LSU BASEBALL Tigers stay undefeated with 12-1 win over Nicholls 1C THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
T h u r s d ay, F e b r u a ry 19, 2026
$2.00X
RECEIVING ASHES Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday Mass FILE PHOTO
Norman C. Francis, former president of Xavier University in New Orleans, died Wednesday.
Civil rights icon Norman Francis dies at 94 STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel distributes ashes to Shane Thibodeaux during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. John.
Longtime Xavier University president’s ‘impact is immeasurable’
BY JOHN POPE
Contributing writer Norman Christopher Francis, the president of Xavier University for 47 years who was a force for justice in classrooms and boardrooms at the local, state and national levels, died Wednesday at Ochsner Hospital, ä Francis according to family has ties to members. He was Lafayette. 94. PAGE 1B During Francis’ years as the leader of the country’s only Black Catholic institution of higher learning, the Gert Town campus grew from five to 16 buildings, expanding far beyond its original boundar-
Alexis Darbonne smiles after receiving her ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass.
Cantor Sasha Massey sings a verse during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. John in downtown Lafayette.
Investigators open probe of pipeline blast
Nottoway owners plan exact rebuild of home Historic plantation house destroyed by fire in May
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
BY QUINN COFFMAN
grounds. Some people celebrated its destruction. Dyess said the “disheartening” backlash has motivated him to consider a “memorial” to Nottoway’s enslaved Black population, though the details are still unclear. He views rebuilding as his due diligence to the White Castle community and to visitors who still have fond memories of the place. Salvage and demolition start this
Federal regulators have opened an investigation into the explosion of a nearly 50-year-old Gulf pipeline that has been out of service for 14 years and directed the owner to suspend operations, repair the damage and determine the fire’s cause along the southwest Louisiana coast earlier this month. The pipeline owned by Delfin LNG blew open about 11:14 a.m. Feb. 3 in a natural gas explosion, creating a 50- to 80-foot-wide blaze with a blast crater near the shore in Cameron Parish, the federal regulators said in a new order. The explosion launched about 5 feet of shattered pipe into the air and injured one worker. The blast, which took hours to control, happened near Mae’s Beach and Johnson Bayou about 650 feet onshore and about half mile south of La. 82, the coastal highway in that part of the state, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency.
ä See NOTTOWAY, page 5A
ä See PROBE, page 5A
Staff writer
The Nottoway plantation house will be rebuilt “exactly” as it stood before the May fire that totaled it, ending its reign as the largest antebellum home in the South, its owner says. “It was a sad day, May 15. It was a sad day for us,” Dan Dyess said. “Part of us said we could just sell and leave, but we didn’t want to leave a legacy of just leaving Nottoway on the ground.” When the fire started, Dyess was driving down from Natchitoches, where he owns the historic Steel Magnolia House. He had the progress of the fire described to him in increasingly hopeless phone calls. By the time he reached Nottoway, the electrical fire had been blazing for
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 66 PAGE 6A
ä See FRANCIS, page 3A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Nottoway Plantation was destroyed by a fire on May 15. nearly four hours. It had started on the southern side, where the basement museum was located, then spread quickly inside to all three floors. After the fire, Dyess said, he received calls from people all over the world, speaking “about how much they love Nottoway.” Even so, Dyess said he was surprised the fire became national news. The news cycle was dominated by questions of whether it is proper to host weddings and vacation stays on the
Business ...................12C Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................4A Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .. 9C-11C Living............................7C Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 234