LB
4 DAY SALE
JanUARY 30th - February 2nd FRI
SAT SUN MON
30
31
1
LB
When You Buy 3
— ONLY —
TWIN PACK
Pork Tenderloins
2
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
1
SAVE Louisiana Local $ 60 1
SAVE up $ 99 to 3
SAVE $ 02 2
SAVE $ 11 3
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$ 88
PREVIOUSLY FROZEN
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
LB
1
$ 97 LB
— ONLY —
Collard, Mustard or Turnip Greens Chisesi’s Seasoned Ham
5
3/$
BUNCHED
12 OZ PACK
— ONLY —
4
$ 99
4 LB BAG GRANULATED
Rouses 100% Louisiana Sugar
2
$ 39
LIMIT 4
Prices good at all Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales and Prairieville stores January 28th - February 4th, 2026.
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WASHI NGTON MARDI GRASS Stephanie Grace: Carnival celebration can’t bypass politics, 6A See more photos from activities around town, 7A Meet King Gray Stream and Queen Sarah Heebe, 8A
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THE
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
F r i d ay, J a n u a ry 30, 2026
CROP CARE
$2.00X
Reinsurers’ profits could mean relief for La. homeowners It’s not yet clear how large rate decreases could be
BY SAM KARLIN
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Farmhand Esteban Hernandez uncovers rows of strawberries to be fed at Landry-Poché Farms on Thursday.
Farmers work to protect strawberries from freezing temperatures BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
Strawberry farmers in southeast Louisiana spent Thursday pulling back covers off rows of plants to feed them, picking any ripe fruit and then covering them right back up again in preparation for the weekend’s cold weather. South Louisiana is bracing for its second consecutive freezing weekend, under an extreme cold watch
from Friday night through Sunday morning as another blast of arctic air sweeps through. Strawberry farmers in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes prepped their farms last week and have kept their cold-weather coverage systems in place in anticipation of this weekend. Strawberry farmer Rhonda Landry-Poché uses a system of blankets, hooks and lines to create a greenhouse effect during the cold
to protect the strawberry blooms, a part of the plant that is essential for fruit development and makes strawberries in about 21-day cycles. Landry-Poché sprays the fruit with plant food and covers them again. “When it gets cold like this, that’s what we’re trying to protect,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is save these blooms because if not, we’ll be shut down for 21 days.”
ä See FARMERS, page 12A
After years of losses, fortunes have changed in boardrooms in Bermuda and London. Reinsurers, who backstop the global insurance industry, are seeing healthy profits. An extraordinary spate of “Reinsurers wildfires, hurricanes and other have been disasters wreaked havoc on doing well the reinsurance industry for the past few several years, spurring wideyears after reaching effects that included absorbing surging insurance bills for Louisiana homeowners. Reinmassive surers charged higher prices to losses for a homeowners insurance companumber of nies, which got passed along to years.” customers. The steep increases in Louisi- BRIAN KEEFER, ana thrust the state into an inCEO of Allied surance crisis that’s hollowing Trust Insurance out hurricane-prone communiCompany ties and softening the real estate market. But recent quiet hurricane seasons and the soaring rates that reinsurers have charged have led to unusually strong profits for the reinsurance industry, according to analysts. And with capital flowing freely, the pendulum is swinging back. Insurance companies who buy protection from reinsurers are seeing huge slides in prices, which have dropped between 10% and 20%, by some estimates.
ä See REINSURERS, page 11A
Border czar suggests drawdown possible in Minnesota BY GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration could reduce the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota, but only if state and local officials cooperate, the president’s border czar said Thursday, noting he has “zero tolerance” for protesters who assault federal officers or impede the ongoing Twin Cities operation. Tom Homan addressed reporters for the first time since the president sent him to Minneapo-
WEATHER HIGH 50 LOW 26 PAGE 8B
lis following last weekend’s fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti, the second this month by federal officers carrying out the operation. His comments came after President Donald Trump seemed to signal a willingness to ease tensions in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Homan Homan emphasized that the administration isn’t relenting on its immigration crackdown and warned that protesters
could face consequences if they interfere with federal officers. But he seemed to acknowledge there had been missteps. “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect,” he said. Homan hinted at the prospect of pulling out many of the roughly 3,000 federal officers taking part in the operation, but he seemed to tie that to cooperation from state and local leaders and a reduction in protester interference.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM GRAy
People participate in a noise demonstration Wednesday night outside ä See DRAWDOWN, page 10A the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis hotel.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 214