THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
S at u r d ay, M ay 23, 2026
$2.00X
GOP split on Trump spending plans
SKY HIGH
Rising gas prices make drivers rethink budgets, travel plans
Cassidy critical while Republican candidates stand behind president
BY JONI HESS Staff writer
Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, cloudy skies settled over the Shell station in the Mid-City neighborhood in New Orleans, where Christine George had just spent $60 for a half tank of gas. She’ll have to stretch that fuel until her next payday, when she can afford to fill up the gas-guzzling SUV she bought to haul her children. “If it keeps getting higher, I might have to sell this car,” she said on Thursday. Locally and nationally, the cost of gasoline has topped $4 a gal“If it keeps lon since the U.S. and getting higher, Israel launched a war I might have with Iran at the end of to sell this February. War concerns aside, car.” the state is also preparing its annual federally CHRISTINE mandated transition GEORGE to summer-blend fuel, which can add as much as 15 cents per gallon to the overall production cost, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. The fuel is required to prevent evaporation in warmer weather. All of it has caused some residents in Louisiana, a state with one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation, to rethink travel plans and household budgets as rising oil prices hit the economy from multiple angles. The cost of regular unleaded gas in the New Orleans metro area reached $4.04 last week compared to $2.72 a year ago, according to AAA. In the Baton Rouge area, the cost was $4.03, up from $2.70 a year ago, while Lafayette drivers paid $4.06 at the pump, up from $2.72 a year ago. Though AAA categorizes Louisiana as one of the cheapest gas markets in the U.S., that means little to a region with slow job growth and nearly half of the population
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Republican senators in Washington — including Sen. Bill Cassidy — are expressing opposition to spending nearly $1.8 billion to create a federal fund to compensate people claiming political persecution and another $1 billion for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom. Cassidy But the two Republicans running to replace Cassidy — U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming — are standing firm with the Trump admin- Letlow istration. Meanwhile, the two Democrats vying to succeed Cassidy — farmer Jamie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett — are blasting Fleming Trump’s plans. Senate Republicans on Thursday held up consideration of legislation to finance Trump’s immigration crackdown because it included his “anti-weaponization fund” as part of a settlement that the IRS reached with him to drop his lawsuit against the agency. Trump wants the money to com-
Gas prices climbed over $4 a gallon in Louisiana this week at many locations around the state. STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK
ä See HIGH, page 4A
ä See SPENDING, page 4A
Judge seals lawsuit filed by confessed killer of Matthew Carter BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
The confessed shooter, 13 years old at the time he shot Carter in the head to steal his A Baton Rouge judge on Chevy Camaro, is 20 now. He Thursday temporarily sealed a was sentenced to juvenile life, civil lawsuit filed by the person which means he would be rewho shot and killed Comeaux leased on his 21st birthday in High senior Matthew Carter in April 2027. 2020. His attorney, Jason Robide-
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 84 LOW 72 PAGE 6A
aux of Lafayette, filed a lawsuit against the state Office of Juvenile Justice seeking the release of his client immediately. Robideaux attached several exhibits containing details about the case, including the names of the two juveniles involved, and a predisposition
investigation and report. It was the first time the names of the juveniles and other details about the murder appeared in an official public record because juvenile cases are sealed. The Acadiana Advocate last week accessed the case online through a clerk of
court search and reported on the case and hearing. Nineteenth Judicial District Court Judge Beau Higginbotham on Thursday met with Robideaux and attorneys for the Office of Juvenile Justice
ä See LAWSUIT, page 4A
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