The Advocate's Top Headlines

with Matthew Albright | Assistant metro editor

Good morning. Here are some of our best reads from yesterday.

How a murder-suicide led to change

If someone had reported a confrontation at a school carpool line to authorities, Lydia Johnston might still be alive — and her four children would still have a mother. Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard is sure of it.

Johnston's death in a 2018 murder-suicide shocked the parish. Since then, Ard's department has reworked how it handles domestic violence cases, with a specialized team of officers that do more than just respond to 911 calls.

Judge weighs in on Girl Scouts controversy

Thousands of Louisiana Girl Scouts have fond memories of Camp Whispering Pines, a retreat in Tangipahoa Parish. So they were shocked when the Scouts, facing financial difficulties, sold the place. 

Some got together and sued, saying the Scouts had violated their own bylaws and were exposing the camp's endangered longleaf pines. 

Now a judge has put a halt to the sale, at least for now. 

Big LSU football news

Maybe it's because Ed Orgeron doesn't have much to lose — after all, he's out as LSU's head football coach at the end of the season — but he made some frank comments Monday about his team's quarterback situation. He said Garrett Nussmeier is competing with season-long starter Max Johnson for the job. And he was honest about mistakes Johnson made in the oh-so-close loss to Alabama on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Scott Rabalais has immersed himself in the scuttlebutt about who could be replacing Orgeron. He's trimmed his list down to the top 8 contenders, with odds for each. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!