The Acadiana Advocate 03-08-2025

Some La. leaders back Trump plan to close Education Dept.

“I have always suggested that the department should not exist. I trust people in Louisiana to make decisions based on the educational needs of the state of Louisiana.”

CADE

BRUMLEy, Louisiana Superintendent of Education

Move could have impact on federal funds for Louisiana

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

As President Donald Trump seeks to shut down the U.S. Department of Education, some of Louisiana’s top education officials say they are eager to bid the agency adieu.

Echoing Republicans who have long opposed the Cabinet-level federal agency’s existence, Louisiana education leaders see the department as inefficient and an example

of federal overreach, arguing that school policies should be left to states and local communities.

“I have always suggested that the department should not exist,” Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in an interview Thursday. “I trust people in Louisiana to make decisions based on the educational needs of the state of Louisiana.”

After repeatedly calling for the Education Department’s elimina-

tion, reports this week said Trump is preparing to issue an executive order instructing his newly confirmed education secretary Linda McMahon, to shut down the agency

In an interview Friday, McMahon said Trump “certainly intends” to sign an order, but did not say when. Abolishing the department and shifting some of its functions to other agencies could reduce

ä See EDUCATION, page 4A

Inmate challenges nitrogen gas usage

BY ANDREA GALLO Staff writer

Jessie Hoffman Jr., who is scheduled to become the first person Louisiana puts to death using nitrogen gas, testified in federal court on Friday to ask that the state find another way Hoffman, 46, has spent the majority

of his life on death row over the 1996 abduction, rape and execution-style killing of Mary “Molly” Elliott in rural St. Tammany Parish. He appeared in court in Baton Rouge on Friday in an orange jumpsuit, one hand shackled and surrounded by security guards. Hoffman recently filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging that the plan

to use nitrogen hypoxia to execute him on March 18 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution.

Louisiana Middle District Chief Judge Shelly Dick, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is

ä See INMATE, page 5A

Arrest made in hazing death

Two more suspects sought in case involving Southern student

BY QUINN COFFMAN and MATT BRUCE Staff writers

Baton Rouge police said they are preparing warrants to arrest two additional suspects in connection with last week’s hazing death of Southern University junior engineering student Caleb Wilson, 20.

Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr said during a Friday news conference that the two suspects are expected to turn themselves in.

“Additional warrants can’t be ruled out,” Morse told reporters, noting it remains an “active, ongoing” investigation involving his department and the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office with cooperation from Southern University Late Thursday, former Southern University student Caleb McCray, 23, surrendered to Baton Rouge police McCray’s attorney said in a statement Friday his client is innocent.

McCray marked the first arrest tied to the fatal Omega Psi Phi fraternity hazing ritual Morse said occurred Feb. 27 in a warehouse at 3412 Woodcrest Drive.

McCray was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish jail Thursday night on one count each of manslaughter and hazing. McCray made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon, where his bond was set at $100,000, his attorney said.

“I maintain my client’s innocence and urge the public to withhold rushing to judgment until all

ä See HAZING, page 4A

Hackman, wife died of natural causes a week apart, authorities say

Experts believe actor was impaired due to Alzheimer’s disease

BY MORGAN LEE, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and LISA BAUMANN Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. — Actor Gene Hack-

man died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, authorities revealed

Friday

Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. “Mr Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease,” Jarrell said. “He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that’s what resulted in his death.”

Authorities didn’t suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative.

Investigators found that the last

known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday Hackman’s pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. “It’s quite possible he was not aware

ä See HACKMAN, page 5A

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa attend the Golden Globe Awards in 2003.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Baton Rouge Chief of Police Thomas Morse Jr speaks to the media during a news conference Friday regarding the hazing death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson.

Russia attacks Ukraine’s energy supplies

KYIV Ukraine Russia attacked Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones during the night, officials said Friday, hobbling the country’s ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defenses.

The overnight barrage which also pounded residences and wounded at least 10 people — came days after the U.S. suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to pressure it into accepting a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished.

The U.S. government said Friday it halted Ukrainian access to unclassified satellite images that had been used to help it fight back against Russia.

The U.S. National GeospatialIntelligence Agency told The Associated Press the decision reflected “the Administration’s directive on support to Ukraine,” without elaborating. The satellite imagery provider Maxar Technologies confirmed the U.S. government decision to “temporarily suspend” Ukrainian access.

Air-defense systems supplied by the West are crucial for Ukraine, but further U.S help is uncertain under President Donald Trump, who held a tempestuous — and televised — White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week in which he questioned Ukraine’s determination to end the war Zelenskyy has since said the blowup with the Trump administration was “regrettable.”

Clashes in Syria kill more than 200 BEIRUT Fighters siding with Syria’s new government stormed several villages near the country’s coast, killing dozens of men in response to recent attacks on government security forces by loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad, a war monitor said.

The village assaults erupted Thursday and continued Friday Ongoing clashes between the two sides have marked the worst violence since Assad’s government was toppled in early December by insurgent groups led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir alSham. The new government has pledged to unite Syria after 14 years of civil war

More than 200 people have been killed since the fighting broke out, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In addition to around 140 killed in apparent revenge attacks in the villages, the dead include at least 50 members of Syria’s government forces and 45 fighters loyal to Assad. The civil war that has been raging in Syria since March 2011 has left more than half a million people dead and millions displaced.

The most recent clashes began when government forces tried to detain a wanted person near the coastal city of Jableh on Thursday and were ambushed by Assad loyalists, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

U.S. military’s mini shuttle returns to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The U.S. military’s classified mini space shuttle returned to Earth on Friday after circling the world for 434 days.

The space plane blasted into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret mission. Launched by SpaceX, the X-37B vehicle carried no people, just military experiments. Its predawn touchdown at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was not announced until hours after the fact. Photos showed the white-and-black space plane parked on the runway in darkness.

It’s the seventh flight of one of these test vehicles Space Force officials said the mission successfully demonstrated the ability to change orbits by using atmospheric drag to slow down, saving fuel.

It’s “an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program,” program director Lt. Col. Blaine Stewart said in a statement.

PHOTO PROVIDED By PARIS POLICE PREFECTURE

The disposal efforts for a huge, unexploded World War II-era bomb in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, caused transportation chaos Friday including the suspension of highspeed rail links with London and Brussels and the closure of a vital road artery in the French capital.

WWII bomb disposal causes chaos in Paris

Removal operations disrupt transportation

BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press

PARIS The disposal of what Paris police called an “excessively dangerous” unexploded World War II bomb caused hours of transportation chaos Friday on rail and road networks in the French capital including the suspension of high-speed train links with London and Brussels.

Having moved the bomb into a hole, disposal experts managed to unscrew and then destroy its fuse, “like you see in the movies,” said Christophe Pezron, who heads the Paris police laboratory that includes bomb disposal services He said that the half-ton British-made bomb could have caused major damage had it exploded after workers inadvertently dug it up with an earthmover

But the police operation that made the bomb safe before it was then taken away triggered major disruption for hundreds of thousands of rail travelers and motorists.

The bomb was dug up near train tracks north of Paris, forcing a shutdown of the rail network serving Gare du Nord, France’s busiest station. A portion of the A1 highway — a major road artery into northern Paris and sections of the capital’s always-busy beltway were also closed while police disposal officers worked.

“We’re delighted and relieved that all this has come to an end,” Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot was able to finally declare Friday afternoon — 12 hours after the bomb-disposal police were first called — as roads reopened and rail services were progressively being restored.

The minister said that almost 500 trains had been canceled, impacting around 600,000 people at Gare du Nord that

serves not only Paris’ northern suburbs and northern France, but also international destinations in the U.K., Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

“All of the northern part of our country was paralyzed,” Tabarot said.

Eurostar, the operator of high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel that joins England with the European continent, said that normal traffic would resume Saturday between Paris and Brussels and Paris and London, after Friday’s full day of cancellations. Hundreds of commuter, regional and high-speed train services between Paris and its suburbs and towns and cities in northern France were also canceled.

Gabrielle Cotton, a tourist from the U.S. state of Missouri, was traveling by train from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Paris, but got no further than Brussels.

“I heard the girl next to me — her parents called her and said that there was a World War II bomb found in the train station,” she said. “They told us we had to get off in Brussels.”

Retired Parisian Michel Garrot also found himself stranded with his wife in the Belgian capital.

“There’s no solution. We’re going to call the hotel and stay one more day And change our train ticket,” he said.

At Eurostar’s hub in London, St. Pancras International station, passengers scrambled for alternatives. Fridays are invariably busy with thousands of weekend travelers. Paris-bound passengers were advised to try taking trains to Lille in northern France, or fly Bride-to-be Charlotte Liddell had a bachelorette party — her own — to get to in Paris and wanted to join friends already in the French capital.

“It’s the hen do without the hen!” she said. “We’re very upset, but it’s so out of our control.”

Eurostar said that it “sincerely apologizes for the disruption and understands the inconvenience this may cause.”

States sue over mass firings of probationary federal workers

Maryland, 19 other states file lawsuit against Trump administration

BY BRIAN WITTE Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland and 19 other states are suing multiple federal agencies, contending President Donald Trump’s administration has illegally fired thousands of federal probationary workers.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading the coalition of attorneys general in the federal lawsuit that was filed late Thursday in Maryland, where the state estimates about 10% of households receive wages from the federal government.

already have applied for unemployment benefits, Brown’s office said.

The lawsuit also contended that the layoffs will hurt state finances due to lost tax revenue.

“President Trump’s unlawful mass firings of federal workers are a blatant attack on the civil service, throwing thousands of hardworking families into financial turmoil,” Brown, a Democrat, said in a news release. “Instead of following the law and notifying states, his administration blindsided Maryland, forcing us to deal with the devastating economic fallout and social consequences.”

Texas reports nearly 200 measles cases

New Mexico cases hit 30

BY DEVI SHASTRI Associated Press

A historic measles outbreak in West Texas is just short of 200 cases, Texas state health officials said Friday, while the number of cases in neighboring New Mexico tripled to 30.

Most of the cases across both states are in people younger than 18 and people who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Texas health officials identified 39 new infections of the highly contagious disease, bringing the total count in the West Texas outbreak to 198 people since it began in late January

Twenty-three people have been hospitalized so far

Last week, a school-age child died of measles in Texas, the nation’s first measles death in a decade. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that they were sending a team to Texas to help local public health officials respond to the outbreak.

New Mexico health officials had been reporting for weeks a steady number of cases in Lea County — which borders the epicenter of Texas’ outbreak. But on Friday, state health officials provided The Associated Press a week-by-week count that shows cases have steadily increased from 14 cases in the week of Feb. 9 to 30 this week.

A spokesperson for the health department said more cases are expected and that many of the cases reported Friday weren’t identified until after peo-

ple’s illnesses had run their course. The department has said it hasn’t been able to prove a clear connection to the Texas outbreak, though on Feb. 14, it said a link is “suspected.”

On Thursday, New Mexico health officials confirmed an unvaccinated adult who died without seeking medical care tested positive for measles. The state medical investigator has not announced the official cause of death, but the state health department said Friday it is “measles-related.”

The CDC said Friday it has also confirmed measles cases in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey New York City Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. But the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks make up for most of the nation’s case count.

The rise in measles cases has been a major test for U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who has questioned the safety of childhood vaccines Recently he has stopped short of recommending people get the vaccine, and has promoted unproven treatments for the virus, like cod liver oil. Kennedy dismissed the Texas outbreak as “not unusual,” though most local doctors in the West Texas region told The Associated Press that they have never seen a case of measles in their careers until this outbreak.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.

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Brown

“The draconian actions of the Trump-Vance Administration could lead to tens of thousands of jobs lost, hundreds of thousands of lives disrupted, and the cratering of tens of millions of dollars in income here in Maryland,” Gov Wes Moore, a Democrat, said Friday in support of the complaint.

Brown followed up on Friday by moving for a temporary restraining order in federal court in Maryland seeking to stop any more firings of federal probationary employees and to reinstate those who have already been dismissed.

The mass firings will cause irreparable burdens and expenses on the states, the lawsuit said, because states will have to support recently unemployed workers and review and adjudicate claims of unemployment assistance. More than 800 fired federal workers in Maryland

Trump, a Republican, has said he’s targeting fraud, waste and abuse in a bloated federal government. The president and his adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have fired both new and career workers, telling agency leaders to plan for “largescale reductions in force.” The purge has spawned a number of lawsuits as unions and attorneys general have challenged DOGE’s authority Attempts to contact the White House and Justice Department for comment were unsuccessful.

Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they’re usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. While federal agencies claimed the employees were fired for unsatisfactory performance or conduct, the lawsuit said the firings were part of the administration’s attempt to restructure and downsize the entire government

That means the administration was required to follow federal laws and regulations that govern large-scale federal reductions in force, the lawsuit said.

Matt Caldwell, left, a Lubbock Fire Department official, administers a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to Clair May, 61, on Feb 26 at the Lubbock Health Departmen in Lubbock,Texas. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Trump weighs new sanctions on Russia

Move comes after pausing military aid, intel sharing with Ukraine

BY AAMER MADHANI and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Friday he is “strongly considering” levying new sanctions and tariffs on Russia for its war against Ukraine, floating the possibility of new pressure on Moscow just days after he ordered a pause on U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said he was considering the action “based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now.”

He added that the prospective sanctions could remain in place until the two sides come to a ceasefire and peace settlement.

The sanctions threat came as Trump faces criticism for increasing pressure on

Ukraine to reach a deal while playing down or even denying Russia’s responsibility for starting the war with its invasion three years ago

“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now before it is too late,” Trump added in his post.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday that the U.S. has kept its sanctions in place on

Trump writes Iran’s leader about country’s nuclear program

BY JON GAMBRELL and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking a new deal with Tehran to restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear program and replace the agreement he withdrew America from in his first term in office.

