D.C. SHOOTING SUSPECT CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATI0N 2A
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New report details issues at DCFS Legislators voice frustrations about state’s child welfare system
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Louisiana’s child welfare system unnecessarily separated siblings in foster care, left children to stay in psychiatric hospitals after they were discharged, and frequently communicated poorly with families, a new state watchdog report has found. In its first annual report, Louisiana’s new child ombudsman
reviewed 307 complaints made in 2025 against the Department of Children and Family Services and found several cases where department workers failed to follow policy and, in at least one instance, breached federal law. But in a Sunday letter to state lawmakers, department Secretary Rebecca Harris said some of the information in the report detailing child abuse deaths contains confidential information, and its release
violates state and federal law. “The Department has requested advice and guidance from our federal oversight agency regarding the unauthorized disclosure of this sensitive and confidential information,” Harris writes. “The Department extends its sincerest apology to the families and loved ones of those children for the release of this sensitive and confidential information related to their deaths.” Harris also said the ombudsman
“did not consult with the Department about the report in any respect prior to its release.” In a hearing at the State Capitol on Monday, lawmakers — who have been calling to remake or even dismantle the department after a string of high-profile child deaths — voiced frustration that the two sides did not seem to be on the same page. Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, said she was more
“shocked” about the “back-andforth between the two agencies” than about the findings of the report itself. Said Sen. Beth Mizell, RFranklinton: “This is really absurd to me, that we’re dealing with two different directions, but we’re trying to get to the same good place for our children.” The ombudsman — Kathleen Stewart Richey, a former East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court judge — noted her office was created af-
ä See REPORT, page 7A
Source: LIV Golf event canceled
Federal decision impedes plan to raise La. homes
League may try for smaller tournament in N.O. in the fall
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
A gated neighborhood near the Intracoastal Waterway in Crown Point is filled with raised homes.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pauses elevation studies BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
Louisiana has increasingly looked to home elevations as a way of dealing with flood risk in areas where large-scale levee projects are not cost-effective, but a recent decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is casting uncertainty over
those efforts. The Corps has frozen studies examining potential home elevations, including three in Louisiana, while it determines whether those types of projects should continue to be part of its mission. A top Army official has also noted concerns over the costs of a major home elevation project that is ongoing in southwest Louisiana. The pause has left it unclear if the Corps or some other agency will eventually carry out thousands of voluntary home elevations already approved under flood protection plans statewide,
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
including in St. Tammany Parish and along the state’s south-central coast in Iberia, St. Mary and St. Martin parishes. State officials have been urging the Corps to complete the three studies that had been nearly finished before they were paused. Those studies were looking at ways to address flood risk in the Lafitte area, along the Amite River and in Tangipahoa Parish. The state’s coastal leadership says there are other possibilities for
ä See HOMES, page 5A
The LIV Golf tournament planned for late June in New Orleans is off, according to a source familiar with the matter, ending weeks of speculation about the future of the event amid reports that the Saudi Arabian government is pulling its financial support from the league. The league notified state officials on Friday that it wants to “pivot” from the June 25-28 tournament, scheduled for City Park’s Bayou Oaks Golf Course, and potentially reschedule a smaller, exposition-style tournament this fall, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the tournament’s plans. LIV has agreed to repay the $1 million in cash it has already received from the state as part of a broader incentive package, the source said. No dates or financial terms for a smaller event have been discussed. It’s unclear what the local cancellation means for the remainder of LIV’s season. Earlier this month, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil told the British TNT Sports that the league’s Saudi backers will only continue to fund the tour through the end of the current season, “then you work like crazy to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.” Gov. Jeff Landry and Mayor Helena Moreno declined to comment on the lat-
ä See LIV, page 7A
John Fleming says he’s the most conservative candidate Louisiana treasurer touts connections to Trump BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Editor’s note: This story is the second in a series of profiles of major candidates in the U.S. Senate race, to be published over the coming days. Candidates for statewide office typically travel with a campaign aide who gets them from event to event. But state Treasurer John Fleming was on his own when he drove his car to the E.J. Ourso Col-
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ELECTION 2026
clad students in his gray suit and tie. After finding the room, he didn’t mind walking U.S. SENATE back to his car to collect campaign brochures to pass out. ä COMING WEDNESDAY: JULIA LETLOW A few minutes later, he was back in Room 1800, telling 15 student members of Turning Point USA’s LSU chapter that he is a physician who lege of Business on LSU’s campus on a recent served in the Navy, helped co-found the ultraafternoon. And after he arrived, no staffer was conservative House Freedom Caucus during his eight years in Congress, held high-level posts waiting to direct him where to go. Fleming didn’t complain. He simply ap- during President Donald Trump’s first term and proached two students sitting at a table in the for the past 28 months has been the tight-fisted state treasurer. college. Along the way, he said, his record shows that “Can you tell me where I can find Room 1800 in the Business Education Complex?” asked Flemä See FLEMING, page 4A ing, standing out among the shorts-and-T-shirt-
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
John Fleming
13TH yEAR, NO. 259