The Advocate 03-22-2025

BRPD to charge for parade, event security

Move comes as department faces budget issues

For decades, the Baton Rouge Police Department has provided police officers to block intersections, manage crowds and provide public safety among parade attendants.

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Under pressure from a shrinking budget, the Baton Rouge Police Department and the Mayor’s Office plan to shift the majority of security costs onto local event organizers, including for parades through downtown.

For decades, the department has provided police officers to block intersections, manage crowds and provide public safety among parade

attendants. Now, the department seeks to push the cost of these officers’ pay to the organizations that host events. That expense can total in the tens of thousands for a single day

The change follows conversations between city police officials and Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ team on how to make up for the $9 million budget deficit the police department is dealing with in 2025.

“The main reason we’re having to have these conversations really is,

Drag racer avoids prison for death of passenger

Victim’s mom asked judge to spare him time behind bars

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Warren Peyton Thomas walked out of a Baton Rouge courtroom with his freedom Thursday, after the mother of his dead girlfriend lobbied a judge to spare him time behind bars. Thomas, 25, of Zachary, pleaded guilty to charges tied to a 2022 drunken crash that killed 27-yearold Kaitlyn Jones. The wreck along Airline Highway happened when Thomas lost control of his car as he was drag racing and crashed into a concrete support beam. His blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.18 — more than twice the legal limit.

ä See RACER, page 6A

Landry pushing tax overhaul amendment

Measure is one of four on the March 29 ballot

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Gov Jeff Landry is crisscrossing Louisiana, running an advertising campaign and appearing on talk radio shows to get voters to approve the next big item on his agenda: a tax overhaul on the March 29 statewide ballot known as Amendment 2.

At the governor’s behest during a special session in November, the Legislature reduced income taxes, raised the sales tax, abolished a tax on big businesses known as the corporate franchise tax, imposed a tax on digital goods and lowered taxpayer subsidies for film producers and developers of historic buildings.

Those changes are now state law

But Landry and lawmakers want to make a host of other changes to the tax section of the state constitution that requires a vote of the people.

“Amendment 2 will set Louisiana on a course to create more jobs, grow the economy and put more money in the pockets of hardworking Louisianans, teachers and our senior citizens,” Landry wrote in a column published in the Ouachita Citizen on Wednesday

“Amendment 2 will set Louisiana on a course to create more jobs, grow the economy and put more money in the pockets of hardworking Louisianans, teachers and our senior citizens.”

GOV. JEFF LANDRy

this is my checking account. This is how much money I have, and 90% of that is payroll and overtime,” Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr said in an interview

“That’s the biggest way I can cut I don’t have a lot of wiggle room to be able to provide officers for free.” Morse estimated the department spent about $250,000 in February alone on overtime pay related to special events.

ä See BRPD, page 7A

Amendment 2 has the support of several prominent advocacy groups, including the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Americans for Prosperity and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, among other groups.

Groups on both the left and the right are mounting a grassroots campaign against Amendment 2 for divergent reasons.

Those on the left say it would lead to spending cuts on such vital needs as education and health care, while those on the right say one provision could cause churches to lose property tax

ä See LANDRY, page 6A

Athletes at smaller schools benefiting from NIL deals

BY ELLA ARMSTRONG, CAROLINE BURK, TY CAZEAUX and CHRISTIAN GLADNEY LSU Manship School News Service

Bailey Tillman began her freshman year at McNeese State University in 2021 after new NCAA rules allowed college athletes to start making money

Attending a small school in a lesser-known conference, the volleyball player was not sure if local businesses would want to use her name or image in ads and other promotional activity — and national connections seemed impossible.

But by reaching out to companies on her own, she was able to secure several so-called name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals She earned $100 writing reviews for Twanie’s Terrific Treats, a cookie store in Lake Charles. And Avoli, a women’s volleyball brand, sends her products in exchange for Tillman posting videos on Instagram of her taking them out of the box. Now a senior, Tillman is one of

50 student-athletes picked by the NCAA and Meta the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — for an internship that could help her maximize NIL prospects and build new relationships with social media experts.

