Lawyers for Hoffman lodge challenges in state, federal courts
‘Molly’ Elliott was kidnapped, raped and fatally shot in St. Tammany Parish in 1996.
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers
The legal team for death row inmate Jessie Hoffman has filed a flurry of last-minute court challenges in hopes of stopping the death row inmate from becoming the first person in Louisiana to be executed by nitrogen gas on Tuesday night as scheduled Hoffman’s attorneys filed challenges in both state and federal courts on Monday as they sought a judge willing to stop the first Louisiana execution in 15 years. A state judge in East Baton Rouge’s 19th Judicial District Court and a federal judge in New
Orleans will consider two of those challenges Tuesday morning, just hours ahead of the scheduled execution, which is required to happen between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Hoffman is on death row for the 1996 abduction, rape and murder of Mary “Molly” Elliott in rural St. Tammany Parish.
An attorney for Hoffman on Monday filed a request for an injunction in state court that would stop the execution on the grounds that it would violate Louisiana’s religious freedom laws.
Hoffman is a practicing Buddhist. His lawyers have argued that killing him using nitrogen gas
ä See EXECUTION, page 4A
16th Judicial District Attorney Duhé dies
Funeral set for Wednesday at St. Peter’s in New Iberia
Staff report
Martin Bofill “Bo” Duhé, the 16th Judicial District attorney for Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes, died Saturday
A native of New Iberia, Duhé served as district attorney since January 2015 and prosecuted many major criminal cases Duhé, 62, was a 1984 general business graduate of then University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, according to his obituary He worked for five years at savings and loan businesses before entering Tulane Law School, where he earned his law degree in 1992. He worked as a law clerk for 16th
Audit finds worsening prenatal care in La.
Report details lack of doctors, transportation issues
BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
A state audit found that pregnant Medicaid patients in Louisiana often struggle to access prenatal and postpartum care because there aren’t enough nearby doctors who accept the government-funded health insurance, provider lists are frequently inaccurate and many people lack reliable transportation, especially in rural areas. The report, released Monday by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor‘s Office, reviewed the state Health Department’s efforts to improve maternal health — an area where Louisiana has long ranked among the worst in the nation.
Despite increased attention and funding, the share of pregnant women in the state who did not receive first-trimester prenatal care rose from 22.5% in 2018 to nearly 26% in 2023.
Medicaid patients were most affected, with 3 out of 4 missing timely care. The majority of new babies in Louisiana, 63.5%, are born to women insured by Medicaid.
The audit found that the Louisiana Department of Health spent nearly $400 million on maternal health reform through the Managed Care Incentive Payment program from February 2020 to March 2024, but some initiatives were duplicative or lacked measurable outcomes.
“A lot of money is being put toward it, but there aren’t a lot of measurable outcomes or new things being created,” said Chris Magee, a data analytics manager at the Auditor’s Office.
Move could impact National Weather Service
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 108 E. St. Peter St. in New Iberia. Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery Visitation will be from 5 p.m to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Pellerin Funeral Home, 502 Jefferson Terrace, New Iberia, and will continue from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to VOICE, a nonprofit organization for victims of crimes and their families P.O. Box 10201, New Iberia, LA 70562.
Judicial District Judge Buddy Fleming before becoming an assistant district attorney in 1993, prosecuting major felony crimes. Duhé was involved in several organizations related to his profession, including the Louisiana District Attorneys Association. He served on the board of that organization as well as its president and on the legislative and technology committees. He also served on the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force, the Louisiana District Attorney Juvenile Justice Task Force and was president of the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory and a board member of First National Bank of Jeanerette. Duhé received several honors over the years, including the Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council Iberia Parish Distinguished Citizen of the Year award in 2015, Chez Hope Peacemaker Award in 2017 and the Virginia Tyler Guillotte Award from the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce in 2019.
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
When Chris Franklin and other meteorologists at WWL Louisiana broadcast vital weather forecasts, they don’t do it alone. They are in ongoing communication with National Weather Service forecasters. Franklin said there’s an active chat 24 hours a day, and before severe weather — like the strong line of thunderstorms that roared through the region on Saturday the conversation ramps up, adding video calls.
“We pick their brains as almost co-workers in forecasting daily weather,” Franklin said. “Those are the folks that are issuing those watches and warnings, so when we’re on air talking about a tornado warning, talking about a severe thunderstorm warning or flooding, this is coming from the National Weather Service.”
Duhé
PHOTO PROVIDED By THE U.S AIR FORCE Members of the 403rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. tend to a WC-130J assigned to the hurricane hunters.
PHOTO PROVIDED By THE JESSIE HOFFMAN LEGAL TEAM
Observers sitting outside the new execution chamber at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola will witness the execution.
Mary
Jessie Hoffman was sentenced to death in 1998 after being found guilty of Elliott’s murder
Canada’s Carney meets with European allies
LONDON New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met the leaders of Britain and France on Monday during his first official overseas trip, seeking support from two of Ottawa’s oldest allies as U.S. President Donald Trump targets Canada’s sovereignty and economy Canadians have criticized the leaders of the two countries that founded Canada for their muted response to Trump’s attacks. The president has imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and repeatedly commented on turning Canada into the 51st state.
Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron did not take journalists’ questions, and a joint news conference was not scheduled with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, either. An official familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the Canadians proposed a news conference in Paris but the French declined.
Starmer has called Canada a friend and ally of the U.K. but has declined to directly call out Trump’s talk of annexation — though he went further than he has before by stressing Canada’s sovereignty
“The relationship between our two countries has always been strong,” Starmer told Carney inside the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence “Two sovereign allies, so much in common — a shared history, shared values, shared king.”
Carney said the relationship between the two countries is “built on shared values” and noted that “we’re at a point in history where the world is being reordered.”
Macron did not address Trump’s attacks on Canada ahead of their talks but noted that tariffs only bring inflation and damage to supply chains.
Rebels withdraw from Congo peace talks
DAKAR, Senegal The Rwandabacked rebels who captured key areas of Congo’s mineral-rich east said Monday they were withdrawing from peace talks this week with the Congolese government, saying that international sanctions on the group’s members have undermined such dialogue.
The talks scheduled to start in the Angolan capital of Luanda on Tuesday “have become impracticable” as a result of the sanctions announced by the European Union against some of its members on Monday, M23 rebel group’s spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement. Alleged offensives still being carried out in the conflict-hit region by Congo’s military also undermine the talks, he said.
“Consequently our organization can no longer continue to participate in the discussions,” he added.
Congo’s government, after initially rejecting such talks, said Monday it would participate in the dialogue in Angola. A delegation representing Congo already had traveled to Luanda for the talks, Tina Salama, the spokesperson for President Felix Tshisekedi, told The Associated Press.
S.C. apartment complex mourns slain alligator
DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. — Several dozen people gathered Saturday at an apartment complex along the South Carolina coast to remember a longtime resident who died the day before — an alligator named Walter who sunned beside a pond on the property for more than a decade.
Walter was killed on the property after several complaints over the past week, the management of Daniel Island Village told WCIV-TV in a statement.
Neighbors in the apartment complex near Charleston said Walter had been hanging around the complex for more than a decade, not only earning a name but a little fame.
Memorial organizer Rebekah Cole told the TV station that people with pets and children could walk right past Walter and not be bothered.
“He was a piece of the community Even though he was a coldblooded animal, we all loved him and it tore us all up,” Cole said.
on
A prison
PHOTO PROVIDED By EL SALVADOR PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE
Judge questions feds over disregarding order
Deportation flight was not turned around despite ruling
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision he’d issued minutes before District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues.
“That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier
“I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the U.S., even if it’s in international airspace,” Boasberg added at another point.
Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended that only Boasberg’s short written order, issued about 45 minutes after he made the verbal demand, counted. It did not contain any demands to reverse planes, and Kambli added that it was too late to redirect two planes that had left the U.S. by that time
“These are sensitive, operational tasks of national security,” Kambli said.
The hearing over what Boasberg called the “possible defiance” of his court order marked the latest step in a high-stakes legal fight that began when President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 wartime law to remove immigrants over the weekend. It was also an escalation in the battle over whether the Trump administration is flouting court orders that have blocked some of his aggressive moves in the opening weeks of his second term.
“There’s been a lot of talk about constitutional crisis, people throw that word around. I think we’re getting very close to it,” warned Lee Gelernt, of the ACLU, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, during the Monday hearing After the hearing, Gelernt said the ACLU would ask Boasberg to order all improperly deported people returned to the United States.
Boasberg said he’d record the proceed-
ings and additional demands in writing.
“I will memorialize this in a written order since apparently my oral orders don’t seem to carry much weight,” Boasberg said.
On Saturday night, Boasberg ordered the administration not to deport anyone in its custody through the newly-invoked Alien Enemies Act, which has only been used three times before in U.S. history, all during congressionally declared wars.
Trump issued a proclamation that the law was newly in effect due to what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Trump’s invocation of the act could allow him to deport any noncitizen he says is associated with the gang, without offering proof or even publicly identifying them. The plaintiffs filed their suit on behalf of several Venezuelans in U.S. custody who feared they’d be falsely accused of being Tren de Aragua members and improperly removed from the country
Told there were planes in the air headed to El Salvador which has agreed to house deported migrants in a notorious prison, Boasberg said Saturday evening that he and the government needed to move fast. “You shall inform your clients of this immediately, and that any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States,” Boasberg told the government’s lawyer
According to the filing, two planes that had taken off from Texas’ detention facility when the hearing started more than an hour earlier were in the air at that point, and they apparently continued to El Salvador A third plane apparently took off after the hearing and Boasberg’s written order was formally published at 7:26 p.m. Eastern time. Kambli said that plane held no one deported under the Alien Enemies Act.
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, on Sunday morning tweeted, “Oopsie.. too late” above an article referencing Boasberg’s order and announced that more than 200 deportees had arrived in his country The White House communications director Steven Cheung, reposted Bukele’s post with an admiring GIF
Later Sunday, a widely circulated article in Axios said the administration decided to “defy” the order and quoted anonymous officials who said they concluded it didn’t extend to planes outside U.S. airspace. That drew a quick denial from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said in a statement “the administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.”
The administration argues a federal judge does not have the authority to tell the president whether he can determine the country is being invaded under the act, or how to defend it
Trump warns Iran about further attacks from Yemen’s Houthi
BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday explicitly linked the actions of Yemen’s Houthi rebels to the group’s main benefactor, Iran, warning Tehran would “suffer the consequences” for further attacks by the group.
The comments by Trump on his Truth Social website escalate his administration’s new campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people this weekend alone. The Pentagon said the strikes were carried out against more than 30 targets and it planned further airstrikes in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to weigh how to respond to a letter Trump sent them last week trying to jump-start negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program Houthi supporters rallied in several cities Monday after the strikes, vowing revenge against America and Israel over
blocking aid to the Gaza Strip after its war on Hamas there. The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel put young boys on air live, who chanted the group’s slogan: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
“The Yemeni position is an irreversible position (regarding Gaza), so do whatever you (Americans) want, for we are men who fear no one but God,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a Houthi leader who spoke to the demonstration in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
The United Nations called for a halt to all military activities in Yemen and the Red Sea, urging “utmost restraint” and warning that “any additional escalation could exacerbate regional tensions,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday Describing the Houthis as “sinister mobsters and thugs,” Trump warned any attack by the group would be met with “great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”
Putin, Trump to speak about war in Ukraine
BY CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a possible pivot point in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy
Trump disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening, while the Kremlin confirmed Putin’s participation on Monday morning.
“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump said “A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday morning confirmed the plans for the two leaders to speak on Tuesday but declined to give details, saying that “we never get ahead of events” and “the content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion.”
European allies are wary of Trump’s affinity for Putin and his hardline stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who faced sharp criticism when he visited the Oval Office a little more than two weeks ago.
Although Russia failed
in its initial goal to topple the Ukrainian government with its invasion three years ago, it still controls large swaths of the country Trump said land and power plants are part of the conversation around bringing the war to a close.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” he said, a process he described as “dividing up certain assets.”
Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow last week to advance negotiations.
Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions after launching its fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the southeast of the country — but doesn’t fully control any of the four Last year Putin listed Kyiv’s withdrawal of troops from all four regions as one of the demands for peace. In 2014, the Kremlin also annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
In the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow controls the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — the largest in Europe. The plant has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire since the invasion. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. body has frequently expressed alarm about the plant because of fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.
guard
Sunday transfers deportees from the U.S. alleged to be Venezuelan gang members to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador
President Donald Trump departs Air Force One on Friday at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MANUEL BALCE CENETA
St. Patrick’s Day brings celebrations across U.S.
By The Associated Press
NEWYORK St. Patrick’s Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish, was marked across the United States on Monday with boisterous parades and festivities. Across the pond, the Irish capital of Dublin culminated its three-day festival with a parade. Cities such as Liverpool, England, another city transformed by Irish immigration, also hosted celebrations on St. Patrick’s feast day School marching bands and traditional Irish pipe and drum ensembles ambled down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue with uniformed delegations from the police and fire departments in New York City, which hosts one of the nation’s largest and oldest
Residents clean up after major storms
BY SAFIYAH RIDDLE and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. — Darren Atchison loaded his allterrain vehicle with granola bars and sports drinks, avoiding downed trees Monday as he delivered supplies to a neighborhood pummeled by one of the many deadly tornadoes that ripped through the U.S. South and Midwest.
The three-day outbreak of severe weather across eight states kicked up a devastating combination of wildfires, dust storms and tornadoes, claiming at least 42 lives since Friday
Two people were killed by a twister in Atchison’s tiny Alabama hometown of Plantersville. One of the lives lost was that of 82-year-old Annie Free, who “just looked out for everyone,” Atchison said. The tornado struck her home, leaving only the front patio behind.
More than a half-dozen houses were destroyed while others were left in rough shape, some with walls peeled clean off. The tornado flipped a trailer onto its roof and toppled trees in every direction.
Also killed was Dunk Pickering, a fixture in the community who often hosted live music events and helped neighbors during tough times.
“Whether he knew you or not, he would help anyone.
I’ve known him for 20 years.
He’s been like that ever since the day I first met him,” said John Green, who found Pickering’s body in the wreck-
parades.
As a light morning rain fell, the rolling celebration made its way north past designer shops and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a stunning Neo Gothic landmark that’s the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
Mayor Eric Adams donned a green cap and scarf and waved an Irish flag while Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan greeted marchers wearing a green, white and orange sash — the national colors of the Emerald Isle.
“It’s fantastic to be here,” said Ryan Hanlon, vice chairman of the parade’s board of directors. “We’re getting a little bit of rain at the moment, but as we Irish call it, it’s just liquid sunshine.”
The New York celebration, now in its 264th year dates
to 1762 — 14 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The parade was scheduled to last through the afternoon, ending on the east side of Central Park, about 35 blocks from where it started.
That’s much, much longer than the 98-foot route in the resort town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, which claims it hosts the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
And in Savannah, thousands of revelers in gaudy green costumes crowded sidewalks and oak-shaded squares as the South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade wound through the historic Georgia city. This parade marked its 200th anniversary a year ago, tracing its origins to the day Irish immigrants marched to church in March 1824.
age of a building just across the street from Green’s own home
Green and other neighbors spent at least five hours Saturday night pulling people from the rubble and carrying them to paramedics who were unable to reach the area because roads were blocked by debris Wildfires in Oklahoma Wind-driven wildfires across the state destroyed more than 400 homes over the weekend and will continue to be a threat in the coming days because of high winds.
Dozens of fires were still burning across the state on Monday said Keith Merckx at Oklahoma Forestry Services, and much of the state including the Oklahoma City area remained under fire warnings.
