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S at u r d ay, O c t O b e r 11, 2025
LET’S DANCE
Crowd turns out for first day of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles
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Haynes seeking new trial Former assistant district attorney convicted of bribery
BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Festivalgoers dance and enjoy the music of Zachary Richard during Festivals Acadiens et Creoles on Friday at Girard Park.
ABOVE: From left, Ben Berthelot, president and CEO of Lafayette Travel; Rodolphe Sambou, consul general of France in New Orleans; Laurent Bili, French ambassador to the United States; Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet; Charlotte Bazelaire, mayor of Namur, Belgium; and state Reps. Annie Spell and Julie Emerson react as links of boudin break during Friday’s opening ceremony of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles. LEFT: Zachary Richard performs during the opening night of the festival.
Food aid continuing for now
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, will continue despite a government shutdown, officials say — as long as the standoff doesn’t last into November. The U.S. Department of Agriculture receives money for SNAP a month in advance, according to its shutdown plan. But most of the department’s staff was sent home, which will cause delays in processing applications and verifying benefits.
ä See FOOD, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 85 LOW 59 PAGE 6A
Gary Haynes, the former Lafayette assistant district attorney who was convicted on federal bribery charges last month, on Thursday filed a motion for a new trial. On Sept. 18, after hearing eight days of testimony and arguments, a 12-person federal jury unanimously found Haynes guilty on six charges related to Haynes a kickback scheme involving the pretrial intervention program he ran in the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette. In Thursday’s motion, Haynes’ defense attorney, Todd Clemons, requested a new trial based on improper exclusion of evidence, improper admission of evidence, prosecutorial misconduct and statements and judicial bias. According to the motion, the jury should have been allowed to hear audio recordings that the defense says were favorable to Haynes; to hear evidence about co-defendant Leonard Franques’ wife’s corrections to her FBI statements; to hear about 15th Judicial District Attorney Don Landry’s “inconsistent statements”; and to hear recordings that allegedly contradicted evidence the government introduced. Clemons was not immediately available to comment on the motion. U.S. District Court Judge David Joseph will consider the request for a new trial.
ä See HAYNES, page 4A
Firings triggered by shutdown begin White House seeks to government. A spokesperson for the budget said the reductions are “subpressure Democrats office stantial” but did not offer more de-
BY SEUNG MIN KIM and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started, an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown dragged into a 10th day. Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALLISON ROBBERT the “RIFs have begun,” referring U.S. Capitol Police monitor the perimeter of the Capitol on Thursday as to reduction-in-force plans aimed the government shutdown entered its ninth day. at reducing the size of the federal
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tails. Employees at the departments of Education, Treasury, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, were set to receive the noVought tices, according to spokespeople for the agencies and union representatives for federal workers. The aggressive move by Trump’s
ä See FIRINGS, page 4A
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