“Just go after what you want, and reach for the stars,” Tillman said. “The worst thing people can say is no.”

Before 2021, athletes could not take money or receive special promotions from schools or boosters recruiting them. The name, image and likeness rules were introduced to help student-athletes profit from their hard work on and off the court.

NIL is now a billion-dollar marketplace, and athletes at smaller universities are still figuring out how to get in on the game while LSU and other major sports schools are providing unprecedented financial opportunities for athletes.

ä See ATHLETES, page 4A

PHOTO PROVIDED By MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITy Bailey Tillman, a volleyball player at McNeese State, has worked out name, image and likeness deals on her own, including with a cookie company in Lake Charles.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Woman accused of drowning dog at airport

ORLANDO Fla. A woman drowned her dog in a Florida airport bathroom and then boarded her international flight after she was prevented from bringing the white miniature schnauzer with her because of a paperwork issue, authorities said.

The woman was arrested in Lake County on Wednesday on a charge of aggravated animal abuse, a third-degree felony She was released on $5,000 bail.

“This act was intentional and resulted in a cruel and unnecessary death of the animal,” said an arrest affidavit from the Orlando Police Department.

Online court records showed no attorney listed for the woman from Kenner

The investigation into the death of the 9-year-old schnauzer named Tywinn started in December when a janitor found the dog in a trash bag in a bathroom stall at Orlando International Airport.

The janitor earlier had seen the woman in the stall cleaning up water and dog food from the stall’s floor. The janitor was pulled away for a cleanup emergency and returned to the bathroom 20 minutes later where she found Tywinn in the trash container, along with a companion vest, collar, rabies tag, a dog travel bag and a bone-shaped dog tag with the woman’s name and phone number investigators said.

Airport surveillance cameras captured the woman speaking for 15 minutes to a Latam Airlines agent with the dog in tow, walking into a bathroom near the ticketing area with the dog and exiting the bathroom without Tywinn less than 20 minutes later The woman then went outside the terminal building, reentered a short time later, passed through security and boarded the Colombia-bound plane, the report said.

Texas measles outbreak expected to last months

As measles cases in West Texas are still on the rise two months after the outbreak began, local public health officials say they expect the virus to keep spreading for at least several more months and that the official case number is likely an undercount.

But there’s a silver lining, officials say: More people have received a measles, mumps and rubella vaccination this year in Texas and New Mexico, which also has an outbreak, compared to last year even if it’s not as high as they would like. And pharmacies across the U.S., especially in Texas, are seeing more demand for MMR shots.

As of Friday the outbreak in Texas was up to 309 cases and one measles-related death, while New Mexico’s case count was up to 42 and also one measles-related death Forty-two people have been hospitalized across the two states.

Texas’ outbreak, which has largely spread in undervaccinated Mennonite communities, could last a year based on studies of how measles previously spread in Amish communities in the U.S.

4 swallowed diamond earrings recovered ORLANDO, Fla. — Detectives have recovered four diamond earrings from a suspected thief two weeks after he gulped the Tiffany & Co. jewelry worth nearly $770,000 during his arrest on the side of a highway in the Florida Panhandle authorities said Friday

The last of the four earrings stolen from the Tiffany store in Orlando was recovered from the suspect last week, the Orlando Police Department said Friday Three of the earrings were recovered two days before that, along with two other unidentified diamond earrings. The suspect was transferred from a jail to a hospital while detectives waited to collect the evidence, police officials said in a statement.

The four stolen earrings matched the serial numbers from the jewelry taken from the Tiffany store last month, detectives said. After the jewelry was recovered, the Texas man was taken to the Orange County Jail where he faces charges of robbery with a mask and first-degree grand theft.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KIN CHEUNG

People watch a British Airways plane land Friday at Heathrow Airport in London as authorities announced a partial resumption of flights after a fire at a nearby electrical substation has caused a closure of Europe’s busiest airport.

