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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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T h u r s d ay, au g u s T 14, 2025
EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH METRO COUNCIL
Fallen officer honored
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Vote set on power for Meta facility PSC decision coming earlier than expected
BY JOSIE ABUGOV
Staff writer
Authored by council members Rowdy Gaudet, Denise Amoroso, Carolyn Coleman and Twahna Harris, the law defines a smoke or vape shop as any store with a stock of 20% or more of vape and tobacco-related products. “That way we separate it from a gas station that happens to carry a few products,” said Gaudet, who spearheaded the ordinance. He said the new rules came from a two-year study by the city Planning Commission, which looked at how other similar-sized cities across the U.S. handled vape-shop regulations. A grandfather clause in the ordinance allows existing businesses operating
A controversial plan to power Meta’s largest artificial intelligence data center anywhere in the world, to be built in rural northeast Louisiana, will head for a vote by state regulators next week, far ahead of initially planned. The fast-tracked approval by the Public Service Commission is drawing concern from advocates who say average ratepayers and other industrial companies are being put at risk of covering electricity costs for the giant facility, equiva“Whether lent to the size of around 70 football fields. Entergy it sets a and supporters of the plan precedent say enough safeguards are or not, and in place and that there is no it most reason to further delay a project that could be trans- certainly will, formational for the impov- the costs will erished region. show up on Entergy, which is propos- people’s bills ing to build three gas-fired across the plants to power the data state.” center, requested that the commission take up the isLOGAN BURKE, sue two months before the executive director regulators were initially of the Alliance expected to vote. The vote for Affordable at the Aug. 20 meeting will Energy also occur before a judge who oversaw a recent hearing into the proposal will be able to release her recommendations. “I really want folks across the state to understand that this decision is not just about one of the world’s largest data centers in north Louisiana,” said Logan Burke, the executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy consumer advocacy group. “Whether it sets a precedent or not, and it most certainly will, the costs will show up on people’s bills across the state.” A coalition of the largest oil, gas and petrochemical companies operating in Louisiana have similarly argued that the request poses huge risks for them. Around 30 companies are part of the coalition, including Exxon, Shell and Dow, under the banner of the Louisiana Energy Users Group. The coalition declined to comment. But the proposal has widespread political
ä See COUNCIL, page 7A
ä See META, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards speaks in honor of Sgt. Caleb Eisworth alongside District 4 Metro Council member Aaron Moak, left, and Chief of Police Thomas Morse Jr. during Wednesday’s Metro Council meeting. Eisworth, a 23-year veteran of the police force, died Sunday after being struck by a truck in June. Services are scheduled for Saturday at Istrouma Baptist Church. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m., with the funeral service starting at noon. Following the ceremony, Eisworth will be laid to rest at Greenoaks Memorial Park.
Council puts restrictions on vape shops BY AIDAN MCCAHILL
Staff writer
As part of an effort to curb the rising use of e-cigarettes among teens, the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that will impose new distance requirements and signage on vape and tobacco retailers. Shops that primarily sell tobacco, vapes and similar products are no longer allowed to open within 500 feet of schools, religious institutions, public libraries, child day care facilities, public parks or another vape shop. Those same stores also will be required to clearly display that anyone younger than 18 is prohibited from entering
“This vaping is real, and it’s running rampant in our schools. And the children can just walk across the street and get a vape.” CAROLyN COLEMAN, East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member
the premises. In Louisiana, selling vape products requires obtaining state-issued permits and licenses, with oversight from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. However, up until Wednesday, Baton Rouge did not have any local regulations addressing the sale of vape products.
‘They could be pretty much anywhere’ Sheriff’s Office also tried to track forcement agencies and highlightInside the search to them down. ing an often overlooked concern in As Desormeaux continued the world of missing and exploited find two brothers who searching for his sons, their faces children: What happens when they went missing in a flashed on national news screens. are with a parent when they go Investigators had not been able to missing? Experts say such misscustody battle determine their specific location, ing persons cases generally re-
BY MEGAN WYATT
Staff writer
Chase Desormeaux feared the worst after he stopped hearing from his two sons. Cohen, 7, and Colton, 5, missed the first day of school, Christmas and their birthdays. After they did not show up for a routine custody drop-off, alerts went out last December across Louisiana asking people to be on the lookout for the boys. The U.S. Marshals Service joined the search, while the Calcasieu Parish
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saying the boys could be as near as still in Louisiana or Texas, or as far away as California, Michigan, Illinois or Pennsylvania. “They could be pretty much anywhere,” said a host of “On Patrol: Live” on the Reelz network, which featured their case in March and told viewers they were with their mom. “But it also means that she’ll probably be interacting with people, so if you know her, you see her, you recognize her, please help.” The case of the missing Desormeaux boys wound up taking nine months, spanning two states, including multiple law en-
ceive far less attention than those that involve strangers who abduct children. It was 2:30 a.m. on March 31 when a phone call woke up their dad from his sleep. There was news about the boys. The Desormeaux boys went missing amid a messy custody battle. After their parents, Chase and Sharlene Desormeaux, separated in February 2022, a Lake Charles judge granted them shared custody. Chase Desormeaux was named
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN
Cohen Desormeaux, 7, left, and his brother, Colton, 5, went missing in ä See SEARCH, page 7A 2024 amid a custody battle in Lake Charles.
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