NCAA SOFTBALL REGIONAL
LSU vs. Southeastern l 4:30 p.m. l SEC
1C
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
F r i d ay, M ay 16, 2025
Fire heavily damages historic Nottoway
$2.00X
Landry urges police to partner with ICE Use of local agencies has soared since Trump began immigration crackdown
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Louisiana state troopers are poised to start enforcing federal immigration laws under a controversial partnership that President Donald Trump has dramatically expanded in a bid to speed up immigration arrests and deportations. Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order Thursday urging local law enforcement agencies, too, to join the Department of Landry Homeland Security’s 287(g) program, which lets Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials delegate certain immigration enforcement duties to local cops working under ICE supervision. Federal agents alone typically have that authority. Louisiana State Police recently entered an agreement under the 287(g) program, Maj. Nick Manale, an agency spokesperson, said Thursday. So have the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, spokesperson Taylor Brazan said, and the state Department of Public Safety and
ä See ICE, page 5A
2025 LEGISLATURE
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Fire crews move a line around as flames fully engulf Nottoway Resort on Thursday in White Castle.
‘We might just see the end of it’
Vape tax could be off table
BY QUINN COFFMAN and ELLYN COUVILLION
Staff writers
The Nottoway Resort plantation home in Iberville Parish caught fire Thursday afternoon and slowly went up in flames, causing massive damage to the 166-year-old house on the Mississippi River. The blaze started in the building’s south wing before spreading to the main house. Dozens of fire response vehicles, ambulances and civilian cars lined La. 1 as wind kicked billows of smoke into the sky. Fire crews remained at the scene into the night. Officials on the scene Thursday evening said it was too early to judge the full damage from the fire, but as the sun set, almost the entirety of the historic location was charred or had collapsed. The northern wing was gone, along with most of the mansion’s back wall. Only the
Legislator pulls proposal from bill
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
evening. As the roof of the main house collapsed, Iberville Parish Fire Department Director Shaun Bordelon said firefighters’ problems were simple: “Water. Not enough of it.” When the large hose on a ladder
A new vape tax could be off the table after a legislator pulled the proposal from his bill in the Louisiana House on Wednesday. But state Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie, said the Senate will consider whether to add such a tax back into House Bill 517 as the proposal proceeds through that chamber. “It’s a juggling act,” Brass said, adding that he was in negotiations with health advocates, tobacco industry representatives, House and Senate leadership and Gov. Jeff Landry’s office. After it was amended, Brass’ bill easily passed the House with a 79-12 vote. For now, Brass’ bill has a new purpose: He amended it so that it would create a fund to pay
ä See FIRE, page 4A
ä See VAPE, page 5A
Firefighters carry tools into the Nottoway Resort as they battle a fire on Thursday. chimneys remained on those sides, standing where the second and third floors once were. The facade and upper balcony had collapsed as well. “This thing was built in 1859, now we might just see the end of it,” said Jordan Ward, a deputy with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office, as he watched the flames Thursday
New start times are coming to some BR public schools BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
Several public schools in Baton Rouge will have new start times this fall as part of an effort to better match when children learn with research on their sleeping patterns.
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 74 PAGE 8B
Prismatic Services, an educational consulting firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is recommending that middle and high schools push back their start times until at least 8:30 a.m., and that elementary schools start earlier, at 8 a.m. The idea is to pick one or two
sets of schools that follow the same feeder pattern from elementary to high school. Superintendent LaMont Cole said he is still identifying which schools he would like to take part in the pilot program and their respective start times. He plans to bring the East Baton Rouge Parish
School Board a list, likely in June, for its approval. Cole said a few principals have expressed interest in changing start times and are reviewing the idea internally. He said he also plans additional engagement with affected schools. The School Board took a first
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
step down that road Thursday when it agreed to a second professional contract with Prismatic. The contract would pay the firm no more than $245,000 between now and January to help the district, particularly its beleaguered
ä See TIMES, page 4A
100TH yEAR, NO. 320