A bit of Louisiana’s culture is making its way back to Pasadena this Jan 1.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses has announced the Rose Parade’s mid-parade musical performance presented by Explore Louisiana.

The 2025 float will showcase the state’s heritage, including rising country artist Timothy Wayne, performing “Louisiana Saturday Night.”

Wayne spent the summer touring with his uncle, Louisiana native Tim McGraw and Carley Pearce on the Standing Room Only Tour.

He signed with the record company UMG Nashville earlier this year and has been working on his first studio project before returning to Louisiana State University for his junior year of college.

The Mid-Parade Performance will bring the music that defines Louisiana’s rich musical heritage. This will be the fourth year that Louisiana’s official travel authority has presented the musical showcase.

Louisiana’s past floats have been celebrated for their creativity and artistry, and this year is set to be no different, with the 136th Rose Parade’s theme, “Best Day Ever!”

The 2025 float features a Louisiana alligator adorned with beads, carrying a Cajun dance hall and pots of boiled seafood on its back. The float vividly brings Louisiana’s culture to life, emphasizing good music, good food and good friends.

Last year, Explore Louisiana welcomed James Burton, Sean Ardoin and Amanda Shaw to perform, with the theme of the parade, “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.”

Stay tuned for news to come on the other acts.

Originally Published: August 29, 2024 at 12:52 p.m.

Officials with the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office didn’t have to wait long to find a man accused of riding up to Jeanerette City Hall with what they say was a delayed incendiary device.

In a statement to the press, officials asked for the public’s help yesterday to locate 44-year-old Eugene Desmond for allegedly setting a fire at a public building.

As the scenario goes, it is alleged that Desmond rode up to city hall on his bicycle and went to the section of the building where the mayor’s office is located. He tried to get in, but he was unsuccessful in his attempt. When that didn’t work, he had another plan.

As 1 o’clock approached Wednesday afternoon, authorities alleged he decided to use a delayed incendiary device, and he left it behind at the building. This device started a fire.

Thankfully, no one was injured after the fire started at Jeanerette City Hall, and there was only minimal damage to the facility.

Officials say the man, once found, was taken into custody. No one has stated what the motive for this incident might be or why Desmond decided to place the device at city hall. The investigation continues.

If you do know something about the situation, you can call the Jeanerette Police Department at 337-276-6323. You can also call the State Fire Marshal’s Office Tipline at 844-954-1221. You can also give information on any case by visiting lasfm.org.

This is a developing story, and the KPEL News Team is working to provide additional coverage for Acadiana. Updates will be shared as they become available, so download the KPEL News app via Google Play or in the App Store and subscribe to breaking news alerts to get the latest information sent directly to your mobile device.

You can also use the KPEL app to submit a news tip, share a traffic update, or chat directly with our on-air team.

Be sure to bookmark our latest site, wearelafayette.net, where we provide more local news coverage as well as lifestyle and community features.

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On June 20, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law requiring public schools in Louisiana to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.  

From elementary to post-secondary schools, all Louisiana public schools must display a poster similar to the “plainly constitutional” ones revealed by Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill on Aug. 5. 

The duo revealed at least five different ideas for posters, including one titled “The House of Representatives and the Lawgivers,” featuring the Ten Commandments between a stone carving of “Moses the Lawgiver” and a photo of House Speaker Mike Johnson from Louisiana.  

Another poster features former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg next to historical documents such as the 1689 English Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, as well as a quote from a school paper that she wrote about the United Nations Charter when she was 13.  

Other potential posters include images and quotes from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda and former Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. 

Ginsburg’s granddaughter, Clara Spera, wrote an email to Rolling Stone Magazine regarding Ginsburg’s misquotation on the posters. “The use of my grandmother’s image in Louisiana’s unconstitutional effort to display the Ten Commandments in public schools is misleading and an affront to her well-documented First Amendment jurisprudence,” she said. 

The posters served to “illustrate that there are constitutional ways to apply this law,” Murrill said.  

There is some legal precedent to the Louisiana law. In the 1980 case of Stone v. Graham, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Kentucky. However, the 2005 Supreme Court case Van Orden v. Pary ruled that a monument of the Ten Commandments could be placed in a public park. 

While the bill passed easily through a Republican-controlled House, Senate and executive branch, the court immediately challenged the law. A coalition of groups filed a lawsuit, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and nine Louisiana families of different religious backgrounds. Within the nine families are four members of the clergy. 

“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public-school classroom — rendering them unavoidable — unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture,” the suit said. 

“I think it’s a ridiculous invasion of religious and state crossover,” State Rep. Aimee Freeman, who represents Tulane’s district, said. “This country was founded on religious freedom, and I think it’s insulting and illegal.” Freeman voted against the bill. 

Some Louisiana public schools that are defendants in the lawsuit will not have to post the Ten Commandments until at least Nov. 15, due to an agreement between the state and the federal court.  

“Tell the child not to look at it,” Landry said at a news conference on Aug. 5. “Really and truly, I don’t see what the big fuss is about.”