While conditions over the weekend allowed crews to get a handle on most wildfires across Texas and Oklahoma, forecasters at the National Weather Service said extremely critical fire weather conditions were expected Tuesday over an area spanning from southeastern New Mexico through the Texas Panhandle and into western Oklahoma.
“These fires, once they get started, become really hard to stop. They move more quickly than our resources
can keep up with,” Merckx said.
Four deaths so far were blamed on the fires or high winds, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said. More than 70 homes were destroyed by wildfire outbreaks Friday in and around Stillwater home to Oklahoma State University Tornadoes and high winds
In Mississippi, six people died and more than 200 were displaced by a string of tornadoes across three counties, the governor said. Within about an hour of each other on Saturday, two big twisters tore through the county that’s home to hardhit Tylertown, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service. Scattered twisters and storm damage led to the deaths of at least 13 people in Missouri, including a 30-year-old man who along with his dog was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning after he was using a generator indoors during the storm, authorities said. In Arkansas, officials confirmed three deaths.
As the storm headed east, two boys ages 11 and 13 were killed when a tree fell on their home in western North Carolina early Sunday, according to firefighters in Transylvania County
Israel strikes Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 10
BY WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday, killing at least 10 people, including a child, according to local authorities The Israeli military said it was targeting militants plotting attacks. The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. Israel has blocked all food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza the past two weeks, demanding Hamas accept changes in the two sides’ ceasefire deal.
In Syria, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December Israel says it is a preemptive
security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel. The strikes hit a residential area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, killing three people and wounding 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers, the Syrian civil defense agency said It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city
The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel. In central Gaza, two strikes hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter
Trump claims Biden pardons of Jan. 6 committee invalid
BY RYAN TARINELLI and NIELS LESNIEWSKI CQ-Roll Call (TNS)
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump claimed without evidence early Monday that pardons granted by then-President Joe Biden to lawmakers on the disbanded select House committee that investigated the 2021 Capitol riot were invalid because he used an automatic pen.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump posted on Truth Social early Monday “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
It’s unclear if Trump’s proclamation will be acted upon. Members of the House Jan. 6 select committee who were targeted by Trump in the past with threats of prosecution — have not been charged with violating any committeerelated crime. But it could set the stage for a high-profile legal fight over executive power if Trump’s assertion is used as a basis to pursue criminal charges.
Trump has installed staunch allies in key government positions that wield influence over who is subject to investigation and prosecution by the federal government. Those officials include Attorney General Pamela Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, who previously framed himself as a fighter against the “Deep State” and certain members
of the media.
In the post on Monday, Trump said the lawmakers who served on the committee “should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
Trump had told reporters traveling aboard Air Force
One that questions about the validity of Biden’s use of the pardon power would be up to the judicial system.
“It’s not my decision. That’ll be up to a court,” Trump said, arguing he is “sure Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place.” Trump has called for the prosecution of Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., and members of the now-disbanded panel. Schiff, in a post on social media responding to Trump’s post, said the members of the select committee “are all proud of our work.”
for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives. In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.”
Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded.
The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM GRAy
People wave green flags Monday during the 264th New york City St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New york.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROGELIO V. SOLIS
Steve Romero, 23, center, hugs his fiancee, Hailey Hart, right, and their friend Jessica Soileau on Sunday in Tylertown, Miss., after recalling how he, Hart and their three dogs rode out Saturday’s tornado in their small 1994 Toyota.
EXECUTION
Continued from page 1A
would interfere with his Buddhist breathing exercises, therefore violating his religious freedoms.
That argument failed in federal court, but some believe Louisiana’s religious freedom protections are stronger than those in the U.S. Constitution.
Hoffman believes in reincarnation and that he “must practice his Buddhist breathing exercises at the critical transition between life and death,” or else his rebirth may be negatively impacted, according to his petition in Baton Rouge district court
He argues in court filings that “his ability to practice his faith at the moment he is put to death is thus substantially burdened under the Nitrogen Gassing Protocol.”
State Judge Richard “Chip”
Moore III will hold a hearing at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the 19th Judicial District Courthouse to consider whether to issue an injunction.
Hoffman also has several requests pending with federal courts.
Hoffman’s attorneys are asking a federal judge in New Orleans to reopen his federal habeas petition, which was denied more than a decade ago.
U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle agreed to hold a hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday
Hoffman’s attorneys argue
Among the examples cited in the report:
n $12.8 million was paid for initiatives related to breastfeeding policies and assessing them for inclusion in the state’s breastfeeding initiative, even though all 16 participating hospitals already had such policies and 15 of the 16 were already part of the initiative.
n $4.26 million was paid for the submission of a riskstratification tool already developed and in use by Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.
n $13 million was paid for initiatives that duplicated efforts already funded under another Health Department Medicaid program, including reducing C-section rates, even though the department paid Managed Care Organizations an additional $15.1 million for the same goal.
“In essence, LDH paid for the same improvement twice,” the audit stated.
However, some internal programs did show improvement compared with some of the externally funded programs. The audit highlighted the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and the Safe Births Initiative as examples of datadriven programs with measurable outcomes that have improved maternal health At 21 weeks pregnant, a Louisiana woman couldn’t get care because there were no in-network Medicaid OBGYNs in her rural area, according to one complaint.
Another pregnant resident missed multiple prenatal appointments because Medicaid-provided transportation never picked her up. At 30 weeks, her doctor threatened to stop seeing her because of the missed visits.
One of the audit’s most striking findings was that 37.5% of Louisiana parishes had no practicing OB-GYNs serving Medicaid patients. In areas with listed provid-
that a pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions should allow him to again argue that the all-White jury at his trial was “preoccupied with race,” and that it influenced the decision to sentence him to death. Rebecca Hudsmith, the federal public defender over much of the state, said it wasn’t a new argument, but that the legal landscape had changed.
Hudsmith acknowledged the flurry of legal action was unusual for capital attorneys in Louisiana, where no executions have taken place since 2010, and none that have been contested in more than 20 years.
“This has been a moving target, and quite difficult,” Hudsmith told Lemelle. “We really have more than a generation of lawyers who haven’t faced this.”
Northshore District Attorney Collin Sims’ office is fighting the attempt in federal court.
Lemelle, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said he plans to issue a ruling shortly after Tuesday morning’s hearing, to give the federal appeals court enough time to weigh in before an execution scheduled for that evening
Hoffman’s legal team also requested a stay of execution from the U.S Supreme Court, which seeks to strike down Friday’s ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. They vacated an injunction from U.S. District Judge
ers, nearly 1 in 5 had not seen any Medicaid patients in the previous six months.
Patient complaints reviewed by the auditors showed transportation was a big issue.
“There’s a big disconnect between what the provider network looks like versus what it actually is,” said Magee.
The audit found that Managed Care Organizations, which are responsible for coordinating care for most Medicaid enrollees, did not maintain accurate lists of providers, which is “one of the most basic things” they should do, said Magee. The auditors verified that the list was inaccurate by checking it themselves.
“If we can do it, they should be able to do it with their own internal data,” Magee said.
An increase in payment rates might address the provider shortage, said Magee, and analyzing complaints and improving oversight of the organizations could help more Medicaid patients get connected to care.
In response to the audit, the Health Department agreed with all of the auditors’ recommendations. State health officials acknowledged problems with provider network accuracy and access to care, and noted efforts such as a 2024 initiative to clean up organizations’ provider directories. The department also recognized the need for improved case management and transportation services, and emphasized its commitment to improving maternal health outcomes.
In a February public letter Dr. Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’s surgeon general, identified maternal and infant mortality as a priority for the department. A spokesperson, however, said officials would not immediately be able to answer questions about efforts to improve access and hold MCOs accountable.
The report said rural areas could be better served by setting up remote care,
Shelly Dick of Louisiana’s Middle District, who blocked the execution last week.
Dick had ordered a delay to flesh out whether using nitrogen gas to kill Hoffman would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Her ruling suggested a firing squad would be more humane.
The state appealed, and a panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with Dick, finding a firing squad would be a more painful way to die.
In their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hoffman’s lawyers argue the 5th Circuit did not adequately consider the psychological suffering of death by nitrogen gas.
The petition argues the 5th Circuit Court’s decision “ignores Supreme Court precedent holding that psychological terror is a component of cruel and unusual punishment, and it is flatly at odds with the approaches of other circuits that have long recognized that psychological terror and distress is relevant in the constitutional analysis.”
The same judge who signed Hoffman’s death warrant, Judge Alan Zaunbrecher, of St. Tammany’s 22nd Judicial District, also denied a lastminute request for a stay of his execution Monday Hoffman argued in filings to the 22nd Judicial District Court that the state violated his right to due process via the “arbitrary denial of any
increasing the number of nurse midwives and making it easier for them to practice, starting group prenatal care and increasing home visiting. While the Health Department has two home visiting services, they serve just 6% of births.
Prenatal care allows for the diagnosis of diabetes or hypertension, which can make pregnancy more dangerous for babies and moms and should be monitored, said Dr Rebekah Gee, an OB-GYN and founder of Nest Health, which provides in-home primary care to patients. A provider can spot mental health issues or review medications for safety during pregnancy, she said. But only a handful of appointments need to be in a doctor’s office setting, said Gee, who oversaw the Health Department as secretary of health from 2016 to 2020. Many patients could be seen at home or virtually Nest is launching in Arizona and plans to include prenatal appointments in that state, but has found it challenging to partner with health plans to do the same in Louisiana.
Gee said a bigger issue is that pregnancy is often treated as separate from women’s overall health. But to support a healthy pregnancy, care needs to start before conception and continue during and after birth.
Many women start prenatal care late, don’t receive postpartum care and lack regular care between pregnancies, she said.
“Pregnancy is a stress test on women’s health, and we are failing that stress test,” Gee said.
A lack of care sets up moms and babies for poor health outcomes, impacting their entire lives.
“Doing whatever you can to make those networks more robust is important, because this really is a longterm game,” said Magee.
Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.
access to clemency and failure to grant him a pardon board hearing.” Zaunbrecher wrote in an order late Monday that Hoffman’s filings were “without merit.”
The Louisiana Supreme Court on Sunday night also rejected another challenge from Hoffman’s legal team, who argued that the clock should have reset on his execution when Dick issued a preliminary injunction last week. Though the injunction was vacated, Hoffman’s attorneys claimed the state still needed to seek a new death warrant to kill him. The State Supreme Court disagreed in a 5-2 ruling, finding “no merit” to the argument.
“When a federal or state court grants a stay of execution that is dissolved before the execution date, the execution may proceed on the date originally fixed,” the state’s high court ruled.
Justices Piper Griffin and John Michael Guidry dissented. Griffin wrote in a dissent that “the question remains open” about whether nitrogen gas executions violate Louisiana’s constitution. She referenced a citation in the state constitution that says “no law shall subject any person to euthanasia to torture, or to cruel, excessive, or unusual punishment.
Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.
NOV. 28, 1996: A duck hunter discovers the body of Mary “Molly” Elliott near the Middle Pearl River in St. Tammany Parish. Elliott was a 28-year-old advertising executive who went missing the night before.The same day, police arrest 18-year-old Jessie Hoffman Jr., who they say abducted, raped and shot Elliott in the head.
SEPT 11, 1998: Hoffman is formally sentenced to death, which a jury recommends after having found him guilty of first-degree murder Lethal injection was the only legal means of execution at the time.
JAN. 20, 2015: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Hoffman’s petition for certiorari on his conviction and death sentence. It’s one of many appeals of his sentence that’s denied over the years.
FEB 10: Gov Jeff Landry says the state is ready to resume executions after a 15-year hiatus and that Louisiana has developed a protocol for using nitrogen gas to put people to death, which the state legalized in 2024.
FEB 12: Judges sign death warrants for Hoffman and another death row inmate in Louisiana, Christopher Sepulvado.
FEB 23: Sepulvado dies at 81, leaving Hoffman as the lone inmate in the state with an execution scheduled. FEB. 26: Hoffman files a lawsuit to prevent the state from executing using nitrogen gas, arguing it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
MARCH 11: U.S District Judge Shelly Dick grants a preliminary injunction to stop Louisiana from moving forward with the execution until she can hold a full trial on his case.
MARCH 14: The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacates Dick’s preliminary injunction, allowing the execution to go forward.
MARCH 18: Hoffman, now 46, is scheduled to be the first person Louisiana puts to death with nitrogen gas at Angola.
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The importance of weather service forecasts in keeping residents safe has raised concerns about what might happen if the Trump administration follows through on plans for deeper cuts to its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Recent reports indicated that NOAA was preparing to lay off more than 1,000 workers, adding to around 1,300 NOAA layoffs in recent weeks. Before the cuts, NOAA, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, employed some 12,000 people across six departments. The weather service, which includes the National Hurricane Center based in Miami, employs around 4,700 people, according to the agency
The first round of cuts targeted probationary employees in their positions for less than a year or two, though many had years or decades of experience in their field
The weather service office for New Orleans and Baton Rouge, located in Slidell has not been cut so far, said Mike Buchanan, the meteorologist in charge there. The Mississippi River forecast center that shares the Slidell location had also not seen cuts.
“Our mission is to save lives and protect property,” Buchanan said. “We’re staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Still, with more cuts planned, Louisiana meteorologists, former NOAA employees and some scientific coalitions are alarmed about what changes could be ahead. They are also concerned that, even if the weather service is spared climate research and other projects could be curtailed.
“The key here is, when you start reducing personnel, you can’t help but impact the quality and frequency of the forecasts,” said Jay Grymes, Louisiana’s state climatologist. “A reduction in force for NOAA and particularly NWS would put that data
availability in jeopardy.”
NOAA, with a $6.5 billion budget, spans weather forecasting, hurricane warnings climate research, coastal restoration and fisheries management. The weather service has more than 100 field stations nationwide. Louisiana has field stations in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Slidell, which is the largest, with 25 people. A station in Jackson Mississippi, also serves parts of northeast Louisiana.
At the Slidell office, two meteorologists are always on duty, Buchanan said, and often there are many more, especially in anticipation of severe weather
From a recent tornado outbreak to intensifying hurricane risk and a record snowfall in January, “we have a lot of weather here,” Buchanan said
The weather service and National Hurricane Center provide the essential data that TV meteorologists and other private companies use daily
“A lot of folks will say ‘We don’t need the weather service; we can use our apps,’” Grymes said “Well, the fact of the matter is the data that goes into those apps is largely NOAA data, much of it collected or generated by the National Weather Service. Those apps don’t run on their own.”
Retired WDSU chief meteorologist Margaret Orr recently published a column expressing concerns over potential cuts.
“The NWS issues lifesaving timely warnings,” she said. “Local meteorologists broadcast those warnings in hopes of keeping everyone safe.”
While the local weather service office has so far been spared, an employee at the regional office in Fort Worth, Texas, was fired during the first round of cuts but rehired as of Wednesday, Buchanan said The offices in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Jackson referred comments to NOAA.
“Per our long-standing practice, we do not discuss internal personnel and management matters,” an agen-
cy representative said.
According to reports by USA Today, the next cuts might not target weather service forecasting and could more heavily impact NOAA’s research wings, including a branch managing a vast network of environmental data.
The conservative roadmap Project 2025 called for NOAA to be dismantled and many of its initiatives eliminated, privatized or placed under state control. It said that the agency’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research was the “source of much of NOAA’s climate alarmism” and called for most of its climate change research to be disbanded.
Some of those projects are also important for improving the nation’s understanding of weather behavior Jason Dunion who works at a laboratory under NOAA’s research arm, led its hurricane research division last year His team of researchers fly planes into hurricanes to examine “what makes the storms tick.”
