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The Acadiana Advocate 06-01-2026

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UL FALLS TO MISSISSIPPI STATE IN REGIONAL FINAL 1C THE

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M o n d ay, J u n e 1, 2026

Lafayette struggles to curb underage drinking

$2.00X

FEMA says it’s ready for hurricane season But turmoil, proposed changes worry some

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Late-night revelers gather downtown on Jefferson Street in Lafayette. Louisiana’s alcohol laws allow 18- to 20-year-olds to enter bars but not buy alcohol, a loophole that has complicated efforts to prevent underage drinking. Enforcement has improved, but longtime cultural acceptance and business interests keep the issue persistent in Lafayette’s nightlife scene.

‘It takes time,’ officials say, as nightlife culture remains a challenge BY FAITH SCHOLL and KAYLA WOODS-CRANE Contributing writers

Only months on the job as CEO of the Downtown Development Authority, Kevin Blanchard had already begun driving through downtown every morning, as he describes it, like a parent checking in on a sleeping newborn. On a Sunday two years ago, it was not good. A steel fence surrounding the newly opened playground at Parc Sans Souci was damaged along Taylor Street. About 2:30 a.m., a car had crashed into it, got stuck and left tire marks on the street trying to back out. “Had there been children there,

they would have run over somebody,” Blanchard said. “We put so much time and energy and effort trying to make things nice and then somebody just does this. Thank God it was at 2:30 in the morning.” Thanks to cameras nearby and a witness, police were able to make a quick arrest. The driver’s insurance covered the cost of the damage and the fence was repaired. The driver, however, was intoxicated and underage, police said. Underage drinking remains deeply embedded in Louisiana culture and Lafayette nightlife, even as drinking habits shift and enforcement increases. In Lafayette, where 18-year-olds can legally enter many bars but

ä New UL student leader putting spotlight on nightlife safety. PAGE 5A not buy alcohol, officials, business owners and students say underage drinking remains common despite increased enforcement and shifting habits among younger drinkers. Between 2021 and late 2025, there have been 13 citations issued to Lafayette bars for selling alcohol to a person under the age of 21. That’s coupled with 67 given to convenience stores and other establishments that were cited in that span. Multiple downtown Lafayette bar owners did not respond to interview

WASHINGTON — Given the recent chaos at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and last year’s reorganization at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, some are fretting about what happens if one of the two predicted hurricanes or tropical storms comes ashore in Louisiana this summer. “We don’t know if FEMA is prepared,” U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said Friday. “There are vacancies and staff turnover in the same leadership positions, including Cassidy multiple changes at the director level. Additionally, there was distrust of its mission by the President and the first Secretary of Homeland Security. We have to hope after the poor response to the flooding in Texas that they understand America needs a prepared and missionfocused FEMA.”

ä See FEMA, page 4A

Climate plan still in place despite state’s rightward shift Landry maintains stance on issues

ä See DRINKING, page 5A

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

Sheriff’s Office retracts ICE checkpoint details

identified as a U.S. citizen born in Colorado. The publication reported that deputies and ICE agents accused her of presenting forged identification documents before she was

Three years ago, the administration of then-Gov. John Bel Edwards finished a broad plan to cut the state’s greenhouse gas emissions through 2050 and help industries transition to low-carbon production. That plan is still technically on the books despite the state’s right-wing shift Landry under Gov. Jeff Landry, and lawmakers hoping to ditch it altogether are learning that doing so is not a simple matter.

ä See DETAILS, page 4A

ä See CLIMATE PLAN, page 4A

eight people during a accuse her of presenting false of the transnational gang MSReport: U.S. citizen tained May 20 checkpoint operation identification. 13, according to the Sheriff’s Scott while disputing key According to the Sheriff’s Office. detained after ID near details of a report that a U.S. Office, the checkpoint was esAnother of the detainees citizen was detained. tablished near the 200 block of was a woman whom The Lens questioned

In a statement issued in response to an article published by The Lens, the Sheriff’s OfStaff writer fice said information it initialThe Lafayette Parish Sher- ly provided to the publication iff’s Office on Friday con- about the woman’s identificafirmed that Immigration and tion documents was inaccuCustoms Enforcement de- rate and that deputies did not

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL

WEATHER HIGH 89 LOW 74 PAGE 10C

Herbert Road at the request of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and involved both ICE agents and Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputies. Eight people were detained by ICE during the operation, including an alleged member

Classified .....................5A Deaths .........................4B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

101ST yEAR, NO. 336


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