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ACADIANA
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T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
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F r i d ay, F e b r u a ry 13, 2026
PETITE PARADE
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LFT Fiber celebrates expansion into Eunice
‘A total game-changer for our community’ BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
LFT Fiber marked its expansion into Eunice on Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, becoming the first provider to offer fiber internet service in the city. Leaders from across Acadiana gathered outside LSU Eunice’s Community Education Building to celebrate the milestone. “This is a total game-changer for our community,” said state House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, who represents Eunice. “I’ve had businesses tell me they had to use the library or a McDonald’s hot spot just to run payroll because of spotty internet. That won’t be an issue anymore.” The city-owned provider, operated by Lafayette Consolidated Government, will serve more than 3,000 locations in the area. Mayor-President Monique Boulet said fiber internet has played a key role in Lafayette’s economic growth. “Having 100% fiber is crucial,” Boulet said. “Lafayette used to rise and fall with the oil industry. Over the last 20 years, fiber has helped us diversify. Businesses no longer have to fight the internet.” Boulet helped secure federal funding for the project while serving on the Acadiana Planning Commission. Rural areas in Louisiana have long struggled with limited broadband access, a gap underscored
ABOVE: Broadmoor Elementary students march through the halls of the school during their annual Mardi Gras Parade on Thursday. RIGHT: Broadmoor Elementary students watching the school’s annual parade wave and call for throws from the costumed students parading through the halls. STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
ä See EUNICE, page 4A
Trump rolls back climate regulations
Disaster declaration sought for La. storm
dangerously low Winter weather outages, temperatures and significant to infrastructure. killed nine, closed damage He requested the federal roads, knocked government pick up all the costs for 30 days and asked out utilities for additional financial assis-
EPA revokes key scientific finding
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the Republican president to roll back climate regulations. The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
WEATHER HIGH 75 LOW 58 PAGE 16C
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVAN VUCCI
President Donald Trump speaks during an event Thursday with Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin announcing that the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases. ä EPA ends credits for automatic start-stop vehicle ignition. PAGE 6A ä Trump directs Defense Department to buy electricity from coal-fired plants. PAGE 7A threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate
regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and could unleash a broader undoing of climate
ä See TRUMP, page 4A
WASHINGTON — All eight members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation are asking President Donald Trump to issue a disaster declaration, which would open the spigots of federal recovery money, for the winter storm in late January that killed nine people, closed Interstate 20, and cut power to more than 175,000 homes. On Feb. 4, Gov. Jeff Landry requested federal help to recover from the Jan. 23-27 storm that brought ice accumulation, power and water
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................12C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .. 9C-11C Living............................7C Sports ..........................1C
tance for resilience projects to protect against future winter weather threats. State agencies already spent $11,394,461, which meets the threshold for a disaster declaration. Landry requested federal help for Bienville, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas and West Carroll parishes, primarily in northeast Louisiana. Trump authorized some services before the storm, but he needs to sign the declaration for the full funding to flow to Louisiana. In a letter to Trump,
ä See DISASTER, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 228