While members of the weather service’s “hurricane hunter” flights collect data to improve immediate storm forecasts, Dunion’s team looks at longer-term questions: How do hurricanes do what they do? They also test new capabilities.
When flying into storms, Dunion’s team is equipped with a system called a “tail Doppler radar.” This allows scientists to create a threedimensional image of the storm, like a CT scan, providing insight into factors including locations of the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall.
“The Hurricane Center has also come to find that they can really use that data in the forecasting environment to help their forecasters understand what the storm is looking like and getting all that data into the NOAA forecast models,” Dunion said of his team, which includes around 20 people.
“We have all these different groups, fairly small numbers of
and not a
and getting
Jan Risher
LOUISIANA AT LARGE
A shimmy and shake of plans
While the show must go on, sometimes it doesn’t go as planned.
In theory, the plan for this column was to recount the adventure of my having a walk-on role in Le Petit Theatre’s production of “Jersey Boys” this past weekend. A serious case of laryngitis/ bronchitis changed those plans. In fact, the show did go on, but I ended up spending the weekend in bed. Fortunately, Le Petit has more shows. I’ll have my chance to fake my way across this coming weekend. “Jersey Boys” is scheduled to run through April 6, but because of its popularity, they may be adding additional shows.
If you haven’t been to Le Petit Theatre, there are things you should know First, I can’t think of a more charming theater anywhere. It is one of those places that has a certain magic to it.
The historic theater got its start way back in 1916. It’s been in its current location, just off Jackson Square in the French Quarter at 616 St. Peter St., since 1922.
The theater’s lobby is connected to the restaurant Tableau, in all of its New Orleans glory, with a courtyard so picturesque that every time I look at it, I want to paint the scene — and I draw so poorly that my stick figures need therapy Even still, when I look at that particular courtyard, I wish I had a canvas. It strikes all the right New Orleans chords.
Theater patrons take in all of that charm before even entering the 300-seat theater Once inside, the space is cozy and feels good Though I’ve only seen one show there, I went to a “Jersey Boys” practice two weeks ago, which I loved since I’ve long been a fan of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
What is a sitzprobe?
The theater folks explained that this wasn’t just any old practice, this was the sitzprobe.
If “sitzprobe” leaves you with a puzzled expression, you are not alone. Two weeks post-sitzprobe, I can enlighten you.
First, “sitzprobe” is German for “seated rehearsal.” The event is the rehearsal when the cast and orchestra rehearse together for the first time, focusing solely on the music and singing, with no staging or costumes.
Theater people get excited about the sitzprobe. The coming together of different groups of people who have been preparing and practicing separately is monumental. Before the sitzprobe started, the actors were milling around the theater. I met Stephanie Toups Abry, who’s playing a double role Not only is she Le Petit’s development director, she also has the role of Lorraine in “Jersey Boys.” Abry, who is originally from Baton Rouge, got her start at Le Petit when they did “Beautiful” a few years ago.
“It was my first kind of dip-mytoe into the audition scene here — and got cast as Cynthia,” Abry said. “I joke that I pestered AJ (Allegra) and Don-Scott (Cooper) until they let me stay.” Cooper is Le Petit’s producing executive director Allegra is the theater’s artistic director. Both take a hands-on approach with every show, and Allegra is codirecting “Jersey Boys.”
On cue, Allegra joined us. Abry explained that I would have one of the walk-on roles in an upcoming show At this point, it’s important to note that I was recording the conversation, because it wasn’t until I went back and listened that it hit me what Allegra said next — which is the biggest clue I have
Suspect tied to 2nd campaign
Man accused of spreading false election info
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Youngsville Police Chief JeanPaul “JP” Broussard hired for his recent campaign the same man who is alleged to have sent out false information in a Senate race.
Broussard’s campaign hired RM Partners LLC to run political advertisements throughout the Youngsville area, according to public campaign finance reports
The company is owned or at least partly operated by Chun Ping “Eddie” Lau who was arrested Wednesday after police say he violated state campaign ethics law by allegedly distributing information he knew was false.
Broussard’s campaign paid around $25,000 to RM Partners for such things as digital ad purchases, door-to-door push card deliveries and campaign finance reporting
Broussard confirmed his campaign did hire RM Partners and that he has spoken with Lau on several occasions. He added that at no time did Lau suggest spreading false information.
“I wanted to run a clean campaign from day one,” Broussard said.
But at least one text message sent during the campaign appears to be from a political group that does not exist.
The text, which said it was paid for by the Louisiana Republican Citizens Group, questioned interim Chief Cody Louviere’s political affiliation, stating that he only recently was a registered Republican.
“Hello! Cody Louviere, candidate for Youngsville Chief of Police, was registered as no-party and then switched to Republican in 2023. Paid for by Louisiana Republican Citizens Group,” the
message read, according to a source.
The Louisiana Republican Citizens Group is not registered in the state, according to campaign finance reports and Secretary of State’s Office business filings.
Broussard would not comment directly about text messages regarding Louviere’s political affiliation. He did say that RM Partners sent a message reminding voters to cast their ballots.
The text message sent during the police chief race is similar to one in the Senate District 23 race that resulted in an investigation and Lau’s arrest.
Brach Myers said the day after he defeated Jesse Regan, a Broussard council member that he had filed a complaint with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office about someone distributing during the campaign information that the Lady Democrats of Lafayette
group endorsed him. Myers and Regan both are Republicans, and the Lady Democrats group no longer exists.
Regan told The Acadiana Advocate days after the election that neither he nor his campaign had anything to do with the fake campaign information, and he hoped the culprit would be brought to justice.
Lau’s arrest is a result of a cyber investigation led by the Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division in conjunction with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office’s Bureau of Investigation.
During a search, detectives seized various electronic devices for processing and evidence gathering, a Sheriff’s Office news release states. Lau was taken into custody Wednesday and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center Bail was set at $2,500. Staff writer Claire Taylor contributed to this article.
FRESH NEW LOOK
La. teachers union backs change
Constitutional amendment will raise pay
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
After initial hesitation, Louisiana’s largest teachers union came out this week in support of an amendment to the state constitution backed by Gov Jeff Landry that would dissolve three long-standing education trust funds to pay for teacher salary increases.
One of four constitutional changes on the March 29 statewide ballot, Amendment 2 would make pay stipends the Legislature approved last year — $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff — a recurring part of their annual salaries.
Critics have opposed the change in part because the raises would not be built into the state’s education-funding formula, which leaves the possibility that the money could later be redirected toward other projects.
After the bill was introduced in November Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Larry Carter told lawmakers that the union supported “the spirit of the bill” but worried about relying on school districts to put the money toward teacher pay
But on Tuesday, the union said in a news release that it had worked with lawmakers to amend the bill to ensure the raises are included in the state’s mandatory salary schedule and that the state will step in if districts are unable to fund the pay raises.
In an interview, Carter said the revised amendment is currently the only way to provide financial stability to educators.
“It’s the only measure by which we can see teachers’ and school employees’ one-time stipend be turned into a permanent part of their salaries,” he said.
The Louisiana Association of Educators, the state’s other major teachers union, also says it supports the measure, union President Tia Mills told the Louisiana Illuminator Mills did not respond to a request for comment.
For decades, the state has funded hundreds of education projects using about $2 billion from three trust funds enshrined in the state constitution. If passed, Amendment 2 would eliminate those funds and use the money to partially pay off debts related to the state’s teacher retirement program. School districts would be required to use the savings expected to stem from paying off those debts to give their teachers and support staff raises.
The amendment would not apply to educators at schools that do not pay into the retirement fund which includes most charter schools.
Louisiana educators are among the lowest paid in the nation. According to data from the Southern Regional Education Board, they earn $5,000 less on average than their counterparts in other Southern states and nearly $15,000 less than the national average.
The amendment has sparked controversy partly because it would reduce or eliminate funding for numerous education projects. Last year the trust funds provided roughly $10 million to early childhood education, $3 million toward efforts aimed at improving struggling schools and $1.2 million to help districts with teacher recruitment and retention, among other projects.
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, who supports the measure, said that he expects his department will be able to replace funding for some of the efforts, including early childhood education. However, Landry’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year is based on current revenues and does not account for changes if the trust funds are dissolved.
Richard Nelson, secretary of
22 dead cats found in Morgan City home Welfare check results in woman’s arrest
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
A 71-year-old Morgan City woman has been arrested on multiple counts of cruelty to animals after 22 dead cats were found in her home. Morgan City police officers conducting a welfare check at a home on McDermott Drive in the Lakeside subdivision last week found perishable items that had been delivered to the house days before and had not been picked up by the residents, according to a social media post by the department. No one answered at the front of the residence. When officers went to the rear of the residence they saw a dead cat inside the home and a strong odor emitting from the residence, the post states. The officers eventually made
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE
Alexis Meyers repaints the window in front of Keller’s Bakery with a spring themed mural on Monday in downtown Lafayette.
OUR VIEWS
Calling foul on effort to exempt NIL earnings from state taxes
Perhaps the best response to a new tax-relief idea in the Louisiana Legislature is to quote a famous on-court explosion by tennis great John McEnroe.
“You cannot be serious!”
Forgive us if we express scorn for a proposal by state Rep. Dixon McMakin R-Baton Rouge, which would exempt from state income taxes all “name, image and likeness” money earned by college athletes. The exemption would signify misplaced priorities and values, not to mention a stunning lack of fairness. It also would be just bad tax policy on a macroeconomic level, not to mention a hypocritical step for this particular Legislature.
Let’s take that last point first. This is the same Legislature that late last year lowered tax rates in return for, among other things, significantly dialing back tax credits and special-interest deductions. The dial-backs were a recognition that state government should be providing a level playing field, not picking and choosing economic winners and losers — and also that abundant special-interest credits create economic inefficiencies the state should avoid.
Having just done that, how does it make sense to offer a huge exemption to an extremely small group of people who already are commanding large incomes at a young age? And doesn’t that open the state to yet a new round of supplicants begging for similarly favored treatment?
Next, consider priorities and values The combination of the name image and likeness system with wide-open rules for transferring among universities already has made college sports into an openly rent-a-player enterprise Before NIL and the transfer portal, college athletics at least had a tenuous, even if oft-violated, link to the overall educational enterprise. Transfers and NIL have reduced that tenuous link to a thread.
It’s a thread that tax-free earnings, all for playing a game, ineluctably would sever. And what message would it send about how the state values education if its policy for top athletes already getting paid mountains of cash indicates that the value of a free scholarship — itself an untaxed benefit — is so negligible that the state also will exempt the athletes from regular taxes on personal income that every other worker in the state must pay?
Are we so besotted with the ability to throw balls or run fast that we need to turn athletes into their own, exalted class of citizen who can skate away from otherwise basic obligations of residence and employment in Louisiana?
That brings us to the most basic issue, of fairness. Plumbers must pay state income taxes Attorneys and anesthetists must pay taxes; teachers and truck drivers must pay Why should barely adult athletes, already basking in benefits, be absolved from the same civic requirements?
The Legislature should reject this proposal. It amply deserves a failing grade.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence
The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.
Don’t overlook successes of USAID around the world
In recent discussions, we have heard a lot about the failures of USAID, but it’s important to also recognize the significant successes of its mission especially those that directly benefit the United States. USAID’s global health and development initiatives are not only transforming lives around the world but are also beneficial to the United States. One of the most remarkable successes is PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which has saved over 25 million lives since its inception in 2003. By providing life-saving antiretroviral treatment and preventing millions of HIV infections, PEPFAR has dramatically reduced HIV/AIDS-related deaths and continues to be one of the most effective global health programs. USAID’s efforts also extend to global disease eradication, playing a pivotal role in the fight against polio. Through partnerships with WHO, UNICEF and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, USAID has helped reduce polio cases
by 99%, ensuring the disease is nearly eradicated and protecting future generations from a crippling virus. That means less vaccines and less HIV in our country
Furthermore, USAID’s work in addressing the root causes of migration has proven beneficial for both the U.S. and countries of origin. By promoting economic development, improving security and strengthening local governance, particularly in Central America, USAID has helped reduce the factors driving migration, such as poverty and violence.
These initiatives not only create more stable, prosperous regions but also ease the pressures on U.S. immigration systems, making them essential for long-term American interests. Supporting USAID’s programs means fostering a healthier more stable world, which ultimately enhances America’s security, economic interests and humanitarian values.
KARL DERINGER Lafayette
Ukraine deserves a just peace and to keep its land
Three years ago, the citizens of Ukraine, a peaceful, independent country in Eastern Europe, found themselves under attack by their neighboring country, Russia. Their homes and businesses were bombed as Russian forces invaded. Millions had to leave their homes and many were killed. Thousands of Ukrainian children were separated from parents, bused to Russian camps and then resettled with Russian families.
The U.S. came to the support of the Ukrainian people because Russia was wrong to invade. They needed our help to fight off the aggressor Volodymyr
Zelenskyy has stood up for his country with dignity and honor, while Russia committed atrocities as it stole Ukrainian land, lives, and children. Donald Trump wants Ukraine to stop fighting against its Russian invaders. Allowing Russia to keep the Ukrainian land it now occupies is the same as giving violent thieves the goods they have stolen, without punishment. Donald Trump is wrong, and the American people should let their representatives in Washington know it. Silence is complicity
JENNIFER CROSS Lafayette
Best-selling author James Lee Burke has made New Iberia a travel destination. His Dave Robicheaux book series is wildly popular all over the world. The stories are centered around New Iberia and celebrate our south Louisiana culture. In a conversation recently Burke spoke eloquently about the Iberia Parish Library system. He said, “I believe I have put the Iberia Library in almost 25 of the Dave Robicheaux series. I think every tourist who visits New Iberia also visits the library Anyway, it’s a grand place. When I’m away from it, as I am now I want to weep in my memories of that beautiful spot on East Main and the world it contains. Stop by See what I mean.” I couldn’t agree more. Our library system is a treasure that provides unparalleled value for our community It is an integral part of the Books Along the Teche Literary Festival and provides services and programming for thousands of Iberia Parish citizens. On the eve of an important vote on library funding, James Lee Burke and I are happy to support the Iberia Parish Library DENA STEWART MATURIN co-chair, Books Along the Teche Literary Festival New Iberia
TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE
What we use for currency in this country are Federal Reserve notes They have no intrinsic value. The paper on which a $100 bill is printed is not worth any more than the paper used to print a dollar bill. And our money is no longer convertible to gold or silver Its only guarantee is the faith and credit of the U.S. government. A large part of that “faith and credit” is the independence of the Federal Reserve from political control. Now President Donald Trump, through his sidekick Elon Musk, is threatening that independence by talking about looking into the records of the Federal Reserve. No matter your political persuasion — liberal, conservative, or somewhere in-between — you ought to be concerned when politicians start messin’ with our money
SANFORD W. WOOD Eunice
I have had a subscription for over 50 years. Every morning, I wake up with my coffee and my newspaper and I always read the letters to the editor But I must say the letters in the Feb. 26 edition were, in my view, the best ever They all addressed concerns about the current attacks on democracy in a way that all Americans should be concerned. I realize that the only reason that these opinions, and those on both sides of the political spectrum, are available is because of the freedom of the press and the good faith of your newspaper Thank you and please never back down from a fight for our free press.
MARCY GERTLER New Orleans
COMMENTARY
Wall Street flabbergasted Trump is wrecking economy
If only someone had warned them.
Wall Street is apparently shocked that President Donald Trump is destroying the robust economy he inherited. All those self-defeating tariffs! Those arbitrary federal layoffs! Stripping work permits from legal immigrants! The self-dealing! The dismantling of the rule of law!
