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Landry sets date to unveil SpaceX deal Event scheduled for Tuesday in Abbeville BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL
Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry is inviting hundreds of Louisiana elected officials and business leaders to Abbeville next week to announce that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is planning to build a multibillion-dollar spaceport on a roughly 18-mile stretch of the coast about 45 miles southwest of Lafayette. An invitation, sent via email by
the Governor’s Office and Louisiana Economic Development on Wednesday, said Landry and LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois “cordially invite you to join them in announcing a defining moment for Louisiana’s future.” The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday in Abbeville, the Vermilion Parish seat and the closest city to the site of the planned spaceport. The invitation didn’t mention
ä Judge dismisses lawsuit against Exxon, clearing way for SpaceX project. PAGE 7A
SpaceX by name and Landry’s office declined to comment, but sources familiar with the deal said the subject of the announcement is the SpaceX project. The announcement has been anticipated for weeks and is expected to lay out the aerospace
company’s plans to build a launch facility along the coast that will blast SpaceX’s reusable Starship rockets — among the most powerful ever built — out over the Gulf and into orbit. The project could bring potentially thousands of jobs and a massive influx of aerospace and other commercial activity to the coastal areas sandwiched between two wildlife refuges and known as a popular spot for recreational hunting and fishing. The facility will be located on land — some 130,000 acres in all
Colleges work to comply with Ten Commandments law
State requires display of the religious text in all public classrooms
ä See SPACEX, page 7A
Trump picks top aide to lead FDA Overton worked on several health initiatives for president
BY HALEY MILLER
Staff writer
In a classroom at Fletcher Technical Community College in Terrebonne Parish, a poster bears the Ten Commandments, flanked by the likenesses of Moses and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. A whiteboard emphasizing important dates in the semester hangs to the right of the 3,000-year-old text. “THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR’S “We have a WIFE,” the newly inresponsibility as stalled poster states. “FINALS. CHRISTa state agency MAS BREAK,” the to follow the whiteboard states. law, so that’s As Louisiana colwhat we’re lege students return to campus this doing.” month, they will enRICH VATH, counter mandated executive director displays of the Ten of external affairs Commandments in for the University of their classrooms. This fall marks the Louisiana system first full semester since a federal appeals court in February allowed the Louisiana law requiring displays of the religious text in all public classrooms — including the lecture halls of colleges and universities — to take effect. “We have a responsibility as a state agency to follow the law, so that’s what we’re doing,” said Rich Vath, executive director of external affairs for the University of Louisiana system. Many of Louisiana’s public higher education institutions have completed or nearly completed the task of hanging the posters in their classrooms, according to administrators. The law left some ambiguity about how to comply on a college campus, where “classroom” can be a murky term. At UL institutions, for example, lab spaces are
— that was owned for decades by ExxonMobil. The land was turned over to the state as part of a settlement of dozens of lawsuits blaming the oil giant for pollution and coastal land loss. Court records show that a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Tuesday signed an order dismissing the coastal suit that had been brought by Vermilion Parish against Exxon, a signal that the long-running case is over and that
BY ALI SWENSON and MATTHEW PERRONE
Associated Press
PHOTO PROVIDED By MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITy
ä See COLLEGES, page 4A The Ten Commandments are displayed in a classroom at McNeese State University.
WASHINGTON — Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, has been picked to lead the Food and Drug Administration, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Overton is a medical doctor and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council who has worked on several of Trump’s secondterm health initiatives. She has become a trusted ad- Overton ministration figure and a champion of the Republican president’s goals. If confirmed by the Senate, she would have to balance a raft of competing priorities, including Trump’s fixations, the anti-regulatory interests of traditional Republicans and the anti-corporate posture of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Those challenges dogged the tenure of the previous FDA head, Dr. Marty Makary. He resigned in May, leaving behind unfinished projects such as work on ultraprocessed foods, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots. Referring to her as “Dr. Heidi” in a Truth Social post, Trump said Overton was a smart and respected “rockstar” who would deliver on his priorities of faster cures,
ä See FDA, page 5A
Ridership will affect cost of Uber program, St. George says Initiative to offer discounted rides
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
The city’s cost for a proposed program offering discounted Uber rides in St. George could be far less than the $500,000 price tag originally pitched to residents. City officials said during a public meeting Wednesday night that the city’s cost will depend on the pop-
WEATHER HIGH 97 LOW 76 PAGE 6B
ularity of the program and could range from $250,000 up to half a million dollars. The meeting, which included officials with Uber, addressed the planned Uber Rideshare Pilot Program. It would give riders 50% off rides within city limits, potentially starting by the end of October. The proposed initiative would last at least one year and provide discounted rides and capture data to inform the city where residents need transportation, according to the city’s proposal. The pilot pro-
gram is currently projected to serve approximately 1,500 to 2,000 riders. Participants would be able to receive up to 10 subsidized rides per month. Options for the name of the St. George rideshare program so far are: SG Connect, SG on Demand, St. George on the Go and St. George Dash. The program would be funded by St. George and the Uber Transit Innovation Fund. The city
ä See UBER, page 4A
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Mike Ramirez reviews a map of St. George during a public engagement meeting Wednesday about plans for an Uber Rideshare Pilot Program.
STAFF PHOTO By PEARL SPURLOCK
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