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T h u r s d ay, O c T O b e r 16, 2025
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Supreme Court hears La. voting rights case
Landry halts new carbon capture projects Technology has sparked opposition in rural parts of state
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CLIFF OWEN
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, center, speaks with the news media upon leaving the Supreme Court after giving arguments Wednesday in the case on drawing new congressional district boundaries.
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.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT BROWN
Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, center, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus speak outside the U.S. Capitol after ä See COURT, page 4A arguments were heard at the Supreme Court 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 industry that could be a boon for Louisiana’s economy. Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continental Oil and Gas Association, said the projects could “breathe new economic life into our communities and create the opportunities that will keep our kids here in Louisiana.” “Let’s not let Texas, and other states waiting in the wings, take this moment from us because we put any more obstacles in our own way,” he
ä See CARBON, page 7A
WWII veteran from La. honored at funeral BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
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
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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 after the first landings, Holdemen witnessed Marines from the 5th Division raise the American flag over Mount Suribachi on the horizon. On Sept. 14, Holdeman celebrated his 99th birthday at the Barclay House on Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge, surround-
ed by three generations of family, honored by letters from Mayor-President Sid Edwards and Gov. Jeff Landry, and gifted a Louisiana state flag that had flown over the Capitol. He died a few weeks later on Oct. 3. On Wednesday, Holdeman was laid to rest with full military honors at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Slidell. He was buried with a
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Pallbearers carry the casket of Charles Calvin Holdeman Jr. ä See VETERAN, page 3A at his funeral on Wednesday.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
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