Authorities are considering charges ranging from felony hazing to manslaughter for at least three fraternity members after a Southern University student’s death, a source said On Feb. 27, Caleb Wilson, 20, and eight other Omega Psi Phi pledges lined up in order of height for a fraternity ritual, in which each pledge is punched in the chest four times, a source close to the investigation said. Each punch represents one of
the fraternity’s “four cardinal principles”: manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift.
Wilson, a Kenner native and engineering junior, collapsed after he was punched and experienced a medical episode, but fraternity members did not call 911 and waited to bring him to a hospital, sources have previously said.
The alleged hazing took place at a warehouse off Greenwell Springs Road not a local park, as police said some fraternity members initially told them. The warehouse was being leased
by Todd Smith, owner of California Hardwood Floors. Smith is a member of the graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi, and he told WAFB that his son is a current member Smith has not responded to The Advocate’s requests for comment. Louisiana’s anti-hazing law prohibits hazing regardless of whether the targeted person voluntarily allowed it. Violators face a $1,000 fine and six months behind bars.
If the person being hazed dies or is seriously injured, penalties
ä See CHARGES, page 6A
Wilson’s hometown pays tribute
ABOVE: A memorial brass band procession and second-line travels through the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans on Thursday in honor of Caleb Wilson, a Southern University student who died after an alleged hazing incident. Wilson grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Warren Easton HIgh School, where he played in the band.
RIGHT: Angela Goodly embraces Sylvia Holmes before Thursday’s second-line in honor of Caleb Wilson.
ä More on the procession and second-line in New Orleans. Page 6A
President postpones more tariffs
Trump changes course amid fears of economic fallout
BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, JOSH BOAK and ROB GILLIES Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers. In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit and he emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2. “Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “Right now, we have some temporary ones and small ones,
ä See TARIFFS, page 5A
Opposition to carbon capture grows
Rural, conservative residents in state have concerns about leaks, property rights
BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer
Louisiana’s emergence as a hotbed for new technology to store carbon emissions deep underground has long been opposed by environmentalists. But pushback from an unlikely source is now also gaining momentum.
Rural and conservative residents in corners of the state where oil and gas tends to be a familiar and often welcomed presence are increasingly voicing their opposition to carbon-capture and sequestration projects. Industry backers, however, say the residents are being misinformed and fed scare tactics.
ä See OPPOSITION, page 7A
State plans to use nitrogen gas for executions, protocol shows
BY ANDREA GALLO and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers
Attorneys for the state and for death row inmate Jessie Hoffman Jr agreed Thursday to unseal a redacted version of Louisiana’s new protocol for using nitrogen gas in executions, shedding public light on how the state plans to put him to death on March 18. The protocol states that Loui-
siana prison officials will strap the death row inmate to a gurney ahead of his execution and bring him to the execution chamber
Prison staff will perform a final inspection of the state’s nitrogen hypoxia system. Then they’ll place a mask and a pulse oximeter onto the inmate, and allow a spiritual adviser to meet with him and have him make a final statement.
“The mask is a continuous-flow, full face, supplied air respirator
with head straps,” the protocol states. Prison officials will turn on the nitrogen hypoxia system and either allow the gas to flow for 15 minutes or for 5 minutes after the inmate’s heart rate reaches a flatline on an EKG, whichever is longer Both the execution chamber and the witness room will have oxygen monitors set up in them.
The protocol closely mirrors that of Alabama, the only state to have
carried out nitrogen gas executions in the modern era. Several key clauses in Louisiana’s protocol match Alabama’s plan word for word.
The decision to unseal the protocol came after U.S District Chief Judge Shelly Dick of Louisiana’s Middle District on Wednesday ordered the two sides to reach an agreement on making a redacted version available for public view She imposed a deadline of 10 a.m
Thursday for them to do so, saying she’d hold a court hearing Thursday afternoon if they could not agree. Dick then ordered the protocol unsealed Thursday morning after both sides agreed to it in the court record.
Her decision came ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Friday as she considers Hoffman’s
ä See EXECUTIONS, page 5A
STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed many tariffs on Mexico and some on Canada.
BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS
New Mexico adult dies with measles
An adult who was infected with measles has died in New Mexico, state health officials announced Thursday though the virus has not been confirmed as the cause.
The person who died was unvaccinated and did not seek medical care, a state health department spokesperson said in a statement. The person’s exact age and other details were not immediately released.
The person was from Lea County, just across the state line from the West Texas region where 159 measles cases have been identified and a schoolage child died last week. New Mexico health officials have not linked the outbreak there to the Texas cases.
The person is the 10th in Lea County to have a confirmed measles infection. Seven were unvaccinated. The vaccination status of the other three is unknown. Six of the cases are in adults and the rest are in children younger than 17.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that they were sending a team to Texas to help local public health officials respond to the outbreak, which began in late January.
Starship test flight ends with another explosion
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft’s self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an outof-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site
Firm: Lunar lander may have fallen over
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A privately owned lunar lander touched down on the moon with a drill, drone and rovers for NASA and other customers Thursday, but quickly ran into trouble and may have fallen over Intuitive Machines said it was uncertain whether its Athena lander was upright near the moon’s south pole — standing 15 feet tall — or lying sideways like its first spacecraft from a year ago. Controllers rushed to turn off some of the lander’s equipment to conserve power while trying to determine what went wrong. It was the second moon landing this week by a Texas company under NASA’s commercial lunar delivery program. Sunday’s touchdown was a complete success.
The company’s newest Athena lander dropped out of lunar orbit as planned. The hourlong descent appeared to go well until the final approach when the laser navigation system began acting up. It took a while for Mission Control to confirm touchdown.
“We’re on the surface,” reported mission director and cofounder Tim Crain. A few minutes later, he repeated, “It looks like we’re down We are working to evaluate exactly what our orientation is on the surface.”
Trump envoy says Ukraine ‘brought it on themselves’
Official says U.S. gave ‘fair warning’ before aid, intel sharing paused
BY AAMER MADHANI Associated Press
WASHINGTON Ukraine was given “fair warning” by the White House before President Donald Trump this week ordered a pause on U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, a senior administration official said Thursday
The Republican administration announced the pauses this week after Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match, with the U.S. president and Vice President JD Vance excoriating the Ukrainian leader for being insufficiently grateful for the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. assistance sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded three years ago.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the pause is already having an impact on Kyiv adding that the Ukrainians
“brought it on themselves.”
“The best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” Kellogg said at an event Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“You got their attention.”
Kellogg said it was made clear to the Ukrainians before last week’s Oval Office meeting that the talks would focus on signing a critical minerals deal. The agreement, which the two sides still have not signed, would give the U.S access to Ukraine’s rare earth deposits and could be of value to U.S. aerospace, electric vehicle and medical manufacturing.
Trump administration officials have said the economic pact would bind the U.S and Ukraine closer together and would give Russian President Vladimir Putin pause before considering malign action against Ukraine in the future. Zelenskyy had been pressing the White House for explicit security guarantees, to no avail.
Kellogg said last week’s talks went sideways because Zelenskyy pressed Trump who is trying to play the role of intermediary to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia to side with Kyiv
Zelenskyy later called the heated words “regrettable” and said he’s ready to sign an agreement.
Trump in an exchange with reporters on Thursday said he believed his administration had made “a lot of progress” in recent days with both Ukraine and Russia, but did not specify how
“I think what’s going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal, because I don’t think they have a choice,” Trump said. “I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way a different way that only I know, only I know — they have no choice either.”
In his nightly address Zelenskyy confirmed that talks between Ukraine and the U.S are scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia next week.
“I am scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to meet with the crown prince,” said Zelenskyy, referring to Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the throne of the oil-rich kingdom. “After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with American partners. Ukraine is most interested in peace.”
Another Trump special envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed that senior administration officials are arranging to hold talks with top Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. Witkoff noted that Zelenskyy has been apologetic in recent days about the White House blowup and expressed gratitude. He was circumspect about whether the minerals deal would be signed during the expected meeting in Saudi Arabia “We’ll see if he fol-
lows through,” Witkoff said.
But Kellogg said he couldn’t guarantee a resumption of weapons deliveries even if Zelenskyy accepts the deal.
“That’s up to the president,” Kellogg said. He added, “You don’t negotiate peace discussions in public. You don’t try to challenge the president of the United States in the Oval Office.”
Trump said in a speech before Congress on Tuesday that Zelenskyy had written to him to say he appreciates U.S. support for his country in its war with Russia.
Trump said Zelenskyy told him that Ukraine is ready to negotiate a peace deal with Russia as soon as possible and would accept the minerals agreement with the U.S. to facilitate that.
Although Trump said he “appreciated” getting the letter he did not say if it would affect his policy toward Ukraine.
The suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine will damage Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against ongoing Russian attacks against military and civilian targets, according to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War. The research group said suspension of all U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine would also allow Russian forces to intensify their drone and missile strikes against the Ukrainian rear, affecting millions of Ukrainian civilians and the growth of Ukraine’s defense industrial base.
AP writer Susie Blann in Kyiv and Michelle L. Price contributed reporting.
Hamas brushes off Trump’s threat about hostage release
Group says Israeli captives to be freed in return for lasting truce
BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
CAIRO Hamas on Thursday brushed off President Donald Trump’s latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The militant group accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out of the ceasefire agreement they reached in January The agreement calls for negotiations over a second phase in which the hostages would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said the “best path to free the remaining Israeli hostages” is through negotiations on that phase, which were supposed to begin in early February Only limited preparatory talks have been held so far.
On Wednesday, Trump issued what he said was a “last warning” to Hamas after meeting with eight former hostages. The White House meanwhile confirmed it had held unprecedented direct talks with the militant group, which Israel and Western countries view as a terrorist organization.
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
Both Israel and Hamas have a longstanding practice of holding onto the remains of their adversaries in order to
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ODED BALILTy
Demonstrators hold photos Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel, depicting the faces of Israeli hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip, during a protest demanding their release from Hamas captivity
trade them in hostage-prisoner deals.
Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war including IsraeliAmerican Edan Alexander It is also holding the bodies of 34 others who were either killed in the initial attack or in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in the 2014 war
Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, which ended on Saturday
Israel supports what it says is a new U.S. plan for the second phase in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages immediately and the rest when a permanent ceasefire is negotiated. Hamas has rejected the proposal and says it is sticking with the agreement signed in January
Israel has cut off the delivery of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians in an attempt to pressure Hamas into accepting the new arrangement It has threatened “additional consequences” if Hamas does not resume the release of hostages.
Pope thanks people for their prayers
Weakened Francis records message amid recovery
BY COLLEEN BARRY and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
ROME A weak and breathless
Pope Francis thanked people for their prayers for his recovery in a remarkable audio message broadcast Thursday the first public sign of life from the 88-year-old pope since he was hospitalized three weeks ago with double pneumonia. Francis’ feeble voice, discernible through his labored breaths and in his native Spanish, was recorded Thursday from the hospital and broadcast to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square who had gathered for the nightly recitation of the rosary prayer
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square, I accompany you from here,” he said, his soft voice piercing the hushed square. “May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”
For anyone used to hearing Francis’ voice, which is often so soft it sounds like a whisper the audio was an emotional punch to the gut that hammered home just how sick he is.
The cardinal presiding over the prayer Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, had told the crowd at the start of the service that he had “beautiful news, a beautiful gift” to share. The clearly surprised crowd broke into applause and then applauded again after Francis’ final “Gracias.” Fernández Artime, for his part, bowed his head as he listened.
The 88-year-old pope has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man.
The Vatican has given twice-daily updates on Francis’ medical condition, but has distributed no photos or video of him since the morning of Feb. 14, when he held a handful of audiences at the Vatican before being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for what was then just a bad case of bronchitis.
ASSOCIATED
MALOLETKA
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak Feb 20 during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine.
EU leaders commit to work together on defense
BY RAF CASERT and LORNE COOK Associated Press
BRUSSELS European Union
leaders on Thursday committed to working together to bolster the continent’s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security after U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings that he would cut them adrift to face the threat of Russia alone.
With the growing conviction that they will now have to fend for themselves, countries that have faltered on defense spending for decades held emergency talks in Brussels to explore new ways to beef up their security and ensure future protection for Ukraine.
The move underscored a sea change in geopolitics spurred on by Trump, who has undermined 80 years of cooperation based on the understanding that the U.S. would help protect European nations following World War II.
The 27 EU leaders signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so that willing EU countries can increase their military spending. They also urged the European Commission to seek new ways “to facilitate significant defense spending” in all member states, a statement said.
The EU’s executive branch
has overturned old certainties about the reliability of the U.S. as a security partner as he embraces Russia, withdraws American support for Ukraine and upends the tradition of cooperation with Europe that has been the bedrock of Western security for generations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency said that three years of war in Ukraine and a shift in attitudes in Washington “pose entirely new challenges for us, and Europe must take up this challenge and it must win.”
“We will arm ourselves faster, smarter and more efficiently than Russia,” Tusk said.
dustry which can produce weapons more cheaply than elsewhere in Europe and closer to the battlefields where they are needed.
“We are very thankful that we are not alone, and these are not just words. We feel it. It’s very important,” Zelenskyy said, looking far more relaxed among Europe’s leaders in Brussels than almost a week ago when he received a verbal lashing from Trump in Washington.
message,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters.
The call is a sharp departure from decades of decline in military spending in Europe, where defense often ranked low in many budgetary considerations after the Cold War. In an address to his country Wednesday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron said the bloc would “take decisive steps.”
estimates that about $702 billion could be freed up that way
The leaders also took note of a commission offer of loans worth $162 billion to buy new military equipment and invited EU headquarters staff “to examine this proposal as a matter of urgency.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a staunch supporter of Trump and considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe, refused to endorse part of the summit statement in favor of Ukraine.
But all 26 other EU leaders approved the bloc’s stance that there can be no nego-
tiations on Ukraine without Ukraine and that the Europeans must be involved in any talks involving their security The Europeans have so far been sidelined in the U.S.-led negotiations with Russia.
In other developments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said talks between Ukraine and the U.S. on ending the war will take place in Saudi Arabia next week. In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country’s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with U.S. officials.
In recent weeks, Trump
Judge rules time served on sentence for man in ‘Serial’ case
BY LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press
BALTIMORE Adnan Syed, whose case amassed a worldwide following of “Serial” podcast listeners, will remain free even though his murder conviction still stands, a Baltimore judge ruled on Thursday The judge agreed to reduce Syed’s sentence to time served under a relatively new state law that provides a pathway to release for people convicted of crimes committed when
they were minors. “This sentence will be followed by a period of five years of supervised probation,” Judge Jennifer Schiffer wrote in her decision, adding that Syed “is not a danger to the public” that the interests of jus will be better served by duced sentence
The judge’s ruling followed a hearing last week that cluded emotional testimon from Syed and relatives the victim, Hae Min Lee, was strangled and buried shallow grave in 1999
Both prosecutors and
Judge says plans to rel in Slender Man case c
By The Associated Press
WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman who nearly killed her classmate years ago to please horror character Slender Man can be released from a psychiatric hospital as planned, a judge decided Thursday rejecting state health officials’ lastminute attempt to keep her committed.
Morgan Geyser has spent the last seven years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael
Bohren in January or her released after state county health officials pleted a community supervi sion and housing plan
State Departmen Health Services officials were approaching day deadline to present plan to the judge when abruptly asked him week to keep her com ted.
Agency officials argued that Geyser didn’t volu to her therapy team tha had read “Rent Boy,” a el about murder and selling
fense attorneys told Schiffer that Syed, now 43, doesn’t pose a risk to public safety Lee’s brother and mother urged the judge to uphold his life sentence. Syed, who has maintained
Zelenskyy welcomed the plan to loosen budget rules and expressed hopes that some of the new spending could be used to strengthen Ukraine’s own defense in-
Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, and summit chairman Antonio Costa discussed ways to fortify Europe’s defenses on a short deadline. Merz pushed plans this week to loosen his nation’s rules on running up debt to allow for higher defense spending.
Others too appeared ready to do more.
“Spend, spend, spend on defense and deterrence. That’s the most important
“Member states will be able to increase their military spending,” he said, noting that “massive joint funding will be provided to buy and produce some of the most innovative munitions, tanks, weapons and equipment in Europe.”
Macron was expected to confer with his EU counterparts about possibility of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By OMAR HAVANA European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, speaks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center as they arrive Thursday for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels.
Judge orders White House to pay foreign aid debts
BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON A federal judge on Thursday gave the Trump administration until Monday to pay nearly $2 billion owed to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, thawing the administration’s six-week
Trump casts doubt on NATO solidarity
BY MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
WASHINGTON President
Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the U.S.’s defense if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after Sept. 11 — the only time in its history that the defense guarantee has been invoked.
Trump also suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defense spending targets, a day after his pick for NATO ambassador assured senators that the administration’s commitment to the military alliance was “ironclad.”
Trump’s comments denigrating NATO, which was formed to counter Soviet aggression during the Cold War, are largely in line with his yearslong criticism of the alliance, which he has accused of not paying its fair share toward the cost of defense. But they come at a time of heightened concern in the Western world over Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen NATO as a threat, and as the U.S. president seeks to pressure Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal with the country that invaded it three years ago.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent the alliance
funding freeze on all foreign assistance
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled in favor of nonprofit groups and businesses that sued over the funding freeze, which has forced organizations around the world to slash services and lay off thousands of workers.
Ali’s line of questioning suggested skepticism of the Trump administration’s ar-
gument that presidents have wide authority to override congressional decisions on spending when it comes to foreign policy, including foreign aid.
“It would be an earthshaking, country-shaking proposition to say that appropriations are optional,” Ali said.
“The question I have for you is, where are you getting this from in the constitu-
tional document?” he asked a government lawyer, Indraneel Sur Thursday’s order is in an ongoing case with more decisions coming on the administration’s fast-moving termination of 90% of USAID contracts worldwide.
Ali’s ruling comes a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to freeze
into upheaval last month when he said in a speech that the U.S. would not participate in any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, and would not defend any country that participated in it if attacked by Russia.
Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that other countries would not come to the defense of the U.S. — though they have done exactly that, in the only instance that the Article 5 defense guarantee was invoked.
“You know the biggest problem I have with NATO? I really I mean, I know the guys very well They’re friends of mine. But if the United States was in trouble, and we called them, we said, ‘We got a problem, France. We got a problem, couple of others I won’t mention. Do you think they’re going to come and protect us?’ They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”
Article 5 was invoked after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, leading to NATO’s largest operation in Afghanistan France’s military participated in the operation
“We are loyal and faithful allies,” French President Emmanuel Macron responded Thursday, expressing “respect and friendship” towards U.S. leaders.
“I think we’re entitled to expect the same,” he said.
Macron invoked “centuries-old history,” namechecking the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, who was a majorgeneral in the American Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and Gen. John Pershing, commander of the American army in France during World War I. Macron added that a few days ago, he met American World War II veterans who landed on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
France and the U.S. “have always been there for each other,” Macron said.
When asked Thursday if it he was making it U.S. policy that the U.S would not defend NATO countries that don’t meet military spending targets Trump said, “well, I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to
defend them.”
Trump has suggested since his 2016 presidential campaign that the U.S. under his leadership might not comply with the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees and would only defend countries that met targets to commit 2% of their gross domestic products on military spending.
The U.S. is the most powerful nation of the seven-decade alliance, has the largest economy among members and spends more on defense than any other member
The U.S was one of 12 nations that formed NATO following World War II to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union to Western European during the Cold War. Its membership has since grown to 32 countries, and its bedrock mutual defense guarantee, known as Article 5, states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
Trump on Thursday also seemed to suggest the U.S. commitment to NATO might be leveraged in his trade war as he seeks to target what he says are unfair trade policies with other nations, including the European Union.
Judge reinstates fired labor board member
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump acted illegally when he fired a member of an independent labor agency, and the judge ordered that she be allowed to remain on the job.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., found Trump did not have the authority to remove Gwynne
Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board.
“An American president is not a king — not even an ‘elected’ one — and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute,” Howell wrote.
She acknowledged the administration’s argument that the Supreme Court may be inclined to overturn a 90-year-old decision restricting the president’s power to
remove members of independent agencies. But the judge said that until and unless the high court acts, current law clearly supports keeping Wilcox in her role.
The Trump administration quickly appealed her ruling, Wilcox sued Trump after he fired her and the agency’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, on Jan. 27.
