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1
6
$ 00
THC
$ 00
LB
— ONLY —
24 PACK 12 OZ
24
$
49
LB
Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud Light or Yuengling
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
1.75 LITER
Tito’s Vodka
30
$
99
750 ML SELECTED
Apothic Wine
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9
$ 99
— ONLY —
750 ML
11
$
99
LIMIT 3
Fireball Cinnamon or Blazin’ Apple Whiskey
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1.75 LITER
22
$
Bacardi Superior or Gold Rum
99
— ONLY —
4 PACK 12 OZ
Veri Tropical THC Seltzer
1099
$
Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores October 29th - November 5th, 2025.
LSU, AD SCOTT WOODWARD FINALIZING HIS DEPARTURE 3A THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
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F r i d ay, O c t O b e r 31, 2025
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$2.00X
Shutdown threatens Head Start programs Early learning centers face uncertain future
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN BALLANCE
Hardwick Planting Co. picks cotton in Tensas Parish at Somerset Plantation. After decades of challenges, Louisiana farmers are harvesting their lowest acreage of cotton in state history.
LOSING ITS
CROWN
WASHINGTON — Along with food stamps, air travel and other casualties of the prolonged federal government shutdown, many Head Start programs will run out of money Saturday, threatening early learning, food assistance and health screenings for preschoolers, as well as free child care and job training for their lower-income parents. About 10% of the programs nationwide won’t receive funds Saturday, affecting more than 58,600 children at 134 Head Start centers in 41 states, according to the National Head Start Association. In Louisiana, 1,344 children at more than a dozen centers, primarily in New Orleans and Acadiana, have scrambled to cover the impact of not receiving checks. “We know that the affected grantees will likely stay open as long as they can using the revenue
ä See SHUTDOWN, page 5A
Louisiana cotton farmers fighting to keep harvests bountiful after decades of challenges BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer
Kade McMahon glides atop a field of bleached cumulus tufts. With a joystick, he steers a set of massive yellow teeth that gobble the white like a snowplow. Summer has again overstayed its welcome in northeast Louisiana, but McMahon is sealed from the hot and dusty air, sitting comfortably inside an airconditioned cotton picker. It’s not a bad gig for the 21-yearold, who got his start mowing grass during summers in high school. Now he operates a machine worth nearly $1 million. “I can’t tell you how many farmers are jealous we got Kade,” said Marshall Hardwick, his boss. “Locally grown, hardworking … they just don’t exist anymore, it seems like.” In October, Tensas Parish — long the state’s top cotton producer — can look more like an early winter in New Hampshire, as white flakes dust the shoulders of La. 65. In Newellton, Hardwick and his brother Mead farm 9,200 acres of the 20,000-acre Somerset Plantation, the rest owned by 45 other family members. The fourth-generation farmers grow soybean and corn more than anything else, but dedicate 1,600 acres to their passion: cotton. This
WEATHER HIGH 71 LOW 48 PAGE 12C
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
The city of Lafayette has announced changes to the Mardi Gras parade route that runs through downtown.
Mead Hardwick, left, and his younger brother Marshall Hardwick, owners of Hardwick Planting Co. at Somerset Plantation, stand in a cotton field in Tensas Parish. year’s harvest is shaping up to be a great one; the brothers are averaging about 3 bales per acre — or roughly 1,400 pounds. That’s over 500 pounds more than a typical year. “We may potentially have a record cotton crop,” Hardwick said. “And we may still potentially lose money.” In fact, it’s rare for any farmers in northeast Louisiana to have turned a profit on cotton in the past decade.
Demand and prices remain too low, as growers face pressures like tariffs and an ongoing government shutdown, plus deeper challenges like rising input costs, an outdated farm bill and growing competition from countries like Brazil. While other markets, such as corn and soybeans, face similar challenges, the state of Louisiana’s cotton industry reflects decades of
ä See COTTON, page 7A
Answers sought on changes to parade route BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
The CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority weighed in Thursday on the city’s plan to change the Mardi Gras parade route to Jefferson Street, expressing optimism and concern. Mayor-President Monique Boulet on Monday announced that the 2026 Mardi Gras parades, which all follow the same route, will switch to Jefferson Street at Cypress Street by the underpass and remain on Jefferson Street until turning right onto Johnston Street near Borden’s Ice Cream Shoppe. The new route would be shorter than the current
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................10C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
ä See ROUTE, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 123