Iranian state media immediately picked up on Trump’s acknowledgment, given in excerpts from a Fox Business Channel interview aired on Friday, though there was no confirmation from Khamenei’s office that any letter had been received. The interview airs in full on Sunday It remained unclear how the 85-year-old supreme leader would react, given that former President Barack Obama had kept his letters to Khamenei secret ahead of the start of negotiations that led to Tehran’s 2015 deal with world powers. In comments to reporters in the Oval Office later on Friday Trump did not mention the letter directly but made a veiled reference, saying, “We have a situation with Iran that, something’s going to happen very soon. Very, very soon.”

“Hopefully we can have a peace deal,” Trump said. “I’m not speaking out of strength or weakness I’m just saying I’d rather see a peace deal than the other But the other will solve the problem.”

He’s suggested that the alternative to a negotiated resolution would be the U.S.

threatening to intervene military in Iran. Trump’s overture comes as both Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weaponsgrade levels — something only sought by atomicarmed nations In the interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump said, “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily it’s going to be a terrible thing.’” He said he’d sent the letter on Thursday

The White House confirmed that Trump’s letter to Iran’s leaders is seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal The president’s comments in the Oval Office echoed his sentiments from the interview which was taped Thursday

“I would rather negotiate a deal I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily,” Trump said in the interview “But the time is happening now The time is coming up Something’s going to happen one way or the other.”

“I hope you’re going to negotiate because, it’s going to be a lot better for Iran and I think they want to get that letter,” he added. “The other alternative is we have to do something because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump offered no details of what, if anything, was specifically offered to Iran in the letter

Russia and “will not hesitate to go all in should it provide leverage in peace negotiations.”

Joe Biden’s administration over the course of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine imposed thousands of sanctions on Russian firms, people and ships as well as a price cap on Russian oil, among other actions.

Bessent called Biden’s sanctions on Russian ener-

gy “egregiously weak” and “stemming from worries about upward pressure on U.S. energy prices.”

“Per President Trump’s guidance, sanctions will be used explicitly and aggressively for immediate maximum impact,” Bessent said. “They will be carefully monitored to ensure that they are achieving specific objectives.”

Kevin Hassett, director of

the National Economic Council, told reporters Friday there is still a “heck of a lot” of room to put further pressure on the Russian economy through sanctions.

“President Trump is adamant that we need to get everybody to the table, and we could do that with carrots, and we could do that with sticks,” Hassett said.

Russia launched overnight attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones, officials said Friday, hobbling the country’s ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defenses.

The barrage — which also pounded residences and wounded at least 10 people — came days after the U.S. suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to pressure it into accepting a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration.

Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished.

But Trump, in an exchange with reporters, shrugged off the notion that Russian

President Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the intelligence pause to inflict more pain on Ukraine.

“I think he’s doing what anybody else would,” Trump said of Putin. And Trump again questioned whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is committed to getting a peace agreement to end the conflict. “It may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising, because they have all the cards, and they’re bombing the hell out of them right now,” Trump said.

Trump is sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff to Saudi Arabia next week to meet with Ukrainian officials. Trump, days into his second, nonconsecutive White House term, said targeting Russia’s oil revenue was the best way to get Moscow to end its nearly three-year war against Ukraine. He leaned in on the idea that OPEC+, the alliance of oil producing nations, holds the key to ending the war by reducing oil prices.

S.C. man executed by firing squad

First U.S prisoner killed that way in 15 years

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man convicted of murder was executed by firing squad Friday, the first U.S. prisoner to die by that method in 15 years.

Three volunteer prison employees used rifles to carry out the execution of Brad Sigmon, 67, who was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m.

Sigmon killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in their Greenville County home in 2001 in a botched plot to kidnap their daughter He told police he planned to take her for a romantic weekend, then kill her and himself.

Sigmon’s lawyers said he chose the firing squad because the electric chair would “cook him alive,” and he feared that a lethal injection of pentobarbital into his veins would send a rush of fluid and blood into his lungs and drown him.

The details of South Carolina’s lethal injection method are kept secret in South Carolina, and Sigmon unsuccessfully asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to pause his execution because of that.

On Friday, Sigmon wore a black jumpsuit with a hood over his head and a white target with a red bull’s-eye over his chest

The armed prison employees stood 15 feet from where he sat in the state’s death chamber — the same distance as the backboard is from the free-throw line on a basketball court Visible in the same small room was the state’s unused electric chair

The gurney used to carry out lethal injections had been rolled away

The volunteers all fired at the same time through openings in a wall. They were not visible to about a dozen witnesses in a room separated from the chamber by bullet-resistant glass. Sigmon made several heavy breaths during the two minutes that elapsed from when the hood was placed to the shots being fired.

The shots, which sounded like they were fired at the same time, made a loud, jarring bang that caused witnesses to flinch. His arms

briefly tensed when he was shot, and the target was blasted off his chest. He appeared to give another breath or two with a red stain on his chest, and small amounts of tissue could be seen from the wound during those breaths. A doctor came out about a minute later and examined Sigmon for 90 seconds before declaring him dead. Witnesses included three family members of the victims, David and Gladys Larke. Also present were Sigmon’s attorney and spiritual adviser, a representative from the prosecuting

solicitor’s office, a sheriff’s investigator and three members of the news media. Sigmon delivered a closing statement that he said was “one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty.” The firing squad is an execution method with a long and violent history in the U.S. and around the world. Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America’s Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany

BY ALMA SOLÍS and MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press

PANAMA CITY Panama an-

nounced Friday that it will allow 112 migrants deported from the United States who have been held in a remote camp in the Darien region since last month to move about the country freely until they decide on their next course of action. The government cited humanitarian reasons for the decision but rights lawyers promptly expressed concerns that this could be a tactic to absolve the authorities of international scrutiny for their treatment of migrants while also putting them in more danger

Panama’s Security Minister Frank Ábrego said the migrants — from a number of mostly Asian nations — would be granted temporary humanitarian passes as documents. They would find their own places to stay while they decide where they are going next, Ábrego said, without elaborating. The passes would last for an initial 30 days but could be renewed, he added. “They have exactly 30 days to figure out how to leave Panama, because they refused to accept help from the (International Organization for Migration) and (the U.N. Refugee Agency) and said that they wanted to do it themselves,” Ábrego said, speaking to reporters outside

a security conference Friday.

“Panama has decided to respect this,” he also said.

Panama has come under pressure from human rights groups for holding the migrants without their passports or cellphones in harsh conditions. Lawyers had petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on their behalf.

Most of the migrants had been moved to the camp in San Vicente on Feb. 19, from a hotel in Panama City where they had initially been held under police guard. Migrants who agreed to voluntarily return to their countries remained at the hotel and those who didn’t were sent to the camp in the Darien.

PHOTO PROVIDED By UKRAINIAN EMERGENCy SERVICE Firefighters put out a fire Friday after a Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

the evidence is heard,” attorney Phillip Robinson said. Morse said Friday Wilson’s death was the “direct result” of being punched “while pledging” to join Omega Psi Phi.

The police chief said McCray’s arrest and additional anticipated arrests in the case are the result of “around the clock” work by law enforcement that included questioning more than a dozen people.

Dennis Shields, president of Southern University, said at the Friday news conference Omega Psi Phi was ordered to “cease all activities” at the university

In addition, the university suspended all campus club and Greek life recruiting through the academic year, Shields said University officials are conducting an internal investigation of Wilson’s death, and Shields made clear student groups face the “prospect of discipline,” and it’s possible some students could be expelled.

Wilson, a Kenner native and former trumpet player for Southern’s famed Human Jukebox marching band, died Feb. 27 after he was punched in the chest while pledging for the fraternity The hazing ritual took place inside the Woodcrest Drive warehouse just south of Greenwell Springs Road The pledges were brought to the building and forced to change into gray sweatsuits. With Wilson and eight other hopefuls lined up according to height, McCray and the two other suspects took turns punching them in the chest using a pair of black boxing gloves, according to McCray’s arrest warrant affidavit.

All the pledges absorbed four punches from fraternity members imposing the rite of passage, authorities said. Each punch represented one of the fraternity’s

Continued

federal oversight and regulation of schools.

That scenario would be cheered by some of Louisiana’s Republican leaders, who often clashed with the Education Department when it was controlled by President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Last year, the state sued to block an agency rule that barred discrimination against LGBTQ+ students, saying it conflicted with Louisiana laws and values Ronnie Morris, president of Louisiana’s state board of education, said he would welcome the department’s demise.

“The idea is to reduce the bureaucracy and give the states more control,” he said Friday But some education advocates say that federal oversight is an essential safeguard for students who have often been underserved by public schools, including lowincome students, students of color and those with disabilities.

“The idea of closing the Department of Education without a plan to support students is really a devastating idea,” said Halley Potter, director of pre-K-12 education policy at The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank “I would expect that it would worsen student outcomes and move us in the wrong direction.”

The U.S. Education Department, which was created by Congress under President Jimmy Carter in 1979, has limited power over what’s taught in schools, as those

“four cardinal principles”: manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift.

Investigators were told neither Omega Psi members nor pledges were allowed to bring cellphones inside the warehouse during the pledging ritual, a source close to the investigation said.

According to the arrest affidavit, McCray delivered the final blow before Wilson collapsed to the floor and began having a seizure. Fraternity members did not call 911 after Wilson experienced the medical episode and waited to bring him to a hospital, sources said. An autopsy report mentioned in the arrest affidavit revealed a small bruise to the right side of Wilson’s chest.

Wilson’s full autopsy report is not yet complete, Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office chief of investigations Shane Tindall said Friday

decisions are left to states and local school boards. Most funding comes from local sources as well.

Still, dismantling the agency, which has more than 4,000 employees, could have a big impact on Louisiana schools.

The department doles out billions of dollars in federal aid to schools and colleges annually, including about $18 billion to support students from low-income families and $15 billion for special education, and it manages some $1.5 trillion in federal student loans. It also tracks education data and enforces laws that protect students, such as Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools and colleges.

The department and many of its functions were established by federal law and would require congressional action to change. If lawmakers agreed to shut down the department, McMahon said its essential operations could be assigned to other agencies.

Department of Health and Human Services could take over enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA, which requires public schools to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Louisiana relies heavily on federal education dollars.

The state received about $2.3 billion from federal sources for K-12 schools in 2021-22, the most recent year available. That represents about 19.5% of its school funding — one of the highest rates in the U.S., where about 14% of public education funding flows from the federal government. Much of the money comes through Title I a

afternoon. The cause and manner of his death remain undetermined pending additional tests, Tindall said.

Morse said Wilson was taken to Baton Rouge General Hospital by a group of friends. Police were called there at about 2:40 a.m on Feb. 27, he said. Before leaving the hospital, the friends said they had been playing basketball with Wilson at a Baton Rouge park, the police chief said.

In Louisiana, hazing can be a felony under the Max Gruver Act, passed in 2018 and named after an LSU Phi Delta Theta fraternity member who died in a hazing incident in 2017. 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

program that supports schools with large shares of students from low-income families

“The states that have the highest percentage of federal funding, a lot of which is coming from Title I, they are largely red states,” Potter said. “And Louisiana is high up on that list.”

The Education Department’s control of federal funds is its main source of power It can set conditions for schools to receive the money or threaten to withhold it from schools or universities that violate federal laws.

For instance, under the Biden administration, the department put new restrictions on funding for charter schools. In 2022, when Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry was the state attorney general, he joined other states in challenging the regulations.

Under the current Trump administration, the department cut $600 million in grants to teacher-training programs, including several in Louisiana, saying they promoted “divisive ideologies” related to race. On Friday, the department and other federal agencies said they would cancel $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University because they said the school failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus.

If the department is dismantled, school funding could come with fewer restrictions. Some conservative groups have called for converting programs like Title I, which requires the funding to go to hiring teachers and counselors or other approved ways to support low-income students, into block grants that let states decide how

be on our college’s campus. So my vote is to expel them, and I mean indefinitely,” said Clayton, himself a member of the fraternity In 2005, Omega Psi Phi was kicked off Southern’s Baton Rouge campus, archives from The Advocate | The Times-Picayune show

The university ordered a threeyear expulsion, after university officials found “overwhelming evidence” a fraternity pledge was severely beaten, with injuries that led to internal bleeding.

More recently, Omega Psi Phi was kicked off LSU’s campus in 2016 after university officials found the fraternity responsible for complicity, endangerment and hazing violations of the student code of conduct. LSU found the fraternity “engaged in hazing activities.” They included sleep deprivation, personal servitude, 5 a.m. workouts, skipping class and more.

Omega Psi Phi has since returned to LSU’s campus.

or is seriously injured, penalties 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 Woodcrest Drive warehouse is 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 Southern University Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Clayton, who is the 18th Judicial District Attorney in West Baton Rouge, said Friday in an interview he is pushing for the Omega fraternity to be removed from the university “They’ve forfeited their right to

to spend the money Advocates like Potter said such a change would risk diverting funds from schools that need them most.

“Without any kinds of guardrails and accountability,” she said, “it could be misspent on things that aren’t related to instruction and aren’t directly helping the students it’s designed to help.”

Pointing to students’ recent reading improvements, Brumley said Louisiana knows better than federal bureaucrats what support students needs.

“We’ve proven we have the ability to make good decisions on behalf of kids and families and communities,” he said. “I think that given additional flexibility and fewer strings, we can do more of that.”

The Education Department is also the chief enforcer of federal education laws, including IDEA and Title IX.

States sometimes bristle at the oversight.

Last year, Louisiana and 25 other Republican-led states took the department to court after it issued a rule saying that Title IX also bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Brumley advised schools to disregard the federal rule, saying it conflicted with a state law banning transgender students from participating in women’s sports.

“That really infringed on the sovereignty of the state,” he said Thursday

The department’s Office for Civil Rights also investigates complaints filed by students, parents and advocates.

