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La. veterans pushing for psychedelic-assisted treatment BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer
FILE PHOTO By ROBIN MAy
The band Son De Madera, of Mexico, performs at Festival International de Louisiane in downtown Lafayette on April 24. Festival officials say they face challenges in booking international artists to come to the U.S. They are working to build strong international connections to provide opportunities to artists.
Connecting culture
Retired Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis spent a decadeslong career climbing the ranks of the Army, deploying in 2004 to Iraq and returning home to eventually serve as the leader of the Louisiana National Guard under two governors during major hurricanes, floods and other disasters. But he found himself in unusual territory earlier this year, as he trekked alongside other veterans to a clinic in Mexico. They all sought the same opportunity: a chance to ingest a powerful psychedelic from Africa called ibogaine, which is illegal in the U.S. Curtis and his son had traveled to Tijuana as part of an ongoing pilgrimage of military veterans, many of them former special forces operatives who face debilitating symptoms from traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions. Former NFL players and other armed forces members have also sought out psychedelics like ibogaine, a root long used in religious rituals in Gabon, Africa.
ä See VETERANS, page 8A
Festival International de Louisiane creates ‘market’ for Louisiana, Acadian musicians
BY JOANNA BROWN
Staff writer
Festival International de Louisiane will celebrate an important anniversary in the spring. For the past 40 years, Lafayette’s biggest festival has steadily expanded in size and reputation based on a foundational mission: connecting Louisiana’s Francophone culture, and the region’s diverse music, with the world. Last week, the festival board of volunteers announced it was starting a fundraiser to help offset the rising costs of booking international talent — bands hailing from places like Ukraine, France, Mexico, Jamaica and Canada, that define Festival’s vibe and set the stage for its musical, cultural and economic impact. According to Festival International, its budget for securing performers each year is $300,000. The fees associated with booking international acts, such as visa applications and tax withholding agreements with the IRS, have ballooned to roughly 30% of that budget. It’s a cost that has become unsustainable in recent years — particularly since visa processing times are also longer, and more uncertain, than they’ve ever been. It all adds up to a precarious and expensive dance for Festival International programming director Lisa Stafford, who said she is limited in
STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT
Kevin Murnane, from left, Frances Vest and Dr. Shawn McNeil stand in the room where participants in a study investigating psilocybin as a treatment for methamphetamine addiction receive their dose and are observed at the Treatment Resistant Neuropsychiatric Illness Laboratory in Shreveport. STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Scott Feehan, executive director of Festival International de Louisiane, speaks during a news conference to present the new Festival 40th Anniversary book at City Hall in Lafayette on Oct. 31. the range of international acts she is able to host due to these conditions. And it’s a concerning state of affairs for executive director Scott Feehan, who said, “We are not a normal festival that just puts music on a stage.” “We are the gateway for these bands to come to the United States, and we are the gateway for our talent to the world,” Feehan said. “As the largest international music and arts festival in the country,
we’re the most important stop for these bands. And as we’ve seen other festivals come and go — not just in the international music world, but in general — it’s clear that it’s pretty special what we have.” Feehan pointed out that the festival is also a premiere opportunity for the many Louisiana acts that share the festival’s downtown Lafayette
ä See FESTIVAL, page 5A
Shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press
NEW YORK — Despite wider economic uncertainty hovering above this year’s holiday season, shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday — spending billions of dollars both in stores and online. Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S. consum-
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ers spent a record $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a 9.1% jump from last year. Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute. Consumers also spent a record $6.4 billion online on
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MEGAN VARNER
Shoppers browse through Kohl’s department store for ä See SHOPPERS, page 5A Black Friday deals in Woodstock, Ga., on Friday.
Southern uses ‘smart ranching’ for better beef Researchers pay special attention to calf nutrition
BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
In the Information Age, even cows aren’t safe from data collection. Researchers at the Southern University Agricultural Research Station monitor calves using a hard plastic pill containing sensors, which sits in the animal’s stomach, tracking heart rate, temperature and the amount of time it takes for the bovine to regurgitate and reswallow its food. The work is part of the Ag Center’s “smart ranching” approach to raising what it calls Southern University Natural Beef, or SUN Beef. Researchers track the cattle’s health with key data points, paying special attention to nutrition in the first 60 days of life, to produce beef for the Southern campus that they say is free from hormones and growth implants. “If you want to own cows, you’re not there every day,” Dr. Mallory Tate, a veterinarian with the Ag Center, said about the goal of the project. “You
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See BEEF, page 9A
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