SAVE $ 61 3 LB
SAVE up $ 80 to 2 When You Buy 4
When You Buy 2
3
— ONLY —
USDA GRADE A SANDERSON FARMS
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
Louisiana Local
SAVE up $ 00 to 1
Chicken Breast Tenders
1
$ 88 LB
— ONLY —
3 LB BAG PRO-HEALTH
Russet Potatoes
3
2/$
— ONLY —
10 - 12 COUNT PODS
Community Coffee
4.7 - 7.5 OZ BOX
Hamburger Helper
SAVE UP TO $1099 (MUST BUY 2)
5
4/$
Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores July 8th - July 15th, 2026.
TEAMS LOOKING AT UL’S BRASCH AHEAD OF MLB DRAFT 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
|
F r i d ay, J u ly 10, 2026
$2.00X
Lafayette’s long-awaited crisis center advances
Woman sentenced after shooting boyfriend 15-year term reduced to five after recommendation
BY MEGAN WYATT
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The shuttered Lafayette Behavioral Health Unit at 302 Dulles Drive could become the home of the region’s new crisis center, officials say.
Former psychiatric facility could become new home BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Lafayette officials are looking to move the region’s new crisis center into a former psychiatric facility off Dulles Drive. The crisis center, which first saw movement in fall 2025, could eventually find its new home in the former Ochsner Lafayette General’s Lafayette Behavioral Health Unit at 302 Dulles Drive, said Christina Dayries, chief of staff to Lafayette’s mayor-president. The 24/7 facility will be a place for those experiencing immediate mental health and substance abuse issues, cir-
cumventing emergency rooms and stays at the local jail. The goal is to stabilize and de-escalate patients before referring them for further treatment. “(It’s) providing them now a facility that has the right clinicians and medical personnel that can help them,” Dayries said. Funding for the location comes from the parish’s opioid settlement funds, which were doled out by the state after drug manufacturers were made to pay out $50 billion stemming from lawsuits brought by several states. Lafayette Consolidated Government’s contribution of opioid funds rounds up to $2 million, which will go toward re-
pairs and renovations for the facility, as well as equipment purchases. Funds for the assessment that examined whether the facility was even viable came from a mix of direct state, local and opioid settlement funds. Recent legislation by Rep. Annie Spell, R-Lafayette, contributed to the center’s viability by mandating that commercial insurers reimburse crisis care providers. Getting the state’s go-ahead and finding a provider to run the facility is the next hurdle before it can open by the new year, Dayries said. Several groups
ä See CENTER, page 3A
Cathey joins race to fill Letlow’s House seat State senator is a Republican from Monroe
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
The campaign to replace U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow got a bit more crowded Thursday, when state Sen. Stewart Cathey, a Republican from Monroe, joined the race. Letlow is giving up her seat representing the 5th Congres-
WEATHER HIGH 91 LOW 76 PAGE 12C
sional District to run for the U.S. Senate. Cathey is a second-term senator with a solid conservative voting record who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture and Rural Development. “I’m running for Congress for Cathey the same reason I ran for the state Senate: the people of the 5th Congressional District deserve a representative
who shows up, tells the truth, and gets things done,” Cathey said in a news release. “I’ve spent my career serving this country in uniform and standing up for Louisiana families in Baton Rouge, H H H H H H and now I’m ready to take that fight to Washington.” A consultant with his father on IT issues, Cathey, 45, served two tours in Afghanistan as a member of the Army Reserves.
ELECTION
A Westlake woman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, more than four years after she shot her boyfriend in the head with her three children in the home. Keri Buller Bradberry, 36, was initially arrested by Westlake Police in April 2022 on counts of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated second-degree battery and three counts of domestic abuse battery with child endangerment. State prosecutors later charged her with the lesser crime of illegal use of a weapon during a crime of violence, which Bradberry pleaded no contest to in May 2025. During Thursday’s sentencing, which had been delayed several times, 14th Judicial District Judge David Ritchie accepted the recommendation of state prosecutor
ä See SENTENCED, page 3A
U.S., Iran exchange more attacks Back-and-forth fire bigger than in prior days
BY JON GAMBRELL
Two candidates — state Rep. Michael Echols and Board of Regents Chair Misti Cordell — have had a head start in raising money and winning over key endorsements in the 5th District because they’ve been running to succeed Letlow for months. Cordell is from Monroe. State Rep. Gabe Firment, a Republican from Pollock in Grant Parish, announced his candidacy a week ago. The four are now running in a district that was quickly redrawn
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East. Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire. But Thursday’s appeared bigger all
ä See HOUSE, page 3A
ä See IRAN, page 3A
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................10C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
Associated Press
102ND yEAR, NO. 10