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T u e s d ay, O c T O b e r 21, 2025
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Shutdown threatens food stamps Loss of money would affect about 800,000 in La.
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Concern is growing in Louisiana that federal money for food stamps could run out late next week if the government shutdown continues, interrupting a program that helps pay for groceries for roughly 800,000 people in the state. The lack of money for food assistance programs would hit peo-
ple during a month with a major holiday, when kids are home from school and families are trying to plan a Thanksgiving meal, said Susan East Nelson, executive director of the Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families. “Kids aren’t going to have the food that they need right at the time as they’re not going to be in school because of the holiday,” she said. “You’re going to have kids
who go without food.” The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides monthly benefits to low-income people to help cover the cost of groceries, is funded by the federal government and administered by states. Roughly 40 million Americans get food benefits through SNAP, including over 800,000 people in Louisiana — about 17% of the state’s population.
Federal officials earlier this month warned that funds for SNAP could run out if the government shutdown persisted into November. On Oct. 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program at the federal level, sent a letter to states saying, “if the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.” USDA in the communication
‘WE LIKE WINNERS’
Trump welcomes LSU and LSU-S championship baseball teams
directed states to put November benefits on hold “until further notice.” The Louisiana Department of Health, which recently took over the administration of SNAP from the Department of Children and Family Services, did not respond to questions for this story. Pat Van Burkleo, executive director of Feeding Louisiana, which represents the state’s five regional food banks, warned that
ä See SHUTDOWN, page 4A
Hearing set for suspect in Hamas attack Lafayette resident accused of aiding terrorist group
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JILL PICKETT
President Donald Trump poses for photos with LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson, left, and LSU Shreveport baseball coach Brad Neffendorf on Monday as they present jerseys made for him during an event to honor the 2025 national championships won by each school. BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday applauded LSU’s 2025 national championship baseball team in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Trump said Louisiana is “a special state,” noting how extraordinary it was to have national champions for both the NCAA and the NAIA — LSU Shreveport, whose team also was on-hand — hail from the same state. As the NCAA oversees sports at major colleges, the NAIA, or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, governs sports at smaller institutions.
“Two amazing seasons,” Trump said. “You might have them, but not from the same state, amazing.” Both LSU coach Jay Johnson and LSU-S coach Brad Neffendorf awarded Trump with team jerseys with the number 47, signifying the Trump presidency. With the help of dominant pitching by Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, along with the timely hitting of Jared Jones, Derek Curiel and others, LSU in June won its second national championship in three years — its eighth since 1991. Trump mentioned the contributions of several players who
ä See WINNERS, page 4A
President Donald Trump shakes hands with LSU pitcher Kade Anderson during Monday’s event at the White House.
A 33-year-old man living and working in Lafayette who is accused of being involved in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel is set for a hearing Wednesday in federal court in Lafayette to determine if there is probable cause to hold him. Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub alMuhtadi was arrested last week on allegations he aided a terrorist group and lied on his visa application, entering the United States via Dallas in September 2024, nearly a year after the attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, including 49 American citizens. Some of the victims were shot point-blank with rifles, tortured, beheaded, or sexually abused, Supervisory Special Agent Alexandria O’Donnell, of the FBI, wrote in a 44-page federal affidavit Oct. 6. Wednesday’s appearance in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette will be al-Muhtadi’s second. He was in court Friday as an interpreter read O’Donnell’s affidavit in Arabic. He has been detained but has not been indicted. It’s unclear if al-Muhtadi’s wife, who watched Friday’s proceedings from the courtroom, will be charged. Al-Muhtadi was represented Friday by Lafayette attorney Lester Gauthier just for that hearing, along with Assistant Federal Public Defender John Piccione. Neither would disclose additional information Monday, such as where
ä See HEARING, page 4A
Lafayette’s new Guard Readiness Center causes uncertainty
their community. “I think the fact that there is a The groundbreaking prompted Some residents voice concerns over construction forJoel Bacque, a Oaklawn resi- $30-plus-million facility that going some residents to pose questions
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL
Staff writer
Oaklawn residents are voicing concerns about Lafayette’s new Louisiana National Guard Readiness Center, a facility whose groundbreaking two weeks ago
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surprised them. The construction has left residents of the neighborhood, which will border the 83,000-square-foot facility on West Congress Street across from the Cajundome, to wonder what it will be used for and what that means in practice
dent and real estate agent, said he found out the same time everyone else did, after the Oct. 8 groundbreaking. He worries about the impact the complex might have on property values in the quaint neighborhood where he has lived since 2017.
to butt up against the neighborhood and no one apparently knew about it, that’s concerning,” Bacque said. “There are parts of the neighborhood that are further away, that are insulated from it, but there are definitely homes that are going to back right up against it.”
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to state Rep. Annie Spell and Sen. Brach Myers, both Lafayette Republicans, who said they are working to get answers and better understand how it could have flown under the radar of the newly
ä See GUARD, page 4A
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