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W e d n e s d ay, n ov e m b e r 26, 2025
‘A second chance’ Lafayette couples become new parents at adoption ceremony
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Abraham named to CDC post Louisiana surgeon general to be second in command
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who has come under scrutiny for ending mass vaccination campaigns in the state and casting doubts about COVID-19 vaccines, has been named second in command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abraham, a physician and former U.S. congressman who ran for governor in 2019, became the Abraham state’s first surgeon general in June 2024, when Gov. Jeff Landry tapped him for the position. He previously served as the secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health under Landry. Abraham didn’t immediately return requests for comment. A spokesperson for Landry did not comment. A spokesperson for the federal Department of Health and Human Services confirmed
ä See ABRAHAM, page 7A
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Alfred McKenzie, 4, holds up fingers to tell Judge Thomas R. Duplantier his age as Duplantier and McKenzie’s adoptive parents, Calvin and Beverly McKenzie, and sister Neveah, 5, fill out paperwork during an adoption ceremony Nov. 17 at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse.
Grocery stores rounding cash purchases
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
Two Lafayette Parish couples — one unable to have children and the other having already raised theirs — became new parents Monday in a celebration of creating new families and saving children during Adoption Month. “I’m blessed,” Mary Thomas, of Broussard, said after signing adoption papers that made her and her husband the new parents of a little boy. The couple isn’t able to have their own biological children, she said. “We have a lot of love to give, so why not?” Thomas said. The adoption ceremony was held before 15th Judicial District Court Judge Thomas Duplantier. In his 35 years on the bench, Duplantier estimates he has overseen about 5,000 adoptions. This year alone, he said, there have been 137 adoptions in Lafayette Parish, the most in Louisiana, including
Penny phaseout prompts shift for Lafayette businesses BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
New adoptees Alfred and Neveah McKenzie hold up their adoption paperwork at the ceremony. 31 adoptions in September. It takes many people working long and hard to create what Duplantier calls “forever families.” The goal, he said, is to reunite children with their parents. But that’s
not always possible, even with programs for substance abuse and mental health treatment. That’s when foster parents and adoptive parents
ä See ADOPTION, page 7A
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Mint produced its last penny, following a four-year rise in the cost to produce the coin. While the penny is still in circulation, the production ending has led some local grocery stores to round up or down to hold onto their pennies as long as they can. Bob Majcina, manager at Adrien’s Supermarket on West Congress Street, said they’re still receiving the copper coins from the bank, but started rounding purchases sometime last week. Purchase ending in $0.01, $0.02, $0.06, $0.07 are rounded down to the nearest nickel while those
ä See PENNY, page 7A
La. cattle farm succeeds doing things the old-fashioned way Sagrera Farms in East Feliciana raising prime beef
BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer
When Shawn Sagrera was 6, his dad told him he could pick out any cow to be his own. That was the day he became a fourth-generation Louisiana cattle farmer. Now, his family legacy continues in Sagrera Farms in East Feliciana Parish. “I’m so fortunate to have this legacy, this family history of raising cattle,” Sagrera said. The sun had just risen on a chilly early November morning at Sagrera Farms in Ethel. With the dew sparkling on the grass, owner Shawn Sagrera held a handful of
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fermented cow feed to his nose, inhaling the grain’s sweet aroma. A tractor delivered it to the troughs seconds before. “Smell that,” Sagrera said, holding a handful of chopped feed that’s 17% protein. “It’s sweet. How beautiful.” Twice a day, the feed nourishes Angus cattle in the last six months of their lives, a key step in forming high levels of intramuscular fat that make the beef abundantly marbled. The U.S. Department of Agriculture grades beef in three categories, select, choice and prime, by taking a 2-inch by 2-inch cut between the 12th and 13th rib of the cow and measuring the percentage of intramuscular fat. Anything with a beef marbling score above 9% is considered prime. Sagrera has more than doubled the prime minimum with
measurements up to 20%. The Louisiana rancher does things the old-fashioned way, selling half or whole cows off the farm. The meat can’t be found in grocery stores or farmers markets, but there’s one Baton Rouge restaurant, Supper Club, where diners can get a taste. He’s even caught the eye of chef John Folse. A few years ago, Sagrera brought a few cuts of meat to Folse’s White Oak Estate & Gardens in Baton Rouge. They became great friends that day, Folse said. “When it came to a superior beef product, Shawn had it all: pure genetics, grain-fed and hormone-free,” Folse said. “I tasted his choice and prime beef as well as premium steaks, roasts and ground beef. It was the best beef I had ever tasted.”
Classified ................ 8A Comics-Puzzles .7C-9C Commentary ........... 3B
Deaths .................... 4B Living....................... 5C Metro ...................... 1B
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Owner Shawn Sagrera poses for a picture with farmhands Abraham Gonzalez, right, Miller Mayes, left, and some of the cattle at Sagrera ä See BEEF, page 5A Farms earlier this month.
Nation-World ........... 2A Opinion ................... 2B Sports ..................... 1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 149