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Cassidy criticizes RFK Jr. on vaccines Health secretary grilled by Senate committee
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
After Hurricane Katrina, Bay St. Louis, Miss., slowly came back to life, regaining its identity as a quaint art colony and weekend retreat for New Orleanians.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
As Bay St. Louis thrives, a neighboring bayou town struggles to hold on 20 years after Katrina
WASHINGTON — In his strongest criticism to date, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is the senator most responsible for confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accused the nation’s health chief Thursday of preventing Americans from receiving COVID vaccinations. “I’m approaching this as a doctor, not as a senator. I am concerned about children’s health, seniors’ health, all of our health,” Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, told Kennedy during a raucous Senate Finance Committee hearing. A gastroenterologist for 30 years before being elected, Cassidy promotes Cassidy vaccinations as a way to save lives, while Kennedy is perhaps the nation’s leading vaccine skeptic. Cassidy has said he supported Kennedy for confirmation after receiving a promise not to meddle with vaccination policies. Kennedy argues that he’s only taken precautionary steps until research is complete on whether inoculations have serious side effects, such as causing autism. New rules proposed by Kennedy have confused many, causing some pharmacists to start requiring doctors’ prescriptions for the vaccination that fights COVID, Cassidy said.
ä See CASSIDY, page 6A
BY POET WOLFE and MARTHA SANCHEZ The Times-Picayune and Sun Herald
On a Thursday morning, three regulars sit in cool darkness. Two shoot pool, another sips a Coors Light. The smell of cigarette smoke clings to walls and hangs in the air. Turtle Landing Bar & Grill, tucked off U.S. 90 in Pearlington, Mississippi, was once lively, until Hurricane Katrina emptied the town and Louisiana later closed nearby bridges. Now, 20 years after the storm, the isolation is heavier. “Big time,” the bar’s owner Janyne Crapeau said, perched on a bar stool. Daylight briefly seeps in as a man comes in from fishing for bass in the bayou and takes a seat at the bar. He orders a plate of red beans and rice. Beers, at $2.50 a bottle, don’t keep Turtle Landing running. The food does. It’s the only restaurant in town. Two decades after Katrina, Pearlington remains stranded. Unlike nearby towns that were rebuilt with the help of government aid, this one — unincorporated with no form of government — never quite gained a foothold.
ä See CITIES, page 4A
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
STAFF PHOTO By BOB WARREN
Owner Janyne Crapeau stands recently in the Turtle Landing Bar & Grill in Pearlington, Miss. The bar was once lively, until Hurricane Katrina emptied the town and Louisiana later closed nearby bridges. Now, it is the only restaurant in town.
Confirmation stalls for Trump nominee for U.S. attorney BY MARK BALLARD
BR leaders eye stricter juvenile curfews Crime, truancy concerns cited
BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer
As part of a broader push to curb crime and improve school attendance, East Baton Rouge Parish officials are considering implementing stricter curfew laws for juveniles. Details are sparse, but leaders say strengthening the controversial policy would hold parents more accountable while connecting struggling families with more
WEATHER HIGH 95 LOW 75 PAGE 8B
support. “We have more and more of our youth committing violent crime,” said Lt. L’Jean McKneely, spokesperson for the Baton Rouge Police Department. “It’s just another layer we are looking at.” Under the current municipal code, anyone younger than 17 is required to be indoors between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on school nights, and between 1 and 5 a.m. on weekends (exceptions exist, including for work and school purposes). If a youth is found breaking the curfew, authorities can escort them home, release them into the care of a guardian,
or issue a misdemeanor offense. Parents or guardians of offenders can face a $500 fine, 60 days of community service, or up to six months in jail — though it is unclear how often that is actually enforced. District 5 Metro Council member Darryl Hurst says the law doesn’t account for situations where parents aren’t home or when youths are from out of state, and overburdened law enforcement can’t always keep track of offenders once they return home. He said updated curfew laws may include keeping juveniles in custody until parents
Staff writer
pick them up. “It has not been enforced because of those challenges,” Hurst said. “If the parents are not accessible, we can still ensure we can do our due diligence to keep that kid safe.” If parents don’t show, then Hurst law enforcement would know the youths aren’t being properly cared for and can act accordingly, Hurst said.
WASHINGTON — Kurt Wall’s confirmation to become prosecutor for the federal district based in Baton Rouge was put on hold as part of a broader partisan fight between Senate Democrats and Republicans. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, objected to a Republican request to unanimously confirm 10 U.S. attorneys who have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee but still Wall are awaiting a confirmation vote by the full Senate. One of those nominees was Wall, whom President Donald Trump picked for U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Louisiana. He cleared the committee on July 24.
ä See CURFEWS, page 6A
ä See CONFIRMATION, page 6A
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 67