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S u n d ay, a p r i l 6, 2025
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Fewer La. students taking TOPS Scholarships fall short of college tuition costs
BY PATRICK WALL | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Dining at the bar at Butcher Baker in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, a combination butcher shop and restaurant, brings casual, inventive meals.
COASTAL EXPECTATIONS New restaurants redefine the Gulf Coast dining scene
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BY IAN McNULTY | Staff writer
arm-to-table restaurant sourcing is one thing. At the restaurant The Hope Farm in Fairhope, Alabama, radishes and carrots, mint and scallions all come from beds within arm’s reach of the outdoor patio tables. About an hour away in Pensacola, Florida, cooks at Pearl & Horn broil oysters with blasts of umami-boosting black garlic and miso borrowed from Japanese cuisine. Fried snapper is served with a classic French beurre blanc blended with a chile sauce from the chef’s Eastern European homeland.
And over in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, the restaurant/butcher shop Butcher Baker has artisanal bread and charcuterie next to outright exotica. Cue the raw, marinated soft-shell crab. It’s an exceedingly rare dish at restaurants anywhere. This one can be found in a strip mall in small-town coastal Mississippi. Louisianans head to the Gulf Coast for sun, sand, boating and maybe some bushwackers. Adventurous food and refined dining aren’t typically among their expectations. But that’s changing. Parts of the Gulf Coast are among the fastest-growing areas of the United States. More people from Louisiana and around the South are choosing the region to live and work, not just for vacations. The economic boom that’s transforming the cities and towns stretching from Pass Christian to the far reaches of 30A is also transforming its restaurant and hospitality industry.
ä See DINING, page 6A
Janna Jordan’s family lives in Prairieville, about a 30-minute drive from LSU. This fall, her daughter Abby Veillon will head to Mississippi for college. Louisiana has long offered a merit-based scholarship, Taylor Opportunity Program for Students or TOPS, to entice students to choose one of the state’s public colleges or universities. But Abby, who will attend the University of Southern Mississippi, is among the growing number of high schoolers who don’t meet TOPS’ academic requirements. Even if she were eligible, the award amounts have been frozen since 2016 while tuition continues to rise. “TOPS is not going to keep us in state,” Janna Jordan said, “whether we get it or not.” Nearly 30 years ago, Louisiana made its students a compelling offer: Earn good grades and test scores in high school and your in-state college tuition will be covered, courtesy of a TOPS scholarship. The deal proved immensely popular. Participation and costs rose steadily until the 2020-21 school year, when 56,000 students earned nearly $321 million in awards, according to state data. Then, suddenly, the numbers started falling. This school year, there are fewer than 48,000 TOPS recipients — the lowest count in a decade — getting $270.4 million, about $50 million less than four years ago.
ä See TOPS, page 7A
Farmers in limbo after funds are frozen Trump halts $363M in Louisiana reimbursements
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL | Staff writer
Butcher Baker in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, a combination butcher shop and restaurant, brings casual, inventive meals, like this night’s mix of octopus, local pork chop, bread and raw, marinated soft-shell crab.
DeRidder corn and wheat farmer David Smith said he wanted to try out something new this year on his farm. He started tinkering with the idea of adding cover crops over small acreages but wanted to expand it to hundreds of acres. “It is not a moneymaking thing. In fact, you spend money. You just want to improve your soil,” Smith said. He couldn’t justify the cost in the current agricultural economy with its high input costs and low commodity prices. So he looked at applying for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service program that would have partly covered the cost of seed. The agency helps farmers identify conservation concerns on their operations and works to ensure availability of resources for future generations.
ä See FUNDS, page 7A
WEATHER HIGH 64 LOW 62 PAGE 6B
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