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Schools leader straddles policy, politics Brumley drives academic gains amid culture debates
BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The Hotel Cazan in Mamou is being sold by its owner. The owner has operated the hotel for the past 10 years, but its history stretches to the early 1900s.
Owner is selling historic Hotel Cazan in Mamou
BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
The Hotel Cazan in Mamou hosts Mardi Gras celebrations, paranormal investigations, Pride parties and gatherings of all kinds, in this little Cajun city’s only hotel. Mamou is a village of about 3,000 people, and thousands more descend annually from all over the world — drawn by the opportunity to experience authentic Cajun prairie culture, chase Mardi Gras chickens, and visit the legendary Fred’s Lounge, which is just up the street from the hotel. Owner Valerie Cahill has operated the hotel for the past 10 years, but its history stretches to the early 1900s, when the building at 508 Maple St. was constructed as a bank. Local politician and sheriff Frank Cazan Fontenot turned the property into a hotel in the 1950s, and today,
Hotel Cazan owner Valerie Cahill stands at the top of the stairs Tuesday in Mamou. artifacts from each era of the building can be found in every corner. The building’s bar, previously the bank lobby, stands ready to serve drinks or host events. An old malt shop is connected through interior hallways, and the ’50s era
serving counter inside brings back memories of an earlier age. The boutique hotel’s 17 rooms, with bathrooms, are all decorated with themes that range from nautical to spooky. Lovers of paranormal activity frequently come to Ho-
tel Cazan to hunt ghosts and conduct investigations. The resident ghost can usually be found on the upstairs landing, according to Cahill, who said it’s a solitary man who is often observed by guests. She has not seen residents of the spirit world at the hotel herself. “We have investigations here all the time, and people have apps on their phone where you can look for ghosts. It surprised me to pieces, because all of a sudden people were on their apps, and they said, ‘You have a ghost in room nine.’ I was like, ‘What?’” said the hotel’s energetic proprietor, who frequently travels to Mamou from her home in St. Francisville to oversee the property. Anthony Bourdain has also stayed in the Hotel Cazan — it was one of the stops on the food star’s tour of Cajun
ä See HOTEL, page 4A
This is Cade Brumley in his element. Louisiana’s state superintendent of education parks his Ford Expedition outside a rural elementary school. He greets a school district official and asks about his wife, then strides into a conference room crowded with school and district administrators. He leads a lively and wide-ranging disBrumley cussion on a host of education shoptalk, speaking about math instruction, tutoring and teacher certification with an expert’s acumen and a communicator’s clarity. Then Brumley, a former teacher and principal, tours a few classrooms where students use the math flashcards he had shipped to every elementary school. “This is where the magical work is happening,” he tells school staffers on his way out. “I can’t thank you enough.” The school visit took place in early October. Several months earlier, in April, Brumley, was on a different, more public stage — the guest on a talk show hosted by Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, a think tank that opposes same-sex marriage and “LGBTQ indoctrination” in schools. There, Brumley discussed the social issues roiling many states and local districts, and said schools must “reject radical ideologies.” “Schools don’t need to be for indoctrination,” he said, adding that students should be taught to read, do math and “love their country.”
ä See BRUMLEY, page 4A
Landry embracing fast, blunt style Landry brought up Wood- ä Inside the downfall of Brian Woodward’s ouster ject, ward’s 2021 hiring of Kelly, saying Kelly at LSU. SPORTS 1C it was a “terrible contract” that set in motion by left the university on the hook for Donald Trump select it before I let governor’s comments nearly $54 million him do it.”
BY TYLER BRIDGES
for the remaining years. As a result, Landry said, the After firing LSU football coach LSU Board of Brian Kelly on Sunday, athletic diSupervisors, not rector Scott Woodward began pre- Woodward Woodward, would paring to find his successor — until Gov. Jeff Landry made a surprise choose Kelly’s successor. “I can tell you right now, Scott announcement. Answering a question at a news Woodward is not selecting the next conference on an unrelated sub- coach,” Landry said. “Hell, I’ll let Staff writer
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Scott Ballard, the Landry-appointed chair of the board, expressed surprise at the governor’s announcement when a WBRZ-TV reporter asked for his reaction. “Well then, I better get to it!” he said as he was leaving the interview. Landry kept up his attacks on
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks Wednesday during a news conference at the ä See LANDRY, page 5A State Capitol in Baton Rouge.
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................2B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................3B Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
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