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Louisiana lawmakers want information on girls prison leadership, contract

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lailluminator.com – Julie O’Donoghue – 2025-02-20 10:40:00

Louisiana lawmakers want information on girls prison leadership, contract

by Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator
February 20, 2025

Louisiana senators are pressing state officials for information about the leadership of a controversial juvenile justice facility the state is using as its youth girls prison again

Ware Youth Center in Red River Parish was the focus of a New York Times investigative report in 2022 that alleged widespread abuse of girls held at the facility. 

At a legislative hearing Tuesday, Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, told state juvenile justice officials to report back to her about who sits on the Ware Youth Center Authority, the state-created entity that is supposed to oversee the youth prison.

Jackson said she wants to make sure the people supervising Ware when the alleged abuse occurred are not still in charge.

“Are we paying the same people who mistreated children?” Jackson-Andrews asked at a Senate Select Committee on Women and Children hearing. “Are the same people – the same entity – who mistreated children still making a profit from our state?” she asked. 

Jason Starnes, undersecretary of the state Office of Juvenile Justice, told the committee he has no reservations about the safety of Ware.

“I can assure you we would not have entered into a contract” if there were worries about abuse at the facility, he said.

The Office of Juvenile Justice put eight of the 21 incarcerated girls in its custody at Ware in December after canceling the facility’s contract to hold minors two years ago. At the time, juvenile justice leaders said they couldn’t afford to pay Ware the money it demanded. 

The state’s financial arrangement with Ware has been resurrected by Kenny Loftin, Gov. Jeff Landry’s new head of Office of Juvenile Justice and Ware’s former longtime director. 

Loftin was not accused of any wrongdoing at Ware in The New York Times article, but some of the alleged abuse detailed in the story overlapped with the time he was in charge of the facility. 

He has previously said the investigative report was full of lies and false statements.

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Yet public details of the Ware Youth Center Authority are scarce. The facility doesn’t mention it at all on its website or list the members who sit on the board. No one at the facility could be reached Wednesday to answer questions about the authority. 

The Office of Juvenile Justice did not respond to requests Wednesday for more details about the Ware contract or information about its appointees to the Ware authority. 

Set up through state law in 1986, the Ware Youth Center Authority is supposed to include state appointees and representatives from Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Webster parishes.

Judges overseeing juvenile cases from those parishes appoint three members; sheriffs and police chiefs from the parishes name four members; the six parish governments involved receive one seat each; and the local district attorneys receive one seat each.

The remaining three seats are supposed to be filled by the assistant secretary of the Office of Juvenile Justice, a job in the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections that doesn’t technically exist any more. Over a decade ago, it was replaced with the deputy secretary position Loftin now holds.

Ware received a state contract in December to provide 24 beds for incarcerated girls, paying the facility more than $500 per day per bed for the next three years, Starnes told the Senate committee Wednesday. That would be over $182,500 per bed per year.

Ware will be paid for all 24 beds whether they are occupied or not. It is currently receiving full payment even though 13 of the state’s 21 imprisoned girls are still being housed at a St. Martinville jail, Starnes said. 

The girls are currently held at St. Martinville because Ware doesn’t have enough staff on site to fully run its program. Starnes said he hopes to move all the girls to Ware in the next few weeks.

Though Ware has received negative media attention, a few legislators were anxious to see the transfer from the St. Martinville jail to Ware occur as soon as possible.

“St. Martin[ville] bothers me. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, and it looks like a prison,” said Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge.

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Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, said she had reservations about Ware after reading The New York Times story, but a visit to see its incarcerated girls program proved to be “uplifting.”

Mizell said she believes the facility has turned a corner since the alleged abuse would have occurred years ago, and she had major concerns about the St. Martinville jail when she toured it. 

“That was like a Dickens novel. It was bad,” Mizell said of St. Martinville. 

Starnes said the plan is to eventually close the St. Martinville jail after the girls are all transferred to Ware.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

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Jurors view crime scene evidence on Day 3 of Taymor McIntyre’s capital murder trial

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www.youtube.com – KSAT 12 – 2025-04-03 18:14:36

SUMMARY: On Day 3 of Taymor McIntyre’s capital murder trial, jurors viewed crime scene evidence, including photos and a key 9mm shell casing, related to the 2017 robbery and murder of photographer Mark Salivar. Testimony focused on the investigation’s beginnings, revealing that police found a casing and marijuana at the scene outside a Chick-fil-A. Surveillance footage has been mentioned but not yet shown; it reportedly captures a black car and a struggle with Salivar. Tomorrow, a medical examiner will testify, along with three individuals linked to McIntyre, one of whom took a plea deal. Discussions around McIntyre’s rap career continue to unfold.

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Jurors in the capital murder trial of rapper Taymor McIntyre, known as Tay-K-47, viewed key pieces of evidence Thursday, including crime scene photos and a shell casing.

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Jury deliberations set to begin in monumental oil and gas lawsuit | Louisiana

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-03 14:16:00

(The Center Square) – A historic trial that could compel oil and gas companies to pay billions for Louisiana’s coastal wetlands restoration reached its climax this week, with closing arguments delivered Thursday at the Louisiana 25th Judicial District Court in lower Plaquemines Parish. 

The lawsuit, pitting the parish against companies including Chevron USA, Inc., is the first of 42 similar cases filed since 2013 to reach trial, accusing the industry of violating state permitting laws and exacerbating wetlands loss.

Chevron, The Texas Company, Atlantic Richfield Company, ConocoPhillips, and The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company all filed a motion in opposition in 2022 to keep the case in federal court.

After over a decade of legal battles, Plaquemines Parish, led by attorney John Carmouche, is seeking nearly $3 billion in damages. A victory could set a precedent, potentially forcing oil companies to pay tens of billions across all cases — funds legally mandated for coastal restoration. 

The litigation has weathered three attempts by the companies to shift it to federal court, a venue they viewed as advantageous, with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last affirming its return to state court in October of 2022.

“If somebody causes harm, fix it,” Carmouche said in his opening statement. 

The parish alleges decades of unregulated oilfield activity, including canal dredging, devastated its coastline. 

Chevron says it’s being sued for Texaco’s pre-2001 oil and gas work under a 1980 law not meant to cover earlier activities. It also claims the case belongs in federal court since some work tied to World War II was under federal guidance. Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001.

As the jury prepares to deliberate, the outcome could mark a turning point, potentially delivering unprecedented industry accountability for Louisiana’s fading coast—or a major setback for restoration efforts.

The post Jury deliberations set to begin in monumental oil and gas lawsuit | Louisiana appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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Reproductive Justice Fund up for another San Antonio City Council vote Thursday

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www.youtube.com – KSAT 12 – 2025-04-03 06:07:38

SUMMARY: The San Antonio City Council is set to vote on whether to allocate an additional $100,000 to the controversial Reproductive Justice Fund, originally designed to help cover travel costs for women seeking abortions. Although nearly half a million dollars in contracts were approved, none funded travel expenses, prompting renewed calls for more financial support. Some groups, like Beat AIDS Coalition Trust, are cautious about applying again, seeking legal assurances regarding abortion-related funding. Advocates emphasize the urgent need for funding, citing a crisis in Texas where women struggle to access abortion care amid ongoing legal challenges and restrictions.

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The San Antonio City Council will vote Thursday morning on whether to put another $100,000 into a controversial health fund.

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