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T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
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S u n d ay, a p r i l 5, 2026
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At least 18 injured at Lao New Year fest Police: Driver crashed into Iberia Parish crowd
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Monsignor Keith DeRouen stands Wednesday in front of part of his art collection, which includes an icon of St. John the Evangelist by artist Faye Drobnic, below.
of WORKS
WONDER
Priest’s art collection reflects spiritual nature, family and traditions BY JOANNA BROWN
Staff writer
Religious art often brings to mind quiet, reflective places, meant to draw both the eye and heart to spiritual matters. Gazing on art in churches and chapels can be an almost remote experience, meant to evoke an image of the divine that we can’t actually see. The moment is profound, but it stands outside the bustle of everyday life. That’s not the case in Monsignor Keith DeRouen’s Lafayette home, which is filled with religious art and icons he’s collected over decades, creating an inviting, homey atmosphere where he loves to en-
A driver was arrested Saturday afternoon after he drunkenly drove into paradegoers at the Louisiana Lao New Year Festival, injuring more than a dozen attendees of the internationally recognized festival, according to Louisiana State Police. Todd Landry, 57, of Jeanerette, was booked on counts of driving while impaired and first-degree negligent injuring, careless operation and open container, officials said. Deputies responded to the corner of Savannakhet and Melancon roads in connection with a vehicle that struck multiple people attending the festival near Broussard, the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office said. During the investigation, Landry showed signs of impairment and submitted a breath sample indicating a blood alcohol level of 0.137%, according to state troopers. In Louisiana, anyone with a blood-alcohol limit of or over 0.08% is considered intoxicated. At least 18 people suffered injuries in the crash, according to State Police. “We are profoundly saddened by the news of the incident near the festival grounds. We are awaiting additional
ä See FEST, page 5A
tertain and where he plans to eventually retire. DeRouen is the pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Opelousas, where he lives the majority of the time, and was formerly the rector at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette. He also serves as the chaplain at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, and as a New Iberia native (DeRouen was born on Avery Island), the priest has spent over 40 years ministering in Acadiana. Walking through his home and seeing the art he’s gathered feels like an extension of that life’s work.
ELECTION 2026 U.S. SENATE
Attacks ramp up over Letlow’s DEI comments
ä See ART, page 4A
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
loss, shipping and infrastructure. The deepening of the lower river through large-scale dredging to accommodate bigger vessels has long been acknowledged as a factor in exacerbating saltwater intrusion, and that has spurred assumptions that those projects have been the main cause of the recent worsening. The new modeling disputes that.
How does U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow square endorsing diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a college presidential applicant in 2020 and her subsequent anti-DEI voting record in Congress? That’s the question that confronted Letlow Friday in the face of continuing attacks from the man she is trying to unseat, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, for her calls to expand DEI to hire more women and racial minorities on the faculty when she was applying in 2020 to be the next president of the University of Louisiana-Monroe. In news releases and a video on Thursday and Friday, Cassidy pointed to her comments to challenge her conservative credentials. “Julia is a liberal,” he concluded.
ä See SALT, page 4A
ä See DEI, page 5A
Study examines worsening salt intrusion
University researchers shows that cre- of Engineers, which is engaged in its own Crevasses slow current in vasses, or breaks in the lower Mississippi’s three-year study of the phenomenon, but banks, are main factor in the recent dealing with the problem poses a series of main river channel, it reveals worsening ofthesaltwater intrusion, which can difficult questions related to coastal land
BY MIKE SMITH
threaten drinking water for vast areas of southeast Louisiana, including New Orleans. Sea level rise and the deepening of the rivNew modeling is deepening understanding er for shipping purposes have also contributof why saltwater intrusion up the Mississip- ed, but the crevasses located in Plaquemines pi River has worsened in recent years, point- Parish south of where the main levee system ing to a previously underestimated factor ends are by far the primary cause because as the primary cause and raising questions of the way they slow the current in the main over how drinking water can be protected channel, the study shows. The findings are in line with preliminary in the future. The study of river dynamics by Tulane assessments from the U.S. Army Corps Staff writer
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Business ......................1E Deaths .........................2B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 279