The Louisiana Legislature sought to tighten laws around hazing after Gruver’s death in 2017. He was forced to drink excessively during a fraternity ritual called “Bible Study.” Meanwhile, Wilson’s family last week thanked the community for its “unwavering” support.

The former Southern student’s father, Corey Wilson, has worked 35 years as a deputy with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The elder Wilson also worked security details for Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson. Caleb Wilson’s mother is a student at Southern University’s New Orleans campus.

Last week in a statement on behalf of the family released by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Wilson’s family said, “We are committed to seeking the truth about the circumstances surrounding Caleb’s passing and ensuring that no other family has to endure such a tragedy.”

In 2023, the office launched an investigation into the Jefferson Parish school system following a complaint that the district’s decision to close several schools disproportionately affected Black and Latino students and students with disabilities. The district said it was cooperating with the Education Department, and said the allegations lacked merit.

The complaint system “is a way to get districts to make sure no federal rights are being violated and, if they are, to make sure they’re remedied,” said Lauren Winkler, a senior staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the legal advocacy group that filed the complaint. At her confirmation hearing last month, McMahon said the Office for Civil Rights could be moved to the Justice Department.

Critics say the move would shift the complaint system to the courts, which would slow down the process.

“Federal civil rights law is a difficult area to litigate,” Winkler said.

But Louisiana officials say that, whatever form federal oversight takes, the state will take care of its students.

“I think we’re going to fight for the needs and best interests of all our students,” said Morris, the state board of education president. Email Patrick Wall at patrick. wall@theadvocate.com.

The office has dozens of open investigations into Louisiana schools and colleges based on complaints of discrimination against students based on their race, sex, national origin or disability, according to the office’s public database.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Baton Rouge Chief of Police Thomas Morse Jr speaks to the media alongside District Attorney Hillar Moore during a news conference Friday regarding the hazing death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson.

Green censured for disrupting Trump’s speech

But past addresses have history of outbursts

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON The Republican majority in the U.S. House on Thursday censured Democratic Rep. Al Green, a New Orleans native who represents parts of Houston, for interrupting President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress and the nation.

Green is only the 28th member censured in the 236-year history of the House. But he is the third, all Democrats, chastised since 2023, when the Republicans regained control of the House. Now, the right-wing Republican House Freedom Caucus is looking to oust Green from his committee assignments as further punishment.

During the Tuesday night speech, Trump said that the nation had overwhelmingly elected him. Trump did win a majority of the

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presiding over Hoffman’s challenge.

The state, including Gov Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill, have argued that putting Hoffman to death is necessary to bring justice in his case.

Hoffman’s attorneys argue that the state is making Hoffman a test case for the new execution method, which only Alabama has tried, executing four people with it. Louisiana added nitrogen hypoxia to a menu of legalized execution methods last year in a bill supported by Landry, aiming to activate a long-dormant execution chamber

It’s been 15 years since the state executed any deathrow prisoner, as Louisiana officials have struggled to procure drugs for execution by lethal injection. The last to be executed, Gerald Bordelon, volunteered.

A jury in St. Tammany Parish convicted Hoffman and sentenced him to die. He is currently the only one among Louisiana’s 56 deathrow prisoners with an execution date.

His attorneys argue that nitrogen hypoxia is especially problematic as a method of execution on Hoffman because he is a practicing Buddhist and uses Buddhist breathing and meditation exercises to help manage his PTSD. They contend that if he’s forced to inhale nitrogen gas to end his life, he will not be able to use those techniques.

Hoffman testified that he struggles in closed-in and confined spaces and worries that having a mask strapped over his face will trigger his anxiety He said those fears stretch back to a childhood in New Orleans when his mother once locked him in

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she was deceased,” Jarrell said. Dr Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer’s disease and unable to deal with his wife’s death in the last week of his life.

“You are talking about very severe Alzheimer’s disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care of him until she passed away,” Baden said Their bodies were found a little over a week later Hackman was found in the home’s entryway His death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing. Arakawa was found in a bathroom. Authorities linked her death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by infected rodent droppings. Thyroid medication pills prescribed

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

U.S. Rep.Al Green, D-Texas, shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on Tuesday.

electoral and popular votes. But he only polled 1.5% more votes than former Vice President Kamala Harris out of the 152.3 million cast. Green jumped up, shook the cane he uses to help him walk and shout-

a pantry while she went to work. He described having panic attacks during one medical transport from prison.

“The idea of having a mask over my face,” he said, “I fear it’s gong to trigger.” Hoffman largely stayed composed and stoic throughout the hearing Hoffman’s lawyers have also argued to be allowed to witness the execution to ensure it happens legally Not being there would deprive Hoffman of constitutional rights, they argue.

Louisiana Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott confirmed in his testimony Friday that he does not plan to allow any of Hoffman’s attorneys to witness the execution. Attorneys are not “required witnesses” to executions under state law

Westcott said he has three available spots at his discretion to witness the execution, and that they have been requested by law enforcement and representatives for the governor and attorney general.

In his testimony on Friday morning, Hoffman said he became a practicing Buddhist around 2002, after he lost his grandmother He said he has leaned on Buddhist teachings to help him improve his life, including when he was recently served with an execution warrant.

“Feb. 20, I was served a death warrant and immediately afterward, I was moved to a different location, in isolation, away from what I was used to,” he said. He credited his spiritual practice for carrying him through mentally

“Everything I needed to cope and deal with what I was dealing with in that moment was inside me,” he said “It allows me every day to be a better version of myself.”

to Arakawa were found nearby and weren’t listed as contributing to her death, Jarrell said.

Hantavirus typically is reported in spring and summer, often due to exposures that occur when people are near mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. This is the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year

While hantavirus is found throughout the world, most cases in the U.S. have been found in western states. The virus can cause a severe and sometimes deadly lung infection

Jarrell said it was not known how quickly Arakawa died.

One of the couple’s three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs survived. Authorities initially misidentified the breed. Dogs do not get sick from hantavirus, said Erin Phipps, a veterinarian with the New Mexico Health Department. The sheriff considers this an open investigation until they receive results of the dog’s

ed: “You have no mandate.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, RBenton, ordered Green to sit down and Green refused. Johnson had Green removed from the chamber

No Republicans opposed the resolution to censure Green — including all four GOP members in Louisiana’s congressional delegation in the 224-198 vote.

Ten Democrats joined the Republicans. Both Democratic members in the state’s delegation supported Green by voting against the resolution.

A censured member is supposed to stand contritely in front of the podium while the Speaker of the House reads aloud a resolution describing the chamber’s displeasure.

But Democratic members joined Green in the well and sang “We Shall Overcome” while Johnson banged his gavel to regain order so he could read the resolution. He gave up and recessed the session for a while.

Several hours later, after the House reconvened, Green read aloud the resolution censuring him. “I rise a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed

The state’s execution protocol, unsealed in court on Thursday, spells out that inmates with an execution date are to be transferred to the “Execution Building” about a month before. There, all of his meals, telephone calls, movements and “mood changes” are logged every 15 minutes

Seth Smith, chief of operations for DOC, testified in more detail than the state has previously released about how long they’ve been planning their nitrogen gas process; changes to the death chamber at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola to prepare for it; and visits to Alabama to learn from them. Darrel Vannoy, Angola’s warden, said the state would have needed too much extra equipment and supplies to perform executions by electrocution.

The only U.S. state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas in the modern era, Alabama has done it four times Louisiana’s new protocol for nitrogen gas executions mirrors Alabama’s, and in key places follows it word for word.

Smith agreed in his testimony that Louisiana’s protocol largely matches that of Alabama, saying it was the only state they studied and that no medical personnel were involved in crafting Louisiana’s nitrogen gas protocols.

Though Landry announced last month that Louisiana had developed a protocol for using nitrogen gas, Smith testified that the state began obtaining gas in July 2024.

He said Louisiana corrections officials had long struggled to obtain drugs for use in capital punishment via lethal injection, and that the state signed an agreement with the well-known pharmaceutical company Pfizer in 2018 that said they would not use their drugs in execu-

necropsy and finish checking into data from personal cellphones retrieved from the home.

When Hackman and Arakawa were found, the bodies were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe’s especially dry air at an elevation of nearly 7,200 feet.

Dr Victor Weedn, a forensic pathologist in Virginia, said that when two bodies are found at the same time the usual assumption would be that they died at the same time. But Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease added a complicating factor: He apparently was unable to seek help after his wife died.

“They died several days apart: One dying of a viral infection, the hantavirus, which can kill quite quickly And the other death occurring from heart disease. And that too can be a relatively sudden death,” Weedn said. “Their (the authorities’) explanation, I thought, was quite clear and plausible. I believe they really discovered what truly happened in this case.”

and unafraid,” he said. Green’s family moved from New Orleans to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where he graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in the 1960s. Green attended Florida A&M University and Tuskegee Institute of Technology in Alabama.

In 1974, he received a law degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston. Green, 77, opened a law firm in Houston and became president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP He has been involved in local politics, serving in a variety of roles over the decades Green joined the House in 2005 to represent Houston’s southwestern neighborhoods. Disruptions like Green’s have become common in the past decade or so.

In 2011, when Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry, a Republican, was in Congress, he quietly held up a sign “Drilling = Jobs” during Democratic President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech. Last year and the year before, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., interrupted Democratic

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speeches.

She yelled out that the president was a liar in 2023 when he detailed steps he had taken to protect Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance for the poor Greene continually disrupted Biden in 2024 when he spoke about efforts to pass a bipartisan immigration bill over the objections of Trump and far right Republicans.

She was not censured.

The Congressional Black Caucus filed a resolution in September to censure U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, RLafayette, after he posted on social media that Haitian immigrants, who had moved to the U.S. legally, ate pets, practiced voodoo, joined cults and should be returned to the island nation. Higgins later removed the post, but the majority Republican House never voted on the censure motion.

When Trump announced he wanted to address a joint session of Congress and the nation Tuesday night, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., asked House Democrats to show dignity and restraint.

tions.

Other pharmaceutical makers also made it clear that if Louisiana used their drugs for executions, they would pull the usage of their medications from the state for other reasons, including to take care of inmates who are not on death row

Smith said DOC staffers made visits to Alabama in March 2024 and again last July to learn from their process and figure out how to retrofit Angola’s execution chamber for gas.

The second trip happened after Louisiana’s initial attempt at setting up its execution chamber for nitrogen hypoxia had “more room for human error” and Smith asked for changes, he said. He said the state added two exhaust fans to the execution chamber along with permanently mounted oxygen monitors.

During a recent train-

ing on the new execution protocol on Feb. 14, Smith said, they used “a small female” in place of the condemned.

He also said that he tested out the mask, which is the type of respirator often used by painters and sandblasters. He said he wanted to test the 70 liter per minute flow rate, though he tested it using “breathing quality air” from a can, rather than the “ultrahigh purity” nitrogen that the state has obtained for executions.

Other testimony at the hearing focused on why Louisiana has not opted to carry out executions by firing squad or physician-assisted suicide, neither of which are currently legal means of execution in state law

Medical experts faced off about whether those other methods would provide Hoffman with a more humane death. His spiritual

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adviser the Rev. Reimoku Gregory Smith, testified that a peaceful death is an important component of Buddhism.

Dr Philip Bickler, the chief of neuro-anesthesia at the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco Medical Center, testified that a death by nitrogen gas “seems like a cruel experiment” and would feel similar to drowning.

“What this represents is forced asphyxiation,” he testified. “You’re able to breathe, but you don’t have the feeling your breathing is effective.”

But Dr Joseph Antognini, another anesthesiologist and clinical researcher from California, testified on behalf of the state.

Antognini reviewed the state’s execution protocol and also helped back Alabama’s nitrogen gas protocol.

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Single day of DOGE campaign remakes big parts of government

BY CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON A series of decisions

revealed Friday provided a glimpse of the turmoil engulfing federal agencies since President Donald Trump and Elon Musk launched their campaign of disruption, upending how government functions in ways big and small Some changes appeared designed to increase political control over agencies that have historically operated with some degree of autonomy, such as requiring Environmental Protection Agency officials to seek approval from the Department of Government Efficiency for any contracts exceeding $50,000. Other directives increased burdens on federal workers, who have already endured insults, layoffs and threats from the president and other top officials. For example, government credit cards issued to civilian employees at the Pentagon were altered to have a $1 limit, choking off their ability to travel for work.

The Transportation Security Administration became another target. The administration canceled a collective bargaining agreement with 47,000 workers who screen travelers and luggage at airports around the country, eliminating union protections in a possible prelude to layoffs or privatization.

The cascading developments are only a fraction of the upheaval that’s taken place since Trump took office, but they still reshaped how hundreds of thousands of public servants do their jobs, with potentially enduring consequences. The ongoing shake-up is much more intense than the typical whiplash that Washington endures when one administration gives way to another raising fundamental questions about how government will function under a president who has viewed civil servants as an obstacle to his agenda. The White House has wrestled with political blowback over Musk’s role and legal challenges that have tried to block or slow down his work. Republicans who are facing growing pressure in contentious town halls have started to speak up.

“I will fully admit, I think Elon Musk has tweeted first and thought second sometimes,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. during a virtual meeting with constituents on Friday “He has plunged ahead without necessarily knowing and understanding what he legally has to do or what he is going to be doing.”

Mistakes are being made

The overhaul of the federal government is happening at lightning speed, reflecting years of preparation by Trump’s allies and the president’s decision to grant Musk sweeping influence over his administration. Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur with no previous experience in public service, has shown no interest in slowing down despite admitting that he’ll make mistakes in his crusade to slash spending and downsize the workforce.

The government is facing even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. Trump has directed agencies to prepare plans for widespread layoffs, known as reductions in force, that will likely require more limited operations at agencies that provide critical services.

The Department of Veterans Affairs could shed 80,000 employees, while the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration are considering plans that would cut their workforces in half.

