RISING STAR: SADDIQ BEy PLAyING ‘HARD’ FOR PELICAANS 1C
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S at u r d ay, F e b r u a ry 28, 2026
RENOVATING
HISTORY
The D-Day exhibit at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is getting a major revamp
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French Quarter Fest seeks new title sponsorship
Chevron’s ‘significant’ contribution is being cut back BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Guests walk through the original exhibit of The National D-Day Museum, which opened on June 6, 2000, on its last day before closing for about a year to undergo a major update and renovation on Tuesday.
For 13 years, Chevron served as the French Quarter Festival’s title sponsor. The company’s financial support was so sizable that the free, springtime, downtown New Orleans festival has billed itself as the “French Quarter Festival Presented by Chevron” — much like that other big springtime festival is officially the “New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell.” But the 2026 French Quarter Festival, which is April 16-19, won’t have a title sponsor. Chevron cut back its contributions for 2026 and won’t be involved with the 2027 event. According to representatives of both Chevron and the festival, the company decided last summer to wind down the sponsorship. “Each year, Chevron carefully reviews our community partnerships and makes decisions based on a number of factors, including the location of our operations and assets,” Chevron spokesperson Chris Merrifield said via email. “Decisions related to this year’s civic and charitable allocations were made in August. “Chevron will support French Quarter Festival in 2026, though not as title sponsor. After more than a decade of working together, we have also made the decision to conclude our partnership after this year’s event.”
ä See FESTIVAL, page 4A
BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer
Since it first opened in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum, the heart of The National WWII Museum in New Orleans has long been its 8,000-square-foot D-Day exhibit. Over 25 years, tens of millions of dollars and 10 million visitors later, the museum has maxed out its seven-acre campus in the Central Business District and the original exhibit is due for overhaul. “This exhibit was here on opening day,” said Peter Crean, the museum’s vice president of education. “While the story is the same, the way we tell it is going to be better.” For the next several months, The D-Day Invasion of Normandy’s two galleries will be closed for a major renovation that is set to debut with four galleries by June 6, 2027, the 83rd anniversary of D-Day, when the Allies invaded western Europe.
LSU reinstates standardized test score requirement Rollout of changes to begin summer 2027
BY HALEY MILLER
A more analog display features the landing craft, both by air and sea, in one of the original sections of The National World War II Museum. This wing is closing for a major renovation that will feature improved displays using more interactive ä See HISTORY, page 4A technology.
compelled to testify to Congress. It came a day after Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sat with lawmakers for her own deposition. Bill Clinton has also not been accused of any wrongdoing. Yet lawmakers are grappling with what accountability in the United States looks like at a time when men around
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 that questioned whether test scores serve as a reliable indicator of future academic performance. But Chancellor James Dalton said institutional data no longer supports de-emphasizing standardized test results. For students who chose not to submit scores from 2021 to 2024, average retention rates were 4.3% lower and average first-term GPAs were 0.29 points lower than their counterparts who included scores with their application, according to LSU data.
ä See CLINTON, page 3A
ä See LSU, page 4A
Bill Clinton denies wrongdoing in Epstein case Congressional questioning sheds light on relationship
that he “did nothing wrong” said in an opening statement in his relationship with Jef- he shared on social media at frey Epstein and saw the outset of the depono signs of Epstein’s sition. The closed-door sexual abuse as he deposition ended after faced hours of grillmore than six hours of questioning from lawing from lawmakers over his connections makers who said he to the disgraced finananswered every quesBY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press cier from more than tion posed to him. two decades ago. The deposition in Bill Clinton “I saw nothing, and Chappaqua, New WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton told mem- I did nothing wrong,” the for- York, marked the first time bers of Congress on Friday mer Democratic president a former president has been
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