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Maggard steps down at UL Athletic department head returning to Missouri after 9 years with Cajuns
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s athletic department is looking for a new leader after Tuesday’s announcement that Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Bryan Maggard is returning to Missouri as deputy athletics diSTAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP rector and chief operating officer. Maggard has been at UL since Bryan Maggard has led the UL 2017 will remain with the univerathletic department for eight years. sity for another month to ease the
transition. During eight years leading the Ragin’ Cajuns, Maggard hired football coaches Billy Napier and Michael Desormeaux, oversaw a $65 million stadium renovation, led the department’s largest fundraising campaign and guided one of the most successful periods in school history before navigating deep budget cuts in recent years. UL’s Deputy Athletic Director Trey Frazier will serve as the interim athletic director during the
ä Kevin Foote: Is the timing
of Maggard’s departure good for UL? PAGE 1C transition. “Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics, the University, and Lafayette, Louisiana will forever hold a special place in Kerry and my hearts,” Maggard said in a statement. “We always knew it would take something extremely special for us to leave this place we called home for
nearly a decade.” Maggard and his wife, Kerry, recently welcomed a new granddaughter in Missouri. “With the birth of our granddaughter and a tremendous opportunity provided by Mizzou, we simply could not pass up the chance to return close to family,” Maggard added. Over the past two years, Maggard’s tenure was burdened by
ä See MAGGARD, page 4A
Lawmakers are again eyeing AI regulation
HELPING HANDS
Bills that didn’t pass this session could return
Carencro High School football players fill sandbags for residents preparing for Tropical Storm Bertha
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
TOP: Carencro High School football players Mason Roger, left, and Jermany Arceneaux fill sandbags Tuesday behind the Carencro Community Center ahead of potential tropical weather this week. ABOVE: Carencro High football team members tie up filled sandbags for residents preparing for Tropical Storm Bertha.
ä Bertha bears down on coastal Louisiana, Page 7A
During Louisiana’s recent legislative session, a slew of bills restricting the use of artificial intelligence stalled after President Donald Trump’s administration said it wanted to create a national regulatory framework around the technology — and threatened states’ federal broadband funding if they acted on their own. Noncontroversial bills, including ones that toughened penalties related to AIgenerated child pornography, did pass. But proposals that entailed more dramatic changes — such as restrictions to how insurance companies and employers can use AI — died on the vine despite bipartisan support. Yet Democrats and even some Republican lawmakers, including the Senate president, have expressed a desire to revisit the bills in 2027. That could set the stage for a fight in the Legislature next year, depending on where Gov. Jeff Landry stands and what happens at the federal level. In May, Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said he told the White House that Louisiana would hold many AI bills this year but move forward with them if Congress does not create national regulations by the time the next regular session arrives. “We’re going to hold those for a year, and then next year at this time, if they haven’t taken any action, then we’ll pass the bills that we would have liked to have passed this year,” Henry said. The Senate president did not specify which of the many AI bills filed this year he favored. Henry did not return
ä See REGULATION, page 7A
Hegseth estimates Iran war has cost $37.5 billion at fiery hearing BY LISA MASCARO
Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, during a combative Senate Appropriations WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Committee hearing, which came days Hegseth faced fiery questions and pro- after the Pentagon announced that tests Tuesday over the U.S. war with three more American service memIran, which he estimated has cost $37.5 bers have died in the conflict, bringing billion so far, as Republicans prepare the death toll to 17, and that more than a $95 billion GOP budget package to 100 have been injured since early July. fund the military, along with other Several times protesters interrupted White House priorities. his opening remarks. AP congressional correspondent
WEATHER HIGH 96 LOW 79 PAGE 8A
Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an “urgent, necessary” injection of money, and with President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget, a generational investment in the military. “Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls,” Hegseth testified. But Sen. Patty Murray, the top Demo-
ä See HEGSETH, page 4A
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies at a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
102ND yEAR, NO. 22