ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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M o n d ay, M a r c h 31, 2025
ELECTION 2025
NCAA TOURNAMENT B R U I N S
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$2.00X
T I G E R S
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UNBEARABLE LSU’s season ends with bittersweet run to the Elite Eight, loss to UCLA
Political foes, Landry allies united against amendments 60% of Louisiana voters rejected constitution changes
BY ALYSE PFEIL | Staff writer Louisiana voters decisively shut down four constitutional amendments Saturday, handing Gov. Jeff Landry and Republican supermajorities in the Legislature one of their first major political setbacks. The Legislature passed all four proposals by two-thirds majority votes. Then Landry crisscrossed the state stumping in particular for Amendment 2, a revision to Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution that governs state finances. He promoted it as a pivotal piece to an expansive package of tax policy reforms he championed during a November special session. Yet every amendment, which failed by similarly large margins, was rejected by over 60% of voters. “It’s clear from the stunning repudiation of all four of these amendments that the governor and the Legislature, at least in this case, are out of step with the vast majority of people who voted,” said Pearson Cross, a professor of Louisiana and American politics at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. When it became clear that Amendment 2 was going to fail, Landry issued a statement
ä See AMENDMENTS, page 4A
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yOUNG KWAK
UCLA center Lauren Betts, right, shoots while pressured by LSU forward Sa’Myah Smith during the second half of the Elite Eight game of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Spokane, Wash., on Sunday. night in the Sweet 16 round There was the stare into against NC State by keeping the distance from Aneesah the Tigers in it with a brave Morrow. Her hug with teamsecond-half effort. mate Sa’Myah Smith. The None of it was enough to look of grim acceptance on help LSU return to the Final Flau’jae Johnson’s face. Scott Four. The Tigers, for the All embodied both the Tigers’ fight and their futility Rabalais second straight season, came up just one win short of their in this high-stakes contest. game’s promised land, and Morrow battled back in the with an identical 31-6 record second half from a bloodied ä See to boot, falling Sunday to and bashed nose (she said complete postgame that the report she coverage of UCLA 72-65. The intoxicatingly bittersuffered a broken nose was the Tigers’ sweet wrong) when Lauren Betts, nature of the NCAA UCLA’s dreadnought center, game. men’s and women’s tournaPAGE 1B dominoed Smith into Morments was on full display. The Tigers, despite all their row with a shove that wasn’t success this season, in spite called a foul. Smith gave her all to defend the All-American Betts of how far they went, were left gutagain and again under the basket. ted and heartbroken. The Bruins, And Johnson atoned for an off flushed with the euphoria of making
history with their program’s first Final Four trip, got to celebrate the thrill of victory. For now, anyway. For almost everyone, that thrill will be fleeting. “Only one program will be happy in another week,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said afterward. “Just one will be happy.” Mulkey has experienced that happiness only a championship can bring four times as a head coach at LSU and Baylor and three other times as a player and assistant at Louisiana Tech. It may be more than could be allotted or expected in any lifetime. Any career. But you always want more. One more victory. One more chance to cut down nets. One more weekend
ä See LSU, page 4A
St. George leaders reevaluate after charter rejection New government says plans for city not derailed
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer While Saturday night was filled with celebration among St. George’s newly established leaders, one ballot measure didn’t deliver the outcome the city’s mayor and council members had hoped for. A proposed home rule charter, which would have given the city a unique form of government in Louisiana with power divided between a city council, mayor and city manager, failed to pass, with 55% of voters rejecting it. Yates Mayor-elect Dustin Yates, who won a resounding victory Saturday night, supported the charter, as did City Council members who either took office unopposed or won election. They said it would have created a more efficient
ä See ST. GEORGE, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 63 PAGE 10C
Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................7A Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C Opinion ........................8A Commentary ................9A Metro ...........................6A Sports ..........................1B
RIDE TOGETHER: BATON ROUGE’S CYCLING REVOLUTION
EAST BATON ROUGE’S BICYCLE + PEDESTRIAN MASTER PLAN Join us for an Open House • BREC Ballroom • 6201 Florida Blvd.
APRIL 3 • 6-7 P.M.
Scan the QR code to learn more.
100TH yEAR, NO. 274