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Lawmakers look at expanding gun owners’ rights in La.
Glen Oaks seniors get BRCC, school diplomas They’re members of pilot class in dual-enrollment program
Bill shrinks area around schools that require concealed carry permit
BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
Eighteen seniors at Glen Oaks High School flipped the usual chronology last week, earning collegelevel associate degrees and then four days later collecting their high school diplomas. It’s an impressive achievement in which they had to complete a series of courses over the four years they spent at Glen Oaks. They are part of a small but growing trend of students in Louisiana earning two degrees at once when they finish their senior year of high school. “I still can’t believe it’s really happening,” said Milan Beauchamp. “I’m graduating from college before high school.” “We are actually making history,” said fellow dual graduate Alayah Abbott. Glen Oaks joined a small group of “early colleges” in fall 2021 when about 80 ninth graders were enrolled in college-level, dual-enrollment courses through Baton Rouge Community College. They are the pilot class of Pathways to Bright Futures, the brainchild of then-Superintendent Sito Narcisse, a program that went districtwide in fall 2022. These 18 seniors are the most successful of that original cohort from the traditional high school at 6650 Cedar Grove Drive. Many of their classmates have earned college credits as well, though not enough for an associate degree, credits that may give them a leg up on their peers if they decide to continue their education after high school. The 18 dual graduates first donned caps and gowns on May 19 at the BRCC commencement ceremony at the Raising Cane’s River Center. Four days later, they walked the stage at the F.G. Clark Activity Center at Southern University along with their fellow graduating Glen Oaks High seniors. At the River Center, Willie Smith, BRCC’s chancellor, congratulated the assembled graduates for the many obstacles they’d overcome to get there.
BY ALYSE PFEIL and SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writers
PHOTO By WENDy LOUP
JAMBALAYA
JACKPOT
ABOVE: Jayden White, 14, right, smells his pot of jambalaya during Saturday’s Junior Jambalaya Champ contest. Cooking helper Jason Beck holds the pot lid. White won the contest. BELOW: Champion Jared White and his wife, Brittany White, prepare their winning pot of jambalaya for the 58th annual Gonzales Jambalaya Festival, held at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center on Saturday. This year’s festival, the first since moving from its longtime spot along Irma Boulevard to the Expo Center just outside the city limits, also featured lots of other firsts — admission was charged, a junior cooking competition was added and two air-conditioned stages were in play.
ä See DIPLOMAS, page 6A
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Anailah Henderson and Lauren Hayes wave to the crowd with classmates from Glen Oaks High School during Baton Rouge Community College’s 2025 spring commencement ceremony on May 19 at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge.
WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 74 PAGE 12A
PHOTO By MOLLy BAHLINGER
Less than a year after Louisiana agreed to let people carry concealed weapons in public without a permit, bills are now moving through the state Legislature to allow more people to have concealed guns close to schools and along parade routes. On the Fourth of July, constitutional carry — a term favored by gun rights advocates referring to the Second Amendment right to bear arms — became law in Louisiana. Last year, lawmakers also strengthenedthestate’spreemptionofanylocal gun laws that were more restrictive, prohibiting the enforcement of those ordinances and declaring them null and void. Now, people 18 or older can carry a gun in many public places either openly or concealed, so long as they aren’t otherwise prohibited by federal or state law from having a firearm, for example, due to felony or domestic violence convictions. Under the state’s gun-free school zone law, however, a Louisiana concealed carry permit is still needed to have a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. That could change with a bill sponsored by Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, who for years has champi- Miguez oned gun-rights legislation, including last year’s permitless carry law. Anyone legally allowed to carry a gun, including those without permits, would be able to do so up to a school’s property line under Senate Bill 101. Miguez said that when he brought the constitutional carry bill last year, he committed to ensuring consistency across Louisiana’s gun laws for those who carry under the new constitutional carry provision, those with a Louisiana permit, and those with recognized permits from another state. “I want one set of rules that treats law-abiding citizens fairly, not creating a patchwork of laws,” he said in an interview. “We never want a law-abiding citizen criminalized because of some complication in the law that they weren’t aware of.” Another measure would clarify that laws restricting concealed carry at parades only apply to those actually in the parade, not those watching. The proposals come after state and New Orleans officials last year clashed over the city’s efforts to establish a firearm-free school zone in the city’s French Quarter to skirt the state’s relaxation of gun regulations. Leatrice Dupre, a spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, said that the city “recognizes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; however, the city does not agree with the idea that more guns on the street will necessarily make people safer.”
ä See RIGHTS, page 6A
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100TH yEAR, NO. 330