WILL WADE RETURNS: ‘I’M FOR LSU AND LSU IS FOR ME’ 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
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T u e s d ay, M a r c h 31, 2026
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TSA pay eases lines at airports
said wait times were long in entering the country illegally. Af- from last summer’s One Big BeauWait times start to decrease Monday Burns the early morning hours, but as of ter two American citizens were tiful Bill Act.
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — The nation’s 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers who screen passengers at airports started receiving paychecks Monday for the first time in the month since Congress held up funding in a dispute over how the Trump administration is handling immigration roundups.
Wait times to get through airport security, which had exceeded four hours in large airports, started to decrease Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Lines that recently had snaked into the parking lot at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport since the shutdown began Feb. 13, decreased significantly Monday. MSY spokesperson Erin
6 a.m. Monday, they were back to normal and running around 15 to 20 minutes or less. In Houston, which last week required up to four hours to clear security, the international airport reported waits of less than 10 minutes in some of its terminals on Monday. The Department of Homeland Security has been under fire for some time over how federal agents rounded up people suspected of
Comeaux High suit hearing delayed
killed by officers in Minneapolis, Democrats demanded changes to enforcement procedures and operations. They refused to fund the department until immigration restrictions were instituted, causing the shutdown. After negotiations stalled, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA agents some of the $170 billion the department had on hand
The department also oversees other offices, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard, which were not included in the order. And the pay for TSA officers is only temporary and still would require Congress to approve funding for the next fiscal year. DHS appropriations are on the agenda with no clear resolution
ä See AIRPORTS, page 5A
Atchafalaya artwork
Board decision to repurpose school being challenged BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
A judge on Monday delayed hearing testimony on a request for an injunction and temporary restraining order regarding the Lafayette Parish School Board’s decision to reassign Comeaux High School students to other schools and to repurpose the school as a career center. A new hearing date is set for 1 p.m. April 13. Fifteenth Judicial District Court Judge Valerie Gotch-Garrett, in a brief hearing Monday, heard from Suzanne Lajaunie, who filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction and temporary restraining order to stop the School Board from closing Lafayette’s Comeaux High. Lajaunie alleges the Lafayette Parish school system and its board violated open meeting laws, didn’t follow its own policy and violated ethics rules over the Comeaux High decision. Representing herself Monday, Lajaunie said she hired an attorney but he was unable to register in time for Monday’s hearing. She requested a continuance, saying the attorney needs time to familiarize himself with the claims and evidence. Robert Hammonds, the attorney representing the school system, said he did not support a continuance and was ready for court Monday. The School Board voted March 12 to close Comeaux High at the end of the school year and reassign students to other high schools
ä See HEARING, page 5A
Inspection stickers, or brake tags, would still be required in some areas even if the Legislature votes to end the requirement. STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
WEATHER HIGH 83 LOW 67 PAGE 6A
Postcards drawn by Lafayette illustrator Aileen Bennett share local foodways present throughout the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. STAFF PHOTO By JOANNA BROWN
Postcards celebrate foodways, introduce people to ‘America’s foreign country’ BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
Did you know Louisiana harvests around 17.7 million pounds of pecans each year? Pecan comes from the Algonquin word “paccan” or “pakan,” meaning a hard nut that has to be cracked with a stone. Here is another interesting fact: Louisiana cattle are most likely to be “Brangus,” a hybrid of Angus and Brahman cattle that are better suited for heat and humidity.
The state is the top domestic producer of crawfish, blue crabs and oysters, and pork is known as the “preferred meat” in the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, a region that encompasses much of Acadiana and stretches from central Louisiana to the Gulf Coast. Last year, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area produced a series of postcards with detailed illustrations and fascinating tidbits about the foodways that make up the region, where food and nature interact daily to produce one of
America’s most unique cultures. Caroline Byrne Cassagne, executive director, said the postcards are a fun way to introduce people to “America’s foreign country,” one of the taglines for the region that touches 15 parishes in the southern half of the state. Lafayette illustrator and writer Aileen Bennett, known for works like “A Little Book About Fire,” drew the cards. Her style is approachable but also realistic,
ä See ARTWORK, page 5A
Bill to eliminate inspection stickers advances BY ALYSE PFEIL
2026 LEGISLATURE
have their own rules requiring the stickers — which locals famously call “brake tags” — and those would “still be allowed to continue as they are,” Office of Motor Drivers in most of Louisiana would no Vehicles Commissioner Keith Neal said. longer need to get inspection stickers And, emissions testing would still be under a bill advancing in the Legislature identification number. with Gov. Jeff Landry’s support. Drivers in some parts of the state, how- required for drivers in several Baton Instead, personal vehicles would ever, would still have to get inspections. ä See STICKERS, page 5A just need a sticker that lists its vehicle New Orleans, Kenner and Westwego
Staff writer
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