Wilcox’s attorneys said no president previously had tried to remove an NLRB
funding that flowed through USAID. The high court instructed Ali to clarify what the government must do to comply with his earlier order requiring the quick release of funds for work that had already been done.
The funding freeze stemmed from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
member They argued that board members can only be fired “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office” and only after giving notice and holding a hearing.
Trump’s “only path to victory” in Wilcox’s case would be to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to “adopt a new, more aggressive vision of presidential power that would effectively abolish independent agencies” in the U.S., her lawyers wrote.
The administration appealed after Ali issued a temporary restraining order and set a deadline to release payment for work already done.
BY GREGORY KORTE Bloomberg News (TNS)
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said he directed Cabinet secretaries to use a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet” to make personnel cuts, a directive aiming to quell blowback after waves of job cuts have roiled the federal workforce.
“I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday, referring to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency effort. “As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will
The administration said it has replaced a blanket spending freeze with individualized determinations, which led to the cancellation of 5,800 USAID contracts and 41,000 State Department grants totaling nearly $60 billion in aid.
remain, and who will go.”
“It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people,” Trump added.
Trump’s message suggests that he is seeking to shift more power and responsibility to department leaders rather than DOGE — to carry out workforce cuts. DOGE, a White House office tasked with cutting the federal budget, has descended upon agencies, accessing data and directing leadership to draw up lists for job cuts. The president’s directive follows a series of conflicting orders from DOGE and Musk about workforce reductions that have prompted concerns from Republican allies.
Administration delays order to eliminate Education Department
BY CAYLA BAMBERGER and DAVE GOLDINER New york Daily News (TNS)
President Donald Trump on Thursday delayed plans to order the elimination of the federal Department of Education, a move that would likely face fierce opposition from Congress and in the courts.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called reports that Trump would sign the order “fake news” and said no signing was immediately planned.
Aides said the White House was still working on “messaging” around a possible order and concerns that some Republicans might criticize it.
A draft of an executive order reportedly instructs newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take all available steps “permitted by law” to close the sprawling department, which has more than 4,000 employees and an annual budget of $240 billion.
“The federal bureaucratic hold on education must end,” Trump’s planned order says, according to ABC
News. “The Department of Education’s main functions can, and should, be returned to the states.” The order would call for an end to the agency that it calls an “experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars” that has “failed our children, our teachers, and our families.” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul denounced the potential elimination of the Education Department, saying it amounted to Trump’s trading funding a “math class” for “tax breaks for buddies at Mar-a-Lago.”
“(Education is) an investment in the future workforce,” Hochul said. “If we stop these investments now then we’re basically saying we give up. We’re not even going to compete.”
State University of New York Chancellor John King, who served as education secretary in the Obama administration, ticked off a laundry list of school programs that could be cut, such as AP courses and after-school enrichment programs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By WIN MCNAMEE
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress Tuesday at the Capitol in Washington.
relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.”
Trump said he was not looking to extend the exemption on the 25% tariff for autos for another month
Imports from Mexico that comply with the 2020 USMCA trade pact would be excluded from the 25% tariffs for a month, according to the orders signed by Trump. Auto-related imports from Canada that comply with the trade deal would also avoid the 25% tariffs for a month, while the potash that U.S. farmers import from Canada would be tariffed at 10%, the same rate at which Trump wants to tariff Canadian energy products.
Roughly 62% of imports from
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request for a preliminary injunction that would affect the state’s ability to move forward with his execution. Dick was appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama. In a ruling late Thursday Dick said she will largely focus in the upcoming hearing on arguments that Hoffman’s nitrogen gas execution is cruel and unusual punishment and on arguments about his right to counsel and access to courts. She agreed to dismiss other arguments, including that nitrogen gas would violate Hoffman’s religious beliefs.
Hoffman’s attorneys asked Dick earlier this week to unseal the execution protocol, arguing that it’s a public record under Louisiana law and that the public should have the chance to scrutinize it.
Attorneys for the state initially opposed the unsealing attempt, saying the document should be off-limits and that keeping it secret was a matter of safety
The state recently denied a public records request for the protocol from The Advocate | The Times-Picayune, saying that state law exempted its release.
When lawmakers and Gov Jeff Landry agreed last year to add nitrogen gas and electrocution to lethal injection as approved execution methods, they added new layers of secrecy to the execution process to prevent public release of information about suppliers of death penalty materials.
Hoffman’s attorneys argue that the state aims to “make Mr Hoffman the test case for an experimental method of execution that has been shown in the handful of times it has been used to cause terror, agony and prolonged excruciating deaths.”
Louisiana’s nitrogen gas system was tested on March 1. The state’s expert placed a mask on a mannequin, according to court filings. Hoffman, 46, was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of a 28-year-old woman named Molly Elliott on a remote dock in St. Tammany Parish,
Canada would likely still face the new tariffs because they’re not USMCA compliant, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the orders on a call with reporters. Half of imports from Mexico that are not USCMA compliant would also be taxed under the orders being signed by Trump, the official said.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has planned to announce any retaliatory measures on Sunday, but Trump credited her with making progress on illegal immigration and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs that were initially supposed to go into full effect in February
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Trump said on Truth Social “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are work-
after kidnapping her from a parking lot in New Orleans and raping her A few months past his 18th birthday at the time, Hoffman has transformed himself in prison, his attorneys say following Buddhist practices and becoming a mentor to others on death
row His attorneys say Hoffman also suffers post-traumatic stress that will exacerbate his suffering if he’s executed by nitrogen gas.
Along with the federal case, Hoffman’s attorneys have lodged a clemency petition with the state while urging Landry to halt the killing in the meantime. That plea is pending
The newly released protocols, though redacted, reveal several details about the state’s plans to use nitrogen gas.
The state is required to carry out the execution between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Hoffman will have his final meal by noon on the day of the execution and he can receive visitors until 3 p.m., though his spiritual adviser and lawyer may be able to stay longer
An hour before he’s set to be executed, prison officials should brief the media and shave Hoffman. Several witnesses can be present for the execution, including the West Feliciana coroner or his designee, the prison warden, a physician of the warden’s choosing, the executioner, media representatives and the spiritual adviser Two people connected to the victim in Hoffman’s case will also be allowed as witnesses.
Nitrogen gas will flow through the mask at 70 liters per minute. Hoffman’s spiritual adviser will be required to sign a form saying that they understand there’s an unlikely possibility that “an area of free-flowing nitrogen gas” could happen if the hose to the breathing mask detaches in the execution chamber
“I understand and agree to remain at least 3 feet away from the mask or any outflow of any breathing gases discharged from the system,” the form states.
The execution protocol in Alabama specifies that it is a public document.
Another difference: Alabama’s execution protocol allows death row inmates to
ing hard, together, on the Border.” Trump’s actions also thawed relations with Canada somewhat, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (or $21 billion in U.S.) on U.S. goods. The government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs on additional U.S. goods worth $125 billion (or $87 billion in U.S.).
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs threats have roiled financial markets, lowered consumer confidence, and enveloped many businesses in an uncertain atmosphere that could delay hiring and investment.
Major U.S. stock markets briefly bounced off lows after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previewed the monthlong pauses on CNBC on Thursday
Significant declines already seen this week resumed within an hour
The S&P 500 stock index has fallen below where it was before Trump
choose whether to be put to death with nitrogen gas. In Louisiana, state law says the decision is up to the corrections secretary. Alabama’s execution protocol states the morning of the execution, the warden or his designee should “pressurize and assess” the nitrogen gas system and secure lockout valves. There are similar provisions in Louisiana’s execution protocol.
When it’s time to put the inmate to death, prison staff will bring a mask to the execution chamber and connect it to breathing gas tubes. They’ll place a pulse oximeter on the inmate, then place the mask on the inmate’s face. A spiritual adviser is allowed to be present Alabama’s execution protocol also says they’ll either administer nitrogen gas for 15 minutes or for five minutes after the person’s heart flatlines on an EKG, whichever is longer Their protocol says breathing air and nitrogen gas should both be set to 500 PSI.
Louisiana’s protocol calls for the same specifications.
Both Alabama and Louisiana’s execution protocols were reviewed by Dr Joseph Antognini, a California anesthesiologist.
Antognini reviewed Alabama’s execution method and helped it pass federal court muster He figures to play a prominent role in Friday’s hearing in Baton Rouge, after Hoffman’s attorneys deposed him on Tuesday
“Nothing in the Louisiana protocol or the nitrogen hypoxia system developed by Louisiana would lead to the inmate suffering pain, aside from pain that would be associated with the inmate struggling while being moved to the execution chamber and being secured to the gurney and any attempts by the inmate to remove the mask by violent shaking of his head from side-to-side,” Antognini claims.
A professor emeritus of anesthesiology at University of California-Davis, Antognini said in his deposition that he’s served as an expert on behalf of parties seeking executions in “15 to 20” cases over nine years.
Antognini acknowledged that he hasn’t personally witnessed an execution by gassing and said he wasn’t
was elected.
Asked whether the stock market decline was due to his tariffs, Trump said: “A lot of them are globalist countries and companies that won’t be doing as well because we’re taking back things that have been taken from us many years ago.”
Sheinbaum said she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results,” on a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter Mexico has cracked down on cartels, sent troops to the U.S. border and delivered 29 top cartel bosses long chased by American authorities to the Trump administration in a span of weeks.
At a news conference, Sheinbaum elaborated on her call with Trump on Thursday, saying that she told the president that Mexico
opining on Louisiana’s protocol in a recent declaration. In his view nitrogen “quickly enters the mask, and in the absence of breath holding, within four or five breaths, the inmate is breathing nearly 100% nitrogen.”
Breathing rate would make a difference, but he testified that he “would expect them to become unconscious within that 30to 40-second period after they’ve started to breathe that nearly 100% nitrogen.”
Antognini said he based that estimate on three research papers on animals or videos of assisted suicides, two of them authored by the same sociologist Antognini’s views on nitrogen gas executions in Alabama are based on reports from reporters or an inmate’s spiritual adviser, he acknowledged.
Others who witnessed executions in Alabama by nitrogen gas reported seeing those prisoners labor far longer, in some cases several minutes past when it appeared the nitrogen had started entering the mask.
Federal judges have been unpersuaded that Alabama’s protocol violates the U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punish-
was making great strides in fulfilling his security demands.
“I told him we’re getting results,” Sheinbaum said. But the U.S. imposed the tariffs, so she asked Trump “how are we going to continue cooperating, collaborating with something that hurts the people of Mexico?”
She added that “practically all of the trade” between the U.S. and Mexico will be exempt from tariffs until April 2.
She said the two countries will continue to work together on migration and security, and to cut back on fentanyl trafficking to the U.S.
From January to February the amount of fentanyl seized at the border dropped more than 41%, according to Sheinbaum, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She cited the dip as meeting a commitment made to Trump.
opinions and authority however noting that studies he cited involved not nitrogen, but helium.
ment. Before the most recent execution, a federal district judge leaned on Antognini’s opinions to deny a stay An attorney for Hoffman
drilled Antognini over the bases for his
‘One of New Orleans’ brightest bulbs’
Friends, family second-line in N.O. in memory of Caleb Wilson
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Five or six years ago, Ryan Williams and Brandon Mitchell scored their first gig as professional musicians thanks to their wide-smiling, music-loving best friend, Caleb Wilson.
The three boys met as middle schoolers enrolled in New Orleans youth music programs. With Williams on the trombone, Mitchell on the snare and Wilson on the trumpet, they shared dreams of one day playing in college marching bands.
Soon after the boys met, when they were 13 or 14, it was Wilson who showed the ingenuity to nab their first gig, recruiting other players and securing a slot playing a birthday party in New Orleans East.
“He found that gig,” said Williams, now 19.
“He’s the reason. He had a vision for us and he acted on it.”
That drive carried Wilson to a spot playing trumpet at New Orleans’ Warren Easton High School, and later, in one of the most famous marching bands in the United States: Southern University’s Human Jukebox.
But Wilson — described by friends and teachers as relentlessly funny, driven and obsessed with practicing the trumpet would not live long enough to carry that drive beyond Southern’s campus in Baton Rouge. In a case that has rippled across Louisiana, he died Feb. 27 during an alleged fraternity hazing event at a warehouse on the outskirts of Baton Rouge.
There has since been an outpouring of grief on Southern’s campus and beyond. In New Orleans, musicians, friends and family members took to the street to memorialize the young man with a traditional second-line — a raw display that filled the Treme neighborhood with hundreds of people, cries of grief, joyous dancing and the booming brass music Wilson loved
“He was a natural-born leader, one of New Orleans’ brightest bulbs,” said Zachary Stanfill, an educator at the Roots of Music program where Wilson played in middle school.
Wilson grew up in Kenner, the son of a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy, but his roots were intertwined with neighboring New Orleans.
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increase to a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. The increased penalties also apply if hazing involves coerced alcohol consumption that leaves the victim’s blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.30%. A manslaughter conviction can lead to up to 40 years in prison. The manager of the warehouse said the businesses that leased the property were not following his company’s rules.
After picking up music in middle school, he played trumpet in the marching band at Warren Easton High School, where he was an “outstanding student, a dedicated band member and a friend who all who knew him,” a school spokesperson said.
Ellie Johnston, an educator at New Orleans’ Roots of Music program who taught Wilson at that
“I’m very aggravated about it It’s supposed to be a flooring company It’s not a party venue,” said Wallace Heck Jr., of Heck Management Co. “I fully expect to hear of repercussions about it.”
State business records show California Hardwood Floors leases space in the building. Cleve Dunn Jr., a Baton Rouge Metro Council member also operates a business, Runner’s Courier Service, from the property On Wednesday night, Dunn issued a statement denying any involvement in any events at the warehouse last week.
“I want to make it unequivocally
time, said even at 13 years old, Wilson had set a goal of one day marching for the Jukebox, the historically Black institution’s famous marching band. His father, Corey Wilson, is a member of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a storied predominantly-Black Mardi Gras krewe, and worked on Gayle Benson’s security detail. The New Orleans
clear that I am not a party to the official lease agreement between Heck Industries and Todd Smith/ California Floors,” Dunn said in post on Instagram.
Heck said the company rents to businesses, “not nightclubs,” and he doesn’t condone the hazing incident that allegedly took place at the site.
He also said he was unaware that Dunn’s courier business was operating at the site.
Though he declined to comment on possible legal actions, Heck said his company requires approval for a tenant like Smith to sublease a property to someone
Saints and Pelicans’ owner issued a statement last week after Caleb Wilson’s death, mourning the loss.
At Southern in recent days, family and friends remembered him as a disciplined student and member of the Jukebox. Friends on Thursday remembered his raucous giggle and charming personality, including a love of the “griddy” dance that took off when he was
else, and that did not occur in this case.
“We’ve never issued any approval,” he said.
According to Dunn’s statement, he did not know of his site’s possible involvement until it was reported in the media.
“My business rents a portion of the space for commercial purposes, and I have absolutely no involvement in or authority over the access granted to students or any activities related to Omega Psi Phi’s use of the building,” Dunn wrote.
The council member said he is not a member of the fraternity or
in middle school, recalled Stanfill. Williams and Mitchell, Caleb Wilson’s two childhood friends, played in the procession in his memory
Thursday
The second-line started in the Treme near the Charbonnet Funeral Home and grew by hundreds of people as it streamed east to Esplanade Avenue as the sun set on a warm March evening.
Williams said later that he and Caleb Wilson had kept up as they each went to college — Caleb Wilson in Baton Rouge and Williams at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
They would talk about band practice, and, occasionally, Caleb Wilson would voice his interest in joining one of the storied “Divine Nine” fraternities active on Southern’s campus. “He wanted that real bad,” Williams said.
The shocking details of his death, which appear intertwined with fraternity culture at Southern, have spurred criminal and campus investigations.
He was taken to a hospital unresponsive after being punched in the chest during the alleged ritual, in which about 10 Southern University fraternity members hit pledges with their fists and objects, sources familiar with a criminal investigation into the incident told The Times-Picayune | The Advocate this week.
Williams said he hoped his friend’s passing would shed light on fraternity culture.
“I hope this opens people’s eyes to how he passed away,” he said. “The fact he passed away like that hurts my soul. And I’m angry, I’m not gonna lie.”
any other “Greek or Divine 9 organization.”
Dunn extended condolences to Wilson’s family and the community
“While I understand that my name being included in this story draws additional attention to an already tragic situation, it is important that the public know: Neither I, my family nor my business condone hazing or any other illegal activity I fully support a swift and thorough investigation, and I trust that justice will be served,” Dunn wrote.
Staff writer Julia Guilbeau contributed to this story
STAFF PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER
A memorial brass band procession that started from Tuba Square travels through the Treme neighborhood on Thursday in honor of Caleb Wilson, a Southern University student who died after an alleged hazing incident.
Attendees at a memorial brass band procession and second-line honoring Caleb Wilson look at a poster created in his honor on Thursday.
Fueled by lucrative federal tax credits, companies are eying southwestern and western Louisiana for big projects to store hundreds of millions of tons of carbon under tens of thousands of acres of timberland, state wildlife areas and much smaller homes and farms, state permit summaries and company materials say The companies include carbon-capture arms of Occidental Petroleum and ExxonMobil, carbon ventures CapturePoint and Trace Carbon, natural gas pipeline company DT Midstream and Aethon Energy, permit documents say This “gold rush,” as one legislator put it, has stirred distrust in southwest Louisiana of industry and academic promises of its safety, echoing the opposition a few years ago in Livingston Parish over a carbon-capture proposal for Lake Maurepas.
Residents say they have concerns over damage to underground aquifers and accidental surface leaks, fears about encroachment on their properties through pipeline expropriation and other access methods granted to companies. They have been angered that federal taxpayer dollars are behind what they view as putting a dangerous waste permanently under their feet.
Critics point to a pipeline break and leak in Satartia, Mississippi, that hospitalized at least 45 people and forced 200 to evacuate from an asphyxiating gas cloud that hung along the ground, according to an investigation by the federal pipeline regulator
A pumping station that is part of the same company’s network, Denbury had a leak April 3 in Sulphur and forced a nearly two-hour shelter-in-place order for residents living within a quarter-mile, according to state and federal reports
Leaving a recent town hall at the Allen Parish Civic Center on carbon capture, Kinder crawfish farmer Stewart Harrell, 42, said he’s worried what a CO2 leak could do to the Chicot Aquifer, which he uses to supply his crawfish ponds
“If it’s contaminated, it ain’t no good,” he said. CO2 mixed with water can form an acid that is corrosive to pipes.
“It’s our drinking water, you know,” added Doug Sonnier, 73, of Oberlin “They wouldn’t have put this in some big, rich parish. They come out here in the woods.”
Some, like Sonnier, blamed the Biden administration and Democrats, but tax credits to support carbon capture and storage have been backed by successive administrations predating him. The oil and gas industry has been lobbying the second Trump administration which has been unraveling other climate and clean energy initiatives, to keep the credits in place.
Though carbon capture has been discussed for years and Louisiana proposals
have gone through required public notice procedures, several residents, like Harrell, said it seemed the push for carbon storage has been “slipped in” recently Sherry Coleman, 66, of Oberlin, told the town hall that carbon capture has taken root only because “no one knew anything about it.”
“This cannot be a done deal. We’re not the top of the heap, but we don’t deserve to be the fertilizer for the rest of the heap,” she said.
Several parish police juries in the region have formed their own coalition. Some of its representatives, including a leader of the movement, Allen Parish Juror Roland Hollins have been traveling to Baton Rouge to speak in hearings and privately press their case.
A small group of legislators representing these areas are promising bills for the legislative session beginning April 14 to rein in carbon capture and even to block it outright through local parish-by-parish votes.
Some of these legislators also supported unopposed legislation in 2020 giving the state the ability to regulate carbon sequestration — Louisiana was granted that power by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 — but now say they’re hearing from residents as projects have become closer to reality
Rep Charles Owen, RLeesville, said his 2020 vote happened before he and his constituents understood what carbon capture would mean. He said he and his legislative colleagues had been told it was simply a measure to help the oil and gas industry
“I just know that my citizens are very much up in arms in the two parishes I represent. I would say livid,” said Owen, whose House District 30 includes central parts of Vernon and Beauregard parishes.
Owen has pre-filed the bill that would allow parish councils or police juries to decide whether to allow carbon dioxide injection wells in their parishes.
