Louisiana
Buc-ee’s will break ground in Ruston, Louisiana, soon: Here’s the time line for the Beaver
Construction on the infrastructure to accommodate the new Buc-ee’s in Ruston will begin next week, followed by early stages of construction on the travel center within five weeks, Mayor Ronny Walker said.
“It’s going to be a tremendous boost not just for Ruston and Grambling, but for the entire region,” Walker said in an interview with USA Today Network.
Buc-ee’s, with its toothy Beaver mascot, has developed a cult following among travelers who consider the stores tourism destinations rather than just giant convenience stores.
Every Buc-ee’s has wide varieties of meat jerky, roasted nuts and other culinary delights, like the signature Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets (similar to caramel popcorn), fudge, brisket and sausage on a stick.
“I had no idea how many people love Buc-ee’s so much that they plan vacations around their locations,” Walker said.
If construction goes as planned, Ruston will finish its $8 million infrastructure project to improve the Tarbutton Road Interstate 20 interchange in 10 to 12 months, while construction of the Buc-ee’s campus will take 12 to 15 months, Walker said.
The city later will extend the service road to connect with the I-20 Grambling interchange in Phase 2.
Walker said the company projects 15,000 vehicles a day stopping at Buc-ee’s with 80% coming from 200 miles or more away. The mayor said he believes many of those visitors also will make other stops in Ruston and Grambling before or after leaving Buc-ee’s.
“Many of them aren’t just going to get a chopped beef sandwich and drive away,” Walker said. “They’ll visit the Louisiana Tech University campus or the Eddie Robinson Museum.”
Ruston’s Buc-ee’s will employ at least 200 people at $18 to $20 per hour with benefits.
The Lake Jackson, Texas-headquartered company has more than 40 stores in seven southern states and Colorado, but none in Louisiana. A new Buc-ee’s store also is being built in Lafayette.
Buc-ee’s owner Arch “Beaver” Aplin III’s grandparents lived in Harrisonburg, La., and he often spent summers there as a child.
“For our family, opening a Buc-ee’s in Louisiana is like coming home,” Aplin said in a statement to USA Today Network. “We are very excited about Buc-ee’s coming to Ruston.”
Ruston’s City Council, the Lincoln Parish School Board and Lincoln Parish Police Jury approved a tax incentive package that set the project in motion in 2022.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
Louisiana
After redistricting battles, Southern gathers for Juneteenth celebration: ‘Continue the fight’
Hundreds of community members, alumni and students gathered Thursday to observe Juneteenth on the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge.
The theme of the festivities was “celebrating freedom through culture and community,” but weeks after Louisiana’s bitter redistricting battles, the speakers Thursday morning had one message driving their remarks: Get out and vote.
“Freedom does not come in on the wheels of inevitability,” Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice John Michael Guidry said to the crowd. “But it takes the prodigious work and the tireless efforts of those who are willing to continue the fight.”
Great Beginnings summer camper Myni, 4, gets a hello kitty face painting during Southern’s Juneteenth celebration on Thursday, June 18, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
The speech kicked off a day of discussions and cultural events centered on the holiday of Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger brought news of emancipation to enslaved people in Texas more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Speakers at Southern emphasized the need for protection of hard-won rights for Black Americans in the context of redistricting. The sentiments followed a contentious state legislative session that ended with the elimination of one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
“That Voting Rights Act is under attack,” Guidry said. “There’s voter intimidation, there’s voter suppression, there are voter ID laws and all types of laws and legal decisions that are trying to deny us our right to vote, and we are the ones who have to go forward and litigate these issues.”
The day opened with a libation ceremony and a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Southern University student Claire Floyd.
Southern University alumnus Jeanet Cazenave said she felt it was important to celebrate Juneteenth on campus as not only a relative of the first dean of Southern University but also a descendant of the GU272, a group of enslaved individuals who were sold to plantations in Louisiana in 1838 by Jesuit priests to pay the debts of what is now Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Juneteenth “means everything,” Cazenave said. “It means the past, the present and the future.”
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Governor Landry has officially declared Louisiana under state of emergency.
The state emergency declaration covers Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes.
The declaration was issued Thursday following the impacts of Tropical Storm Arthur, which brough rainfall and strong storms to parts of the state on June 17 and 18.
Officials said the National Weather Service has confirmed three tornadoes tied to the storm system.
Officials also reported record or near-record rainfall totals in Avoyelles and Pointe Coupee parishes over a 12-hour period.
The order allows the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to coordinate resources and provide assistance to local governments if needed.
Certain state purchasing and bidding requirements have been temporarily suspended to speed up emergency response efforts.
The declaration took effect immediately and will remain in place through July 18 unless it is lifted or extended.
State officials are urging residents to stay weather aware, avoid flooded roadways and follow guidance from local emergency managers.
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