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ACADIANA
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T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
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M o n d ay, M a r c h 24, 2025
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La. congressional districts on Monday docket
census, it originally passed a map Black districts. ball, not a player,” state Attorney U.S. Supreme Court to weigh if race or much like the old one, with five But a second group of “non-Afri- General Liz Murrill said in a filing majority-White districts and one can Americans,” known as the Cal- to the Supreme Court. politics was the main factor in redrawing majority-Black district. The state and Robinson litigants lais litigants, then filed their own
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear oral arguments in the long-running, back-and-forth legal battle over whether Louisiana should have two majority-Black congressional districts. The justices will sort out incon-
sistent court rulings and issue a decision that will shape politics in Louisiana for years to come. It also could dictate how legislatures across the nation balance the often conflicting requirements of the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause. When Louisiana was required to draw new U.S. House districts due to population changes in the 2020
A group of Black voters, known as the Robinson litigants, filed a legal challenge arguing the Voting Rights Act required two majorityBlack districts, because roughly a third of the state is Black and the districts could be configured to be compact while linking communities with similar interests. A federal judge agreed. Gov. Jeff Landry and the Legislature created a new map with two majority-
lawsuit, claiming the new map relies primarily on race and is an illegal gerrymander under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. A special panel of three federal judges ruled in their favor. That has left Louisiana in a legal limbo that the state wants the Supreme Court to address. “To put the situation bluntly, the state is stuck in an endless game of ping-pong — and the state is the
are now on the same side in pressing for two Black-majority districts. The Callais litigants say they will lean on the special panel’s rulings in arguing their case. “We’ll be focusing on the threejudge district court’s well-supported factual findings that the second Black-majority district is neither
ä See DISTRICTS, page 3A
Avenue of
opportunity STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
The Little Gypsy Power Plant is a gas power plant operated by Entergy in Montz.
Entergy’s power plans draw fight
Coalition argues against utility’s market control BY SAM KARLIN STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Initial work to redevelop Lee Avenue in downtown Lafayette is being funded by $500,000 in state capital outlay money and $167,000 from the Downtown Economic Development District fund. Other issues to address include the overhead utility lines, drainage and sidewalks.
be a public gathering space on Plan for streetscape in downtown Lafayette could that end of downtown. Downtown officials held an open house eyes new park, improved walkability event about the plan last month and
BY ADAM DAIGLE
The Downtown Development Authority is still gathering public input on the Acadiana business editor Lee Avenue Corridor Plan, which spans Downtown Lafayette officials and from The Lofts at Municipal to the railothers are moving forward on a road tracks and would essentially crestreetscaping project on Lee Avenue ate a second main street downtown. It that would improve walkability and also could include a space at the former spur commercial development. site of the Alfred Mouton statue that
could complete the planning process this spring, DDA Executive Director Kevin Blanchard said. The project, which would be similar to the Jefferson Street streetscape project years ago, is needed with an estimated 2,000 residential units planned over the next five years.
ä See LEE, page 4A
Federal report urges assessment of 8 bridges BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging Louisiana to assess the safety of eight of its bridges, including almost all of those crossing the Mississippi River in the state, in a new report following last year’s collapse in Baltimore. The Crescent City Connection in New Orleans, the Sunshine Bridge in Donaldsonville and the Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge were among those flagged in the report released Thursday. Baltimore’s Francis Scott
WEATHER HIGH 77 LOW 66 PAGE 10C
Key Bridge, whose collapse after being struck by a container ship in March 2024 killed six people, was riskier than acceptable under the guidelines of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation, according to the report. The NTSB, responsible for investigating infrastructure incidents, listed 68 waterway bridges across the country that have not gone through an assessment based on recent ship traffic and “therefore have an unknown level of risk of collapse from a potential vessel collision.”
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
A federal report says Louisiana must assess the safety of eight of its bridges, including the Sunshine Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi ä See BRIDGES, page 4A River, in St. James Parish.
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Staff writer
Entergy Louisiana’s plans to procure billions of dollars worth of new gas-fired power is setting up a pivotal fight over the utility’s control over the electric market, with an unlikely coalition of opponents arguing that the company is set to heap huge costs on residents. Entergy is planning to deactivate a host of aging power plants built in the 1960s and 1970s in the coming years. At the same time, the company is courting power-hungry data centers that require new infrastructure to be built. And the state’s energy-intensive petrochemical sector is looking for new power sources, particularly renewables that make their products more attractive overseas. Those converging forces are creating what the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a consumer advocacy group, calls an “unprecedented inflection point” for the future of energy in Louisiana. And it’s creating strange bedfellows, with climate advocates aligned with the petrochemical industry in taking on Entergy, the state’s dominant utility. “What is being put into their pipeline is stunning,” said Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance. “There’s just no other word for it.” Now, a yearslong debate over whether industrial customers should be able to break out of Entergy’s control over the power sector is coming to a head. Entergy wants to buy 2 gigawatts of gas power to replace power stations that will be deactivated in the coming years. It is also asking for regulatory approval to build 2.4 gigawatts of natural gas-fired power stations to
ä See ENTERGY, page 3A
100TH yEAR, NO. 267