London’s Heathrow resumes flights

Fire cut power to one of world’s busiest airports

BY BRIAN MELLEY, DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON A fire at an electrical substation knocked out power to Heathrow Airport for most of Friday, forcing Europe’s busiest hub to shut down for roughly 18 hours, causing widespread cancellations and rerouting headaches, and stranding roughly 200,000 passengers.

The blaze started just before midnight on Thursday at a substation about 2 miles from the airport and took firefighters around seven hours to bring under control. Authorities said they found no evidence that it was suspicious, and the London Fire Brigade said its investigation would focus on the electrical distribution equipment at the substation.

The fire knocked out power to Heathrow and thousands of homes in the area. It affected at least 1,350 flights to and from the airport, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar 24, and the impact was expected to last several days, as passengers try to reschedule their trips and airlines work to reposition their planes and crews

After power was restored, a British Airways jet touched down just before sunset on Friday after Heathrow lifted its closure order Further arrivals followed, including a short flight from Manchester in northwest England.

A British Airways flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia departed from Heathrow just before 9 p.m. British Airways says it will run eight long-haul flights on Friday night. The airport plans to operate full schedule on Saturday Residents in west London described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when the blaze ripped through the substation.

About 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced. Some turned

around and others were diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris or Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

Lawrence Hayes was most of the way to London from New York when Virgin Atlantic announced the plane was being diverted to Glasgow

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland.

“Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston (station in London), but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel, and saw 83.9 million passengers last year

Friday’s disruption was one of the most serious since the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and shut Europe’s airspace for days.

It’s too early to know for sure what sparked the blaze, but the Metropolitan Police force said counterterrorism detectives were leading the investigation because of their ability to find the cause quickly and because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure.

The force said that “after initial assessment, we are not treating this incident as suspicious.”

Heathrow said its backup power supply designed for emergencies worked as expected, but it wasn’t enough to run the whole airport It said it had no choice but to close the airport for most of the day.

The airport’s CEO, Thomas Woldbye, rejected suggestions that Heathrow didn’t have adequate contingency plans, saying the incident was “unprecedented.

“Contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100% and this is one of them,” he said.

Nevertheless, the fallout from the fire led to criticism that Britain is ill-prepared to deal with disasters.

Trump outlines plan to move Education Department programs

SBA will take over student loans; HHS will handle special education

BY COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday began sketching a road map for dismantling the Education Department, with other agencies taking over responsibility for federal student loans and programs serving students with disabilities.

The executive order Trump signed Thursday to do away with the department did not offer a timeline or instructions, but his administration appears poised to carve away all but the department’s most vital operations

The Republican president said during a White House event that student loans will be handled by the Small Business Administration, and “it will be serviced much better than it has in the past.” He also said programs involving students with disabilities would be shifted to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The decisions drew blowback from advocacy groups that fear disruptions will be inevitable. The Small Business Association announced Friday it will cut its staff by 43%, raising questions about its ability to take on the Education Department’s $1.6 trillion loan portfolio

“This can only result in borrowers experiencing erratic and inconsistent management of their federal student loans,” said

Jessica Thompson, senior vice president of the Institute of College Access and Success. “Errors will prove costly to borrowers and ultimately, to taxpayers.”

Trump’s executive order said the student loan portfolio is too big for the Education Department to manage. After the SBA cuts, however, it will be left with fewer than 4,000 employees — about the size of the Education Department before it was cut in half by the Trump administration.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said she is preparing to relocate the department’s core operations to other agencies and roll back federal regulations. In an opinion piece published Friday by Fox News Channel, she said abolishing the department “will not happen tomorrow,” but she plans to pave the way

“We will systematically unwind unnecessary regulations and prepare to reassign the department’s other functions to the states or other agencies,” McMahon wrote.

The functions to be reassigned include the distribution of federal money to support low-income students and students with disabilities, the department’s management of student financial aid, civil rights enforcement and data collection, she wrote.

Some parent groups fear the reorganization could result in weaker protections for children with disabilities. The National Parents Union said families are anxious HHS might treat students’ learning disabilities as medical issues and make them subject to insurance claims.

