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T h u r s d ay, M ay 22, 2025
BR pays tribute to former mayor
Friends, colleagues gather as Holden lies in state at City Hall
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Feds indict former La. wildlife official Montoucet charged in corruption probe out of Lafayette
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR and SAM KARLIN
Staff writers
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Mourners greet each other and pay their respects over Kip Holden’s casket during a memorial ceremony for the former mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish at City Hall on Wednesday.
Jack Montoucet, a former secretary of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he participated in a lucrative kickback scheme involving a state contract for online courses to resolve wildlife citations, an arrangement that unfolded over several years before unraveling in 2023. The charges, filed in Louisiana’s Western District, had been expected for Montoucet months. Montoucet, along with Assistant District Attorney and Lafayette city prosecutor Gary Haynes, was described — but not identified by name — in the March 23, 2023, guilty plea of Dusty Guidry, who handled pretrial diversion programs for the district attorneys in Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Guidry was also a gubernatorial appointee to the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, a volunteer board
ä See INDICT, page 5A
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer
On Wednesday afternoon, Melvin Lee “Kip” Holden returned to City Hall in the heart of Baton Rouge — one final time. This time not to lead, but to be remembered. The former parish mayor-president, who guided Louisiana’s capital city for 12 years between 2005 and 2016, died last week at the age of 72. Holden, Baton Rouge’s first Black mayor, lay in state on the ground floor of City Hall, as the public, former colleagues and other officials gathered to pay tribute to a man elected mayor three times, and who represented Baton Rouge at the State Capitol as a legislator for nearly two decades. “He knew the weight of leadership, the long days, the sleepless nights, the balancing of vision with reality and the burden of making decisions that affect thousands of lives,” said former Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. “But he also knew the joy of service … a community uplifted and a young person inspired to dream.” The former mayor died in hospice last Wednesday after a lengthy illness.
2025 LEGISLATURE
State revenue on the rise Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr., center, stands in front of City Hall with other service members during a memorial ceremony for former Mayor-President Kip Holden on Wednesday. Outside City Hall, a 20-foot-by-30foot American flag was hoisted between the ladders of two Baton Rouge Fire Department trucks. Dozens walked beneath it and filled the first floor of City Hall, as past and present mayoral staffers, city-parish officials and employees, and members
of law enforcement joined to celebrate Holden’s life. Though his time in Baton Rouge City Hall had its ups and downs, first as a Metro Council member and then as mayor-president, many spoke
ä See HOLDEN, page 4A
Economists increase forecast by $139M for budget
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Louisiana lawmakers learned Wednesday that they will have $139 million more to spend on next year’s budget after economists said the state’s revenue outlook is in a bit better shape than previously forecast. The state will also have an additional $130 million to spend during the current fiscal
ä See REVENUE, page 4A
Federal spending bill could mean more coastal funds for La. BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
The “big, beautiful bill” making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives has further fueled the nation’s divisions, but one little-known aspect of it has managed to unite Louisianans from across the political spectrum. The federal spending bill as it stands now includes a provision that could increase the amount of money Louisiana receives from offshore oil and gas production — revenue that must be used for coastal protection and restoration. Estimates show Louisiana could see up to around $50 million per year extra over a decade — not exactly a gold rush, but nothing to
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sneeze at either. It’s a change long-sought by Louisiana political leaders, pushed for years by former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and taken up by the state’s current, mainly Republican congressional delegation. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, was instrumental in including the measure in the bill. It has been among the topics discussed at this week’s State of the Coast conference in New Orleans, a large gathering of political leaders, policymakers and scientists organized every two years by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana nonprofit. Landrieu, in particular, used her appearance to argue that the state was being shortchanged and must be given
the resources to protect residents that work in the industries that have long benefited the nation. State officials are reasonably confident the measure could remain in the House version of the bill given its backing by Scalise and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, though there are no guarantees. The measure would then have to survive the U.S. Senate, where the outcome is cloudier. One advantage the state has is that the change is so obscure when compared to other parts of the bill being angrily debated that it may remain far under the radar for rancor. The state’s coastal leaders, who
ä See COASTAL, page 5A
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Louisiana officials are hoping the federal spending bill will result in the state receiving more money from offshore oil and gas revenue.
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100TH yEAR, NO. 326