Catherine Rampell
These are among the reasons recession risks are rising and markets are in correction territory (at least 10% below their recent peak). Investors and businesses apparently spent last year wish-casting about Trump’s agenda, assuming he’d implement all the policies they want (tax cuts, deregulation) and none of the ones they don’t (see above)
“With hindsight, we did not appreciate the nature of what the administration was going to be like,” a remorseful banker told the Financial Times, to cite just one representative quote. “I do believe they are hurting their stated objectives of peace and prosperity.”
Trump’s close allies and advisers are similarly “rattled,” “spooked” and “unnerved” by the president’s destructive decisions, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Were any of these people watching the same campaign the rest of the country saw?
Trump’s self-sabotaging agenda was not subtext; it was explicit text, often delivered in all caps. And some commentators (ahem) tried to convey that even if those precious tax cuts passed, there’s a lot more to capitalism than low taxes.
Maybe investors thought Trump was sufficiently transactional that they’d be able to control him. Or that market losses would temper him. Perhaps they assumed his senior aides would curb his worst impulses — as in Trump’s first term, when his top economic adviser secretly swiped anti-trade documents off the Oval Office desk. This time around, however, Trump’s personnel choices have prioritized personal loyalty over sound judgment or respect for the law The few “adults in the room” — the Cabinet appointees whom markets might have once trusted have proved spineless, powerless or both. Recall that one of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s first official acts was allowing Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service to infiltrate the sensitive federal payments system. Bessent also repeatedly misrepresented how
much access the DOGE bros had. Trade adviser Peter Navarro once explained that his “function, really as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm [Trump’s] intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters.” Needless to say economic analysis is not supposed to reverse engineer evidence to support a predetermined conclusion. Coincidentally, Navarro is also one of several senior Trump officials who were previously paid by the U.S. steel industry — and who are now urging Trump to wage destructive trade wars benefiting (you guessed it) the U.S steel industry
This was all a matter of public record well before Trump took office Markets are only figuring it out now?
To be clear, I do not blame regular, everyday voters for not fully anticipating these outcomes News organizations have profiled regretful Trump voters who (wrongly) believed he’d lower prices, make fertility care free or crack down on migrant gangbangers and who are only now realizing just how much they or their families have to lose. Social media greets these stories with schadenfreude and leopards-eating-faces memes. But normal people who are not professionally obligated to follow the news or read white papers — are busy with their jobs, families and other stressors. Many feel disconnected from our bitter politics or lack the bandwidth to digest dense policy pro-
posals. What will or won’t help reduce prices is not always intuitive, and America’s archaic political procedures often obscure what it takes to get even sound policy passed. (Byrd rule? Blue slips? What?) One of my core beliefs, as a journalist and a citizen, is that government complexity always rewards demagogues.
But C-suite executives and market analysts have no excuses for getting Trump’s economic agenda wrong. They are paid to make accurate predictions and to follow incremental regulatory and legislative developments. They were supposed to know that the “Tariff Man” might raise tariffs, and that the guardrails were being dismantled. They went into this eyes-wide-open.
Everyone makes mistakes, I suppose. Even I once naively assumed the private sector would be a firewall against (at least some of) Trump’s excesses and erratic behavior, because companies know that property rights and the rule of law are critical for a stable business environment But as a recent straw poll of CEOs conducted by Yale shows, executives are staying quiet. Most said market losses would need to double or even triple before they’d be willing to publicly criticize Trump’s policies.
Even the bottom line, it seems, is sometimes an insufficient motivator for mustering courage
Catherine Rampell is on X, @crampell.
Reparations for enslaved descendants a bad idea
A new law, buried inside an otherwise obscure piece of federal legislation, permits the Washington, D.C., City Council to establish a commission that will give “reparations” to descendants of enslaved people who can demonstrate how slavery and Jim Crow laws have negatively affected their lives. Talk about a high bar
recommending reparations of up to $1.2 million to each eligible resident.”
The 12-member commission — yet to be appointed — will include a “social justice expert,” which should tell you all you need to know about its likely liberal slant.
According to reporting by The Washington Times, the reparations will come from government appropriations and private donations. The project is ripe for abuse, as we are seeing from the alleged misspending exposed by DOGE.
How does one “prove” negative effects from slavery and Jim Crow laws from the 19th and early 20th centuries, the latter of which were created by Southern Democrats? Will money go to African Americans who are in prison? Will it be paid only to the poor, and if so, what if it is misspent and the money runs out? Suppose the recipient has proved irresponsible or is abusing drugs and alcohol?
California passed a reparations measure that allocates $12 million for “reparations bills.” The Times reports: “State lawmakers have not approved cash payments despite a 2023 report
California is noted for some crazy ideas, but this might top them all.
Better to focus on choices one can make for a better life than to assume one’s ancestors have forever trapped their descendants in an endless life of poverty and despair Better to inspire people with the stories of others who overcame difficult circumstances by making decisions that improved their lives with little or no help from the government. History.com tells the stories of five men who were slaves but overcame their circumstances by not taking it as a final verdict. All five became statesmen
“Blanche K. Bruce was the son of an enslaved black woman and her white master He was a house servant on plantations in Virginia and Mississippi. Bruce later worked as a teacher and opened Missouri’s first school for Black children before moving to Mississippi in the late-1860s. He arrived in the state with only 75 cents to his name, but within a few years, he became a successful land speculator and planter His sharp mind and genteel demeanor also made him a rising star in the Mississippi Republican Party, leading to jobs as a sheriff, tax collector and county superintendent of education.
“In 1874, the Mississippi legislature elected Bruce to the U.S. Senate, mak-
ing him the second Black senator in American history and the first to serve a full six-year term.”
I especially love this one: “Robert Smalls’ journey from slave to U.S. congressman began with a famous act of defiance. In 1862, the South Carolina native was serving as a wheelman aboard a Confederate steamer called the Planter When the white crew took an unsanctioned shore leave in Charleston in the early morning hours of May 13, Smalls and several other slaves hijacked the ship, piloted it past Fort Sumter and surrendered it to a Union blockading squadron. Smalls went on to captain the Planter for the Navy After the Civil War ended, he used his reward for capturing the ship to purchase his former master’s home in Beaufort, South Carolina.”
All five of these former slaves were Republicans, due in part, I suspect, out of gratitude for Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Congress, which has ultimate authority over the District of Columbia, will have an opportunity to reverse the D.C. Council’s reparations legislation. It should. Inspiration, followed by motivation and a considerable amount of perspiration changed the lives of many former slaves and their descendants. These qualities have a better record of improving lives than reparations ever could.
Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com.
How
AI
can make us feel more human
In 1984, when I was in sixth grade, I managed to sneak into an R-rated movie called “Revenge of the Nerds.” (It probably helped that I was almost 6 feet tall.) The movie played on familiar stereotypes about jocks and nerds, culminating in a delightful comeuppance where the nerd fraternity bests the jocks who have been picking on them.
It all feels dated now, and not just because some of the “raunchy, uproarious satire,” as one critic put it, plays differently post-MeToo. The dynamic of jocks oppressing hapless nerds — quite accurate for the time — no longer rings true, because the past 40 years have been one long revenge of the nerds. Silicon Valley became rich and glamorous, and the internet became a sheltered workshop for bookish, awkward keyboard warriors. Alas, what technology giveth, technology also taketh away Artificial intelligence is best at the very nerdy skills that became so financially rewarding over the past few decades, such as writing software code. Oh, it’s not yet good enough to replace a seasoned professional at their peak. But then, it’s only been around for a few years.
Even if you’re not worried that AI will take your job — if, say, you are an obstetric nurse or a federal judge — it’s scary to think of machines taking over tasks that have, until now, seemed particularly human. People have been using substitutes for human muscle for millennia. But we’ve never tried substitute brains. What does society look like if human cognition is no longer unique, or even the best on the block? Will we all end up living in some machine-ruled sci-fi dystopia?
If you’re anxious about that, let me suggest how it might make our lives more human. Yes, AI is likely to be painfully disruptive. But it can also enable — even force — us to focus on our common humanity
Job skills are the most obvious: The more inroads AI makes into corporations, the more the jobs of the future will rely on the things we’re still relatively better at, such as people skills and physical presence. That may be a tough transition for the nerds. But it might be a better society if work consisted mostly of interacting with other humans, rather than abstract symbols on a screen. But the more interesting possible transformation is in our personal lives. Take one of the most beautiful human scenes, a pack of kids running around the neighborhood, migrating from house to house and yard to yard as the mood takes them. Unfortunately, that tends to be a scene from an old movie that few kids have ever witnessed in real life.
At 6 years old, even in the bitterest Great Lakes snows, my mother was snapped into a playsuit daily and instructed to go out and play until dinner My freedom was limited to one Upper West Side co-op building. My friends’ kids tend to have organized activities or carefully scheduled playdates.
There are many reasons for this — the lure of screens, the disappearance of housewives who kept a genial eye on the proceedings. But a major one is the ubiquity of the automobile, which made it extremely dangerous to let small children run around in the street. Now imagine that those cars are reliable self-driving ones, which — unlike a human driver — can be counted on to see your kids and stop. Parents could, like my grandmother, turn off the screen, hand the kid a cookie and tell them to go out and find some kids to play with.
AI could also make it easier to have those kids. We’ll be richer, for one thing. Even those near the top of the current income ladder who find themselves downgraded to some less glamorous position will benefit from the productivity boom.
By increasing our productivity, AI can also give us more time to spend with our families and friends. The five-day workweek was an invention of the industrial era; fields and livestock won’t give farmers a couple of days off every week to relax and rejuvenate. The AI revolution might similarly give us more leisure time that we could invest in our relationships with the people around us.
The obvious rejoinder is that people might just use that time to stare even harder at their screens, while human society withers. And indeed, what I’m sketching out will have to be a choice. It will not happen automatically, and AI certainly won’t do it for us.
All I’m saying is that it’s a possibility, a choice we could make with the opportunity before us. And with AI rapidly oncoming, it’s a choice we should prepare to make.
Megan McArdle in on X, @asymmetricinfo.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RICHARD DREW
A specialist works at his post on the floor of the New york Stock Exchange.
Cal Thomas
Mega McArdle
Petit Theatre’s cast of ‘Jersey Boys’ rehearses for the first
RISHER
Continued from page 1B
about exactly what I’ll be doing in the show
Discovering this added detail was not, shall we say, comforting.
He said, “You’re gonna shimmy and shake like you’re doing a, like you’re doing a beach blanket bingo.”
He went on to tell me that 62 people are working to make “Jersey Boys” happen, including 16 in the cast and 10 people in the orchestra
The rest of the crew are
TEACHERS
Continued from page 1B
the Louisiana Department of Revenue, said the state will still have about $40 million left over once the initial raises have been given out, which can only be used for limited purposes such as additional raises or curriculum costs. He added that the measure is expected to save districts around $200 million annually on debt interest payments, which they must put toward pay increases.
A lawsuit filed last month by two educators and a pastor aims to keep the measure off the March 29 ballot, saying its wording is slanted illegally in favor of the 115-page amendment and misrepresents what it aims to do. For example, the ballot explanation of Amendment 2 says it would “provide a permanent teacher salary increase.”
“But there is no salary increase, only the extension of an existing stipend that has been in place for several years,” the lawsuit states. “No teacher will be paid any more than they currently are due to this potential amendment, and some teachers may be paid less.”
behind the scenes building the sets, creating the costumes, handling the lighting/sound and directing music/vocals. There’s also stage management/ run crew, directors/choreography, wigs/hair and makeup. Then there are the front-of-house people, production, and for this show set in New Jersey, they hired a dialect coach. I’ve since worked with the theater’s costume department to get my wardrobe. I’m working now to regulate my breathing regarding that “shimmy and shake” thing and mentally preparing. My teensy-weensy minor
role occurs during the song “Who Wears Short Shorts?”
There is one definite answer to the question that the song title poses: “Not me.”
The good news is that
open maining shows as of now, and adult tickets start at $47 (including all fees).
CATS
Continued from page 1B
contact with the occupant, Sheri Hite, 71, who gave permission for officers to enter the home. Inside, the post states, officers were met with an unbearable odor and found other dead cats throughout the house. Detectives obtained a search warrant and, on Friday, discovered eight
Funerals Today
Bolinger, Madison Delhomme Funeral Home - Chapel of the Flowers, 1011 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette at 10 a.m.
Obituaries
Duhè, Martin Bofill
(including all fees) for all performances (through college with ID). Go to lepetittheatre.com/eve for ticket informatio
Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.
Jacob Newsom, an LFT organizer and teacher at St Amant High School, is one of the people behind the lawsuit Yet he said he accepts the union’s stance in support of the amendment, explaining that he feels the Landry administration has put both educators and the unions in an impossible position
“It’s really a rigged game,” he said. “I think the question we need to be asking is why every time the teachers of the state want something, there are all these strings attached ”
Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office has asked for the case to be thrown out, arguing that it’s too close to the election and that the plaintiffs don’t have grounds to sue under state law
But on Wednesday, a state judge refused to block the lawsuit. Attorney General Liz Murrill responded by saying she plans to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to intervene.
Email Elyse Carmosino at ecarmosino@ theadvocate.com.
dead cats in various rooms and 14 dead cats in the freezer
One live cat also was in the home and was turned over to animal rescue, the police post states.
