The Advocate 02-18-2025 by The Advocate

I-10 Washington St. ramp to be closed

DOTD says Baton Rouge exit causes traffic problems

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Louisiana ofﬁcials plan to perma-

nently close the Washington Street exit from Interstate 10 eastbound in Baton Rouge, saying it causes drivers to weave in and out of lanes and clog up trafﬁc.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, said at a news conference Monday that he is pushing for the exit to be shut down by Christmas.

“I’ve never talked personally to one person that wants this exit to remain open,” said McMakin, who called it “the worst exit in America.” Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Joe Donahue said the state needs approval for the exit closure from the Federal Highway Administration and needs to ensure the project satisﬁes requirements of the National Envi-

ronmental Policy Act.

The transition to the administration of President Donald Trump along with some of its new initiatives have led to a period of adjustment with respect to agency processes, Donahue said.

“But the entire goal of all of those new initiatives are to speed up the process and to remove red tape,” he added. “And so, my hope would be that this would be something that, you know, goes a lot quicker than it might have otherwise.”

The closure will be accomplished by installing barriers, Donahue said, and full removal of the ramp will be

Plant’s waste mound allowed to expand

Groups raise concerns about growing slightly radioactive pile

BY DAVID J MITCHELL

Staff writer

A fertilizer plant’s towering mound of slightly radioactive waste along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish is being allowed to expand by state regulators, a move the company says is necessary to make up for ground lost to stability issues that had earlier posed concerns.

Mosaic Fertilizer’s mound at the Uncle Sam plant in Convent, so tall it has its own aviation warning lights,

is familiar to residents and those who drive through the area. It contains chalkcolored phosphogypsum with acidic lakes embedded in the pile.

Environmental and neighborhood groups are concerned about the expansion, while the company says it is unavoidable and will allow it to continue to operate as it already has for years. Along with its Faustina plant across the Mississippi, Mosaic employs 344 people and 200 contractors, is a top taxpayer in the parish and provides a critical resource for row crops that feed people worldwide, the company says. “The solid waste permit renewal allows us to

ä See WASTE, page 5A

undertaken “in connection with the I-10 widening project.”

To comply with federal rules DOTD distributed flyers to 1,500 residences near the Washington Street exit advising of the proposed permanent closure, Donahue said. A public comment period is open until Sunday; comments can be submitted by email to i10washingtonexit@ la.gov

State Rep. Chad Brown, D-Plaquemine, said Monday he was representing residents and commuters on the west side of the Mississippi River

Lawsuit challenges amendment ballot wording

Landry’s tax changes require revising state constitution

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Gov Jeff Landry and Louisiana legislators overhauled the state’s tax system in November, but for the full plan to take effect requires one more step: A March 29 vote of the people to approve revising the state constitution.

But a law ﬁrm went to court in Baton Rouge on Monday to keep that question off the ballot, saying the wording is illegally slanted in favor of the proposition and misrepresents what the proposed changes would do.

The lawsuit notes that state law requires ballot language to be “simple, unbiased, concise, and easily understood.”

Amidst the lengthy ballot language for Amendment 2 next month, voters are told that voting for it would “provide a permanent teacher salary increase.”

“Amendment 2 was thoroughly debated and passed by a bipartisan supermajority of both houses of the Legislature I am confident that voters across Louisiana will see through this political charade and pass Amendment 2 overwhelmingly on March 29.”

GOV. JEFF LANDRy

“But there is no salary increase,” the lawsuit says, “only the extension of an existing stipend that has been in place for several years. No teacher will be paid any more than they currently are due to this potential amendment, and some teachers may be paid less.”

Landry takes issue with the thinking behind the lawsuit.

“This lawsuit attempts to deny citizens their right to vote to grant teachers a permanent pay raise, lower income taxes for seniors, reduce the maximum income tax rate, and limit the growth of state government,” he said in a statement. “Amendment 2 was thoroughly debated and passed by a bipartisan supermajority of both houses of the Legislature. I am conﬁdent that voters across Louisiana will see through this political charade and pass Amendment 2 overwhelmingly on March 29.”

The lawsuit was filed by Most & Associates, a New Orleans firm. William Most declined to identify who is behind the lawsuit, which lists three citizens as filing it. They are the Rev Willie

ä See LAWSUIT, page 5A

Trump begins firing FAA staff

Move comes just weeks after fatal D.C. plane crash ä Delta jet overturns at Toronto airport. PAGE 2A

WASHINGTON The Trump administration has begun ﬁring several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails Friday notifying them they had been fired, David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety ä See FAA, page 5A

PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

tractor trailer looks for space on Interstate 10 as it nears

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By SETH WENIG

employees were fired by the Trump administration on a busy air travel weekend.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Leader of cultlike group linked to killings booked

BOSTON The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said Monday

Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko 33, of Media, Pennsylvania They face multiple counts including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in the vehicle

A bail hearing for the two is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Allegany District Court.

The Zizians have been tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and ﬁve other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles from the Canadian border

Ofﬁcials have offered few details of the cross-country investigation, which broke open after the Jan. 20 shooting death of Maland Associated Press interviews and a review of court records and online postings tell the story of how a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists, most of them in their 20s and 30s, met online, shared anarchist beliefs, and became increasingly violent.

N.Y. officials resign over mayor’s corruption case NEW YORK Four top deputies to New York City Mayor Eric Adams are resigning in the latest fallout from the Justice Department’s push to end a corruption case against Adams and ensure his cooperation in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown a bargain that has raised questions about the mayor’s political independence and ability to lead the city In a statement Monday, Adams conﬁrmed the departures of First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker

“I am disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision and wish them nothing but success in the future,” said Adams, who faces several challengers in June’s Democratic primary “But let me be crystal clear: New York City will keep moving forward, just as it does every day.” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams became the latest Democrat to call on the mayor to resign, saying that with the deputy mayor resignations it’s clear he “has now lost the conﬁdence and trust of his own staff, his colleagues in government and New Yorkers.”

Rebels tighten grip on major city in Congo

BUKAVU Congo Rwanda-backed rebels tightened their grip on Bukavu on Monday, a day after seizing the second major city in eastern Congo whose residents appeared resigned to their fate under the new rulers.

On Sunday, M23 rebels captured the city of 1.3 million people after it was abandoned by Congolese forces. Bukavu lies 63 miles south of Goma, which was captured by the rebels in late January

The M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that’s critical for much of the world’s technology The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N experts.

The decadeslong ﬁghting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Plane flips on landing in Toronto

BY JOHN WAWROW and MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

TORONTO A Delta Airlines plane ﬂipped upon arrival at Toronto Pearson International Airport and ended up on its roof Monday, injuring 17 people.

The airport confirmed on X that an “incident” occurred with the Delta ﬂight from Minneapolis and that 76 passengers and four crew are accounted for The accident happened at about 2:15 p.m. and ﬂights at the airport, which handles more passengers than any other Canadian airport, were grounded for around two and half hours. Two runways will remain closed during the investigation.

“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority told reporters.

The number of people injured was down from early reports from paramedics

that 19 were hurt Video from the scene shows the Mitsubishi CRJ900LR upside down on the snowy tarmac as emergency workers hose it down. The plane was somewhat obscured by snow from a winter storm that hit Toronto over the weekend.

Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city.

“Emergency teams are responding,” the airport said in a post on the social platform X. “All passen-

gers and crew are accounted for.”

Tower controllers were heard speaking with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help with the crash. The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, the controller said. That’s not far from the start of the runway

“Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there,” a tower controller said.

“Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down

and burning,” the medical helicopter pilot responded.

It is too early to say what caused the plane to ﬂip but weather may have played a factor According to the Meteorological Service of Canada, the airport was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph gusting to 40 mph. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees.

“It’s very rare to see something like this,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting ﬁrm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“We’ve seen a couple of

cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare.”

The audio recording from the tower at Toronto Pearson International Airport shows the flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. local time. The tower warns the pilots of a possible air ﬂow bump in the glide path as the plane comes into land.

“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” Cox said. Cox, who flew for U.S Air for 25 years and has worked on NTSB investigations, said the CRJ-900 aircraft is a proven aircraft that’s been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather

“The weather conditions were windy The wind was out of the west at 27 to 35 knots, which is about 38 miles

Russian, U.S. officials to hold talks without Kyiv

Envoys to meet in Saudi Arabia

BY MATTHEW LEE, JUSTIN SPIKE and BARRY HATTON Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly three years ago.

The talks scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia mark another pivotal step by the Trump administration to reverse U.S. policy on isolating Russia, and are meant to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The recent U.S. diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a

seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that won’t be favorable to them. France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the U.K. on Monday to decide how to respond.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in the Saudi capital on Monday according to Russian state TV Ushakov said the talks would be “purely bilateral” and would not include Ukrainian ofﬁcials.

The U.S. delegation, he said, is made up of “serious people” but said Russia “came with a serious approach too.” It is important, Ushakov said, “to start the real normalization of relations” between Russia and the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.”

Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.

“I think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to de-

Source: Musk’s DOGE seeks access to taxpayer data at IRS

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efﬁciency is seeking access to troves of sensitive taxpayer data at the IRS, two people familiar with the inner workings of the plan who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly told The Associated Press on Monday. If successful, Musk and his group would have access to millions of tightly controlled files that include taxpayer information, bank records and other sensitive records.

potential unlawful release of taxpayer records could be used to maliciously target Americans, violate their privacy and create other ramiﬁcations.

would grant IRS system access to Musk or DOGE

The senators are also seeking justiﬁcations for DOGE efforts to inspect tax returns and private bank records.

Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that “waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and ﬁx it.”

The people who spoke to the AP and requested anonymity said DOGE is speciﬁcally seeking to access the IRS’ Integrated Data Retrieval System, which enables employees “to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” according to the IRS website Advocates fear that the

“DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers are trying to ﬁght against DOGE plans to access IRS data. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter Monday to acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, demanding copies of any memos that

Along with fears that DOGE access to taxpayer data may not be legal, “we are also extremely concerned that DOGE personnel meddling with IRS systems in the middle of tax ﬁling season could, inadvertently or otherwise, cause breakdowns that may delay the issuance of tax refunds indefinitely,” the letter reads.

“Any delay in refunds could be financially devastating to millions of Americans who plan their budgets around timely refunds every spring.”

Jan. 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be ﬁled by the April 15 deadline.

The Washington Post on Sunday first reported on DOGE’s plans to access taxpayer data.

termine if this is something that can move forward,” she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bruce said that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday’s talks, actual peace negotiations would only take place

with Ukraine’s involvement. Kyiv’s participation in any peace talks was a bedrock of U.S. policy under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden. Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program Witkoff said he and Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.” Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia — two key items on Putin’s wish list.

IMAGE FROM CTV VIDEO

Emergency crews respond Monday after a Delta Airlines plane flipped upon arrival at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

PHOTO PROVIDED By UKRAINIAN 24TH MECHANISED BRIGADE Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire an MRLS BM-21 ‘Grad’ on Saturday toward Russian army positions near Chasiv yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine.

‘Life-threatening cold’ hits parts of U.S.

Death toll at 13 from weekend storms

BY JACK DURA and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D Harsh cold descend on the nation’s midsection Monday as a polar vortex gripped the Rockies and Northern Plains on the heels of weekend storms that pummeled the Eastern U.S. with ﬂoods, killing at least 13 people

The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” as wind chills dropped to minus 60 in parts of North Dakota on Monday and minus 50 in parts of Montana.

Tuesday morning was forecast to be even colder

Extreme cold warnings were issued for an 11-state swath of the U.S. stretching from the Canadian border to Oklahoma and central Texas, where the Arctic front was expected to bring near-record cold temperatures and wind chills in the single digits by midweek.

Meteorologists had predicted that parts of the U.S. would experience the 10th and coldest polar vortex event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are pushing chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe

Deadly flooding

The death toll in flood-battered Kentucky rose to 11, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday Nine of the deaths were ﬂood-related. Two fatal vehicle crashes were connected to the severe weather he said and at least 1,000 people stranded by ﬂoods had to be rescued.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches of rain as severe storms swept across the South. Water submerged cars and build-

ings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia.

In West Virginia, where there was one conﬁrmed fatality with several people still missing, Gov Patrick Morrisey asked President Donald Trump to issue a disaster declaration for a 13-county region ravaged by ﬂooding. In Atlanta, a person was killed when a large tree fell on a home early Sunday.

Flood warnings were extended Monday across most of Kentucky and portions of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio

Parts of U.S. hit by snow storms

In Nebraska, where much of the state was under a winter weather advisory, a state trooper was killed Monday morning while responding to a crash on Interstate 80 near the town of Greenwood. The trooper’s name and further circumstances of the fatality were

not immediately released.

Ice and snow made travel treacherous in large swaths of Michigan, which remained under a winter weather advisory until Monday afternoon.

Authorities in Colorado reported eight people were killed in fatal vehicle crashes since Valentine’s Day and warned drivers to be cautious.

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains, with the danger rated high in portions of Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.

The Mount Washington Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning Monday for areas of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Two ice climbers were rescued in the White Mountains on Sunday after triggering an avalanche that partially buried one of them, ofﬁcials said. Detroit water main bursts

Parts of a southwest Detroit neighborhood were submerged af-

ter a nearly century-old water main burst Monday, ﬂooding streets, sidewalks and yards under several feet of water

Firefighters used a ladder to help one person from the roof of a car in waist-deep water and a bulldozer was used to navigate a flooded street and help people leave a home, according to the fire department.

The 54-inch transmission main was built in 1930, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority Crews were attempting to isolate the break. It was not clear what caused it, but overnight temperatures had been well below freezing. No injuries have been reported.

Extreme cold

This is the coldest month of the year for many locations, and air temperatures may approach record lows in some areas, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Anglin in Bismarck.

People should cover exposed skin and limit time outside to avoid frostbite, which can happen in minutes in such low temperatures, Anglin said. Neighbors should check on each other and those who are vulnerable and monitor heater vents to make sure they don’t ice up.

Due to the frigid conditions and a “lack of adequate heating fuel,” North Dakota Gov Kelly Armstrong on Monday waived hours-of-service requirements for commercial-vehicle drivers hauling propane and petroleum products. The waiver is for 30 days.

The cold snap in North Dakota was expected to reduce oil production by about 5%, or about 50,000 to 80,000 barrels a day — pretty typical for such conditions, North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad said. It takes about a week once temperatures warm up for volumes to rebound, he said.

Israel’s ceasefires with Hamas, Hezbollah in doubt

BY MELANIE LIDMAN and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israel’s military says its forces will remain in ﬁve strategic locations in southern Lebanon after Tuesday’s deadline for their withdrawal under a ceaseﬁre with the Hezbollah militant group, as Lebanon’s government expressed frustration over another delay.

A separate ceasefire in Gaza was also in doubt as the region marked 500 days of Israel’s war with Hamas, while Israel and the United States sent conflicting signals over whether they want the truce to continue. Talks on the ceasefire’s second phase are yet to start.

Military spokesperson Lt. Col Nadav Shoshani said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis are still displaced He said the “temporary measure” was approved by the U.S.-led body monitoring the truce, which earlier was extended by three weeks. Under the agreement, Israeli forces should withdraw from a buffer zone in south-

ern Lebanon to be patrolled by the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers. The ceaseﬁre has held since taking effect in November Israel is committed to a withdrawal in “the right way, in a gradual way, and in a way that the security of our civilians is kept,” Shoshani told reporters.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told reporters the ceasefire “must be respected,” saying “the Israeli enemy cannot be trusted.”

He said Lebanese officials were working diplomatically for the withdrawal. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said Sunday “there can be no excuses” for any delay past Tuesday

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s military said its drone strike killed Muhammad Shaheen, head of Hamas’ operations in Lebanon. The strike in the port city of Sidon was the deepest inside Lebanese territory since the ceaseﬁre took effect. Associated Press video footage showed a charred vehicle.

“Now the fear has come back to people,” said Ahmed Sleim, a Sidon resident who worried about a return to war Israelis held protests call-

ing for the Gaza ceasefire to be extended so that more hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack can be freed.

An Israeli official said four bodies are expected to be returned to Israel on Thursday The ofﬁcial gave no further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because details were being arranged. So far, no bodies have been handed over during the ceasefire’s current phase. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Israeli ofﬁcials have said they believe eight of the 33 people to be returned in the ceasefire’s first phase are dead. Hamas is gradually releasing the 33 in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces have pulled back from most parts of Gaza and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.

This first phase ends in less than two weeks. Negotiations on the more difficult second phase — which would release more hostages and see the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza — should have started two weeks ago.

“All I care about, all I want, is for my friends to return. There were six of us living in unbearable condi-

‘No kings on Presidents Day’ rings out at protests against Trump, Musk

BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

BOSTON Protesters against President Donald Trump and his policies braved frigid temperatures to demonstrate Monday at rallies corresponding with the Presidents Day holiday Dubbed “No Kings on Presidents Day” by the 50501 Movement, the latest protests came less than two weeks after a similar nationwide event on Feb. 5 drew participants in dozens of cities. Both protests denounced Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk the leader of Trump’s new Department of Government Efﬁciency, an outside-government organization designed to slash federal spending.

Nearly 1,000 people marched in the snow from the Statehouse in Boston to City Hall, chanting “Elon Musk has got to go” and “No kings on Presidents Day!” The temperature was below freezing with wind chills in the teens. Boston protesters, some dressed in Revolutionary War-style clothing from the 1700s, carried signs saying such things as “This is a Coup” and “Cowards Bow to Trump, Patriots Stand Up.” One sign had a depiction of Uncle Sam saying “I Want You to Resist.” “I thought it was important to be here on Presidents Day to demonstrate for what America stands for,” said Emily Manning, 55,

People demonstrate Monday as part of the ‘No Kings on Presidents Day’ protest near the Capitol in Washington in support of federal workers and against recent actions by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

a Boston engineer who came to the rally with her two teenage sons. “American values are not the values of the plutocracy or the limited few rich people.” Organizers of Monday’s protests, which were focused on state capitals and major cities including Washington, D.C.; Orlando, Florida; and Seattle, said they were targeting “anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies.” One sign at the rally that attracted hundreds in the nation’s capital said, “Deport Musk Dethrone Trump.”

tions” Ohad Ben Ami, re-

leased a week and a half ago, told Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Families have described loved ones barefoot or in chains.

“It’s just not within the realm of possibility that they’re still there,” said

protester Eleanor Satlow in Jerusalem Others rallied in Tel Aviv, where newly released hostage Iair Horn told them: “I’m telling you, the hostages don’t have time, we don’t have time.” His brother Eitan is still in Gaza.

BY SYLVIE CORBET and RAF CASERT

Associated Press

PARIS European leaders insisted Monday they must have a say in international talks to end the war in Ukraine despite the clear message from both Washington and Moscow that there was no role for them as yet in negotiations that could shape the future of the continent.

Three hours of emergency talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris left leaders of Germany the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and the European Union without a common view on possible peacekeeping troops after a U.S diplomatic blitz on Ukraine last week threw a once-solid trans-Atlantic alliance into turmoil.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for U.S. backing while reafﬁrming he’s ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others “if there is a lasting peace agreement.” There was a rift though with some EU nations, like Poland, which have said they don’t want their military imprint on Ukraine soil. Macron was noncommittal.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged the Europeans “need to come to a common conclusion about what we can contribute And that way we will eventually get a seat at the table,” adding that “just sitting at the table without contributing is pointless.” Starmer said a trans-Atlantic bond remained essential. “There must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

Plan to power data center challenged

Entergy seeks to build 3 gas power plants

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Two environmental and consumer protection groups are challenging Entergy’s plan to power a massive artiﬁcial intelligence data center for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, in northeast Louisiana.

The Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists have ﬁled a motion asking the state’s utility regulators to deny Entergy’s request to build three gas power plants at a cost of over $3 billion until it follows standard procedure. If the regulators side with the advocacy groups, Entergy would have to scrap the proposal in its current form and resubmit it after proving the gas plants are the best option available.

Entergy did not sufficiently show that the plants are the most cost-effective generation options that serve the public interest, the groups allege. They say the state’s largest utility did not meet requirements to be exempt from the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s standard process, where the utility must go to the market to assess the various options that would meet electricity demands.

“This is a real problem from our perspective for ratepayers because we effectively have to take it on faith that Entergy has found the least cost option that will serve their customers,” said Logan Burke, the executive director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy Entergy argues that the beneﬁts

the data center would bring in the form of jobs and economic development, the significant outside funding from the tech giant for the power plants and the need to speed the process to secure Meta’s investment is enough to forego the formal process.

Entergy declined to comment on the motion itself, but a spokesperson highlighted the benefits the data center would bring to a region in need of new economic prospects. The project is expected to create 300 to 500 jobs.

”It represents a major investment for the state, creating new job opportunities both during construction and in long-term operations,” Brandon Scardigli, the company representative, said.

“Entergy Louisiana will play a key role in providing reliable and sustainable energy to support Meta’s operations, reinforcing our com-

said.

“This will not completely solve the problem,” said Brown. “I am a strong proponent of a new crossing over the river.”

mitment to renewable energy and economic growth.”

Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In December, Meta announced its $10 billion plan to build its largest data center yet in Richland Parish, in a rural area east of Monroe. The advance of AI is causing demand for these airport-sized computer warehouse facilities to skyrocket, though they can also strain local grids.

