PRESEASON: JAGUARS AT SAINTS • NOON • CBS 1C
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
S u n d ay, au g u S t 17, 2025
$2.50X
‘OFF DUTY, GOING HOME’
Change in police chiefs roils Golden Meadow
Sgt. Caleb Eisworth laid to rest as family, law enforcement honor fallen BR officer
Investigators say previous chief deleted records after losing election BY JOSEPH CRANNEY | Staff writer GOLDEN MEADOW — On Michelle Lafont’s first day as the newly elected police chief of this tiny speed-trap town and shrimping community on the way to Port Fourchon, the door of her Town Hall office wouldn’t budge. You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought. Her predecessor, former Golden Meadow Police Chief Troy Dufrene, had Lafont locked the keys inside the office after losing the November 2024 election by an excruciating nine votes, she said. That wasn’t all. The day after Dufrene lost, state criminal investigators say he began deleting computer records pertaining to the Police Department’s citations, calls for service, theft complaints and warrants. He also deleted administrative records like payroll sheets and fuel reimbursement reports,
ä See CHANGE, page 8A
Plans to build reservoir to fight flooding halted
STAFF PHOTOS By HILARy SCHEINUK
A member of the Baton Rouge Police Honor Guard says their final goodbye during funeral services for Baton Rouge police Sgt. Caleb Eisworth in Baton Rouge on Saturday. BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer
Proposal again faces stiff opposition BY DAVID J. MITCHELL | Staff writer Plans for a huge reservoir north of Baton Rouge to help keep the Amite River from flooding densely populated neighborhoods downstream have been sidelined by opposition from people who live in the countryside where it would be built. Instead, the agency that revived the decades-old reservoir idea will focus on restoring curves in the Amite and keeping sediment out of the river, measures that could help scale down disasters like the widespread August 2016 flood, which damaged nearly 65,500 homes and thousands of businesses in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes alone.
ä See RESERVOIR, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 95 LOW 76 PAGE 8B
Saydee Eisworth, 12, left, leans on her mother, Darla Eisworth, as they grieve the loss of father and husband Baton Rouge police Sgt. Caleb Eisworth during his burial services at Greenoaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
Hundreds of police motorcycles gleamed under a hot morning sun outside of Istrouma Baptist Church on Saturday. In front of them — and waiting behind the hearse that would take Sgt. Caleb Eisworth’s body to its final resting place — sat the ghost bike: an empty Baton Rouge Police Department patrol motorcycle representing the fallen motorman in his own procession. His boots, empty, were placed backward on the bike’s foot pegs, as is tradition for motorized patrol divisions across the country. Eisworth served the department for 23 years, joining the motorcycle division in 2008. He received multiple awards for heroism in the line of duty, including the Medal of Valor — the highest honor bestowed by the department — for having pulled a motorist from a crashed vehicle while off-duty. He was critically injured on June 16 after his motorcycle was rammed by a pickup truck on Joor Road in what police believe was a targeted
ä See EISWORTH, page 10A
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Classified ..................... 2F Living............................1D Nation-World ................2A Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 48
POWERING THE FUTURE INNOVATION, COMPETITION & COLLABORATION The Tulane Future of Energy Forum convenes leaders in business, academia, government, and nonprofits from around the world to engage in critical discussions. Get inspired by groundbreaking talks, thought-provoking panels, and dynamic networking opportunities that will shape the energy conversation for years to come.
TULANE UNIVERSITY | NEW ORLEANS | SEPTEMBER 10-12 | FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
REGISTER