Louisiana

Louisiana’s run with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is over. What happens to the 60-foot gator?

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2024

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.

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Louisiana

Louisiana lands another $10 billion AI data center

Published

3 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana lands another billion AI data center

Hut 8 is building a new $10 billion artificial intelligence data center in Louisiana’s West Feliciana Parish.
The project is expected to employ more than 1,000 construction workers at its peak.
AI company Anthropic has signed a long-term deal to use the new facility.
This is the second major data center project announced in Louisiana, following Meta’s investment in Richland Parish.

Louisiana has finalized details on another $10 billion data center, this one from Hut 8 in West Feliciana Parish.,

Hut 8, which develops and operates an integrated portfolio of power, digital infrastructure and compute assets, said more than 1,000 construction workers will be on site of its River Bend artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus at its peak.

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company whose flagship chatbot is Claude, has signed a long-term deal to use the facility, Hut 8 and the state announced Dec. 17.

“It’s a transformational and generational project for our parish and region,” West Feliciana Parish President Kenny Havard said in an interview with USA Today Network. “The possibilities really are endless.”

The official announcement and details come after months of preparation from the parish government and its partnership with the state for the data center on which construction has been underway for months.

It’s the second $10 billion plus data center announced in Louisiana during the past two years. Meta’s massive data center project is under way in northeastern Louisiana’s Richland Parish. Meta originally announced a $10 billion investment but has since increased that scope to at least $25 billion.

“Hut 8’s investment in River Bend builds on our track record of attracting global-scale projects in the industries of the future,” Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement. “As the campus grows, it will further cement Louisiana’s position as a national leader in energy and innovation, creating thousands of jobs and reaffirming our ability to compete and win on the global stage.”

Construction is scheduled to be complete in the second quarter of 2027.

“River Bend demonstrates that Louisiana’s economic strategy is taking our state from plans to progress,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said in a statement. “This project will generate high-wage jobs and create pathways for Louisianans to build long-term careers in the industries of the future. It’s a clear example of how aligning policy, partnership and people translates into lasting opportunity.”

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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Louisiana

Louisiana man arrested for allegedly planning attack in New Orleans – UPI.com

Published

15 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana man arrested for allegedly planning attack in New Orleans – UPI.com

Dec. 16 (UPI) — A suspect identified as Micah James Legnon has been arrested by agents from the FBI’s New Iberia office for allegedly planning an attack on federal agents.

Legnon, 29, was a member of the Turtle Island Liberation Front and had communicated with four members who were charged with allegedly planning a series of New Year’s Eve terrorist attacks in the Greater Los Angeles area on Monday, WDSU reported.

He is a resident of New Iberia and was arrested on Friday while driving to New Orleans after FBI agents saw him loading a military-style rifle and body armor into his vehicle and telling others in a Signal chat group that he was traveling to New Orleans.

New Iberia is located about 120 miles west of New Orleans, and Legnon allegedly shared a video that showed multiple firearms, gas canisters and body armor before leaving on Friday.

In that post, Legnon said he was “On my way to NOLA now, be there in about two hours,” but the FBI arrested him while driving east on U.S. Highway 90, according to WWL-TV.

In a Dec. 4 post, Legnon shared a Facebook post showing Customs and Border Protection agents arresting someone and said he wanted to “recreate Waco, Texas,” on the federal officers while referencing the 1993 federal siege on the Branch Davidians compound there.

He is a former Marine who was trained in combat and a self-professed satanist who used the alias “Black Witch” in group chats with four suspects accused of targeting locations throughout California.

Federal prosecutors filed a federal complaint against Legnon and asked the magistrate judge to seal it and related records due to an ongoing investigation.

They asked that it be unsealed on Tuesday, which is a day after the four suspects accused of planning the California terror attacks were charged with related crimes.

The FBI said Legnon had been communicating with the four suspects in California before the arrests were made and charges filed in the respective cases.

The Turtle Island Liberation Front is a far-left, anti-government, anti-capitalist and pro-Palestinian group, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

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Louisiana

Louisiana gets $15 million for literacy tutoring study initiative

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana gets million for literacy tutoring study initiative

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The Louisiana Department of Education announced Tuesday it was awarded $15 million to lead a study on the increasing impact of high-dosage tutoring.

The grant came from the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research program. State education leaders said the money will fund a five-year study to expand the impact of high-dosage literacy tutoring for students in grades 1-2 who are below grade level in reading.

“Louisiana has shown what’s possible when states are trusted to lead,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Education for their confidence in our strategy and for investing in a Louisiana-designed solution to accelerate student literacy.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said making literacy outcomes stronger throughout the nation is one of her top priorities.

“Every dollar from this year’s EIR awards will support the use and expansion of evidence-based literacy instruction, expand education choice, and empower grant recipients to build and sustain high-quality literacy support systems for students. This is a huge opportunity for states to lead, and they are rising to the occasion,” she said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, who joined McMahon in an August education roundtable in Baton Rouge, celebrated the funding. “Strong literacy skills are the foundation for everything that comes next in school and in life,” he said. “Louisiana has shown real progress, and this funding helps take what’s working and expand it so more students can succeed.”

Schools with low literacy proficiency rates will be prioritized. Air Reading, Studyyville, Johns Hopkins University and Louisiana higher education institutions will be key partnerships in the project.