The new electricity generation could account for up to 30% of Entergy’s power in Louisiana, state officials have said, though the utility stresses the plants will be set up for clean energy production when feasible in the future. The Richland Parish complex is planned at 4 million square feet, the size of around 70 football ﬁelds.

Entergy is asking the commission to approve the construction

of the three new gas power plants, two of which would be located near the facility and a third elsewhere in the state. The utility wants the proposal approved by October, around a year after it submitted the application to the regulators.

An administrative law judge will handle the motion and offer a recommendation to the commission

Whoever loses on the motion has the right to appeal, members of the environmental groups noted.

Typically, a company requesting new power generation from state regulators would undergo a request for proposal, where it lays out all types of available sources of generation, from conventional to battery storage. These rules were updated last year, with the goal of including “a broad spectrum of supply-side options to provide the commission, stakeholders, and customers with information and participation from multiple generation types.”

There are exceptions, including for smaller contracts or the purchasing of emergency power The utility can also propose an alternative if it can prove that the regular process would not be in the public interest.

Entergy is seeking a broad waiver to the requirements, but the advocacy groups, represented by the environmental law nonproﬁt Earthjustice, argue it does not meet the standard for these exceptions. They want the commission to require Entergy to submit a proposal request and deny the utility’s application in the interim.

The advocacy groups said Entergy should be able to expedite the proposal request process and still meet Meta’s timeline. Entergy’s application stresses the need for a quickened process.

“The commission’s competitive RFP process is likely to bring cleaner, less expensive proposals

for meeting the data center’s energy needs,” said Paul Arbaje, an analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ climate and energy program.

Commissioner Davante Lewis said it was too early to comment on the motion, but that the ﬁling raises questions that the commission should look into.

“Having a review process is important to ensure we are building generation that is needed that is also the most cost-efﬁcient,” Lewis said.

Eric Skrmetta, another commissioner, similarly declined to comment on the motion specifically but said he believes the concerns over fast tracking the process or massive power needs to be unfounded.

“The industrial customer being the guarantor of the construction is a game changer,” Skrmetta said, referring to Meta’s ﬁnancial commitments to the new power plants.

“We are protecting the folks that need to be protected and at the same time creating the energy for industrial expansion.”

According to Entergy’s redacted application to the regulators, the tech company will pay the full annual revenue for the planned generators over the course of a 15year term, translating to “a large percentage of the costs that would otherwise be borne by all of (Entergy Louisiana’s) customers.”

The advocacy groups, however, argue that ratepayers could be at risk in the future.

“The expert witnesses are examining the complicated ﬁling now to determine the impact on ratepayers, but there is every reason to believe the project will impact ratepayers even if Meta does not terminate early and resigns a new agreement when the agreement’s ﬁrst term ends,” Arbaje said. Staff writer David Mitchell contributed reporting.

A commute that used to be 30 minutes can now sometimes take an hour and a half or two hours, he

“But doing something to make this area and this route safer and also remove one of the obstacles

that creates the largest chokehold on Interstate 10 across America is necessary,” he said. McMakin sponsored a resolution during the 2024 regular legislative session urging the DOTD to “review the road conditions at the Washington Street exit on I-10 in Baton

Rouge, Louisiana and close the exit to improve safety.” McMakin’s resolution said the exit contributes to backups on the new Mississippi River bridge and creates confusion and hazards for eastbound travelers as they leave the bridge. It also says the Terrace Avenue exit off Interstate 110 southbound, which is less than a mile away, opened in 2019 and provides a safer means to access Washington Street. Drivers could also take the Highland Road exit off I-10, the DOTD said.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Earthwork is underway at the site of a future Meta

Richland Parish.

LAWSUIT

Calhoun Jr., a pastor at Fairview Baptist Missionary Church in New Orleans; Amy Hession, a teacher and educator who lives in New Orleans; and Jacob Newsom, a high school humanities teacher who lives in Ascension Parish

During a two-week special session in November, Landry and the Legislature reduced income taxes, abolished the corporate franchise tax, raised the sales tax and kept tax credits used by ﬁlm productions and developers of historic buildings, albeit at lower spending levels. The net savings would dispro-

WASTE

Continued from page 1A

continue our operation of the gypstack at Uncle Sam,” said Ashleigh Gallant, a spokesperson for Mosaic.

“We are seeking no change either to the volume or materials we will inject.

In a recent decision, the state Department of Environmental Quality allowed the pile, also known as a “gypstack,” to expand, but that’s not the only issue concerning residents. Environmental groups are petitioning the agency for a public hearing on Mosaic’s proposed renewal of permits to continue injecting hazardous, contaminated process water underground.

With two wells in place for more than a decade, Mosaic has used underground injection to help maintain safe water levels in the stack’s 300 acres of lakes. Water in the storage lakes is acidic, laced with heavy metals and radioactive elements from the phosphate rock, along with contaminated rainfall runoff from exposed parts of the pile.

“We’ve seen the long-term consequences of such decisions before, and it’s clear that without strict oversight and a commitment to transparency, we are putting our neighborhoods at risk,” said Shamell Lavigne, chief operating officer of community group Rise St James. “It’s time for regulators and policymakers to put public safety first and rigorously reexamine these permits to ensure that our community is not being exposed to undue hazards.”

Mosaic’s stack, accumulating since the 1970s, is one of the tallest points for miles in the rural zone of cane ﬁelds, riverside hamlets and chemical, coal and iron facilities. With grassy slopes

FAA

Continued from page 1A

Specialists union, said in a statement.

The impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, one air traffic controller told The Associated Press. The air traffic controller was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity A Transportation Department official told the AP late Monday that no air traffic controllers were affected by the cuts, and that the agency has “retained employees who perform critical safety functions.” In a follow-up query the agency said they would have to look into whether the radar landing and navigational aid workers affected were considered to handle critical safety functions.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a brief statement Monday it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members.”

Other FAA employees who were ﬁred were working on an urgent and classiﬁed early warning radar system the Air Force had announced in 2023 for Hawaii to detect incoming cruise missiles, through a program that was in part funded by the Defense Department. It’s one of several programs that

portionately benefit the wealthy and big companies, who, Landry said, would use the money to invest in Louisiana and grow the state’s economy

At Landry’s behest, the Legislature also passed House Bill 7, which in 115 pages authorized a series of other changes to the constitution if approved by voters on March 29.

The lawsuit says the 91-word question is hopelessly complicated “There is no person in the State of Louisiana — including the legislators who passed HB7 — who understands all of the proposed changes to the constitution,” the lawsuit says “The voters, however, are to be asked to vote on the proposed changes.”

and chalky white splotches of phosphogypsum, it can be seen from the Sunshine Bridge.

With the new expansion, the pile is projected to ultimately encompass up to 1,300 acres and hold hundreds of millions of cubic yards of waste permanently, permit papers say Similar issues in Florida

The expansion’s origin was six years ago, when the pile began shifting, raising fears about its stability State and federal regulators and Mosaic consultants blamed the problem on a weak zone in soils about 75 feet to 100 feet underground. Testing from the 1970s had hinted at the issue, but the plant’s then owners dismissed it as a few bad samples, DEQ papers say

Over the following years, Mosaic and regulators took steps to monitor and eventually halt the pile’s movement by shifting the waste material away from the weak zone and by largely draining a nearly 200-foot-tall, 140-acre lake, permit papers say Mosaic also came up with the plan to expand dumping on adjacent ground to make up for lost capacity, the papers say DEQ officials authorized this proposed 330-acre expansion with a permit last month, nearly a year after they and the EPA determined that the pile movement had effectively stopped and the years of “crisis conditions” had ended.

The expansion will allow dumping for at least another 18 years, permit records say, but will be on land with signs of similar underground concerns as the area that moved several years ago. The company is vouching for its safety

Mosaic can’t operate without dumping phosphogypsum, a byproduct from the phosphate rock and its

the FAA’s National Airspace System Defense Program manages that involve radars providing longer-range detection around the country’s borders.

Due to the nature of their work, staff in that office typically provide an extensive knowledge transfer before retiring to make sure no institutional knowledge is lost, said Charles SpitzerStadtlander, one of the employees in that branch who was terminated.

The Hawaii radar and the FAA defense program ofﬁce working on it are “about protecting national security,” Spitzer-Stadtlander said. “I don’t think they even knew what NDP does, they just thought, oh no big deal, he just works for the FAA.”

“This is about protecting national security, and I’m scared to death,” SpitzerStadtlander said. “And the American public should be scared too.”

Spero said messages began arriving after 7 p.m. Friday and continued late into the night. More might be notiﬁed over the long weekend or barred from entering FAA buildings Tuesday, he said.

The employees were fired “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” Spero said, and the emails were“froman‘execorder’Microsoftemailaddress”—nota government email address. A copy of the termination email that was provided to the AP shows the sending address “ASK_AHR_EXEC_Orders@ usfaa.mail.outlook.com.”

The firings hit the FAA as it is facing a shortfall in

The lawsuit also says the 91 words include only the sweeteners in the proposed amendment — language aimed at drawing favorable votes.

“None of the unappealing changes are included,” it says. “The ballot language is all dessert, no vegetables.”

State Sen. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, said the ballot language was added in the Senate but wasn’t sure who provided it.

In layman’s terms, the proposed amendment would eliminate two education trust funds and use the $2 billion in those trust funds to eliminate a portion of teacher retirement system debt. The money saved from not paying the teacher retirement debt in turn would be used to give teachers a $2,000

naturally occurring metals and radioactive elements. Mosaic makes agricultural fertilizer from the rock, but the process creates more than 5 pounds of waste phosphogypsum for every pound of saleable product, permit papers say

The waste phosphogypsum is pumped to active areas of stack from a production plant and deposited in a wet slurry

Decades ago, the EPA settled on open-air stacking of phosphogypsum as the best and essentially only solution for handling the waste. It is regulated under a special hazardous waste exemption.

Though the source rock can contain radioactive uranium, thorium and radium-226, it is the radium in the phosphogypsum and its ability to degrade into radon-222 that the EPA rules are designed to limit. The colorless and odorless radioactive gas can cause lung cancer, the EPA says.

Dumped phosphogypsum can’t exceed certain radioactivity levels set by the agency and gypstacks also fall under maximum radioactivity limits deemed to have an acceptable health risk. Mosaic says it mitigates radioactivity further with several feet of eventual earthen cover over the gypsum.

Environmental groups and residents argue safety and health concerns remain

The industry has had similar stability problems in Florida that led to major releases of contaminated acidic waters into Tampa Bay and surrounding wetlands, they say

A catastrophic release of the pile’s contaminated process water could end up in nearby swamps and the Blind River, Rise St. James contends. They also argue the company downplayed the expansion’s air pollution impact on minority communities. Citing EPA data, other groups say Mosaic already

controllers. Federal ofﬁcials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air trafﬁc control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at U.S. airports. Among the reasons they have cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, long shifts, intensive training and mandatory retirements.

In the Jan. 29 fatal crash between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines passenger jet, which is still under investigation, one controller was handing both commercial airline and helicopter trafﬁc at the busy airport.

Just days before the collision, President Donald Trump had already ﬁred all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a panel mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is charged with examining safety issues at airlines and airports.

Spitzer-Stadtlander suggested he was targeted for ﬁring for his views on Tesla and X, formerly Twitter, not as part of a general probationary-level sweep. Both companies are owned by Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is leading Trump’s effort to cut the federal government.

Spitzer-Stadtlander is Jewish and was angered by Musk’s straight-arm gesture at Trump’s inauguration. On his personal Facebook page he urged friends to get rid of their Teslas and X accounts in response.

bump in salary

But teachers would not receive more than they are getting this year because it would only replace a onetime, $2,000 pay increase that teachers received last year — a point of contention for Most.

School support personnel also would see the one-time, $1,000 pay hike they received last year replaced with $1,000 more next year

The proposed amendment would also give parishes the option of repealing the property tax on business inventory, take most property tax exemptions out of the constitution and put their fate in the hands of legislators, impose a cap on annual spending and make it harder to create more tax breaks in the future.

The proposed constitutional

has a poor track record of regulatory compliance.

“Due to lack of clarity regarding the massive expansion within this ‘renewal,’ chronic noncompliance with existing solid waste permits, noncompliance with other environmental permits, multiple recent enforcement actions, and signiﬁcant environmental justice concerns, LDEQ cannot grant this permit and fulfill its constitutional duties,” Matt Rota, senior policy director for Healthy Gulf, wrote in comments last year

DEQ officials did not respond to a request for comment but, in permit papers, said particulate and toxic pollution around the Mosaic pile are well below federal air standards and won’t cause adverse health conditions for nearby residents.

Mosaic says the expansion, which could reach 160 feet, would serve as a buttress for the section of the pile with the past instability DEQ ofﬁcials agreed.

“This additional support will signiﬁcantly reduce the risk of slope failure, thereby improving the overall structural integrity and safety of the stack system,” state regulators said in their document laying out the reasons for the permit’s approval.

But, underneath where the new expansion known as “Stack 5” is to be built along

amendment also would merge two state savings accounts, and, if passed, allow Landry to use some of that money to pay parishes to drop the inventory tax program. It also would double the standard deduction for seniors on their income taxes and would impose a limit on the growth of state spending if certain spending triggers are met. The proposal does not touch two popular tax protections in the state constitution: the $75,000 homestead exemption and the sales tax exemption for the purchase of groceries, residential utilities and prescription drugs.

If the proposed amendment is knocked off the ballot or does not pass, the tax changes approved in November would remain in effect.

La. 3214, Mosaic’s ground testing found additional underground weaknesses of a similar kind and depth to the one blamed for the 2019 scare, state regulatory papers show

The weak area is about 85 feet deep and near a layer of marine clay deposits of the kind pinpointed elsewhere.

“It appears that the subject, soft organic layer is likely to be encountered to the mid- and eastern-side of the proposed Stack 5 area, and it appears to be more prevalent in the mid and southeastern sides of the area,” according to a May 2022 internal company letter from Mosaic’s engineers, Ardaman & Associates Inc.

Mosaic’s engineers have produced modeling showing the pile’s stability would be above the minimum level DEQ requires even with the weak zone identiﬁed.

Cane farmers working alongside the gypstack in late 2018 and early 2019 discovered the previous instability, when they encountered ﬁelds heaved upward by the pile’s moving leading edge.

Afterward, Mosaic outﬁtted the mound with monitors and, for the expansion, has plans to add more for advance warning of any early signs of movement, permit papers say Mosaic has also promised to take early steps

to see how those weak zones respond to dumping and will potentially slow or otherwise alter the new wing’s construction based on that response.

A principle in this kind of geotechnical engineering is that the slow piling of the waste actually helps weak soils compress, squeeze groundwater outward and upward, and add strength over time as the soils consolidate under the pressure of all that weight. To help with stability and protect groundwater, Mosaic is also promising to install underground drainage systems, natural clay liners at the base and synthetic liners inside the future pile, permit papers say The new dumping zone would require a year of monthly reporting, followed by annual reporting, the papers say Left unanswered is whether Mosaic would still seek its previously anticipated ﬁnal phase of the pile that would bring its overall height to 310 feet, which is about two-thirds of the height of the State Capitol in Baton Rouge. Mosaic’s engineers say they are still evaluating that plan’s viability David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

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Making friends on Valentine’s Day

Last week, Meredith Cooper at Forage Floral put out a call for volunteers to help deliver Valentine’s Day ﬂowers. I quickly threw my name in the hat and was happy when she told me to arrive at 9:30 a.m. Valentine’s morning.

Once I arrived at Cooper’s Government Street shop in Baton Rouge, she was handwriting cards for customers. One was a husband’s take on a sonnet for his wife.

Cooper said Rebecca Nelson would be my ﬂoral delivery partner Forage Floral is not your typical ﬂorist shop. It’s more of a studio. She has preplanned arrangements customers can choose from with names like Gal Pal, Wild Child and Classic, but Cooper doesn’t do the standard dozen red roses for Valentine’s.

As she took thin pieces of wire and ran them up the stems of scabiosas — long, graceful and delicate ﬂowers — Cooper chatted with me about her career as a ﬂorist.

It’s a small operation. Folks don’t pop in and pick up flowers. Arrangements have to be ordered and planned in advance except for the occasional pop-up she hosts, one of which was going on for Valentine’s across the street behind Barracuda’s Tacos. But primarily she operates her floral business with a combination of creativity and parameters — and the help of other part-time florists.

She has to use her ingenuity because she’s also a nurse, working at Baton Rouge General. Cooper told me she sees lots of similarities between nursing and being a ﬂorist. She said they are both about caring for other people. Both require lots of planning and organizing. The last commonality she mentioned caught me off guard and harkened back to putting the wires in the scabiosa.

“I don’t know if you saw me wiring the scabiosa. I think this so often that wiring ﬂowers is so similar to starting IVs,” she said. “Oh my gosh, like the feeling that you have whenever you’re in the right spot and like when you’re guiding it in.”

During the height of COVID, she decided that nursing was more important than flowers and put her floral business on hold. These days, Cooper is back in the full swing of flowers.

On Valentine’s morning, as Cooper went from one arrangement to the next, she shared tips for making flowers even more beautiful. For example, she removes all the outer rose petals that may look a little bruised. She holds the roses upside down, spins them back and forth between both hands and then blows on them — and the roses look so much fluffier and prettier

Cooper’s standard arrangements are anything but standard — and she customizes them on request. For example, one husband had asked that all yellow and peach-colored ﬂowers be removed from the arrangement for his wife.

Not a problem. She plucked out the yellow and peach-colored ﬂowers and replaced them with purple and pink.

Cooper uses all the sustainable means she can as a ﬂorist — no plastic holders for cards at Forage. Instead, she splices the long stems she cuts from roses and

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Judge rejects bid for new trial

Man faces life after rape conviction

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

A Baton Rouge man convicted of molesting an 8-year-old boy faces a mandatory life sentence Thursday when he’s scheduled to learn his fate, after a judge rejected his claims that state prosecutors withheld key evidence until days before his trial last year

Phillip Allen Wilson, 35, was found guilty of ﬁrst-degree rape, sexual battery and molestation of a juvenile Oct. 16 at the end of a three-day trial.

Last month, his defense attorney sought a new trial, arguing prosecutors for the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Ofﬁce did not allow

Wilson’s legal team to review a videotaped interview forensic analysts at the Baton Rouge Child Advocacy Center conducted with the child victim. During the interview, the boy described how Wilson sexually abused him on multiple occasions between August 2016 and June 2018.

It was a critical piece of the state’s evidence that New Orleans defense attorney Morris Reed tried to get thrown out on the opening day of Wilson’s trial. District Judge Brad Myers, who presided over the trial, ruled the interview admissible.

Myers doubled down on the admissibility of the Children’s Advocacy Center video in an order Friday, denying Wilson’s motion for a new trial.

“The record and facts refute not only that the state failed to disclose the existence of the CAC interview, but also any claim that the state acted in bad faith,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Wilson is set to stand before Myers for sentencing Thursday inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse. First-degree rape, the most serious charge for which he was convicted, is potentially a capital felony when the victim is a juvenile Court records show no indications prosecutors sought to invoke the death penalty against Wilson. That means he’ll likely receive a mandatory life sentence, pursuant to state law A Baton Rouge police ofﬁcer was dispatched to a Mid City residence in July 2018, after the victim’s mother told officers she learned her friend of nearly a decade sexually abused her 8-year-old son. She said she trusted Wilson and let him take the boy to movies, out to eat and to his home to play video games. But the child revealed that Wilson touched him inappropriately exposed him to sex acts and instructed him not to tell his relatives, according to a police report.

Wilson was originally charged with sexual battery, molestation of a juvenile and oral sexual battery in 2019 But the case languished through court shutdowns during the pandemic, multiple postponements and a negotiated plea deal that fell apart at the last minute in 2022.

Last May, prosecutors threw out the initial charges after a grand jury indicted Wilson for the elevated count of ﬁrst-degree rape, along with sexual battery and molestation of a juvenile charges.

Ten days after the victim’s mother reported the abuse, forensic analyst Lauren Evans interviewed the boy at the Baton Rouge Child Advocacy Center

The interview was videotaped. Baton Rouge police Sgt. Joseph Medina, a special victims detective who led the investigation, supervised the conversation from a separate room He testiﬁed the boy’s mother also gave

SWEET

Three arrested in murder

Family members face charges after body dumped on bridge

BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer

A Baker teenager wanted his mom to break up with her boyfriend. His mom’s refusal, authorities said, ultimately led to the grisly mutilation death of Gerard Nicholas Richard, 44, whose body then was dumped Thursday evening on the Huey P. Long Bridge that goes over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested three family members on Sunday. Richard’s girlfriend, Coshelia Conley, 36; her mother, Cathy Conley 55; and Da’Sean Conley 17, the teen who they said had an ongoing dispute with Richard, were booked into Parish Prison on second-degree murder counts

The three also were booked with obstruction, accused of try-

ing to cover up the crime.

Baton Rouge homicide detectives learned from witnesses that Da’Sean Conley was engaged in an ongoing feud with Richard, who most recently lived in Baker On Thursday, Da’Sean Conley punched Richard at the family’s apartment in Baker police said. Neighbors reported hearing Richard pleading for the teen to stop, saying “he would do anything they wanted,” according to arrest documents. Witnesses then saw Da’Sean Conley and Richard leaving the Baker apartment and walking toward a Chevrolet Tahoe. Then “a single gunshot was heard,” witnesses told investigators, before they saw the Tahoe driven away Less than half an hour later another witness saw two vehicles, including the Tahoe, stopped at the top of the bridge When the witness approached them, the vehicles sped off. Nearing the area where the cars had been parked, the witness discovered Richard’s body on the road.

Homicide detectives arrived shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday and found Richard’s remains “man-

gled up,” according to arrest documents. He had apparently been run over multiple times by one or multiple vehicles. His wrists were bound by rope and tape, with a kettlebell and bloody blanket nearby There was also blood on the bridge railings, suggesting an attempt to dispose of his body over the side of the span into the river, according to homicide detectives

On Thursday night police found a burned Tahoe in East Feliciana Parish matching the one the victim and Da’Sean Conley were traveling in. Police determined the Tahoe was intentionally set on ﬁre.

Detectives identified the Tahoe as Coshelia Conley’s through law enforcement video footage that captured the car traveling toward the site of the arson, and later confirmed this by matching the burned Tahoe’s vehicle identification number to her vehicle registration.

The Denham Springs Police Department has identiﬁed the woman who died in a deadly two-vehicle crash that occurred on 4H Club Road in Denham Springs on Friday night. Leigh Connor Lobello, 50, of Denham Springs succumbed to injuries from the crash after being transported to a hospital. Lobello was driving her 2021 Chevrolet pickup truck south-

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Ethel Erdey, center smiles with Coffee Call’s Brandi Catoire as she celebrates her 100th birthday in style with help from her daughter Donna Bencaz, left, and granddaughter Beverly Welda on Thursday at Coffee Call in Baton Rouge.

bound on 4H Club Road when she crossed the centerline and struck a 2015 Jeep Wrangler traveling northbound head-on.

Airbnb sues over New Orleans short-term rental rules

Company claims restrictions unconstitutional

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

Airbnb has sued over New Orleans’ sweeping short-term rental restrictions, alleging that a recent ordinance improperly delegates law enforcement to it and similar online platforms while forcing disclosure of sensitive data.

The lawsuit, which includes local property owners as plaintiffs, also alleges the city’s 2023 regulations for rentals in residential neighborhoods are unconstitutional, echoing claims in a similar lawsuit originally ﬁled in 2019 and amended after the latest regulations passed. That lawsuit is now before the 5th U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals

The latest case targets an ordinance the City Council passed in October that aims to eradicate listings of unpermitted rentals by requiring Airbnb VRBO and similar platforms to ensure that their listings are registered and legal.

The law was originally to take effect in March, but has since been pushed back to June, to give the city’s Safety and Permits department time to set up a new veriﬁcation system for platforms.

Though Airbnb takes steps to verify that listings aren’t fake, that does not include checking for compliance with local permitting rules, according to its website

That type of compliance check “improperly deputizes (platforms) as enforcers of the City’s ill-conceived ordinances,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.

The new law also requires platforms to submit monthly reports

with individual booking dates and transactions that Airbnb and other plaintiffs argue is sensitive and must be kept private.

The city had not ﬁled a response to the lawsuit as of Monday Adam Swensek, the City Council’s attorney, said it’s premature to comment on the lawsuit’s speciﬁcs.

“This Council will, however, continue to do everything in our power to protect the residential character of our neighborhoods and to preserve our right to enact common sense short-term-rental regulations,” Swensek said in an email

New Orleans is not alone in seeking to force Airbnb to verify hosts are permitted New York City started enforcing a similar verification requirement in September 2023, after a state Supreme Court judge tossed Airbnb’s lawsuit to block that city’s set of regulations, which

include a requirement that platforms confirm hosts are properly registered. Since then, enforcement of the New York City verification requirement has focused on “collaborating with the booking platforms to ensure they are using the city’s verification system, that all verifications are occurring correctly, and that the platforms stop processing unverified transactions,” according to New York City’s Office of Special Enforcement.

Airbnb also settled a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco, where it is based, by agreeing to San Francisco’s demands to help it enforce existing registration laws and to be more transparent about host data, The New York Times reported.

The latest lawsuit in New Orleans also takes a broad swipe at the city’s 2-year-old rules for rentals in residential areas and

Possible campaign violations investigated

Lafayette Senate race winner files complaint

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

An investigation is underway into possible campaign violations leading into the Saturday state Senate election in Lafayette Parish.

State Rep. Brach Myers, who defeated Broussard City Council member Jesse Regan for the District 23 seat, said Sunday he spoke with investigators with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce about three weeks ago regarding potential state and federal campaign laws being broken.

Myers said there is an open investigation. His complaint is that someone

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

wedges the cards in to include in the arrangements.

After much ado about getting the right combination of 14 arrangements loaded into Nelson’s car in the right order, we were off. Nelson has lived in Baton Rouge for more than 20 years and knew her way around. She’s a longtime supporter of Forage, including ordering one of the weekly subscriptions of ﬂoral arrangements.

We went to small houses. We went to large houses. Nobody was home. We went to a school. We went to more houses. We met a housekeeper Nelson and I discovered that we have children in the same age range. Delivering ﬂowers gave us time to visit in between stops — and it turns out that very few people are home. We had more than two hours to get to know each other We both like reading. We are both interested in art. We have creative husbands. We realized we had mutual friends. She knows the person hosting the rehearsal dinner of the wedding I was going to — that kind of thing. It was fun, and a welcomed social respite from my normal Friday morning editing and writing deadlines.

I would venture to say, I made a new friend a most appropriate way to mark Valentine’s

TRIAL

Continued from page 1B

consent for the forensic interview But Wilson’s attorney, Morris Reed, said the video failed to meet evidentiary standards for expert testimony because prosecutors did not produce Evans’ credentials or reveal the methodology she used to question the child. Reed also argued Evans never was made available for cross-examination because she never testified during the trial. Instead, Medina took the stand to tell jurors about the admissions the child made in the video. In his motions, Reed said prosecutors didn’t disclose the video or let defense lawyers review the taped interview until four days before the trial began That wasn’t enough

set up one or more fake organizations, one example being Lady Democrats of Lafayette, and sent campaign paraphernalia to registered Republican voters saying the Lady Democrats had endorsed Myers. Myers said polls before the fake endorsement showed him well ahead of Regan. His lead shrank, he said, after the false endorsement. Complete but unofﬁcial results from the election show Myers defeated Regan, both Republicans, 55% to 45% with a 14.1% voter turnout.

“I’m going to pursue this to the fullest,” Myers said.

Regan on Monday denied he or his campaign had anything to do with the false endorsement He said he does not know who is responsible.

“Hopefully, they ﬁnd the culprits and bring them to justice,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately reply to a request seeking conﬁrmation of the investigation.

Louisiana Revised Statute 18:1463 states that “an election cannot be held in a fair and ethical manner when any candidate or other person is allowed to print or distribute any material which falsely alleges that a candidate is supported by or affiliated with another candidate, group of candidates or other person or a political faction.”

Another section of the statute further prohibits anyone from distributing material “containing any statement which he knows or should be reasonably

expected to know makes a false statement about a candidate.”

Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perret said on Sunday he expected about a 10% voter turnout on Saturday The 14.1% turnout “is an indication of the chronic voter,” he said. “They were certainly targeted by ungodly amounts of direct mail and text messages,” Perret said.

Myers will be ﬁlling the seat vacated by Jean-Paul Coussan, who was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 2024.

He took over the House District 45 seat in January 2024, replacing Coussan after he was elected to the state Senate.

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.

delivered for

Day On our last delivery, we ﬁnally had someone in the Goodwood area answer the door and accept her ﬂoral arrangement. Even though my involvement

time for Wilson to ﬁnd a credible expert witness to challenge the forensic interviewer’s techniques.

“The state acted in bad faith in waiting until the ﬁnal hours before trial to inform the defense about the content of the CAC tape thus, limiting the reasonable opportunities for defense to test and challenge the legal efﬁcacy of the CAC tape,” Reed said He argued state prosecutors silently withheld” the critical material evidence from Wilson’s lawyers for more than six years.

“The state was actively misleading the defense, having discussions regarding plea bargains,” Reed said. “But not giving the defense the opportunity to review the damning evidence that would have heightened defense’s ability to seek a plea agreement for the defendant.”

was minimal, it was still a strange feeling of accomplishment. Overall, helping deliver Valentine’s ﬂowers made me reﬂect on all the people and parts that

District attorneys cited a detailed description of the Children’s Advocacy Center interview that was in police reports. Prosecutors turned those reports over to the defense in discovery in 2022. The investigative memos noted a DVD of the forensic interview had been submitted into evidence. Medina, the lead investigator, testified that no edits or modiﬁcations were made to the audio-video recording and Evans, the forensic interviewer, didn’t ask the victim any leading questions to solicit his incriminating statements against Wilson. Myers rejected the notion that the defense counsel was unaware of the video until a week before the trial. He noted prosecutors invited Wilson’s lawyers to review the footage at a “mutually convenient” time and place on multiple occasions. The judge admitted the video

the administrative adjudication system for assessing violations. Plaintiffs say hearing officers have “unlimited and unguided discretion” to enforce vaguely deﬁned restrictions on noise levels, odors and lighting.

Plaintiffs also argue the city’s one-per-square-block cap on permits, live-in operator requirement and ban on corporate ownership are unconstitutional.

A federal judge last year dismissed similar claims in the other lawsuit that is now before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Appellate judges during oral arguments on Feb. 5 appeared skeptical of some aspects of the law, especially the live-in operator requirement and corporate ownership ban. The City Council passed the new law after the court struck down a previous set of regulations in 2022.

MURDER

Continued from page 1B

the footage traveling Thursday directly behind the Tahoe toward East Feliciana. Authorities determined the Honda was registered to Cathy Conley, the grandmother Footage showed her getting out of the Honda at her Baker apartment later that night, after the burning Tahoe was reported.

On Friday when investigators arrived at the family’s Baker apartment, they said they found more evidence of a cover-up, including a trail of blood leading from the parking lot toward the apartment. Inside, blood residue was on the ﬂoors, light switches and sinks. A detective also noted someone had attempted to clean a large area with a chemical solution thought to be bleach. Investigators also obtained digital images of Cathy Conley disposing of a large garbage bag with things taken from inside the apartment.

Coshelia and Cathy Conley told police they had no knowledge of Richard’s death. Authorities said Coshelia Conley’s account of her whereabouts at the time Richard’s body was discovered changed repeatedly during questioning. Cathy Conley said she was asleep at the time.

There is no evidence of any domestic abuse between Richard and Coshelia Conley, according to a Sheriff’s Ofﬁce spokesperson. Email Aidan McCahill at aidan. mccahill@theadvocate.com.

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

Ofﬁcials are unsure of why Lobello crossed the median. As with all fatal crashes, toxicology reports were sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for processing.

Man found shot dead in vehicle identified

go into all the things delivered to our homes — so many hands and hearts make it happen.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

interview on the second day of the trial following an evidentiary hearing, court records show. Myers went on to say evidentiary rules didn’t require Evans to testify. Wilson’s attorneys argued they were deprived the opportunity to call an expert witness to rebut her ﬁndings. But the judge said that was a moot issue because prosecutors never presented jurors any expert opinions or witness testimony “Even if the state had failed to disclose the existence of the CAC interview until the week before trial, Mr Wilson has failed to establish that this evidence was favorable or material to his defense or that it undermines the court’s conﬁdence in the outcome of the trial,” Myers wrote in his order

Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office has identified a 22-year-old man who was found shot inside his vehicle on Interstate 110 on Sunday night. Kimble Evans was found shot dead inside his vehicle about 8 p.m Police responding to a two-vehicle crash on the southbound lanes of I-110 near Wyandotte Street discovered Evans with at least one gunshot wound. Investigators do not believe the driver of the other vehicle was involved in the shooting. The Coroner’s Office is conducting an autopsy and has not ruled out the possibility of a suicide.

One killed in shooting on North 23rd Street

One person was killed in a shooting near the 1700 block of North 23rd Street on Monday night. The Baton Rouge Police Department is investigating the shooting, which occurred about 6 p.m. at the intersection of North 23rd and Birch Street. Ofﬁcials were not yet able to provide additional information.

LOTTERY

SUNDAY, FEB 16, 2025

PICK 3: 6-9-6

PICK 4: 7-6-6-6

PICK 5: 6-8-1-4-4

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

Meredith Cooper, owner of Forage Floral in Baton Rouge, makes last-minute additions to an arrangement about to be

Valentine’s Day.

Thompson Funeral Home 7738 Florida Boulevard in Denham Springs at noon.

Albert, Gracie Burgess

Gracie BurgessAlbert, native &lifelong resident of Greenwell Springs, La., at the age of 102, touched the hand of God and walked into eternity on February 7, 2025, with her daughter &son-in-law by her side. Gracie was born to the late Johnny Manuel Burgess &Susie WashingtonBurgessinGreenwell Springs, La. She leaves to cherish her memory 1daughter, Brenda A. McKenzie (Harrison Jr.); 2grandsons Gene Christopher Albert (Cicely) &Derrick Dalton; 3granddaughters Penny AlbertCharles (Crannon), Jessica A. Ford &Latricia Dalton: 1 sister WilhelmeniaB Berry. Preceeded in death by her husband, Richard W. Albert; 1daughter Delores Albert; 2sons Richard Sye Albert &Freddie J. Albert; her parents; 1brother and 3sisters. Celebration of Life Service willbeheld on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, St. Luke United Methodist Church, 16678 Greenwell Springs Road, Greenwell Springs, La 70739. Viewing from 10:00 a.m. until Religious Services at 11:00 a.m.,Rev. Debra Keller, Officiating

Allen, Mary Ann

Mary Ann Allen passed away on February 15, 2025.

Born in Watson, LA, she was 84 years old and survived by her three loving children: her daughter Amanda Susan Allen Benton (Mandy), her son W.B. Allen, Jr. (Billy) and her adoring youngest son Reymond Earl Allen; four grandchildren: Katie Benton Thompson, Madeline Allen Kircher, Elizabeth Ann Allen (Libby) and W.B. Allen, III (Will); four great grand-children: Benton Thompson, Hayes Thompson, Bryleigh Thompson, Alden Kircher and Louis Kircher; her brother Spencer Coxe and sister Lori Coxe, as well as many nieces and nephews and other members of her extended family. She was preceded in death by her husband W.B. Allen, her parents Reymond Coxe and Jessie Martin Coxe, andher siblings Eugene Watson, Milton M. Coxe, William K. Coxe, and Reymond Coxe, Jr. She was a graduate of Live Oak High School in Watson in 1958 and attended Southeastern Louisiana University and Louisiana State University. Apillar in the Livingston Parish real estate industry for over 30 years, she first began selling real estate with Cub Covington Real Estate in 1983 and then went on to obtain her real estate broker's license and founded M.A. Allen Real Estate in 1993. Together with her agents and businesspartners, she built her firm into one of the largest local real estate firms in Livingston Parish history during the parish's landmark real estate

Bank in Hammond, LA during this time. She wasa long-time member of the Livingston Parish Board of Realtors, acontributor to numerous charitable organizations, ahuge Live Oak Eaglesand LSU Tigers fan and alifelong member of Live Oak UnitedMethodist Church. Visitation services will be held at Live Oak Church in Watson on Thursday, February 20, 2025 from 2:00-3:00 PM, with funeral services scheduled at 3:00-3:30 pm to be conductedbyReverendMark Crosby and followedbya private family burial at the Live Oak Church cemetery. In lieuof flowers, donations are requested to be made to the Alzheimer's Association, the American Diabetes Association, the Emerge Center of Baton Rouge, LA and Live Oak Church.

Barbara Diez Bourg, a native and resident of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, born on January 4, 1944, passed away on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at the age of 81. She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Roger J. Bourg III; three sons, Byron (Dana), Scott (Carmen), and Jason(Laura) Bourg; five grandchildren, Brittany, Joey, Andrew, Amelia, and Elaina; sister-in-law, MurlineDiez; one niece and three nephews. She waspreceded in death by her parents, Maude Rivet andNorman Diez; infant brother, Norman; brother, Elray Diez; sister, Patsy Diez Blanchard; and brother-in-law, Albert Blanchard, Jr.The family would liketogive a special thanks to her nurse Carmen Darensbourg, and her sitters, TrudyeThomas and Angela LeBouef. As per her request, no services will be held.

Bridges, Thad A. ThadA.Bridges, age81, passed awayonThursday, February 13, 2025. Thad wasborn in NewOrleans and resided in Greenwell Springs, LA; where he then graduated Istrouma High Schoolin1962 and joined the United States AirForce. During his time in the Air Force, he was stationed in Mississippi, Oregon and Libya. Afterserving for4 years, he beganworking at Exxon Refinery; where he eventually retiredafter working asa electrical supervisor for36years. He wasa member ofExxon Istroumaland Annuitant Group and aparishionerof St.Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church for 40+ years. In April of1967, he married the love of his life, MaryM.Saurage.Thad spent most of his time as a recreationalgolfer,a fisherman, anavid bowlerand apool player.Heenjoyed casino trips, cruising,reading, and working jigsaw puzzles from 3D board puzzles to 2,000 pieces. Thadis survived by his wife of 56 years, MaryMargaret Bridges ofGreenwell Springs, LA; son, Lynn Bridges (Lisa)ofWiggins, MS; sisters, CarolMurray and Dale Bridges of Bowie, MD; brother, James Bridges (Sue)ofDenham Springs, LA; sister-in-law, Catherine Schons of Thibodeaux, LA and numerous cousins,niecesand nephews. He is preceded in death by hisparents, Joseph ThadBridges, Sr. and MurielBridges; brother, Joseph ThadBridges, Jr.; father-in-law, Walter Saurage; mother-in-law, Marguerite Saurage and brother-in-laws, Cliff Schons, Walt Hays, Jr.and Don Murray. Avisitation will be held on February 19th at St Alphonsus LiguoriCatholic Church from9:30-11AM;with afuneralmass beginning at 11AM officiatedbyFr. Michael Moroney. Inurnment later ers tio Alphonsus, Paul, Association, Wa Childr favo wo thanks neig fam time. to SheriffEBR gator Ho alism

will be held on February 19th at St Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church from 9:30-11AM; with afuneral mass beginning at 11AM officiated by Fr. Michael Moroney. Inurnment will take place at a later date. In lieuofflowers, memorial contributions can be made to St Alphonsus, St.Vincent de Paul,The American Heart Association, The Wounded Warrior Project, St. Jude Children's Hospital or your favorite charity. The family would like to extend their thanks to their special neighbors, friends and family during this difficult time. Also aspecial thanks to the 911 operators, EMS, Sheriff- Central Substation, EBR Parish Coroner Investigator and Central Funeral Home for their professionalism and courtesy.

Carmichael, Mary SueChristian

Mary Sue Christian Carmichael of Opelousas, La., passed away on Saturday, February 15, 2025, after living 18 years with Parkinson's Disease. She was 95. Mary Sue was born August 19, 1929 to Albert and Penny DeWalt Christian in Trinity, Tex. The third of four children, she excelled in school, where she was a cheerleader and earned the rank of valedictorian. After graduation, she worked briefly as acorporatesecretary in Houston, Tex., where she met her late husband, Charles Joseph "Charlie" Carmichael Jr., to whom she was devoted for 72 years.

Together, they had three sons: Carl Christian (Joy) of Daphne, Ala.; Charles Brian (Lisette) of Baton Rouge, La.; and Clint Daniel (Marty) of St Amant,La.

In addition to her children, Mary Sue is survived by her sister, Jo Lynnette Reesing of Alpine, Tex., and five grandchildren: Alyce B. Bordelon (John); Mary Colleen Andrew (Peter); Ellen Gugenberger (Walter); Andrew Carmichael (Maggie); and Catherine Carmichael. She is also survived by six great-grandchildren: Madeleine Andrew; Elizabeth, Christian and Camille Gugenberger; and Alice and Charles "Charlie" Carmichael.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband;her brother, Harold Christian; and her sister, Virginia Christian Jordan.

Adevout Christian, Mary Sue was alongtime active member of First Baptist Church of Opelousas.

In herspare time, she was an exceptional puzzle solver and enjoyed playing bridge with her dearest friends. Each week, she performed with her musical group for residentsat local nursing homes. She sang beautifully and played piano by ear, atestament to her musical gifts.

Friends admired her gentle and generous nature. In 2004, the St. Landry Parish Government named her the "Humanitarian of theYear."

She will be missed dearly by all who knew her, especially her children and grandchildren whose lives have been filled by the warmth of her earnest and unconditional love.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requestsdonations to theParkinson's Foundation or St. Jude Children's Hospital.

The family sincerely thanks Mary Sue's caregivers: Carla Mickens, Joan Pollock, CharlotteAntia, D'wan Brooks, Addie Matthews and Mary Melancon, as well as Hospice of Acadiana staff Kristina Morman, Colleen Perkins and Tanya Kramer.

thanks Mary Sue's caregivers: Carla Mickens, Joan Pollock, CharlotteAntia, D'wan Brooks, Addie Matthews and Mary Melancon, as well as Hospice of Acadiana staff Kristina Morman, Colleen Perkins and Tanya Kramer.

The family requests visiting hours be observed from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday, February 21, 2025 at Melancon Funeral Home of Opelousas, followed by funeral services officiated by PastorChad Norman of First Baptist Church at 1:00 p.m. Agraveside service at Bellevue Memorial Park in Opelousas immediately following. View theobituary and guestbook online at www.melanconfuneralhom e.net

Melancon Funeral Home of Opelousas, 4708 I-49 North Service Road, (337) 407-1907, is in chargeofarrangements.

Thomas William Daniel died peacefully on Valentine's Day, 2025. Tommy was bornand raised in BatonRouge. He graduated from UniversityHigh School and Louisiana State University, where he received adegree in Mathematics. He was alife-long Tiger fan, and loved hunting with his father and brother David.Heloved playing duplicatebridge and achieved the rank of Silver Life Master. He was alongtime member of the Baton Rouge Bridge Club and the Baton RougeCountry Club,where he enjoyed playing golf and tennis. The best part of Tommy's life was the last third of his life. He met and married Keri Vogel, who madeall his dreams come true. They had three children together, and Tommy was forever ahappier man. He enjoyed every aspect of fatherhood,and never missed one of his children's golf or tennis matches. He loved taking them onvacations to the National Parksevery single summer from the time they were old enoughto travel, and visiting family friend Suresh Mahajan in Del Mar, California for Thanksgiving every year. Tommy was preceded in death by his parents, Lou W. and Ann Syrek Daniel, and his sister, AnnDaniel Dodson. He is survived by his devoted wife, Keri, and his beloved children, Kate, Luke, and Ben; his brothers, Louis R. Daniel and John David Daniel (Janet) of Baton Rouge; his niece and goddaughter, Mary Rose Daniel of Denver; his nephew and hunting buddy, John Daniel (Arleen) of Cincinnati; parents-in-law Marsha and Weldon Vogel of Metairie; sister-in-law Elisa Western (Joel) and niece Avery of River Ridge; and niece Ann Dodson and nephew Daniel Dodson of Austin. He is also survived by his dearest friends, Suresh Mahajan and Phil Rabenhorst. The family would like to thank the caregivers at Holly Court, who showed only patience, kindness and humorto Tommy during the last three months of his life, and also the caregivers at Audubon Hospice. Visitation will be at Rabenhorst Funeral Home downtown starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 18, with aservice to follow at 11 a.m. The family requests that memorial donations be madetothe National Park Foundationat http://www.nationalparks. org

Rabenhorst Funeral Home downtown starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 18, with aservicetofollow at 11 a.m. The family requests that memorial donations be made to theNational Park Foundation at http://www.nationalparks. org watching classic Western films, andindulging in his favorite treat: BlueBell

cream. Adeeply devoted member of St. Johnthe Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary, LA, Ronnie also took great joy in attending mass at St. Peter Catholic Church in Bordelonville, LA. Ronnie is survived by his children, Glen Desselle and wife Kelly, Karen

and

Darian, his grandchildren:

and

and fiancée

and

and Kristen Avocato and husband Sean, alongwith 10 great-grandchildren.He is also survived by his

at 11:00 am; interment at Southern Memorial Gardens. Sur‐vivors include his son, Kei' Drick Dennis; mother, Shawanda Chews; siblings, Tyrone Jackson Jr Mar‐quisha and Devante Chews, Keirameisha, Keira, and Lay Carter Dennis and Kameisha Stewart; other relatives and friends. Arrangements entrusted to MIller & Daughter Mortu‐ary.

The family requests visiting hours be observed from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Friday, February 21, 2025 at Melancon Funeral Home of Opelousas, followed by funeral services officiated by PastorChad Norman of First Baptist Church at 1:00 p.m. Agraveside service at Bellevue Memorial Park in Opelousas immediately following. View theobituary and guestbook online at www.melanconfuneralhom e.net

Melancon Funeral Home Opelousas, 4708 I-49 North Service Road, (337) 407-1907, is in chargeofarrangements.

siblings: Ernest Desselle Jr., Jules Desselle, Philip Desselle and wife Peggy, John Desselle and wife Denise, and Doris Clouatre and husbandMilton.He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 57 years, the love of his life, Helen Reech Desselle, as well as his parents, Ernest Lynn Desselle andEsla Lemoine Desselle, andhis siblings, Janell Michel, Esla Mae "Nancy"Cosper, Lynn "Sonny" Desselle, andEugenia Mae Desselle. Memorial services will be heldatSt. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary on Saturday, February 22, 2025, conducted by Father Lamar Partin. Aviewing will take place from 9:00-11:00 AM, followed by Mass at 11:00 AM. Areception will follow the conclusion of Mass in the church hall. Aprivate graveside service will be conducted at alater date at St. Peter Catholic Church in Bordelonville, LA, by Father Louis Sklar, where Ronnie will be laid to rest beside his late wife, Helen. Honorary pallbearers are Darian Wesson,Anthony Desselle, Michael Neal, James Hayes, and Sean Avocato. In lieu of flowers, please consider making acontribution to Open Hands SharingGod's Love, aChristian not for profit organization with a mission of sharing God's love through helping others, based out of Bordelonville, LA. Ronnie's legacy of service, devotion, and love will forever be cherished by hisfamily, friends, and all who knew him.

Brenda Alleman Dupeire,

Ronald "Ronnie" James Desselle, age 82, of Zachary, LA, passed away peacefully on theevening of Friday, February 7, 2025, at Hospice of Baton Rouge in The Butterfly Wingof Baton Rouge General -Mid City. Born on May 8, 1942, in Moreauville, LA, Ronnie was acherished son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend, and atrue pillar of hiscommunity. Known for his protective and heroic nature, he dedicated 30 years to serving as an esteemed officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department before retiring as aLieutenant in 1996. Even after his retirement from thepoliceforce, Ronnie continued to leave an indelible mark on the Baton Rouge area through hisbusiness, Desselle & Son Construction, in which he developed numerous commercial sites throughout the city. He had apassion for gardening, fishing, watching classic Western films, andindulging in his favorite treat: BlueBell ice cream. Adeeply devoted member of St. Johnthe Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary, LA, Ronnie also took great joy in attending mass at St. Peter Catholic Church in Bordelonville, LA. Ronnie is survived by his children, Glen Desselle and wife Kelly, Karen Wesson and husband Darian, his grandchildren: Jessica Neal and husband Michael, Ashton Hayes and husband James, Anthony Desselle and fiancée Heather, and Kristen Avocato and husband Sean, alongwith 10 great-grandchildren.He is also survived by his five siblings: Ernest Desselle Jr., Jules Desselle, Philip Desselle and wife Peggy, John Desselle and wife Denise, and Doris Clouatre and husbandMilton.He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 57 years, the love of his life, Helen Reech Desselle, as well as his parents, Ernest Lynn Desselle andEsla Lemoine Desselle, andhis siblings, Janell Michel, Esla Mae "Nancy"Cosper, Lynn "Sonny" Desselle, andEugenia Mae Desselle. Memorial services will be heldatSt. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary on Saturday, February 22, 2025, conducted by Father Lamar Partin. Aviewing will take place from 9:00-11:00 AM, followed by Mass at 11:00 AM. Areception will follow the conclusion of Mass in the church hall. Aprivate graveside service will be conducted at alater date at St. Peter Catholic Church in Bordelonville, LA, by Father Louis Sklar, where Ronnie will be laid to rest beside his late wife, Helen. Honorary pallbearers are Darian Wesson,Anthony Desselle, Michael Neal, James Hayes, and Sean Avocato. In lieu of flowers, please consider making acontribution to Open Hands SharingGod's Love, aChristian not for profit organization with a mission of sharing God's love through helping others, based out of Bordelonville, LA. Ronnie's legacy of service, devotion, and love will forever be cherished

Daniel, Thomas William

Bourg, Barbara Diez

Desselle, Ronald

Dupeire, Brenda Alleman

See more DEATHS, page

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Public health in La. takes a step backward with vaccine order

With the ofﬁcial word last week that Louisiana’s Department of Health would end mass vaccination events and ban its staff from promoting seasonal vaccines, our state took another step backward.

Retreating from longstanding, common-sense measures to keep Louisianans safe from disease and protect public health is a bad idea on its face. And it’s particularly disturbing coming from a physician, state Surgeon General and former U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham.

Abraham had previously telegraphed his opposition to promoting vaccinations late last year when DOH said it would shift away from offering “paternalistic guidance” and toward “a more informative approach aimed at enabling individuals, in consultation with their doctor, to make better decisions for themselves.” But last week’s ofﬁcial directive to state workers still hit hard, as it came on the same day the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services

Abraham coupled the order with a letter questioning public support of COVID vaccines and claimed that “public health agencies at the state and federal level have viewed it as a primary role to push pharmaceutical products.”

That’s a cynical way to describe policies aimed at safeguarding the overall good while not interfering with individual rights or privacy Certainly, there were missteps during the unprecedented, deadly pandemic that became clear in hindsight. Science does not claim to be perfect But the rapid development of COVID vaccines saved lives and helped our country get back to normal. And vaccines such as the ones public health agencies have long promoted — for seasonal ﬂu, for example, as well as RSV and mpox — have done immeasurable good

Even more discouraging is that the DOH directive comes in a season in which Louisiana has already experienced spikes in ﬂu and RSV cases.

We’re also already seeing more parents opt out of childhood vaccination in our state That’s alarming because a vaccine’s overall success relies on widespread usage that can produce “herd immunity,” which is the point at which a disease has trouble spreading to larger populations, including those who are most medically vulnerable.

Given these challenges, we were glad to see U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician, speak out about the order’s practical effect “Advertising the beneﬁt of vaccines and where to get them helps parents improve the health of their child,” he said “Removing these resources for parents is not a stand for parents’ rights It prevents making health care more convenient and available for people who are very busy.”

This paper had urged Cassidy to fall back on his medical training and experience and vote against conﬁrming Kennedy We were disappointed that he chose not to, but we think he’s exactly right here.

Like Cassidy Abraham is speaking not just as a governmental ofﬁcial, but as someone with medical expertise. We’d hope he’d use his platform and his ofﬁcial powers to bolster public health, not undermine it.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com. TO SEND US A

Thank Livingston council for defending libraries

At the January Livingston Parish Council meeting, ﬁve courageous councilmen — Ricky Goff, John Mangus, Billy Taylor, John Wascom and Lonnie Watts — acted to restore funding and order to the Library Board of Control by replacing board members who implemented draconian cuts and created dissension. These included chair Larry Davis and vice-chair Abby Crosby A video of opposing sides at the meeting shows which side behaved in a more civil, rational manner Commenters who supported defunding the library threw every argument they could think of against the council.

One anti-library commenter invoked her status as a crime victim in a pitch for sympathy Their four council supporters made excuses for their board appointees, calling them inexperienced newbies who didn’t understand that budget cuts reduce services and who needed more time to learn to do their jobs.

The most ironic development was council member Erin Sandefur’s vociferous objection to removing all LBOC members to eliminate ﬁve troublemakers.

The irony is that their removal was possible because Sandefur and her legislative benefactors obtained a change in state law in the 2024 legislative session, enabling the council to remove LBOC members at will. Seeing this change used to remove board members who had supported it, one dismissed board member threatened to sue the council. This episode provides cautionary lessons.

Most important is that state Sen. Valarie Hodges promoted the change in the law making LBOC members “at will” appointees, and her aide Tori Hymel and another supporter remain on the board.

Moreover, Hymel has been colluding with Michael Lunsford, director of the Council for a New Louisiana, who orchestrated the attack on our library system. Hymel met at Lunsford’s ofﬁce with other anti-library accomplices in 2024.

The ﬁve councilmen who acted deserve thanks for doing so and for their continued vigilance. It will be necessary CLARK FORREST Holden

EV charging stations signal progress, not an agenda

Regarding the misplaced ire of a few about the placement of a charging station at a public library, what a shame that some have so little to keep themselves busy besides poking their little stick at every sign of progress. The fact is that most Americans prefer the idea of clean energy Inherently there is nothing clean about combustion engines.

Entergy is establishing EV charging sites across its service areas, as is every utility in the nation. Why?

Because there is considerable demand for clean vehicles and better networks for charging. As these innocuous plugins begin to appear again and again at locations both public and private, it would beneﬁt those with heads in the past to begin looking to the future when these same people probably will be maligning local entities for not doing enough to facilitate broad net-

works of charging stations at spaces public and private alike. In a 2024 study, the Pew Center found that 30% of Americans favor buying an electric vehicle or roughly the same percentage of all eligble voters who voted for Donald Trump in the most recent election. I would suggest more, not less, of these partnerships (as this simple, single charging station was likely federally funded under a nationwide program to build out charging networks in places such as this). Folks upset about popular projects of progress like this example typically represent their agenda — looking backward by stumbling forward and trying to ﬁnd another person or institution to blame for the most inevitable of all forces, change (Look it up — it’s in your local library.)

ANDREA

ROMERO New Orleans

Too late for nonvoters to weigh in on St. George

Remember these numbers: Approximately 86,000 people live in the “city of St. George:” Around 53,700 is the number of people who did not get out to vote; 17,422 are the yeas for creation of the “city of St. George” while 14,871 are the nays. It amuses me, yet galls me at the same time, to hear that “the majority has spoken on the new city.” I don’t call 17,422 the “majority,” yet because of the lazy 53,707 that refuse to do their civic duty and rely on the rest of us to do it for them, that is our reality

How many of you who did not vote showed up at the meeting for the discussion and vote on the salaries? Wasn’t it an outlandish amount? Did y’all expect your voices to be heard? Why? We thought the salary amount was outlandish, but we were the ones who did our civic duty Well, it now is what it is, and we cannot go back and undo it.

I was never in favor of the new city and thought from the start that there was no plan in place and that it would be a waste of my taxpayer dollars. Mark my words, every new city that has incorporated in recent history promised they wouldn’t raise taxes and in just a few years was forced to do so. So next time something arises of great importance, that will likely affect how and where we live, you need to do one thing. Get out and do your civic duty and don’t rely on a handful to do it for you.

Cars without license plates should be on police radar

I am amazed as to how often I observe a car in Baton Rouge without a license plate. It seems to happen every time I go out in trafﬁc. Recently, within a short distance, I observed four cars without plates. I wonder if the Baton Rouge Police Department has this issue as very low priority and does not enforce it.

ERNEST GREMILLION Baton Rouge

ANGELA COOPER St. George

Pushing back on Trump-Musk deals

It’s not easy to steal the spotlight from two seasoned publicity lovers like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, but Musk’s 4-year-old son X AE A-Xii, or “X” for short, made it look easy during his Oval Ofﬁce visit. Now viral on the web, little X seemed to teach his dad a lesson I learned the hard way when I agreed to take my own son to my ofﬁce on Take Your Child to Work Day The most memorable lesson he seemed to pick up was that Dad’s job is pretty boring, especially for a 4-yearold.

Little X Musk offered his own version of that lesson in an executive order signing event Tuesday in the Oval Ofﬁce with his dad, an adviser to the president as head of DOGE, the president’s “Department of Government Efﬁciency,” which is not a real federal department, since Trump apparently decided he could not spare the time to make it into one.

Although it is not easy to make out what the mics picked up of the young Musk’s voice in a video shared by media in the room, he seems to say “Shush your mouth” to the president as his daddy spoke — a sentiment I am certain was widely shared. And it was not the only push-back that Trump and his team heard.

On Thursday, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, resigned rather than carry out an order from Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to dismiss the criminal indictments against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Later in the day, ﬁve other top Justice Department ofﬁcials resigned, including the head of the Public Integrity Section in Washington, which oversees corruption prosecutions, where Bove went next seeking a prosecutor to dismiss the case.

The drama carried over into Friday, according to Reuters, when Bove assembled the career integrity section lawyers and told them they had an hour for a volunteer to step forward. After weighing a mass resignation, a veteran prosecutor in the section stepped forward to do the dirty work.

For old Washington hands, it calls to mind President Richard Nixon’s infamous “Saturday Night Massacre,” when the desperate president ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to ﬁre

Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was taking his job investigating the Watergate affair too seriously for Tricky Dick’s liking.

To his credit, Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order, as did his subordinate, William Ruckelshaus.

Eventually, a man was found to do the deed, Solicitor General Robert Bork. Richardson and Ruckelshaus, it should be noted, were Republicans. They were loyal to their party and to their president, but they were public servants of conscience. Their highest loyalty was to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

In that regard, Sassoon is cut from the same cloth. Although Trump’s MAGA World has denounced her as though she were some sort of inﬁltrator left behind by the radical left, in fact her conservative credentials are impeccable.

As she pointed out in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, she is a Harvard College and Yale Law School graduate, a former clerk for the late conservative icon Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a member of Federalist Society, the prestigious conservative legal group. Explaining her resignation to Bondi, Sassoon called Bove’s order to dismiss the case “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.”

The resignations matter They are a stunning repudiation of the administra-

tion’s attempt to force the dismissal of the charges against Adams for reasons that hopefully will become clearer They are an encouraging sign that some political conservatives remain true to the standards we would like to see in the face of Trump’s countless other attempts to pollute the integrity of the criminal justice system with oldfashioned machine-style politics.

A cloud of suspicion is raised by Sassoon’s charge that the mayor’s lawyers had “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.”

In one eye-catching passage in her letter, Sassoon said that Bove had scolded a member of her team for taking notes during the meeting and ordered that the notes be collected at the meeting’s end. What is being hidden? That’s a question that Americans have been asking themselves repeatedly as the unelected Musk has bragged of his DOGE teams rummaging through and slashing government departments without much accountability and highly questionable authority As that big argument rambles on, Sassoon and her fellow dissenters deserve our gratitude for reminding us that accountability matters, when others sound like little X, telling us to “Shush your mouth.”

Email Clarence Page at cpage47@ gmail.com.

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the brieﬁng room is now open to reporters for “new media,” including podcasters and websites, she was acknowledging the power and reach of these outlets, which was demonstrated in the last election when President Donald Trump made himself available to outlets that were ignored by the Kamala Harris campaign. The “legacy media” are in decline and the new media are surging. Part of this has to do with evaporating trust in what many regard as biased coverage by The New York Times from which broadcast news frequently takes its marching orders — and other major newspapers and networks that reﬂect built-in biases. Just two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, a guest essay appeared in the Times titled “Trump is Already Failing. That’s the Key to a Big Democratic Rebound.” Is anyone other than the liberals who read the Times paying attention to Democrats’ real problem? It appears not.

Chuck Todd, who has been with NBC News for 18 years, is resigning. The former host of “Meet the Press” once said he would never have a guest on the program who didn’t believe in “climate change.” Liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus has resigned from the paper’s editorial board to focus more on her column. The Post has laid off 100 employees and 25,000 subscribers have canceled their subscriptions, outraged that the paper declined to endorse Kamala Harris. The Post continues to lose money.

On “The View,” co-host Sunny Hostin blamed Trump and those who voted for him for the recent collision between an American Airlines commercial jet and an Army helicopter. These and other outrageous and biased claims may feed the anger of many anti-Trumpers, but they do nothing to improve the credibility of the media, or increase their subscriptions, advertisers and ratings. As reported by the conservative Newsbusters.com, “ The leftist media began (the week) by attacking Trump’s cabinet nominees and dumping on his (inauguration) moment. They then proceeded to libel Trump and Elon Musk as a bunch of fascist Nazis, while tossing ﬁnal bouquets to Joe Biden.”

As one who shared the hope, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, that representative government, guaranteed liberties and global capitalism laced with some measure of welfare state protections would spread across the globe, I naturally look back over the intervening long generation and ask what went wrong.

In the 1990s, it seemed to many that the vision of Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History and the Last Man” would prevail. Not that bad things would never happen again. Fukuyama’s more subtle thesis was that after the debacle of communism, there was no intellectually viable alternative to some combination of political democracy and market capitalism as the means to a decent society

But the past three decades have seen the vitality of politically viable alternatives — China’s dictatorial and Russia’s authoritarian state-directed capitalism, the oppressive clerical regimes of Shiite Iran and various Sunni Muslim states. By Freedom House’s sophisticated measures, 2004 saw a high point in global freedom, which has been in decline ever since.

How to explain this trend, the opposite of what I hoped for and predicted?

As I have reflected on this question, I’ve fallen back on an article I wrote in 1993 for Irving Kristol’s Public Interest, in which I identified four types of political parties. Two were based on European conflicts over religion: Religious parties favored established churches, and liberal parties favored the separation of church and state. Two others, socialist and nationalist had their beginnings in attempts to rally the masses in the failed European revolutions of 1848, appealing to their working-class interests or their folk national yearnings.

American politics over the past 30 years provides some conﬁrmation. The market-respecting liberalism of former President Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party yielded to the woke socialism of former presidents Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s.

My conclusion in 1993 and, tentatively, now is that nationalism is the glue that holds parties and nations together

The problem we have encountered over the last 30 years is that other countries’ nationalisms are not like America’s.

It turns out that the leaders of Western Europe, traumatized by the horrifying wars of the ﬁrst half of the 20th century, seek a transnational harmony that overrules nations’ democratic electorates and smothers market capitalism with regulations. In reaction, Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, as the formerly (under Tony Blair) liberal Labour Party split into socialist and Scottish National parties, and the long-dominant Conservatives into high-education Conservatives and the Trumpish Reform UK party In the 1990s, there was reason to hope that Russia was moving toward democracy and that China, despite the Tiananmen Square massacre, would move away from repression and toward convergence with rules-based market economies. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin grabbed power from the ﬂailing Boris Yeltsin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping jailed one rival and abolished his predecessors’ term limits.

Putin has been following a nationalist policy that dates back not only to Stalin but also to the czars, expanding Russia’s power outward from Muscovy in every direction though not as far in Ukraine as he hoped and expected. Something similar has been happen-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE

ing in Mexico. Economic integration with Mexico and replacement of its one-party authoritarian rule by democratic rotation in ofﬁce and the rule of law was the goal of the North American Free Trade Agreement, pushed in the 1990s by Presidents George H.W Bush and Clinton. NAFTA was ratiﬁed, the economies converged, and, as I witnessed, the opposition party ended 71 years of Institutional Revolutionary Party rule in July 2000.

But Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, elected in 2018, has reinstalled oneparty rule and government control of the economy, and his handpicked successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, was elected with 61% of the vote.

One lesson seems to be that national character matters and that it is more a product of deep-seated history than of recent American policy initiatives

The hopes of the 1990s were not totally dashed.

Eighty-ﬁve years ago, in 1940, a time when some current leaders, such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, were living, Adolf Hitler and Stalin were allies in command of or with their allies holding most of the landmass of Eurasia, opposed actively only by Great Britain, whose air force and navy were stretched to the limit.

Representative government, guaranteed liberties and global capitalism laced with some measure of welfare state protections are much better off today than they were then, thanks in large part to the leadership at the time of the British nationalist Winston Churchill, the American nationalist Franklin Roosevelt and the French nationalist Charles de Gaulle something to keep in mind as we bewail our current discontents.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Then there was the legacy media cover-up of the Biden family’s business dealings, Biden’s cognitive decline and the infamous Hunter Biden laptop.

During other cultural transitions of the past there were die-hards who tried to keep the future from happening. People opposed to civil rights legislation to protect minorities from discrimination may be the most obvious recent example, but there are many others. There were those who resisted the transition from horses to motor cars. There were some who thought the telephone was a fad and that man was not made to ﬂy. Some Hollywood moguls believed TV wouldn’t last. There were people who once opposed coffee and refrigeration. Now it’s driverless cars that are raising alarms.

The one constant among resisters to change is that they are left behind when change comes. This is a continuing problem for much of the legacy media. Most seem incapable of self-reﬂection and have an ideological view that resembles “eat your vegetables because they are good for you.” Their attitude seems to be that consumers of news should swallow whatever they offer, whether they like it or not.

This doesn’t mean the media should avoid questioning the policies and pronouncements of President Trump or anyone in his administration. What it does mean is that their approach should not be one of “he can do no right.” (Yes, some conservative media think Trump can do no wrong, which is equally bad). It also means when Trump and other Republicans succeed, that success should be acknowledged, instead of ignoring it and moving on to new rounds of cynical questioning.

It may be too late for legacy media to redeem itself given the leftist bent of many within that cocoon If they go the way of previous outmoded and irrelevant things, they will have only themselves to blame A free press is essential to a strong America. The arrival of new media may be journalism’s savior

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

Elon Musk speaks during an event in the Oval Office as President Donald Trump and Musk’s son listen at the White House on Feb 11 in Washington.

Michael Barone Clarence Page

Cal Thomas

Baton Rouge Weather

Dupeire, Brenda Alleman

Brenda Alleman Dupeire a resident of Brusly St. Martin and a native of Don‐aldsonville LA passed away on Sunday, February 16, 2025. She was 67. She is survived by her sons, Christopher Dupeire Sr (Holly), and Donald Dupeire, Jr (Amy Falcon); daughters, Mona Cavalier (Russel, Jr.), Carrie Mc‐Neely (Robert) and Donna Rodrigue (Larry); grand‐children Tabitha Bailey Christopher Dupeire, Jr., Dillon Dupeire Braxton Blalock, Megan Landry, Elizabeth Landry, Emma McNeely, Colton McNeely, Isabella Rodrigue, Blaze Falcon, Christian Rachal, and Mackenzie Dupeire Preceded in death by her husband, Donald Dupeire, Sr.; parents Maunel Alle‐man Sr. and Mary “T” Mil‐lien Alleman; In-laws, Mar‐cel “Jack” Dupeire and Car‐rie Ourso Dupeire daugh‐ter; Lisa Dupeire; grand‐children Colby Rachal and Jackson and Liza Cavalier; numerous sisters and brothers Special thanks to the staff at Thibodaux Re‐gional Medical Center CCU Private arrangements to follow Arrangements by Williams & Southall Funeral Home, 101 Loop 945, Don‐aldsonville, LA 70346 (225) 473-1900. To sign the guest book or offer condolences, visit our website at www williamsandsouthallfune ralhome.com

Carla Grace

Carla Grace Gaudin (61) passed awayinearly 2025. She was aloving mother and proud grandmother. She is survived by her two sons, grandson, and three brothers.

Carla was an avid Saints fan -never missing a game. She loved to travel and spend time with her loved ones. Carla never met astranger. She will be dearly missed.

Lee Jr., Otis William Otis William Lee,Jr. passed away on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at the age of 94. He wasborn in Independence, LA, on June 22, 1930. Otis was agraduate of Independence High School. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1950-1952, and saw action in the Korean War in 1951, earning aPurple Heart and othermedals of service. Otis is predeceased by his wife of 71 years, Gloria Comish Lee; and hisparents, Otis W. Lee,Sr. and Dorothy Lee. He is survived by his sons, David Lee (Sharon), and Jeff Lee (Cindy); grandchildren, Melissa Collavo (Matt), TuckerLee, Hilary McKey (Joe), Meagan Kelley (Kevin), Matthew Lee, and Morgan Falterman (Jared); great-grandchildren, Cameron, Alana,Sophie, Jackson, and Olive; and brother, Ed R. Lee. There will be aprivate burial for the family at Greenoaks Memorial Park.

Rosena B Machen en‐tered into eternal rest at her residence in Zachary Louisiana on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. She was an 85-year old native of Ethel, Louisiana. Viewing at Greater King David Baptist Church on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 10:00 am until Celebration of Life Service at 11:00 am con‐ducted by Rev John E Montgomery, II; interment at Louisiana National Cemetery Survivors in‐clude her devoted hus‐band, Lonnie Machen, Sr.; children James Machen (Kelli), Covington, Louisiana; Ann Machen Desoto Texas; Russell Machen (Jamita), Cedar Hill, Texas; and Lonnie Machen, II, Baton Rouge; three grand‐children; two great-greatgrandchildren; siblings Helen Jackson (McHenry), Celestine Davis and Nathaniel Branch, Jr.(Car‐olyn); preceded in death by her parents and two sis‐ters Arrangements en‐trusted to Miller & Daugh‐ter Mortuary

Rosena B Machen en‐tered into eternal rest at her residence in Zachary Louisiana on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. She was an 85-year old native of Ethel, Louisiana. Viewing at Greater King David Baptist Church on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 10:00 am until Celebration of Life Service at 11:00 am con‐ducted by Rev. John E. Montgomery, II; interment at Louisiana National Cemetery Survivors in‐clude her devoted hus‐band, Lonnie Machen, Sr.; children, James Machen (Kelli), Covington, Louisiana; Ann Machen Desoto, Texas; Russell Machen (Jamita) Cedar Hill Texas; and Lonnie Machen, II, Baton Rouge; three grand‐children; two great-greatgrandchildren; siblings Helen Jackson (McHenry), Celestine Davis and Nathaniel Branch Jr.(Car‐olyn); preceded in death by her parents and two sis‐ters Arrangements en‐trusted to Miller & Daugh‐ter Mortuary.

Saale Jr., Maurice Andrew Maurice Andrew Saale Jr., passed away on Febru‐ary 11, 2025, at the age of 77. He was a resident of Geismar, LA. He survived by children Meredith Butler (Jason) and Andrew Saale III (Loren), and grandchild, Ella Butler, brother Mark Saale (Joanne). He is pre‐ceded in death by his par‐ents Maurice and Mary Saale, and daughter Melissa Saale. No services at this time.

Machen, Rosena B.

Gaudin,

DEATHS continued from

SPORTS

FOLLOW-UP ACT

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

Matt McMahon felt no need to downplay the difﬁculty of keeping players engaged and committed to playing with full effort during a monthlong losing streak

“It’s hard, tough, very challenging,” the third-year coach for LSU men’s basketball said Monday

As the team felt the pangs of defeat eat at it more with each of its seven consecutive losses, the challenge McMahon had was getting players to “attack that adversity.”

“You’re trying to ﬁnd the right balance as a coach of ‘we got to get better,’ ” McMahon said. “There’s got to be accountability in these areas to improve, but we also have to maintain conﬁdence and belief in each other.”

LSU (13-12, 2-10 SEC) struck the right balance in its 82-79 road victory over

Oklahoma on Saturday, its first win since Jan. 14. The Tigers should have a chance to do that once again when they face South Carolina (10-15, 0-12) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center McMahon described the Gamecocks’ record as deceiving because they have lost six games by five points or less against Southeastern Conference opponents.

At the top of the scouting report is South Carolina sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles, who is projected to be a ﬁrstround NBA draft selection after this season.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward is a reliable rebounder and disruptive defender that averages 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

McMahon complimented the Gamecocks star for having an “incredible skill set” combined with physicality Murray-

Boyles is also an efﬁcient scorer, averaging 15.5 points while leading the SEC in ﬁeld-goal percentage (57.4%).

LSU will need its front court to have an impressive showing on both ends. That starts with availability, which was an issue in LSU’s win against the Sooners. The only playable rotation big men on Saturday were redshirt junior Daimion Collins and freshman Robert Miller Redshirt freshman Corey Chest, who averages a team-high 7.3 rebounds, is probable to return Tuesday He experienced back issues pregame against Oklahoma. McMahon said ﬁfth-year senior Derek Fountain, who was out because of an illness, practiced Monday alongside Chest. Freshman Trey’Dez Green was out last game and will not be available for LSU.

The dual-sport athlete is stepping away

NBA teams ready to make playoff push

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

AUSTIN, Texas Texas certainly had its struggles against the LSU women. Coach Vic Schaefer acknowledged that fact Sunday not long after he squinted his eyes and rummaged through a box score, searching for the reasons why his Longhorns pulled off a comeback win. Then it dawned on him.

“I thought they played really hard defensively all game long,” Schaefer said after he put down his pen and looked up. “And that’s really what kept us in it.”

LSU nearly won its ﬁrst regular-season game against a top-five opponent under coach Kim Mulkey on Sunday But the No. 3 Longhorns (26-2, 12-1 SEC) simply defended the No. 5 Tigers too well, especially in the fourth quarter of what turned into a 65-58 win with important postseason implications.

LSU took a 43-31 lead — its largest of the day — at the 4:30 mark of the third quarter Then Schaefer called a timeout, shed his blazer and watched Texas storm back. From that moment on, the Longhorns outscored the Tigers 34-15. LSU converted only ﬁve of the next 25 ﬁeld goals it took, and Texas nailed 10 of its next 18.

The Tigers (25-2, 10-2) built their lead with effective half-court offense. Flau’jae Johnson ran behind a stagger screen, then buried a 3-pointer Aneesah Morrow sealed her defender in the paint, caught a lob pass and ﬁnished an easy layup. A baseline out-of-bounds action set Mikaylah Williams up for a mid-range jumper, a shot she hit on the possession after she timed a backdoor cut nicely, opening a passing lane for Morrow and an easy bucket for herself. Then those open looks disappeared. Texas contested every shot, challenged every pass and swarmed every cut. At the other end, its shots ﬁnally started to fall.

By the end of the day, the Longhorns and Tigers had identical shooting numbers: 21 of 63 (33%) from the ﬁeld, with LSU sinking only one more shot from beyond the arc than Texas did. What was the difference?

“Both teams got to the foul line,” Mulkey said. “They made theirs, and we missed (ours).”

Texas hit all 21 free throws it took, and LSU converted only 13 of its 19. Because the Tigers struggled on offense for most of the second half, they couldn’t hit enough shots to offset that free-throw disparity

The trade deadline is gone. The All-Star break is about to end. Luka Doncic is with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jimmy Butler is with the Golden State Warriors. Anthony Davis is with the Dallas Mavericks, though it’s unknown when he’ll play again. The dust has settled. It’s time for the stretch run. Here comes the fun part of the season. Every club has between 26 and 30 games remaining in this 71/2-week sprint to the April 13 ﬁnish line, play resuming Wednesday when Charlotte faces the Lakers. And teams will point to recent history as proof that just getting into the playoffs means anything can happen: No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 seeds have made their way to the conference ﬁnals in the last two years alone.

Pirates’ ace working on 2 new pitches

BY WILL GRAVES AP sports writer

BRADENTON, Fla. — Paul Skenes

spent his rookie season dutifully following the Pittsburgh Pirates’ plan to bring their young ace along as slowly and safely as possible. It worked. Maybe better than all involved imagined during an electrifying 2024 in which the towering right-hander from LSU started the All-Star Game and captured the National League Rookie of the Year award while becoming perhaps the game’s hottest young star in a decade It was an incredible ride. Yet when Skenes arrived last week for

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Stephen Curry, the now two-time All-Star Game MVP of the Golden State Warriors. “It’s basically a playoff game every single night, and that usually brings the best out of you.” Some teams can go ahead and

start planning for the playoffs Oklahoma City and Cleveland are both 44-10, tied for the best record in the league. Reigning champion Boston, currently No 2 in the Eastern Conference, remains on pace to obliterate league records for 3-pointers made and attempted in a season. The Celtics, New York, Denver,

his second spring training, he did it with the kind of freedom he lacked a year ago. Oh, and a couple of new pitches, too.

The 22-year-old is tinkering with adding a cutter and a running twoseam fastball to an arsenal that already includes a four-seamer that tops out north of 100 mph and a “splinker” that was one of the best put-away pitches in the majors in 2024. “Just trying to create more swing decisions,” Skenes said. Or nondecisions.

Veteran second baseman Adam Frazier who reunited with the Pirates last month, volunteered to be the ﬁrst batter to face Skenes during a live batting practice Saturday The ﬁrst pitch the left-handed hitting Frazier saw was a splinker that darted down and away while

catching the outside corner of the strike zone. Frazier’s bat never moved as the ball whizzed by, a pitch “nobody is going to do anything with,” as the former All-Star put it.

“If you hit it, you’re hitting it straight in the ground,” Frazier said. “So it’s like, ‘All right, strap it on and get ready.’ ” Frazier, second baseman Nick Gonzales and first baseman Darick Hall all failed to make solid contact off Skenes during a 25-pitch session in which a few dozen fans surrounded one of the practice fields at Pirates City, many of them with their phones raised to capture the first glimpse of Skenes in 2025. Skenes called the attention he commands “a privilege.” It’s also, however, not a priority The

ä See SKENES, page 6C

LSU is scoring 86.3 points per game this season — the ﬁfth-most among Division I teams. On a per-possession basis, it has one of the 10 best offenses in the country The Tigers are also grabbing offensive rebounds at the nation’s third-highest rate, and they’re making more free throws per game than all but seven Division I squads.

Yet LSU now has dropped both games it’s played against the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference, and in those two losses, it scored 57 ppg on

ä See LSU MEN, page 3C ä See NBA, page 3C ä See LSU WOMEN, page 3C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU forward Daimion Collins, left, battles UNO forward MJ Thomas for position in the paint on Dec. 22 at the PMAC.

Notre Dame ascends to No. 1

LSU drops from fifth to seventh

BY DOUG FEINBERG

AP basketball writer

Notre Dame is the new No. 1 in

The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, ascending to the top spot Monday for the ﬁrst time since 2019.

The Fighting Irish replaced UCLA, which lost its first game of the season last week, falling to rival USC, 71-60 Notre Dame was last No. 1 on Jan. 21, 2019.

“It’s deﬁnitely an honor to be the nation’s top team, but we are just focused on getting better every day,“ Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.

The Irish, who received 16 ﬁrstplace votes from a 30-member national media panel, defeated No. 11 Duke 64-49 on Monday Texas moved up to second for its best ranking since 2017. The Longhorns, who garnered eight firstplace ballots, became the ﬁrst team

to beat three straight top 10 teams since 2004-05, according to ESPN, topping South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU.

The Bruins had been No. 1 for 12 straight weeks after beating South Carolina in late November UCLA fell to third and received the other six ﬁrst-place votes

USC moved up to fourth and UConn was fifth after routing then-No. 4 South Carolina 87-58 on Sunday

The Gamecocks, who saw their 71-game home winning streak end, fell to sixth. LSU and Ohio State were next.

North Carolina climbed up three spots to ninth for its highest ranking in three seasons after beating N.C. State 66-65 on Sunday TCU was 10th.

Ins and outs Illinois reentered the poll this week at No. 25 after beating Penn State and Nebraska. The Illini spent the first few weeks of the season ranked.

Florida State fell out after losing to Louisville and edging Miami.

Falling Wildcats

It was a rough week for Kentucky One week after earning its best ranking in a decade, Kentucky fell six spots to 14th. The Wildcats lost games to Ole Miss and Texas before beating Georgia.

Conference breakdown

The Southeastern Conference still reigns with seven ranked teams. The Big Ten has six while the ACC and Big 12 each have ﬁve.

The Big East has two.

NCAA reveal

With a month left to the start of the NCAA Tournament, the selection committee revealed the top 16 teams to that point Sunday UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame were the one seeds The reveal came before South Carolina’s loss.

Games of the week

No. 1 Notre Dame at No. 13 North Carolina State, Sunday The Irish currently have a two-game lead in the ACC race over the Wolfpack Five teams are within two games

of second place. No. 17 West Virginia at No. 10 TCU, Sunday Two of the top teams in the Big 12 square off as the Horned Frogs hope to remain at top of the conference standings.

Auburn strengthens its hold on top spot

BY AARON BEARD AP basketball writer

Auburn’s win at Alabama assured the Tigers would keep the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a sixth consecutive week. The Tigers (23-2) received 59 of 60 ﬁrst-place votes in Monday’s poll, reclaiming nearly all the support lost when they fell at home to Florida on Feb. 8. Auburn had been the unanimous No. 1 for three straight weeks before that loss, but remained at the top last week despite seeing nearly half of those ﬁrst-place votes go primarily to Alabama, with a few to Florida and Tennessee.

But the Tigers won Saturday in a 1-vs.-2 road matchup against the rival Crimson Tide, hours after the committee that will choose the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament put Auburn as its No. 1 overall seed in its preliminary rankings.

The top tier

The two teams to beat the Tigers sit right behind them. Florida and Duke were tied for third last week, and the Gators inched past the Blue Devils to break that

tie and take the No. 2 spot while claiming the remaining ﬁrst-place vote.

Alabama fell to No 4, followed by Houston, Tennessee, Texas A&M — with its highest ranking since December 2017 — Iowa State, Texas Tech and St. John’s to round out the top 10.

Of that group, the Red Raiders represented the only change from last week’s set of teams, climbing three spots to replace Purdue for their first top-10 appearance in three years.

Grant McCasland’s squad, which has lost just twice since the start of 2025, was unranked until cracking the poll at No. 22 on Jan. 27.

Rising

Michigan had the week’s biggest jump among ranked teams, climbing eight spots to No. 12 after beating Purdue last week and pushing its win streak to six games. No. 15 Missouri jumped six spots, while No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 18 Clemson and No. 20 Maryland each rose ﬁve spots.

In all, 12 teams moved up from their position last week.

Sliding

Memphis took the biggest tumble of the week, falling eight spots

to No. 22 after its overtime loss at Wichita State ended an eightgame winning streak. No 13 Purdue No 19 Arizona and No. 23 Kansas — the preseason No 1-ranked team — all fell six spots, while No. 24 Ole Miss tumbled ﬁve. Ten teams fell from last week’s poll.

Welcome back No. 25 Louisville was the week’s lone new addition, returning to the poll for the second time after a two-week stint in January Firstyear coach Pat Kelsey has guided the program to its first 20-win season since 2019-20. The Cardinals have lost just once since mid-December Farewell (for now) Creighton (No. 24) fell out of the rankings for the second time this season. The Bluejays were ranked for the first four weeks, then returned last week for what turned out to be a one-week stay Conference watch The Southeastern Conference had a national-best nine teams, including three of the top four and five of the top 10.

Alcaraz holds off Cilic to advance at Qatar Open

DOHA — Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz overcame Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 at the Qatar Open. The 36-year-old Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has fallen to No. 192 in the rankings, was playing his ﬁrst match of the season after recovering from a longterm knee injury

The Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz’s serve in the second set, but the Spanish four-time major winner managed to recover and then broke in the next game.

Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen or Luca Nardi next. Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka eighth-seeded Jack Draper beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to set up a meeting aga, Christopher O’Connell.

Angels moving Trout from center field to right field

TEMPE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Angels oft-injured star Mike Trout is moving from center to right ﬁeld in hopes of better preserving his health.

The three-time AL MVP played in 82 or fewer games in three of the past four seasons while dealing with an assortment of injuries. That doesn’t include the 53 games he played in 2020 because that season was shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trout approached the club about the position switch. Trout said there could be situations where he plays center ﬁeld, but his focus will be on learning his new spot. He also could see time at designated hitter

Athletics extend contract with manager Kotsay MESA, Ariz. — Manager Mark Kotsay has agreed to a contract extension with the Athletics through the 2028 season that includes a club option for 2029.

The deal was announced Monday, which coincided with the team’s ﬁrst full-squad workout of spring training.

The 49-year-old Kotsay is in his fourth season with the A’s leading the franchise through a period of upheaval that’s included a move from Oakland to Sacramento, California, where they’ll play at a minor league stadium for the next few seasons. The eventual plan is to end up in Las Vegas. The Athletics went 69-93 last season, a 19-win improvement over a 112-loss season in 2023.

Azarenka rallies from set down to advance in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka rallied from a set and a break down to beat Anhelina Kalinina 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 Monday and reach the second round of the Dubai Championships. The 35-year-old Azarenka trailed 5-2 in the second set and was down 4-2 in the tiebreaker before winning the next ﬁve points.

Just two days after winning the Qatar Open title in Doha, Amanda Anisimova lost 6-2, 6-3 to fellow American McCartney Kessler No. 11-seeded Diana Shnaider ousted Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-2 while No. 12 Mirra Andreeva beat Elina Avanesyan 6-2, 6-1 to set up a meeting with 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova. Azarenka will face second-seeded Iga Swiatek, who had a bye into the second round.

Mets shut down pitcher because of a strained back

PORT ST LUCIE, Fla. Mets righthander Frankie Montas will be shut down from pitching for six to eight weeks because of a strained back. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday it was a high-grade lat strain and that Montas was heading to New York for an injection. After the shutdown, Montas will need a spring training-like buildup, meaning Montas won’t pitch until May at the earliest. He signed a two-year, $34 million freeagent contract in December The injury creates uncertainty for a starting rotation that went through a makeover in the offseason. Montas missed most of the 2023 season because of shoulder surgery He returned last season but went 7-11 with a 4.84 ERA while playing for the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GENE J PUSKAR

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, right, is fouled by Pittsburgh’s MaKayla Elmore during the first half

No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s poll after UCLA lost to USC last week. Notre Dame

Southern men hold off TSU’s rally

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

Southern was cruising with a 19-point second-half lead Monday night against Texas Southern. Then the Tigers unleashed their press. Texas Southern forced Southern into 15 second-half turnovers and nearly rallied all the way back. Instead, Southern got just enough ballhandling in the closing minutes to hold on for a 66-57 win at the F.G. Clark Activity Center

Michael Jacobs scored four points in the closing minutes and led the Jaguars with 20. Jordan Johnson added 11 The Jaguars had 24 turnovers for the game but outrebounded Texas Southern 3524. With the win, Southern (17-9, 12-1 SWAC) maintained its three-game lead in the conference standings

The ﬁve-team logjam for second place shrunk to two after Monday night’s action. Jackson State and Florida A&M won Monday night and are both 9-4 in the league.

Starting with a 22-6 second-half run that ate up nine minutes of the clock, Texas Southern made sure the game went down to the wire.

TSU’s Kavion McClain and Kolby

Granger were the catalysts as the Tigers got as close as 59-55 with 3:38 left to play Granger ﬁnished with 16 points and seven rebounds while McClain scored 12.

The Jaguars had chances to slow the TSU run, but they missed nine free throws including the front end of two one-and-ones.

Southern moved out to a 45-26 lead after Johnson’s 3-pointer at the 17:44 mark. TSU got two free throws from Granger and began giving Southern trouble with its press. The Tigers forced three straight turnovers and capped off an 8-0 run with a steal and jumper by Granger

The spurt had TSU within 45-34, but Southern eventually righted the ship

In the ﬁrst half, Southern took an early lead and never trailed. Texas

Southern tied the score once at 1313 after a three-point play by Zaire Hayes, but Southern responded with a 12-2 run Johnson started the run with a 3-pointer and added two free throws. Southern heated up after Derrick Tezeno’s fast-break basket gave the Jaguars a 25-15 lead with 5:22 to go in the half.

Including 3-pointers from PJ Do-

GREEN STEPS AWAY FROM LSU BASKETBALL TEAM

Two-sport freshman Trey’Dez Green will be away from the LSU basketball team with the hope of rejoining later as he focuses on academics, coach Matt McMahon said Monday

Green, who is also a tight end for the LSU football team, played his first game on the basketball team Jan. 25 at No. 4 Alabama.The decision to leave the basketball team was made after a “collaboration meeting” with McMahon, Green and football coach Brian Kelly

Just after visiting with coach Kelly and Trey’Dez the academic workload is very heavy so he’s going to be focusing on those academics for the time being and rejoin us at a later date,” McMahon said.

The 6-foot-7 245-pound forward played in six games and was averaging 6.7 minutes, 1.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game His best game was when he played 11 minutes and scored four points against Texas.

Kelly told reporters Feb 5 that Green was still training with the football team in the weight room.

“He is not tapped out of that, which obviously we’re excited about,” Kelly said.“But he’s lost a little bit of weight running up and down the (basketball) court.”

In LSU football’s 44-31 win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31, Green had six catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns Toyloy Brown III

APRIL BUFFINGTON

PHOTO By

Daimion Collins of LSU goes up for two over Matthew Murrell of Ole Miss at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Feb 8.

LSU MEN

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from the team with the hope of rejoining later as he focuses on academics.

The depth of LSU’s front court is also important in assisting its best rim protector Collins, who had a career-high 22 points and four blocks last game, in slowing down Murray-Boyles.

The 6-9 Collins weighs 45 pounds less than South Carolina’s star, who could be a problem on the offensive glass alongside 6-10 forward Nick Pringle.

“Their ability to get secondshot opportunities is highly concerning for us,” McMahon said. When the Tigers collect defensive rebounds, they’ll have

buol and Tezeno, Southern made six consecutive shots and took its largest lead of the half at 38-21 after Jacobs’ three-point play TSU got a 3-pointer from Zytari-

ous Mortle and a buzzer-beating shot from Oumar Koureissi to cut its deﬁcit to 38-26 at halftime. Southern now turns its attention to Saturday’s game at Grambling,

to limit turnovers, which has been a weakness until recently

“The last four games, our ball security has been much better,” McMahon said. “Not turning the ball over as much, getting more shots on goal.”

LSU has averaged only 9.3 turnovers in the previous four games. In the ﬁrst eight games of SEC play it had 14 or more turnovers in six of them.

Limiting giveaways will allow leading scorer Cam Carter to have more opportunities to excel offensively as he did when he scored a career-high 29 points against Oklahoma. If that happens, LSU’s chances of a third conference win improve drastically

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate. com

Southern guard Michael Jacobs, left, makes a move to the hoop after getting around

Orlando Horton in the first half Saturday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center Jacobs scored a game-high 20 points Monday in Southern’s win over Texas Southern.

LSU WOMEN

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31% shooting. In four seasons under Mulkey, the Tigers have converted less than 35% of their shots nine times. Four of those instances in games against Washington, No. 4 South Carolina, Texas A&M and now Texas — have come this year Before this season, LSU was 66-2 under Mulkey when its opponent shot worse than 40% from the ﬁeld. It has since held both the Gamecocks (37%) and the Longhorns (33%) below that threshold of efﬁciency, yet it dropped both contests. Now the Tigers are 82-4 in those games.

NBA

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Houston and the Lakers all have winning percentages over .600, which is an excellent sign 132 of the last 133 teams to reach the break with such a record have wound up making the postseason.

“We have a pretty good basketball team,” said Oklahoma City All-Star guard Shai GilgeousAlexander, the current MVP favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook. “We have a little bit more experience. We have an opportunity to, for sure, win an NBA championship. Now we’re going to have to earn it.”

Then there’s the other end of the spectrum, that being the teams that are out of the mix.

Over the last 20 seasons, 98.8% of the teams that have winning percentages under 400 at the break wind up missing the playoffs. If that form holds, that eliminates Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Toronto, Charlotte, Utah, New Orleans and Washington.

So, based on the numbers, that means seven teams are in, seven teams are out and 16 teams remain

“Our kids played so hard defensively,” Schaefer said. “You have no idea — no idea — how hard that group is to guard, and we had made a decision to do some different lineups, different matchups, untypical of maybe what you think, but I just thought our kids were so locked in and so tough guarding.” Despite the loss, LSU is still on track to earn a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and begin a potential run to the Final Four at home. But now it will need not only to win its last four regular-season games but also, perhaps, win the SEC Tournament to move back into consideration for a No. 1 seed.

The NCAA selection committee revealed Sunday morning that it had the Tigers ranked sixth over-

in the middle fighting for what will be the last nine playoff spots ﬁve to be clinched on or before the end of the regular season on April 13, four others to be won in the play-in tournament later that week.

“The last 25 to 30 games are really important for everyone,” said Miami guard Tyler Herro, the league’s new 3-point shootout champion. “We’ve got a new group, in a sense, and we’re going to hit the ground running. It’s going to happen fast. Everything is going to matter throughout this next month and a half.”

The Heat traded Butler to the Warriors, getting back Andrew Wiggins in return. San Antonio landed De’Aaron Fox from Sacramento, and the Los Angeles Clippers — who have barely had Kawhi Leonard available this season, but he’s playing now — ﬁgure they’re right in the mix to challenge as well.

“I think we got a really good chance,” Clippers All-Star guard James Harden said. “We added some shooting, we added some defense and obviously with a healthy Kawhi we’ve got a chance to compete with anybody. So, I think for us, it’s just finding out how we

all and penciled into the No. 2 seed of the Spokane 1 region, alongside No. 1 UCLA, No. 10 Duke and No. 16 Tennessee. If LSU wants to win that region (or another one like it), then its offense can’t sputter down the stretch of games like it did Sunday against Schaefer’s Texas team, now just the sixth opponent to prevent Mulkey’s Tigers from scoring 60 points.

“You have to execute and be extremely tough,” Mulkey said, “when it requires the toughest of you.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

want to play and attacking it.” Milwaukee added Kyle Kuzma, moving Khris Middleton to Washington in that deal. And Phoenix didn’t trade Kevin Durant, which is a sign that the Suns are hoping their star trio of him, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal can make a push.

“We’re all figuring it out, man,” Durant said. “We’ve got 28, 29 games to go to figure it out. That’s the fun part, trying to figure out how to get out of a slump.” Davis’ injury obviously isn’t great for Dallas, especially with it was compounded by a rash of other injuries to the Mavericks’ bigman corps. Doncic is still working his way back into form after a calf issue, so he and James still likely will need some time to figure out the best way for this new star duo to work. Butler went to the Warriors with hopes of being the jolt that gets Curry, Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr back into title contention.

“I think, 27 games or so left to make a push,” Curry said. “All we want is just to get into a playoff series and have a ﬁghting chance to be a tough out against anybody in the West, and we have a good opportunity in front of us to do that.”

PHOTO By STEPHEN SPILLMAN

Texas forward Madison Booker goes to the basket between LSU guard Mikaylah Williams, left, and guard Shayeann Day-Wilson during a game in Austin, Texas, on Sunday

which defeated Prairie View 70-48 on Monday Grambling, which has won the last two SWAC regularseason championships, lost 67-60 at Southern on Jan. 18.

Prairie View guard

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

THE VARSITY ZONE

Saints’ Berry siblings form special sisterhood

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Coaching three siblings on the same basketball team seems like an unusual challenge West Feliciana coach Tim Washington says coaching the Berry sisters was meant to be.

“They are all starters for us good kids and good basketball players,” Washington said. “More than anything else, I am a ﬁrm believer that things happen for a reason.

“Being part of their journey as a teacher in middle school and now as their high school coach means the world. It’s special.”

The 11th-seeded Saints (18-6) host No. 22 Assumption (12-16) at 6 p.m. Thursday to tip off the LHSAA’s Division II nonselect playoffs.

Washington shares a nearly 14-year-old story that the sisters and some in the West Feliciana community know and understand

“I was an assistant coach for the boys team and their father, Sylvester Berry, stopped by my house after the season,” Washington said. “I was getting ready to go on a cruise the next day and was going to propose to my girlfriend. We talked about that and about basketball.

“He told me he wished I coached girls, so I could coach his daughters. We played in an adult basketball league game that night. I told him I would see him when I got back.” Washington never saw Sylvester Berry again The next day Washington got a call telling him Berry was killed in a car crash in the St Francisville area.

“I feel like I owe to them and their father to give them all I have as a coach,” said Washington, now in his 10th year as the West Feliciana girls coach “I taught them in middle school. Now I coach them just like he wanted.”

Sa’Maria Berry, a 5-foot-11 senior, averages 17 points per game to help lead the Saints and is one of two seniors on the team. She recently scored her 1,000th career point. Sa’Naya is a sophomore guard and Sa’Lacia is a freshman guard.

The oldest Berry sister cried when Washington told her the story about her father during her sopho-

more season.

The story has since been shared with her younger siblings. There is a bond with the girls’ mother Monica Harris, who was two grades ahead of Washington when they attended West Feliciana.

“Coach Washington was my P.E teacher through middle school, so he has been part of my life for a while,” Sa’Maria Berry said. “Hearing that story did make me cry But I think it also adds to our story

“We know we have someone in this place who is looking out for us. And we know why He (Washington) was a friend to both of my parents. I think this is special.”

The Saints got off to a rocky start before putting together a 16-game winning streak. Back-to-back District 6-4A losses to St. Michael and league champion Brusly forced the Saints to refocus. West Feliciana ended the regular season with a win over Istrouma.

“One younger sister (Sa’Naya) is a sophomore and the other (Sa’Lacia) is a freshman,” Washington said.

“We’re a young team and Sa’Maria is a leader The two older sisters helped the youngest sister adjust to varsity basketball.

“They make sure she’s straight and they keep each other straight. This is something. Like I said, I’m proud to be part of this with them.”

LHSAA soccer tourney begins Tuesday

Staff report

Baton Rouge’s big day at the LHSAA soccer tournament won’t be until Wednesday when three local Division III teams seek titles. However, the four-day event starts Tuesday at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Strawberry Stadium with Division IV action.

Newman has its boys and girls

teams set to play The top-seeded Greenies (22-0-1) takes on No. 2 Ascension Episcopal (18-3-2) in the boys match at 5 p.m.

The second-seeded Newman girls (16-3-3) meets top-seeded Loyola (21-4-3) in the girls ﬁnal that follows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday’s schedule is a doubleheader for University High.

The second-seeded Cubs (20-2-1) face top-seeded Loyola (19-2-6) in the boys Division III final at 5 p.m. At 7:30, district rivals collide when two-time reigning champion Parkview Baptist (23-2-0), the top seed, takes on No. 3 U-High (17-24) at 7:30 p.m. The Division II finals are Thursday. Baton Rouge’s other finalist, fourth-seeded Catholic High (163-3), plays No. 6 St. Paul’s (21-53) in the Division I boys final at 5 p.m. Saturday

Two BR teams get No. 1 seeds in girls basketball playoffs

Staff report

They’re No. 1. That is the story for two select schools Division II University High and Southern Lab of Division IV — ahead of the LHSAA’s girls basketball playoffs. U-High (20-3) grabbed the No. 1 seed in Division II after ﬁnishing as the Division III runner-up a year ago. Southern Lab (18-5), the reigning Division IV champion, is the Baton Rouge area’s other No. 1 seed. The LHSAA released its playoff pairings for all eight divisions, along with Classes B and C on Monday Walker (30-2) is seeded No. 2 behind two-time reigning champion Parkway in Division I to lead the area’s nonselect contingent. The top four seeds on the non-

select brackets and the top eight select seeds receive bidistrict/ ﬁrst-round byes this week. Most bidistrict playoff games will be played Thursday Parkview Baptist of Division II select (19-6) is among the schools garnering a No. 3 seed. The Eagles beat U-High in the Division III ﬁnal last year Both schools moved to Division II this year Two area Class 5A

GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFF PAIRINGS

19 H.L. Bourgeois (19-9) at No. 14 Hahnville (19-8)

22 Northwood-Shreve (18-9) at No. 11

Ascension (20-5)

27 New Iberia (17-11) at No. 6 Natchitoches (27-4) No. 26 West Ouachita (19-9) at No. 7 Neville (19-3) No. 23 East St. John (18-10) at No. 10 Sulphur (21-3) No. 18 Terrebonne (23-7) at No. 15 Mandeville (21-9) No. 2 Walker (30-2) bye Division II Bidistrict No. 1 Wossman (24-3) bye No. 17 Carroll (14-15) at No. 16 Rayne (18-9) No. 24 Minden (14-11) at No. 9 Northwest (20-6) No. 25 Cecilia (12-12) at No. 8 Bastrop (18-8) No. 28 Livonia (11-17) at No. 5 Abbeville (18-4) No. 21 Pearl River (16-12) at No. 12 St. Martinville (17-6) No. 20 Beau Chene (15-13) at No. 13 Brusly (18-14) No. 4 Iowa (20-7) bye No. 3 Sterlington (21-7) bye No. 19 Franklin Parish (8-14) at No. 14 Opelousas (14-11) No. 22 Assumption (12-16) at West Feliciana No. 11 (18-6) No. 27 Plaquemine (14-14) at No. 6 South Beauregard (20-11) No. 26 Lutcher (11-11) at No. 7 Albany (21-11) No. 23 South Terrebonne (14-13) at No. 10 Lakeshore (11-9)

No. 18 Iota (12-11) at No. 15 LaGrange (13-10)

No. 2 North Vermilion (25-2) bye Division III Bidistrict No. 1 Oakdale (22-5) bye No. 17 North Webster (14-13) at No. 16 Avoyelles (10-15) No. 24 Mamou (11-22) at No. 9 Mansﬁeld (16-12) No. 25 Port Barre (9-13) at No. 8 Ville Platte (19-8)

No. 28 Crowley (9-15) at No. 5 Pine (21-5)

No. 21 Church Point (12-18) at No. 12 Berwick (21-10)

No. 20 St. James (8-11) at No. 13 Richwood (10-17)

No. 4 Doyle (22-6) bye No. 3 French Settlement (23-9) bye No. 19 Kaplan (10-18) at No. 14 Many (19-13) No. 22 Vidalia (11-13) at No. 11 Springﬁeld (17-12) No. 27 Baker (12-11) at No. 6 Westlake (16-6)

No. 26 Winnﬁeld (5-19) at No. 7 Kinder (10-7)

No. 23 Port Allen (6-19) at No. 10 Jena (19-10) No. 18 Red River (11-16) at No. 15 Marksville (12-15) No. 2 Oak Grove (18-2) bye Division IV Bidistrict No. 1 Lakeview (26-4) bye No. 17 Franklin (10-10) at No. 16 Plain Dealing (15-14) No. 24 North Central (10-19) at No. 9 Homer (17-9) No. 25 Lake Arthur (10-16) at No. 8 Mangham (20-6) No. 28 Ringgold (8-15) at No. 5 Midland (20-11) No. 21 Jonesboro-Hodge (12-19) at No. 12 West St. Mary (14-11) No. 20 East Beauregard (13-13) at No. 13 East Feliciana (18-7) No. 4 Merryville (21-6) bye No. 3 White Castle (23-9) bye No. 19 LaSalle (16-12) at No. 14 Montgomery (12-14) No. 22 Basile (16-11) at No. 11 Grand Lake (14-12) No. 27 Ferriday (9-12) at No. 6 Logansport (20-5) No. 26 Jeanerette (7-9) at No. 7 Oberlin (19-13) No. 23

PROVIDED PHOTOS

From left, Sa’Lacia Berry, Sa’Maria Berry and Sa’Naya Berry are a set of sisters who have played a key role in the success of the West Feliciana girls basketball team this season.

West Feliciana girls basketball coach Tim Washington has guided his team to an 18-6 record

Pitchers, outﬁelders shine for LSU baseball

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU baseball started off its 2025 campaign on the right foot this weekend, sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne in a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers won 14-0 on Friday, 10-1 on Saturday and 8-1 on Sunday Here are five takeaways from LSU’s season-opening performance:

Strikes and more strikes

LSU’s dominance on the mound started with its ability to ﬁll up the strike zone.

The Tigers surrendered just two walks and hit one batter all weekend. More than two-thirds of their pitches were strikes, and those strikes often turned into strikeouts.

LSU recorded 45 strikeouts — the most it had accumulated against a single opponent in a three-game series since at least 1992.

“I talk football terms a lot,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said Sunday, “but strike-zone management on both sides of the ball is like the line of scrimmage in football.”

Generating swings and misses was never an issue for LSU last year the Tigers ﬁnished ﬁrst in the country in strikeouts. But this season, with most of their pitchers featuring fastballs in the mid to upper 90s with at least one effective breaking ball, they have the talent to top last year’s punch-out total (733).

Outfield logjam

LSU’s situation in the outﬁeld got a little more interesting.

Sophomore Ashton Larson, despite not starting the first two games, stepped up as LSU’s best hitter Sunday As the designated hitter, Larson went 3-for-4 with a home run and ﬁve RBIs, making a strong case to return to the lineup every day after being a starter last season

“I love to play baseball This is my life,” Larson said. “So when I’m out there competing, there’s no extra pressure. We spend hours and hours practicing situations and swings and stuff like that. So then you’re just executing and you don’t have to think too much.”

It may take a few more performances like Sundays for Larson to cement his starting spot LSU’s outﬁeld was a perceived strength heading into the year, and it showed over the weekend

Freshman Derek Curiel had four hits and hit his ﬁrst career homer Auburn transfer Chris Stanfield made a diving catch in center ﬁeld Friday and also had four hits in the series. Sophomore Jake Brown had multiple hits Sunday, and senior Josh Pearson drew four walks. Junior Ethan Frey started at designated hitter Saturday and got a single.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU outfielder Ashton Larson races out of the batter’s box for a two-run double Sunday at Alex Box Stadium. Larson was 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in the game against Purdue Fort Wayne.

ON DECK

WHO: Southern (2-1) at LSU (3-0) WHEN: 2 p.m. Tuesday WHERE: Alex Box Stadium ONLINE: SEC Network+ RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1 (Baton Rouge); WWLAM, 870 (New Orleans); KLWB-FM, 103.7 (Lafayette) RANKINGS: LSU is No. 3 by D1Baseball PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU — TBA; Southern — TBA PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate.com/lsu ON X: @KokiRiley WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Junior college left-handed transfer Conner Ware, Wofford right-handed transfer Zac Cowan and junior Gavin Guidry did not pitch last weekend for LSU. Expect one of those three to start. Southern opened its season at the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic with wins over Texas Southern and Prairie View and a loss to Grambling.

Curiel and Stanﬁeld started all three games this weekend, signaling that their spots in the lineup are secure, at least for now

Outs on bases

LSU entered this season with an emphasis on becoming more aggressive on the base paths With less power and more speed in the lineup than in recent years, the strategy appeared sound.

But the plan backfired on LSU this weekend. The Tigers were thrown out six times, including two times while trying to steal a base.

Whether it was trying to take an extra base on a pitch in the dirt or being overly aggressive when rounding ﬁrst base after a hit, they had a rough weekend running the bases.

On Sunday, Johnson made a fullthroated defense of the Tigers’ strategy

“Like you can’t do it both ways,”

he said. “If you pass the ball 65 times a game, you’re going to throw more interceptions. If you run the ball 60 times a game — which nobody does that anymore, right you’re going to fumble more often

“How you score runs is really important. We need to be able to score runs in whatever type of game that we’re in, and so there’s

just a high bar.”

Freshman relievers shine

LSU’s four heralded freshman arms made their collegiate debuts this weekend, and they all lived up to the hype.

In 62/3 innings, right-hander William Schmidt, left-hander Cooper Williams right-hander Casan Evans and right-hander Mavrick Rizy combined to strikeout 13 batters and allow just one hit. They didn’t walk anyone.

“We only got four (freshmen) because we thought they were elite and could perform right away,” Johnson said. “And there’s no question about that.”

Slider for starters

LSU’s three starters — sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson on Friday, junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson on Saturday and redshirt sophomore right-hander Chase Shores on Sunday — possess different arsenals and have crafted their own pitching styles.

But what they do share is the ability to throw a good slider. The pitch played a big part in how the trio struck out 21 Mastodons in 15 innings over the weekend.

For Anderson, the slider was something he added to his repetoire last season, working on it over the offseason and turning it into a go-to offering. It was arguably his best pitch against Purdue Fort Wayne, as he struck out eight batters in ﬁve innings.

“It’s a new grip,” Anderson said in January “I throw a split grip slider It’s technically called a gyro slider so it doesn’t really move. It kind of just kind of spins.”

The slider was also probably Eyanson and Shores’ best off-speed pitch this weekend.

“It starts off with like a fastball and breaks pretty late,” Eyanson said. “So I think that makes it tough on (hitters), for sure.”

Clark wishes gymnastics rankings were more clear

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Casual gymnastics fans were puzzled Monday as to how LSU could beat No. 1-ranked Oklahoma on Friday and drop from No. 2 to No. 3 in the national rankings. Collegiate gymnastics rankings are based not on polls but on season averages. That is, until NCAA teams start using the NQS (National Qualifying Scores) formula, which went into effect this week. To determine a team’s NQS score, the top-six scores are taken including at least three from road meets. The top score is thrown out and the next ﬁve scores are averaged. Based on that formula, LSU’s NQS is 197.420 after Friday’s 198.050-197.675 win over the Sooners. But that score doesn’t count because it was the Tigers’ best mark of the season.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is still No. 1 with an NQS of 197.730. UCLA leaped from No. 5 in last week’s total season average to No. 2 this week with an NQS of 197.455. Utah is No. 4 at 197.235.

Confused? LSU coach Jay Clark understands, and he isn’t happy about it.

“It’s an oddity, there’s no getting around it,” Clark said. “I’ve advocated for straight average for years. I don’t know what other sport counts just 50% of what they do, but we do.”

Clark acknowledged that based on the entire season’s average, LSU still would be No. 2 behind Oklahoma, 197.736-197.493. His complaint is about how hard it is for fans to understand.

“I really don’t care that we’re ranked third,” he said. “What I care about is I have to answer these questions. I want us to be as understandable as possible.”

LSU faces No. 9 Kentucky in Lexington at 6 p.m. Friday on the SEC Network.

Brock out indefinitely Clark said Chase Brock is out indefinitely after suffering an Achilles injury in pre-meet floor warmups against Oklahoma. He didn’t have any details Monday as to when Brock might undergo surgery The fifth-year senior from Atlanta has been a fixture in the Tigers’ vault and floor lineups this season, competing in one or both events every meet this season until Friday Brock stayed on the floor on crutches to cheer on her teammates after the injury Bryant back on bars?

The reigning NCAA all-around

SKENES

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admitted perfectionist is too consumed with his craft to cultivate his celebrity. And for as dominant as he was at times last summer Skenes knows he’s hardly a ﬁnished product after 23 majorleague starts.

His numbers as a rookie — an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings were dazzling. They also were just the beginning.

champion is getting closer to competing as an all-arounder for the ﬁrst time in 2025.

Fifth-year senior Haleigh Bryant practiced Sunday on uneven bars and did her full repertoire of releases Clark said. Bryant has not done bars competitively since she injured the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in her elbow during LSU’s Gymnastics 101 exhibition in December

Clark said the results were promising, but he’s not ready to pencil his star gymnast into the bars lineup just yet. Of the four events vault, bars, balance beam and ﬂoor — bars causes the most strain on the elbow

“She said, ‘I think I can do a full set,’ ” Clark said. “So she’s an option on bars going forward. But whether that happens this week or not, I’m not ready to commit one way or another.”

Dunne has knee issue

Olivia Dunne has been out of the lineup the past three meets because of a knee injury Clark said.

“It isn’t a stress fracture, but it is a stress reaction on her kneecap,” he said. “The only answer for that is rest.”

Dunne has competed seven times this season for the Tigers: four times on ﬂoor, twice on balance beam and once on uneven bars. Her last outing came Jan. 24 at Arkansas.

The ﬁfth-year senior’s best score this season are a pair of 9.875s on ﬂoor

Clark on OU post-meet

Clark said he did not take offense to Oklahoma coach KJ Kindler taking her Sooners off the ﬂoor near the end of the meet Friday night in a raucous and sold-out Pete Maravich Assembly Center (attendance: 13,386).

Several social-media posts criticized Oklahoma for the move as Bryant was performing on ﬂoor in the ﬁnal routine of the night.

Clark said he understood what happened and that the Sooners came back out to congratulate the Tigers after Bryant ﬁnished.

“The meet was over,” said Clark, meaning that LSU had clinched the win no matter what Bryant’s score was “So she pulled her team into the tunnel so they could hear her talk. It was loud because Haleigh was on ﬂoor People on the internet will make a mountain out of anything.

“I didn’t read anything into that. They came out and shook hands with our kids and were very gracious in defeat. No one likes to lose, but all that stuff (about OU) is manufactured garbage.”

“They did a really good job with me last year,” he said. “I kind of knew, as much as I didn’t want to believe it, that that was how it was going to be when I came into camp.”

Not this time. Skenes is a lock to be on the roster when the Pirates break camp The questions now are whether he’ll be the opening day starter — something Skenes thinks would be “really cool” — and whether Pittsburgh is ready to take a step forward into contention despite a relatively quiet offseason.

Different vibe

BY JIM KLEINPETER

Contributing writer

LSU softball coach Beth Torina isn’t merely happy with her team’s 10-0 start she’s glowing Torina, in her 14th season, has good reason. The Tigers swept through another ﬁve-game weekend with solid victories built on good offense, excellent pitching and tight defense. This is coming from a team loaded with young, untested players in a transition season.

The most eye-catching result was four consecutive victories against ranked teams, two each against Northwestern and Virginia Tech. Torina credited the buy-in from her players from the top of the roster to the bottom.

“I’m really proud of this team,” she said after Sunday’s 7-4 victory against No. 17 Virginia Tech.

“We’re doing a lot of things well, things we worked on. I love our athleticism, running the bases It feels like there’s always hope for this team, no matter the situation we’re in, they’re going to ﬁnd a way to get it done, a way to score.

“They understand how important their prep is. They prepped really well for this weekend. We talked about having elite practice, preparing at a high level I think they

ä Penn St. at LSU. 3:30 P.M. FRIDAy SECN+

will continue to do that, they’re a really driven group. I don’t see them letting up.”

The players get their coach’s philosophy, even while it has changed slightly. Bryce Neal has stepped in for longtime assistant Howard Dobson as the leader of the offense while Torina handles the pitching.

The offense had 45 hits in the four games against Northwestern and Virginia Tech and has a .377 team batting average The pitching staff has six shutouts and nine runs allowed in 10 games.

Danieca Coffey seems to have returned to form after last year’s devastating knee injury She leads the team with a 536 batting average and a 632 on-base percentage with nine RBIs from the leadoff spot, second on the team.

Junior catcher Maci Bergeron, a career .239 hitter, is batting .500 and tied for the team lead in homers with three. Torina said her pitch selection has improved this season. She walked 25 times in her ﬁrst two seasons combined but already has 11 in 2025.

Redshirt freshman first baseman Tori Edwards is the team’s top slugger with three homers and a team-best 14 RBIs.

“Coach Bryce has done an excellent job preparing us for every pitcher we face with the things we do at practice,” Bergeron said. “I feel like we’re in a really good spot, but we’re always trying to get better We have to keep our foot on the pedal.”

Freshman pitching sensation Jayden Heavener has been as phenomenal as advertised. She allowed three runs total in victories against Northwestern and Tech in her second and third college starts. Sydney Berzon has continued her excellence, and Tatum Clopton threw a shutout in her one start. Ashley Vallejo and Emilee Casanova give Torina the best depth she’s had in the circle since 2018.

The Tigers face Penn State, Southern Mississippi and Nicholls State next weekend in Tiger Park before getting a major test on the road against No. 4 UCLA and solid programs Utah, Notre Dame and Cal Fullerton.

“I liked all of it, what we got from the pitching staff, what we got from our offense, how we ran the bases, what I got from my staff, a fairly young staff,” Torina said. “They’re really just challenging all the things we thought were right before, making them better It’s cool to see guys push this offense in ways they haven’t been pushed in a long time.”

Eyeing efficiency

While Skenes stressed he is not looking to get away from his identity as a strikeout pitcher, he is trying to ﬁnd a way to get to strike three a little more quickly

“Getting ahead, winning the 0-0, 0-1, 1-1 (pitches), winning those counts, that stuff is important,” he said.

That’s where adding a couple of more options to a repertoire that already includes six pitches comes in.

“Anything that looks like a fastball and doesn’t end up being a fastball (helps),” pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “I think we all know how special his fastballs are. (More options are) just something that is going to really open up the zone for him as well.”

There is a sense of ease around Skenes that he didn’t necessarily have when he arrived at spring training a year ago as a rookie just trying to make the team. He didn’t initially, not because he wasn’t good enough, but because it was part of the team’s plan to methodically build him up rather than rush him to the majors.

While Skenes admits that was “frustrating,” he understands it was the right call.

Skenes knows his performance at the top of the rotation is a vital part of that equation. He also knows it’s hardly only up to him. It’s one of the many reasons he plans to take on a more visible leadership role in 2025. There were small signs under a nearly cloudless mid-February sky Wearing long sleeves underneath his black No. 30 jersey, Skenes dapped up support staff, chatted with video coordinator Kevin Roach and made it a point to wait for veteran pitcher Mitch Keller to finish before the two slowly walked off the practice ﬁelds together The jitters he felt in 2024 are a fading memory. He has a little more experience to go with his ever-present swagger and the kind of stuff that few can match. Skenes wasn’t sure how fast he was throwing on Saturday, though he smiled while noting that it was probably faster than 94 mph because if it wasn’t “some other people would have been concerned if it were.”

There are no concerns about Skenes at the moment, just optimism at the possibilities. Marin knows the season Skenes put together as a rookie will be difﬁcult to match but allowed “that’s the expectation.”

LET THEM BAKE CAKE

Baton Rouge bakery offers king cake classes and bingo!

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

While many Louisianans took to Bourbon Street and the French Quarter or stayed at home and made snacks to watch Super Bowl LIX, I went to Eloise

At 5:30 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, I sat inside Eloise Market and Cakery, a bakery on Lee Drive, with 15 other nonfootball fans making king cake from scratch.

The bakery provided the dough, icing, sprinkles and bingo for the class First,

the owner and head baker, Madelyn Schmidt Burr explained to us why she started the king cake classes.

“It’s kind of ridiculous that we all eat king cakes every year, but none of us know how to make them,” she said. “We have no secrets here.”

Each person was given a single serving of premade dough from the bakery that had already done its first rise. The first rise, according to Burr gives the king cake dough enough air to have a fluffy consistency when baked. Then, each person in the class rolled

Home features lazy river, bowling alley and more

BY CAITIE ZEILMAN

out their dough into a rectangular shape and spread out a cinnamon sugar mixture. The amount of ﬁlling in the king cake was left for each person to decide — I personally love a sugary, caramelized king cake, so I nearly doubled the amount of cinnamon sugar

Then, we all rolled the cinnamon-sugar dough into a log to get that classic cinnamon swirl pattern. Burr instructed the class to connect the logs’ ends to make a circle (or heart, or oval — it’s a

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

As Louisiana weather works its way back toward warmer temps, ﬂowers are getting ready to bloom, ACs are humming, and as of this weekend, Meltdown Snoballs stands are coming back.

The Meltdown, known for its ﬁnely textured ice and inventive flavors, reopened locations in Brusly and Baton Rouge on Saturday Now in his fourth season of operation, owner Zein Clayton wants to expand. He plans to open his first out-of-state location by year’s end, and for the ﬁrst time the sno-ball stand is going to stay open year-round.

Clayton grew up in Addis and attended Math Science Arts Academy West. He came up with the idea for the business at 15 years old while he was still in high school.

“As a child, I always had a love for sno-balls,” he said.

As he was growing up, he frequented sno-ball stands, sometimes multiple times a day On the weekends, he’d start his day with a sno-ball before eating breakfast. On weekdays, his mom would take him to a sno-ball stand on the way home from school and sometimes again after he ﬁnished his homework.

He wanted to get into the business himself, and when an old barbershop stand in Brusly became available, he used $6,000 which he had made selling popsicles out of his house and ﬂipping golf carts and reselling them to lease the place. He was too young to sign the papers himself, but his mom filled out the LLC paperwork in her name and put him as an agent. By the time all was said and done, he was 16 and running a small business.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Zein Clayton holds a Meltdown Juice and Strawberry snoball outside Meltdown Snoballs last

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Owner Madelyn Schmidt, left, hands Katherine Messer her freshly baked and buttered king cake during a king cake making class at Eloise Market and Cakery in Baton Rouge.

STAFF PHOTOS By HILARy SCHEINUK

ABOVE: Owner Madelyn Schmidt puts a freshly baked and buttered king cake into a box during a king cake making class at Eloise Market and Cakery.

RIGHT: Staffer Jane Whalen weighs dough out during a king cake making class.

STAFF PHOTO By MARGARET DELANEy

A finished cake from the king cake making class.

Recently divorced mom worried about dating

DEAR HARRIETTE: When it comes to relationships, I feel completely lost. I’m a 35-year-old divorced woman with two children, and while part of me feels like I might be ready to step back into the dating world, another part of me is terriﬁed. My relationship with my ex-husband ended painfully, and I don’t want to go through that kind of hurt again. The idea of opening up to someone new trusting them and potentially getting my heart broken feels overwhelm-

ing. On top of that, I know dating is going to be much more complicated now that I have children. I’m not just looking for someone who is right for me; I need to consider how a new partner would fit into my children’s lives as well. Will they be understanding of my responsibilities as a mother? Will they accept that my kids will always come first? If I do find someone great, when is the right time to introduce them to my children?

I also worry about how to balance my own happiness with my kids’ needs. I don’t want to rush into something just because I feel lonely, but at the same time, I don’t want to close myself off

from the possibility of love. How do I continue this next chapter without letting fear hold me back? — Want To Date DEAR WANT TO DATE: Take a deep breath and trust that you can do this. You do not have to ﬁgure out the way it is all going to work out before you go on date one. Allow yourself to meet people and go out and have a nice time. Don’t include your children. Get to know your potential suitor Find out their interests and desires. If you use a dating site, list what’s important to you — including your children. Make no requirements. As you get to know anyone who interests you, take the time to

see if they might be right to meet your children. Take it one step at a time, and remember to have fun along the way DEAR HARRIETTE: I was dating a guy for a few months, and it was really sweet. He understood me so much that I really started to believe that there was something special between us that is, until he ghosted me. Throughout our relationship, I noticed that he would disappear for a few days at a time in terms of calling or texting. He assured me that’s just how he is. This time, though, it has been a few weeks with nothing. I reached out by text to ask why he stopped calling me. No response.

CAKE

Continued from page 1D

choose-your-own adventure at Eloise!).

Burr and her bakers then picked up the king cakes and placed them on trays for a second proof, or rising period. This process expands the dough and gives it air (aka makes it even more ﬂuffy after handling).

The king cakes were placed on flour-lined trays wrapped in cling ﬁlm and then put in a warming unit at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes. The bakers suggested that at home, you place the king cake in a warm, dry place until it doubles in size.

Enter bingo.

Our class played four rounds of bingo while we waited for the king cakes to rise, after which the cakes were transferred to

MELTDOWN

Continued from page 1D

(of paperwork),” his mother, Amy Nichole Clayton, said “It was a lot of stuff that we had to do, but I mean, anything for my child.” Now at 20, Zein Clayton says, he eats, breathes and sleeps sno-balls. He’s typically on the sno-ball machine in Brusly

“That’s my favorite part,” he said. “But I also love interacting with the customers. I just love seeing a bright smile on people’s faces when they walk up to the order window.”

His business has expanded to a food trailer called the MELTMOBILE (typically parked outside the Brusly location when it’s not at an event) and a Highland Road location near LSU’s North Gate. He said he has already earned more than six ﬁgures from his business

the oven to bake (around 30 minutes in total).

We had an opportunity to chat with our table about their king cakes (whether they were rooting for the Eagles or the Chiefs in the Super Bowl) and play to win some Mardi Gras-themed prizes. Unfortunately for me and my friend who tagged along, we did not win a single round of bingo. We didn’t even come close to ﬁve in a row While waiting between rounds of bingo, Burr regaled the class with stories about why she opened the bakery in 2021 and why she chose to name it after her sister Eloise

“There was already La Madeleine,” she said “And Eloise was the next name on the family call sheet.”

Burr also spoke about her newest venture: a stand-alone bakery in the Garden District.

The new building, set to fea-

ture outdoor space for socializing and a full baking classroom in the back, will be the new home of Eloise Market and Cakery in August. Burr hopes to offer more baking classes and private events in the space as well as cakes and baked goods to regular customers.

After the bingo and the baking, we were all given white icing and three colors for sprinkles (the classics: purple, gold and green) to decorate our king cakes with.

This is when it got fun.

Everyone at the table had a different ﬂair for decorations.

Some sprinkled all three colors across the whole cake, while one woman didn’t put icing on hers and just had the gold sprinkles. Another participant took that extra icing and drenched the cake in frosting.

I chose a modest amount of icing, with alternating sprinkles

and works on the side coaching other young entrepreneurs to do the same. He’s particularly proud of returning to his elementary school last year and serving snoballs out of the MELTMOBILE.

The Meltdown has 72 standard ﬂavors and three special ones every year that rotate out. It’s everything from dill pickle to white chocolate chip This year, the ﬂavors will be the Meltdown Juice, strawberry cheesecake and king cake.

Zein Clayton’s overall favorite ﬂavor is the Meltdown Juice: a tropical flavored sno-ball that matches the bright blue exterior of all the Meltdown locations. ”It’s sweet, but it’s not too sweet,” he said.

The Meltdown Snoballs, 2625 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, and 6243 La 1, Brusly, is open from noon to 7 p.m

Email Serena Puang at serena. puang@theadvocate.com.

around the cake and I hid a purple king cake baby inside.

The best part was, when we were done, we all got to enjoy a freshly baked, warm and gooey king cake of our own creation. I would highly recommend making these king cakes at Eloise with friends, partners, family and more. The bakery is B.Y.O.B., so if you want a drivethru daiquiri, bottle of wine or Dr Pepper while you bake, you are more than welcome to bring that with you.

These king cake classes are selling out fast. Make sure to sign up for the two-hour class at eloisemarket.com. Some classes will host bingo with drag queen host Tara Royale as well as a special pink king cake class for Valentine’s Day. If you can’t make the class, Eloise also has the recipe for king cakes on its website to make at home.

My feelings are hurt, but I think I should stop asking even though I desperately want to know what I did to make him disappear — Ghosted

DEAR GHOSTED: Trust your instinct, and don’t reach out again. Obviously he doesn’t intend to answer you, or he would have already Dry your tears and move on. I’m so sorry you can’t get closure on this one, but begging him to respond is not healthy for you. Let him go.

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2025. There are 316 days left in the year Today in history On Feb. 18, 2001, auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr died in a crash in the ﬁnal lap of the Daytona 500; he was 49. On this date: In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the ﬁrst time.

In 1930, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

In 1970, the “Chicago Seven” defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention; ﬁve were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (those convictions were later reversed).

In 1983, 13 people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings and were sentenced to life in prison; a third was found guilty of robbery and assault.)

In 1994, in the ﬁnal race of his Olympic career at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, U.S. speedskater Dan Jansen broke the world record in the 1,000 meters, winning the gold medal.

In 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia. (Hanssen later pleaded guilty to espionage and attempted espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

In 2003, an arson attack involving two South Korean subway trains in the city of Daegu claimed nearly 200 lives.

In 2021, the rover Perseverance successfully landed on Mars, where it continues to explore the planet’s surface today Today’s Birthdays: Artist-singer Yoko Ono is 92. Restaurateur-TV host Prue Leith (TV: “The Great British Baking Show”) is 85. Singer Irma Thomas is 84. Musician Dennis DeYoung is 78. Actor Cybill Shepherd is 75. Actor John Travolta is 71. TV personality Vanna White is 68. Actor Matt Dillon is 61. Rapper-music executive Dr Dre is 60. Actor Molly Ringwald is 57. Actor Ike Barinholtz is 48. Football Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney is 45. Musician Regina Spektor is 45.

Zein Clayton loads a block of ice into the shaving machine at Meltdown Snoballs on Feb 10.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Eloise Market and Cakery owner Madelyn Schmidt, standing walks around to check on participants during a king cake making class.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Consider a change, but don't make a move that isn't financially suitable. Lowering your overhead will buy you time and peace of mind. Sell off items you no longer need.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Set boundaries, focus on what's important and enjoy yourself. A smile coupled with a compliment will help you win favors. Be hesitant to make unrealistic suggestions or promises that you cannot fulfill.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Put more time and effort into home improvements and your relationships. A career option will turn out to be more inviting than you anticipated. Be secretive about your plans until you have everything in place.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You have more control than you realize. Show passion in your voice and gestures. Refuse to let anyone derail your plans or lead you astray. Stick to your original idea and budget.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Take a deep breath and rethink your strategy. Be careful of anyone trying to take charge or redirect you. Research is your best friend and ticket to success.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) You can mesmerize those you engage in conversation. Get out and mingle with folks who can offer insight and help you get ahead. Attend events that interest you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Concentrate on getting ahead and enhancing your investments. Use your charm and a friendly nudge to convince others to make your dream a reality.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Take a stand and discuss what you can do to address matters that you find troubling. Your input will put you in a key position, allowing you to have an impact.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Follow the money. Be creative with investments, and put in the time and effort to outsmart anyone who tries to stand in your way. Refuse to let your need to keep the peace cost you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Study your options, develop a unique plan and pursue your destiny Attend events that will help you use your knowledge and experience to outshine the competition.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Set your sights on connecting with the right people. Recognize who is reliable and who is trying to take advantage of you. Talk is cheap; actions speak.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Look at joint ventures carefully. Not everyone will share the same interests or standards. A physical outlet will help you blow off steam and define your goal.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

TODAy'S CLUE: F EQUALS U

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

dooneSbUrY

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

William James, an eminent 18th- and 19th-century psychologist, said, “To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.”

Today’sdealseemstocontainanormal play, but is it time for an abnormal one? South is in three no-trump West leads the diamond king. What should declarer do?

South had seven top tricks: one spade, one heart, one diamond and four clubs. He saw that at least two more tricks would come from spades. And since he knew a Bath Coup when he saw one, he played his low diamond at trick one.

However,Easthadcorrectlyplayedhis diamond three. And West knew that his partner would have thrown out the jack or ace if he had held it, or played a high spot card. So West cleverly shifted to the heart jack. This time, East encouraged enthusiastically with his nine. Declarer ducked, but West continued with the heart 10, and East accurately overtook with his queen. Now South could not succeed If he had taken this trick, crossed to the dummy with a club, and tried the spade finesse, West would have won with his king and led his last heart to give the defenders one spade, four hearts and one diamond. And if South had ducked the second heart, East would have reverted to dia-

monds, giving the defense one spade, two hearts and four diamonds (unless declarer cashed his seven top tricks). South should have won the first trick, crossed to the dummy and run the spade queen. Yes, the finesse would have lost, but declarer’s diamond jack-four would have been a stopper with West on lead. © 2025 by

toDAY’s WoRD — LInEAGE: LIN-ee-ej: Descent in a

progenitor.

Average mark 21 words

Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 26 or more words in LINEAGE?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD — BooRIsHLY

thought

they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.” Ezekiel 6:10

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

The 1977 facility is approximately 16,825 s.f. and the project scopeincludes, but is not limited to, internal layout and modernization of interior offices, kitchen, classroom, storage, latrines,drill hall and associated spaces, replacement of interior and exterior openings,repairs to exterior facade, upgrades to existing POVlot, code improvements as required, new interior finishes and MEP system improvements.Design and construction of the project shall follow the Louisiana National GuardGuiding Principles, BABA and NG Pam 415-12; as well as all applicable local, state and federal codes. The Design will include all investigativesite surveysasnecessary including, but not limited to, topographic, geotechnical, survey,drainage and other investigations as required. Design and construction will take into account that the building will remain occupied for the duration of the project. Investigative services may be authorized as an increase to the Designer’sfee. The Designer shall retain an accredited LDEQ Asbestos Inspector to complete an inspection of all suspect building materials that will be removed/impacted by this project as areimbursableexpense. If any materials arefound to contain asbestos,the Designer shall provide, as part of their basic services,anaccredited LDEQ Asbestos Designer to design the asbestos abatement specifications. If asbestos air monitoring will be required during abatement activities,the Designer will obtain an air-monitoring firm as areimbursable expense. The Designer will survey the site forother hazardous materials and include in the specifications. If lead-based paint or mold inspections arerequired thesewill be provided as areimbursable expense. Design services shall be limited to Program Completion through Bidding Phases (65% of basic services). At the owner’s option, the design contract may be amended to include the additional phases of basic design and supervision services with the corresponding fee and design time adjustment. The Designer shall prepareand submit all required drawings to the Military in AutoCAD and hardcopy.Drawings shall follow the format speci

Control, charles.funderburk@la.gov,(225)219-4124. 13. FMS 12 Sustainment, Plaquemine, Louisiana, Project No. LA25-A-028. This project consists of complete interior and exterior sustainment and renovation work at

and exterior openings, repairs to exterior facade, code improvements as required, new interior finishes and MEP system improvements. Design and construction of the project shall follow the Louisiana National Guard Guiding Principles, BABA and NG Pam 415-12; as well as all applicable local, state and federal codes. The Design will include all investigative site surveys as necessary including, but not limited to, topographic, geotechnical, survey, drainage andother investigations as required. Design and construction will take into account that the building will remain occupied for the duration of the project. Investigative services may be authorized as an increase to

their basic services, an accredited LDEQ Asbestos Designer to design the asbestos abatement specifications. If asbestos air monitoring will be required during abatement activities, the Designer will obtain an air-monitoring firm as areimbursable expense. The Designer will survey the site for other hazardous materials and include in the specifications. If lead-based paint or mold inspections arerequired these will be provided as areimbursable expense. Design services shall be limited to Program Completion through Bidding Phases (65% of basic services). At the owner’s option, the design contract may be amended to include the additional phases of basic design and supervision services with the corresponding fee and design time adjustment. The Designer shall prepareand submit all required drawings to the Military in AutoCAD and hard copy.Drawings shall follow the format specified in the “Instructions to Designers for AutoCAD Drawings Submittal”. The available funds for construction (AFC) areapproximately $940,000.00 with afee of approximately $54,429.00 Contract design time is 120 consecutive calendar days; including 40 days review time. Thereafter,liquidated damages in the amount of $100.00 per day will be assessed. Further information is available from Colonel (Ret) Michael Deville, Military,michael.p.deville.nfg@army.mil, (318)6415396.

14. Security Doors Replacement,Multiple Buildings, B.B. Sixty RayburnCorrectional Center,Angie, Louisiana, Project No. 01-107-2403, F.01004642. The project consists of the removal and replacement of approximately seventy-five (75) interior and exterior doors and frames located in multiple buildings throughout B.B. Sixty RayburnCorrectional Center in Angie. Buildings aretoinclude, Sun (S09480), Wind (S03562), Rain (S03563), Snow (S03584), Sleet (S03564), Armory (S23010), Education (S03556), Gym (S03560), Inﬁrmary (S03555), Kitchen (S03357) and Laundry (S03559). The work shall include the removal of doors located in walls of Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) construction along with the

(Tier R2) at B.B. Sixty RayburnCorrectional Center in Angie. The work shall

governmental agencies or with private individuals or

entities.

Bids may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, but no bids will be accepted that does not equal the Minimum Royalty as set forth in La. R.S. 30:127 or which are not in compliance with the provisions of Sub-part Aof Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, other applicable laws or the guidelines established by the Boardthrough the Office of Mineral Resources. The Minimum Royalty is not to be construed as an amount acceptable to the Mineral Board, it being the policy of the Mineral Boardto reject any bid which does not reflect tract potential. The Board considers bonus, royalty percentage, and also compares royalty granted to landowners in the area.

Multiple portion bids on the same tract may be accepted by the Mineral Board, even though they overlap. In the case of overlapping portion bids on the same tract, each of which is otherwise acceptable to the State, the Mineral Boardhas the sole discretion, to determine which one of the multiple bids on the same tract is most advantageous and in the best interest of the State.

The Mineral Board may base it decision on factors such as but not limited to the royalty,per acrecash payment, bonus, any additional consideration. The selected bid, (referred to as “Bid A”), will be given priority in having alease issued.

The Mineral Board will also indicate the acceptability of other portion bids on the same tract, if any in the order of their acceptance (referred to respectively as “Bid B”, “Bid C”, etc.). Once the plat of “Bid A” ‘s portion has been rendered as accurately as possible, “Bid B” will be contacted and given an option to take alease on the remaining portion of his portion bid acreage not overlapping “Bid A” ‘s bid portion, at “Bid B’ ‘s per acrebid price (both as to bonus and rental); and thereafter, each successive bidder whose bid is otherwise acceptable will be given the option to take a lease on whatever portion remains of his portion bid acreage at his respective per acrebid price, less and except any prior portion bid acreage on which the successful bidder has opted to take alease.

The Mineral and Energy Boarddoes not obligate itself to accept any bid, and that acceptance is at the sole discretion of the Mineral Board which reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to grant a lease on any portion of the tract advertised and to withdraw the remainder of the tract.

Addition al requirements to be included in all sealed bids submitted to the Office of Mineral Resources and additional tract information associated with each tract advertised can be found at the Office of Mineral Resources website titled “Notice of Publication” located at: http ://www.dnr louisiana.gov/index. cfm/page/1300. It is the bidders’ responsibility to properly complete the bid package pursuant to the requirements stated in both the public notice and the Notice of Publication.

The rights to geot he rm al resources, free sulphur,potash, lignite, salt and other solid minerals aretobeexcluded from any oil or gas mineral lease and any bid purporting to include those rights will be disregarded as to the extent of those rights only

If you require accommod at ions due to adisability in order to attend or participate in a meeting, please notify the Office of Mineral Resources at P.O. Box 2827, Baton Rouge, LA 708212827 or 225-3424615 at least two (2) working days before the meeting date.

STATEAGENCY TRACTS (Tract Nos. 45920 through45922 inclusive, herein cannot specify a lease primaryterm exceeding three (3) years).

TRACT 45920CaddoParish, Louisiana Acertain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on March 12, 2025, being morefully described as follows: Section 19 &30, Township 17 North, Range 14 West located in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, moreparticularly described as follows:

Section 19, T17NR14W Tract 1: Being astrip of land 40 feet wide offthe North part of Section 19-17N-14W Caddo Parish, Louisiana, more particularly described in that certain Dedication recorded on January 17, 1934 in Conveyance Book 319, Page 819 under Instrument Number 14581 of the Conveyance Records of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, containing 5.8358 acres

Tract 2A &2B: Highway Parcels 13-7 and 13-8 out of the NW4 of Sec. 19-17N-14W.More particularly described in that certain Sale recorded on October 10, 1961 in Conveyance Book 943, Page 353 under Instrument Number 281084 of the Conveyance Records of Caddo Parish, Louisiana containing 5.153 acres

Tract 3: Highway Parcel 2‐1out of the N/2 of Sec. 19‐17N‐14W.More particularly described in that certain Order of Expropriation recorded on July 22, 1975 in Conveyance Book 1504, Page 692 under Instrument Number 659439 of the Conveyance Records of Caddo Parish, Louisiana containing 10.181 acres

Tract 4: Highway Parcel 1-1 out of the SW4 of Sec. 19-17N-14W.More particularly described in that certain Order of Expropriation recorded on June 23, 1975 in Conveyance Book 1499, Page 372 under Instrument Number 657014 of the Conveyance Records of Caddo Parish, Louisiana containing 5.951 acres; AND Those certain road dedications located in 19 &30, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, known as Free Enterprise Dr,Center Drive, Financial Plaza, Songwood St, Cross Timbers Dr Knollcrest Dr,and all unnamed or unbuilt roads, containing 14.90, moreorless all located in Caddo Parish Louisiana. The aggregate of the above described tracts is 42.0208 acres,moreorless. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

NOTE: Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands, but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, shall not use the surface of the Lessor’sproperty for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor which permission may be withheld at Lessor’sdiscretion.

NO TE : Notwit hs tan din g anything to the contrary herein contained, at the end of the primary term or any extension thereof by operations, if the Commission of Conservation of the State of Louisiana establishes adrilling unit which included apart of the land herein leased, the production of oil, gas and other minerals from such unit shall maintain this lease in full force and effect only as to such portions of the leased land embraced in said pooled unit; and this lease shall expire as to that part of the land herein leased not included in such unit; and lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal instrument any portion of the leased land not included in aunit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect.

NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or any extension thereof by operations, this lease shall aut omat ically terminate and be of no further force or effect except as to all that part of the leased premises then included within the geographical boundaries of a producing unit duly established by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earth to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which any well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premises or on lands pooled therewith is completed and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a unit by unit basis. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to 40 acres around each producing oil well and 160 acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of asquare as is practicable, from the surface of the earth down to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which said well or wells arecompleted and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on awell by well basis.

NOTE: The City of Shreveport will requirea minimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acreand a minimum royalty of not less than 25%.

TRACT 45921 -

Caddo Parish, Louisiana Acertain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on March 12, 2025, being morefully described as follows: The West Half of Sections 28 &30, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, moreparticularly described as follows: Those certain road dedications located in the West half of Section(s) 28 & 33, Township17 North, Range 14 West, known as Bayonne Dr,Bernay Dr,Dijon Dr,Forrest Villa Circle, Hedges Dr,Kensington Dr,Melody Lane, MireCourt, Moore Station Road, Newport St, Salen Dr,St. Clair Dr and StandardOil Road, and all unnamed and unbuiltroads, containing 16.74 acres,moreorless all located in Caddo Parish, Louisiana.. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

NOTE: No use of the surface of the leased premises may be used by Lessee, its successors or assigns without the prior written consent of Lessor which may be withheld for any or

no reason. Except as otherwise expressly authorized in writing by Lessor,Lessee, its successors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises only by drilling from asurface location on other lands.

NO TE : Notwith stan ding anything to the contrary herein contained, at the end of the primary term or any extension thereof by operations, if the Commissioner of Conservationofthe State of Louisiana establishes adrilling unit which includes apart of the land herein leased, the production of oil,gas and other minerals from such unit shall maintain this lease in full force and effect only as to such portions of the leased land embraced in said pooled unit, and this lease shall expire as to that part of the land herein leased not included in such unit, and Lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal recordable instrument (in aform acceptable to Lessor) any portion of the leased land not included in aunit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect.

NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or any extension thereof by operations, this lease shall automatically terminate and be of no further force or effect except as to all that part of the leased premises then included within the geographical boundaries of a producing unit duly established by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earth to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which any well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premises or on lands pooled therewith is completed and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on aunit by unit basis. Lessee and its successors and assigns agree to relinquish by formal recordable instrument (in aform acceptable to Lessor) all such depths as to which this lease is terminated. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to 40 acres around each producing oil well and 160 acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of asquare as is practicable, from the surface of the earth down to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which said well or wells arecompleted and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on awell by well basis.

NOTE: The City of Shreveport will require aminimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acreand a minimum royalty of not less than twentyfive percent 25%.

TRACT 45922De Soto Parish, Louisiana Acertain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from City Of Mansfield on March 12, 2025, being morefully described as follows: Those certain dedicated alleyways and roads situated in the City of Mansfield, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, Desoto Parish, Louisiana and being moreparticularly described as follows: 1) Those certain roads and alleyways situated in Crosby Subdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book

28, Page 647 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

2) That certain road (North Street) situated in Gibbs Street Subdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 243, Page 209 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

3) Those certain roads situated in K.C.S Subdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Formal Dedication, recorded in Book 134, Page 444, Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 135, Page 617 and Correction of Formal Dedication, recorded in Book 199-168, all recorded in the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

4) Those certain roads situated in Piney Woods Addition, a subdivision, Section 9, Township12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 261, Page 511 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

5) Those certain roads and alleyways situated in The Pegues Addition, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 34, Page 48 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

6) Those certain roads and alleyways situated in Mary Jane Place Subdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 63, Page 248 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

7) Those certain roads situated in Cedarcroft Subdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 67, Page 523 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

8) That portion of Laura Street and Bennett Street, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana as per Formal Dedication, recorded in Book 199, Page 294 of the Conveyance records of the Clerk of Courts office, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

9) The Extension of FranklinStreet and Myra Street, and Pegues Street, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana as per Formal Dedication, recorded in Book 19, Page 36 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

10) An alley situated in Block 33 of the Town of Mansfield, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana as per Formal Dedication recorded in Book 256, Page 59 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

11) An alley situated in Block 30 of the Town of Mansfield, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana as per Formal Dedication recorded in Book 216, Page 451 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

12) Those certain streets known as Ferguson Lane and North Bennett Street,

Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 216, Page 451 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

13) All of those certain roads and alleyways situated in the Southwest Quarter (SW/4) of Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana as per copy of map made by J.D. Wemple, more particularly described in that certain Formal Dedication, recorded in Book 92, Page 25 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

14) Those certain roads and alleyways situated in Hilltop 2nd Addition to Mansfield, asubdivision, Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, as per Subdivision Plat, recorded in Book 233, Page 105 of the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

15) Any and all unnamed or unbuilt roads or alleyways, situated in Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

The above-described roads (1-15) contain atotal of 50.28 acres, moreorless.

Those certain tracts or parcels of land situated in Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

1-0.26 acres, more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Deed dated April 10, 2008, by and between Rodger David Tharpe and Karen Ann Pharr Tharpe, husband and wife,asGrantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in book I002, Page 18, Registry #662565 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.26 acres, moreor less in the aggregate.

2-0.30 acres, more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Donation Deed dated December 28, I988, by and between P.E. Dixon and Mary Lillian Ricks Dixon, husband and wife as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 528, Page 760, Registry #505959 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.30 acres, moreor less in the aggregate.

3- 4.293 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Act of Donation dated March 30, I979, by and between Dorothy Hewitt Roach and Anne Hewitt Belville, as Grantor and The City of Manfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 400, Page 3 80, Registry #413 817 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 4.293 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

4- 1.8394 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Act of Donation dated December 30, 2002, by and between Lowery Investment Company,LLC, as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 748, Page 717, Registry# 597771 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 1.8394 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

5- 0.0746 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Act of Conveyance dated November 2, 2007, by and between The DeSoto Parish Police Jury,asGrantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 925, Page 347, Registry

#642699 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.0746 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

6- 0.734 acres moreorless, being moreparticularly described in that certain Deed dated January 25, 1977, by and between D. Scott Brown husband of Joan R. Brown, as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 373, Page 230, Registry #391963 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.734 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

7- 0.273 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that Deed dated September 25, 2003, by and between Nabors properties, LLC, as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 8l4,Page 942, Registry #603762 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.273 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

8-0.25 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Act of Donation dated September 17, 2002, by and between St. John Baptist Church, Inc., as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 748, Page 604, Registry #595765 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of 0.25 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

9- 0.263 acres more or less, being more particularly described in that certain Act of Exchange dated December 28, 1984, by and between Ben Johnson, III, Testamentary Executor of the Succession of W.C. Nabors, as Grantor and the City of Mansfield, as Grantee, recorded in Book 568, Page 616, Registry #472562 of the Conveyance Records of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Entiretract consisting of0.263 acres, moreorless in the aggregate.

10 -That certain tract or parcel of land containing 9.0586 acres, more or less, situated in Section 9, Township 12 North, Range 13 West, Desoto Parish, Louisiana, being more particularly described as follows: FROM NE CORNER OF SEC. 9, T12N-R13W, THENCE WEST ALONG NORTH LINE OF SECTION TO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE NOR THEA ST QUARTER, THENCE SOUTH 2,064.724’ TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING, THENCE WEST 368.447’ TO A POINT,THENCE NORTH 257.906’ TO APOINT,THENCE WEST 714.217’ TO APOINT,THENCE SOUTH 400.146’ TO APOINT,THENCE EAST 545.963’ TO APOINT,THENCE SOUTH 105.149’ TO APOINT,THENCE EAST 536.05’ TO APOINT,THENCE NORTH 252.089’ TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. The above-described tracts 1-10 contain a total of 17.3456 acres moreorless. The total of the above described roads and tracts containing atotal of 67.6256 acres,moreorless herein leased. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

NOTE: Thereshall be aminimum royalty amount of not less than twenty-two and half (22.5%) percent. Lessor’s royalty herein is free of all charges and costs whatsoever including, but not