Hite allegedly told police she had recently picked up cats from the Baton Rouge area to take care of, the post states. The frozen cats allegedly were kept for later disposal. She was arrested and booked with 23 counts of
Martin Bofill Duhè passed away peacefully sur‐rounded by his family on March 15, 2025. A Mass of Christian Burial will be cel‐ebrated at 11:00 am, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at St Peter’s Catholic Church Interment will fol‐low in Memorial Park Cemetery Rev. William Blanda will be the Cele‐brant Visitation will be Tuesday, from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Pellerin Funeral Home, and will continue Wednesday, from 8:00 am until 10:30 am. A rosary, led by the Men’s Rosary Group will be at 6:00 pm, Tuesday, at Pellerin Funeral Home Martin Bofill Duhè was born December 11, 1962, in New Iberia to Dawn Hebert and John Malcolm Duhè, Jr He was a 1980 graduate of Catholic High School in New Iberia. He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now ULL) in 1984 with a General Business degree For the next five years Bo worked as a Special Asset Officer for two savings and loans in Lafayette During this time, he met the love of his life, Lisa Trahan and her son, Sean. He attended Tulane Law School where he received his law degree in 1992. Bo worked as a law clerk for Judge Buddy Fleming in the 16th Judicial District. In 1993 he began working in the District At‐torney’s office where his primary duties involved prosecuting major felony crimes In January 2015, Bo took office as District At‐torney where he worked tirelessly bringing justice to victims and their fami‐lies until the time of his death. He was honored to serve his community. Bo’s involvement with organiza‐tions included the Louisiana District Attor‐ney’s Association where he served as board member, President and on the Leg‐islative and Technology committees a member of the Louisiana Justice Rein‐vestment Task Force Louisiana District Attorney Juvenile Justice Task Force, President of the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory and Board Member of First National Bank of Jeanerette He received the Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council Iberia Parish Dis‐tinguished Citizen of the Year award in 2015, Chez Hope Peacemaker Award in 2017, and the Virginia Tyler Guillotte Award from the St Mary Chamber of Commerce in 2019. Bo was a man of outstanding char‐acter living his life to the fullest and always doing the right thing. His life was filled with love, family and friends. Most fall Saturday nights you could find him in Tiger Stadium cheering for LSU with his great group of Tailgate friends. He loved music chocolate a good cigar, traveling and spending time with his family, friends and dog, Ruby Bo was the shining light in the lives of all who knew him As a devoted husband, father, son, brother and Poppa, he loved unconditionally and was so very proud of his family Bo is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Lisa Trahan Duhè and his three children, Sean Benoit (Raven), Dawn Michele Duhè, and Malcolm Bofill Duhè mother Dawn Hebert, father John M. Duhè Jr. sisters Kim Holle‐man (Roy), and Jeanne Sinitiere (Steve), brother Edward Duhè (Nancy) grandsons Rhett and Leo Benoit in-laws Melvin and Martha Trahan, many nieces and nephews He is preceded in death by a brother, John Malcolm Duhè, III, and his brotherin-law Mark Trahan. Serv‐ing as pallbearers are Ed‐
and Martha Trahan, many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by a brother, John Malcolm Duhè, III, and his brotherin-law Mark Trahan Serv‐ing as pallbearers are Ed‐ward Duhè, Steve Sinitiere, Roy Holleman Benjamin Richard, Andrew Holleman and Eddie Duhè The family expresses a special thank you to Dr James Falter‐man, Jr., M.D. Anderson, Heart of Hospice and Meka Domino. In lieu of flowers the family asks that dona‐tions be made to VOICE, a non-profit organization for victims of crimes and their families, P O. Box 10201, New Iberia, LA 70562. Pel‐lerin Funeral Home, 502 Jef‐ferson Terrace, New Iberia LA 70560 (337.365.3331)
Christian Burial will be cel‐ebrated at 11:00 am, on Wednesday March 19, 2025, at St Peter’s Catholic Church Interment will fol‐low in Memorial Park Cemetery. Rev William Blanda will be the Cele‐brant. Visitation will be Tuesday, from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm, at Pellerin Funeral Home, and will continue Wednesday, from 8:00 am until 10:30 am. A rosary, led by the Men’s Rosary Group, will be at 6:00 pm Tuesday at Pellerin Funeral Home Martin Bofill Duhè was born December 11, 1962, in New Iberia to Dawn Hebert and John Malcolm Duhè, Jr He was a 1980 graduate of Catholic High School in New Iberia He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now ULL) in 1984 with a General Business degree. For the next five years Bo worked as a Special Asset Officer for two savings and loans in Lafayette During this time he met the love of his life, Lisa Trahan and her son, Sean He attended Tulane Law School where he received his law degree in 1992. Bo worked as a law clerk for Judge Buddy Fleming in the 16th Judicial District In 1993 he began working in the District At‐torney’s office where his primary duties involved prosecuting major felony crimes. In January 2015, Bo took office as District At‐torney where he worked tirelessly bringing justice to victims and their fami‐lies until the time of his death He was honored to serve his community Bo s involvement with organiza‐tions included the Louisiana District Attor‐ney’s Association where he served as board member, President and on the Leg‐islative and Technology committees, a member of the Louisiana Justice Rein‐vestment Task Force, Louisiana District Attorney Juvenile Justice Task Force, President of the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory and Board Member of First National Bank of Jeanerette He received the Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council Iberia Parish Dis‐tinguished Citizen of the Year award in 2015, Chez Hope Peacemaker Award in 2017, and the Virginia Tyler Guillotte Award from the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce in 2019. Bo was a man of outstanding char‐acter living his life to the fullest and always doing the right thing His life was filled with love family and friends Most fall Saturday nights you could find him in Tiger Stadium cheering for LSU with his great group of Tailgate friends He loved music, chocolate a good cigar, traveling and spending time with his family friends and dog, Ruby Bo was the shining light in the lives of all who knew him As a devoted husband, father son, brother and Poppa, he loved unconditionally and was so very proud of his family Bo is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Lisa Trahan Duhè, and his three children, Sean Benoit (Raven), Dawn Michele Duhè and Malcolm Bofill Duhè, mother Dawn Hebert father John M. Duhè Jr., sisters Kim Holle‐man (Roy), and Jeanne Sinitiere (Steve), brother Edward Duhè (Nancy) grandsons Rhett and Leo Benoit in-laws Melvin and Martha Trahan, many nieces and nephews He is preceded in death by a brother, John Malcolm Duhè III, and his brotherin-law Mark Trahan. Serv‐ing as pallbearers are Ed‐ward Duhè, Steve Sinitiere, Roy Holleman, Benjamin Richard, Andrew Holleman and Eddie Duhè The family expresses a special thank you to Dr. James Falter‐man, Jr. M.D. Anderson, Heart of Hospice and Meka Domino In lieu of flowers the family asks that dona‐tions be made to VOICE a non-profit organization for victims of crimes and their families, P O. Box 10201, New Iberia LA 70562. Pel‐lerin Funeral Home, 502 Jef‐ferson Terrace, New Iberia, LA 70560 (337.365.3331)
STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER
Le
SPORTS
RAISING THE BAR
New UL coach White wants to pack Cajundome, compete for NCAA titles
BY KEVIN FOOTE
Staff writer
New UL men’s basketball coach Quan-
nas White says he’s a ‘Why not?’ guy
So on the day he was introduced as the new leader of the Ragin’ Cajuns, the New Orleans native wasn’t in the mood to lower any bars.
White wasted no time emphasizing what important to him, beginning with returning to his home state after a successful run as an assistant coach at Houston since 2017.
“I’m Louisiana born and raised, so this
is personal for me,” the 44-year-old White said Monday at Russo Park’s Stadium Club “It’s special to come back home.
“I’m honored to be here. I’m ready to get to work and I promise you we are going to make Louisiana proud.”
When UL athletic director Bryan Maggard reached out to White, his interest in the job was almost immediate.
“I may have only known Bryan for a short time, but his work ethic is very similar to mine,” White said. “It’s what attracted me to this great university
His commitment to excellence is exactly what makes this partnership exciting and
I’m honored to be a part of it.”
White said his goals for UL’s program are no different than they were for Houston when he joined coach Kelvin Sampson there. The Cougars are ranked No 3 nationally and received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s not about the name of a school,”
White said. “What makes a school so special is the people. That’s why the University of Louisiana is a great institution, because of all of these people.
“People is why we’ll win championships
ä See WHITE, page 3C
Best three weeks in sports from A to Z
You’ve added the food delivery service to your list of favorites on your cell phone, completed your exhaustive search to find which channel TruTV is on and double-checked the number of sick days you have banked with your job. Maybe, after March Madness, it’s best to just find another job
At last it’s tournament time folks, and you’re here for all of it until the women are cut-
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
Believe it or not, UL’s monthlong road trip isn’t over yet
Before enjoying a Sun Belt opener against UL-Monroe at home this weekend, the Ragin’ Cajuns head to Lake Charles at 6 p.m. Wednesday against McNeese State at Cowgirl Diamond.
“We don’t have excuses,” coach Alyson Habetz said of the extended road trip. “That’s part of playing the game. It’s a grueling season no matter what because you play at least 56 games.
“Obviously it’s been a lot on the road lately for us but again, that’s part of the journey That’s part of what we have to deal with and overcome and work through.”
Both programs are losing more games than they’re used to so far this season. The Cajuns are 14-12 and McNeese is 17-13.
UL defeated the Cowgirls 4-1
ting down nets in Tampa, Florida, April 6 and the men are doing the same in San Antonio on April 7. With that, let’s take a deep dive into the best three weeks in sports from A to Z: A is for Aniya Gourdine and the Southern women, who are in
the other LA on Wednesday for a First Four game against UC San Diego (8 p.m., ESPNU). The Jaguars are a stellar 17-3 since Jan. 1. B is for your tournament bracket It will get busted early. And often. Accept it. The best anyone verifiably ever did was pick the first 49 games correctly into the 2019 Sweet 16. That’s still 14 short of perfection.
C is for CBS, where the men’s
ä UL at McNeese State, 6 P.M.TUESDAy ESPN+
on Feb 28 the first day of its long road trip in a tournament at Auburn.
After losing two of three games at Marshall last weekend the Cajuns are refocusing after the 89 straight league series win streak ended.
“I think (senior) Maddie Hayden said it best that it really wasn’t about us,” Habetz said of the streak. “It was about those who came before us, which is true. We felt like there was some honor in that and holding that and we didn’t want to be the team that kind of let them down.
“So that was hard. That was a tough loss and tough to break that streak. But it is what it is.
We were standing on the shoulders of others and now we’ve got to stand on our own two feet.” One good aspect of the series
loss at Marshall is veteran corner infielder Sam Roe enjoyed her best weekend of the season after hitting .667 with six hits, a home runand seven RBIs.
“We need Sam to be a force in the lineup,” Habetz said of Roe. “So obviously the outcome for the team wasn’t good but any time an athlete in the box feels good, feels confident and sees the results of that I think her confidence gets better. We”ll need throughout conference play and through the postseason.
“Hopefully, she can sustain that, which I think she can, because she realizes, ‘OK, I am good’ and it kind of gets her back on track.”
The middle of the order could get a boost with the return of freshman first baseman Emily Smith on Friday from a concussion.
Perhaps the biggest next step
Final Four will again be after contractually going to TBS last year Still no Jim Nantz, though.
D is for South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley, who is angry her Gamecocks aren’t the No. 1 overall seed (UCLA is), just a No. 1 regional seed. Looking for something to be mad about, I guess. E is for ESPN which gave LSU
ä See RABALAIS, page 3C
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
LSU baseball started off Southeastern Conference play on the right foot this weekend, sweeping Missouri at Alex Box Stadium to improve to 20-1. LSU took down Missouri 12-5 on Friday before squeaking by with a 7-6 win on Saturday It clinched the sweep on Sunday with a 10-5 victory Here are five takeaways from the series.
Bullpen issues
Walks and home runs were a problem for LSU’s bullpen against Missouri.
ä UNO at LSU, 6:30 P.M.TUESDAy SECN+
The unit walked 10 hitters, hit three batters and allowed three home runs over the weekend. Control issues from freshman right-handers Casan Evans and William Schmidt nearly cost LSU the win Saturday, as Missouri loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth innings primarily on walks.
But Evans locked in when he had to, getting a groundout to end the seventh and two consecutive strikeouts in the eighth to escape trouble.
Getting out of jams was a specialty for LSU relievers all weekend. Missouri was just 5 for 22 with runners in scoring position, including 1 for 7 on Saturday
“Our pitchers did a great job of leaving guys on base tonight,” Johnson said Saturday “I don’t know how many they left on, but it seemed like it was a lot in key spots.”
Overall, LSU’s bullpen posted a 4.05 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 131/3 innings Without including the run allowed in the ninth inning Sunday which happened when LSU was already leading by six and allowed Missouri to put a runner in scoring position on defensive indifference — the group’s ERA dropped to 3.38.
Even if the control and homer concerns are valid, it wasn’t a disastrous weekend for LSU’s relievers, especially considering that its Saturday and Sunday starters didn’t get out of the fourth inning.
Brown under the radar
Few LSU hitters have been as consistent as sophomore Jake Brown has been at the plate.
The right fielder didn’t even start Friday and still went 2 for 2 with four RBIs. On Saturday, he hit a triple before blasting his first homer of the season into the right field bleachers Sunday After this weekend, Brown has a .393 batting average, good enough for third among LSU hitters with at least 10 atbats.
“I’ve improved all around,” Brown said Tuesday “I mean, I’ve gotten a little bit stronger I’ve gotten a better approach.
“I think I’m a little comfortable now because it’s not my first time doing it anymore.”
Starters not going long
Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson made the longest start of his career Friday, going 61/3 innings.
But neither junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson nor sophomore righthander Chase Shores reached the fifth inning in their starts. Combined, they allowed seven earned runs in 71/3 innings. Johnson said Saturday the plan was for Eyanson to get through the order twice before handing the ball to lefthander Conner Ware. That’s what happened, but the only problem was that Eyanson allowed a three-run homer just before he exited the game.
“We almost got there I mean, he was literally two strikes or one hitter away from getting the job done,” Johnson said, “which I would have let him probably go back out there (for the fifth), but he’ll be fine.”
Shores didn’t allow any homers, or as many hard hit balls, but his command was spotty (three walks and a hit batter) and his pitch count ballooned to 87 by the time he exited with two outs in the fourth inning.
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Quannas White, left, is introduced as the UL men’s basketball coach by athletic director Bryan Maggard during a news conference Monday in the Stadium Club at Russo Park
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP UL coach Alyson Habetz will lead her Cajuns against McNeese State on Tuesday night in Lake Charles.
Scott Rabalais
6
6
Why people fill out brackets
AP poll breaks down number, motivation of fans participating
BY LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press
WASHINGTON As March Madness takes over this week, how many people are filling out NCAA brackets — and why?
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows what share of Americans typically take a shot at bracket predictions and their motivation for joining in the madness. The survey found that about one-quarter of Americans fill out a men’s March Madness bracket “every year” or “some years.” But what about the women’s tournament? High-profile NCAA women’s basketball games have closed the gap with men’s tournaments in terms of viewership and there is more money flowing in and around women’s sports in general; women’s teams will now be paid to play in the tournament, just like men have for years. It all points to higher interest in how women’s teams fare even if the bracket frenzy has not quite caught up.
The survey found that 16% of U.S. adults fill out a women’s tournament bracket “every year” or “some years.” And it’s much more common for bracket participants to only fill out a bracket for the
men’s tournament than the women’s — about 1 in 10 U.S. adults only fill out a men’s tournament bracket, while only 2% fill out only a women’s bracket. Another 14% fill out a bracket for both tournaments at least “some years.”
So, a sizeable chunk of Americans are into NCAA bracketology, but what’s behind the hype?
Among those who fill out brackets at least “some years,” about 7 in 10 say a reason for their participation was for the glory of winning, the chance to win money or the fact that other people were doing it. They’re less likely to be motivated by support for a specific school
or team and in particular to say this was a “major” reason for their participation. There’s certainly a financial motivation for correctly predicting the Final Four and it’s hard to deny NCAA college basketball is in a betting-heavy era. More Americans can legally bet money on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments than in previous years, and many will place a wager on their bracket’s success. Does that mean Americans think the tournaments are all about wagering, or that it’s technically gambling to enter a friendsand-family pool with only a mod-
est payout at stake?
Most U.S. adults — 56% — say that if someone enters a March Madness bracket pool for money, they consider that to be gambling. About 2 in 10 say it depends on the amount of money and another 2 in 10, roughly, say this is not gambling. Who are the diehards?
Men tend to make up the bulk of the regulars who fill out a bracket at least “some years.” Among the March Madness bracket regulars, about 6 in 10 are men, including about one-third who are men under the age of 45. These bracket regulars are less likely to be women; only about 4 in 10 are women, and they’re about evenly split between being older or younger Those who only fill out a bracket for the men’s tournament are also overwhelmingly men. About 7 in 10 people who fill out a men’s bracket — and not a women’s bracket — “every year” or “some years” are men. About 4 in 10 are men over 45, and about 3 in 10 are younger men. Just avoid them?
Not everyone wants to risk a bracket buster and people avoiding the Madness this month are hardly alone. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say they “never” fill out a men’s or women’s bracket. This group leans more female: About 6 in 10 bracket avoiders are women. And roughly one-third in this group are women over 45.
Moore helped convince Johnson to stay in N.O.
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
Sometime earlier this month
— he doesn’t remember exactly when Juwan Johnson couldn’t sleep.
It was around 11 p.m. or midnight, and the tight end had grown restless over his free agency. He wasn’t sure whether to re-sign with the New Orleans Saints. The team had made a strong initial offer, but Johnson didn’t know how he’d fit into its new offense. He wanted to know the plan. He needed to know why the Saints wanted him back. So he called Kellen Moore.
The first-year Saints coach answered the phone. And for the next 15 to 20 minutes, Moore laid out his vision for how he’d use the 28-year-old.
“I think just us having a candid conversation was the biggest thing,” Johnson said.