Trump has vowed not to reduce Social Security benefits, but Democrats argue that layoffs would make it harder to deliver payments to 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.

There are also concerns that politics could interfere with Social Security Trump has feuded over transgender issues with Maine Democratic Gov Janet Mills, and his administration recently said children born in the state would no longer have a Social Security number assigned at birth. Instead, parents would have to apply for one at a local office

Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, rescinded the order on Friday

“In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine,

which was not the intent,” he said in a statement. Dudek added that “as a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.”

A startup mindset

More than a month after Trump took office, there’s still confusion about Musk’s authority In public statements and legal filings, administration officials have insisted that Musk does not actually run DOGE and has no direct authority over budgets.

But Trump has contradicted both statements. He said Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk” in a prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress, and he said Thursday that “Elon will do the cutting” if agency leaders don’t reduce their spending.

Their approach has energized people like David Sacks, a venture capitalist serving as a Trump adviser on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, who praised the administration as moving “faster than any startup that I’ve been part of.”

Trump denied reports of friction between Musk and Cabinet officials, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a meeting Thursday “Elon gets along great with Marco,” the president said. The State Department had no immediate comment.

Norm Eisen, executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, an organization that has been suing the Trump administration, said the president “made clear that Musk and DOGE have been calling the shots.”

Musk serves as a presidential adviser, not a Senate-confirmed official, which Eisen argued makes his role unconstitutional. He said Trump’s comments are “an admission that the vast chaos that Musk

and DOGE have wrought without proper approval and documentation is illegal — and so must be completely unwound.”

Executive orders

Many of the changes sweeping through Washington were ignited by Trump’s executive orders. One order issued last week said agencies must develop new systems for distributing and justifying payments so they can be monitored by DOGE representatives.

The EPA distributed guidance intended to ensure compliance.

“Any assistance agreement, contract or interagency agreement transaction (valued at) $50,000 or greater must receive approval from an EPA DOGE team member,” said the documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the involvement of Musk’s “unvetted, inexperienced team raises serious concerns about improper external influence on specialized agency decision-making.”

Republicans have shied away from holding town hall meetings with constituents after critics started using them to vent their frustration.

Some protesters gathered outside Huizenga’s district office in Holland, Michigan, calling on him to answer questions in person.

“I would like to ask him why he thinks that someone like Musk can go in and simply blow up agencies without seemingly even knowing what they’re doing,” said Linda Visscher, a Holland resident. She said increasing the efficiency of government was a good idea, but she doesn’t agree with “just taking the blowtorch to it.”

Pope hits 3-week mark in hospital

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and MARIA CHENG Associated Press

ROME Pope Francis hit the three-week mark Friday in his hospitalization for double pneumonia, in stable condition, receiving therapy but not necessarily improving, after giving the world a tangible indication of just how frail and sick he is. The 88-year-old Francis spent 20 minutes in the Gemelli hospital chapel, praying and doing some work in between rest and respiratory and physical therapy, the Vatican said. He was using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night.

Doctors not involved in his care said after three weeks of acute care in the hospital for double pneumonia, they would have hoped to have seen improvement and warned that he was increasingly at risk of secondary infections the longer he remains hospitalized. Additionally, Francis has had episodes of acute respiratory failure earlier this week and underwent bronchoscopies to suction mucus from his lungs.

“He’s had respiratory failure and they were not able to liberate him from the hospital in the first three weeks. And therefore I think you’d say this does look concerning, perhaps more concerning than it did right at the beginning,” said Dr Andrew Chadwick, a respiratory and intensive care specialist at Oxford University Hospitals in England Dr Jeffrey Millstein, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said it wasn’t shocking that Francis hadn’t improved in three weeks, and that it was encouraging he was able to breathe part of the day with just a nasal tube of high-flow oxygen.

But he said that his condition certainly was “a precarious, touch and go kind of situation” and that recovery while still possible, would be a long process.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BEN CURTIS

Posters showing the face of Elon Musk and messages relating to data privacy are hang Friday on a fence surrounding a building site in Washington.

RIGHT: Ragen Borel works on installing a crochet ceiling on Friday.

BELOW: La Asociación Española De Nueva Iberia, the New Iberia Spanish Association, installed a crochet ceiling over Church Alley pocket park in New Iberia on Friday. The New Iberia Spanish Festival will be April 11, 12 and 13.

PHOTOS By LEE BALL

Stitched together

January snow slowed season down

BY JOANNA BROWN

Inclusive circus coming to Lafayette

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

BY QUINN COFFMAN and MATT BRUCE Staff writers

Crawfish Restaurant

PHOTO PROVIDED By PASA

The Omnium Circus, an inclusive and accessible circus that celebrates disability and diversity, will make its Lafayette debut next week.

Stop sticks needed on Twin Span bridge

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

A Lockport stunt driver was arrested in New Orleans after a Mardi Gras “street takeover” event on Chef Menteur Highway rife with vehicle doughnuts and burnouts, according to Louisiana State Police troopers. Brody Gautreaux, 26, allegedly led troopers on a 133-mph chase across the Interstate 10 Twin Span bridge to Slidell, where spike strips felled his Cadillac CT4 sedan.

Multiple vehicles and pedestrians had blocked the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Press Drive at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to court documents, leading New Orleans police to request assistance from State Police Troop NOLA officers.

“People have been hurt doing these exhibition stunts, and (they) create a danger to the public,” the NOPD said in a police report.

Illegal stunt driving events surged across New Orleans in 2022, leading to public safety concerns and stiffer penalties, including charges of aggravated obstruction of a highway, which carries a potential

sentence of up to 15 years in jail.

Police said Gautreaux’s distinctive white Cadillac, with a switched license plate, was among the vehicles to flee the scene.

NOPD Lt Troy Pichon and Troop NOLA Capt. Rodney Hyatt pursued Gautreaux in a marked Chevy Tahoe with lights and sirens blazing as he entered Interstate 10 traveling east to Slidell, the police report said.

The chase across the Twin Span bridge maxed out the Tahoe’s top speed as it chased Gautreaux, who allegedly switched off his taillights “in an attempt to disappear and lose troopers in the dark,” the report states. Hyatt ordered spike strips

placed at the end of the bridge, the report states. Those strips deflated the Cadillac’s front left tire, Gautreaux lost control of the car, and officers “deployed a vehicle intervention stop technique,” the report states.

Gautreaux was arrested and booked into Orleans Justice Center on aggravated flight from an officer, obstruction of justice, aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce, reckless operation of a vehicle, a switched license plate, and having his vehicle lights off The aggravated obstruction of a highway count carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence upon a conviction. On Wednesday Orleans

Parish Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman set Gautreaux’s bail at $55,000. Gautreaux remained jailed Friday If he makes bail, he will be sent to St. Tammany Parish to face charges related to the same incident there, Friedman said.

Gautreaux is currently on probation after doing doughnut burnouts and blocking the intersection of St Phillip Street and South Boulevard in Baton Rouge then running stop signs and speeding as he fled Baton Rouge police on April 9, 2023. He pleaded guilty last year to aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce and received two years probation.

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the crustaceans further into their burrows and slowed ede

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formation us find Mr White or his remains and close this investigation to come forward and help us bring closure to the victims and their families,” said William Travis Brown Jr U.S. marshal for the Middle District of Louisiana. According to the Marshals Service, it is rare for rewards to be offered in exchange for evidence of a fugitive’s death, but it does occur when the agency is interested in

fugitives are found within a few days

“He’s not hitting on any databases, he’s not showing up anything new on social media, he’s not hitting anything new in law enforcement he’s not on any lease agreements,” Reich said in January 2024.

“He’s a ghost.”

Fugitives on the most wanted list “tend to be career criminals with histories of violence who pose a significant threat to pub-

safety,” according to a release from the agency Those fugitives generally are considered the “worst the worst” and can include killers, sex offenders, major drug kingpins, organized crime figures and individuals wanted for high-profile financial crimes, the release said. White is accused of killing 28-year-old Kourtney Thomas and wounding another woman during a Jan 9, 2016, drug deal that turned violent, according to authorities. According to a warrant for White’s arrest, the surviving woman had known White for at least 10 years when she called him the

night of the shooting to buy drugs. The woman drove to the Gardere neighborhood with Thomas in the back seat and they picked up White, who took them to the Broussard Plaza Apartments in the 8600 block of Coy Avenue.

White got out of the car and told the women he was going into the apartment complex to get their drugs. When he returned moments later, he opened a passenger door and shot both women multiple times at point-blank range, investigators said. Thomas died at the scene. The other woman was severely injured with gunshot wounds to the face

and shoulder according to authorities.

White fled the scene and has remained on the run ever since.

He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 215 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. According to the release, White should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information regarding White’s whereabouts or the location of his remains is urged to contact the U.S marshals 24-hour tip line at (877) WANTED2.

Email Quinn Coffman at quinn.coffman@ theadvocate.com.

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STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

wner,Anthony Arceneaux, has announced the opening date for the 2025 season — Acadia Parish is only open for about the last three months of crawfish season each year

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

SBA to relocate offices in so-called ‘sanctuary cities’

The Small Business Administration said it will relocate six of its regional offices in so-called “sanctuary cities,” part of a broader Trump administration effort to crack down on cities that it deems have immigrant-friendly policies. In a statement Thursday, SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler said offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle will be relocated to “less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.”

No details were given about where the offices might be moving to.

There’s no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. Courts have repeatedly upheld the legality of sanctuary laws.

Affordable housing projects thrown into limbo

The Trump administration has stalled at least $60 million in funding intended largely for affordable housing developments nationwide throwing hundreds of projects into a precarious limbo, according to information and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The move is part of a flurry of funding freezes, staffing cuts and contract cancellations by the Trump administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, changes that have instilled widespread uncertainty in the affordable housing industry

The some $60 million is intended to go to small community development nonprofits in small grants. The money is often used as seed funding for affordable housing projects, turning a concept into a viable development and consequently drawing in more public and private investment.

Congress chose three nonprofits to distribute the grants, but HUD said in letters that it was canceling contracts with two of the organizations which together were to distribute the $60 million That’s pushed millions in funding already promised to small nonprofits, or yet to be awarded, into the twilight zone.

“Many of those organizations have already committed funds to pay workers, such as HVAC technicians, local contractors, homeownership counselors,” said Shaun Donovan, CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, one of the two groups whose contract was canceled. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation is the other group whose contract was canceled.

Trump tells crypto leaders he’s committed

President Donald Trump said Friday he’s committed to making the U.S. a world leader in cryptocurrencies as industry leaders heaped praise on him for reversing what they said had been unfair attacks on digital assets by the previous administration.

“I thought it was very important that we stay in the front of this one,” Trump said at the first-ever White House “Crypto Summit.”

A former crypto-skeptic, Trump has warmly embraced an industry that’s shown him significant love in return and spent heavily to help him win last year’s election.

The summit included crypto company executives, cabinet officials and lawmakers, many of whom took turns raving about Trump’s leadership on digital assets The emboldened industry said it was unfairly treated by the Biden administration and helped Trump and other Republicans score wins in the last election.

Friday’s summit was the latest in a series of actions the new Trump administration has taken to try and boost the crypto industry Notably, that’s included the Securities and Exchange Commission dropping several enforcement actions against large crypto companies.

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON U.S employers added solid 151,000 jobs last month, but the outlook is cloudy as President Donald Trump threatens a trade war, purges the federal workforce and promises to deport millions of immigrants

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring was up from a revised 125,000 in January Economists had expected 160,000 new jobs last month.

The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1% as the number of jobless Americans rose by 203,000.

Employment rose in health care, finance and transportation

and warehousing The federal government shed 10,000 jobs, the most since June 2022, though economists don’t expect Trump’s federal layoffs to have much of an impact until the March jobs report. Restaurants and bars cut nearly 28,000 jobs last month on top of a loss of almost 30,000 in January

“The labor market continues to hold up, but we’re still a far cry from where we were a year or two years ago,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo.

House expects hiring to slow and unemployment to creep higher as Trump continues to cut spending on programs and reduce the federal workforce, while imposing tariffs on America’s trading partners.

The spending cuts “are likely to spill over into the private sec-

tor, hitting contractors and nonprofits, and we still have a trade war that is picking up,” House said. “There are multiple battles for the labor market to fight off, multiple shocks it’s having to work through in the months ahead.”

The economy’s unexpectedly strong recovery from the pandemic recession of 2020 set loose an inflationary surge that peaked in June 2022 when prices came in 9.1% higher than they’d been a year earlier In response, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, taking it to the highest level in more than two decades. The economy remained sturdy despite the higher borrowing costs, defying expectations of a recession, thanks to strong consumer spending, big productivity gains at businesses and an

influx of immigrants who eased labor shortages.

The American job market has remained remarkably resilient, but it has cooled from the redhot hiring of 2021-23. Employers added a decent average of 168,000 jobs a month last year But that was down from 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022 and a record 603,000 in 2021 as the economy rebounded from COVID-19 lockdowns. Inflation came down dropping to 2.4% in September — allowing the Fed to reverse course and cut rates three times in 2024. The rate-cutting was expected to continue this year but progress on inflation has stalled since summer, and the Fed has held off. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% last month down from a 0.4% increase in January

BY MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press

OMAHA,Neb Looking forward to more evening sunlight thanks to daylight saving time this weekend?

Many in the golf industry like the time change, too, and they are pushing to make that annual switch permanent

The move is intended to encourage more evening golf and to stave off efforts to establish permanent standard time, which would leave less time for an evening on the links. And it is those late-afternoon players who tend to buy food and drinks in the clubhouse.

“We would lose 100 tee times a day if daylight saving time goes away,” said Connor Farrell, general manager of Stone Creek Golf Course in Omaha, Nebraska. “Switching to permanent standard time would cost us $500,000 a year.”

