FORMER U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE DAVID SOUTER DIES 2A THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
Details emerge about conclave vote
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S at u r d ay, M ay 10, 2025
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A calling, a privilege, a responsibility
Pope says election a cross to bear and a blessing
BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV said Friday that his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass and details began to emerge of how votes swiftly coalesced to make him history’s first American pope. Freed from their conclave, cardinals began de- Pope Leo XIV scribing the hours leading up to the ä Acadiana final ballot Thursfaithful day afternoon that brought Leo past react to t h e t w o - t h i r d s Pope Leo majority needed. XIV. PAGE 1B Many marveled that the Chicagoborn Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost reached the threshold so quickly, given the vast diversity of voters and the traditional taboo against a U.S. pope because of the secular power the country wields. “It is a miracle of the Holy Spirit,” said Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib, archbishop
ä See POPE, page 5A
La. House members consider habitual offender bill Widow of slain Lafayette police officer urges support
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
The widow of a slain Lafayette officer urged Louisiana House members on Thursday to implement a law that would force habitual offenders to serve out more of their sentence. Almost a year after her husband, Lafayette Police officer Senior Cpl. Segus Jolivette, was killed during an alleged hostage situation involving a felon with a history of early releases, Alexis Jolivette teared up as a she asked lawmakers to support House Bill 11 — the Segus Jolivette Act.
ä See BILL, page 6A
WEATHER HIGH 75 LOW 60 PAGE 6A
PHOTOS By ROBIN MAy
Emergency medical technician Alison Cagle walks up to receive her award for EMT of the year from Dr. Charles Burnell on Friday at the Acadian Ambulance EMTs of the year banquet at the Cajundome in Lafayette.
Acadian honors top medics during annual celebration
BY ADAM DAIGLE
Acadiana business editor
Acadian Ambulance honored its top medics of the year during its annual celebration Friday at the Cajundome. Now in its 54th year, Acadian honored Alison Cagle, an emergency medical technician from its Hub City District, and Joannie Sanchez, a flight registered nurse from its Air Med division, as the best among its 14 regions in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Sanchez, a native of LaPlace, recalled that her journey began back when she was 13 years old and her father asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She wrote down three career choices, and he told her to pick one and “chase it with everything you’ve got,” she recalled. He then took her to a ca-
State Sen. Fred Mills Jr. speaks at the ceremony. reer fair where she met a flight nurse, and she now says something clicked that day. She became a certified nurse’s assistant, an emergency room technician and later a nurse. She also worked at a women’s shelter. “This job changes you,” Sanchez said. “It asks you to
walk into the worst moment of someone’s life and leave a piece of yourself behind every time you do. EMS isn’t just a job. It’s a calling, it’s a privilege, and it’s a responsibility.” Cagle, who began her EMS career while still in high school, earned her EMT cer-
tification in 2021 and worked in California for two years before joining Acadian. She is currently in paramedic school. “I kind of accidentally stumbled upon an EMR class, and I took it and instantly fell in love,” she said. “For me to be named EMT of the year, it means I’ve found my place. I can stop looking for a home because I’ve found it here at Acadian.” The celebration was the first for Acadian since the death of founder and longtime CEO and chairman Richard Zuschlag, who died in August following a bout with cancer. The Pennsylvania native moved to Lafayette in 1970 and a year later started a company with two ambulances that became the largest privately held medical transportation company in
ä See MEDICS, page 6A
La. lawmakers want to cut taxes for oil Raised taxes on natural gas would pay for it
headwinds in the Senate, amid questions over their long-term impact on state coffers. House Bill 600, sponsored by state Rep. Brett Geymann, a Republican from Lake Charles, would cut the severance tax rate BY BLAKE PATERSON on crude oil extracted from new Staff writer wells nearly in half, reducing A package of bills aimed at revenues by around $87 million boosting oil production and mak- over a five-year period, according Louisiana’s tax code more ing to a legislative fiscal note. To offset those losses, Geycompetitive with those of neighboring states sailed through the mann’s House Bill 495 would Louisiana House on Thursday. limit a severance tax exemption But the measures could face for natural gas produced from
horizontally drilled wells, resulting in $99 million in additional revenue during the same period, according to its fiscal note. Taken together, the bills would mean slightly more tax money for Louisiana over the next five years. But long term, the changes would likely result in a net reduction of tax revenues, according to an economist who worked on the proposal and said the higher taxes on gas activity would not make up for the losses from oil drilling. Reducing Louisiana’s sever-
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ance tax on oil has long been a priority of the business lobby, energy industry and Republican elected officials, including Gov. Jeff Landry and House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice. At 12.5%, it’s the highest severance tax in the continental U.S. and hasn’t changed since 1973. Landry’s transition committee argued that reducing the tax would “incentivize and amplify drilling in south Louisiana,” and DeVillier sponsored bills each
ä See OIL, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 314