HB4 would also give those governing authorities the ability to call a special election to allow voters to decide, as the video poker local option elections of 1996 did across the state. Residents could also petition parishes to call the election.
“Locals have the option of saying they don’t want gambling or alcohol in this state,” Owen said in an interview
“This bill that I am proposing will give the parish police or governing authorities the ability to say ‘We don’t want that.’”
Other legislators who have pre-filed bills or are considering them include Rep. R Dewith Carrier, R-Oakdale; Rep. Jason DeWitt, R-Tioga; and Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck.
Among the proposals being discussed are an end to caps on damages from CO2 incidents that injure or kill people, an end of companies’ expropriation power for CO2 pipelines and an expansion of safety distances around schools and hospitals.
Though local opponents of carbon capture and storage might have common ground
with environmental groups, the two are coming at it from different directions. Environmental groups want to fight climate change and oppose extending oil and gas production.
During the town hall last week in Oberlin, however, opposition to carbon capture was rooted in property rights. State Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, who spent his career in the oil and gas business and has been its steady backer in the House, told residents in Oberlin he would back them.
McCormick, who represents the Ark-La-Tex corner of the state, said, “You’ve got to get motivated You’ve got to get activated You’ve got to do what you’re doing here tonight.”
Despite the coming effort from his colleagues, Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, an ardent supporter of carbon capture with projects in his northeast corner of the state, said he believes majorities in the House and Senate remain behind the practice.
CO2 emissions lead to climate change, and carboncapture projects aim to address that problem while still allowing the oil and gas and petrochemical industries to operate.
The process sees carbon dioxide gas compressed nearly into a liquid state. It’s injected thousands of feet down into formations that various geologic experts have said can hold it permanently, keeping those heat-trapping emissions out of the atmosphere.
Advocates, industry officials and these geologists point out that companies have been moving CO2 by pipeline and pumping it underground for decades to push up oil from depleted fields. They say they know how to do it safely
“CCS is a proven technology that has been successfully deployed for decades. We are confident in our ability to sequester CO2 safely and permanently in compliance with stringent regulations,” said Margot Armentor a spokesperson for ExxonMobil.
The oil company is pursuing carbon capture in southwestern Louisiana, St. Helena Parish outside Baton Rouge and elsewhere through two carbon-capture arms, including Denbury which has a key CO2 pipeline across the state.
Several geologists have noted that Louisiana’s geology, with its layers of sand and impermeable shale, provide “almost perfect” storage areas not far from the industries that need it.
“If they were going to plan a place to do CCUS (carbon capture utilization and storage), Louisiana would be the place to do it,” LSU petroleum engineering professor Richard Hughes said in a video-recorded interview for TJC Group, a Baton Rouge lobbying firm that represents industrial clients.
Hughes said the state’s review process and oversight should prevent problems or catch them on the small chance they develop.
Though no projects have been permitted in the state yet, critics note an Environmental Protection Agency model storage project in Illinois leaked last year, escap-
ing from one layer to another but not into groundwater
And opponents of carbon capture and storage have raised fears of surface leaks, pointing to a catastrophic natural CO2 leak from the volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon that killed more than 1,700 people and thousands of cattle in the 1980s.
In an email, Hughes said the likelihood of a surface leak from deep underground is low It would occur slowly because of the state’s layered subsurface and likely be caught by regulators before it breaks through Any leak would also happen at volumes and concentrations far below what happened in Cameroon.
“I would simply say that I lean towards the idea that a Lake Nyos type of release is extremely unlikely given our geology,” Hughes said.
Published last month, an Allen Parish risk assessment found the highest risks of leaks would come from old oil and gas wells, monitoring wells and CO2 pipelines. The state is requiring old wells be
found and sealed in carbon storage areas. Companies with a stake in the region’s carbon capture and storage potential contend blocking the nascent industry would put Louisiana behind other states looking to be first.
Officials with an important lobby at the State Capitol, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, said they will “vigorously oppose any legislation that threatens industry efforts to create jobs, produce more energy and support American energy independence.”
“Louisiana’s investments in CCS have played a vital role as we enter the next phase of America-first energy dominance, with major economic development projects, including the highly anticipated data center (planned for north Louisiana), expected to take advantage of Louisiana’s early lead in carbon capture and storage technology,” said Tommy Faucheux, the group’s president.
Citing a McNeese State University study, Allen Parish’s risk assessment noted the financial benefits possible. The Oxy Magnolia Sequestration Hub proposed in the parish, the assessment notes, would generate more than $81 million in labor income from construction and operations over 12 years. Local governments in Allen would see up to $4.4 million in tax collections between 2026 and 2035. The figures don’t include confidential landowner lease pay-
Southern University plans $68M project
Sciences building set for BR campus
BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer
Southern University will start construction next week on a $68 million sciences complex, the first marquee project in decades on its Baton Rouge campus
The three-story building will include 20 laboratories and 15 classrooms to support five undergradu-
ate programs under the same roof — biology, chemistry, math, physics and computer sciences — as well as a doctoral program in science and mathematics education.
The bulk of engineering studies classrooms will remain in Pinchback Hall.
“It’s going to be a showcase piece for STEM on the campus,”
said Lealon L. Martin, dean of the
college of sciences and engineering. “There will be state-of-the-art teaching and research labs.”
The need for a new STEM building at Southern has been discussed a long time, though the design process didn’t begin until 2022 after the Louisiana Legislature approved using capital outlay funding for the project. That’s a combination of federal and state money to finance infrastructure projects statewide.
“A major project like this hasn’t
happened on this campus for decades,” said Kenneth Dawson, director of facilities planning. “It’s one of our foundational projects.”
The multilevel sciences building will measure 97,000 square feet. It’s slated to be finished as early as January 2027 and will replace James Hall near the center of Southern’s campus.
Manning Architects and Coleman Partners Architects are handling the project design. Louisiana Department of Transportation and
SNAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
A
Louisiana oil lauds rollback of Gulf whale measures
Rice’s whale among most endangered marine mammals
BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
Louisiana’s
Development selected Lemoine as the construction manager, overseeing the building process and managing associated liabilities.
The design mirrors modern education architecture trends, with an abundance of interior and exterior glass walls to invite natural light.
The building will have open spaces to promote collaborative learning environments between students and faculty, said Joe Saffiotti,
PROJECT, page 2B
Report: Lawsuit against plant may be dropped
EPA had targeted Denka in St. John
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
A landmark federal lawsuit initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging that a chemical facility in St. John the Baptist Parish threatens the surrounding community with unacceptable cancer risks could be dropped in the coming days, according to recent reports, a sign of sharp changes in environmental policy being undertaken by President Donald Trump’s administration. The move comes as a win for state leaders who said President Joe Biden’s focus on environmental justice in Louisiana needlessly targeted industry But residents and community groups near the facility fear that abandoning the case will worsen an already dire public health situation. Under Biden’s leadership, the EPA sued Denka Performance Elastomer in 2023 over emissions of the chemical chloroprene, a likely carcinogen. Denka’s facility in LaPlace is the nation’s largest emitter of the toxic chemical, which is released in the process of making neoprene, the synthetic rubber used in gloves, wetsuits and military equipment. The plant is the only source of neoprene in the United States.
The EPA had demanded that the company immediately reduce its chloroprene emissions. The New York Times first reported the plans to drop the lawsuit.
DENKA, page 2B
legally enforceable and
ä See WHALE, page 2B
A man arrested last week in the Baton Rouge shooting death of his relative had his charges increased to second-degree murder Hasan Sabree, 46, was arrested Feb. 27 in connection with the shooting death of Danyelle Dillard, 41. While officers originally arrested Sabree on charges of negligent homicide, new evidence made them upgrade the charges.
Officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department first arrived to Sabree’s residence in the 11000 block of Catalpa Drive late Wednesday night in response to a shooting.
Officers found Dillard dead and Man’s murder charges upgraded CRIME BLOTTER staff reports ä See BLOTTER, page 2B
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
PHOTO PROVIDED By NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE
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principal architect for Coleman Partners.
“We know it’s going to be a transformative building on campus,” said Ryan Bertucci, project manager with Manning. “That transparency with the glass is trying to make it as invit-
ing as we can on campus.” Bertucci and Saffiotti both compared it to notable educational buildings their firms have designed in Louisiana, including Manning’s design of the AB Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, and LSU’s business and engineering buildings for Coleman. Both firms also have designed a new business school for Southern
playing with the gun.
Sabree with a handgun in his pocket, according to a police affidavit. The victim’s daughter said she had heard an argument going on between Dillard and Sabree before a gunshot.
Sabree told police he accidentally shot Dillard while
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The Denka plant has become a focus in the fight between environmental justice advocates, industry and politicians on either side, both in Louisiana and beyond. Gov Jeff Landry, a steadfast Trump supporter visited the plant last year in a show of support for the company and announced his administration’s legal challenge to what was then a new federal rule aimed at reducing cancer risks.
“The Biden administration was engaged in an unfounded and ill-advised coordinated attack on a single company that plays an essential role in the American supply chain,” said Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a close ally of the governor “I’m grateful the new ad-
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amounted to a set of “suggested precautionary measures,” per the bureau.
The protections had drawn harsh pushback from Republican members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation as well as local oil and gas interests. They praised the move to end them.
“Having grown up in the offshore oil and gas business, I knew of no problems that the Rice’s whale had posed,” said state Rep. Joe Orgeron, R-Golden Meadow, who has also worked in the offshore wind industry and supports the rollback. He described the protections for the whale as “an administrative ploy to try to squelch lease sales.”
U.S. Rep Steve Scalise RJefferson, said the protections for the whales were “designed to appease radical progressive special interests and shut down American energy.” Tommy Faucheux, the president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, also celebrated the rollback and predicted that the change would lead to more offshore drilling
“We see Louisiana as the threshold to the Gulf of America,” he said. “The changes are good for industry.”
To environmental groups, the protections were a first step in the right direction toward protecting the whales.
Sabree claimed he and Dillard had been fighting over a set of car keys, and that he believed the gun had no live rounds inside when he was handling it.
Dillard’s three children were in the home at the time.
New witness evidence gathered by police officers contradicted Sabree’s story, leading to the
ministration is correcting course.”
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Aurelia Giacometto similarly praised the move.
“We are grateful for the EPA decision,” she said. “I am committed to advocating for Louisiana’s interests. By reevaluating regulations and litigation stances, we can unlock the potential of our resources, contributing to energy dominance of this administration while benefiting Louisiana and the American people.”
Denka said it could not comment on the still pending litigation. The EPA directed questions to the U.S. Department of Justice, which did not respond Advocates in the heavily industrialized region along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans sharply opposed the decision, arguing that the
University that’s still in the approval phase. Southern’s STEM facility is part of a wider push by the university to broaden its footprint at a time when lawmakers are looking for ways to address workforce shortages, by training college students for highly skilled science, technology and engineering jobs. Louisiana is among the bottom 10 states nationwide for
upgraded charges.
He is now charged with second-degree murder, illegal use of weapons, and three counts of domestic abuse/aggravated assault.
Police: Man accused of child pornography
An 18-year-old man enrolled at LSU was arrested for allegedly uploading images of child pornography
government is putting the profits of a company over community well-being.
“Just like our ancestors fought for their freedoms in Reconstruction and the civil rights eras, we will keep fighting for clean air, clean water and clean soil so that we can live on the land our ancestors passed to us,” said Sharon Lavigne, founder of the advocacy group RISE St. James.
The 2023 lawsuit was paused after the EPA adopted a new rule last year requiring a reduction of chloroprene limits. Denka challenged this ruling in federal court, arguing that the EPA used flawed studies to determine the chemical’s cancer risk and saying it would not be able to meet the 90-day deadline for reduced emissions.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality gave the company a two-
workforce participation rates, meaning the percentage of residents 16 and older who are employed or looking for work.
The school also recently received funding, as part of a $40 million national grant to support undergraduate and graduate science research. Martin, Southern’s sciences and engineering dean, said the grant will be utilized for all of its sci-
to the internet using university Wi-Fi.
Amari West of Villas, New Jersey, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail on two felony counts of possession of pornography involving children under the age of 13.
West uploaded two videos showing child pornography to the messaging app Kik
year delay to meet the new federal limits. A federal court in New Orleans agreed to reopen the case, as other challenges to the EPA emissions guidelines continue to be litigated in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The EPA contended that chloroprene emissions above 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter in areas outside the facility and 0.3 on the fence-line result in cancer risks greater than 1 in 10,000 people over a 70-year lifetime. Fence-line monitors over the past few years have shown emission levels much higher than the 0.3 figure.
The most recent monitoring reports for January show average chloroprene emissions of 0.90 micrograms per cubic meter Denka also sits a couple hundred feet from an elementary school in its final semester of existence. The St. John Parish School Board
ences buildings.
The university will host a groundbreaking ceremony commemorating the construction start of the STEM complex at 2 p.m. March 11.
The university is strategically located to help meet rising skilled labor demands, Martin said.
The campus is flanked on both sides by ExxonMobil facilities, a Shell plant di-
on Sept. 15, 2024, according to a police affidavit.
Kik reported the videos to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn tipped off the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation.
The images were uploaded by an account tied to one of West’s email addresses and using an LSU IP address, the affidavit states.
voted to shut down the school amid a discrimination case over the young children’s exposure to the likely cancercausing chemical, which can be even more dangerous for children. The majority-Black school is in a U.S. census tract with the highest risk of cancer from air pollution in the country, according to an EPA report.
Robert Taylor a founding member of community activist group Concerned Citizens of St. John, said the organization is entering “emergency mode” over the reports that the lawsuit may be dropped.
Taylor said that for years, the local and state government failed to support the predominantly Black residents who were raising alarm over the public health and environmental issues in their area. For Taylor, this began to change when Biden entered office and put environmental racism, in which
rectly across the river, and Dow and BASF around the bluff’s bends. “We’re surrounded by industry They are stakeholders in our college and university.” he said. “They rely on us to help identify talent that can help them build their workforce.”
Email Aidan McCahill at aidan.mccahill@ theadvocate.com.
West attempted to sell the images to other users in multiple exchanges on the app, according to the affidavit. In one exchange, West’s account asked another user “u into Cp I’m assuming.” He then asked, “u wanna buy from me?” Each of these chats were documented by Kik, and each also had an IP address tied to the university
communities of color are disproportionately impacted by pollution, in the national spotlight.
“Now the situation has reverted back or gotten even worse because we’ve got a government here that’s so aggressive to the environment” and, Taylor alleged, unfair to the Black population in the region activists often refer to as “Cancer Alley.”
“Our situation was dire from the start,” Taylor said. The leader of another advocacy organization in St. John, The Descendants Project, similarly said environmental groups “are used to having a government that’s hostile towards us at the state level,” Joy Banner said, so facing hostility at the federal level is not much of a change.
Email Josie Abugov at josie.abugov@theadvocate. com.
The Rice’s whale is among the most endangered marine mammals on the planet
Through surveys that took place in 2017 and 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that there may be as few as 51 left in the wild.
“With abundance so low, the loss of even a single whale threatens the survival
“It took a long time to take even that baby step forward,” said Barbara Taylor, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist who now works with the International Union for Conservation of Nature which maintains a highly regarded international list of endangered species. “And now, it’s just been rolled back.”
of the species,” scientists said in a 2022 open letter to the Biden administration urging additional conservation measures.
The Rice’s whale is the only whale that lives in North American waters and nowhere else. “They really are America’s whale,” said Michael Jasny, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s marine mammal protection arm. Rice’s whales are particularly vulnerable to being hit by ships because of their behavior, scientists and environmental advocates said. During the day they dive to the seafloor to feed on fish.
But when those fish disperse at night, Rice’s whales rest by floating just below the surface of the water
“These guys are sitting ducks,” Jasny said, “in a perfect position to be struck (by a boat) but extremely unlikely to be spotted in the water.”
The Rice’s whale has primarily been spotted in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, in an area off Florida’s coast where there is little offshore oil and gas activity But, using underwater microphones to capture the whale’s calls, scientists recently discovered that they live along the border of the continental shelf that extends into the
western Gulf. In those waters, there is significantly more ship traffic than there is in the eastern Gulf.
“It’s sort of suspicious that they used to be distributed all along the shelf break area and now they’re only found in the area where there aren’t oil and gas leases,” Taylor said.
In recent years, there have been two documented instances in which a Rice’s whale has been hit by a boat.
MARCH 5, 2025
PICK 3: 7-9-2 PICK 4: 4-5-1-7 PICK 5: 7-7-1-6-4
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Indeed, a shipstrike, the technical term for when a ship hits a whale, is central to the Rice’s whale identification as a species. Scientists until recently thought the whales could be a group of Bryde’s whales But thanks to genetic analysis — and the dead body of a Rice’s whale that was dragged to shore on the bow of a ship in 2009 scientists confirmed that Rice’s whales were in fact a distinct species. Both Taylor and Jasny believe that whales are struck by boats more often than is reported After being hit by a boat, the whales are likely to sink to the seafloor they said, and their deaths likely go unrecorded.
Email Alex Lubben at alex.lubben@theadvocate. com.
BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS
Walgreens agrees to be acquired in $10B deal
Walgreens Boots Alliance says it has agreed to be acquired by the private equity
firm Sycamore Partners as the struggling retailer looks to turn itself around after years of losing money
Walgreens said Thursday that Sycamore will pay $11.45 per share, giving the deal an equity value just under $10 billion. Shareholders could eventually receive up to another $3 per share under certain conditions. A buyout to take the drugstore chain private would give it more flexibility to make changes to improve its business without worrying about Wall Street’s reaction. The company has already been making some big changes as it seeks to turn around its business. Walgreens has been a public company since 1927.
Walgreens, founded in 1901, has been dealing with thin prescription reimbursement, rising costs, persistent theft and inflation-sensitive shoppers who are looking for bargains elsewhere.
Walgreens is in the early stages of a plan to close 1,200 of its roughly 8,500 U.S. locations.
The Deerfield, Illinois, company had already shed about a thousand U.S stores since it grew to nearly 9,500 after buying some Rite Aid locations in 2018.
Mortgage rates decline, but outlook is cloudy
Mortgage rates have been mostly declining in recent weeks, helping encourage prospective home shoppers just as the spring homebuying season gets going.
But the same factors that have pulled mortgage rates to their lowest level since December — signs that the U.S. economy is slowing and uncertainty over the potential fallout from the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports are clouding the outlook for where mortgage rates will go from here.
“We do not anticipate significant relief from high mortgage rates soon because of inflation remaining stubbornly high, which will not be helped by the tariffs that the Trump administration appears committed to rolling out,” said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.
The average rate on a 30year mortgage in the U.S. has declined seven weeks in a row from 7.04% in mid-January to 6.63% this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year earlier, it averaged 6.88%.
The average rate is now at its lowest level since Dec. 12, when it was 6.6%. It briefly fell to a two-year low last September, but remains more than double the 2.65% record low the average rate hit in January 2021.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate fell to 5.79% from 5.94% last week
A year ago, it averaged 6.22%, Freddie Mac said.
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees.
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday That’s significantly fewer than the 236,000 new applications analysts expected. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, which have remained mostly in a range between 200,000 and 250,000 for years The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility inched up by 250 to 224,250. Some analysts expect layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency to show up in the report in the coming weeks or months.
Tariff whiplash drags markets down
BY STAN CHOE AP business writer
NEW YORK — Wall Street’s sell-off kicked back into gear on Thursday, and a U.S stock market rattled by the whiplash created by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and uncertainty about the economy fell sharply
The S&P 500 tumbled to resume its slide after a mini-recovery from the prior day clawed back some of its sharp drop over recent weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped and the Nasdaq composite sank to finish more than 10% below its record set in December
Stocks fell even though Trump on Thursday offered a one-month reprieve from his 25% tariffs on many goods imported from Mexico and Canada. That’s unlike the bounce stocks got the prior day from his giving a one-month exemption specifically for automakers. All the moves keep hope alive that Trump may be using tariffs as just a tool for negotiations rather than as a permanent policy and that he may ultimately avoid a worst-case trade war that grinds down economies and sends inflation higher But Trump is still pressing ahead with other tariffs scheduled to
take effect April 2. And the growing pile of dizzying back-and-forth moves on tariffs is only amping up the uncertainty It was just on Monday that Trump said there was “no room” left for negotiations that could lower the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which took effect Tuesday
“These exemptions don’t do much to resolve the general air of uncertainty,” said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management. “Businesses will still be cautious in the current environment until a lot more of the tariff picture is clear.”
U.S. businesses are already saying they’re confronting “chaos”
because of all the uncertainty coming out of Washington. while U.S. households are bracing for higher inflation because of the tariffs, which is sapping their confidence. Such reports have raised the possibility of a worst-case scenario known as “stagflation,” where the economy is stagnating and inflation is high It’s something that policy makers at the Federal Reserve don’t have a good tool to fix.
“Much will depend on whether these new tariffs prove temporary or are toned down,” according to strategists at BNP Paribas. “But even if they are ultimately removed, we anticipate lasting damage to global economic activity.”
Erratic policies baffle businesses
Ever-changing trade policies cause delays, cancellations
BY
PAUL WISEMAN, ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and MAE ANDERSON AP business writers
WASHINGTON Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois, is getting ready to introduce a fancy ergonomic chair designed to reduce customers’ back pain and boost their productivity He figures the most expensive one will sell for more than $1,000 But he can’t settle on a price, and he is reluctantly reducing the shipment he’s bringing to the United States from China.
“The misdirection is making it very tough to plan for the year,” he said.
There’s a reason for his caution: President Donald Trump’s ever-changing, on-again, off-again tariff war with America’s three biggest trading partners — Mexico, Canada and China. The latest reversal came Thursday Two days after imposing 25% taxes — tariffs — on all imports from Canada and Mexico and threatening to detonate more than $1.3 billion in annual U.S. trade in North America, Trump announced that he was suspending many of the levies on Mexico and some of them on Canada for a month. This was an expansion of his Wednesday announcement when he exempted auto imports from both countries for 30 days, and it also comes after a previous monthlong tariff reprieve for Canada and Mexico right before they were to take effect Feb. 4. Rosenberg and his ergonomic furniture, meanwhile, are contending with a 20% tariff on imports from China which Trump on Tuesday raised from 10% — but he’s not sure where the tariff will actually land.
Swings typical of market
Selling stocks now may be a bad idea
BY STAN CHOE and CORA LEWIS AP business writers
NEW YORK Much like all the upheaval shaking the world, the huge swings rocking Wall Street may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, all this is typical. Sharp moves for the U.S. stock market, such as its recent 6% drop in just a couple of weeks happen regularly. Stomaching them is the price investors have to pay for the bigger returns that stocks can offer over other investments in the long term
This time doesn’t look much different, experts say
The S&P 500 has regularly seen declines bigger than this recent one, of 10% or more, every year or so. Often, experts view them as a culling of optimism that can otherwise run overboard, driving stock prices too high.
Before this recent stumble, many critics were already saying the U.S. stock market was too expensive after prices rose faster than corporate profits. They also
pointed to how only a handful of companies were driving so much of the market’s returns. A group of just seven Big Tech companies accounted for more than half of the S&P 500’s total return last year, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Anytime an investor sees they’re losing money, it feels bad. This recent run feels particularly unnerving because of how incredibly calm the market had previously been. The S&P 500 is coming off a second straight year where it shot up by more than 20%, the first time that’s happened since baggy pants were last in style before the millennium Selling may offer some feeling of relief. But it also locks in losses and prevents the chance of making the money back over time. Historically, the S&P 500 has come back from every one of its downturns to eventually make investors whole again. That includes after the Great Depression, the dot-com bust and the 2020 COVID-19 crash. Some recoveries take longer than others, but experts often recommend not putting money into stocks that you can’t afford to lose for several years, up to 10.
“Data has shown, historically that no one can time the market,”
Tariffs cause economic pain in part because they’re a tax paid by importers that often gets passed along to consumers, adding to inflationary pressure. They also draw retaliation from trading partners, which can hurt all economies involved.
But import taxes can cause economic damage in another way: by complicating the decisions businesses have to make, including which suppliers to use, where to locate factories, what prices to charge. And that uncertainty can cause them to delay or cancel investments that help drive economic growth.
“It creates an enormous amount of uncertainty for multinational companies that sell products worldwide, that import from the rest of the world, that run these complex supply chains through multiple countries,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University “The uncertainty is going to be very unsettling for businesses and it will hurt business investment.”
said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of WalletHub. “No one can consistently figure out the best time to buy and sell.”
The proliferation of online trading platforms and the ease of smartphones have helped create a new generation of investors who may not be used to such volatility But the good news is younger investors often have the gift of time. With decades to go until retirement, they can afford to ride the waves and let their stock portfoli-
os hopefully recover before compounding and eventually growing even bigger People who have already retired may want to cut back on spending and withdrawals after sharp market downturns, because bigger withdrawals will remove more potential compounding ability in the future. But even retirees, at least in the early part of retirement, should still be
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy
A truck loaded with produce from Mexico and Canada passes through Pharr, Texas, on Tuesday
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG
Ferry Rd., Baton Rouge LA at 11am All, Jerry Henry 'Red'
Boudreaux, Edith St Aloysius Catholic Church at11AM
Auwiece
After attending Baton Rouge High, he
in the Army Reserves and ran Leon's Pool
in South-
He and his father were long-time
of Alesce's Gulf on Perkins and Highland and later Alesce's Service Cen-
He loved being outdoors and through the years enjoyed fast cars, dirt bikes, fishing, boating, family vacations, yard work, watching sports, and helping friends and neighbors.
Leon is survived by his wife of 42 years Irene Smith Alesce; daughter Allison Irene Alesce; brotherin-law Randolph Smith and his wife Ruth; niece Lauren and her husband Evan Evans; nephew Randolph and his wife Megan Smith; and many cousins. Leon was preceded in death by his parents Anthony and Auwiece Alesce.
We love you and will miss your special morning greetings that were always the start of our day. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation on Sunday, March 9, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. at Resthaven Funeral Home, 11817 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge. Aprivate burial will follow on Monday, March 10, 2025, at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your favorite charity. Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave apersonal note to the family at www.resthav enbatonrouge.com
Jerry "Red" Henry All Sr., 78, native of Lake, Louisiana, and resident of Pierre Part, Louisiana, passed away on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Jerry worked as an operator at Borden Chemical and proudly served in the United StatesArmy. He was a patriotic man who loved his country and enjoyed the simple pleasures of life—hunting, fishing crawfishing, and spending time with his family. Jerry was alifetime member of the VFW 3693, where his commitment to service and camaraderiewere greatly valued. He is survived by his children, Theresa (Brad) AllDuplessis, Lacey (Amy)All, Rachel All, and Jerry All Jr.; his grandchildren, Brant Duplessis, Brooke Duplessis, Payton All,Chloe All, Emerson White, and Monroe White;his sister, Mary "Sis" Jane Dupuy;his brother, Lewis C. All Jr.; his ex-wife,Roxy Haltom; and ex-daughters-in-law, Melissa Nussbaum and Lindsey Eason All. He is preceded in death by his parents, Lewis C. All Sr. and AgnesLavaigne All; brother-in-law, Leroy Dupuy; nephew, Timothy All; ex sister-in-law, Sandra All; great niecesKayla Denham and Alexis Molliere; and ex wife, Mary Pulley. Avisitation for Jerry will be held on Monday, March 10, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Ourso Funeral Home, 13533 Airline Hwy, Gonzales, Louisiana 70737. Afuneral service will follow from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the same location. Burialwill occur at 12:15 PM at Serenity Oaks MemorialPark, 15304 Hwy 73, Prairieville, Louisiana. Pallbearers will be Jerry All Jr ,Brad Duplessis, Brant Duplessis, Teddy Dupuy, Seth Denham, and Mike McCarty. Honorary Pallbearers include Terry Andrews and Barry Dupuy. The family would like to extend special thanks to Pinnacle Hospice and nurses Brittni, Veronica, and Barbara for their compassionate care during Jerry's final days. In lieu of flowers, the family requests thatdonations be made to St. Jude Children's ResearchHospital.
Wayne Guy was born July 23, 1943 and called home by his Heavenly Father March 3, 2025. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, BrendaRobertson Guy ason Brandon Guy and his wife Carrie and a daughter Shayne Guy, DDS (formerly Clouatre).
He has five grandchildren, Gage, Caden, and Brooks Clouatre, and Addison and Andrew Guy.
He is also survived by his brother, KeithGuy, and his wife Phyllis, brothers-in -law David Robertson and his wife, Rheba, and Douglas Robertson, along with numerous nieces and nephews. Wayne was preceded in deathbyhis parents Monroe C. Guy and Geraldine JohnsonGuy.
Wayne graduated from Istrouma High School and Louisiana State University.
Wayne and Brenda worked sidebyside for 28 years (from 1979 to 2007) as owners of Delta Process Equipment and DeltaEnvironmental Products located in Denham Springs, LA. Both businesses were related to the sale and repair of Engineered Products for the Chemical, Petrochemical, and Wastewater treatment industries. Wayne was considered an expert in rotating equipment. Back in the day, Wayne was awell-known local musician. His instrument was primarily the keyboards, but he could also play theguitar. Many times, he entertained friends and family with a mean rendition of Lucille!
Wayne loved to play golf, but of late, his favorite pastime was spending timewithhis kids, grandkids, and good friends.
Wayne and Brenda are members of JeffersonBaptist Church. Services will be held Monday, March 10thatJefferson Baptist Church, 9135 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA, 70809. Visitation with family to begin at 1:00 PM witha funeral service to follow at 3:00 PM Special thanks to the nursing staff at OLOL 9th floor Critical Care ICU. In lieu of flowers, please donate to theBaton Rouge Food Bank.
Hill, Phillip Dean 'PD'
Phillip Dean "PD" Hill was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on July 27, 1950. He diedonFriday, February 21, 2025, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana surrounded by his family. PD graduated from RoyaltonHartland High School in Middleport,New York in 1968, and continued his education at Jacksonville University, where he earned a bachelor in science degree in Business. PD leaves behind to cherish his memory, his loving wife of six years, Sherry LeeHill, with whom he traveled the world and sometimes danced all night.Other members of his family who will miss him forever includehis daughter, Johanna Hill Couvillion (Jeremy); sons, Christopher Hill (Katie) and Justin Hill (Laura). His legacy flourishes
Phillip Dean "PD" Hill was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on July 27, 1950. He diedonFriday, February 21, 2025, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana surrounded by his family. PD graduated from RoyaltonHartland High School in Middleport,New York in 1968, and continued his education at Jacksonville University, where he earned a bachelor in science degree in Business. PD leaves behind to cherish his memory, his loving wife of six years, Sherry LeeHill, with whom he traveled the world and sometimes danced all night.Other members of his family who will miss him forever includehis daughter, Johanna Hill Couvillion (Jeremy); sons, Christopher Hill (Katie) and Justin Hill (Laura). His legacy flourishes through his precious grandchildren with whom he had aforever bond (in birth order): Maria Couvillion, Lucy Hill, Bradley Hill, Madeline Couvillion, Brenham Hill, Joseph Duke Hill, BarrettHill, and Julia Couvillion; and his nephew Kodiak Kopp. Also included are his brother, Duane Hill; sister, Carol Harring,and their extended families. Preceding PD in death were his parents, Kenneth and Thelma Hill; his twin sister, Phyllis Hill; and his wife, Karen Michelle Hill. PD and Karen were married 34 years and had three beautiful children, but Karen lost her battle to cancer. PD never left her side. PD enjoyed along career as aSenior Business Development Manager, but also was an inventor, an entrepreneur, and abar owner. His participationin various organizations included Krewe of Orion (King of Orion XIII), Baton Rouge Round Table, Canary Island Men's Club, Corvette Club,Bourbon Barons of Baton Rouge, Rambling Readers member at large, Krewe of Jupiter, and Old Goodwood Literary Society member at large. Some of his interests included tailgating, beer brewing, LSU Tiger fan, aspiring novelist,traveling, cooking, fishing,reading (it was not unusual forhim to read three books aweek, both fiction and non-fiction), patron of thearts, beachcomber, mentor/life coach, and gardener. The family would like to give veryspecial thanks to Our Ladyofthe Lake care givers Adam, Emily, Glenn, Maria, Peggy, and Ryan for their exceptional care and compassion. AMemorial Celebration of Life will be held for PD on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 10230 Mollylea Drive, Baton Rouge, with visitation from 9:00am until service at 11:00am. Areception at thechurch will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider agift in PD's name to St. Jude's, Wounded WarriorProject, or Association forProsecuting Attorneys (APA), Prosecutors for Prosecutors (EIN#.26-3117485).
Louis Dennis Johnson (L.D.), anative of Ethel, LA, passed away on February 21, 2025. The visitation will take place at Providence #2 Baptist Church in Ethel, LA, on March8,2025, at 9:00 AM, followed by the funeral serviceat11:00 AM. Swamp, working especially with school programs. She was an active member of St. Theresa of Avila parish in Gonzales, workingon the garden,serving as Eucharistic Minister, and bringing theEucharist to the sick. She maintained an active social life through her McDonald's breakfast group, the Crazy Ladies coffee group, her walking group, and her Mary Bird Perkins painting
Kinchen, Fannie Funeral services for Fan‐nie Kinchen will be held Saturday, March 8, 2025 at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 185 Eddie Robinson Dr. A public visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m until 10:00 a.m with religious services beginning at 10:00 a.m Interment: Port Hud‐son National Cemetery Professional services en‐trusted to Charles Mackey Funeral Home
Landaiche, Beverly Pearl
Beverly Peno Landaiche died peacefully on the evening of March2,2025, at the age of 81, after a long and painful struggle with cancer. Survived by her husband, Donald J. Landaiche; children Kimberly PenoAllabaugh (husband Brian), Jonathan Peno (wife Marci), Heather Peno, Brett Allen (wife Yvette), and Mable Grace Medine (husbandChad); her sister and lifelong companion Jo Ann Peno Dawson,brothers Ronald Peno and Jerry Peno, sister -in-law Myrna Peno, and numerous extended family. She is preceded in death by her siblings Teddy Peno, Bobby Peno, and Betty Peno, and parents Theodore Peno and Alma Hall Peno. She was aloving foster mother to over 63 children over the years. She attended school in Dutchtown and after that opened andran Beverly's Flower Shop on Coontrap Road in Gonzales. After she retired from theflorist business, she served as a docent at the Baton Rouge Zoo andBluebonnet Swamp, working especially with school programs. She was an active member of St. Theresa of Avila parish in Gonzales, workingon the garden,serving as Eucharistic Minister, and bringing theEucharist to the sick. She maintained an active social life through her McDonald's breakfast group, the Crazy Ladies coffee group, her walking group, and her Mary Bird Perkins painting class at the Haven of Ascension.Her legacy lives on through her service to others, her paintings, and the backyard oasis she lovingly created. Visitation will take place at St. Theresa of Avila Church in Gonzales on Saturday, March 8,
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on Satur‐day March 8 at 8:00 a.m until the Celebration of Life Service at 10:00 a.m., con‐ducted by Ronald Jackson; interment at Azalea Rest Cemetery Survivors in‐clude his children, Tonya Jackson (Ronald) Ernest Sr., Derrick, and Cantrice Montgomery, Lechawn Montgomery-Weather‐spoon (James) Creight, Lael, and Ahmad Mont‐gomery, Tanzel Mont‐gomery-Hamilton (Otis), Janero James, and Matthew Brown; a host of grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, other rela‐tives, and friends Pre‐ceded in death by his wife Janice Montgomery; daughter, Tracy Mont‐gomery; and parents, Annie and Jeannie Mont‐gomery
Bergeron, Lollie
St Jean Vianney Church 16166 S Harrells
The newspaper of record for Baton Rouge
Johnson, Louis Dennis 'L.D.'
Louis Dennis Johnson (L.D.), anative of Ethel, LA,
Cemetery. Sur ors ‐
clude his children, Tonya Jackson (Ronald), Ernest Sr., Derrick, and Cantrice Montgomery, Lechawn Montgomery-Weather‐spoon (James) Creight Lael, and Ahmad Mont‐gomery, Tanzel Mont‐gomery-Hamilton (Otis) Janero James, and Matthew Brown; a host of grandchildren, greatgrandchildren other rela‐tives, and friends. Pre‐ceded in death by his wife Janice Montgomery; daughter Tracy Mont‐gomery; and parents, Annie and Jeannie Mont‐gomery.
Schilleci, Patricia La Marca
Patricia La Marca
Schilleci (October 14, 1938March 4, 2025) With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of Patricia Schilleci, abeloved wife, mother, grandmother, educator, and friend. Patricia was born on October 14, 1938, in Independence, Louisiana, and passed away peacefullyonMarch 4, 2025—Mardi Gras Day—a fitting farewell for awoman whose vibrant spirit and love of tradition reflected the heart of her Louisiana roots. She was 86 yrs old.
Adevoted Catholic Patricia was the daughter of the late Pascal and Katherine LaMarca. She is survived by her high school sweetheart, Rosario JSchilleci (RJ) whom she was married to for 67 yrs. Her children, Keith Schilleci, Karen Oltman (Jeff), and Kim Lee (Phillip). Grandmother of Garrett Lee (Chelsea), Tanner Lee (Morgan), Marshall Lee (Sabrina), Hailey Oltman, Hunter Oltman (Rebecca).
Patricia was agraduate of Sacred Heart Academy She was apassionate educator, serving as agrammar school teacher for 33 years at St Dominic Patricia will be remembered for her kind heart. May she rest in eternal with her Heavenl
mar school teacherfor 33 years at St Dominic. Patricia will be remembered for herkind heart. May she rest in eternal peace with her Heavenly Father. There arenoservices scheduled at thistime
Talkington, Dorothy Broussard 'Dot'
02/25/1927 -03/03/2025 Full obituaryand service information visit
Watkins Jr., Charlie Wesley
Enteredinto eternal rest on February21, 2025 at the age of 68. Survived by his sister, Danell Watkins(Noblesville, IN); brothers. Gable M. Watkins (Stockbridge,GA) and Stephen L. Watkins, (NewCaney, TX). Funeral service Saturday, March 8, 2025 11:00 am, Hall's Celebration Center, 9348 Scenic Highway, Baton Rouge, LA. Service entrustedtoHall Davis and Son. www.halldavisandson.com
Williams, Margaret Randolph 'Peggy'
Margaret (Peggy) RandolphWilliams, 78, anative of Colfax, Louisiana and a resident of New Roads, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 6, 2025. She is survived by two daughters, Paula Lambert and husband Myron, and JudithReedyand husband Dennis; four grandchildren, Maggie, Reed, and Rory Lambert and Tim Reedy; along with her brother-inlaw, Tom Vogel, beloved nieces and cousins. She was preceded in deathby her husband,Don Williams, parentsJohn and Mildred Randolph, sister, Judy RandolphVogel, and brother Baby Randolph. The family would like to givespecial thanks to Mr. John Wayne Jewell, the late Mr. Audley Smith, the staff of Baton Rouge General Hospital, Holly Court Assisted Living, Lakeview Manor Nursing Home, Pointe Coupee Homebound Health &Hospice, Mother Peggy Scott and thecongregation of St. Paul's/Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Acelebration of her life will be held on Friday, March 21, at 1:00 p.m. at The Julien Poydras Center, 500 West Main Street in New Roads. Memorial donations may be madetoCatholic of PointeCoupee at https:/ /catholicpc.com/memorial -donations.
OPINION
New DNC chair can win back red areas
mittee chair election.
Since they woke up on Nov 6, Democrats around the country have reflected on what went wrong to allow the election of a Republican trifecta. Many have blamed President Joe Biden’s late exit from the race, the “Joe Rogan Effect” or the campaign messaging that was unable to break through.
Similarly, we at the Young Democrats of Louisiana have had these same discussions, particularly through our strategic planning month of January Through these discussions, my take has become clear: Democrats have lost touch with the everyday Americans that have powered the party since President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Social Security and guided us through the depression and President Lyndon B. Johnson brought us Medicaid and Medicare and his Great Society
Indeed, we have been unclear in our focus on the kitchen table issues that affect everyday Americans. As the famed Louisiana Democrat James Carville once said, “It’s the economy stupid!
While Vice President Kamala Harris had plans that would help millions of Americans — from down payment assistance for first-time homeowners and expanding the child tax credit that brought 3 million children out of poverty in 2022 to capping the out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs at $2,000 a year and lowering taxes for families — this was not the message that voters heard and felt.
