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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
M o n d ay, n ov e M b e r 17, 2025
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EAST BATON ROUGE
Parish faces painful times after Thrive’s failure ‘Challenging’ campaign didn’t get base turnout Edwards needed
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Cameron Daigle, left, and Jake Morrento start the motor on a boat and maneuver it around before a tour of the Bayou Grosse Tete drainage cleanup in Pointe Coupee on Tuesday.
‘Everything under the sun’
Massive $4.9M Pointe Coupee cleanup project will improve drainage of bayous
After it was apparent Saturday night that voters had rejected all three of his “Thrive” measures, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards addressed a crowd of supporters at a watch party with a mostly hopeful message. “I am looking forward to what we’re going to do to get Baton Rouge on the track that it needs to be on,” he said. “It’s a challenge, but I’m up for it, I’m built for it and I’m excited about it.” But after he finished making remarks, some of his city-parish em- Edwards ployees slipped outside to wipe away tears. They knew their jobs were now in jeopardy. Cuts and layoffs were already expected, but after Thrive failed Saturday night, the reality — and the severity — of the parish budget problem sharpened considerably. Despite support for Thrive among political players — nearly all Metro Council members endorsed it, as did both the parish Democratic and Republican parties and the mayors of Central, Zachary and St. George — Edwards and his team struggled to clearly
ä See THRIVE, page 5A
Jim Bernhard, executive who changed Louisiana’s business landscape, dies at 71
BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
In Pointe Coupee Parish, Bayou Grosse Tete is the cleanest it’s been in decades. On a tour of the bayou in earlier this month, the operations manager for the parish’s multimillion-dollar drainage improvement project maneuvered a mud boat through the shallow water of the bayou, pointing out the banks now cleared of obstructions like trees and storm debris. Maintenance on this waterway and Bayou Cholpe is expected to improve drainage for two-thirds of the parish, which, thanks to the proximity of the Atchafalaya Basin and the Mississippi River, is prone to flooding, Parish President Major Thibaut said. “We’re surrounded by levees,” Thibaut said. “Our drainage system has to work.” Pointe Coupee Parish relies on the canals for drainage after significant rain events and day-to-day water level fluctuations. Over decades, trash, vegetation, logs and even animal carcasses have accumulated in the bayous, decreasing their water storage capacity. In August, the parish began the massive cleanup endeavor, financed
ä See PROJECT, page 5A
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 62 PAGE 10C
Businessman known for philanthropy across state BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL and TYLER BRIDGES Staff writers
ABOVE: Cameron Daigle, operations manager with Curranco, explains the different kinds of litter dumped in the river during a tour of the Bayou Grosse Tete drainage cleanup on Tuesday. LEFT: A tire is seen in the river during a tour of the Bayou Grosse Tete drainage cleanup.
Jim Bernhard, a Baton Rouge-based business executive and civic leader who created and grew some of the most successful companies to come out of Louisiana, died Sunday after a brief illness, his family confirmed. He was 71. During a career that spanned more than four decades, Bernhard was perhaps best known for founding and growing The Shaw Group from a pipe fabrication company into a Bernhard publicly traded, industrial services powerhouse with a global footprint and a spot on the Fortune 500 list. After selling the company in 2013, he founded Bernhard Capital Partners, a private equity firm that is
ä See BERNHARD, page 4A
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SID EDWARDS
Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish