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M o n d ay, a p r i l 6, 2026
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Police: Driver in parade crash was impaired 18 injured Saturday at Lao New year Festival
BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN BALLANCE
Rhonda Landry-Poché, a fourth-generation strawberry farmer, shows a wooden hand carrier that was used to pick strawberries.
‘IT TAKES A VILLAGE’
In Louisiana’s Berry Belt, family-owned strawberry farm navigates a changing industry BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
Rhonda Landry-Poché remembers picking strawberries with her Paw Paw side by side, as he told her to pick them fast and by the stems. Her grandfather was the second owner of the family farm, taking over in the 1930s, and he and his family put in years of long hours of manual labor to ensure the success of the strawberry
business. “He’d sit in the rocking chair and talk to the kids about his mule named Ada, and how they didn’t have tractors then (on the farm) and how he and his mule would work,” Landry-Poché said. Now decades and plenty of technology advances later, at 61 years old, Landry-Poché owns the family farm as it celebrates its centennial this year. The fourth-generation, family-owned Landry-Poché Strawberry Farm was
established in 1926 and is located in the small town of Springfield. This strawberry season, the farm planted 120,000 plants across 6 acres. The farm currently supplies the Robert Fresh Market stores in the New Orleans area, but customers can also come to the farm to buy strawberries during the season and even pick them themselves. The farm also hosts field trips nearly every day.
ä See STRAWBERRY, page 4A
Multiple videos and pictures online show a man crashing a blue Chevrolet sedan into paradegoers and trapping one person underneath the vehicle at the Louisiana Lao New Year Festival on Saturday afternoon. Acadian Ambulance transported 11 victims by ground and two victims by air after the crash, according to a post on X. A total of 18 individuals were injured at the festival near Broussard, according to the Louisiana State Police. Todd Landry, 57, of Jeanerette, was arrested on counts of driving while impaired and first-degree negligent injuring, careless operation and open container, Louisiana State Police said. Landry has no prior criminal history. In a Facebook post Sunday, the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office said it is extending its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the victims, their families and the Laotian community during this difficult time. “We stand with those affected and ask our community to keep them in your prayers,” the post said. Deputies responded to the corner of Savannakhet and Melancon roads in connection with a vehicle that struck multiple people attending the festival, the 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
ä See PARADE, page 4A
Youth take charge in peer-led court cases
Teens with minor offenses get second chance BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
of Hormuz, crucial for global trade, isn’t opened. He ended with “Praise be to Allah.” Trump has issued such deadlines before but extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war, which has killed thousands, shaken global markets and spiked fuel prices in just over five weeks.
In a courtroom run by teenagers, the judge calls the session to order, the prosecutor makes a case — and the defendant is another student. It’s all part of Teen Court in Acadiana, where students take on real legal roles such as judge, juror, prosecutor and defense attorney to help peers navigate minor legal infractions, from truancy to theft. The program offers teens facing minor charges a second chance — holding them accountable while helping them avoid a criminal record and redirect their path. “These are real crimes, and the kids take it seriously,” said Tyra McWhorter, the program’s director. “From intake to resolution, they understand the accountability involved.”
ä See IRAN, page 4A
ä See CASES, page 4A
Trump issues fiery new threat against Iran Details of U.S. aviator’s rescue emerge
rescued a wounded aviator whose Irandowned plane fell behind enemy lines. A defiant Iran struck CO ONFLICT infrastructure targets in neighboring Gulf Arab BY MATTHEW LEE, BASSEM MROUE, IN THE T KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and SAMY MAGDY MIIDDLE countries and threatened to restrict another heavily Associated Press EAST AST used regional waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait TEHRAN, Iran — President Donald Trump on Sunday made expletive-filled threats off the Arabian Peninsula. Trump on social media vowed to hit Iran’s against Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his power plants and bridges and said the counTuesday deadline, after American forces try would be “living in Hell” if the Strait
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ä Iran rescue considered a complicated extraction. PAGE 5A
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