They instead saw a party of Ivy League elite more focused on conceptual threats to democracy than helping them afford milk and eggs. As the party moves forward, that is the narrative we must change, and nowhere is there a better opportunity to recenter our message than through the Democratic National Com-
With that in mind, the Young Democrats of Louisiana found that no candidate for DNC chair was as focused on lowering costs and improving the lives of everyday Americans than current Minnesota Democratic-FarmerLabor Chair Ken Martin.
Martin served in the role since 2011, and in that time completely helped to turn the DFL around. When his term began, the party was in turmoil.
Since then, Martin’s Minnesota DFL has gone 25-0 in statewide elections. Why? Because it has relentlessly made clear its commitment to a better Minnesota. He has cultivated a party that does not just knock on your door every four years and take your vote for granted. Instead they earn it through year-round organizing and results.
Since 2011, Minnesota has expanded Medicaid resulting in over 200,000 people gaining insurance, expanded paid leave for new parents and enacted uni-
NOAA cuts could raise danger of severe weather
Extreme weather is increasing. For the naysayers, just look at recent experience. Depending on where you were, between 8 and 12 inches of snow fell in New Orleans on Jan. 22. The last time we had 8 inches of snow in New Orleans was 130 years ago on Feb. 14, 1895. Wildfires are burning in South Carolina and North Carolina right now, but nothing like what happened in Los Angeles. Just a couple of weeks before New Orleans had snow, 40,000 acres burned in parts of L.A. To put that into perspective, that’s about one quarter of New Orleans gone In Los Angeles, over 15,000 buildings and homes went up in smoke. At least 29 people lost their lives. An extreme drought, dead vegetation and Santa Ana winds gusting to 100 miles-perhour were the perfect setup for the inferno.
Here in New Orleans, we know the impacts of wildfires. Remember the record heat of 2023? There were 17 100-degree days at the airport. We hit an all-time record high of 105. At one point we were 30 inches of rain below average for the year Wildfires were burning.
On Oct. 22, 2023, the skies of New Orleans filled with smoke I was on the air that night and warned of a major fog event. Dense fog was forecast. The combination of smoke and fog made for a “super fog” event. The morning of Oct. 23, there was a 168-vehicle pileup on Interstate 55. Seven people died. Tornadoes. We’ve had a major wake up call. For the first time ever an EF-3 tornado hit New Orleans in New Orleans East on Feb. 7, 2017 The large wedge tornado was on the ground for 10 miles and destroyed 638 homes and 40 businesses. Thankfully no one died, because there were plenty of warnings. On March 22, 2022, an even stronger tornado hit New Orleans. The large wedge tornado slammed into Arabi with 160 mph winds A four-block area was hardest hit. A young man died trying to save his dog. A young woman died a few days later Her home was moved off its foundation On Dec. 14 that same year, an EF-2 hit Montz and Edgard, killing an elderly woman. That same tornado crossed
the Bonnet Carre Spillway Thankfully no cars flew into the lake.
We know hurricanes all too well here We’ve had devastating hurricanes like Betsy, Camille and Katrina, but things are changing.
We see strong hurricanes more often. Before 2020 the Louisiana coast was hit by one Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. That was the Last Island Hurricane of 1856. Hurricane Laura hit near Cameron with 150 mph winds Aug. 27, 2020. One year later, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon at 11:56 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, with 150 mph winds. So, we had two Category 4 hurricanes with 150 mph winds within two years and the previous Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds was 164 years earlier!
Hurricanes are now intensifying rapidly That means they are going through a 35 mph wind-speed increase within 24 hours.
Harvey in 2017 went from depression to landfalling hurricane within two and a half days. Michael in 2018 went from depression to landfalling Category 5 hurricane in three and a half days. Two days and two hours after Laura entered the Gulf, it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
Hurricanes do not just impact the coast. They impact areas far inland.
I can testify to the fact that the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service, both part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, give lifesaving information during these events. Their whole purpose is to save lives. They give specific information on what areas are at risk for severe storms, floods, drought, fire, snow, wind, hail and tornadoes
I understand the need to cut waste and balance the budget, but leave the chainsaw at home for when you have a tornado, flood or hurricane. Do you want timely warnings? Cuts to NOAA and ultimately the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service must be made with the safety of all people in mind.
“Game of Thrones” made the expression “Winter is coming” famous. Here’s a dose of reality Hurricane season is coming.
Meteorologist Margaret Orr retired in 2024 after 45 years at WDSU in New Orleans
versal free school lunches so no child goes hungry
Moreover, Martin understands what we at YDLA do, too: The Democratic Party is not built for the New York City and Los Angeles elite; it’s built for everyone in between Shreveport and New Orleans, for those in both East Baton Rouge and Evangeline
He has repeatedly argued for a “57 state” strategy, committing to building the party in every state and territory He said he will work to increase funding for state parties through the State Partnership Program and the Red State Fund, and we’ve seen him carrying out this action before. As president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, Martin has campaigned in 50 states and two U.S. territories during the recent election cycles.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the major candidates for DNC chair at the Young Democrats Winter Meeting. I watched multiple candidate
panels and got to speak with each one individually and was impressed with all of them. It’s true Ben Wikler has done amazing things in Wisconsin, and I’m grateful for Gov Martin O’Malley’s service to Maryland and the Social Security Administration. When I spoke to Martin, it felt different. He lit up when I mentioned my hometown of Shreveport — he launched into an extensive plan on how we can win back rural and red communities, before finishing with admiration for Gov John Bel Edwards and the impressive work he’d done Martin gets states like Louisiana people from states like Louisiana and how to win in Louisiana Martin can help us to win back the everyday Americans that have powered our nation to become the greatest country in the world.
Colin Carter is the national chair for Young Democrats of Louisiana.
Decreases to USAID have implications for world, La.
Sweeping changes to U.S. foreign aid under the second Trump administration are reshaping America’s role in global health, affecting efforts to fight disease, grow the economy and stabilize key regions vital to U.S. interests.
Recent actions marked a stunning escalation with the decision of the Trump administration to terminate nearly 10,000 USAID awards.
For decades, USAID has played a crucial role in fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria while improving maternal and child health and food security Programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President’s Malaria Initiative and nutrition initiatives have saved millions of lives and strengthened health systems worldwide. These abrupt cuts create dangerous gaps in health systems, weakening U.S. preparedness against global health threats and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks reaching American communities and trade partners.
The consequences extend far beyond international aid. USAID’s collapse disrupts key economic sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and health innovation, with Louisiana’s agricultural industry already feeling the effects. Louisiana rice farmers, who relied on USAID’s Food for Peace program, now face financial uncertainty and potential job losses. In 2024 alone, USAID purchased over $126 million worth of U.S. rice. As The Advocate |
The Times-Picayune recently reported, farmers are bracing for lost revenue as USAID, a major buyer of American agricultural exports, is dismantled.
Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine — the oldest school of public health in the U.S. — has played a critical role in strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries by supporting schools of public health, training professionals and generating evidence to inform health policy
However, recent terminations of USAID-supported projects now threaten Tulane’s ability to sustain these partnerships, cutting off critical training programs, weakening disease surveillance efforts and disrupting collaboration with global health partners.
Tulane’s global health research has been used to strengthen local public health responses. For example, Tulane’s spatial analyses expertise — developed through work in Africa — was applied in New Orleans during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify underserved areas for testing, leading to targeted interventions that improved access to care.
This shift raises broader concerns about the future of public health leadership as USAID funding cuts jeopardize ongoing efforts to maintain progress in improving global health security and supporting recipient countries to become more self-sufficient. The next generation of public health professionals must be prepared to navigate a system that depends less on U.S. government funding and more on regional leadership, public-private partnerships and alternative financing models.
As the U.S. shifts its foreign assistance approach, other
global health partners are attempting to fill gaps. However taken together they are unlikely to fully replace the resources and technical assistance the U.S. has historically provided. With USAID’s cuts taking effect, the consequences are already unfolding. The key question now is: What comes next for U.S. foreign aid and its role in global health? U.S. global health leadership has withstood past funding challenges and political shifts, and continuing this leadership is in our national interest. Strategic investment in global health not only saves lives abroad but also strengthens economic opportunities for American farmers and businesses, ensures stability in key regions and reduces the spread of infectious diseases that can impact U.S. citizens.
Now is the time to reinforce — not abandon — our role in global health. Smart investments in foreign assistance protect American economic interests, prevent costly global health crises and ensure that the U.S. remains the leader — not the follower — on the world stage.
The world is watching how the U.S. responds to these challenges. New Orleans has a long and distinguished history of building capacity in the health sector of low- and middle-income countries, driving innovation, collaboration and training future professionals. To uphold this legacy, Congress must act now — sustaining investment, strengthening partnerships and equipping the next generation of health professionals to tackle future challenges.
David R. Hotchkiss is a health economist and Mai P. Do is a physician and health researcher at Tulane University’s Celia Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
COLUMNIST
Mai P Do
COMMENTARY
ROOM FOR DEBATE FEDERAL CUTS
As the effect of President Donald Trump’s cuts to government programs and the federal workforce begin to be felt across the country, some wonder whether support for his policies will start to wane.At some recent town halls, Republican lawmakers have faced fierce questioning from constituents about the cuts. Still, the president retains strong support among a large swath of the country, particularly young men.Will the president be able to retain his popularity even amid economic uncertainty or will opposition grow if his policies don’t produce results quickly? Here are two perspectives:
MARK SCHIEFELBEIN
Why Gen Z men love Trump’s running riot
Many Americans are disturbed by President Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution and nuking of the federal government. But one group seems to love what Trump is doing: young men. New survey data show that support for Trump among this demographic has surged since the election.
In November men ages 18 to 29 voted for Trump by a 14-point margin (56% to 42%). It was the first time a GOP presidential candidate claimed an outright majority of the group since 1988 (when George H.W Bush swept most age and gender combinations in a landslide victory, unlike Trump’s slim popular-vote win).
Democrats have conducted many postmortems since November examining how they could reclaim the Gen Z “bro vote.” But they haven’t stemmed the losses so far In a recent YouGov survey, young men gave Trump a “net favorability” rating (the share of who approve of Trump’s performance as president minus those who don’t) of +20 The numbers are noisy week to week, because this is a small subset of the overall population. But even monthly trends with larger sample sizes show Trump comfortably above water among young men since the election.
Older men like Trump on net, too, though young men’s approval has been stronger on average over the past few months.
Young men have been up for grabs politically for years, argues Richard B Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men. Endless white papers and activist groups have tackled the challenges facing girls and women. Social movements have championed feminist causes (the Women’s March, #MeToo). Meanwhile the economic, social and psychological problems affecting men have been largely neglected — sometimes even mocked — by progressives.
“A lot of young men had the sense that the Democrats didn’t see them as having problems,” Reeves said. “They saw them as being the problem.”
Yet in many ways, men are faring worse than their female peers. Young men have lower academic achievement. They’re more likely to still live with their parents. They suffer more deaths caused by opioid overdoses and suicide. Younger White men from low-income households in particular
are worse off than their fathers on most economic and social measures.
Smartphones, which enable consumers to sort into their own polarized echo chambers, might help explain why a political gender divide appears to be emerging among youths globally, says scholar Alice Evans. She notes that young women worldwide have also become much more progressive over time, which has in turn fed a backlash that alt-right podcasters and influencers tap into.
What about Trump’s policy choices since coming into office?
Some seem tailored to appeal to stereotypical right-wing bros, such as his war on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The administration has also advocated on behalf of self-proclaimed “misogynist” influencer Andrew Tate, who faces criminal charges in Romania related to human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering.
On other Trump moves, the verdict is still out. The most recent monthly YouGov data show a dip in young men’s net approval for the president, though it’s still positive. A separate Post-Ipsos survey instead finds young men are roughly neutral on the president now On some level, the very things that disturb fussy establishment pundits like me Trump’s strongman tendencies; his propensity to arbitrarily fire people and break stuff without regard to consequences might appeal most to young male populists frustrated by a system they believe has abandoned them These actions are certainly consistent with the “high-energy, edgy, almost transgressive” rhetoric that won young male voters over in November Reeves surmises. On the other hand, outcomes presumably matter, regardless of age and gender If Trump’s agenda results in, say, more economic stress (higher prices, fewer jobs) and less access to mental health or substanceabuse care — both outcomes that seem likely young men will suffer too. Maybe their affection for Trump will curdle. Ultimately, the key to winning young men back — whether you’re a politician, concerned parent or potential partner — is to stop “pathologizing” them Reeves admonishes. Instead, start listening.
Email Catherine Rampell at crampell@ washpost.cotam. She is on X, @ crampell.
When policy proposals run into harsh realities
“Trump’s honeymoon is over,” headlines the Washington Post. “At Testy Town Halls, Republicans Take Heat for Trump’s Bold Moves,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Certainly, the president’s honeymoon is not over with his loyal supporters; most Republican lawmakers remain so intimidated that they have approved all of his cabinet choices, including those who are undeniably unqualified. But there are small signs of a gathering backlash against the new president. In five recent national polls, his approval rating stayed stuck between 44% and 47% — not a majority in any of them. And as the news site Puck reports, “Republican House members scattered home to their districts and faced constituents’ uncorked fury over the efforts of Elon Musk and Donald Trump to seize the power of the purse from Congress.”
As result, a few GOP dissenters are starting to emerge. “It requires speaking out. It requires saying, ‘That violates the law That violates the authorities of the executive,’” asserted Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Trump’s looming problems are rooted in this plain fact: He has sold two myths to the American people — told two lies so often that his fervent acolytes have embraced them. But those myths are now running into reality
The first myth is summed up in the banners that appeared at his campaign rallies: “Trump Will Fix It.” Indeed, he often promised that the country’s problems were so simple that he’d start improving things on “day one.” But that’s a totally impossible standard, especially regarding the issues that voters care most about: inflation and the cost of gas and groceries.
Since the new political season premiered last month, Trump has successfully launched his reality TV series, “The President.” In various episodes, he’s driven around the Daytona racetrack waved at the Super Bowl and promoted a fake magazine cover that features him wearing a crown. Cameras have documented his armed agents rounding up undocumented immigrants. “The second Trump administration is using imagery to project an air of authority and invincibility,” wrote The New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik.
Here’s the problem: This is all a show a
performance. Despite his promises to fix it, Trump hasn’t done anything about inflation because he can’t. No president has any real power to affect prices, as Joe Biden discovered painfully In fact, inflation rose by half a point in January Gasoline has dropped from its peak, but it remains well over $3 a gallon Don’t even mention eggs, now averaging almost $5 a dozen And Trump’s bluster about imposing tariffs on imported goods has only aggravated consumer anxiety No wonder 62% of voters told CNN that Trump was not doing enough to curb inflation, about the same number that called inflation a “very big problem” in a new Pew poll.
“For many Americans,” summarized Barron’s, “the Trump administration’s recent policy changes have heightened uncertainties about the economic outlook.” The second myth Trump keeps repeating is that government programs only benefit other people — mainly the undeserving poor, like the “welfare queens” demonized by Ronald Reagan Accordingly, billions of dollars in “waste, fraud and abuse” could be slashed from the federal budget without hurting hard-working, tax-paying Trump voters. But the truth is that every American community, every family, is affected by government programs all the time. Veterans benefits and farm supports, subsidies for mass transit and school lunches, inspectors who protect wetlands and wildlife, regulators who enforce rules promoting clean water and safe workplaces and effective drugs — the list is endless. If Republicans adopt a budget mandating reductions in programs like Medicaid and food stamps to finance tax breaks for the rich, Trump’s political problems will only get worse. As one Republican operative told Puck, Trump’s slash-and-burn crusade, spearheaded by his billionaire buddy Elon Musk, has “energized Republicans, but it also woke Democrats up when they were quite depressed.” Trump has always been a brilliant TV performer, a “ratings magnet,” as he likes to boast. But as president, he has to produce tangible results, not just transitory reactions. And when the myths he spreads encounter reality, reality will always prevail.
Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@ gmail.com.
Catherine Rampell
Steve Roberts
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By
Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers recently outside of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington.
‘Firestarter’ Ballard takes final bow in the PMAC
BY SCOTT RABALAIS
Staff writer
On the LSU gymnastics team they’re called “firestarters,” those gymnasts who usually lead off an event and try to set a tone with their energy, their emotion and, of course, their score.
No one on the Tigers’ roster strikes a match better than Sierra Ballard
While the spotlight on LSU’s roster typically falls on high-profile all-arounders like NCAA champion Haleigh Bryant, 2024 Olympian Aleah Finnegan and freshman sensation Kailin Chio, specialists like Ballard fill a vital role. She does two events balance beam and floor — trying to post a big score or, frequently, absorbing a lower score from judges who are saving the potentially higher marks for the rest of the lineup.
“She’s so passionate and full of life,” said LSU coach Jay Clark, who also refers to Ballard as the team’s “cruise director” because she steers the energy of the entire team “She’s so desirous of doing the right thing. It’s rare to be around.”
Rarer all the time.
Friday night’s meet in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center between No 2-ranked LSU and No 10 Georgia will be the final home appearance for Ballard and nine other LSU seniors. For someone like the fifth-year Tiger from Mandeville, keeping the emotions of the moment in check will be a tough task.
“I’m trying to hold it together,” Ballard said. “The mindset is the same. You approach it as every other week.
“When I’m done, I’ll let the tears fall.”
First vault is set for 7:30 p.m. Because of the SEC women’s basketball tournament, all SEC meets Friday are being shown on a streaming basis only on SECNetwork+.
One of only two Louisianians on LSU’s roster — freshman Victoria Roberts of Belle Chasse is the other Ballard was one of several Tigers like Bryant and Olivia Dunne who decided to return for a fifth season in 2025.
SPORTS
Inside the process that ‘unlocked’ LSU guard Williams’ game
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Maybe three or four times a month, Derrick Parker will start his car at 2 a.m. A long, dark drive awaits the Shreveport-based basketball trainer on these nights, the ones in which he finds himself racing the sunrise to Baton Rouge.
There, Mikaylah Williams waits for him. She wants to squeeze in an early-morning workout, and she wants the trainers who know her best to run her through it. These days, those requests pull Parker and his colleague Tyrone Hamilton out of bed and onto Interstate 49, the artery that connects Williams to her Bossier City roots.
“It’s constant,” Parker said. “It never stops.”
ä See LSU, page 3C
Evans’ focus on pitching transformed his career
LSU reliever made ‘immediate jump’ in performance after decision to stop hitting
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
Casan Evans had a decision to make.
X High in Houston, Evans arrived at LSU as a two-way player and spent the first few weeks in the fall as a hitter and a pitcher Then, he made a choice. He’d be a pitcher only Hitting would go to the wayside.
As an incoming freshman from St. Pius
“I was hitting in the games and everything, and I just saw that pitching was taking off,” Evans said. “So I was like, might as well just focus in on this and get prepared for the season with one thing, rather than do both.”
Evans’ decision has already paid off.
Through three weekends, he’s been LSU’s best relief pitcher. He’s surrendered three hits and no runs in nine innings while striking out over half of the
batters he’s faced. He also has two saves and was named the Co-SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday
He’ll spearhead the Tigers’ bullpen as it returns home for this weekend’s threegame series with North Alabama beginning on Friday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+)
“Similarly to Paul Skenes or to (Gavin) Guidry, by only focusing on pitching, both those guys made real positive jumps,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said before the preseason started. “And that happened this fall (with Evans).
“There was an immediate jump.”
ä See PITCHING, page 3C
ä See BALLARD, page 5C
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU gymnast Sierra Ballard performs a dance during her routine on the floor exercise on Feb 28 at the Raising Cane’s River Center
LSU hiring Kyle Williams as DL coach
BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer
LSU has targeted Kyle Williams to be its next defensive line coach, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told The Advocate.
A deal had not been finalized as of Thursday afternoon sources said, but the expectation was Williams would be hired. LSU begins spring practice Saturday Williams, a Ruston native, will coach LSU’s defensive tackles, and Kevin Peoples will continue to coach the defensive ends. Williams has never coached at the college level.
Williams played at LSU from 2002-05, helping win the 2003 national championship. He appeared in 46 games and started 33 times at defensive tackle. Williams was a two-time All-SEC selection and an All-American as a senior After his LSU career, Williams played for 13 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He was a six-time Pro Bowler who finished his career with 48 1/2 sacks and 103 tackles for loss.
Williams spent the past five years as the defensive coordinator at Ruston High, his alma mater before stepping down in January. Ruston held opponents to 15.2 points per game on the way to winning the 2023 state championship
LSU had to find a defensive line coach after Bo Davis left after one season for the same job with the New Orleans Saints. Davis was set to make $1.35 million this year according to his contract.
LSU considered multiple candidates. Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman turned down the job, according to The Athletic. Chatman had worked as an LSU defensive analyst twice and served as interim defensive line coach during spring practice in 2023. Over the past decade, LSU has gone through a high rate of turnover with its defensive line coaches. It will now have a new coach at the position for the sixth
straight season. In four years at LSU, head coach Brian Kelly has never had the same defensive line coach for two consecutive years.
LSU thought it found stability when it hired Davis, but it had to search for a defensive line coach again when he left for the Saints.
In Williams, the Tigers may have another former player who can
provide continuity for the first time in years.
Williams will inherit a young group of defensive tackles headlined by sophomores Ahmad Breaux and Dominick McKinley
LSU also has sixth-year senior Jacobian Guillory, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, redshirt junior Shone Washington and five
new underclassmen. Williams coached Breaux at Ruston High.
As LSU tries to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time under Kelly next season, Williams will have to develop them.
For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter
Pelicans fall apart in third quarter, lose to Rockets
BY ROD WALKER Staff writer
The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t have Zion Williamson the first two times they played the Houston Rockets this season. They had Williamson this time and it still didn’t matter Williamson had an off night and the Pelicans had an off third quarter, all leading to a 109-97 loss to the Rockets Thursday night in Smoothie King Center Trey Murphy was one of the lone bright spots for the Pelicans, finishing with 26 points and five rebounds. It wasn’t nearly enough in a game that swung when the Pelicans collapsed in the second half. The Pelicans got outscored 33-15 in the third quarter The 15 points tied for the fewest the Pels have scored in a third quarter all season. Williamson finished with 20 points but made just 5 of 15 shots from the floor He also had 10 rebounds and three assists The Pelicans (17-46) dropped to 0-3 against the Rockets this season. The two teams play for the final time Saturday in Houston’s Toyota Center The Pelicans’ two December losses to the Rockets were by double digits (20 points and 17 points). Houston’s Jalen Green scored 34 points in the first meeting and 30 in the second, combing to make 10 of 21 3-pointers in those two games.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III grabs a rebound from Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson on Thursay at the Smoothie King Center
“We’ve got to get to him,” Willie Green said before Thursday’s game. “If you allow him to play with a lack of physicality (on him), he is going to score in bunches. We haven’t done a great job of guarding him the last couple times we’ve played him, so tonight it’ll definitely be an emphasis on making sure we’re physical with him and making him take tough shots. And not allowing him to come down in transition and tee up 3’s on us It’s going to be a collective effort.” Jalen Green was held to just three points in the first half and
finished with just nine points this time around. His teammates more than picked up the slack though. The Pelicans led 59-56 at halftime, thanks in part to Murphy scoring 21 points through the first two quarters. The Pelicans led by as many as 11 in the first half after going on an 8-0 run. Kelly Olynyk picked up two quick fouls in the opening minute of the second half (his fourth of the game) and had to sit.
The Pels unraveled in the quarter and trailed 89-74 heading into the fourth quarter The Rockets (38-25) snapped an 8-game road losing streak. Their last road win before Thursday came on Jan. 28 against the Atlanta Hawks. CJ McCollum finished with 13 points and Yves Missi scored 10. Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.
LSU RHP Guidry likely out vs. North Alabama
LSU junior right-handed pitcher Gavin Guidry will “probably” be unavailable to pitch this weekend, coach Jay Johnson said Wednesday
Guidry has been dealing with a mid-body injury that has kept him out the past two weekends. He has not to pitched yet this season.
“We’ve made some good strides,” Johnson said, “but what I don’t want to do is have a setback that’s going to lengthen getting him out there.”
Johnson hopes Guidry can return to the mound next week when LSU opens Southeastern Conference play with Missouri at Alex Box Stadium. The injury he’s been dealing with is not arm related, but Johnson said last week that he thought Guidry would be back pitching this week.
Injury will keep LSU’s Dunne out of meet
Olivia Dunne said a knee injury will keep her from competing Friday in her final home gymnastics meet as an LSU Tiger.
The fifth-year senior posted on Instagram on Thursday night that she has a fractured kneecap and will definitely again be out of action as the No. 2-ranked Tigers host No. 10 Georgia at 7:30 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
“Hi friends! Unfortunately I’ve been dealing with an avulsion fracture of my patella and will not be able to compete on senior night,” Dunne posted.
One of 10 LSU seniors, Dunne last competed Jan. 24 on floor in the Tigers’ meet at Arkansas. She has performed a total of seven routines this season.
Auburn fires coach
Harris after early SEC exit AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn fired women’s basketball coach Johnnie Harris on Thursday one day after the Tigers lost to Florida 60-50 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Harris had gone 58-63 in four seasons. Auburn earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 last season, but the Tigers followed that up by going 12-18 overall and 3-13 in SEC competition this year
Auburn’s SEC Tournament defeat marked its seventh consecutive loss. The Tigers finished the regular season in a four-way tie for last place in the SEC with Missouri, Texas A&M and Arkansas. She went 10-18 her debut season at Auburn, which had gone 5-19 the year before her arrival.
Los Angeles release LB Bosa after 9 seasons
The Los Angeles Chargers released Joey Bosa on Wednesday night, ending the linebacker’s nine-season tenure with the franchise.
The move, which came less than a week before the start of the new league year, was expected due to Bosa’s large salary cap number and injury history. Bosa had a cap number of $36.47 million for the 2025 season, but the Chargers will save $25.36 million in cap space. Bosa was the third overall pick by the Chargers in the 2016 NFL draft and was the last player on the roster from when the team played in San Diego.
He signed a five-year extension worth $135 million in 2020 that made him the league’s highestpaid defensive player at the time.
McNeese State fires women’s coach Kennedy
McNeese State athletic director Heath Schroyer announced Thursday that the university will not renew the contract of women’s basketball coach Lynn Kennedy Kennedy, whose team finished 10-21 and 5-15 in the Southland Conference this season, just completed the fourth season.
“I really appreciate coach Kennedy’s efforts in leading our women’s basketball program over the last four years. He’s a good man and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward,” Schroyer said. A search for the next head coach will begin immediately Kennedy signed a three-year deal after coming from Portland State on March 30, 2021. McNeese hosts the SLC tournament, which starts for the women on Monday
PHOTO
LSU defensive tackle Kyle Williams is pumped up after his tackle behind the line in their game with the Arkansas Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium on Nov. 25, 2005. LSU went on to win 19-17 and clinch the SEC West.
STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD
Tigers not slowing down ahead of weekend series
BY JIM KLEINPETER
Contributing writer
The No. 4 LSU softball team is picking up steam with conference play around the corner Only the weather seems to be slowing the Tigers down.
The schedule for this weekend’s LSU Round Robin has been adjusted for expected rain Saturday
The Tigers will play a doubleheader with South Alabama Friday at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with a single game against Minnesota Saturday at 6 p.m. and the Gophers again Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The Tigers (19-1) have averaged 8.2 runs and 9.6 hits per game, reaching double figures in hits seven times and getting production up and down the lineup.
Third baseman and leadoff hitter Danieca Coffey leads the team and is fourth in the SEC with a .527 batting average. Her .649 on base percentage has helped her score a team-best 23 runs. She’s also third in RBIs with 20. Freshman first baseman
PITCHING
Continued from page 1C
Evans shifting his focus to the mound was not something anyone forced him to do. It was a decision he made for himself.
Johnson was prepared to let him continue to hit and pitch. All he told Evans was that he needed to choose one path by his junior year to help him prepare for the MLB Draft.
But Evans knew he’d reap more of the benefits if he decided to focus on one side of the ball sooner An injury in high school helped him realize the perks of being a pitcher
“That happening made me realize that doing one thing is a lot easier than doing both,” Evans said.
Johnson knew he was athletic enough to be a positional player, but he had a feeling his pitchingcareerwouldtakeoff once he stuck to just that
“You can see how good he is onamound,”Johnsonsaidlast
Thursday “And when you’re that good on a mound, a coach is usually going to let you do whatever you want to do.”
By just pitching, Evans saw his velocity jump up to 99 mph in the fall. His fastball has mostly been in mid 90s since the start of the season, but it reached 98 mph on opening day
He’s paired that improved velocity with a slider and a changeup. The slider, in particular, has been a point of emphasis. It was a pitch he had never thrown until he arrived at LSU. Instead, he had a curveball in high school.
ä South Alabama at LSU
4 P.M.FRIDAy,SECN+
Tori Edwards slugged two homers in Wednesday’s win against UL-Monroe. She’s batting .458 with seven homers and 32 RBIs, leading the team in both categories.
“We’re growing together,”
Edwards said after her two three-run homers vs. ULM.
“I love how our team is getting it done from bunts, to doubles to homers and stealing bases. I love how versatile our team is and how everyone plays a part.”
The Tigers have three other starters batting above .400: second baseman Sierra Daniel (.481), catcher Maci Bergeron (.453) and left fielder Jadyn Laneaux (.425). Sydney Berzon continues to lead the pitchers with a 7-0 record and a 1.02 earned run average.
Although South Alabama and Minnesota aren’t ranked, both have strong traditions in the sport
“We have two tough opponents,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “What I said to
ON DECK
WHO: North Alabama (3-8) at LSU (13-1) WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday WHERE: Alex Box Stadium
RANKINGS: LSU is No. 1 by D1Baseball; North Alabama is not ranked
PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU — LHP Kade Anderson (2-0, 2.30 ERA); North Alabama — RHP Brycen Parrish (0-3, 5.82 ERA) PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate.com/lsu ON X (FORMERLY TWITTER): @KokiRiley
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: LSU turns to Anderson after he struck out 10 batters in 51/3 innings last weekend against Kansas State.The lefty was throwing a shutout until the sixth inning when he surrendered a pair of solo home runs. North Alabama enters this weekend’s series after losing to Belmont on Tuesday. Koki Riley
the team post game (Wednesday) ‘maybe they don’t have an SEC patch on their shoulders, but those two are really good teams, solid and historically good that will both finish in the top of their leagues.’ We needed a solid day of prep and play our best game all weekend long.”
South Alabama (11-10) has lost four of its last five games and is led at the plate by Sidney Lee with a 364 average while first baseman
Gabby Stagner is batting .357 with team bests of eight home runs and 23 RBIs.
Minnesota (9-10), made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances from 2013-23 and beat LSU in a 2019 super regional to reach the Women’s College World Series. The Jaguars’ top pitcher is Ryley Harrison with a 3-3 record and 3.98 ERA.
Gophers right fielder Nani Valencia is batting .419 with four home runs and nine RBIs while catcher Taylor Krapf is hitting .304 with seven homers and 16 RBIs.
Sydney Schwartz is tops in the circle with a 2-6 record and a 3.05 ERA.
anson and fellow freshman right-hander Mavrick Rizy before games has helped him learn how to throw the pitch.
“We’ve been working on it pretty much all fall, and kind of toning it in right now,” Evans said. “So just being able to throw that for a lot more strikes, and we’re going to try and throw it harder later in the season.”
Evans’ cue to throw it effectively is to release it out in front and flick his wrist at the end of his delivery That’s enabled him to throw the pitch for more strikes while generating greater velocity and later break.
Anytime he shapes the pitch early in his release — with the ball behind his head — it pops out of his hand and often winds up becoming a ball.
“Or if it was a strike, the hitters would be able to see it early,” Evans said.
Evans may have decided to stop hitting, but he still misses stepping into the batter’s box It was something he’d been doing for his entire life.
And it wasn’t like he was a bad positional player. He was the No. 19 shortstop in the nation coming out of high school, according to Perfect Game.
LSU
Continued from page 1C
But don’t get it twisted: Parker is glad to take on those difficult drives and facilitate that extra work. Especially since it’s all starting to pay off.
The LSU women’s basketball team will likely soon host NCAA Tournament games again, regardless of what happens after its Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (SEC Network). The No. 3-seeded Tigers almost certainly wouldn’t be in that position had Williams not worked to elevate her game between her freshman and sophomore seasons.
Last year the prized recruit torched most of LSU’s nonconference competition. Then her scoring ebbed and flowed through SEC play In those games, she notched at least 20 points as many times (three) as she chipped in fewer than five.
Now Williams is a more consistent force. Coach Kim Mulkey has tossed her the keys to LSU’s offense in tight games, and the star sophomore has driven the Tigers to wins. She improvised a freethrow line jumper that forced overtime against Stanford. She devised a 3-pointer that sealed a victory over Oklahoma. Then she either scored or assisted on more than half of the second-half field goals LSU converted to beat Kentucky, orchestrating an important come-frombehind road win.
On Tuesday, the league revealed that its coaches had voted Williams onto the All-SEC first team. That recognition is a nod to her maturation. In the offseason, she slowed down the game and accelerated her development, unlocking the skills she needs to fill all four positions the Tigers have asked her to play this season, while also transforming into a more efficient scorer Williams has shot 47% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc since January Those rates are much higher than they were last year, when she converted 43% of her field goals and just 29% of her 3-pointers. Thanks to those improvements, she’s elevated her scoring average from 12.1 points per game to 18.4.
tance bands, held it above her head and jumped. A foot to her left, a trainer named Donny Beacham held the other end tight, creating tension designed to pull his trainee off balance. It was July Outside the gym, the Dallas, Texas heat hit 95 degrees.
Inside, a talent scout named Michael Simmons videoed this odd-looking exercise, capturing the wince that crossed Williams’ face as she fought the resistance bands. They threw one of her jumps off kilter The next few were more vertical. What exactly was she doing?
“Focusing on balance,” Beacham said.
When Beacham first met Williams about three years ago, her shooting mechanics were already flawless. The work he’s since done with her, he said, was crafted to make sure she kept her form consistent and never lost her balance. This summer, he also used his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame to help her perfect the timing of her moves and the efficiency of her steps, ensuring she wouldn’t waste movement or misuse her dribbles.
“I’m really big on contact,” Beacham said, “so I’m gonna hit you. I’m gonna slap you when you’re dribbling, and when you go into your jumper, none of what I did before your jumper should affect you.”
Not little elbow jabs or small two-hand pushes, the contact Beacham initiated against Williams over the summer at North Dallas High School to test her balance. Her challenge was to create space anyway, using quick inside-out dribbles, crossovers and jab steps to wedge pockets of open floor between her and Beacham and Parker — her taller, longer defenders. Every move was quick and decisive
“When I got with her this summer,” Beacham said, “it was talking about the efficiency in her steps. So, when she takes a dribble, I want her to cover ground with her first step, move the defender with the first step. So, if you can move the defender with the first step, then it will allow you to get off a move, get off a shot in less dribbles.”
most of her life.”
Proximity to home was one of the reasons Williams signed with LSU. Her family lives only three or four hours north of Baton Rouge, and so do Parker and Hamilton, the two trainers who helped the Bossier City star harness her talent before she was a top recruit, then add elements to her game by the time her sophomore year began. Williams’ most recent work, Parker said, was as much mental as it was physical. She wanted to strengthen her emotional maturity, an improvement that arose from an added emphasis on conditioning. Her wind, Williams thought, needed to power her through the rigors of a 16-game SEC slate and the physical nature of a tougher conference. Only then could her training take hold, allowing her to play at her best on both offense and defense.
“I think she’s more confident,” Mulkey said on Sunday “What I feel bad about, as her coach, is I’m having to ask her to play multiple positions, and I just don’t think that that’s fair But she takes it like a trooper, and she does whatever you ask her to do. She’s just a baller.” When Mulkey wants to throw out a smaller lineup, she’ll slide Williams down near the block, stationing her next to Aneesah Morrow in the LSU frontcourt. The sophomore can play there because she’s comfortable in the post, and she can use those kinds of touches to create open shots either for herself or her teammates.
When the Tigers’ offense gets stuck, Williams can run the point. At that position, she’ll fire passes through tight windows. She’ll also dribble around screens, navigating different kinds of coverages in search of open space.
“I think those are all parts of our game that were there,” her father, Patrick Williams, said “They’re just being put on display a little bit more.”
That emphasis has translated to the court. If you look back at LSU’s Jan 30 win over Oklahoma, watch all 12 shots that Williams drained and count the dribbles she used to create those looks, you’ll end up with only around 25.
On Wednesday against Dallas Baptist, he threw the slider four times and got two swings and misses and a called strike, according to Baseball Savant.
Playing catch with righthanded junior Anthony Ey-
“It’s high school, so I could get away with the curveball,” Evans said. “It was just big and loopy. And I feel like if I threw that here, it would just get destroyed.” The fastball and changeup were already calling card pitches, but the new breaking ball has quickly become a strong offering for Evans.
“He’s such a good athlete. He’s such a good competitor,” Johnson said. “I mean, you could easily see how he could be an infielder and a position player, and he’s twitchy and athletic.”
But his rise on the mound may have not been possible if he hadn’t decided to cut bait on his career as a positional player
“It’s just made life so much easier, being able to focus on one thing and not trying to do both,” Evans said “... It’s hard to explain.”
In its first postseason action, LSU will need Williams to provide that scoring output — and likely more. Flau’jae Johnson (shin) will sit the SEC Tournament, a fact that diminishes the Tigers’ hopes of taking the crown but expands Williams’ chances of using the tools she added to her game over the offseason.
“We just wanted to make sure that she unlocked her whole game coming into this year,” Parker said. “So that was the main thing.”
Williams grabbed one end of yellow rubber resis-
That night, Williams scored 37 points a season-high.
And her shooting form on the seventh and final 3-pointer she nailed — a game-sealing pull-up off a screen set near the top of the key — looked just like it did on her first, a transition shot she stepped into on the left wing early in the second quarter
“The things Mikaylah is doing now,” Parker said, “are things that we’re accustomed to seeing her do
During the season, Williams can’t make too many trips to her hometown Bossier City But when she does, she, Parker and Hamilton have a process they follow In the morning, she’ll weight train and condition At night, she’ll focus on one particular skill — be it her handle, her shooting or her mid-post game Williams will resume that work when Parker reaches Baton Rouge safely after one of his overnight drives. Then she’ll hit the floor a smarter, stronger and quicker version of herself, unlocked through a summer of intentional training.
“To see it all kind of happening right now,” Parker said, “it’s beautiful to see.” Email Reed Darcey at reed.darcey@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter
THE VARSITY ZONE
They did it again
Madison Prep beats rival U-High for second time to reach state final
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
Coach Dwayne Hayes told his players that a second victory over top-seeded University High in just more than month was not guaranteed.
Fifth-seeded Madison Prep heeded the warning and won again.
The Chargers outscored the Cubs in every quarter to notch a 58-45 victory in a Division II select semifinal that opened Thursday’s action at the LHSAA girls basketball tournament.
“It’s always hard to beat a team twice You’ve got to get the players focused,” Hayes said. “All the players were committed and locked in. They wanted to win the ballgame.”
Guards Brooklyn Smith and Auri Ray led the Chargers (20-12), who advance to face second-seeded Vandebilt Catholic (18-7) in the title game set for 2 p.m. Saturday at the University Center in Hammond
Smith orchestrated a fastpaced offense and finished with a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Ray added 18 points and game-high seven steals. Kennedy Aldridge scored 18 points for U-High (22-4).
“Our goal was to stop their key players and not let them get to the basket,” Ray said.
“That’s where it starts with Auri on defense and Brooklyn on offense,” Hayes said.
The game started with a
predictable back-and-forth between longtime district rivals.
Madison Prep took an early 4-0 lead, but a basket and ensuing free throw by Taylor Lee gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead with 6:05 left in the first quarter
The Chargers scored the next five points for a 10-5 lead after a steal and layup by Ray U-High tied it at 10-10 on a 3-pointer from the left wing by Lee. Ray duplicated that feat and sent Madison Prep into the second quarter with a 13-10 lead.
U-High countered with a 6-0 run, culminated by an Olivia Jefferson layup that gave the Cubs a 16-13 lead.
Madison Prep then turned the tables, outscoring U-
High 17-4 the over the final
five minutes of the first half.
A Gabrielle Dotson basket sent the Chargers into the locker room with a 26-20 lead.
“We knew what we were getting,” University coach Bonita Johnson said. “We knew we had to play our best game to win. They (the Chargers) are a very athletic team and they feed off each other.”
