TEXAS A&M AT LSU: Trey’Dez Green coming up big for Tigers 1C UL AT TROY: Cajuns look to get back in Sun Belt race 5C THE
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S at u r d ay, O c t O b e r 25, 2025
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UL cuts 70 more employees
School making effort to address budget deficit BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN MCCUSKER
Jackie Baham has a close-up look at the live shrimp display on Oct. 18 during the Louisiana Shrimp Festival and Shrimp Aid at the Broadside in New Orleans.
With the help of a scientist on a mission, Gulf shrimp industry battles fraudulent labeling BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
Dave Williams has been to hundreds of seafood restaurants across the South over the past year, and he isn’t hunting for the best shrimp po-boy or crawfish étouffée. From Texas to North Carolina — and at more than 200 restaurants and three festivals in Louisiana — the commercial fisheries scientist and his team have collected minuscule shrimp samples for a rapid genetic test. The goal is to determine whether the restaurant is serving local shrimp or foreign imports. It’s all part of Williams’ mission to help revitalize the Gulf of Mexico’s ailing coastal industry. Williams, who does this work through his company SeaD Con-
and tempura-fried shrimp, while listening to live music and even watching a puppet show. They also heard from Louisiana shrimpers, oystermen and people like Williams trying to preserve the livelihood. After a year of sampling restaurants across eight Southern states, Williams told the gathering that scores of restaurants in the region were falsely advertising their shrimp. Dave Williams, of SeaD “This is just the start, because Consulting, makes a presentation we need to bring new life into our on distinguishing local shrimp industry,” Williams said. “I’m a from imports during the festival. little bit of an evangelist.” For years, shrimpers have sulting, presented his findings struggled to compete against to Louisiana shrimpers and sea- cheap foreign imports and an onfood enthusiasts at the Louisiana going pattern of mislabeling. AcShrimp Festival and Shrimp Aid cording to the Food and Drug Adat the Broadside in Mid-City earli- ministration, 95% of the seafood er this month. Attendees sampled ä See SHRIMP, page 6A dishes like shrimp birria tacos
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette laid off 51 people and another 19 positions were vacated in an effort to address its $25 million structural budget deficit. Interim University President Jaimie Hebert sent an email, which The Acadiana Advo- Hebert cate has obtained a copy of, to faculty and staff at 4:45 p.m. Thursday. The university closes at noon on Fridays. Hebert said the impacted employees were alerted Friday in meetings with their supervisors. “These personnel changes were not made lightly,” Hebert said in the email. “They came after thorough consideration by division vice
presidents, other university administrators and supervisors of needs and priorities. “These decisions are rooted in the responsibility we all share to make choices that strengthen the university’s future.” The cuts were made across all divisions through a combination of position eliminations, retirements, resignations and reassignments, Hebert wrote. Of the 70 affected positions, 51 people — a mix of civil service and non-civil service employees — were laid off, Hebert clarified in an email to faculty and staff sent Friday afternoon. “Each affected employee has contributed to the life and mission of this University,” he wrote. “We are grateful for their service to our students, colleagues and community.” The 70 affected positions are in addition to six position
ä See CUTS, page 6A
Governor issues emergency order over SNAP funds Landry joins officials to keep benefits going
ä Democrats raise more objections over plans to move election dates. PAGE 5A
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT and ALYSE PFEIL
down. If Congress does not pass a bill to fund the federal govStaff writers ernment by the end of the Gov. Jeff Landry and the month, the Supplemental Louisiana Legislature are Nutrition Assistance Prointervening to stop SNAP gram will run out of money. benefits, otherwise known Nearly 800,000 Louisiana as food stamps, from being residents get SNAP benefits, halted on Nov. 1 due to the ä See SNAP, page 5A federal government shut-
U.S. sending aircraft carrier strike group to Latin America BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, the Pentagon announced Friday, in the latest escalation of military firepower in a region where the Trump administration has unleashed more rapid strikes in recent days against boats it accuses of carry-
WEATHER HIGH 78 LOW 67 PAGE 6A
ing drugs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command region to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media. The USS Ford, which has five destroy-
ä Trump administration imposes sanctions on Colombian president, his family and a member of his government. PAGE 3A
Press. As of Friday, the aircraft carrier was in port in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, would not say how long it ers in its strike group, is now deployed would take for the strike group to arrive to the Mediterranean Sea. One of its in the waters off South America or if all destroyers is in the Arabian Sea and an- five destroyers would make the journey. other is in the Red Sea, a person familiar ä See CARRIER, page 5A with the operation told The Associated
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Hegseth
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