UAE BRIEFLY CLOSES AIRSPACE; ISRAELI ATTACKS IN LEBANON GROW 2A
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T u e s d ay, M a r c h 17, 2026
“Not going to sugarcoat it, we definitely have some institutions that are struggling.” KIM HUNTER REED, commissioner of higher education
Lawmakers call for cuts to higher ed
Board of Regents says it is underfunded now
Louisiana higher education leaders asked legislators on Monday to consider giving them more money as many regional universities struggle financially — but some lawmakers argued it’s time for those schools to take a hard look at whether budget cuts are necessary instead. “We have hundreds of programs that we’ve closed,” Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting. “But if you say to us, ‘We’re not going to be able to provide additional
dollars, and you have to flourish within your means — not just survive within your means’ — then we have to do a couple of things.” “It will be extremely tight,” she said. Officials with the Board of Regents say the current budget is $869 million short of what it considers full funding for higher education in Louisiana. The board is requesting $119 million in additional state general fund money for fiscal year 2026-27. Reed said enrollment fluctuations, growing athletics department budgets and inflation have contributed to strained resources at some institutions, but did not specify which schools are
GONZALES
Mayor gets pay raise without council OK
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT
Gonzales Mayor Tim Riley’s salary increased by several thousand dollars last fall without the City Council’s approval or knowledge, which has been a required procedure for many years past. The city uses a standardized classification system to guide salary increases among all employees, with step increases — also known as merit raises — corresponding to years of service. Riley When Riley began his term in January 2025, his pay was set at step five of pay range 26, corresponding to around $125,590, but now he’s making $134,035. The operating budget approved by the council
ä See MAYOR, page 5A
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BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
ä See CUTS, page 4A
ä See JUDGE, page 4A
Author releases book on Long assassination
definitive answer to the cause McGuire believes his oftheLong’s death. decades of research “Dr. Weiss shot him,” the author “There is no doubt in my led to definitive answer said. mind.”
BY ROBIN MILLER
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 58 LOW 35
Ruling says Kennedy likely violated federal procedures
faring the worst. She called the circumstances a “perfect storm” for many schools. “Regional institutions are generally seeing enrollment shifts, population declines and challenges of that sort,” Reed said. “Not going to sugarcoat it, we definitely have some institutions that are struggling.” If the Legislature does not award the requested higher education funding, Reed said, the Board of Regents will be working with university systems to evaluate which programs can be cut and how they can specialize as institutions.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Staff writer
Judge halts changes to vaccine program A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee. The decision halted an order by Kennedy — announced in January — to end broad recommendations for all children to Kennedy be vaccinated against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. It also stopped a meeting of a Kennedyappointed vaccine advisory committee, which was set to convene this week in Atlanta. The judge’s order, however, is not the final word. The blocks are temporary, pending either a trial or a decision for summary judgment. Federal health officials indicated they planned to appeal. “HHS looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,” said Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon. The order issued Monday is the latest development in a lawsuit filed last July by the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups. The lawsuit in federal court in Boston originally focused on Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women. The lawsuit was updated as Kennedy took more steps that alarmed medical societies, causing the plaintiffs to ask Judge Brian E. Murphy to take steps to address those policy changes too. For example, the plaintiffs amended the lawsuit to stop the scaling back of the nation’s childhood vaccination schedule. They also asked the court to look at
University of Louisiana at Lafayette students head to class at the start of the fall semester in 2024. Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed says regional institutions in the state are seeing enrollment shifts and population declines. BY HALEY MILLER
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Staff writer
Jack B. McGuire’s goal for his new book, “Killing the Kingfish,” is to be the final word on the assassination of Huey P. Long. But is it? “I believe it will be,” the Mandeville author said at a book release talk and signing Monday at the Louisiana State Archives. “But that won’t stop other people from writing about it. They’re writing things about it on the internet right now.” Still, McGuire said he believes STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE his six decades of research, which Jack B. McGuire signs a copy of ‘Killing the took him down every conspiracy Kingfish’ for Patricia Ricci on Monday. theory path, has led to a book with
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
McGuire knows his conclusion will rankle some Long assassination enthusiasts who have formed their own theories, but his book is based solely on facts. Author Robert Mann, a former senior aide to senators Russell Long and John Breaux and LSU communications professor, complimented McGuire on not only chasing down conspiracies but addressing every book that’s been written on the subject. “I think that was a brilliant approach that you took to thoroughly examine every other scenario and demolish it,” Mann said. So, why, after almost a century, will this book — which McGuire
ä See BOOK, page 4A
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