It was a four-point game three minutes into the third quarter Again, the Chargers pushed the pace and the lead. A 3-pointer and another basket by Ray set the tone.
Madison Prep led 42-30 after three quarters and by as much as 16 in the final quarter
Gaddis leads Woodlawn by Karr
BY WILLIAM WEATHERS
Woodlawn junior forward Aaliyah Gaddis said she woke up Thursday with a case of the nerves in advance of the team’s Division I select state semifinal game. Gaddis was able to find a level of comfort that helped the Panthers reach the state championship game for the second straight year Gaddis, a Family Christian Academy transfer, scored 12 of her team-high 23 points in the first half, and a ferocious defensive effort helped No. 3 Woodlawn to a 61-43 semifinal win over No. 2 Karr at the University Center in Hammond.
“I knew I would get a feel for the game once I started running up and down the floor, said Gaddis, who made 9 of 12 shots, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots “My shots weren’t falling in warmups so I decided I was going to attack the paint.”
Woodlawn (26-6) extended its winning streak to 14 games and meets No. 4 Huntington, a 61-59 winner over reigning state champion and No. 1 John Curtis, at 4 p.m. Saturday in the championship game.
pressure, limiting its opposition to 32.1% (17 of 53) shooting while scoring 27 points off 31 turnovers.
“Defense,” said Woodlawn coach Alicia Dedeaux, whose team had 18 steals led by Price’s seven. “It’s something that I’ve personally stressed and have always stressed.”
Gaddis was a key reason Woodlawn outscored Karr 42-22 in the paint, using her quickness to get past Karr’s 6-4 center Sanaa Bean, a Texas-San Antonio signee, to drive to the basket.
Karr (26-5) was led by the game-high 25 points of Cass Antoine. The rest of the team combined for 18 points and 8 of 36 shooting.
Zachary comes up clutch late to edge Walker
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
Zachary coach Tami McClure smiled and stated the obvious to reporters after the game. “We’re not done yet,” McClure said.
Just as a important as preparation for another game was what third-seeded Broncos did Thursday night — edge No. 2 Walker 50-48 in the Division I nonselect semifinal between two Baton Rouge-area teams at the LHSAA girls basketball tournament in Hammond.
Zachary (25-4) outscored Walker 11-6 in the fourth quarter to secure the win in its first state tourney appearance in seven years. With the win, the Broncos advance to play No. 1 Parkway in the Division I select final set for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Universitiy Center
“I thought it was an amazing game by both teams,” McClure said. “This is the game people have been wanting to see all year
“These girls kept fighting. It didn’t matter whether we were down by four or up by four They persevered and got through what we needed to do.”
Ava Raymond led Zachary with 17 points, including a pivotal putback under the basket that led to a three-point play with 2:19 remaining.
Just as significant was the play of 6-foot-2 post player Cimiya Rideaux, who finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
UL signee Arionna Patterson led Walker with a
game-high 27 points, 17 of which came in the first half Logan Cookmeyer added 15 for the Wildcats.
On a night when Walker (32-3) shot above 50% from the field most of the way, the fourth quarter was a difference-maker
The Cats led 42-39 going into the fourth quarter, but they made just 2 of 12 fourth-quarter shots from the field in the final eight minutes.
“We kind of lost our footing for about a 21/2-to-3-minute spell,” Walker coach Korey Arnold said. “We had some uncharacteristic turnovers for points and then (they) had some offensive rebounds that I felt swung the momentum their way.”
Zachary took the lead at 43-42 on a layup by Rideaux with 6:26 to go. The Broncos led by three when Raymond flashed in the lane to grab and offensive rebound. She spun and scored and the converted the ensuing free throw to make it 48-42.
The lead was just enough of a cushion for Zachary Patterson scored twice in the final minute, including on a layup just before the buzzer
“I had the feeling I really wanted to win and I had to step it up at that moment,” Raymond said of her threepoint play
The score was tied four times in the first quarter Walker led by four going into the final seconds, but Raymond scored on a layup just before the buzzer to make it 21-18.
Gaddis, a 6-foot-1 junior, was one of three double-figure scorers with UL signee Amijah Price adding 13 and Mariah Scott 12. Woodlawn handed Karr its worst loss of the season It did do on the strength of a 2-3 zone defense and full-court
Woodlawn, which never trailed, took its first double-digit lead (14-4) at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 29-15 at halftime. The Panthers’ lead was reduced to 47-37 with 5:13 to go when Gaddis touched off a 13-2 run over the next three minutes with seven points, including her second 3-pointer of the game.
“I always knew she could do this and I’m glad she waited to turn it on today,” Dedeaux said of Gaddis. “The level she played at today was something we knew she already had.”
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
After winning two straight playoff games over higher-seeded teams, the goal for seventh-seeded Albany is simple — do it one more time.
The Hornets (24-11) know that won’t be easy Up next is three-time reigning champion Wossman (27-3) in the Division II nonselect girls basketball final at 8 p.m. Friday in Hammon.
“(Wossman) has established something special,” first-year Albany coach Rebecca Buisson said “This is kind of like a David vs. Goliath thing.
“You know what you need to do to beat them and you absolutely know there is no way to prepare for it — it’s their size and their press.
“What we can do is go out
and play as hard as we can and leave it all on the floor
That’s the plan.”
It’s the fourth year in a row Albany has played Wossman in the semifinals or final. The Wildcats beat Albany 51-36 in a semifinal last season and routed No. 4 Iowa 67-26 in the semifinal this season. Ramiah Augerson and
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK Madison Prep guard Paige Hawkins drives around University guards Kennedy Aldridge, center and Ryli Martin during their
nal game Thursday at the University Center in Hammond
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Aaliyah Gaddis shoots over Karr’s Cass Antoine on Thursday in Hammond. Gaddis scored a team-high 23 points in the Panthers’ 61-43 win.
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Zachary guard Kaitlyn Blake goes up for the layup as Walker guards LaShantae Clay, left, and Kiera Fountain defend during their Division I nonselect semifinal game Thursday night at the University Center in Hammond
Madison Prep, University continue tradition
One of them has a streak at stake
Staff report
With 15 Baton Rouge teams in the hunt to claim berths in next week’s LHSAA state basketball tournament, one fact could fl under the radar
People aren’t surprised when traditional power Madison Prep advances to the tourney in Lake Charles.
Fifth-seeded
MPA is one win away from a 14th straight season berth in the state tournament
the area’s longest current streak.
The Chargers (26-9) host anoth er local power and a district riva No. 13 University High (19-9), for a Division II select quarterfinal game set for 6:30 p.m. Friday
starting with Class B. Division II select is the classification Madi-
Since 2012, the Chargers have won eight state championships across multiple classifications,
son Prep hasn’t won a state title, although it has come close, losing championship game as the the past two seasons. seed is the lowest seed during its 14-year run. work hard. That’s the standard that’s set here,” coach Jeffery Jones said.
“Each group just kind of doesn’t want to be the group to let it fall off.
“This year was extremely different for us.
we had no returning players with any varsity experience going into the season. One returning senior who was a starter opted to go to a prep school
We had another kid that would have been a starter for us and he
transferred, so we had virtually a brand-new team.”
Seniors J’kai Jordan and Wesley Favorite have stepped up into meaningful Freshman Wi sophomore El team’s leading The Chargers season despite teams like Catholic tral, Dunham “These kids by fire,” Jones grow up. We g this group, whi No. 13 U-Hig (19-9) day’s matchup looking to reach the state semifinals for the 10th time in the past 14 years.
er who saw significant minutes a year ago.
“We’re pretty pleased with how we’ve been last weeks,” Joe e Madisonover and
Cubs l
The Cubs won three state titles in that span, a three-peat from 2014-16, and was the Division III select runnerup a year ago.
Like Madison Prep, U-High had to retool. Point guard Jerome Watkins is the only U-High play-
Southern
Alabama State’s late free throws enough to edge Southern in win
Jaguars can still clinch SWAC with win
BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer
The Southern men’s basketball team had no answer to Alabama State’s outside shooting until it finally did.
Jordan Johnson’s 3-pointer from the left corner with nine seconds left gave Southern its first lead of the second half, but it wasn’t enough.
Alabama State had the final say after TJ Madlock was fouled on a last-second jumper Madlock made both free throws and the Hornets edged Southern 66-65 Thursday night at the F.G. Clark Activity Center The loss keeps Southern (19-11, 14-3 SWAC) from clinching the outright Southwestern Athletic
Conference championship. The Jaguars need to defeat Alabama A&M on Saturday to earn the title For Alabama State (15-15, 11-6), the win was its second over Southern this season.
Alabama State hurt Southern with its long-range shooting. On a night with Southern made just 3 of 20 from 3-point range, ASU made good on 10 of 22 attempts
There were three ties early in the second half, but Alabama State separated from Southern after the Jaguars got within 5149. Southern went scoreless for nearly five minutes and fell behind 62-51.
The Jaguars rallied by outscoring ASU 11-4 in the final three minutes before Brentay Noel fould Madlock in the final seconds.
Michael Jacobs kept Southern in the game with 27 points. Jordan Johnson added 12 points and Noel had a team-high seven rebounds. Madlock topped ASU with 24
points and seven rebounds. The first half featured good shooting on both ends as each team made half of its shots from the field The difference was from long distance, where ASU made 7 of 14 3-pointers. The sharp shooting helped the Hornets take a 3532 halftime lead.
Southern, which led for much of the half, had a 20-14 advantage midway through. The Hornets rallied by scoring three points on six of nine possessions. Five players made 3-pointers went a more conventional route with a three-point play Southern countered with the play of Michael Jacobs, who made a 3-pointer, but did most of his work spinning and scooping in the lane. Jacobs had 14 points in the half.
Micah Octave’s 3-pointer with 2:11 to go put ASU up 35-30. Jacobs added a basket in the lane and Southern as Southern trailed 35-32 at halftime.
Unranked
By The Associated Press
look different for both sides Friday
“It’s going to be a fight, and it’ll come down to the last couple of possessions,” Jones said “We know a lot of (Spencer’s) kids, and his kids know a lot of our kids. They play AAU together We’re very familiar with each other.”
Southern routs Bama State, claims SWAC regular-season title
BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer
The Southern women’s basketball captured its first outright Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship on Thursday
Fueled by a dominant defensive performance, the Jaguars routed Alabama State 61-38 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center With Alabama A&M’s loss to Grambling, the Jaguars claimed the SWAC title. The win was the eighth straight for Southern (1713, 15-2 SWAC). It is Southern’s first title since 2019 and its second under head coach Carlos Funchess. The difference against Alabama State (6-23, 4-13) was the third quarter The Hornets’ Cordasia Harris hit a 3-pointer to pull her team within 29-23, but Southern had a game-changing answer The Jaguars unleashed their fullcourt press and went on a 21-0 run.
Soniyah Read, who led Southern with 19 points, had two 3-pointers and 13 points during the surge.
Jocelyn Tate had three of her team-high five steals. Southern forced 23 Alabama State turnovers in the game, and there were 10 in the third quarter Funchess credited Jaguars assistant coach Jeremy Bonin for the team’s defensive effort.
“Coach Bonin did a great job getting us ready to jump into that press,” Funchess said. “We didn’t show it in the first half, but we had our defensive team in there. We got some quick turnovers, and in a matter of minutes it went from a six-point game to 25 points.”
Aniya Gourdine started the run with a jumper and later added two free throws as Southern extended its lead to 40-23. Reed then scored 10 consecutive points, a stretch that included a steal, a three-point play and a three-pointer ASU was scoreless for seven minutes before Taylor Smith made three free throws to cut the deficit to 50-27.
Gourdine totaled 14 points and seven rebounds.
Smith was the only Hornet in double figures with 13 points.
Vanderbilt beats No. 18 Tennessee in quarterfinals
S.C. — Freshman Mikayla Blakes scored 24 points, Iyana Moore had 23 points and four 3-pointers, and Vanderbilt beat No. 18 Tennessee 84-76 on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt beat Tennessee twice in a single season for the first time in series history, including a 71-70 victory on Jan. 19 when Blakes made a putback with 0.8 seconds left. Vanderbilt (22-9) will play No. 1 seed and fifth-ranked South Carolina on Friday in the quarterfinals. The Commodores lost the regularseason matchup 82-54 on Feb 23. Vanderbilt started the game on a 17-5 run and Tennessee answered with a 12-2 run in the second quarter to take the lead at 32-31. Vanderbilt retook a double-digit lead midway through the third
quarter — despite starter Khamil Pierre picking up her third foul — during an 13-0 run that Blakes capped with scoop shot in the lane to make it 56-42. Blakes scored nine points during the run. Vanderbilt made its first four shots of the fourth quarter, with two apiece from Pierre and Blakes, for a 20-point lead at 71-51. The Commodores struggled down the stretch with seven turnovers and two missed field goals but made 7 of 8 free throws to keep the lead above six points. Pierre finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Vanderbilt. Blakes recorded her 19th 20-point game of the season. Ruby Whitehorn led Tennessee (22-9) with 14 points. Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper and Jewel Spear each scored 13 points. NO.10 OKLAHOMA 70, GEORGIA 52: In Greenville, South Carolina Raegan Beers had 22 points, eight re-
bounds and three blocks, and No. 10 Oklahoma extended its winning streak to eight games with a victory over Georgia on Thursday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Oklahoma’s win sets up a rematch Friday with No. 12 Kentucky, which handed the Sooners their most recent loss on Feb 2, 95-86. That victory proved to be a key tiebreaker, allowing the Wildcats to earn the last remaining double bye in the tournament over the Sooners after the teams finished tied for fourth in conference play
Liz Scott added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Sooners (24-6). Trinity Turner led Georgia (1319) with 12 points. Georgia had no answer for Beers’ size in the low post and the Sooners were content to take advantage, repeatedly pounding the
ball inside to the 6-foot-4 junior. Beers finished 9 of 14 from the floor and had eight points in the third quarter, including a buzzer beater off the glass as Oklahoma took a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter
OLE MISS 85, MISSISSIPPI STATE 73: In Greenville, South Carolina, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott scored 20 points apiece and No. 7 seed Ole Miss beat No. 10 seed Mississippi State on Thursday to advance to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the fifth straight season. Ole Miss (20-9), which has won 20-plus in four straight seasons, will play top-ranked and No. 2 seed Texas in the quarterfinals on Friday The Rebels lost to the thenNo. 7 Longhorns 61-58 on Jan. 26 when SEC player of the year Madison Booker hit a jump shot with 13 seconds remaining to wipe out an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes.
Ole Miss made 9 of 11 shots spanning the first-quarter break and closed the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 42-35 lead. Tameiya Sadler, Todd-Williams and Scott each scored nine points in the half. Ole Miss led the entire third quarter and scored the opening four points of the fourth for a 6956 lead. Mississippi State never got closer than a nine-point deficit after that.
Reserves Sira Thienou had 13 points and Christeen Iwuala scored 11 for Ole Miss. The Rebels went 21 of 28 from the free-throw line, with six apiece from ToddWilliams and Scott. Madina Okot had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jerkaila Jordan also scored 14 for Mississippi State (21-11). Destiney McPhaul added 11 points off the bench, and Chandler Prater and reserve Eniya Russell each scored 10.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
guard Jordan Johnson leans into Prairie View A&M guard Zaakir Sawyer while driving to the hoop on Feb 15 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center Johnson had 12 points in Thursday’s game against Alabama State.
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
The misty, airbrushed dream that is “Xanadu” will skate across Theatre Baton Rouge’s Main Stage beginning Friday, sharing feel-good vibes while giving Sonny Malone a mission in life. The show also will mark the final production for Theatre Baton Rouge before it permanently closes its doors on March 23. Still, the show must go on. So, who is Sonny Malone? He’s the artist whose mural of the Greek muses signals their help His art and life aren’t going as he envisioned, and he considers ending it all. That’s when the youngest of the Greek muses, Clio, keys in on Sonny’s dilemma through his mural and convinces her eight sisters to leave their perch on Mount Olympus for Sonny’s home city of Venice Beach, California.
Kamryn Hecker plays the Greek muse Clio, who changes her name to Kiera upon meeting love interest Sonny Malone, in Theatre Baton Rouge’s final production ‘Xanadu.’
They show up in an era of transition between the end of the 1970s disco era and the newly dawned 1980s, where leg warmers are a fashion statement and roller discos are a thing. And speaking of roller discos, Sonny’s muse-inspired enthusiasm leads him to the long abandoned art deco theater, Xanadu, where he plans to combine the arts into something athletic. This, of course, would be a roller disco.
Meanwhile, Sonny and Clio, who is guiding him along the way under the pseudonym Kiera, are falling in love, which is forbidden by her father, Zeus. So, can this star-crossed couple find happiness?
TOASTING DOLLY
Three bars, free shots, wigs and free swag
it’s a downtown bar crawl honoring countr music darling Dolly Parton on Saturday.
Registration will take place at Somewhere Neighborhood Bar from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Then it’s on to Squeaky Pete’s and O’Haras Irish Pub $25 at eventbrite.com.
PLANTS, PLANTS, PLANTS
The 23rd annual Baton Rouge Spring Garden Show and Plant Sale will run Friday-Sunday at the John M. Parker Coliseum at LSU Hours will be 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. $10, general admission; free, children 12 and younger, and LSU and Southern University students. lsuagcenter.com.
RED STICK RHYTHMS
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library will host a launch party for its newest database, a streaming service for local musicians. There will be live music at the family-friendly event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Main Library at Goodwood, along with hands-on musical activities for all ages, food trucks and local arts organizations. redstickrhythms.org
KEEPING THE MUSIC GOING
Houma road warrior Tab Benoit returning to old stomping grounds
BY JOHN WIRT Contributing writer
Tab Benoit’s tour schedule gives the impression he lives on the road.
A blues-infused, mighty singer-guitarist from Houma who launched his career in Baton Rouge, Benoit tours even when he doesn’t have new music to promote In August, he released “I Hear Thunder,” his first album in 13 years.
“This is what I do,” the south Louisiana-accented Benoit said last week from a show in Hobart, Indiana. “This is how I’ve made a living for the past 36 years. On the road, traveling state to state, seeing the country for what it really is.”
Benoit’s touring this year brings
TAB BENOIT/GHALIA VOLT
8 p.m Thursday, March 13 l Chelsea’s Live!, 1010 Nicholson Drive, Baton Rouge l $35 l chelseaslive. com and tabbenoit.com
him to Baton Rouge on Thursday March 13, for a show at Chelsea’s Live. His place in Houma is a relatively short drive from Baton Rouge, but he doesn’t expect to make it home.
“Last year I did a show in Houma during a tour and I didn’t go to my house,” he said. “I was on the road even though I was in my hometown. It’s always about we’ve got a job to do, places to go.”
“Once you get past Texas, man, that’s a whole lot of space out there,” he said. “The East Coast cities are packed up along the coast, so we get to a lot more places with a lot less driving.”
In the fall of 2020, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, Benoit toured during the pandemic.
“Every town’s mayor had his or her own rules for how to handle it,” he recalled. “At first, we played places where tables had to be at least 6 feet apart. And then they had plexiglass around them. I played a place where they plexiglassed the stage. We couldn’t see
Playing as many as 28 concert dates in a 30-day period translates to being away from home much of the year For cross-country trips, Benoit, his two band members and their three-man crew don’t even need a map.
Well, the answer can be found at Theatre Baton Rouge, where Kamryn Hecker plays Clioturned-Kiera and Don Fields plays Sonny Malone. That’s what I’ve always felt about music — it’s about helping people get through tough times.
ä See ‘XANADU’, page 2D
Louisiana Comic Con returns to Lafayette
PROVIDED PHOTO By JACKIE HAXTHAUSEN
BY JUDY BERGERON
In August, Houma-raised Tab Benoit released ‘I Hear Thunder,’ his first album in 13 years.
PROVIDED PHOTO By DOUG HARDESTy PHOTOGRAPHy
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, March 7, the 66th day of 2025. There are 299 days left in the year
Today in history
On March 7, 1965, a march by over 500 civil rights demonstrators was violently broken up at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama; state troopers and a sheriff’s posse fired tear gas and beat marchers with batons in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
On this date:
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a U.S. patent for his telephone.
In 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland, thereby breaking the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties
In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a parody that pokes fun at an
original work can be considered “fair use.” (The ruling concerned a parody of the Roy Orbison song “Oh, Pretty Woman” by the rap group 2 Live Crew.)
