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T u e s d ay, d e c e m b e r 9, 2025
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Family gathers leads to find missing man 2 arrested in 73-year-old’s death after dayslong search
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
The family of 73-year-old Woodrow Vaughn gathered in the living room of his Tyler Street home one recent Sunday and spent more than 12 hours trying to figure out where he might have gone. It was Nov. 23, and Vaughn had been missing for almost two days. He was a recent cancer survivor with a heart condition and daily medication needs. The family had contacted Baton Rouge police and been told a detec-
tive would be assigned to Vaughn’s case the following day, but for his niece Jasmine Vaughn, that felt like ages away. “It is very scary to think that my uncle would have been pushed to the back of the line on Monday morning,” Jasmine Vaughn said, “and that’s why I was so adamant about us sharing it so much.” Jasmine Vaughn and her cousins had begun to spread her uncle’s name and image across Facebook from the moment they learned he was missing on the morning of Nov. 22. That was after he didn’t return
home the previous night. “My cousin, he called and he’s telling me my uncle hasn’t come home, and my uncle’s 73, he doesn’t hang out. It’s not like him to not come home,” Jasmine Vaughn said. She described her uncle, a retired chemical plant worker and former hippie, as witty, inviting and a patriarch in their family. “You can sit down with him for hours and he will give you wisdom,” Jasmine Vaughn said. “He would talk you down off the ledge
PROVIDED PHOTO By JASMINE VAUGHN
Woodrow Vaughn, third from right, smiles while surrounded by his young ä See SEARCH, page 5A family members.
MakeoveR MARKET
Evelyn Griffin appointed La. surgeon general Member of CDC advisory panel recently backed ending support for infant hepatitis B vaccine BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
River & Roots coffee shop barista Stephany Johnson adds steamed milk to a drink during the Saturday morning rush at the newly renovated Main Street Market.
Downtown space reopens with four new restaurants, coffee shop and renewed focus on local sourcing “It’s really accomplishing a lot of different parts of our mission — farmers, food, access and community.” DARLENE ADAMS ROWLAND, executive director of BREADA
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
Downtown Baton Rouge’s Main Street Market is reopening after a massive renovation, with four new restaurants and a coffee shop that will also sell local goods. Two are open: River & Roots coffee shop and Louisiana Creole Creations. The others — The Cozy Griddle, Sapor Indian Fusion and Vivian’s Rotisserie & Grill — will launch over the coming weeks. Darlene Adams Rowland, executive director of BREADA, which oversees the marketplace and the weekly Red Stick Farmers Market there — said the renovations included critical unseen work, such as a 250-gallon grease trap under the parking garage. New floors, paint and furniture will be immediately noticeable for visitors, Rowland added.
Gov. Jeff Landry has appointed Evelyn Griffin, a doctor who has worked on maternal mortality and voiced skepticism about vaccines, to be Louisiana’s next surgeon general. “Her clinical experience, her leadership in advancing maternal health, and her dedicaGriffin tion to strengthening the doctor-patient relationship make her the exact right choice for this role,” Landry said in a release Monday announcing Griffin’s appointment. “With Dr. Griffin stepping in, I’m confident Louisiana is in good hands and headed toward a
ä See GRIFFIN, page 4A
Trump promises $12B in aid for farmers hit hard in trade war BY SEUNG MIN KIM, JOSH FUNK and DIDI TANG Associated Press
Family and friends eat together inside the newly renovated Main Street Market on Saturday. The space is also designed to showcase the work of local farmers. “All of our restaurants will have a component of local sourcing,” Rowland said. “We have all these people who
come in to work in downtown Baton Rouge that we wanted to be able to have that new sales opportunity for the farmers. It’s really accomplishing a lot
ä See MARKET, page 4A
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package on Monday — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war. He unveiled the plan Monday afternoon at a White House roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers from farm states, and farmers who thanked him for the help. “With this bridge payment, we’ll be able to farm another year,” Iowa farmer Cordt Holub told Trump during the event. Rollins put the immediate value of the program at $11 billion — money that the
ä See FARMERS, page 5A
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Business ......................8A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 162