The conversation led Johnson to sign a three-year, $30.75 million contract to remain with the Saints. But here’s the thing about those talks: There wasn’t one specific answer that convinced the tight end he needed to stay with the franchise, Johnson said Rather, Johnson was flattered that Moore took the time that late at night to be there for him
“So I really had to just understand where we wanted to go because something in my heart was telling me, ‘Man, I got to stay in New Orleans,’ “ Johnson said. “But if I stay in New Orleans, it’s got to make sense. I’ve got to make a wise decision.”
That decision didn’t come easy Johnson called his free agency
“I’m so grateful I went to Oregon, but there was something about me, it’s just like, ‘Man, I felt like I should stay,’ “ Johnson said. “And I said, ‘When I get this opportunity again, I’m going to stay.’ Johnson said he felt peace with his new contract, which makes him the 12th-highest-paid tight end in terms of annual average value. Now he’ll look to build upon the 50-catch, 548-yard season he put together in 2024.
Though the numbers were personal highs, Johnson indicated he wasn’t satisfied with his performance. Not only did he again start the season slow — a throughline over his first five seasons but his best outings also came when Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed were hurt.
“It makes me happy but also makes me upset,” Johnson said. “Because I don’t want to just be a guy that’s used just when guys are down.”
Invitation to S. Alabama ‘avoidable’ error by NIT MOBILE, Ala. — Even amid the backdrop of college basketball’s chaotic postseason, what happened to South Alabama was “avoidable” and “unfortunate,” the school’s athletic director said Monday
The Jaguars received an invitation to the NIT following the reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket Sunday and immediately accepted. An hour later, the NIT called back and rescinded the offer because it had overbooked the bracket.
The issue? NIT officials thought a spot opened because UC Riverside was locked into another postseason tournament, the College Basketball Invitational. But UC Riverside got out of the CBI and accepted the NIT offer
Bengals agree to terms with Chase, Higgins
The Cincinnati Bengals agreed to four-year extensions with receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, assuring that Joe Burrow will have his top two targets with him for some time.
A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that Chase, a former LSU star, will become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, earning $161 million, including $112 million guaranteed. That surpasses the $40 million per year average by Cleveland pass rusher Myles Garrett. Higgins will get $115 million
The Bengals placed the franchise tag on Higgins but were hopeful of getting a new deal done.
Chase led the league in receptions (127), yards receiving (1,708) and touchdown catches (17) this past season, becoming just the sixth wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to achieve the receiving triple crown.
Iona fires Anderson two years after he replaced Pitino NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y Iona fired Tobin Anderson on Monday, just two years after he replaced Rick Pitino as the school’s coach.
The Gaels made the announcement two days after losing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game and missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid. Iona was the No 4 seed and knocked off top-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals before falling to No. 6 Mount St Mary’s 63-49 in the title game. That dropped the Gaels to 17-17 this season after they went 16-17 in Anderson’s first season
Sanders suggests playing another team in spring
BOULDER, Colo. — In a time when programs are rethinking their annual spring football game, Deion Sanders has his own suggestion — bring in another team.
“exhausting” and “taxing” as he was unsure whether to uproot his family and leave the franchise that took a chance on him as an undrafted free-agent wide receiver
At first, Johnson said he grew frustrated in the months leading up to free agency that he had heard little from Saints about a new contract Across the league, Johnson noticed teams re-signing their own left and right — only for New Orleans to keep quiet. That changed, however, in the days before free agency opened.
The Saints presented an offer that impressed Johnson, who said he felt respected since the team didn’t try to low-ball him with an initial number
Still, Johnson wanted to explore his options And those options made the decision even harder Old coaches jumped into the mix with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks both wanting to sign him
In Denver, Johnson would have reunited with Sean Payton — the former Saints coach who once convinced him to switch to tight end. In Seattle, Johnson would have been paired with Klint Kubiak — last year’s offensive coordinator in New Orleans who got a career year out of the veteran. But during the process, Johnson thought back to his time in college when he transferred from Penn State to Oregon as a senior
Johnson said he feels he’s demonstrated the player he can be in practice, but that his goal is to put together a more consistent season from start to finish. He also said he doesn’t want to be known as just a pass-catching tight end, telling reporters he wants to keep improving as a run blocker — an area he said he made strides in last year
But Johnson made clear he’s capable of more. At 28, he signed the third contract of his NFL career — and while many players don’t get an opportunity for a fourth deal, Johnson said he still believes he has six or seven years left.
“Yeah, this is a three-year contract, but I want to be in New Orleans a lot longer than that,” he said.
Stingley becomes highest-paid CB in NFL history
BY KRISTIE RIEKEN AP sportswriter
HOUSTON Former LSU star Derek Stingley has agreed to a threeyear, $90 million contract extension with the Houston Texans that will make him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Monday The deal includes $89 million guaranteed, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced it
It makes his average yearly salary more than that of Carolina’s Jaycee Horn, who set the record for cornerback contracts last week when he agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension Stingley, the third overall pick in the 2022 draft, is coming off a season when he was named to his first AP All-Pro team after ranking second in the NFL with 18 passes defended and tying a career high with five interceptions. His breakout season came after he was slowed by injuries in his
first two seasons. Stingley missed 14 games combined in his first two years before playing every game last season. Rather than picking up the fifthyear option on Stingley’s rookie deal by the May 1 deadline, which would have certainly been a nobrainer, the Texans instead rewarded one of their finest homegrown defenders long before free agency would ever come knocking. The 23-year-old logged five interceptions for the second straight year His 18 passes defensed ranked second in the NFL, the same as his 84.4 PFF coverage grade among corners. Stingley earned such a mark in part by limiting opponents to 42 receptions on 90 targets as the nearest defender, good for a 46.7 completion percentage and 56.9 passer rating allowed. Stingley importantly shined even brighter during the playoffs, as he added two interceptions and another five passes defensed in the Texans’ surprising 32-12 wildcard drubbing of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Just like the NFL sometimes does before exhibition games. The Colorado coach figures with just about everything else changing in college football — transfer portal, name image likeness deals, roster limitations — it’s about time to find a way to make what’s usually an intra-squad scrimmage better for fans and teams alike. Such a change would require the NCAA to alter its rules on spring ball. His concept would be similar to a preseason game in the NFL, where a team comes in for a few days of joint practices before their exhibition game.
76ers forward George to miss the rest of season
PHILADELPHIA Paul George will miss the rest of the season to recover from his injuries, ending a difficult first year in Philadelphia for the nine-time All-Star The 76ers announced Monday that George had received injections in his left adductor muscle and left knee, following consultations with specialists.
“Following the procedure, George is medically unable to play and will be out for at least six weeks,” the team said in its statement.
Philadelphia carried a 23-44 record into Monday night’s game at Houston. Its last game of the regular season is on April 13. George, who turns 35 on May 2, signed a $212 million, four-year contract in free agency last summer But his first year in Philly was marred by injuries that resulted in the forward having one of the worst years of his NBA career
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By WAyNE PARRy
People line up to make sports bets at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City on March 19, 2021. The NCAA tournament starts Tuesday with the play-in games
STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD
Saints tight end Juwan Johnson walks off the field after the Saints lost to the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 29 at Caesars Superdome. Johnson recently signed a a three-year, $30.75 million contract to remain with the Saints.
McIlroy takes drama out playoff with his first shot
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The play-
off was only three holes Rory McIlroy needed only three swings. And yet his victory Monday over J.J. Spaun in The Players Championship revealed so much about the state of his game and the cruel nature of the notorious TPC Sawgrass.
McIlroy delivered an early knockout against J.J. Spaun with his best drive of the week that set up a simple birdie, followed by a three-quarter 9-iron into a cold, cackling wind that found land on the island green at the par-3 17th
“By no means did I have my best stuff this week,” McIlroy said after becoming the eighth multiple winner of The Players “But I was still able to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world. That’s a huge thing.”
It’s the first time in his career he has won twice going into the Masters, the major that for more than a decade has kept him from joining golf’s most elite group with the career Grand Slam.
Spaun thought he had the perfect answer until he saw his 8-iron sail over the island on the second playoff hole, ending his hopes of the biggest win of his career “Can I watch this?” Spaun said as he sat at a table, his eyes trained on a television in the back of the media center showing a replay of his tee shot on the 17th. It was his first time seeing where the ball landed
WHITE
Continued from page 1C
It’s why we’ll get to a Final Four.” In addition to coaching at Houston, White was an AAU coach in Louisiana for eight years and also had stops at Western Kentucky and Tulane.
“I’ve been blessed with amazing opportunities in this game of basketball and I would like to think that I’ve taken full advantage of it,” White said. “This opportunity is no different. I will take full advantage of it, you have my word.” The next point of emphasis for
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and San Diego State a 9:15 p.m tip time Saturday. I quote our LSU beat writer, Reed Darcey, who called it “absurd” and leave it at that.
F is for NCAA tournament first-timers: Omaha in the men’s tourney; Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon, UC San Diego and William & Mary on the women’s side.
G is for Baton Rouge’s Mark Grant, in his third year as lead director for CBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament. If you still can’t find TruTV, give him a call.
H is for the UConn Huskies, trying to be the first to win three straight NCAA men’s titles since UCLA (1967-73). Don’t bet on it: If the Huskies survive an 8-9 game with Oklahoma, they get Florida in the second round.
I is for the Ivy League, which has three teams (Columbia, Harvard and Princeton) in the women’s tournament for the first time.
J is for Julian Reese, brother of former LSU All-American Angel Reese, who plays for Maryland as a No. 4 seed in the West.
K is for LSU women’s coach Kim Mulkey She is 21-0 in the first round since losing her first NCAA game at Baylor in 2001.
L is for Luther Vandross, whose voice during the “One Shining Moment” montage after the men’s final is one of the best traditions in sports.
M is for the aforementioned Omaha Mavericks who destroy the nearest trash can after every big win. If they upset No. 2 St. John’s, they’ll probably go for a garbage truck.
N is for the NIT now on the endangered list since Fox Sports has created a 16-team tourney in Las Vegas called, pompously, the College Basketball Crown. Tulane is in the CBC, but only four power conference schools are in the NIT
O is for Otega Oweh of Kentucky and the rest of our all-name starting five: Boogie Fland, Arkansas; Saylor Poffenbarger, Maryland women; Bella Smuda, Liberty women; and Solo Ball, UConn. Solo Ball has
just beyond the wooden frame and into the water He had heard only groans from the gallery And he still couldn’t believe it.
“I never thought it was long,” he said quietly. “I never thought it was long.”
So ended a memorable week at golf’s richest tournament, where thousands of spectators showed up in the cold and wind for 47 minutes of golf between McIlroy — among the most celebrated players who now has 39 worldwide wins — and Spaun, a 34-year-old with one PGA Tour title who until this week had never broken 70 on the TPC Sawgrass.
White was community support. As White and his family walked to the packed Stadium Club on Monday he said his first thought was his desire to fill up the Cajundome.
“I’m a big believer in God — God and myself,” he said. “If you can believe it, you can achieve it I have great faith and if you put your work ethic with that, then it’ll happen.
“We need to fill the Cajundome and get it back to where it can be. Why can’t it happen? I believe in my abilities and I believe in my staff.”
Maggard made it clear in Monday’s gathering that White was the perfect candidate for UL at this
to be deadly at one-on-one.
P is for Rick Pitino He may be one of the shadier coaches around his 2013 Louisville team had its NCAA title stripped — but the 72-year old can still coach. St. John’s is the sixth program Pitino has taken to the NCAA Tournament.
Q is for quick quiz: What is still the lowest seed to reach the men’s Final Four? Yes, an 11 seed. LSU did it in 1986, followed by George Mason (2006), VCU (2011) and UCLA (2021).
R is for the Red Flash of St. Francis (Pennsylvania), in the men’s tournament for the first time since 1991.
S is for South Alabama invited to the NIT then uninvited when UC Riverside got out of a commitment to play in the CBI and took its bid back. Coach Richie Riley called the episode “unacceptable.” No kidding.
T is for Ta’Niya Latson, who leads the nation in scoring (24.9 ppg) and will try to lead Florida State out of Baton Rouge and to the Sweet 16.
U is for unbelievable political grandstanding. West Virginia Gov Patrick Morrisey is threatening legal action because West Virginia (19-13) got left out of the tourney and North Carolina got in. Admittedly it’s not a good look that UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham chairs the selection committee.
V is for Hailey Van Lith, the former LSU transfer from Louisville who led her third team, TCU, to a No. 2 seed.
W is for McNeese State coach Will Wade His Cowboys are 27-6 and have Clemson in their sights for one of those traditional 5-12 upsets.
X is for xylophone I love a basketball band with a xylophone or plays the theme from “Hawaii Five-O.”
Y is for the Indiana women’s Yarden Garzon a native of Israel who is shooting a toasty 41.5% from 3-point range.
Z is for the Akron Zips, whose coach John Groce had to beat his brother Travis Steele (yes, they are brothers) to win the MAC’s automatic bid. Enjoy the madness, y’all, and may your brackets stay unbusted.
For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter
set up a pitching wedge from 176 yards into the par-5 16th for a twoputt birdie from 35 feet.
“I thought if I could get the ball in the fairway there, it sort of puts a little bit of pressure on J.J.,” he said. “To step up and make that swing was awesome.”
And then it effectively ended on the 17th.
“When my ball was in the air, I was telling it to get down,” McIlroy said.
Spaun hit his 8-iron with a higher trajectory into a hurting wind off the right, and his first instinct was to yell, “Get up.”
“It just looked like it was going to be short,” Spaun said. “I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it was long. I’m happy with the swing I put on it — I am The wind must have just laid down just a little too much, and it just went through the wind. Wasn’t my time.”
It was reminiscent of a 2008 playoff between Sergio Garcia and Paul Goydos, back when the 17th was used in sudden death Garcia hit the green. Goydos came up short and into the water, and there is no lonelier walk than to the drop zone knowing it’s over Spaun wound up three-putting from 45 feet for triple bogey McIlroy ran his 30-footer well past the hole for a bogey, giving him a three-shot lead. Both hit drives well right on the 18th. McIlroy took a safe bogey and Spaun didn’t bother putting the 10-footer he had left for bogey
McIlroy said he woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep.
Whether this was about trying to win or trying not to lose — he had a three-shot lead with five holes to play in the final round Sunday didn’t matter He worked on his tee shot with the same helping wind off the right. To practice in the right wind for the 17th, McIlroy turned and hit balls from the range toward the third green.
McIlroy had been spotty off the tee all week, missing nearly half of his fairways. He set the tone with his best of the week, a 336-yard blast right down the middle that
juncture in the program’s history
“I felt like Quannas White was the right person at this time for this job,” Maggard said. “I love his elite winning experience. He knows what it looks like at a high level
“He knows what quality talent looks like. I think that’s exactly what we needed at this day and time in our program. I’m excited to watch him grow.”
From those who worked with White over the years, Maggard said he’s convinced he brings the necessary work ethic to the Cajuns.
“The one thing that was consistent is that he’s just a really intense competitor and I think
LSU
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“I’m good with where Chase is at,” Johnson said Sunday “and I think he’ll take from today and learn from it.”
LSU’s bullpen is better equipped to make up for short outings from its starters this season as opposed to last year However, relying on the unit too much as the season goes along could wear down arms by the time the playoffs begin.
Primeaux’s importance
If LSU opening SEC series proved anything it’s that sophomore left-hander DJ Primeaux is probably going to play a big role in the bullpen this season.
Primeaux pitched in all three games this weekend, throwing more innings against Missouri than he had all of last season in SEC play
“I saw some things where I thought he could be successful,” Johnson said. The results this weekend for Primeaux were a mixed bag.
He helped LSU get out of a basesloaded jam in the seventh inning
Saturday by forcing a double play, but he also walked a batter and hit another in the inning He then gave up another walk and a single Sunday that allowed an inherited runner to score.
