Department and the Mayor’s Office plan to shift the majority of security costs onto local event organizers, including for parades through downtown. For decades, the department has provided police officers to block intersections, manage crowds and provide public safety among parade
attendants. Now, the department seeks to push the cost of these officers’ pay to the organizations that host events. That expense can total in the tens of thousands for a single day. The change follows conversations between city police officials and Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ team on how to make up for the $9 million budget deficit the police department is dealing with in 2025. “The main reason we’re having to have these conversations really is,
Drag racer avoids prison for death of passenger Victim’s mom asked judge to spare him time behind bars BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer
Warren Peyton Thomas walked out of a Baton Rouge courtroom with his freedom Thursday, after the mother of his dead girlfriend lobbied a judge to spare him time behind bars. Thomas, 25, of Zachary, pleaded guilty to charges tied to a 2022 drunken crash that killed 27-yearold Kaitlyn Jones. The wreck along Airline Highway happened when Thomas lost control of his car as he was drag racing and crashed into a concrete support beam. His blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.18 — more than twice the legal limit.
ä See RACER, page 6A
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 57 PAGE 8A
Athletes at smaller schools benefiting from NIL deals BY ELLA ARMSTRONG, CAROLINE BURK, TY CAZEAUX and CHRISTIAN GLADNEY
LSU Manship School News Service Bailey Tillman began her freshman year at McNeese State University in 2021 after new NCAA rules allowed college athletes to start making money. Attending a small school in a lesser-known conference, the volleyball player was not sure if local businesses would want to use her name or image in ads and other promotional activity — and national connections seemed impossible. But by reaching out to companies on her own, she was able to secure several so-called name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals. She earned $100 writing reviews for Twanie’s Terrific Treats, a cookie PHOTO PROVIDED By MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITy store in Lake Charles. And Avoli, a women’s volleyball brand, sends Bailey Tillman, a volleyball player at McNeese her products in exchange for TillState, has worked out name, image and likeness man posting videos on Instagram deals on her own, including with a cookie of her taking them out of the box. company in Lake Charles. Now a senior, Tillman is one of
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50 student-athletes picked by the NCAA and Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — for an internship that could help her maximize NIL prospects and build new relationships with social media experts. “Just go after what you want, and reach for the stars,” Tillman said. “The worst thing people can say is no.” Before 2021, athletes could not take money or receive special promotions from schools or boosters recruiting them. The name, image and likeness rules were introduced to help student-athletes profit from their hard work on and off the court. NIL is now a billion-dollar marketplace, and athletes at smaller universities are still figuring out how to get in on the game while LSU and other major sports schools are providing unprecedented financial opportunities for athletes.
ä See ATHLETES, page 4A
100TH yEAR, NO. 265