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T u e s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 2, 2025
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Youngsville homeowners may see flood relief
City approved for federal program cutting insurance costs BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
Youngsville property owners, for the first time, may qualify for a 10% reduction in their flood insurance. The city, which undertook efforts to reduce the impact of flooding following the 2016 flood, was approved for the first time for inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, Mayor Ken Ritter said last week. Inclusion in the Community Rating System, Ritter said,
should help more than 1,500 flood insurance policyholders in Youngsville. That includes every new policy or renewed policy after April 1, 2026. The city of Lafayette, Lafayette Parish and Carencro, meanwhile, all retained their Class 7 ratings. Youngsville first applied in 2021 for the voluntary Federal Emergency Management Agency program that, every five years, evaluates how well communities exceed minimum requirements for floodplain management. The city recently was accepted with a Class 8 rating, Ritter said,
which allows eligible residents and business owners to receive a 10% discount on their flood insurance. The lower the rating class, the bigger the potential discount on flood insurance premiums, said Clay Boudreaux, floodplain administrator with Lafayette Consolidated Government. All you hear about insurance costs, Ritter said, is that they’re increasing. “We’re committed to continue improving that rating,” he said.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Members of the community wade through floodwaters Aug. 14, 2016, in a ä See FLOOD, page 4A youngsville neighborhood.
BACK IN
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Upgrades underway for 3 Lafayette schools
Large-scale projects aim to address capacity BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
Three Lafayette Parish schools are getting major wing additions and improvements, all designed to increase permanent capacity and address aging facilities. L.J. Alleman Middle, Judice Middle and Acadiana High received a combined $89 million in capital funding for the construction. Judice’s renovations are expected to finish first in late 2026 or early 2027. Construction at both L.J. Alleman and Acadiana’s is slated to wrap up in fall 2027. Most of the funding — $61.5 million — comes from bonds secured by the district. The other money is from
ä See SCHOOLS, page 4A
AFGHANISTAN PHOTOS By APRIL BUFFINGTON
The Doyle Tigers run back to the sidelines after halftime against North Corbin Junior High on Aug. 26 at Walker High School. The 40 Doyle seventh graders make up the school’s first football team in almost 40 years.
Football returns to small Louisiana town 40 years after high school team disbanded BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
For the first time in 39 years, Livingston residents donned purple and gold and packed into the stands to watch their sons, friends and students play a football game. The fans cheered for a team of 40 seventh graders wearing brand-new jerseys and representing the Doyle Tigers at a jamboree game Aug. 26 against North Corbin at Walker High School. The young team, composed mostly of boys who had never played a down of organized football in their lives, didn’t score at the preseason game.
But the players, coaches and residents all say what they are doing out on the field is bigger than any scoreboard. “You could just feel an excitement,” Livingston Mayor JT Taylor said about the scrimmage. “The first first down, you would’ve thought we won the Super Bowl.” In 1986, the Doyle High School varsity football team played its last season, going 0-10. The school then disbanded the program after more than 20 years. Nearly four decades later, Doyle is bringing back its junior high football program,
ä See FOOTBALL, page 4A
Earthquake destroys villages, kills 800 By The Associated Press
Doyle’s Dallas Savant, center, tries to run the ball during the Aug. 26 jamboree.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government. The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage. One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed.
ä See EARTHQUAKE, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 90 LOW 72 PAGE 10C
Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 64