Trump says Musk shouldn’t be briefed on China war plans

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Friday that war plans should not be shared with his adviser Elon Musk because of his business interests, a rare suggestion that the billionaire entrepreneur’s expansive role in the administration will face limits.

Trump made the comments during an Oval Office meeting on developing a new fighter jet, and he rejected reports that Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China.

“Elon has businesses in China,” the Republican president said. “And he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that.”

Trump praised Musk as a patriot. However, the

reference to his businesses — which include Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer trying to expand sales and production in China is an unusual acknowledgment of concerns about Musk balancing his corporate and government responsibilities.

Trump had previously brushed off questions about Musk’s potential conflicts of interest, simply saying that he would steer clear when necessary The president said that Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday morning to discuss reducing costs, which he’s been working on through the Department of Government Efficiency Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Musk was there “to talk about efficiencies, to talk about innovations.”

Russian drones strike Ukrainian city of Odesa

BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires, officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow’s intention to pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on energy facilities.

The head of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said the city suffered “local emergency power outages” in three of its districts, an indication that the energy infrastructure of the city could have been damaged.

Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “joint pressure on Russia, strengthening sanctions and defense support for our state is the way to stop such terror and Russia’s prolongation of the war.”

“We expect real pressure on Russia from the U.S., Europe and all our partners,” Zelenskyy said in a state-

ment on Telegram. “This is what will allow diplomacy to work.” Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of blowing up a gas facility in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have launched an incursion, in violation of the ceasefire deal. Ukraine denies the accusations. The strike came shortly before Czech Republic President Petr Pavel visited Odesa on Friday morning, meeting with the city’s leaders and officials from other southern regions. “This is another reminder to the whole world: the war continues and Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper said in a statement. He said there were blazes at least three locations after the attack late Thursday “Civilian infrastructure, commercial facilities are on fire, cars damaged,” Kiper said. Over 70 people and 20 fire engines were involved in extinguishing what the emergency services called “massive fires.”

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Israel destroys Gaza’s only cancer hospital

Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza Strip

BY IBRAHIM HAZBOUN, SAM MEDNICK and DAVID RISING Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israeli forces advanced deeper into the Gaza Strip on Friday and blew up the only specialized cancer hospital in the wartorn territory, as Israeli leaders vowed to capture more land until Hamas releases its remaining hostages.

The hospital was located in the Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza in two and was controlled by Israeli troops for most of the 17-month-long war Israel moved to retake the corridor this week shortly after breaking the ceasefire with Hamas. The truce delivered relative calm to Gaza since late January and facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages.

stroying Gaza’s health care system.

Israel’s renewed military offensive in the Gaza Strip threatens to be even deadlier and more destructive than the last, as it pursues wider aims with far fewer constraints.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that his country would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive.

“The more Hamas continues its refusal to release the kidnapped, the more territory it will lose to Israel,” Katz said.

three rockets the previous day in its first attack since Israel ended the ceasefire. A long-range missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set off air raid sirens over Jerusalem and central Israel for the fourth day in a row Friday, with the military saying it was intercepted. Israeli troops had moved Thursday toward the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah, and resumed blocking Palestinians from entering northern Gaza, including Gaza City

The Israeli military said it struck the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which was inaccessible to doctors and patients during the war, because Hamas militants were operating in the site. Turkey, which helped build and fund the hospital, said Israeli troops at one point used it as a base.

that, while it had suffered damage, some facilities remained in good condition.

Dr Zaki Al-Zaqzouq, head of the hospital’s oncology department, said a medical team visited the facility during the ceasefire and found

“I cannot fathom what could be gained from bombing a hospital that served as a lifeline for so many patients,” he said in a statement issued by the aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the hospital’s destruction and accused Is-

Sudan says it has retaken Khartoum’s Republican Palace

BY SAMY MAGDY and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

CAIRO Sudan ’s military on Friday retook the Republican Palace in Khartoum, the last heavily guarded bastion of rival paramilitary forces in the capital, after nearly two years of fighting.

The seizure of the Republican Palace, surrounded by government ministries, was a major symbolic victory for Sudan’s military against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — though it likely doesn’t mean the end of the war as the RSF holds territory in Sudan’s western Darfur region and elsewhere.

