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M o n d ay, a p r i l 7, 2025
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Lawsuit’s lurid details revealed Leesville, mayor settled 2020 case involving harassment, discrimination for $299,000
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Lil’ Ray Neal plays the guitar on the Visit Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stage at the Blues Festival in Baton Rouge on Sunday.
BLUES YOU CAN USE
Nicole Ybarra received an urgent request from Leesville Mayor Rick Allen. He needed to meet that evening at City Hall with Ybarra and the other City Council members. The public was not invited. Before the six council members and Allen filed into the empty council chamber, the mayor of the small town near the Texas border asked everyone to leave behind their cellphones, Ybarra said. Allen quickly got to the point: He and the city manager had just returned from a mediation ses- Allen sion in Baton Rouge and needed the council at its next meeting to approve the settlement of a lawsuit filed by what he described as two disgruntled city employees. Allen said a court gag order prevented him from discussing the details with the council or the public, Ybarra recounted in a re- Ybarra cent interview. Several days later, at a regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 14, 2020, the council approved the settlement without divulging the explosive allegations in the lawsuit: that Allen had a sexual
ä See DETAILS, page 5A
Landry hunting trip includes trial lawyers
MIDDLE RIGHT: Louis Michot, of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, performs on the Watermark Slim Harpo Stage on Sunday. RIGHT: Victoria Savoie dances with her daughter, Cecilia, as the Soul Supporters perform on the Visit Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stage.
Legislative chairs say talks focused on auto insurance
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer Five legislative leaders met with Gov. Jeff Landry and two prominent trial attorneys in Texas last week to hunt turkey and talk legislative business — including whether lawmakers will keep trying to make it harder for lawyers to collect big payouts for clients injured in car accidents. Gordon McKernan, one of the two attorneys, flew House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, Senate President Cameron Henry and Landry three committee chairs on his law firm’s jet to the Tributary Sporting Club near Austin. Landry met them there. They all returned Wednesday. Landry issued the invitations, and Protect Louisiana Values, one of his political organizations, paid for their stay at the hunting resort, lawmakers said. The trip came at a time when business-oriented Republican legislators have been expressing
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ä See TRIP, page 4A
Lawmaker seeks to ensure ICE cooperation
Morris, R-West Mon- become somewhat of a trend in Bill would make it a roe,Sen.hasJay filed legislation that would certain areas to say they are not it a crime for any public of- gonna cooperate with the federal crime to interfere with make ficial to interfere with Immigra- government. And I think that’s tion and Customs Enforcement wrong.” federal agencies or Morris said he supports other federal immigration
BY ALYSE PFEIL
enforcement agencies. Those officials could be charged with malfeasance in office or even obstrucAs President Donald Trump pur- tion of justice. “I can’t believe that we actusues a shock-and-awe crackdown on illegal immigration, some Loui- ally need a law that says that losiana lawmakers want to “set the cal officials have to cooperate tone” that local law enforcement with our federal law enforcement will cooperate with federal immi- officials,” Morris said. “But apgration enforcement efforts. parently around the country it’s Staff writer
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Trump’s handling of immigration: “He’s doing the right thing by deporting criminals and people who are here illegally. It’s not much more complicated than that.” For the most part, state and local law enforcement agencies play a narrow role in immigration
ä See ICE, page 4A
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A team from the New Orleans Immigration and Customs Enforcement office plans a raid in 2022. A state senator is proposing to make it a crime for any public official to interfere with federal immigration enforcement agencies. STAFF FILE PHOTO By MAX BECHERER
100TH yEAR, NO. 281