HOUSE PASSES BILL TO END HISTORIC GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN 2A THE
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Plan to pick UL leader under scrutiny Board meeting agenda, bylaws raise questions BY MEGAN WYATT and ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
The University of Louisiana system Board of Supervisors rules and bylaws say they must form a search committee before selecting a new president, though insiders say board members initially planned to name the next president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Thursday without having gone through that
process. The board has scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Thursday, and the meeting agenda includes an item related to the presidential search, but is vague about what board members plan to discuss. UL system board Chair Mark Romero shared few details about the topic when reached by phone Wednesday afternoon. “I can offer this,” Romero said. “I
trust that everybody understands that it’s difficult for us to respond to speculation whenever you’re interacting with personnel-related items, and obviously we will always do the right thing and do the best thing. I can assure you that conversations I’ve had with leadership in the state have always been to get us the best person to bring us to a competitively advantaged position.” The Advocate | The Times-Pica-
yune reported Sunday that Ramesh Kolluru, UL’s vice president for research, innovation and economic development, is the front-runner for the position. Sources indicated — before the special meeting was announced — that a selection could happen as early as Thursday. Faculty members quickly ex- ä Former UL President pressed concern over the lack of Savoie to retire involvement from professors, students, staff and the public. Sources Dec. 31, forgoing also told The Acadiana Advocate sabbatical and faculty appointment. PAGE 5A
ä See PLAN, page 5A
CIVIC PRIDE
Legislation could end some THC products in La.
Retailer says bill would ‘effectively kill’ some hemp industries BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE
Bob Giles, left, chats with attendees before being recognized as the 93rd Lafayette Civic Cup recipient on Tuesday at the City Club in River Ranch. The Civic Cup recognizes an individual who has given to the community because of their commitment and dedication, not because it’s their job. The public nominates possible honorees and the winner is selected by past Lafayette Civic Cup award recipients. ‘Bob’s efforts have been sustained over decades and extended into many different segments of need in the community,’ said last year’s Civic Cup recipient Dr. William ‘Kip’ Schumacher.
WASHINGTON — Part of the legislation that ends the government shutdown also could end a nascent industry in Louisiana of making drinks, edibles and other consumer products containing low levels of THC, the intoxicating element in marijuana. “The ramifications in this bill would be catastrophic,” said Dax Thieler, chief executive officer of Fleur de Leaf in New Orleans. The legislation “prevents the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving nonintoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products.” The provision would allow up to 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, which is less than the amounts in seltzers and edibles currently being manufactured. A market has been growing in Louisiana and the rest of the country for products including THC, tetrahydrocannabinol. That’s the active ingredient in marijuana, but the new products derive it from hemp that is grown in such a way as to limit the amount of THC. The industry, which is only about five years old, had sales last year of about $33 million that generated about $4.3 million in tax revenues
ä See THC, page 5A
Epstein email from 2019 says Trump ‘knew about the girls’ White House calls release a Democratic smear
BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein wrote in a 2019 email to a journalist that Donald Trump “knew about the girls,” according to documents made public Wednesday, but what he knew — and whether
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it pertained to the sex offender’s crimes — is unclear. The White House quickly accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to smear the president. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails referencing Trump, including one Epstein wrote in 2011 in which he told confidant Ghislaine
Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a sex trafficking victim. The disclosures seemed designed to raise new questions about Trump’s friendship with Epstein and about what knowledge he may have had regarding what prosecutors call a yearslong effort by Epstein to exploit underage girls. The Republican businessman-turnedpolitician has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes
and has said he ended their relationship years ago. The version of the 2011 email released by the Democrats redacted the name of the victim, but Republicans on the committee later said Epstein it was Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein of arranging for her to have sexual
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encounters with a number of his rich and powerful friends. Epstein took his own life in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges. The emails made public Wednesday are part of a batch of 23,000 documents provided by Epstein’s estate to the Oversight Committee. Giuffre, who died earlier this year, long insisted that Trump was
ä See EPSTEIN, page 3A
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