Friday was his strongest performance as he retired both batters he faced on a groundout and a strikeout.
“I don’t know how they do it,” Johnson said, “but the one (inherited) run he gave up (Sunday), you should put that on the coach’s ERA for asking him (to pitch) for three days in a row.”
Without a plethora of left-handed
SOFTBALL
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to rebounding from the series loss is the pitching staff being more efficient early in games.
“Obviously everything starts in the circle,” Habetz said. “Our pitchers have shown signs of ‘Give me the ball, I can do this,’ and then signs of ‘I want the ball’ but just not coming through.
“It comes down to walks We’re
The first three-hole playoff in 10 years at The Players was caused by a four-hour rain delay on Sunday McIlroy had to make a 4-foot par putt on the 72nd hole. Spaun had a 30-foot birdie putt for the win that stopped inches short.
McIlroy, disappointed and having lost a three-shot lead on the back nine, looked ahead to the playoff by saying, “Make five good swings tomorrow morning and get this thing done.”
Turns out he only needed three — the driver and wedge on No. 16, the 9-iron on No 17 to beat Spaun and claim the $4.5 million prize from the $25 million purse.
that’s needed — not only here but in today’s day and age in college athletics,” he said.
The Cajuns are coming off a 12-21 season, replacing longtime coach Bob Marlin with interim coach Derrick Zimmerman in December UL finished Sun Belt play with an 8-10 record.
“Let me be clear, this team will be built on toughness, on discipline and on accountability,” White said. “We’re going to defend on the floor and we’re going to rebound. We’re going to play an exciting, relentless brand of basketball that makes you proud to be a Ragin’ Cajun.” White also vowed to embrace
Any mention of The Players being the fifth major or even resembling one is not where McIlroy wants to go right now because he knows the real one — the big one is a month away at Augusta National. The trick now is to keep his game in good stead. He also won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month. He plans to add one more start in Houston or San Antonio before the Masters.
“Everything feels like it’s in good working order at the minute,” he said. “Just keep practicing and doing the right things and practicing the right habits, and day after day, week after week, they all add up to days like today.”
Spaun won $2,725,000 for his runner-up finish and moved to No. 25 in the world ranking, high enough that he is assured a spot in the Masters.
“A good consolation to the week,” Spaun said.
Cajun Country
“I’m looking forward to getting back and going around the campus to meet all the coaches and getting out in the city and getting boots on the ground,” White said.
“I want to see everyone and get everyone involved with this basketball program.
“I need every student, every student organization, every local basketball program and alumni and every single fan in our community in your seats to make this place the toughest place to play in the country.”
Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.
pitchers on its roster — as LSU had last season Johnson will likely continue to lean on Primeaux to retire lefty hitters for the remainder of conference play
Guidry injury update
Junior right-hander Gavin Guidry was unavailable for a fourth consecutive weekend against Missouri, as he was listed as out on the
all about making people earn what they get. We lead the country in double plays, so let them put the ball in play So that’s been our message to the pitchers — you don’t have to strike everybody out.” Habetz said through the adversity the Cajuns faced on the road trip, the players sticking together gives her hope that better days are ahead. “Probably the most special thing is they’re coming together which is awesome,” she said.
SEC availability report before each game of the series.
Guidry has been out with a back injury Johnson didn’t have an update on his status Sunday only saying that he’s still playing catch.
“I’m just waiting for the green light,” Johnson said.
Email Koki Riley at Koki.Riley@ theadvocate.com.
“When you come together through times that are hard, it’s a good sign that good things will happen when they’re supposed to. Oftentimes with the struggles and the hardships, people start to point fingers and divide and nitpick stuff.
“I’ve been most proud of the girls in that they truly pick each other up, they care about each other and they’re working hard to fight through this together.”
Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.
PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS
LSU’s Mavrick Rizy throws in relief in the fifth inning Sunday against Missouri in LSU’s Alex Box Stadium.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHRIS O’MEARA
J.J. Spaun, left, greets Rory McIlroy after McIlroy won a playoff at The Players Championship on Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
SOUTH
EAST
MIDWEST WEST
GRAFTING 101
Behind the scenes of a fruit tree’s journey
almost all fruit trees are grafted, and so are pecans. Some ornamental trees and plants, including Japanese magnolias, Japanese maples and camellias, also are grafted. Grafting is somewhat of an art, and because it is a laborious procedure, it isn’t something most home gardeners do. It’s typically done at nurseries to propagate in-demand cultivars for sale and by hobbyists who enjoy the process or want to grow trees to share with others. So why are trees grafted? There are a couple of reasons, according to LSU AgCenter fruit and nut specialist Michael Polozola.
“Let’s use pecans as an example,” he said. “If you plant pecans by seed, they don’t come true to type, and you can’t root them as a cutting — they just sit there and die.”
LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA McCLURE
When grafting, it’s important that the scion wood and rootstock fit together well. The green cambium layers seen at the edges of the pieces of wood need to connect so they can fuse together
To reliably propagate the large numbers of trees needed to fulfill orders, nurseries depend on grafting — and they’re busy doing so right now The cool, overcast conditions of late winter and early spring in Louisiana help freshly grafted trees heal and get ready to grow. Trees are grafted when they are young — about a year or two old, depending on the species. The idea is to take a cutting from a tree with desirable characteristics and attach it to the base of another tree that will provide a root system
The cuttings being propagated are called scion wood, and the tree being grafted onto is known as rootstock. A variety of techniques can be used to cut and splice together the two sections of wood, which enables the cambium — a green layer beneath the bark that generates new growth — of each piece to connect and become one. “We harvest the scion wood while the trees are dormant so that they’ll have time to heal,” Polozola explained. “You don’t want it to grow right away You want that good connection ”
ä See GRAFTING, page 6C
All-white looks are out as painted cabinets and wood grain join in the mix
BY JYL BENSON Contributing writer
For those who have grown weary of the long-standing popularity of white kitchens, 2025 is bringing some opportunity for changes.
Houzz, a website popular with those seeking inspiration for home improvement projects, recently published a kitchen trends study of 1,620 U.S. homeowners planning kitchen renovations. The study provided insight into how people spend money on the house’s most expensive room. It is also the most popular room, with 35% of study respondents growing the footprints of their kitchens, 29% of whom snagged that extra space from their dining rooms. White won’t go away It remains indispensable; few colors can evoke the same sense of cleanliness and simplicity However, the trend of entirely white kitchens — with white
PROVIDED PHOTO By HALEIGH HOWCOTT PHOTOGRAPHy
This wooden island in architect Lacey Wotring’s home is designed to look like a piece of furniture to better blend with the rest of the home’s decor
cabinets fixtures, countertops and flooring — has begun to wane. This style often creates a washed-out appearance and can be quite stark Plus, over the past decade, it has been extensively utilized, leading to a growing perception that it is overdone.
While white remains the most popular color for cabinets, pair those white cabinets with black counters and you are on top of the style game.
Wood grain, to mix with furniture
“Wood grain is back in, but in lighter, more natural tones,” said John Lagarde, a kitchen designer and owner of Classic Cupboards in Harahan, a business his father founded in 1983.
“Painted cabinets will always be around,” Lagarde added, “but the warmth of the wood grain has a positive impact, especially with so many kitchens that are open to the living space. The wood grain gives a more natural furniture feel and less of a utilitarian feel.
“Wood grain also tends to wear better due to the camouflaging effects.”
Cabinet-matching wood hoods, however are not as popular as they once were. Mixed-metal hoods are gaining popularity, Lagarde said.
The English look is in
The Houzz survey showed that many homeowners renovate kitchens for style updates. Of those, 12% chose modern styles and 11% went for contemporary Surprisingly, 14% went for traditional
ä See KITCHENS, page 6C
PHOTO By JEFF STROUT
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, March 18, the 77th day of 2025. There are 288 days left in the year
Today in history: On March 18, 1925, nearly 700 people died when the Tri-State Tornado struck southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana; it remains the deadliest single tornado in U.S. history
On this date: In 1922, Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced in India to six years’ imprisonment for civil disobedience. (He was released after serving two years.) In 1937, in America’s worst school disaster, nearly 300 people most of them children — were killed in a natural gas ex-
TODAY IN HISTORY
plosion at the New London Consolidated School in Rusk County, Texas. In 1942, President Franklin D Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the War Relocation Authority, which forced JapaneseAmericans into internment camps during World War II. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled unanimously that state courts were required to provide legal counsel to criminal defendants who could not afford to hire an attorney on their own In 1965 the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov went outside his Voskhod 2 capsule, secured by a tether In 1990, two thieves posing as police officers subdued security guards at the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Art in Boston and stole 13 works of art valued at over $500 million in the biggest art heist in history In 2018, a self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in the first death involving a fully autonomous test vehicle.
Today’s Birthdays: Composer John Kander is 98. Actor Brad Dourif is 75. Jazz musician Bill Frisell is 74. Filmmaker Luc Besson is 66. TV personality Mike Rowe is 63. Singer-actor Vanessa L. Williams is 62. Olympic speed skating gold medalist Bonnie Blair is 61. Rapper-actor Queen Latifah is 55. Actor-comedian Dane Cook is 53. Singer Adam Levine (Maroon 5) is 46. Actor Lily Collins is 36.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM CLASSIC CUPBOARDS
Large islands, as shown in this kitchen by Classic Cupboards, provide extra storage and are a particularly useful trend.
KITCHENS
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styles, whereas last year that number was at 9%.
However, the most popular choice is a transitional style combining elements of both and chosen by 25% of renovating homeowners.
Under the auspices of a traditional makeover, homeowners are showing affinities for English countrystyle kitchens, while French country-style is resoundingly out.
For the Brit look, think natural wood cabinets, exposed wooden beams and jewel-toned paint colors like smoky blue and hunter green, with counters of wood or soapstone Granite and marble are out.
Creating special spaces
An alcove for the musthave showpiece range plays into the English aesthetic, but the spaces also turn up in more streamlined spaces. Bonus style points if the alcove has a curved arch. For the recent kitchen renovation in her Algiers Point home, Lacey Wotring, principal architect with Archetype, designed an arched plaster alcove for her husband’s 36-inch Fisher Paykel six-burner range. She covered the wall behind the range in shimmery tiles with the appearance of mother-of-pearl.
“I wanted to frame and define the range as a focal point in the space,” Wotring said. “The kitchen is now an extension of the rest of a home’s living space rather than a place where some utilitarian thing happens. It needs a focal point.” While the range is commanding ever more attention, other appliances have disappeared. Coffee setups, ice makers, microwaves and other undesirables have been banished to butler’s pantries. Refrigerators and dishwashers are hiding out behind panels that allow them to blend seamlessly with the cabinetry
“I didn’t want the refrigerator to be a focal point, and who wants to look at the dishwasher?” Wotring said musing. “If we hide these things, the eye is free to rest on something beautiful or interesting. I want to look at the range with my beautiful
copper pots hanging over it.”
Island style Islands continue to be strong features in the kitchen. Fifty-eight percent of renovating homeowners in the Houzz study either added an island or upgraded an existing one while remodeling. Storage space plays a big part in those islands. Eighty percent added drawers, and 79% added cabinets with doors to their island designs.
Wotring and her husband, Jason Thibodeaux, both natives of Lafayette brought in Grand Coteau woodworker Toby Rodriguez to custom-build a seated walnut island with storage drawers on the working side and open access on the seated side.
“The island is not a builtin,” Wotring said. “It is a free-standing piece of furniture. We did not want a squeaky clean feeling in the kitchen. We wanted it to look period-appropriate to the house.”
Ben Davis, of Lafayette, crafted custom recessedpanel cabinets, some with glass fronts. The black soapstone counters feature white veining. Unlacquered brass fixtures provide a periodappropriate touch, while a butler’s pantry and panels over the refrigerator and dishwasher keep the design sleek and fresh.
“I love the idea of a scullery or back kitchen,” Lagarde said. “It keeps the open kitchen looking great while the back kitchen is more utilitarian. Also, we can’t get enough ‘integrated’ appliances almost completely hidden in cabinetry panels.”
All about backsplashes
The expanded use of backsplash material has become a thing. Houzz reports that 67% of homeowners are expanding backsplash coverage up to the cabinets or range hood, and 12% are extending it to the ceiling. Ceramic and porcelain tile that contrasts with the counter material are the most popular choices, but mirrored finishes, wood, stone and glass are in the game, too.
The report found resounding support (68%) for rectangular tiles for their kitchen backlash, followed
GRAFTING
Continued from page 5C
To be successful, it’s critical to collect scion wood from healthy trees. The rootstock also must be in good shape.
“You want it to have that energy that it pushes for that healing process,” he said.
If you’re interested in trying your hand at grafting — or just curious about how it’s done here are some basic steps for the whip and tongue method, which is just one of several ways to graft. Polozola likes using this strategy to graft pecans.
n Cut off the top of the rootstock, leaving a stem that is several inches to a foot high. (While it may seem strange to remove so much of the tree’s growth, keep in mind that supporting all of that wood takes a lot of energy That energy is needed to heal the graft union and fuel growth of the scion wood that will be affixed to the top.)
n Locate a piece of scion wood with a diameter similar to that of the rootstock. This needs to be a close match; otherwise, the cambium layers won’t line up and be able to join.
n Use a grafting knife or grafting shears to make a slanted cut (or whip) across the end of the scion
wood. Then, cut the tip of the rootstock stem at the same angle. Hold the two pieces together to ensure they fit together
n To help secure the graft, use a grafting knife to cut a notch (or tongue) in each piece.
n Place the scion wood on the rootstock. The tongues will allow them to hold together securely
n Wrap the graft union tightly with grafting tape and film, which provide extra stability and trap humidity This encourages healing, which takes a few weeks.
Grafting tools are extremely sharp and can be dangerous. Getting grafting right takes skill and
patience. Time and money must be invested in growing rootstock and scion wood trees, and not all grafts take. For all of these reasons, most people are content to leave grafting to the professionals.
“That process of grafting takes extra time than rooting something from a cutting,” Polozola said. “That’s why your fruit trees and your other ornamentals that are grafted often cost more. There’s some loss at every step of the process.” To learn more about grafting, visit www LSUAgCenter.com/grafting, where you can view videos and other resources.
by hexagonal tiles at 4%, diamond-shaped tiles at 3%, and tiles with no particular shape (blobs?) creep in at 2%. Use octagonal tiles, and you will find yourself in the 1%, not the 1% anyone is aiming for
Homeowners and designers are turning to woven and mesh panels to front an expanse of kitchen cabinets to break things up while introducing warmth and visual interest. Visual interest is also being introduced with accent cabinets, glass-fronted being the choice of 36%.
Open shelving was popular, with 16% tidy enough to maintain it or sloppy enough not to care.
“Open shelves were a big trend in the ’70s,” Lagarde said, “then clients realized open shelves can get cluttered quickly, but somehow floating shelves are back in style.”
Hardwood floors are out for the kitchen, but vinyl planks that look like hardwood are all the rage, according to 46% of homeowners in the Houzz study
Lagarde says that a common mistake homeowners make with their kitchen is that the refrigeration is not in the right place or insufficient refrigeration. “Don’t skimp on appliances,” he said.
Lagarde has garnered sage advice in the hundreds if not thousands of kitchens he has helped homeowners with throughout his nearly three-decade career
“Two dishwashers could be a lifesaver if you are a cook and like to entertain. People regret not planning a kitchen that functions best for them and their families,” he said.
A closing note of caution on kitchen design: Avoid too many textures in one space.
