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F r i d ay, J u ly 11, 2025
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“If there were ever a time where we are really going to need support from our community to help our friends and neighbors, now is that time.” MIKE MANNING, president and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
Officials evaluating impact on LSU arena project Developer’s CEO indicted in Texas bid-rigging case
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Food bank volunteers Ezra Santos, left, and Guillermo London load up groceries Thursday to give out to community members who were unable to make it to New Ruach Christian Church.
Food bank forced to reduce rations
As federal aid dwindles, BR nonprofit scales back again BY ELLYN COUVILLION
Staff writer
The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is having to reduce the amount of food it can provide to clients in the face of cuts to federal aid, the nonprofit said Thursday. It is the second cutback in rations in the past year, according to the organization. The reduction comes even as the food bank reports a steady increase in the number of clients seeking help each month due to ongoing inflation impacts, rising food costs and a 40% reduction in federal food support since 2024. This past spring, the nonprofit went from being able to provide 25 pounds of food per person each month to 20 pounds. Now, that number is dropping to 15 pounds, closer to the national average of 13.5 pounds.
A day after the CEO of the firm that is the sole finalist to build a new LSU arena was indicted in Texas, university officials said they are weighing how the criminal charges could affect the project in Baton Rouge. On Wednesday, Oak View Group CEO Timothy J. Leiweke was indicted on federal charges that he rigged the bidding process for an arena at the University of Texas at Austin, a project similar to the LSU proposal. In an emailed statement Thursday, LSU Athletics Chief Communications Leiweke Officer Zach Greenwell said officials are reviewing how the charges might impact the proposed arena at LSU. “All involved parties are evaluating the implications on the potential arena project in Baton Rouge considering this week’s news regarding Oak View Group,” Greenwell said. “There is not a finalized agreement in place with Oak View Group, nor has a potential agreement gone before any governing bodies for approval, including the LSU Board of Supervisors.” In May, LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward said Oak View Group was the sole finalist for the project — which was estimated to cost up to $400 million, noting that competitor ASM Global was out of the running.
ä See ARENA, page 4A
ASCENSION PARISH
Food bank volunteer Ramona Santos loads up groceries to give out to
ä See FOOD, page 4A community members at New Ruach Christian Church.
Man gets life in deaths of state trooper, relative
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
Researchers lower number of named storms Hurricane experts tweak prediction BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer
Hurricane researchers at Colorado State University on Wednesday tweaked their prediction of above-average activity during the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, decreasing the number of expected storms. Hurricane experts with CSU — which issues annual forecasts just like the National Hurricane Center — said they now expect a slightly above-average sea-
WEATHER HIGH 91 LOW 75 PAGE 8B
son and lowered the number of named storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes each by one from the initial April 3 prediction. The probability of a major hurricane making landfall in the U.S. and in the Caribbean was also slightly above average. CSU now predicts the season will produce 16 named storms, including eight hurricanes and three major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or above. The primary reason for the forecast change is both the observed and predicted high levels of Caribbean wind shear. While high wind shear in June and July is generally associated
with less active hurricane seasons, the CSU researchers said there are still conditions that are conducive to hurricane formation and intensification. Those conditions include warmer-than-normal tropical Atlantic temperatures and El Niño-Southern Oscillation neutral conditions, a set of conditions over the Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns across the world. CSU researchers said there’s now a 31% chance that a major hurricane will hit somewhere along the Gulf Coast, from the Florida panhandle to Brownsville, Texas. There’s a 48%
chance of landfall somewhere along the entirety of the U.S. coastline. So far, there have been three named storms and no hurricanes this year: Andrea, Barry and Chantal. None has posed a threat to Louisiana. CSU predicted the 2024 season would have 23 named storms, including 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes, the highest number ever predicted by the university. By the end of last year’s season, there was a total of 19 named storms and 11 hurricanes, with five classified as major.
A Livingston man who murdered a Louisiana State Police trooper and a Prairieville woman in 2021 was sentenced to two life sentences with an additional 348 years in prison after taking a plea deal. Matthew Mire, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Master Trooper Adam Gaubert and 37-year-old Pamela Adair in separate shootings, according to the plea agreement filed in the 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension Parish. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder in Ascension Parish. In his signed plea agreement, he also admitted to counts of attempted first-degree murder in shooting two of his neighbors in Livingston Parish. Mire, who was found mentally fit to stand trial last year, potentially faced the death penalty if he had not agreed to the plea deal and his case had instead gone before a jury.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä See LIFE, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 11