Golf has deep roots in the history of daylight saving time, which begins for most states at 2 a.m. Sunday when clocks “spring forward” by one hour Some credit goes to William Willett, a British builder and avid golfer who in 1905 published a pamphlet advocating for moving clocks ahead in April and returning them back to their regular settings in September The U.S. adopted a version of that during World War I and again in World War II.

Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966 that set up the biannual time change, and lobbying efforts by the golf industry are largely credited for Congress expanding daylight saving time by a month in the mid-1980s But for as long as it has been around, the constant clock adjusting has drawn the ire of Americans weary of losing an hour of sleep in the spring only to be faced with the early onset of darkness in the fall. That exhaustion has led to hundreds of bills introduced in nearly every state over the years to halt the practice.

The National Conference of State Legis-

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Wall Street rose on Friday, but only after careening through another wild day It was a fitting ending to a brutal week of scary swings dominated by worries about the U.S. economy and uncertainty about what President Donald Trump will do with tariffs. The S&P 500 climbed after storming back from an earlier loss that had reached 1.3% It was coming off a punishing stretch where it swung more than 1%, up or down, for six straight days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite

latures reports that in the last six years, 20 states have passed measures calling for a switch to year-round daylight saving time, many at the cajoling of golf industry lobbyists. But while states could switch to permanent standard time — as Arizona and Hawaii have done Congress would need to change the law to allow permanent daylight saving time. That hindrance along with arguments that permanent standard time would improve sleep quality and foster safer morning commutes — has seen more states consider opting out of daylight saving time Lawmak-

both rose. The wild week, which was the worst for the S&P 500 since September, left the index a little more than 6% below its alltime high set last month.

The head of the Federal Reserve helped ease the market’s worries on Friday afternoon after saying he thinks the economy looks stable at the moment, and he doesn’t feel pressure to cut interest rates in order to prop it up.

Traders in recent weeks had been building bets the Fed would have to cut its main rate more than three times this year following a stream of weaker-thanexpected reports on the economy.

But Jerome Powell pushed back on speculation he and other Fed officials could feel pressure to act soon.

“The costs of being cautious are very, very low” right now, Pow-

ers in more than a dozen states have introduced bills this year to make standard time permanent.

The National Golf Course Owners Association, which has about 4,000 members, recently polled stakeholders on the matter

The vast majority favored either permanent daylight saving time or the status quo of changing the clocks, said CEO Jay Karen. Only about 6% backed a change to permanent standard time.

“If standard time was to be made permanent, thousands of courses would be harmed by that,” Karen said.

ell said about holding steady on interest rates. “The economy is fine. It doesn’t need us to do anything really We can wait, and we should wait.”

A highly anticipated jobs report released Friday morning may have given him leeway to do just that. The U.S. Labor Department said employers added 151,000 more jobs last month than they cut. That was slightly below economists’ expectations, but it was an acceleration from January’s hiring. Recent, discouraging surveys had shown souring confidence for U.S businesses and households because of uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs, and economists were waiting to see if Friday’s report would show if that was translating into real pain for the economy and job

market.

“To sum it up: Today’s print wasn’t as bad as feared,” according to Lindsay Rosner, head of multi sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Some economists, though, also warned the jobs data included concerning details underneath the surface that could imply trouble ahead. The number of people working part-time who would rather be full-time rose 10% in February from January, for example.

“The market might breathe a sigh of relief that the labor market was still looking healthy, but a deeper dive shows that spring could be a more challenging season,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARGERy BECK Golfers line up to take some practice shots on the driving range of the Stone Creek Golf Course in Omaha, Neb., on Monday afternoon before hitting the links.

OPINION

ANOTHER VIEW

How conservative are Louisiana’s congressional Republicans?

Where do Louisiana’s members of Congress rank on the ideological spectrum?

To answer that question, take a look at the congressional ratings produced by GovTrack, a nonpartisan government transparency web site that ranked members by ideology based on legislative activity during the two-year term that ended Jan. 3, 2025 A score of 1.0 is all the way to the right and a zero score is all the way to the left. There are other rating systems available, often produced by interest groups. In any case, expect some members of Congress to question the efficacy of any rating methodology that produces scores they don’t like During the 2023-2025 term, Louisiana’s two Republican senators rated well to the right of the Senate’s center Bill Cassidy was the 39th most conservative senator with a score of 0.76. John Kennedy was the 34th most conservative senator with a score of 0.79.

Cassidy’s tone and temperament are widely regarded as moderate, while Kennedy is nationally known for his folksy, but pointedly conservative, aphorisms. Despite style differences their ideological ratings were similar only three-onehundredths of a point apart. Cassidy faces reelection in 2026. For context, let’s compare Louisiana’s senators to others. Vice President JD Vance, when he was Ohio’s senator, was the 30th most conservative member, scoring 0.82. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he was Florida’s senator, was the 16th most conservative, scoring 0.89. Both ranked to the right of Kennedy and Cassidy

Left of Louisiana’s senators was Mitt Romney the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who represented Utah; he was the 46th most conservative senator, scoring 0.69. Former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was the 44th most conservative, scoring 0.70.

The most conservative senator in America? Florida’s Rick Scott, scoring 1.00. The most progressive senator? You guessed it — Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, who scored zero Though Sanders is an independent, he caucuses with Senate Democrats Now-Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota scored 0.85 This placed him near the center of the Republican Senate caucus, with 23 members to his right and 26 to his left That gives Thune room to maneuver Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer scored 0.33, ranking closer to his party’s center than its left flank. Only 17 Democrats were to his right, while 31 were to his left Any attempt to topple Schumer as his party’s Senate leader would likely come from his left.

On the House side, Louisiana’s most conservative member during the 2023-25 term was U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins. A Republican from the state’s southwestern district, he was the 17th most conservative member of all 435, scoring 0.83. Two other Louisiana House members during the last term, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow a Republican from Louisiana’s northeastern district, and former U.S. Rep Garret Graves of Baton Rouge, who didn’t seek reelection in 2024, had conservative records, but much less so than Higgins. Letlow was the 164th most conservative, scoring 0.62, and Graves was the 189st most conservative, scoring 0.57. The most liberal member of the state’s congressional delegation was its only Democrat, U.S Rep. Troy Carter from New Orleans He was the 371st most conservative House member and the 64th most liberal.

Louisiana now has a second Democrat in the U.S House, Cleo Fields. He was elected in November, too late to be included in rankings for the last Congress.

It’s difficult to determine comparable ideological ratings for the two most prominent Louisiana Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise That’s because top House leaders don’t always participate in the legislative process the same way that other members do, especially as it relates to bill introductions and floor votes Consequently, it would not be fair to compare their ratings to those of other members.

However before Johnson became speaker, he was the 59th most conservative House member in the 2021-2023 term, scoring 0.69 Scalise, elected to the top leadership in 2014, has also maintained a conservative record.

The most progressive full-voting member of the entire House was U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat. Her score was 0.01 The most conservative was U.S Rep Randy Weber, a Texas Republican. He scored 1.00. Keep in mind, these ideological measures don’t yet include activities from the current Congress, which started Jan 3. As Senate and House members confront the flood of new issues, who knows where their ratings go from here It’ll be worth watching.

Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer based in Louisiana. He publishes LunchtimePolitics.com, a nationwide newsletter on polls and public opinion.

Time for all good citizens to speak up

In response to the blitzkrieg assault on democracy in our country, today:

First they came for transgender people, and I did not speak out because I was not transgender

Then they came for immigrants of color, including Haitian, Venezuelan and Afghan immigrants who were in the U.S. legally or who were in process of coming legally, and I did not speak out because I was not an immigrant of color

Then they came for inspectors general, and I did not speak out because I was not an inspector general.

Then they came for USAID workers, who helped ordinary people around the world in famines, war zones and natural disasters, and I did not speak out because I was not a USAID worker Then they came for DEI workers, and I did not speak out because I was not a DEI worker

Then they came for all federal workers, and I did not speak out because I was not a federal worker

Then they came for doctors and scientists who wanted to follow best medical and scientific practice, and I did not speak out because I was not a doctor or a scientist.

Then they came for soldiers and intelligence officers who pledged loyalty to the Constitution, and I did not speak out because I was not a soldier or an intelligence officer

Then they came for law professors who challenged governors and presidents, and I did not speak out because I was not a law professor

Then they came for Democratic and Republican leaders with courage to respect the Constitution because I was not a political leader

Then, they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.

LOU IRWIN New Orleans

Hegseth not showing the strength U.S. needs

When President Donald Trump appointed Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defense, he told us Hegseth would show the strength of the United States rather than weakness. So what did Hegseth do on the first trip abroad in his new position?

Before any negotiating takes place, he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin what he wants.

The secretary said, “It is unrealistic to think Ukraine will regain the territory Russia has taken by force.”

He said Ukraine will never be al-

lowed to join NATO.

He said that no U.S. troops will go to Ukraine to protect what is left after Russia has taken what it already has. What cards does America have left to play? I thought Hegseth was going to be a strong defense chief. Instead, he rolled over Maybe he will ask Putin to rub his belly and tell him “what a good boy you are.” Hegseth is not ready for prime time.

WAYNE EVANS Carencro

Pope’s example on immigration should be echoed

The newspaper recently reported that Pope Francis, citing the Book of Exodus and Jesus’ own birth and early childhood as an immigrant in a foreign country (Egypt), called out the U.S. government’s mass deportation as the unfolding of a “major crisis.”

This paper reported that the Pope said that anyone schooled in Christianity “cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some immigrants with criminality ”

Pope Francis counseled: “What is built on the basis of force and not on truth about the equal dignity of every human being begins badly and will end badly.”

By these words, Pope Francis extends to the leaders of Protestant faith and other Christian faiths an open invitation, grounded in the Bible and Jesus, to follow with an equally strong statement against the morally corrupt inhumanity ongoing in this country

CHARLES A. BOGGS Long Beach, Mississippi

Don’t underestimate the importance of U.S. soft power

In her 1961 autobiography, Eleanor Roosevelt lamented the failure of the U.S. to exercise “soft power” in the Middle East to counter the food and medical help being provided, and the influence gained there, by the Soviet Union. Powerful countries have competed for control or influence over the Middle East since the Silk Road started in the 2nd century BCE. Their efforts intensified with the building of the Suez Canal by the French and the discovery of oil.

After World War I, Britain and France created, out of thin air, the countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, eventually granting them autonomy while retaining considerable influence.

After World War II, the greatly diminished European powers retreated from the region, leaving the United States to fill the vacuum. Since then, the U.S. has continued the fight for control and influence in the Middle East through military power as well as aid (USAID). Lebanon, Syria and Jordan rely heavily on U.S. assistance.

President Donald Trump’s determination to “take” Gaza has infuriated the governments of all the countries in the region, with the obvious exception of Israel, of course.

Trump said he is “above” using the threat of withdrawing aid from Middle Eastern governments if they oppose his Gaza adventure, but I think everyone knows how much we can trust his word.

Americans should keep all this in mind, considering China’s growing influence in the Middle East as well as sub-Saharan Africa.

If Trump continues his attempts to bully other countries with American economic and military power these nations, including some that we consider our allies, may seek alignments elsewhere. Having rank amateurs run the national government can be effective in reducing its size. But it also introduces a significant degree of incompetence, which can endanger America’s position in the world.

WAYNE PARKER Baton

Rouge

Ron Faucheux

SPORTS

STAFF FILE PHOTOS By

MICHAEL JOHNSON AND HILARy SCHEINUK

Here’s what to look for as LSU football returns to practice field

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

Near the end of a disappointing 8-4 regular season coach Brian Kelly vowed that LSU would be “very aggressive” in the transfer portal.

The team’s actions over the next month backed up his statement. LSU signed 16 transfers, giving it one of the country’s top portal classes and setting up a push for the College Football Playoff. Since then, LSU players have been training as they prepare for the upcoming season Their work in the weight room has given the coaches an initial understanding of what kind of athletes are on the roster and now they have their first chance to see what this team might be capable of in 2025.

LSU begins spring football Saturday It will practice 15 times over the next five weeks, concluding with some kind of event April 12 in Tiger Stadium. Kelly said there will be “live action,” but he is considering changing the format of the spring game.

Between now and then, LSU will get a sense of a roster with plenty of new pieces. Here are the top position battles to monitor and the three biggest questions entering spring practice.

Key competitions

OFFENSIVE LINE: LSU has to replace four starters, and it did not bring back much experience. Only two returning players, redshirt sophomores DJ Chester and Paul Mubenga, have started at least five games. Needing instant help, LSU signed Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moore and Northwestern

transfer Josh Thompson. Moore will play center, Kelly told The Advocate, which means Chester will slide to guard after starting at center last season. Thompson could play tackle or guard, but Kelly suggested that, ideally someone else will assert himself at tackle.

“We’re, quite frankly, looking for one of the younger players to emerge at

the tackle position,” Kelly said. Redshirt sophomore Tyree Adams enters the spring with the edge at left tackle after starting twice last season. On the other side, it’s a big offseason for redshirt freshman Weston Davis, the highest-rated offensive lineman in LSU’s 2024 class.

ä See SPRING, page 3C

Skenes an early candidate for ‘face’ of MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates ace pitcher is trying to take his burgeoning fame in stride

BY WILL GRAVES AP national writer

BRADENTON, Fla.

— There are times when Paul Skenes, the 22-year-old, can’t escape Paul Skenes, baseball’s Next Big Thing It happens randomly and without warning. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year ran into former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman at the Super Bowl last month. The retired three-time Super Bowl champion told Skenes he was a fan. Caught maybe more than a little off guard, Skenes quickly replied: “Same.” A few days later, Skenes was minding his own business in the Bradenton-Sarasota airport after arriving for his second spring training with the Pittsburgh

Pirates when he caught a glimpse of his mustachioed face staring back at him. It wasn’t a mirror It was one of the countless ads in the area featuring the flame-throwing right-hander who turned every one of his first 23 major-league appearances (24 if you count the 2024 AllStar Game, which he started) into appointment viewing. Throw in the former LSU star’s upcoming cover appearance on the popular video game franchise MLB The Show and his recent guest spot on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”, and at times it can seem like he’s everywhere even if he believes he’s not. If Skenes is being honest, he’s still getting used to the outsized attention he’s commanded since making his debut in May Yet, it also beats the alternative. If his now fully-bearded mug isn’t plastered throughout Florida’s Sunshine Coast this time next year, he’ll know why

ä See SKENES, page 3C

Frey celebrates health with pop for LSU

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

When Ethan Frey made his way back to the dugout, LSU coach Jay Johnson was confused.

