USDA T-BONE STEAKS FAMILY PACK
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5 LB
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N O L A.C O M
BUTTERY GOLD OR #1 RED POTATOES
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EA
$2
99
SEEDLESS NAVEL ORANGES 4 LB
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FRENCH MARKET BAGGED OR CANNED COFFEE
64 OZ
$349
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W e d n e s d ay, J a n u a ry 28, 2026
EA
SILK ALMOND CASHEW OR SOYMILK
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Food stamp restrictions set to begin in Louisiana
Population in state sees slight rise
Louisiana continues to lag in growth among Southern peers BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
we’re collectively going on a really great diet.” Roughly 25,000 products will no longer be eligible for purchase with SNAP funds, according to a product list commissioned by the state and compiled by NielsenIQ, a consumer research company. Under Louisiana’s waiver, “soft drinks” are defined as any carbonated, nonalcoholic beverage containing high-fructose corn syrup or
Louisiana’s population ticked slightly higher last year, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, suggesting that population losses from recent years have waned even as the state remains one of the slowest growing in the U.S. and among its Southern peers. The figures released Tuesday show that Louisiana had a population of approximately 4.6 million as of July 1, with 3,300 more people living here than a year earlier. The nudge higher ä Immigration was fueled by more births crackdown in the state than deaths triggers drop and an increase in the in growth rate number of international immigrants, who offset nationally. the number of people that PAGE 11A left the state last year. It was the secondstraight year that Louisiana posted a modest increase in population after two-straight years of declines — and a decades-long depopulation trend in the state. Still, the latest data places Louisiana at 43rd of the 50 states, both in terms of population growth and out-migration, continuing a persistent trend that Gov. Jeff Landry has focused on trying to reverse through economic development and changes to the state’s tax laws. The state population estimates are released annually at the beginning of the year and are based on publicly available data like birth and death records, IRS returns and Medicare filings. Parish- and municipal-level estimates will come out later this spring. The estimates, though imperfect, help governments and institutions plan and budget during the years between the once-a-decade census count. Since the 1980s, when the state’s oil-based
ä See RESTRICTIONS, page 8A
ä See POPULATION, page 11A
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Louisiana is one of about a dozen states that have requested waivers from the USDA to restrict certain SNAP purchases, part of a growing movement and a cornerstone of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement.
State limits on SNAP benefits to start Ash Wednesday
BY EMILY WOODRUFF
Staff writer
Louisiana SNAP recipients may find themselves involuntarily giving up soda and candy for Lent this year, as new restrictions on what the food assistance can be used to purchase take effect on Ash Wednesday. In announcing the changes, state health officials said the timing immediately after Mardi Gras was intentional. The waiver allowing Louisiana to place the restrictions on the federal
program commonly known as food stamps was approved last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was set to begin Jan. 1, but the state received approval for the delay. “You can still buy soda, you can still buy candy, but you cannot use your SNAP card to do it beginning Feb. 18,” said Camille Conaway, the executive director for economic independence at the Louisiana Department of Health. “So we are going to enjoy our candy and our soda and our energy drinks all the way from Mardi Gras, and then
While sports gambling thrives, scandal emerges More than a third of implicated athletes have Louisiana ties
BY JOSEPH CRANNEY Staff writer
Louisiana’s sports gambling industry has come under fire in the wake of a college basketball point-shaving scheme unveiled this month by federal prosecutors, with more than a third of the implicated athletes having played for colleges in the state. For a state where legal Mizell sports gambling has exploded into a $440 million industry, the indictments have prompted a round of questions as to why the alleged sprawling conspiracy all but centered in Louisiana, and
WEATHER HIGH 54 LOW 38 PAGE 8B
whether the state’s era of legalization played a factor. Basketball players from Tulane University, Nicholls State and the University of New Orleans were indicted, accused of attempting to rig eight games between 2024 and 2025. Two others from Northwestern State were implicated in the indictment, but not named. Sen. Beth Mizell, a Franklinton Republican and opponent of legalizing sports betting, said in an interview that Louisiana’s “gambling culture” where sports betting is advertised on billboards and gambling promotions are distributed to freshmen on college campuses, is part of the problem. “My immediate reaction is we need to do more in every direction on gambling, because young
ä See GAMBLING, page 8A
Outages from winter storm continue North and central La. residents hit hard
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN and JENNA ROSS Staff writers
STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT
Children sled on the wintry mix that fell in Shreveport on Sunday.
Tens of thousands remained without power Tuesday in north and central Louisiana as residents braced for more belowfreezing temperatures, even as south Louisiana was mostly spared from the worst of the week’s severe winter weather. Over the weekend, a winter storm that has ravaged much of the country blanketed the upper half of the state with snow and ice, snapping trees and bringing down power lines. By Tuesday morning, the death toll related to the storm had climbed to at least six, state officials reported. The Louisiana
Business ...................10A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................8D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-7D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä See WINTER, page 7A
13TH yEAR, NO. 169