CAJUNS DEFENSE EXCITED FOR EARLY RETURN OF DB ELEAM 1C THE
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T h u r s d ay, O c T O b e r 16, 2025
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Court hears La. voting rights case Justices question how much race should be a factor BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Supreme Court drilled down Wednesday on the issues surrounding Louisiana’s voting rights case, the six conservative justices asked questions and made comments that indicated they thought Louisiana relied too much on race in drawing a second majority-Black congressional district. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh asked in several ways whether race-based maps are permissible for an indeterminate period or should have an endpoint when states no longer have to consider race when drawing congressional
district maps. Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked how much weight the Supreme Court should put on the lower court findings that spurred the Louisiana Legislature’s decision to redraw its congressional maps to include a second majority-Black district. “What if the district court was just wrong?” she said. U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, the Baton Rouge Democrat elected last year in the majority-minority district at the center of Louisiana v. Callais and Robinson v. Callais, said after the 21/ 2-hour hearing that the justices asked pointed questions on all aspects of this complicated case. Fields said he saw the justices’
questions as an indication that the conservative majority wouldn’t go as far as many legal observers thought and find the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional — or dramatically change the act’s Section 2 to make it all but unusable. Their questions reflected “the importance of this decision on the nation, regardless of their individual opinions,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Fields said. “This case marks a pivotal moment in not only Louisiana’s ongoing fight to protect fair representation, but states all across this nation as well.” The Voting Rights Act of 1965
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CLIFF OWEN
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks with the news media Wednesday after departing the Supreme Court, where she gave arguments, as Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga, right, ä See COURT, page 5A looks on.
Acadiana crime lab opens in Iberia Parish
Long-awaited facility will serve eight parishes in region
Landry halts new carbon capture applications Technology has sparked opposition in rural La. BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
PHOTOS By LEE BALL
Louisiana State Police Lt. Scott Davis, from left; chemistry manager Rebecca Chaisson, of the State Police crime lab; and Amanda Hebert, of the Acadiana crime lab, visit during the grand opening of the Bo Duhe Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory on Wednesday.
Gov. Jeff Landry declared a moratorium Wednesday on new applications for carbon capture injection wells in Louisiana after years of growing complaints from people who live near where the projects are planned. Landry’s order calls for companies to make more effort to seek out public and local government input on pending projects, as the Republican governor seeks to balance pressures from constituents in rural Louisiana and energy companies. In the 12-page executive order, Landry says the changes are happening “to provide a clear road map for citizens and local officials,” to create transparency for the public and to recognize the reality of the intensive time required to review each project — an estimated 2,000 hours. “Local government and citizens, through their local government, have a right to be heard to ensure safety, transparency, and local input,” the governor’s order says. But the order drew immediate response from industry groups who worry it could hamstring an
ä See CARBON, page 5A
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
The Bo Duhe Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory celebrated its opening Wednesday in Iberia Parish. The $26 million facility, named in honor of the late 16th Judicial District Attorney M. Bofill Duhe, who died of cancer in March, will serve eight Acadiana parishes in the inspection, examination and testing of evidence in criminal prosecution. The next-door move is a considerable upgrade from the old facility, said Lab Director Kevin Ardoin. The new state-of-the-art brick-andmortar complex is 40,000 square feet, compared with the previous 10,000-square-foot sheet-metal building, which served Acadiana since 1989. The project to construct the new facility broke ground in May 2024, but talks began in earnest in 2019, with Duhe being an integral part of seeing it come to fruition and securing state funding. “It’s amazing that here we are, 35, almost 40 years later, and this same property we planned on, we’re fi-
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WWII veteran from La. honored at funeral BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
ity will also be able to host training sessions with law enforcement and staff. “This will absolutely help us,” Ardoin said. “No. 1, you have space to add staff and you’ve got better
Born in 1926 in New Orleans, Charles Calvin Holdeman Jr. grew up through the Great Depression, waiting in soup lines and packing his shoes with cardboard when they wore thin. At 17, with World War II raging across both oceans, Holdeman volunteered for service in the United States Marine Corps. He believed either the salary or the life insurance would benefit his mother back home. At 18, Holdeman waded through volcanic ash on the shores of the island of Iwo Jima. Four days
ä See LAB, page 6A
ä See VETERAN, page 6A
Laboratory Director Kevin Ardoin welcomes visitors to tour the new crime lab building on Wednesday. nally putting a laboratory in place,” Ardoin said. “It’s a long time coming, and I’m very emotional and excited that it’s happening. “ The crime lab will house 24 employees, who will be able to tackle the region’s backlog of cases more efficiently, Ardoin said. The facil-
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