ä North Alabama at LSU 6 P.M. SATURDAy, SECN+

Frey’s teammates were emanating a level of excitement for him that puzzled the Tigers coach. After all, it was only a Tuesday afternoon game in February against Southern. “I’m like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ “ Johnson said. The big deal? It was Frey’s first collegiate home run. Despite hitting countless balls over the wall in batting practice and being 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, the junior had somehow never homered during his first two years with the Tigers.

“This guy’s got more power than anybody on the team,” Johnson said. “Like, I didn’t get it. Like, I literally didn’t understand that was his first home run in a game.” It was a special moment for Frey, in more ways than one. Hitting a homer for the purple and gold had been a dream of his while growing up in Rosepine. But the blast also signified the end of a difficult stretch of his career

ä N: Alabama at LSU ended after this edition went to press. For complete coverage visit, theadvocate.com.

Cajuns softball drops pair in Alabama

UL manages only two runs total in Iowa, Alabama losses

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The first stop on UL softball’s 10-day road trip went pretty well with three wins in the tournament in Auburn, Alabama. Since then, things have gone downhill.

On Wednesday, the Ragin’ Cajuns suffered the program’s worst lost in 11 years with a 14-1 run-rule setback at Mississippi State. In the first game of Alabama’s Spring Break Showdown at Rhoades Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Friday, the Cajuns suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Iowa Hawkeyes. The pitching got better in Friday’s second game, but the hitting didn’t in a 3-0 loss to No. 21 Alabama.

UL dropped to 11-9 with the two losses. Iowa improved to 14-5, and Alabama moved to 17-6.

Sam Ryan (3-2) was the starting pitcher for the Cajuns and struggled with her command, allowing three runs on six hits and five walks in three innings to get the loss against Iowa.

See CAJUNS, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK LSU designated hitter Ethan Frey, center celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning against Southern on Feb 18 at Alex Box Stadium.

AP PHOTO By STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers a pitch during the first inning of a spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles on March 1 in Sarasota, Fla.

ä See LSU, page 3C

Chris Hilton

Blake Baker

Brian Kelly Garrett Nussmeier

Paul Mubenga

Zavion Thomas

S. Carolina comes out strong, holds off Vanderbilt

By The Associated Press

GREENVILLE, S.C. Chloe Kitts had 25 points and 10 rebounds and No 5 South Carolina held off a furious second-half rally from Vanderbilt to win 84-63 on Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals

MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15 off the bench and Sania Feagin added 13 points for South Carolina (28-3), which will face No 10 Oklahoma, a 69-65 winner over 12th-ranked Kentucky, in Saturday’s semifinals.

Coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, the top seed, appeared plenty motivated to win a third straight SEC Tournament title. They came out of the gates strong shooting a blistering 67% from the field in the first half to build a 48-23 lead at the break

But the Commodores (22-10), behind stars Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre, battled back to cut the lead to five with 4:22 left. The Gamecocks regrouped and outscored the Commodores 16-0 the rest of the way No. 10 OKLAHOMA 69, No. 12 KENTUCKY 65: In Greenville, South Carolina, Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Payton Verhulst added 16 points and the Sooners battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.

Sahara Williams chipped in with 13 points for Oklahoma, which has won nine straight. Georgia Amoore scored 29 points and Clara Strack added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky (22-7).

Other Top 25 games

No. 2 USC 84, INDIANA 79: In Indianapolis, JuJu Watkins scored 31 points and Kiki Iriafen added 21 and each grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Trojans in the Big Ten quarterfinals. The Trojans (27-2) have now won all three games they’ve played in Indiana this season and will take an eight-game winning streak into Saturday’s semifinal against fifth-seeded Michigan (22-9). No. 8 TCU 69, COLORADO 62: In Kansas City, Missouri, LSU transfer Hailey Van Lith made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Sedona Prince added 18 points before fouling out, and the Horned Frogs held on in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

Donovyn Hunter also scored 13 points for the top-seeded Horned Frogs (29-3), who blew most of a 12-point fourth-quarter lead before holding on to win their eighth straight overall. No 14 NORTH CAROLINA 60, No. 22 FLORIDA STATE 56: In Greensboro, North Carolina, Alyssa Ustby scored 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and freshman Lanie Grant made two free throws with 7.3 seconds left to lift the Tar Heels the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Reniya Kelly, who missed the previous three games with an injury, hit a jumper with just over a minute remaining to give the Tar Heels the lead and she connected again near the foul line to make it 58-54 with 20.4 seconds left. No. 16 WEST VIRGINIA 73, No. 20 KANSAS STATE 69: In Kansas City Missouri, JJ Quinerly made a critical steal to set up her game-winning basket and scored 24 points to lift the Moutaineers in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats attempted a sideline inbounds lob into the key when Quinerly soared in to intercept the ball with a minute to go. She then drove into the

for a

that put West

on

5

5

2

LSU analyst Parks charged with felony strangulation

Antonio Parks, who joined the LSU football staff as an offensive analyst in February was charged Monday with one count of felony strangulation, according to online records from the Oregon Judicial Department.

The Oregonian, citing a probable cause affidavit filed in the Lane County Circuit Court, reported Thursday that Parks was accused of strangling a woman for 30-60 seconds in mid-December after he ordered her to delete a video titled “A Day in the Life of a Stay at Home Girlfriend” and she refused. Parks told The Oregonian that he is innocent. He was released from jail Wednesday on conditional release, records show Parks, a native of Reserve, played at East St. John High before going onto a college career at Arizona and UTSA, where he played for now-LSU running backs coach Frank Wilson.

Raiders land QB Smith after trade with Seahawks

Geno Smith is heading to the Las Vegas Raiders, a person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Friday

Lafayette Christian makes it five straight titles after routing Sacred Heart-N.O in Division III select championship game

BY TREASURE WASHINGTON Contributing writer

Another girls basketball state championship is heading to Lafayette Christian

Academy

Top-seeded LCA clinched its fifth consecutive title by routing No. 2 Sacred Heart of New Orleans 67-28 in the Division III select championship Friday at the University Center in Hammond.

The Knights won their eighth overall state title.

Players and coaches put fives up in the air as they took pictures after the game.

Knights Junior Kaliyah

Samuels was voted the tournament’s MVP

“Knowing that we can win so much (five in a row) it’s a good feeling,” Samuels said.

“We all are a bunch of girls who are great at what we do to where we can bring championships to the school year after year.”

LCA (29-5) lost much of its production with the graduation of one of the best players in school history, current LSU guard Jada Richard.

The Knights also graduated elite scorers Eve Alexander (Florida A&M) and Indeara Hebert.

It was critical for this year’s team to find its own identity

The Knights took their lumps at the beginning of the season, going 2-4 in their first six games Since then, LCA has steamrolled its opponents in winning 27 of its next 28.

“We’re just going to keep doing what we do,” coach Errol Rogers said. “We’re going to work hard and try to play the hardest schedule. This is going to end one day But while we can keep on this roller coaster, the Texas Cyclone, and keep going up, we’re going to keep riding this joker.”

LCA came out on fire as it outscored Sacred Heart 19-4 in the first quarter Freshman Paityn Dean (13 points, four rebounds) drained a 3-pointer to start the game while Samuels scored eight points in the period.

Samuels, one of the state’s top juniors, finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds.

“To see the hurt, the look on her face, it kind of tore me up,” Rogers said of Samuels, who has battled injuries in recent seasons “But having her come back this year, and she fought through so many things, it’s a blessing to have a young lady like this here. (She’s) almost a 4.0 student and just a great athlete.”

Sacred Heart (20-7) went on a 4-0 run to start the sec-

ond quarter Leah Varisco (team-high 11 points) scored seven points in the quarter, including 3-pointer but the Cardinals still trailed 36-17 at halftime.

LCA’s foot kept its foot on the gas in the second half, outscoring Sacred Heart 3111 the rest of the way Taelyn Taylor who had 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals, helped seal the game with a three-point play in the game’s final minutes.

Samuels applauded Taylor’s play

“All around, Taelyn is my dog. She’s the most humble person I know,” Samuels said. “Even though she is the jokester on our team, she’s a great leader and a great person. I just want to see her strive past high school. I’m going to miss her.”

The Knights will graduate three more impactful players in Jernyrie Morris, Haya El Halawany and Leilani Hudson. But LCA remains loaded heading into next season with the likes of Samuels, Dean, sophomore Shanna Simien and freshman Kenadie Jackson returning. “(Saturday is) supposed to rain, so guess what I’m doing tomorrow? Planning for next year,” Rogers said “It doesn’t stop.”

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the teams haven’t announced the deal, said the Raiders are sending the Seattle Seahawks a third-round pick for Smith.

The 34-year-old, two-time Pro Bowl quarterback reunites with new Raiders coach Pete Carroll in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Seahawks will seek a new starter Smith threw for 4,320 yards and 21 touchdowns with 15 interceptions last season. Las Vegas released Gardner Minshew during the offseason.

Woods not in field for TPC in final year of exemption

Tiger Woods is not in the field for The Players Championship next week at the TPC Sawgrass, the final year of his exemption from winning the 2019 Masters.

The decision was not surprising, especially when Woods said after a TMRW Golf League match earlier this week that it was only the third time he had played since his mother Kultida, died suddenly on Feb. 4.

Two of those times were at TGL. The other was with President Donald Trump on Feb. 9. He also played in the Seminole Pro-Member on Monday

“This is the third time I’ve touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven’t really gotten into it,” Woods said Tuesday “My heart is not into practicing right now.”

Lowry builds a two-shot lead at PGA Tour’s Bay Hill ORLANDO, Fla. — Shane Lowry loves the grind of a strong test and it’s showing at Bay Hill. He had six birdies Friday in slightly tamer conditions for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It wasn’t as cold as the day before. The wind was minimal. Bay Hill still had some bite.

Lowry, playing alongside good friend Rory McIlroy, holed a 35foot birdie putt on the 13th and closed with an 18-foot birdie to lead by two over Clark.

Corey Conners (70) and Collin Morikawa (68) were three shots behind, followed by McIlroy (70) and Jason Day, who has reunited with longtime coach Colin Swatton and posted a 64 for the lowest score of the tournament.

Texas Tech assistant new basketball coach at SFA

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Texas Tech assistant coach Matt Braeuer was named Friday as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin. Braeuer will finish the current season with the ninth-ranked Red Raiders before joining the Lumberjacks.

Tony Jasick was 6-6 as interim head coach for Stephen F. Austin (14-17, 7-13 Southland), which has completed its season after not qualifying for the conference tournament.

Kyle Keller had a 171-95 record and was in his ninth season as head coach when fired Jan. 22 with SFA off to a 1-7 start in conference play SFA went to the NCAA Tournament in 2017-18, his second season, and won Southland regular-season titles in 2019-20 and 2021-22.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

From left, Lafayette Christian’s Paityn Dean,Taelyn Taylor, Shanna Simien and Kenadie Jackson celebrate from the bench moments before the final buzzer sounded during their Division III select championship game against Sacred Heart on Friday in Hammond. LCA won 67-28.

CAJUNS

Continued from page 1C

Ryan was relieved by Tyra Clary, who allowed one run on three hits, one walk and struck out four in three innings. Iowa scored one run in the third two in the fourth and one more in the fifth to seize a 4-0 lead. Hannah Lindsay walked and scored on Talia Tretton’s RBI groundout for the first run.

Devin Simon and Jena Young singled and Tatianna Roman walked to load the bases with no outs. Ryan was pulled after SooJin Berry’s RBI single made it 2-0.

Clary walked her first batter to

force in the third run, but then struck out the next three batters to keep the Cajuns within reach.

In the fifth, though, that lead grew to 4-0 on Young’s RBI groundout.

The other big issue for UL was it didn’t score any runs until the sixth inning. The Cajuns had only six hits in the game and stranded eight runners. Iowa stranded 10.

The sixth inning started with two straight outs before Emily Smith was hit by a pitch and Laney Credeur singled. Sam Roe delivered an RBI single and Savannah White was hit by a pitch to chase home the second run.

In the seventh, Kayla Falterman singled and Cecilia Vasquez was hit by a pitch, but a double play quickly ended any comeback

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU designated hitter Ethan Frey flips his bat after hitting a three-run home run against Southern on Feb 18 at Alex Box Stadium.

LSU

Continued from page 1C

For nearly all of last season, Frey played with a torn labrum in his shoulder He suffered the injury diving back into first base against Xavier on March 9

The ailment affected every aspect of his game. He couldn’t play in the field. He had to completely change his swing His workouts in the weight room were adjusted drastically

“I’ve been having the same swing since I was 5 or 6, and then all of a sudden I had to completely change it with an injury,” Frey said. “So it was just like a little bit of a weird feeling.”

Frey played through it and took a step forward from his freshman year He had 13 hits in 34 games after playing in just 19 contests in 2023. He also led off multiple times and earned consistent playing time against left-handed pitching.

The pain he felt wasn’t constant, but it hurt whenever it would pop up.

“It actually wasn’t too bad, except for when I did feel it,” Frey said, “and then it was kind of bad.” Frey is 100% healthy again after offseason surgery His homer against the Jaguars was a welcome back, but it might also have been a positive sign for what’s to come.