In 2010, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, taking the prize for directing the film “The Hurt Locker.”
Today’s birthdays: Hall of Fame auto
racer Janet Guthrie is 87. Actor Daniel J. Travanti is 85. Entertainment executive Michael Eisner is 83. Football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann is 73. R&B musician Ernie Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 73. Actor Bryan Cranston is 69. Tennis Hall of Famer Ivan Lendl is 65. Singer Taylor Dayne is 63.
Author E.L. James is 62. Author Bret Easton Ellis is 61. Comedian Wanda Sykes is 61. Actor Rachel Weisz is 55. Actor Peter Sarsgaard is 54. Actor Jenna Fischer is 51. Actor Tobias Menzies is 51.
BENOIT
Continued from page 1D
anybody because of the lights. It looked like us in a mirror It was a very strange gig. All these changes we had go through, just to keep the music going.”
Despite the pandemic’s challenges, Benoit was on a mission. Like his fellow Louisiana musician, Aaron Neville, he believes music is a healing force.
“That’s what I’ve always felt about music — it’s about helping people get through tough times,” he said. “Music has always been that thing that soothes your soul when nothing else can say the right thing.”
When Benoit plays Chelsea’s Live next week, he’ll be in his old stomping grounds. During his 1980s college years at LSU, he played guitar in Taü, an indemand band that performed the popular college rock music of the day He also got a blues education jamming at Tabby’s Blues Box and Heritage Hall and Phil Brady’s Bar and Grill Benoit found time to do standup comedy at the Grin Room, too.
“They had stuff available in Baton Rouge they just didn’t have in Houma,” he said. “Baton Rouge was the big city for me. It was a great place to learn myself and learn what I was good at it. Everybody was helpful They let me be part of the family
“At the blues clubs, you’d make 50 bucks a man plus tips,” Benoit recalled. “The college gigs with the band, playing songs by the Smiths, R.E.M., the Cure, Talking Heads, man, we were making thousands. I had nice furniture in my apartment because I played in that band. I also learned a lot by doing our sound, lights and production, valuable lessons that I still use today Nothing I do is wasted.”
Benoit used his multiple skills to make his latest album, “I Hear Thunder.” In addition to writing songs, singing and playing guitar, he produced, engineered mixed and mastered the recording.
“I Hear Thunder” is the first album Benoit has recorded following the end of the restrictive record deal he signed as a young artist in the early 1990s.
Before that bad deal’s end, Benoit said, “I always wrote and recorded music knowing that somebody’s going to pick it apart and they own it. In music, that’s a hard thing to deal with. It feels horrible to give your baby away like that. You go in the studio, you play your heart out and then you just hand it over to some record label, and it’s not yours anymore.”
Benoit finally is free to make recordings exactly the way he wants them.
“This is the first album I’ve done that belongs to me.”
Email John Wirt at j_wirt@msn. com.
FRIDAY
LIVE MUSIC: Cane River
Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.
DUSTIN GASPARD: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
ORY VEILLON: Naq’s-nDuson, Duson, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY NIGHT JAMS: City of Scott, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s
Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
KALEN OLIVIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m
LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.
FIRST FRIDAY: PISCES
SEASON: The Brass Room, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
SADNEY CD RELEASE PARTY: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.
WILL WESLEY: The Bank Bar and Patio, New Iberia, 9 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
STOP THE CLOCK COUN-
TRY JAZZ: Feed n’ Seed, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Randol’s Cajun Restaurant, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.
MONDAY
PATRICIO LATINO SOLO:
“The show is fantastic and fun and energetic,” director Marion Mayfield said. “I mean, it’s just a downright good time. There are some shows that you leave the theater happy, and this is one of those shows It’s kind of like one of those escapes from everything that’s happening in the world today, and we have these very talented actors who are giving you two hours to just enjoy.”
There are really no deep messages in “Xanadu,” which also was the case for the 1980 film on which it’s based. The film is probably best remembered for its main star, Olivia Newton-John, who played opposite
COMIC CON
Continued from page 1D
Lousiana-wise, Lafayette comic book artists Rob Guillory and Kody Chamberlain will appear, along with Baton Rouge’s Scott Innes, most known as the voices of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and Scrappy-Doo. Other regional and national guests include Kathleen Herles, Dallas Page, Lori Petty, John Ratzenberger, David Yost, Charles Wright, Fred Williamson, Mallorie Rodak, Douglas Tait, Brett Wag-
Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.
TUESDAY
TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m. KID’S CAJUN JAM NIGHT: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
TRIVIA NIGHT WITH JAY STEINER: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.
BRANDON MENARD: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY AFTER FIVE FEATURING DJ MIKE JAMEZ: The Ruins Lounge, Lafayette, 5 p.m. LADIES NIGHT WITH DJ DONOVAN IN THE MIX:
Michael Beck. It also featured the legendary Gene Kelly in his final film role.
“The musical is based on the film, but the musical is slightly different from the film theatrical version,” Fields said. “It’s right on the cusp of the ’80s, so it still has so many disco elements and so many elements of the late ’70s, as well as the early ’80s. It’s just that hybrid between Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra.”
Now, the choreography won’t exactly require dancing from Fields and Hecker They’ll have to skate through some of the songs, a skill each has had to learn through the rehearsal process.
“I think I had skated only twice in my life before this,” Hecker said.
“But she’s really come a long
ner, Ogie Banks, Brad Hawkins, Vincent Martello, David Errigo, Olivia Olson, Christopher Wehkamp, Andy Field, Sam Lofti, Nick Pitarra, Jim Wahfood, Cootie Von Ghoul, Kettlebriar’s Workshop, Miss Oolala, Strangecat Cosplay, Pixel Vixx and Orion’s Envy Q&A Panels
SATURDAY n NOON: David Yost
n 1 P.M.: John Ratzenberger
n 2 P.M.: Charles Wright (“The Godfather’) and “Diamond” Dallas Page
n 3 P.M.: Lori Petty
n 4 P.M.: Vincent Martella, David
Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 6 p.m.
DANIEL SIMONSEN (COMEDY): DoubleTree
way,” said music director Jamie Leonard-Brubaker, who also is playing the Greek muse Calliope.
“She was scared at first, but now she’s skating up and down the ramps we have on stage.”
Yes, skating is much different on stage than in the rehearsal room, where there were no boundaries or ramps.
“It’s been fun,” Fields said. “And it’s been fun practicing. On the first day I came in, I was doing some little tricks and spinning around, and I fell.”
But no one is falling in the Xanadu theater now, where the music drives the energy and Greek muses inspire magic.
Email Robin Miller at romiller@ theadvocate.com.
Errigo and Olivia Olson
n 5 P.M.: Kathleen Herles
SUNDAY n NOON: Rob Guillory, Kody Chamberlain, Jim Mahfood, Sam Lotfi and Nick Pitarra
n 1 P.M.: Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, Brett Wagner and Douglas Tait
n 2 P.M.: Ogie Banks, Brad Hawkins and Andy Field
n 3 P.M.: Christopher Wehkamp and Mallorie Rodak
n 4 P.M.: Scott Innes
Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.
Repurposing old brooms
Dear Heloise: An old broom can be used to “corral” rolls of tape. Love your column! — Ann G., via email Ann, I love to repurpose items when I can. I had an old broom handle that I mounted on a wall in my crafting room. I took all my rolls of ribbons and string, then strung them on the pole. It was so easy to just pull out a length of ribbon when I was wrapping a gift. Do any of my readers have other handy hints like this to add to our collection? Let us know by writing to
Heloise@Heloise.com. — Heloise A response to homeschooling
Dear Heloise: You recently had a reader who asked about homeschooling. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to homeschool her two boys, but her husband felt she should. My mother homeschooled my sister, and while my sister loved it, I hated every minute of it. I felt isolated from reality and other kids my age. My mother was always patient with us and never complained about what she had given
AROUND BATON ROUGE
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
Highland Road. Skygazing tips, physics phenomena, space programs and famous events are covered. For ages 14 and older. Free. https://hrpo. lsu.edu/. Also, evening sky viewing 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
AND THEY WILL
COME”: 10.a.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Led by Linda Barber Auld, known as the NOLA Bug Lady Learn how to create an oasis and increase butterfly activity in your garden. Weather permitting, tour of the Baton Rouge Botanic Gardens adjacent to the library will follow. Free. Register at ebrpl.co/ events or (225) 231-3750 FAMILY HOUR STARGAZ-
ING: 10 a.m., Irene W Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky, followed by an all-ages show. lasm.org.
GREATER BATON ROUGE MODEL RAILROADERS:
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Republic of West Florida Historical Museum, 3406 College St., Jackson. Electric trains of all sizes will be running on five different layouts. Free admission and parking. greaterbrrailroaders.com.
SHAMROCKS AND SHE-
NANIGANS DRAG BRUNCH: The Smiling Dog, 4215 S Sherwood Forest Blvd. Silly, sassy and sexy afternoon of glam, laughter and performances by four drag queens. $25, general admission; $40, VIP. vaudevilleentertainment.com. DEAD MEDIA MARKET:
noon-5 p.m., Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave. Vendors selling records, cassette and VHS tapes, comics, toys and games.
SATURDAY SCIENCE: 1 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Dr. Kristine DeLong on “Climate Histories and the Anthropocene from Coral Skeletons.” LSU’s public talk series designed to connect teens to science and technology Free. ebrpl.com
MERRY MARKET IN MARCH: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Lamar Dixon Expo Center, 9039 S. St. Landry Ave., Gonzales. Family shopping show featuring local and national vendors. General admission, $10; weekend pass, $15; Mimosas & Muffins VIP shopping, $25. https:// www.lamardixonexpocenter.com/. BASF’S KIDS’ LAB: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S River Road. Explore the science of chemistry during 45-minute hands-on workshops for scientists ages 6-12 and their accompanying adults. lasm.org.
SUNDAY
MID CITY MARCHI GRAS
PARADE: 2 p.m., along North Boulevard from 19th Street to Foster Drive. This year’s theme is “Squirrels on Film!”. Mid City Gras is a 501(c)3 nonprofit committed to showcasing the vibrant and diverse community. https://www. midcitygras.org/.
SENSORY SECOND
SUNDAY: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Dimmed lights, lowvolume music, designated quiet areas, headphones and sensory tools are available. lasm.org.
ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: 4 p.m., Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive. With Scott Andresen, Paul Dean, Paulo Dufour and Frankie Gould. Free batonrougegallery.org.
SUNDAY-THURSDAY
A CELTIC CONCERT EXPERIENCE: 3 p.m. Sunday, Main Library at Goodwood; 10 a.m. Monday, Delmont Gardens Branch Library; 4 p.m. Monday, Carver Branch Library; 7 p.m Monday, Jones Creek Regional Branch Library; 4 p.m. Tuesday, Central Branch Library; 7 p.m. Tuesday, Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library; 10 a.m. Wednesday, River Center Branch Library; 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, PrideChaneyville Branch Library Madam Dulcimer (Amanda Roberts) and Lady Chops (Elizabeth Vidos) bring lively music celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. ebrpl.com
TUESDAY
58TH ANNUAL FORTIERGERBRECHT JAZZ INVITATIONAL: 6:30 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Outstanding
up. (She was a commercial artist and had a thriving career.) By the time I was ready for middle school, I begged her to go to a public school, and she said if I really wanted to go, I could. So much depends on whether a child is ready for homeschooling. I’m a freshman in college now, and if I ever have a family, I will not homeschool my children. I would want them to develop alongside friends their age and learn how to get along with other children from different backgrounds. A Reader via email Send a hint to heloise@heloise. com.
jazz ensembles and combos from five area high schools and one middle school. Partnered by the Baton Rouge Magnet High School Instrumental Music Department and the Baton Rouge Jazz Ensemble. $13. manshiptheatre.org.
FLEX AND FLOW YOGA:
6:30 p.m., Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar, 315 North Blvd. Rotating instructors and a variety of techniques. Free.
TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 18303 Perkins Road. Collect your team and jockey for first place. loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.
WEDNESDAY
TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 27350 Crossing Circle, Suite 150, Denham Springs. Collect your team and jockey for first place. loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.
THURSDAY
RED STICK FARMERS
MARKET: 8 a.m. to noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket.
BATON ROUGE ZYDECO VS. DANVILLE DASHERS:
7 p.m., Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, 275 S. River Road. $10-$25+. ticketmaster.com.
TRIVIA NIGHT: 7 p.m., Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar, 315 North Blvd. Test your trivia skills with your friends and family. Free.
ONGOING
BATON ROUGE GALLERY
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive. Scott Andresen, Paul Dean, Paulo Dufour and Frankie Gould, through March. Free.
batonrougegallery.org.
CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. Fourth St. “Billy Cannon: They Called Him Legend,” through Jan. 10. (225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum.org.
CARY SAURAGE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER SHELL GALLERY: 233 St. Ferdinand St. “Eternal Celebration of the Black Experience Here, Now, Forever,” through Wednesday. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. artsbr.org.
ELIZABETHAN GALLERY: 680 Jefferson Highway Group show. Call (225) 9246437 or follow the gallery’s Facebook page.
IN DEMAND ART STUDIOS: 5800 One Perkins Place, Suite 5D. “This is Our Garden,” featuring the work of eight Baton Rouge-area women artists.
LOUISIANA ART & SCIENCE
MUSEUM: 100 S. River Road. “Discoveries on the Nile: Exploring King Tut’s Tomb and the Amin Egyptian Collection,” through Oct. 31. (225) 344-5272 or lasm.org.
LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books,” through May 25; “In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870-1940,” works from the Bank of America Collection, and “Southern Reflections: Art by Kathryn Keller and Shirley Rabe Masinter, both through March 23. (225) 389-7200 or lsumoa.org.
MAGNOLIA MOUND MUSEUM + HISTORIC SITE: 2161 Nicholson Drive. Guided and self-guided tours. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. brec.org/facility/ MagnoliaMound.
OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION: 502 North Blvd. Open for tours. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. MondayFriday. Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion. com.
OLD STATE CAPITOL: 100 North Blvd. “The Biggest Celebrity of His Time,” exhibition surrounding Lafayette, the first foreignborn general to command forces in the American Revolution, through March 13. Also, “America’s Sacred Freedoms in the First Amendment,” yearlong exhibit. Free admission. louisianaoldstatecapitol.
org.
SHAW CENTER FOR THE ARTS: 100 Lafayette St. “Umbrella of Color,” an installation by students in Glasgow Middle School’s talented visual arts program, through March 31. USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displays of a variety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and naval military history. Note: Vessel is in Houma for drydock repairs. usskidd.com.
WEST BATON ROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. “Blues Festival Posters Through the Years,” through April 6. (225) 336-2422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org.
Compiled by Judy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public event you’d like to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate. com. Deadline is 5 p.m. FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper
SHOWS TO WATCH — BATON ROUGE
FRIDAY ORIGINAL MUSIC
GATHERING: La Divina Italian Café, 6 p.m.
BRITTON MAJOR: Crowne Plaza, 6 p.m.
KIRK HOLDER: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m.
MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.
RALPH DAIGLE: Rio Verde Mexican, 6 p.m.
SOUTH OF CENTRAL: Papi’s Fajita Factory Watson, 6 p.m.
CHRIS OCMAND: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7 p.m.
RODNEY CROWELL: Manship Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
BIT BRIGADE: “SUPER
MARIO WORLD + FZERO”: Chelsea’s Live, 8 p.m.
LEE SERIO BAND: Phil Brady’s, 8 p.m.
HENRY TURNER JR. & ALL-STARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.
THE SOUND OF GABRIEL SAINT WITH ISSY: Mid City Ballroom, 8 p.m.
RHETT GUILLOT: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge, 8 p.m.
TAYLOR NAUTA: Spanky’s, Dutchtown, 8 p.m.
N’TUNE: The Showroom, 9 p.m.
JOEY HOUCK: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.
LA SOUTHBOUND: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m.
MIKE HOGAN: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY
VICTORIA LEA: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.
SOUTH OF CENTRAL: Backstreet Lounge, 3 p.m. OPEN JAM SESSION: The Smokey Pit, 4 p.m.
BRITTON MAJOR: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 5:30 p.m.
MARDI GRAS DANCE WITH KONSPIRACY BAND: American Legion Post 38, 6 p.m.
JOHN FOSTER: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m
MATT TORTORICH: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7 p.m
ACOUSTIC NIGHT W/ HENRY TURNER JR.: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.
DENTON HATCHER: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge, 8 p.m.
LINDSAY RAE SPURLOCK WITH THE VELVET FOGLE: Mid City Ballroom, 8 p.m.
LEE SERIO BAND: Louisiana Legends Lounge, Denham Springs, 8 p.m.
DON RICH: Cousin’s Bar, Port Allen, 8:30 p.m.
SHAWN WARD PRESENTS: THE DJ VS. THE VOLINIST: The Queen Baton Rouge, 9 p.m.
IAN WEBSTER & TAYLOR CLARK: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.
NIGHT HOG: The Smiling Dog, 9 p.m.
REANIMATION/OKAY
BOOMHAUER: The Basin Music Hall, 9 p.m.
RIVER RAIN: Moonlight Inn, French Settlement, 9 p.m.
SPANK THE MONKEY: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.
OPEN MIC W/AMANDA JO HESS: Istrouma Brewing, St. Gabriel, 6 p.m. THE STARDUST BOYS: The Brakes Bar, 6 p.m.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Stay focused on your goal and budget. Do the work yourself if it will save money and help you add to your skills and qualifications. Refuse to let outside influences stifle your desire and productivity.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Expand your circle of friends, knowledge and interests. Refuse to let trivial issues get you down or hold you back. Trust your instincts instead of following the crowd.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Physically finetune your surroundings to ensure you achieve the most. Running an efficient household can help you save time and money. It's time to replace worry and stress with practical solutions.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Putting things off will only worsen matters. Innovative ideas and following through with your plans will encourage better prospects. Participate in something worthwhile
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Emotions will spike and encourage you to make things happen. Look over your options and separate your ego and emotions to ensure you do what's best for you in the long term.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) An open invitation to those you want to share ideas with will pay off. There is wisdom and glory in earning recognition. Accept the choices others make and go about your business.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Moderation is the key to longevity in all aspects of life. Trust your instincts and favor what you feel most comfortable doing. Wise
choices come from understanding who you are and what works best for you. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be direct, open and willing to compromise. Life choices require insight, a trial-and-error approach and taming the ego If necessary, express and defend your position, focus on your goals and move forward alone
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Follow your gut, and use imagination and creativity to reach your goals. Networking will help you further your plans by gaining financial, physical or emotional support. Implement change
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Opportunity is apparent, but so are pretenses and expectations. Ask questions, research possibilities and refuse to let anyone push you in a direction that can be restrictive.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Dedicate yourself to wisely investing your time and money. Refuse to let anyone talk you into getting involved in a plan or project that benefits them more than you. Look, see and do
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Revisit how you want to spend your time, and rearrange your space to accommodate your plans. Turn your home into a place that makes you feel alive, safe and in control.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
TODAy'S CLUE: T EQUALS D
CeLebrItY CIpher
For better or For WorSe
peAnUtS zItS
FrAnK And erneSt
SALLY Forth
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
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
THe wiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS
CurTiS
BY PHILLIP ALDER
J. William Fulbright, a senator from Arkansas for 30 years and the longestserving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “We must dare to think ‘unthinkable’ thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us.”
That certainly applies to bridge players. In today’s deal, look at the North and East hands. South is in four hearts. West leads the club nine: three, ace, jack. How should East plan the defense?
North’s two-diamond response was a transferbid,showingfiveormorehearts.
South’s jump to three hearts, a superaccept, promised a maximum with four hearts and a doubleton somewhere.
Bridge is full of little ditties that were designedtohelpthelesscapableplayers. Here, many Easts will think of “return partner’s lead.”
Yesterday we learned that playing a club back at trick two is not necessarily fatal. A crafty South will win that trick and cash his third club, discarding a spade from the dummy before taking the heart finesse. But the defense can still triumph.
However, at trick one, East should analyze his partner’s lead. It must be top of nothing. So why continue clubs? It cannot help. Instead, East should shift to a spadeordiamond,andgiventhedummy, a spade seems the natural choice.
South does best to win with his ace and cash his two clubs, discarding a spade from the dummy. But East should note his partner’s discouraging spade two. Then, when in with the
