FRESHMAN GUARD REECE TAKING BIG LEAP FOR LSU U 1C THE
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S at u r d ay, F e b r u a ry 28, 2026
15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
WAGAR SWORN IN AS JUDGE
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Kolluru named to lead UL University appoints seventh president
BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer
Ramesh Kolluru was appointed as the seventh president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on Friday after being named as the lone finalist recommended by a search committee earlier this week. Kolluru has served as UL’s interim president since November and is the former vice president of research, innovation and economic development of the university. His appointment comes three months after public push- Kolluru back against the board’s initial plans to install Kolluru as president without a search. The UL system Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for his permanent appointment at a Friday meeting in Baton Rouge that started 40 minutes late because of a tree blocking one lane of the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. Kolluru gave an opening statement and answered questions from board members, who declined to go into executive session to discuss his appointment. STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
ä See KOLLURU, page 5A
Angela ‘Angie’ Wagar, a Republican from Rayne, was the only candidate to qualify recently for an election to replace Judge Kristian Earles. As a result, Wagar was automatically elected to serve as judge of Division J of the 15th Judicial District that includes Acadia, Lafayette and Vermilion parishes, according to Acadia Parish Clerk of Court Laura Faul. Wagar will take office March 2, Faul said, to fill the unexpired term of Earles which ends Dec. 31. If Wagar wants to fill the next full term for judge, she will have to run for reelection in a fall election this year, Faul said.
LSU reinstates standardized test score requirement
Angela Wagar is sworn in by Rayne City Court Judge Jim Cunningham for the office of 15th Judicial District Court judge for Division J during a ceremony at The Warehouse event center in Rayne on Thursday.
Angela Wagar, center, is joined by her husband, John; son Jack and his wife, Leah; and daughter Emma, left, after her swearing-in ceremony on Thursday.
Rollout of changes to begin summer 2027 BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
Students applying to LSU in Baton Rouge will once again need to submit standardized test scores after the Board of Supervisors voted Friday to drop the test-optional policy from the flagship campus. “It will be just another variable that we use in a total comprehensive evaluation of the students,” LSU system President Wade Rousse said. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants have been able to choose whether to include SAT or ACT results. LSU made the test-optional policy official in June 2022, following the trend of other universities
ä See LSU, page 4A
Trial starts in former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts’ felony sex case testified that Roberts Key witnesses provide ew provided them and their with alcohol durtestimony against friends ing a July 2024 house party before having sex with one former leader of their friends.
which has been delayed for months. The jury hearing the case against Roberts on Friday listened to testimony from Child Advocacy Roberts faces two felony Center interviewers Patra BY MEGAN WYATT charges of carnal knowlMinix and Annelise Eaglin, Staff writer along with Roberts’ minor edge of a juvenile and Roberts son and her nephew who In the first full day of a trial in- indecent behavior with a volving former DeRidder Mayor juvenile. A panel of six jurors was both attended the house party. The Misty Roberts, her son and neph- seated late Thursday in the case, jury also heard from a DoorDash
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driver who said he delivered emergency contraceptives to Roberts’ house after the alleged incident. Her son, who The Acadiana Advocate is not naming because he is a minor, said during a March 20, 2025, interview with Minix that aired to the jury through video that his friends were celebrating his birthday at their house, swimming and drinking alcohol his mother provided.
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Later during the party, he said his mom and his friend were upstairs alone. When they came downstairs, everything escalated, he told Minix. His friends left. Minix asked in the interview what his mom and friend were doing upstairs. “They were — just, like — they were having sex,” he said.
ä See TRIAL, page 5A
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