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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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T u e s d ay, a p r i l 29, 2025
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As cities break off, EBR seeks tax clarity homeowners in the parish East Baton Rouge’s consolidated ä Mayor Some parish offices scrambling to fill new budget holes payAllproperty taxes. Some of the form of government is more Sid
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer
Last year, at least 422 felony arrests were made in the cities of Baker, Central and Zachary, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. Each of those arrestees was booked into the East Baton Rouge
money funds parishwide functions like parks, public transit and pest control; others are tied to specific local needs. But other parishwide functions, like the district attorney, public defender, coroner and the Parish Prison building, are funded largely through sales taxes, and the way those taxes are collected and distributed in
services and other offices established by the state constitution that work for the whole parish. “There’s a huge disparity in the constitutional offices in terms of the services that they provide for the entire parish versus who pays for them,” said District 5 Metro Council member Darryl Hurst.
Parish Prison and had cases assigned to the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office. Many were assigned a public defender for representation. But as several parts of parish government find themselves scratching for money, criticism is mounting that those cities don’t pay a fair share for those
complicated. Edwards Currently, sales taxes collected in the city limits of Baton Rouge backs and unincorporated parts of the DA Hillar parish go to the general fund, Moore’s tax from which the district attor- proposal. ney and others draw money. But PAGE 1B sales taxes in the cities of Baker, Central, Zachary — and, soon, St.
2025 LEGISLATURE
House passes pro-industry car insurance measures Bills aim to help lower state’s high rates
BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
current efforts by the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative, a network of birthing facilities. Through a program called Improving Care for the SubstanceExposed Dyad, the collaborative has pushed hospitals to adopt routine screening for substance use during pregnancy. It also has worked to increase the coordination of care between obstetric and addiction treatment providers, who can prescribe
Nine public schools in Baton Rouge are closing, four are relocating, seven are getting new grade configurations and 12 will have redrawn attendance zones under sweeping action taken Monday by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board. The board, without opposition, approved Superintendent LaMont Cole’s long-in-the-making realignment plan. The vote sets off a threemonth race to put the changes into effect for the start of the 2025-26 school year in August. The 7-0 vote — board members Cole Dadrius Lanus and Patrick Martin V were absent — was a strong show of support for Cole, who is just finishing his ninth month leading Louisiana’s second-largest traditional school district. The closures, consolidations and other changes have been a long time coming for the school system, which was built for 60,000-plus students but is now educating fewer than 40,000. It’s a thorny issue that previous superintendents have considered and largely shied away from. The board, however, made it one of Cole’s first orders of business when it hired him in August. Cole estimated he’s gained 60 pounds — he later revised that to about 30 pounds — from the stress of this first year, especially the work on this plan. And it’s not over. Cole pointed to a fivepage action plan for his team to make these changes happen. “The real work begins to make sure that our kids are safe on the very first day of school,” he said. Chauna Banks, a school counselor and former Metro Council member, said she supports the plan, but offered a note of caution. “It’s going to be very important that these schools work because, Superintendent Cole, this is going to define your whole legacy,” Banks said. A total of 28 schools will see change. More than 10,000 children and 1,400plus staff are impacted. Cole unveiled the plan on April 15. Its unveiling was preceded by three community meetings as well as about
ä See MATERNAL, page 4A
ä See SCHOOLS, page 4A
Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Car insurance rates in Louisiana are among the highest nationwide. State representatives on Monday advanced a slate of bills aimed at reining in rising costs. “It’s a piece of the puzzle,” said Rep. Michael Melerine, RShreveport, repeating a phrase used by others. The bills passed as a behindthe-scenes battle heated up over what is the biggest political issue during the two-month regular legislative session, which entered its third week Monday.
Unidentified groups on both sides sent out messages using strong language in trying to sway legislators. The battle over car insurance legislation pits Gov. Jeff Landry against some business-minded conservatives who form a key part of the governor’s political base but are unhappy that he is not supporting all of the pro-
industry measures. Landry said he is steering a middle course that doesn’t favor one side or the other. The Republican-majority House spoke decisively on that question Monday, led by a group of freshmen members who say they were elected in
ä See BILLS, page 4A
New initiative targets La.’s maternal overdose deaths BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
It’s common for pregnant patients to check into labor and delivery with family in tow. But when a nurse noticed something was off during an intake at WillisKnighton Bossier Health Center in north Louisiana, she offered to help the expectant mother into a gown in the bathroom. Once they were alone, the nurse asked about substance use — a question she’d been newly trained to pose dis-
WEATHER HIGH 90 LOW 69 PAGE 6B
Baton Rouge school changes approved Reorganizations, closures on way
BY TYLER BRIDGES A slate of bills that insurance companies and business interests say would hold down rising car insurance rates in Louisiana won approval from the state House on Monday. Legislators supporting the bills powered past the objections of lawmakers who expressed the view of trial lawyers that the changes won’t help consumers in a state where car insurance rates are among the highest nationwide. In general terms, the measures would make it harder for people injured in car accidents to file lawsuits and win big payouts — in the belief that lower payouts would lead insurance companies to pass along the savings to consumers. Critics of the bills don’t think that would happen. The bills passed mostly along partisan lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. Sponsors of each pro-insurance industry bill were careful not to promise it would lower insurance rates.
ä See TAX, page 4A
creetly. “She got a positive screen,” recalled Traci Latiolais, a patient care coordinator at the hospital. That kind of intervention is becoming more common as hospitals adopt new protocols to address a growing public health concern: opioid overdoses in expectant mothers, now the leading cause of pregnancy-associated death in the state. Of Louisiana’s 82 pregnancyassociated deaths in 2020, 28 were due to accidental overdose,
according to the state’s latest Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review. To provide more focus on the issue, the Louisiana Department of Health recently announced a new statewide initiative dubbed Project MOM (Maternal Overdose Mortality), which aims to reduce overdose deaths during pregnancy and the postpartum period by 80% over the next three years, an effort that could save the lives of 65 mothers each year. The new initiative will scale
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100TH yEAR, NO. 303