Good morning, Lafayette.

Three Louisiana rice mills donated 2,500 pounds of rice on Tuesday to UL's Campus Cupboard to provide about 12,500 servings for students in need.

The donation came from Crowley mills and Mer Rouge's 4 Sisters, with leftover rice from the recent Ragin Cajun Rice Festival (part of National Rice Month).

Camellia Boulevard will close Saturday morning from 7:45 a.m. to about 10 a.m. for Maddie’s Footprints 5k, and Lafayette police will reopen lanes in phases starting with the northbound lane.

Drivers should plan ahead and use alternate routes (Johnston Street and W. Martial Ave) to avoid delays.

Buc-ee’s will break ground on its Lafayette store on Nov.

9 at 11 a.m. with founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin, local and state officials present, at the planned 74,000 sqft site at Louisiana Avenue & I-10. The $72.05 million project is expected to complete in early 2028 with roadway improvements.

Louisiana Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Center will host a six-week session for small businesses and start-ups from Oct.

8 through Nov. 12; registration costs $25 thanks to Lafayette Economic Development Authority sponsorship. Walk-ups are welcome on the first day if space is available.

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles returns to Girard Park Oct.

8-11 with new experiences (selected for the Smithsonian’s Festival of Festivals). The event features Dry Bones premieres at the Acadiana Center, the revived Scène '76 stage, and a Folklife Village with Indigenous, Acadian and Creole crafts.

Relics of Charlene Marie Richard, known as the 'Little Cajun Saint,' returned to the Diocese of Lafayette from Rome.

The protective containers — carrying portions of her hair and bones — will be preserved in a reliquary as the church continues her canonization cause.

At last week's budget hearing, a board regent suggested that ULL, Louisiana Tech, and ULM drop to lower football tiers amid significant athletic deficits, and president Rick Gallot said hard decisions will follow after Deloitte's report (due by year-end).

On Sept. 30, Beau Chene football won its homecoming game after the loss of its four-year starter Santiago Solis-Nava (killed in an ATV accident on Sept.

24). The team, at 3-0 and undefeated, rallied to honor him and look for more victories.