SKENES

Continued from page 1C

“If I start sucking, my photo is not going to be (there),” he said. A fresh ‘face’

Skenes understands in a way that belies his age that none of the trappings of his already remarkable success will stick if he doesn’t find a way to build on one of the most remarkable rookie years in a generation. He finds himself at the confluence of the game and the culture at large From a fastball that regularly hits triple digits to a “splinker” borne out of experimentation, he has the kind of “stuff” that sends baseball purists scrambling for superlatives. He couples it with a mix of swagger and savvy that could in theory make him Major League Baseball’s first Gen Z crossover star It’s a lot to take in for someone who was a late bloomer by baseball standards, not truly coming into his own until his sophomore year at Air Force, where the former catcher developed so rapidly on the mound he made the difficult but necessary decision to transfer to LSU. Ask Skenes whether he wants to be the “face” of the game and he deflects. He’s been doing this as a pro less than two years That kind of honor, for the moment anyway, is reserved for the Shohei Ohtanis, Aaron Judges and Mike Trouts of the world.

hopes.

In the second game, UL settled for three hits — two from Smith and one from Maddie Hayden.

The bright spot from the loss to Alabama was the pitching of Bethaney Noble (2-4) Alabama got an RBI triple from Brooke Ellestad and a two-run homer from Marlie Giles in the fourth inning, but that was about it.

Noble allowed those three runs on six hits, four walks and no strikeouts in six innings and 97 pitches.

Tide starter Jocelyn Briski gave up three hits, two walks and struck out three in seven innings to improve to 6-5 on the season.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

SPRING

Continued from page 1C

The battle at guard could be intense. Chester, Mubenga, Thompson, redshirt freshman Coen Echols and redshirt junior Bo Bordelon all will be in the mix. Early enrollees Carius Curne, Solomon Thomas and Tyler Miller also could push for time. Kelly said Curne has the physicality to play early

CORNERBACK, SAFETY: Ashton

NEW LSU D-LINE

Frey has a .375 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage in 24 plate appearances this year He hit another home run, a towering 387-foot three-run shot, on Sunday against Sam Houston State, and he has cemented his role as a weapon against lefthanded pitching.

“He’s kind of one of those Xfactor guys on the team,” Johnson said, “that could take us to another level.”

Frey has played only two games in the field this year entering Friday’s game against North Alabama, and it’s difficult to see that changing drastically soon. The Tigers have a plethora of strong defensive outfielders, including redshirt sophomore Mic Paul and senior Josh Pearson neither of whom start in the outfield on a regular basis.

But as long as Frey continues to hit the ball, he’ll be an important piece, whether he’s the starting designated hitter or not. He’s already come through as a pinchhitter, drilling a run-scoring double last week against Dallas Baptist.

The LSU lineup is built off depth and versatility Frey supports that vision.

“We’re creating this All-American player,” Johnson said. “It’s (just) done within like three or four different guys.”

Email Koki Riley at Koki Riley@theadvocate.com.

A young fan

the

of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 23 in Pittsburgh.

Those guys have earned the right. He hasn’t. Not yet anyway Besides, “that stuff takes energy, frankly,” Skenes said flatly Leading from front

While Skenes became an instant sensation from the moment he was called up, Pittsburgh faded in late summer to a 76-86 finish.

There is a sense of urgency pulsing throughout Pirates City this spring Perhaps because the clock is already ticking on the Skenes Era Technically he is under team control through 2029. If Skenes sticks around that long, he seems destined for a megadeal from deeper-pocketed franchises such as the Dodgers or Yankees.

Skenes would prefer not to talk about his future. There’s too much at stake in the present. He thinks the 2024 Pirates were “an under-

Stamps has started 16 straight games at cornerback dating back to the 2023 season, but he will have to fight for a spot. That’s because LSU signed five-star prospect DJ Pickett, Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane and Florida transfer Ja’Keem Jackson. Delane could play safety, but Kelly said he’s at cornerback right now At safety, LSU brought in NC State transfer Tamarcus Cooley who played nickel last season. Regardless of where he fits, someone else needs to step up. Senior Jardin Gilbert, junior Javien Toviano and sophomore Dashawn Spears will compete to start.

WIDE RECEIVER: LSU has plenty of options. It brought back redshirt junior Aaron Anderson, redshirt senior Chris Hilton and senior Zavion Thomas, among others. It also signed Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson and Kentucky transfer Barion Brown. All five could have a role. It’s a matter of figuring out who starts and how they fit into the offense. Questions to answer CAN GARRETT NUSSMEIER CUT DOWN ON MISTAKES AND CONSISTENTLY THROW DEEP?

In his first year as a starter, Nussmeier finished fifth nationally with 4,052 yards passing and threw 29 touchdowns, making him one of the top returning quarterbacks in the country He did some impressive things, but he needs to improve in two key areas to meet the early Heisman expectations. Let’s start with the interceptions. Nussmeier threw 12 last season, tied for the most in the SEC with Carson Beck of Georgia and Quinn Ewers of Texas. He had six turnovers combined in LSU’s losses to Texas A&M and Alabama. If there was a pos-

itive sign, Nussmeier had only one pick in the last four games. As for throwing deep, Nussmeier tossed nine touchdowns and 982 yards on passes of more than 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. But he completed only 36% (31 of 86) of those throws, which ranked 10th in the SEC among quarterbacks who started the majority of their games. Nussmeier ranked 12th in the SEC at 7.7 yards per attempt. By comparison, Jayden Daniels averaged 11.7 the year before Part of the issue was LSU’s receivers. Until Hilton got healthy at the end of the year, LSU did not have a vertical threat, letting defenses squat on underneath and intermediate routes. The speed that LSU added in the transfer portal should help stretch the field.

HOW WILL LSU TRY TO FIX THE RUN GAME?

In the first year without Daniels, LSU rushed for 116.4 yards per game, down from 204.5 the year before. The Tigers tried to add variety to their run schemes and lean on an experienced offensive line without a dualthreat quarterback, but they finished 107th in the FBS and last in the SEC in yards rushing per game. Was the problem execution, personnel or play-calling? Most likely a combination of the three. Now, something has to

performing team,” not unlike the one he was on as a freshman at Air Force. The following season, he was named a co-captain, and the Falcons improved, though he stressed he needed a lot of “grace” from his teammates as he found his way

He’s drawing on that experience to try and take a more visible, vocal role on a mostly young team that’s still learning how to win.

He doesn’t plan to force things, optimistic that it will happen organically though he was quick to add he’s “not going to be the guy

who is (cursing) other guys.”

He’s focused on example setting.

This is the same player, after all, who wears suits to the ballpark on the days he pitches. He firmly but gently reminds Pirates prospect and good friend/workout partner

Bubba Chandler that a given rep doesn’t count if Chandler didn’t execute it perfectly

“That’s what elite people do,” the 22-year-old Chandler said.

Name recognition

The spotlight figures to get brighter, both in Pittsburgh and

change. It would give the offense balance and make a difference in the red zone, where LSU scored touchdowns only 56.6% of the time.

WILL TRANSFERS HELP THE DEFENSE IMPROVE IN THE SECOND YEAR UNDER BLAKE BAKER?

Baker inherited one of the worst defenses in school history, and the unit got better under a remade coaching staff. LSU allowed 24.3 points per game, down from 28 the year before. It was more disruptive and better at making red-zone stops. Still, LSU was far from where it needed to be. The Tigers allowed 224.3 yards passing per game, and they got shredded by dual-threat quarterbacks multiple times. In three SEC losses, LSU gave up 666 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. New players could make a difference. Most of the seven defensive transfers are expected to have key roles, and Pickett could make an early impact. There are plenty of questions to answer within the defense. Will a young interior line hold up? Can the secondary improve, especially in man coverage? Are three new defensive ends able to replace the pass rush?

LSU will begin to find out soon.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

beyond for someone Chandler called “the biggest freaking name in sports right now.”

Skenes just shook his head when that moniker was passed along.

“I really try as much as I can to try and insulate myself from all that,” he said. “You can’t completely avoid it. But I try to insulate myself as much as I can from it to where I don’t have that perception.”

He is willing to do what he can to promote the game up to a point. Yet there’s a line he is intent on holding. The kid who grew up an Angels fan in Southern California learned about more than just baseball while watching Trout and Ohtani. Both are all-time greats who also have fiercely guarded their privacy, lending them an air of mystique.

Baseball appears to be in the midst of a resurgence. Skenes understands his popularity is a small part of it. Just don’t expect him to start flooding social media — he doesn’t even have an active TikTok account, although he’s easy to find on MLB’s feed or popping up on your favorite podcast regularly Baseball’s Next Big Thing is more intent on chasing greatness instead.

Fame is “cool.” It’s also not the point.

“All we want to do is play the same game we’ve played since we were 3 or 4 years old,” he said. “And all this other stuff comes with it, you kind of have to be built up to do that. Everybody chooses how to do it in their own way That’s very much how I am.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JULIO CORTEZ

League pitcher Paul Skenes, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, throws to an American League batter in the first inning of the MLB All-Star Game on July 16 in Arlington,Texas.

AP FILE PHOTO By MATT FREED

sports a mustache to support Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes during

first inning

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL third baseman Sam Roe got a two-out RBI single in the Cajuns’ loss Friday.

‘Old-fashioned’ revival coming to Livingston Parish

The Great Commission of Matthew 28 essentially urges believers to go tell others about Jesus.

That’s the primary purpose of the “old-fashioned” Go Tell America crusade set for 7 p.m. March 16-19 at Denham Springs High School’s Yellow Jacket Stadium, 1000 N. Range Ave., Denham Springs. Go Tell America is a series of evangelistic revivals focusing on the “unchurched” and conducted by evangelist Rick Gage, of Georgia-based Go Tell Ministries.

“What we have been hearing from pastors that have been lifers in our area say this is the biggest thing we’ve had since the Bill Graham crusade back in the ’90s,” said Richard Blue, co-chairman of the host Go Tell Livingston committee and president of the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association. “We’re asking churches to go out and find the people in their own communities, their neighbors, their friends and invite them. And do their best not only to invite them but bring them with them to the crusade.”

The Livingston committee, which now comprises an interdenominational group of more than 35 churches, started planning for the crusade 13 months ago. The Go Tell America crusades target rural areas

Gage will be the main speaker He was a running backs coach at Texas Tech and Liberty University before devoting his life to full-time evangelistic ministry in 1986.

“This guy is dynamite,” Blue said of Gage “He is a tremendous preacher and has the hand of God and the spirit of God on his life.”

A mass community choir will open the crusade on Sunday, along with Christian recording artist Charles Billingsley He is the former lead vocalist for the music group NewSong.

“If we’d rent a building, he’d blow the top off the roof because he’s a dynamic, outstanding musician,” Blue said. Other guests will be Alan Robertson, of the “Duck Dynasty” TV fame; and Adrian Despres, a former chaplain at the University of South Carolina.

On Wednesday, the crusade will focus on the youth with a pizza party

“We’re doing some things with your school-age children, hoping that we can develop a relationship and they come

ä See MATTERS, page 6C

What remains

St. Joseph’s Cemetery is a ‘microcosm of Baton Rouge’s history’ that many know nothing about

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

What do a 19th century French-born painter, a three-term Baton Rouge mayor and the former owner of the building that became Baton Rouge’s old post of-

fice have in common?

They were all Catholic, and they’re all buried at St Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery on Main Street.

The cemetery was established behind the cathedral (originally named Our Lady of Sorrows) at what is now North Street in 1792. But due to space constraints and a problem with Spanish Town livestock wandering and disrupting the graves creating an overpowering odor, the cemetery was relocated in 1825 to what was then outside of the city but is now Main Street.

Two hundred years later, St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery is celebrating its bicentennial with events throughout the year to raise money for tomb restorations. With the help of an expert, they have identified 10 historically significant and/or architecturally unique projects for restoration.

“We need to educate the next generation about what’s happening there,” said Gail Gaiennié, who is the current vice president of the board of trustees.

“The reason that the Petitjean tomb was on that list was because it’s architecturally unique,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for about 15 years. I’ve restored literally hundreds of cemetery properties,

ä See CEMETERY, page 6C

The theme of the event is “Tell Me A Story” and focuses on honoring the stories of people buried in the cemetery The money raised will go to restoring the Petitjean tomb, a noted spot in the cemetery Cemetery preservationist and owner of Oak & Laurel Cemetery Preservation, Emily Ford was consulted to identify priority projects for restoration.

‘TELL

ME A STORY’

St. Joseph Cemetery’s 200th Birthday Soiree l 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 6 l East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library branch l The soiree will feature food, drink and a silent auction to remember respect and restore the final resting place of over 3,000 of Baton Rouge’s earliest settlers. l More information and ticket availability can be found at saintjosephcemeterybr.org

CBS’ Jan Crawford, Kim Mulkey to share insights at LSU event

Jan Crawford and Kim Mulkey in 2023 at the CBS Studio in Washington, D.C.

BY JAN RISHER Staff writer

Jan Crawford, CBS News chief legal correspondent, will be in Baton Rouge speaking at LSU Law School and at a free, ticketed public event called “Inside the Courtroom!” with LSU basketball’s Kim Mulkey The event is set for 5 p.m. March 11 in the Cox Auditorium

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Gail Gaiennié, Karen Rowley and Erick Swenson, right to left, carefully inspect a tomb for information during a tour of St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery on Feb 20.

The sun begins to set on gravestones at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery.

Rev. Leo D. Cyrus Jr.’s retirement celebration

Cyrus

Join for a day of service on March 22 followed by the Culminating Worship Experience on March 23 at New Hope Baptist Church, 5856 Greenwell Springs Road, Baton Rouge. This special service will honor the Rev Leo D. Cyrus Sr with uplifting music, heartfelt testimonies and an opportunity for the community to express gratitude for his nearly five decades of service.

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, March 8, the 67th day of 2025. There are 298 days left in the year Today in history

On March 8, 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.

