Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards hospitalized

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards has been hospitalized because of breathing problems.

Edwards, 93, was taken by ambulance to Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge on Friday afternoon.

Edwards biographer Leo Honeycutt said the former governor tested negative for both COVID-19 and pneumonia but that he was being kept for observation after having respiratory problems.

There was no immediate word on his condition Saturday.

Bob D’Hemecourt, a close friend of Edwards, told The Advocate that Edwards had a similar shortness of breath episode in recent years. When that happened, he initially tested negative for pneumonia, but then tested positive, D’Hemecourt said.

D’Hemecourt, who spoke with Edwards’ wife, Trina, said that when emergency medical technicians arrived at his house, he walked to the stretcher on his own, and reminded Trina to turn out the lights in the house.

“That’s typical him. He used to do the same thing in the Governor’s Mansion,” D’Hemecourt said.

Edwards served four terms as Louisiana’s governor, from 1972 to 1980, from 1984 to 1988 and then from 1992 to 1996.