SAVE $ 11 3 LB
4 DAYthSALE th april 9 - 12
THUR FRI
9
10
11
12
When You Buy 2
GROUND FRESH SEVERAL TIMES DAILY! VALUE PACK
SAT SUN
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
SAVE $ 22 1
SAVE up ¢ to 50
85% Lean Fresh Ground Beef
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
4
$ 88 LB
1
2/$
FRESH
Hass Avocados
SAVE up $ 78 to 4 When You Buy 2
— ONLY — 9.5 - 13.31 OZ SELECTED
Little Debbie Snacks
— ONLY —
1
$ 97
48 OZ
Rouses Vegetable Oil
5
2/$
Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores April 9th - April 12th, 2026.
THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
F r i d ay, a p r i l 10, 2026
$2.00X
Quieter hurricane season forecast
Return of ‘robust’ El Niño likely
or above. A typical season brings 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes, according to CSU. return of “robust” El Niño conditions. This year’s outlook is in stark contrast BY KASEY BUBNASH Scientists at the National Tropical Weath- to those of the past couple of years, when Staff writer er Conference on Thursday said they ex- warm ocean waters and other factors fuHurricane researchers at Colorado State pect the coming season to produce 13 eled abnormally prolific hurricane seasons. University are predicting slightly below- named storms, including six hurricanes. CSU issued its most severe hurricane average activity during the upcoming At- Two of those are expected to develop into ä See HURRICANE, page 5A lantic hurricane season thanks to the likely major hurricanes of Category 3 strength
HURRICANE SEASON PREDICTION From Colorado State University
13 Named storms
‘We’re down to the wire now’
All eyes on Artemis II as crew describes journey and prepares for return to Earth
6 Hurricanes
2 Major
hurricanes
(Cat 3 or above)
Lafayette officers testify about shootout Trial continues for man accused of attempted murder
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
Wednesday during the crew’s first news conference since before liftoff. While out of contact behind the moon Monday, Wiseman, Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen became the most distant humans ever, clocking in at a record 252,756 miles from Earth
Lafayette police Officer Hali Bradford was two weeks shy of her 25th birthday and responding to a domestic disturbance call just after 2 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2023, when she found herself in a dark house holding a Taser as a man only a few feet away pointed a rifle at her. “It was pointed at my face,” she said. “He was going to shoot me and kill me.” She bent over and turned her body as the first shots were fired, striking Bradford from behind, leaving her lying on the floor, unable to move her legs. Bradford testified Wednesday in the first day of the trial of John Nicholas, 33, of Lafayette, who faces three attempted first-degree murder charges in the shooting of Bradford and fellow officer Alan Cortez. Officer Raynard Ford was not injured. The shootout also left Nicholas’ 19-month-old niece, Kayci Cyprian, dead. Her brother, Kaisyn, was shot in the hand and Nicholas’ aunt, Mary Prejean, now 65, who owned
ä See ARTEMIS, page 4A
ä See SHOOTOUT, page 5A
PHOTO PROVIDED By NASA
The Artemis II crew, from left, commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen answer media questions during a video conference on Wednesday. By The Associated Press and Tribune News Service
their flight dawned Thursday, humanity’s first lunar explorers in more than half a century HOUSTON — Drawing ever clos- were less than 150,000 miles er to Earth, the Artemis II as- from home with the odometer tronauts tidied up their lunar clicking down. “We have to get back. There’s cruiser for its upcoming “fireball” return and reflected on so much data that you’ve seen their historic journey around already, but all the good stuff the moon, describing it as sur- is coming back with us. There are so many more pictures, so real and profound. As the next-to-last day of many more stories,” said pi-
lot Victor Glover, adding that “riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well.” Being cut off from all of humanity for nearly an hour while behind the moon was especially “surreal,” according to commander Reid Wiseman. “There’s a lot that our brains have to process … and it is a true gift,” Wiseman said late
Calcasieu Parish judge seals high-profile violent crime case Clerk of court policy remains murky
case files remain inaccessible to the public. For decades, the Clerk’s Office maintained a policy of refusing to release violent crime records BY MEGAN WYATT to the public, which First AmendStaff writer ment attorneys and constitutional It’s been nearly six months since scholars said violated multiple Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court provisions of state law and the Lynn Jones said he would change Constitution. Clerks across the his office’s policy of concealing state routinely share such case violent crime records, but some files with the public.
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 61 PAGE 14C
After The Advocate reported on the policy last October, Jones said he would change it, but declined to share specifics. “We are still finalizing a formal policy,” Jones wrote in a March 6 email to The Advocate. “And this will include what records will be available in our online search in our new criminal software system, which is in the later stages of the implementation process.”
The Advocate also requested earlier this year to review court records in-person for three violent crime cases as the office updated its online search system. Jones granted access to two of the cases, but 14th Judicial District Judge Michael Canaday sealed the remaining file — a high-profile, second-degree murder case — on the same day of the newspaper’s request to review it.
Business ......................7C Commentary ................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................11C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .. 8C-10C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
Jones said he did not ask the judge to seal all records in the case, but he did tell the judge a reporter sought to review the file. “The judges previously requested to be notified if there is a records request involving violent crimes in cases that are still on going,” Jones wrote. He added that judges maintain
ä See JUDGE, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 284