SAINTS CAN’T STOP QB MAYE IN LOSS TO PATRIOTS 1B
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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M o n d ay, o c t o b e r 13, 2025
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Chief justice, judges spar over pay Weimer locked in a yearslong battle over special fund
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
ABOVE: A rider on a float from Jaguar Athletics tosses beads Sunday along Harding Boulevard in Baton Rouge during the Southern University Homecoming parade.
SOUTHERN
DELIGHTS
John Weimer sits atop the judicial system in Louisiana as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. But Weimer has spent years running into a brick wall of opposition from judges when he tells them that they have to make a decision that would hit them in the pocketbook. Last week, they disregarded Weimer’s plea once again. One Weimer judge even engaged in a testy exchange with him over their disagreement. For several years, Weimer has been trying to convince an obscure board called the Judicial Supplemental Compensation Fund to pay the Supreme Court for the time its staff spends to administer it.
ä See PAY, page 6A
RIGHT: The Madison Prep band marches in the
Baton Rouge nonprofit helps struggling teens
Homecoming parade. FAR RIGHT: Gala J. Marcus, left, the 95th Miss Southern University, waves from a float.
youth Oasis offers help for those at risk of homelessness
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
BY AIDAN McCAHILL | Staff writer
and provide security at events. Before 2025, when the BRPD took a $9 million hit to its budget, the department performed those duties free of charge. In July, the Cortana Kiwanis canceled this year’s Christmas Parade, citing growing security costs from the city-parish. Stein said BRPD quoted
Javoni Fortner didn’t have a plan when she ran away from home. At 12, Hurricane Katrina forced her family out of New Orleans. While they split time between Houston and Baton Rouge, Fortner was forced to spend most of it inside, babysitting her two younger brothers and suffering physical abuse at the hands of her mother. “One day it was really bad, and I just decided to leave,” she said. At 17, Fortner left in the middle of the night, first hiding at the home of
ä See PARADES, page 6A
ä See NONPROFIT, page 4A
Increased security costs threaten future of BR parades Fifolet Halloween organizers fear this year’s will be last
for the city’s children and a parade of spookily-decorated floats streaming through downtown. But organizers fear the 2025 parade, which rolls for its 15th year on Saturday, might be the last one they can afford to stage. BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer “We’re really concerned,” said When the Fifolet Halloween Kelley Stein, co-founder and Festival comes to Baton Rouge chief financial officer of 10/31 each year, residents expect a Consortium, which hosts the pahaunted ball, costume donations rade. “I mean, we got it covered
WEATHER HIGH 86 LOW 59 PAGE 12A
this year OK, but we just don’t know what’s going to happen for next year. We are preparing ourselves for this to be our last parade.” The new financial pressure comes from a change in Baton Rouge Police Department policy surrounding event security. Specifically, organizers are now expected to pay labor costs for the officers who block off streets
Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................9A Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C Opinion .....................10A Commentary .............11A Metro ...........................8A Sports ..........................1B
HOMECOMING WEEKEND
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SOCCER GAMES OCTOBER 17 & 19
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