Louisiana
Louisiana’s run with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is over. What happens to the 60-foot gator?
Louisiana knocked it out of the park in its Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade debut in 2021, bringing a 60-foot alligator float — the longest one rolling — that stopped at one point to let singer Jon Batiste step off the float to perform live with dancers on the street.
The response to “Celebration Gator,” measured by hits on social media and Louisiana tourism sites, “went through the roof,” said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, head of the state’s Office of Tourism.
The gator had a good run in 2022 and 2023, too.
Over the three years that the gator crawled down the streets of New York — its legs moved as it went — it reached 3 billion people worldwide and generated a publicity value of $24 million, according to the state tourism office.
The monster-sized gator, though, won’t be appearing in the Macy’s parade this year, Nungesser said. The state didn’t renew its contract with parade organizers.
Louisiana would perhaps need to come up with a new float idea or build a different “gator” should the Louisiana Office of Tourism rejoin the parade in the future. It might also be more expensive process now, Nungesser said.
So what will happen to Celebration Gator, as the float was dubbed?
“I don’t know. It’s Macy’s,” Nungesser said. “They could scrap it.”
Once Macy’s approves a float design, the presenters of the float pay Macy’s to build it, he said.
The idea for the giant alligator float came during the early days of the pandemic, Nungesser said.
The tourism staff was on a video conference and came up with the idea of using big-name parades to attract visitors to Louisiana again.
Nungesser said that Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was perfect.
“It comes right before Mardi Gras,” he said.
As it does with all the floats, Macy’s sent its own basic float ideas to Louisiana, Nungesser said.
Instead, the tourism office sent back the idea for the gator.
“We needed a wow factor,” he said.
“We went back and forth with Macy’s for three months,” Nungesser said. “I told them it was going to be the longest float to ever crawl down the streets of New York.”
The Louisiana Office of Tourism will now focus on the Rose Bowl Parade coming up on New Year’s Day 2025 in Pasadena, California. Louisiana made its debut in that parade in 2021, the same year it entered New York City.
“We want to concentrate on where we can get more bang for our buck,” Nungesser said.
In the first three years that Louisiana had a float in the Rose Bowl Parade, it reached 4.3 billion people worldwide and generated a publicity value of $39.7 million, the tourism office said.
Last year’s float, the “Celebration Riverboat,” was built by volunteers at a cost of $350,000 and featured performers Amanda Shaw, Sean Ardoin and James Burton.
The theme for the 2025 Rose Bowl Parade will be “Best Night Ever.”
Louisiana’s float — still to be designed — will be about “Saturday night in Louisiana,” Nungesser said.
“It will be about Tiger Stadium and all the festivals and fairs we have throughout the state,” he said.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A 53-year-old Louisiana man will serve 22 years in prison following a child sex crimes case that included possession of handmade childlike sex dolls — items that state lawmakers have since moved to ban.
Sabine Parish prosecutors say Yancy Elie Normand was sentenced after investigators received a tip that he forced someone to view child sexual abuse material. A search of his home allegedly uncovered more than 200 illegal files — including child sexual abuse material and bestiality — along with two handmade childlike sex dolls.
New state law bans child sex dolls
Louisiana lawmakers passed a law banning the possession, trafficking, and importation of child sex dolls statewide in 2024. State Sen. Beth Mizell said the push began after conversations with Homeland Security about human trafficking during the Super Bowl in New Orleans, at a time when the state had no specific law covering the dolls. The measure passed with near-unanimous support.
“I think the importance is that it’s a precursor to actual crimes against children,” Mizell said.
Mizell said the issue extends well beyond Louisiana’s borders.
“It’s a nationwide problem…when you look at just the volume of child abuse cases, to the point where our Attorney General now has multiple task forces in place all over the state,” Mizell said.
Task force expands statewide reach
The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office says protecting children remains the focus of its Louisiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Supervisory Special Agent Chris Masters leads the group, which now includes more than 80 agencies and 250 detectives.
Masters said the dolls are often misunderstood by the public.
“When people hear sex doll, they think of the blow-up thing. These things are thousands of dollars, and they’re anatomically appropriate to a child,” Masters said. “They’re gonna look like a child. It’s not just what you think on TV.”
Masters said coordination across agencies is essential to the task force’s work.