On this date:

In 1917, protests against food rationing broke out in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), triggering eight days of rioting that resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the end of the Russian monarchy

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down religious education classes during school hours in Champaign, Illinois, public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.

In 1971, in the first of three fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, Frazier defeated Ali by unanimous decision in what was billed as “The Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in New York

In 1983, in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Florida, President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.”

In 1988, 17 soldiers were killed when two Army helicopters from Fort Campbell, Kentucky collided in midflight during a night training mission

In 2008, President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive and ultimately unsuccessful search.

Today’s birthdays: Author John McPhee is 94. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 81. Actormusician Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) is 80. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 72. Singer Gary Numan is 67. TV journalist Lester Holt is 66. Actor Aidan Quinn is 66. Actor Camryn Manheim is 64. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr is 49. Actor James Van Der Beek is 48. Songwriterproducer Benny Blanco is 37.

MATTERS

Continued from page 5C

there to hear the Gospel of Christ,” Blue said. Blue stressed that the event underscores the focus on engaging with the 51% of individuals in Livingston Parish who classify themselves as “nones,” or those with no religious affiliation of any kind.

“That’s telling us that even in our own churches we have not done a good job,” said Blue, the former longtime pastor of Walker Baptist Church. “Our job is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and hope to penetrate the unchurched community.

Simply telling people and leading them to salvation in Jesus is not enough. Blue said the church has fallen short in discipleship training.

“Discipleship is followthrough,” he said. “It is a commitment of our lives that we’re going to live our lives for the Lord Jesus Christ.

For more information, go to www.gotell-lp.com.

Contact Terry Robinson at terryrobinson622@gmail.com

UpStage Theatre looks back to go forward

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

It’s May 1968, when the sun is settling in for a hot summer in Texas.

But the temperature isn’t the only thing generating heat in a Texas “Whites only” diner, where five Black women work in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.

The kitchen is hot and tempers begin to flare as the waitresses discuss what’s happened in the past year when UpStage Theatre opens Don Wilson Glenn’s drama “American Menu” on March 9 on its stage at 1713 Wooddale Blvd., Baton Rouge.

“This happens a few months after Martin Luther King Jr has been assassinated,” said director Ava Brewster Turner, who also is the theater’s president and founding artistic director “One of the women in the diner witnesses a young Black boy being killed, and she’s rattled by it.”

She tells her co-workers about it, sparking an ongoing conversation about what’s happening in the

CEMETERY

Continued from page 5C

and I haven’t really seen something like the Petitjean tomb before.”

She said that it had a unique design, most likely due to the structure being built by the family or a close friend. The tomb, which holds four people from the Petitjean family, is the focus of the cemetery’s anniversary celebration — it features a distinctive curved roof and oven-vault design. Unfortunately, the tomb is in bad shape, which contributed to its selection.

Who’s buried in the cemetery?

There are over 3,000 “residents” buried at St. Joseph’s, and maybe more than the board of trustees is aware of since some of the graves were not marked. The people buried there represent various backgrounds and lived through key moments of Baton Rouge history

“The only qualification really was that you had to be Catholic,” said Karen Rowley, former president of the board of trustees

Some of the people buried there are early residents who built Baton Rouge. Among them are Leon Jastremski, a confederate soldier and three-term former mayor of the city (he had all his accomplishments engraved on his tombstone); brothers Victor Lange and Robert Lange, who were among the first cohort of Black city legislators elected during Reconstruction; and many more. During the Civil War, Confederate and Union soldiers alike were buried in the cemetery

According to Rowley, it’s one of the first cemeteries in the city which allowed people of different races to be buried next to each other and not in segregated plots. Despite the rich history, the cemetery is not well known.

“A lot of people don’t realize the cemetery’s there, including a lot of my fellow parishioners,” said Rowley “Cemeteries are a microcosm of Baton Rouge’s history — more than 300 years of history

It’s a wide ranging history, and the people who are buried there represent all different strata of society from the leaders and the wealthier people, to the ordinary working people, people who were probably enslaved (and) soldiers who fought. It’s part of how this

EVENT

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the office of the student newspaper, hoping that they may let me do something.” That decision changed the trajectory of her life.

“I started writing for the Crimson White, and I just was hooked. I just loved it,” she said. “I couldn’t believe that I could go to these places, ask people questions, find out information before anybody, and then tell people about it, and that was a job.”

While Crawford was in school and working at the student newspaper, it won the award for the top college newspaper in the country, and she got the opportunity for an internship at the Chicago Tribune.

“I left the day of graduation to go to Chicago, a city I’d never been to in my life, and I ended up working there in Chicago for seven years,” she said. “Then the Tribune sent me to Washington after I went to

United States in that time.

“So, during the entire play, we hear conversations from these Black women about life about Texas, about segregation, about their families and how they’re having to deal with what has transpired — and how what this woman has witnessed has affected her fellow

co-workers and friends,” Turner said. “She saw how that young boy was treated and what they did to him, and it’s a very volatile time especially in the heart of Texas, where it’s hot, it’s in the summertime and these ladies are working in the kitchen talking about life. They’re facing realities of life on

the cusp of change.” Glenn premiered his play at the 2018 International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Playing the characters in this Baton Rouge production are Kyla Bates as Johnnie Mae, Elizabeth Ervin as Buella Camrie Bynum as Martha, Caleigh Lester as Na and Brittanica Hawkins as Mary “This will be the first time we’ve staged this production, and it also kicks off our 23rd season,” Turner said. “We are storytellers at UpStage Theatre, and this is a wonderful story that we are going to share.”

Email Robin Miller at romiller@ theadvocate.com.

city was built, how this area was built.”

Restorations needed

Over the years of hurricane seasons, many of the graves have fallen into disrepair Some graves are cracked or damaged. Others have sunk into the ground altogether Unlike other cemeteries that might get funding from the cathedral diocese or church that they’re associated with, St. Joseph’s is maintained only by the families who have loved ones buried there.

“In a lot of cases, the families have either died out or they’ve moved away,” Rowley said. “It’s not what we have today.”

These days, she said, part of the cost of burying a loved one is the cost of perpetual care and ongoing maintenance. That wasn’t part of the mindset of people when the cemetery was founded. They assumed the families would take care of the graves.

That isn’t entirely untrue today Many of the people involved with the maintenance of the cemetery have family buried there. Board vice president Gaiennié pays her respects to her great grandfather, Andrew Jackson (not the U.S. president), one of the first people buried in the cemetery Goldie Domingue-Baker who is on the committee for the soiree to raise money for tomb restorations this year, has her grandfather buried there. He was a general

law school and pledged to cover the Supreme Court.”

Crawford has been covering the court since 1994.

With 31 years of experience in the nation’s capital, she describes these days as a deluge of news while “the fire hydrant is on full blast.” Crawford says part of her current challenge as a legal reporter is trying to make sense of more than 70 executive orders, all of which are being challenged in court.

“Some of the challenges are completely bogus. Others may go somewhere — and it’s hard for me to keep all that straight,” she said. “So, of course, how can you expect viewers to? You know, there’s another lawsuit and here’s another lawsuit, and what is this? It’s challenging, but I think the main thing that we have to do as journalists now is just to cover the news and cover it fairly.”

Crawford says she thinks a lot about how she’s “standing in the shoes of people from Alabama or

contractor and worked on several buildings including Immaculate Conception, a Catholic church in Scotlandville near Southern University’s campus.

The board also helps people who want to find and/or restore their family’s tombs to do so.

Tomb restoration isn’t just about preserving the structures that are there; it’s also about preventing further damage, according to Ford, the cemetery preservationist. Over the years, some of the tombs have been repaired with modern cement, which can be problematic because it creates a watertight seal that prevents moisture from naturally escaping — leading to structural decay

“If we preserve the buildings of the past to understand historic culture, cemeteries are as significant, if not more so, as artifacts of that culture,” Ford said.

Ford noted that part of this is understanding how culture has shifted regarding death. Until 1963, the Catholic Church didn’t allow for cremation at all. People believed that human bodies had to be resurrected on Judgement Day whole These days, a majority of Americans choose cremation, but Louisiana still has one of the lowest cremation rates in the country, and according to Ford, cremation rates are even lower among Black Louisianans than White Louisianans.

“We have a moral obligation to care for bodies of the dead, memo-

Louisiana” who don’t get to go hear a Supreme Court argument.

“And my job is to tell them what happened — that’s how I view what journalism is,” she said. “We’re telling people what happened who can’t be there. We’re standing in their shoes.”

Dean Kim Bissell, of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication says having someone like Crawford speak on campus is a great opportunity for students and the community

“Jan brings an invaluable perspective that our students rarely have the opportunity to hear and learn from,” Bissell said. “Her insights into the intersection of law journalism and the highest court in the land will undoubtedly provide our audience with a unique and enriching experience.”

Crawford says that her Alabama roots run deep and she remains a huge fan of the Crimson Tide, but her “respect for Coach Mulkey and LSU as an institution across the board” led her to make the trip to Baton Rouge.

ries of the dead, based on what they understood to be sacred at the time,” she said.

St. Joseph’s today

The St. Joseph’s Cemetery is very full at the present day. It’s not an active cemetery, only accepting up to five burials a year and only if the person already has ancestors buried there.

Some of the remains have been moved to other cemeteries in the city or beyond to reunite them with theirfamilies,leavingbehindunique remembrances like a structure in the shape of a doll house that was built for a child who passed away before she could receive a dollhouse for Christmas. Some people in the city might still have ancestors buried there but may never know it. Of the 10 projects identified by Ford in 2023 for restoration, the Josephine de Lupre Bertrand Ledger Stone has been completed, and work on the Ann Hicky Obelisk, potentially the tallest monument in the cemetery at one time, is underway

The soiree next month will kick off a series of events aimed at spreading awareness of the cemetery and the stories behind the people buried there. In October, they’ll be hosting a scavenger hunt. With the restoration work, hopefully the cemetery’s “residents” can rest in peace for another 200 years.

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

She and Mulkey realized they had a lot in common.

“You know, we’re both divorced, single moms. We both love basketball. My daughter plays basketball. We both love sports. It goes from the South. After that interview, we stayed in touch, started talking, and we just hit it off,” Crawford said.

“Obviously her career and what she’s done for the sport of women’s basketball speaks for itself.”

Mulkey says she is honored to be a part of the event, as well.

“I encourage everyone to come,” Mulkey said. “It will be fun.”

Crawford contributes regularly to the “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Mornings,” and “Face the Nation,” as well as CBS News Radio and CBSNews.com.

Tickets for the March 11 event are still available for the event at eventbrite.com/e/inside-thecourtroom-a-conversation-withcbs-news-jan-crawford-tickets1245409777169?aff=oddtdtcreator. Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO By UPSTAGE THEATRE

From left, Brittanica Hawkins, Kyla Bates, Camrie Bynum and Elizabeth Ervin play Black workers in a Whites-only Texas diner in UpStage Theatre ‘American Menu.’The play revolves around the lives and conversations during the civil rights era.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Erick Swenson admires the dollhouse tomb during a tour of St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Baton Rouge.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Take the plunge, follow your heart and finish what you start. It's a great day to combine your imagination with determination. Recognizing and implementing changes necessary for happiness will pay off.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Stay on target regardless of what others try to persuade you to do Stick to basics, simplify your routine and make time for the people and pastimes that bring you joy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Observe, and you'll figure out how you can help those you love Discreet and kind gestures will be appreciated, bringing you closer to those you care about most.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Too much of anything will get you in trouble. Take a moment to evaluate situations and aim for balance, integrity and stability. Make what you contribute count.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Concentrate on getting things done. Talk is cheap and won't amount to anything if you don't follow through. It's how you play the game that counts. Honor and action are key.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Make changes for the right reasons. Trying to impress someone by tagging along or being their gofer won't satisfy your soul. Take the path that encourages you to do what's meaningful to you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Changing your environment will spark your imagination and fill your head with thoughts and

plans. Don't deny yourself the chance to gain ground and to use your skills in new and exciting ways.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Put your emotions aside and avoid situations filled with drama, volatility and disappointment. It's time to use your charm, intelligence and connections to your advantage.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Redefine what you want to do next. Consider what brings you joy and how to implement more of it into your everyday routine. Find ways to use your time effectively.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Make costefficient changes at home that will ease stress and improve your living arrangements. Opportunity knocks, but it's up to you to open the door. Set rules and boundaries within meaningful relationships.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Personal investments determine your lifestyle. Selling off what's no longer necessary to make your dreams come true will positively impact your attitude and health.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Spend time organizing and clearing space to pursue what truly matters to you. Following your heart will help you redefine how you build your future.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By

Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy'S CLUE: V EQUALS D

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG

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 Bridge

Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese general and strategist, wrote, “To win 100 victories in 100 battles is not the acme of skill To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” At the bridge table, sometimes your judgment of the opponents’ skill will influence your play — as in this deal.

South is in four hearts. West leads the diamond 10. East takes the first two tricks in the suit, then shifts to the club six.Declarerwinsontheboardandplays a trump to his king. West takes the trick and returns a diamond. How should South continue?

North’s transfer bid followed by three no-trump showed five hearts and game values.

South starts with three top losers and onlyninewinners(onespade,fourhearts and four clubs). He seems to need the spade finesse to work. However, after West’s diamond lead at trick five, if hearts are splitting 3-2, declarer could discard a spade from the dummy, ruff in his hand, cash his last trump, cross to dummy with a club, draw trumps and claim. Note, though, that this fails here because West gains a second trump trick. If West is a beginner, South must guess what to do. But if East and West are experts, West cannot have the spade king. If he did, he would have dropped the diamond nine at trick two as a suit-

preference signal and East would have shifted to spades, subduing the contract.

West’s defense strongly suggests that hearts are 4-1. Declarer should ruff on the board, cash his two top hearts, return to dummy with a club, draw the last trump, and take the spade finesse. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

thought

prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Proverbs 27:12

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C. PiCKles