“There was a trend for a while of more is better when it came to colors and materials in kitchens,” said Lagarde. “We would see multiple colors on kitchen cabinets, and often different woods, tile on the floor and different tile on the backsplash. Additionally, heavy moldings (sometimes with inlays) and furniture details were popular in the recent past. All of these elements when used together create textures and busyness when completed. Today, much of our design is cleaner and less complicated.”
Continued from page 5C
But the presidential penny pledge is already being felt in one niche world. It’s a little-known world that depends on buying pennies wholesale, loading them into machines and persuading parents to feed a few dollars into machines that stamp designs on the pennies Paw Patrol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — as they are stretched between metal rollers at funfairs.
Small orbits of collectors and craftsmen have developed around them. And without the penny, the whole thing faces an uncertain future.
The last pennies?
New copper pennies vanished from circulation in 1982 — 73 years after the first Lincoln penny was minted. They were replaced by coins of mostly zinc thinly coated with copper
The solid copper old ones were more pliable and easier to stamp, making them hot items for kids at funfairs.
“They’ll clean ’em so when they elongate the dino or shark of the printed coin it maintains a ghost image of the printed head of Lincoln,” said Brian Peters, general manager of Minnesota-based Penny Press Machine Co. “Pre-1982 copper pennies, they bring those.” Jeweler Angelo Rosato worked for decades in the 1960s and ’70s hand-printing pennies with scenes of their New Milford, Con-
necticut, hometown and historical and sentimental scenes. Everything was obsessively cataloged, including more than 4,000 penny photographs.
“We’re big fans of the penny Keep the penny,” said Aaron Zablow of Roseland, New Jersey, who was with two of his sons at the American Dream Mall.
“I like the pennies,” his 9-year-old son Mason said.
Some don’t want stoppage
Critics say the rise of electronic commerce and the billions of pennies in circulation mean the U.S. could stop printing the copper coins tomorrow and see little widespread effect for decades. But some people are watching fearfully to see if Trump’s public critique of the penny will affect their business.
Alan Fleming, of Scotland, is the owner of Penny Press Factory, one of a number around the world that manufacture machines that flatten and stamp coins.
“A lovely retired gentleman in Boston sold me over 100,000 uncirculated cents a couple of years ago but he doesn’t have any more,” Fleming wrote. “I will need to purchase new uncirculated cents within the next 12 months to keep my machines supplied and working!”
Regardless of what happens to niche businesses like Fleming’s, penny defenders say they’re an important tool for lubricating the economy even if they’re a money-losing proposition. Since the invention of money, humankind has wrangled with the question
of small change, how to denominate amounts so small that the metal coin itself is actually worth more.
In 2003, Thomas J. Sargent and another economist wrote “The Big Problem of Small Change,” billed as “the first credible and analytically sound explanation” of why governments had a hard time maintaining a steady supply of small change because of the high costs of production.
Why pay money for coins? In a digital world with the line blurring between the real and the virtual, tactile coins have been reassuring. “What this all tells you about the United States as a country is that it’s an incredibly conservative country when it comes to money,” said Ute Wartenberg, executive director of the American Numismatic Society Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are sometimes designed by artists lasersculpting tiny portraits of leaders and landmarks using special software.
“It’s pretty cool because when I tell people what I do I just say my initials are on the penny,” Joseph Menna, the 14th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, said in the 2019 film “HeadsUp: Will We Stop Making Cents?”
Fleming is hoping some lobbying may help: “Maybe we should take a trip to Washington and ask to speak to President Trump and Elon Musk and see if we can cut a deal on buying millions of pennies from them.”
LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA MCCLURE
LSU AgCenter fruit and nut specialist Michael Polozola uses a knife to make a ‘tongue’ cut in the rootstock stem.
PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Simplify your plans to make your life easier today Cap what you want to spend and refuse to venture outside your comfort zone regarding money, emotions or physical risks.
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Refuse to let anyone step in and take your post. Avoid being neglectful or letting your mind wander. Stick to your responsibilities and avoid temptation and impulsive actions.
tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Serious people, plans and possibilities will attract you. Before you begin a project, check out which regulations, paperwork and preparations are mandatory. Stick to the basics and trust your instincts.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Stop short of too much. Promising more than you can realistically deliver will put you in an awkward position with someone you want to impress. The past will haunt you if you exaggerate or take undue privileges.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Stay under the radar to achieve your goals. Networking functions will offer insight into what others want. Change is brewing, and you can be at the forefront of it.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Be careful what you wish for. Acting too quickly will put you in a weak spot. Play to win; use your experience, knowledge and connections to make your way forward.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Steadiness is the key to success. You can hold your own in any situation today if you are
straightforward and willing to compromise. Positive change is within reach.
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Your home and family need attention. Express your feelings, and you'll gain insight into how and what you can do to appease others without burning out or losing face.
scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Live, love, learn and be happy Take the time to indulge in what brings you joy and introduces you to something or someone that excites you. Travel or doing something creative will change your perspective.
sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Someone will misinterpret what you convey, causing havoc within your inner circle. A secretive, charming approach will help you ferret out whoever is being two-sided before trouble can brew.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Say less and do more. Put your emphasis on money, professional or investment gains and a lifestyle you can afford. The goal is to ease stress and enjoy what you've worked so hard to build.
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Physical action and bold talk will help you win over those skeptical of the changes you want to enforce. Offer innovative ideas and suggestions regarding what others can contribute.
InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword
THe wiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS CurTiS
By PHILLIP ALDER
Friedrich Schiller, a German poet, philosopher, historian and playwright who died in 1805, said, “It is easy to give advice from a port of safety.” That would also be easy for me to say. Somedeclarers,though,insteadofworking safely in port to make their contract, take risks on the high seas of bad distribution.
In this example deal, South is in three no-trump. West leads the heart eight (top of nothing), East wins with his king and shifts to the diamond queen. West correctly wins with his king and returns the 10, East overtaking with his jack. South ducks and wins the next diamond, West and dummy discarding hearts. How should South continue?
North’s two-club rebid was New Minor Forcing, indicating at least gameinvitational values and asking South to describe his hand further. Two no-trump denied three spades and four hearts.
This auction kept dummy’s heart suit hidden momentarily, but resulted in the most damaging defense. Yesterday we saw that when North rebid a gameforcing three hearts, West led a club, the unbid suit. Then South took a safety-play in spades (cash the ace, followed by low to dummy’s 10) to ensure his contract.
Even now it looks as though dummy’s spades will provide the necessary tricks
toDAy’s WoRD — HostILIty: hah-STIL-ih-tee: A deep-seated, usually mutual ill will.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer today’s thought
is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” Psalms 118:8
loCKhorNs
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
hidato
mallard fillmore
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Wall Street up again after last week’s fall
U.S. stocks climbed again on Monday as Wall Street’s wild roller-coaster ride veers back upward
The S&P 500 rose for a second straight gain after it fell 10% below its record late last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also climbed. More big swings could be ahead, with a decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates coming later in the week and worries continuing about President Donald Trump’s trade war Stocks have been mostly tumbling on worries that Trump’s rat-a-tat announcements on tariffs and other policies are creating so much uncertainty that they’ll push U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending, which would hurt the economy Surveys have shown sharp drops in confidence, and some companies are already warning about changes in behavior from their customers.
Forever 21 files for bankruptcy protection
Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time and plans to close down its U.S business as traffic in U.S. shopping malls fades and competition from online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein intensifies.
F21 OpCo, which runs Forever 21 stores, said late Sunday that it will wind down the business in the U.S. under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while determining if it can continue as a business with a partner or if it will sell some or all of its assets.
“While we have evaluated all options to best position the company for the future, we have been unable to find a sustainable path forward, given competition from foreign fast fashion companies, which have been able to take advantage of the de minimis exemption to undercut our brand on pricing and margin,” Chief Financial Officer Brad Sell said in a statement.
The de minimis tax exemption lets shipments headed to U.S. businesses and consumers valued at less than $800 to enter the country tax-free and duty-free Forever 21 stores in the U.S. will hold liquidation sales and the website will continue to run while operations wind down The retailer’s locations outside of the U.S. are run by other licensees and are not included in the bankruptcy filing. International store locations and websites will continue operating as normal.
Forever 21 has stores in Baton Rouge New Orleans, Metairie, Lafayette, Gretna and Bossier City
PepsiCo buys prebiotic soda brand Poppi
PepsiCo said Monday it’s acquiring the prebiotic soda brand Poppi for $1.95 billion
The acquisition gives PepsiCo a fast-growing brand in the popular functional beverage category
“More than ever, consumers are looking for convenient and great-tasting options that fit their lifestyles and respond to their growing interest in health and wellness,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.
Allison Ellsworth, the cofounder of Austin, Texas-based Poppi, said the combination with PepsiCo will expand Poppi’s reach.
Ellsworth developed Poppi — then known as Mother Beverage — in her kitchen in 2015 because she loved soda but was tired of the way it made her feel. She mixed fruit juices with apple cider vinegar, sparkling water and prebiotics and sold the drink at farmer’s markets. The brand took off in 2018 when Ellsworth and her husband pitched it on “Shark Tank.” An investor on the show, Rohan Oza, took a stake in Mother Beverage and undertook a major rebrand. Poppi, with its brightly-colored fruitforward cans, was born.
Meta deal ‘changed the narrative’ of
Entergy CEO says more opportunities will be available
BY TIMOTHY BOONE Business editor
After luring Meta’s largest data center to Richland Parish, the CEO of Entergy Louisiana said Monday the state is poised to take advantage of economic opportunities driven by the push for artificial intelligence and renewable energy
“We can’t really name who is out there, but the Meta announcement created a lot of interest,” Phillip May told the Press Club of Baton Rouge. May said Meta’s decision to build a $10 billion data center in
north Louisiana, “changed the narrative” of the state.
caused by retiring facilities and general economic growth.
“Changing that narrative and being able to produce such an outstanding economic win means that we are able to attract more of those opportunities to improve the outcomes of our families in our community,” he said.
Entergy plans on building three new power plants to meet the needs of the Richland Parish facility The plants will be powered by natural gas but will have the ability to generate power from hydrogen and capture carbon dioxide.
Beyond that, May said Entergy is considering adding two additional power plants to meet the needs
Entergy is accepting requests for proposals from operators who would build the plants and sell electricity to the company or sell the generating facilities outright.
The company also is accepting requests for a 3,000-megawatt solar facility, driven by the demands of industrial customers who want clean, reliable power May said.
Those investments will improve service for existing Entergy customers, with Meta absorbing much of the tab, because of the amount of power it will use, he said.
La.
Louisiana is one of the most challenging places to keep electrical power running in the entire U.S., due to the frequency of lightning strikes in population centers like New Orleans and Baton Rouge, tropical storms hitting the state regularly, the fast rate of tree growth and the fact that utility poles sink into the ground.
“In order for us to continue to attract industry to Louisiana, we need a more resilient grid,” May said. “The grid we have today was designed at a time when we dealt with a very different environment.”
Entergy has launched a fivwyear plan to improve the resilience and reliability of the power grid. The work will involve 21,000 projects around the state, including at least 100 projects to harden the system.
Spending patterns at Costco have changed to accommodate a soured view of the economy, including a shift toward ground beef and poultry instead of more expensive cuts of meat, said Costco CEO Gary Millership.
U.S. shoppers warily increase their spending in February
Anxiety over the economy seemingly takes hold
BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP business writers
WASHINGTON U.S. shoppers stepped up their spending just a bit in February after a sharp pullback the previous month, signaling that Americans are shopping more cautiously as concerns about the direction of the economy mount.
Retail sales rose 0.2% in February, a small rebound after a sharp drop of 1.2% in January, the Commerce Department said Monday Sales rose at grocery stores, home and garden stores, and online retailers. Sales fell at auto dealers, restaurants, and electronics stores. The small increase suggests Americans may be growing more wary about spending as the stock market has plunged and President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and government spending cuts have led to wide-
spread uncertainty among consumers and businesses.
Some economists were relieved the numbers weren’t worse. Still, many expect consumer spending will grow 1% to 1.5% at an annual rate in the first three months of this year, far below the 4.2% gain in the final quarter last year
“Consumer spending is on track to slow sharply this quarter but not by as much as we previously feared,” Stephen Brown, an economist at Capital Economics, a consulting firm, said in an email.
On Friday, a measure of consumer sentiment fell sharply for the third straight month and is now down more than 20% since December Respondents to the University of Michigan’s survey cited policy uncertainty as a leading reason for the gloomier outlook. While the respondents were divided sharply by party — sentiment about the current economy fell among Republicans by much less than for Democrats Republicans’ confidence in the economy’s future dropped 10%.
February sales also fell last month at gas
stations, clothing stores, and sporting goods stores.
The figures aren’t adjusted for prices, and the cost of gas also declined in February, which likely accounts for most of the drop. Excluding gas and autos, retail sales rose 0.5%, a healthier figure but still modest after a plunge of 0.8% in January
Spending patterns at Costco have changed to accommodate a soured view of the economy, including a shift toward ground beef and poultry instead of more expensive cuts of meat, said Gary Millership, the company’s chief financial officer
The retail sales report mostly just covers goods purchases — as well as restaurant sales — but there are signs Americans are cutting back spending on services as well.
Airline executives at JP Morgan’s airline industry conference last week said bookings have fallen.
“There was something going on with economic sentiment, something going on with consumer confidence,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian at the industry conference.
Expected tariffs on lumber, appliances driving up prices
BY ALEX VEIGA and MAE ANDERSON AP business writers
Shopping for a new home? Ready to renovate your kitchen or install a new deck? You’ll be paying more to do so.
The Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China some already in place, others set to take effect in a few weeks are already driving up the cost of building materials used in new residential construction and home remodeling projects
The tariffs are projected to raise the costs that go into building a single-family home in the U.S. by $7,500 to $10,000, according to the National Association of Home
Builders.
Such costs are typically passed along to the homebuyer in the form of higher prices, which could hurt demand at a time when the U.S housing market remains in a slump and many builders are having to offer buyers costly incentives to drum up sales.
We Buy Houses in San Francisco, which purchases foreclosed homes and then typically renovates and sells them, is increasing prices on its refurbished properties between 7% and 12%. That’s even after saving $52,000 in costs by stockpiling 62% more Canadian lumber than usual.
“The uncertainty of how long these tariffs will continue has been the most challenging aspect of our planning,” said CEO Mamta Saini.
The timing of the tariffs couldn’t be worse for homebuilders and the home remodeling industry, as this is typically the busiest time of year for home sales. The prospect of a
trade war has roiled the stock mar-
ket and stoked worries about the economy which could lead many would-be homebuyers to remain on the sidelines.
“Rising costs due to tariffs on imports will leave builders with few options,” said Danielle Hale chief economist at Realtor.com.
“They can choose to pass higher costs along to consumers, which will mean higher home prices, or try to use less of these materials which will mean smaller homes.”
Prices for building materials, including lumber have been rising, even though the White House has delayed its tariffs rollout on some products. Lumber futures jumped to $658.71 per thousand board feet on March 4, reaching their highest level in more than two years.
The increase is already inflating costs for construction projects. Dana Schnipper, a partner at building materials supplier JC Ryan in Farmingdale, New York,
sourced wooden doors and frames for an apartment complex in Nassau County from a company in Canada that cost less than the American equivalent.
Half the job has already been supplied. But once the tariff goes into effect it will be applied to the remaining $75,000, adding $19,000 to the at-cost total Once JC Ryan applies its markup, that means the customer will owe $30,000 more than originally planned, Schnipper said.
He also expects the tariffs will give American manufacturers cover to raise prices on steel components.
“These prices will never come down,” Schnipper said. “Whatever is going to happen these things will be sticky and hopefully we’re good enough as a small business, that we can absorb some of that. We can’t certainly absorb all of it, so I don’t know It’s going to be an interesting couple of months.”