“It’s completely impossible if law enforcement is not together on the same page with the same type of training, the same access, the same type of equipment,” Masters said. “We can tend to continue expanding our partnerships until there is no safe haven for any sex predator or child predator in this state.”
Lawmakers urge parents to monitor children’s online activity
Mizell said the volume of harmful material accessible online makes parental awareness critical.
“You have access to abhorrent material online in your hand all day, every day,” Mizell said. “Pay attention. Don’t be afraid to look at your child’s phone.”
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MONROE, La. (KNOE)—Over the past week, average gas prices in Louisiana have fallen 6.8 cents. That averages to $3.41/g today, according to a survey of 2,436 stations conducted by ‘GasBuddy’.
Compared to a month ago, prices in Louisiana are 45.3 cents lower per gallon. The lowest price of gas in Louisiana was $2.59/g on Sunday, with the highest being $4.99/g.
For reference, the national average price of gas has fallen 6.9 cents per gallon in the last week, which averages to $3.78/g, and is down 55.6 cents per gallon from a month ago.
On this date for the past five years, here’s how Louisiana’s gas prices compare to the nation’s average:
June 29, 2025: $2.75/g (U.S. Average: $3.14/g)
June 29, 2024: $2.93/g (U.S. Average: $3.48/g)
June 29, 2023: $3.02/g (U.S. Average: $3.51/g)
June 29, 2022: $4.37/g (U.S. Average: $4.85/g)
June 29, 2021: $2.76/g (U.S. Average: $3.12/g)
Copyright 2026 KNOE. All rights reserved.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Julia Letlow and Jamie Davis will face off this fall for U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s seat after winning their respective party runoffs Saturday night.
Letlow won the Republican runoff over John Fleming with 57% of the vote, less than an hour after polls closed on June 27. Davis won the Democratic nomination in a landslide, securing 80% of the vote over Gary Crockett.
Letlow, Davis claim victories
“I’ll fight for our families, I’ll fight for our farmers. I’ll fight for our teachers. I will fight for our parents. I’ll fight for our law enforcement. I will fight for everyone in this room, and we are just getting started,” Letlow said.
Davis said the issues driving his campaign cross party lines.
“Everybody wants better healthcare. Everybody wants better education for their children. Everybody wants a leg up with affordability. And everybody wants the Constitution to be upheld. Those issues are nonpartisan. I don’t have to change nothing but keep working,” Davis said.
Low turnout, Trump endorsement shaped Republican race
Estimated turnout was about 18% of registered voters. Political analyst Jim Engster said the low turnout actually benefited Fleming, who captured 43% of the vote, but was not enough to overcome President Trump’s endorsement of Letlow.
“He really had the 8 ball against him when President Trump endorsed Julia Letlow. President Trump is Hercules of Republican politics, and he’s carried this state three times by about 60 percent of the votes each time,” Engster said.
Engster said the results reflect the broader political landscape in Louisiana.
“It says that it’s more of the same. We’re a Republican state, and until further notice, we vote red in major elections,” Engster said.
New closed primary system draws scrutiny
Saturday’s election was the first major cycle under Louisiana’s new closed party primary system, in which Democratic voters could only choose Democratic candidates and Republican voters could only choose Republican candidates.
Engster said the change had a significant impact on participation, pointing to Cassidy’s vote totals as an example.
“Bill Cassidy might very well have held onto his seat in an open primary. After all, in the last open primary, he got 1,228,000 votes. This time he got 99,000 votes, so that’s a big difference,” Engster said.
Engster said critics of the closed primary system will use the turnout figures to make their case.
“It’ll be a case in which those who are against the closed primary will make the case that ‘The open primary may have its flaws, but more people participate. And after all, that is what we want. We want more people voting in our elections,” Engster said.
Road to November 2026
History suggests Republicans hold the advantage heading into the general election. Engster noted that Louisiana’s last elected Democratic senator was Mary Landrieu in 2008.
“It would really be a political miracle for Jamie Davis to win. Those things happen, but right now it’s a long shot, and there’s a lot of heavy lifting for him to do and for the Democratic Party to do to try to make up the inherent gap that is evident in Louisiana politics,” Engster said.
Letlow and Davis will face off in the general election on November 3.
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