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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
W e d n e s d ay, au g u s t 6, 2025
“I don’t think people understand that these children really got left behind.” RUSSELL MARINO, executive director of Hosanna Christian Academy
Few kindergartners in school voucher program
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Group seeks to reopen 1986 voting rights case Lawsuit questions legality of new district map BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
A group of Baton Rouge judges and residents is asking a federal court to reopen a 1986 voting rights case, arguing the Legislature’s decision this year to redraw election maps for the 19th Judicial District illegally diminishes minority voting strength. Chief Judge Don Johnson, Judge Colette Greggs, Judge Gail Horne Ray and Judge Ronald Johnson along with retired Judge Trudy White and former judicial candidate Gideon Carter III are listed plaintiffs in the case. So are Orscini Beard and Voter Information Project LLC, two of the original plaintiffs in the 1986 lawsuit against the state of Louisiana, known as Clark v. Edwards. The plaintiffs argue the new voting map for the 19th JDC, which has the same boundaries
ä See GROUP, page 7A
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Russell Marino, executive director of Hosanna Christian Academy in Baton Rouge, said that none of the nearly 60 incoming kindergarten students at his school who applied for a new LA GATOR tuition grant received one.
Only 80 in state receive LA GATOR tuition grants
a new state program meant to help families pay for private school or home schooling expenses, according to data shared by the state Education Department. Overall, less than 2% of the more than 5,800 grants awarded for the upcoming school year went to rising kindergartners. BY PATRICK WALL The situation stems from limited Staff writer state funding and program rules that Incoming kindergarten students prioritized giving grants to students were largely shut out of Louisiana’s who previously received school vouchnew private education program, ac- ers — a group that did not include this cording to state data, leaving thou- year’s new kindergartners. Now private school leaders and adsands of families scrambling and many private schools with unfilled seats just vocates are sounding the alarm, saying as the new school year begins. that families who had counted on reOnly about 80 of the 4,500 eligible ceiving state aid must either come up incoming kindergartners who applied with tuition money or enroll their chilreceived grants through LA GATOR, dren in public schools that still have
open kindergarten seats as students return from summer break. While many private school families can afford tuition, some rely on scholarships and subsidies — including about 1,400 children from low-income families who attended state-funded private preschool last year. At Hosanna Christian Academy in Baton Rouge, most of the school’s 60 prekindergarten students last year were funded through that state program. Nearly all of their families applied for LA GATOR money this year — but none received any, said Russell Marino, the school’s executive director. “It really is devastating to these fam-
ä See PROGRAM, page 6A
Louisiana to ban SNAP for soda, candy BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Louisianans who get federal food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will soon be unable to use those benefits to purchase soft drinks, energy drinks or candy. Gov. Jeff Landry, in a social media post, announced that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had signed off on a waiver that allows Louisiana to exclude soda and candy from purchase with SNAP benefits administered by the state. A target implementation date for the change is Jan. 15, according to information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP website.
ä See SNAP, page 7A
La. in talks to run immigration jail inside Angola, sources say BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Louisiana officials are in talks with the Trump administration about housing immigrant detainees at the Louisiana State
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 74 PAGE 8B
Penitentiary at Angola, part of a ä Florida planning second push to meet the demands of the immigration detention center. president’s widening immigration PAGE 4A crackdown by outsourcing operations to conservative states. An unused wing at the maxi- largest state-run penitentiary, has mum security prison, the nation’s emerged as a possible site for the
immigration lockup, according to people familiar with the talks. The move could save Louisiana costs of building a new facility like one unveiled in Florida last month, but critics contend it would place people without criminal records near
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FALL FAN FEST
Saturday August 9th FG Clark Activity Center, Doors open at 10:00 AM
The teams can’t wait to see you! Don’t miss your chance to meet & greet with the teams and get your autographs. JOIN SU FOOTBALL, VOLLEYBALL, SOCCER, AND CROSS COUNTRY IN THE MINIDOME AT 11:00 AM AND CATCH A LIVE PERFORMANCE BY THE HUMAN JUKEBOX
others convicted of grave crimes. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota governor who is close with GOP Louisiana
ä See ANGOLA, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 37
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