Social media videos showed Sudanese soldiers inside the palace, giving the

date as the 21st day of Ramadan, the holy Muslim fasting month, which corresponds to Friday A Sudanese military officer wearing a captain’s epaulettes made the announcement in the video and confirmed the troops were inside the compound. The palace appeared to be in ruins, with soldiers’ stepping on broken tiles. Troops carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers chanted: “God is the greatest!” Khaled al-Aiser, Sudan’s information minister, said the military had retaken the palace in a post on the social platform X

“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back and the journey continues until victory is complete,” he wrote.

Later, curious residents wandered through the palace. Walls stood pockmarked by rifle rounds. Smears of blood led to dead bodies, covered haphazardly with blankets.

The fall of the Republican Palace — a compound along the Nile River that was the seat of government before the war erupted and is immortalized on Sudanese bank notes and postage stamps — marks another battlefield gain for Sudan’s military, which has made steady advances in recent months under army chief Gen. AbdelFattah Burhan. It also means that the rival RSF fighters, under Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have been mostly expelled from the capital, Khartoum.

rael of deliberately “rendering Gaza uninhabitable and forcibly displacing the Palestinian people.”

Hospitals can lose their protected status under international law if they are used for military purposes, but any operations against them must be proportional. Human rights groups and U.N.backed experts have accused Israel of systematically de-

The Israeli military said Friday its forces were planning fresh assaults into three neighborhoods west of Gaza City, and issued warnings on social media for Palestinians to evacuate the areas.

The warnings came shortly after the military said it intercepted two rockets fired from northern Gaza that set off sirens in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Hamas had also fired

Displaced Palestinians fled northern Gaza along a coastal road Friday carrying their belongings, firewood and other items on horse-drawn carts. A strike east of Gaza City on Friday killed a couple and their two children, plus two additional children who weren’t related to them, according to witnesses and a hospital. The Israeli army said it struck a militant in a Gaza City building and took steps to minimize civilian harm. It was not immediately clear if the army was referring to the same strike.

By The Associated Press

ISTANBUL Tens of thou-

sands of people rallied at Istanbul’s city hall for a third day Friday to protest the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor and top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the Turkish leader’s stern warning that street protests would not be tolerated. The rally remained peaceful. However some 500 yards away, police used pepper spray and tear gas to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city’s historic aqueduct and threw flares and other objects at them.

Water cannons were used to break up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday over alleged corruption and terror links, escalating a crackdown on opposition figures and dissenting voices. Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained. Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Gov-

ernment officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently Imamoglu was questioned by police for four hours over corruption accusations, during which he denied all the charges, the Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media reported. He was expected to be transferred to a courthouse Saturday evening for questioning by prosecutors.

His arrest has sparked the largest protests since 2013, when Turkey was rocked by mass anti-government demonstrations that left eight people dead.

BY GISELA SALOMON Associated Press

MIAMI The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in about a month.

The order applies to about

532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work in the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register

The new policy impacts people who are already in the U.S. and who came under the humanitarian parole program It follows an earlier Trump administration decision to end what it called the “broad abuse” of the humanitarian parole, a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there’s war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the U.S. During his campaign President Donald Trump promised to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally, and as president he has been also ending legal pathways for immigrants to come to the U.S. and to stay DHS said parolees without a lawful basis to stay in the U.S. “must depart” before their parole termination date.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

Displaced Palestinians carrying their belongings, wood and other items, move Friday between southern and northern Gaza along a beach road away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel’s renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, in the outskirts of Gaza City.

Angel Reese, the former LSU basketball player who earned about $1.8 million in NIL money, and Olivia Dunne, an LSU gymnast who earns about $4 million per year, are two of the stars who have made it big in this new world, according to On3, a company that tracks NIL deals. Reese and Dunne were both featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and endorse brands like Reebok and Vuori Clothing.

LSU is one of many schools in major conferences that have created offices to bring in deals and help athletes navigate the new landscape. LSU athletes have received more than 1,500 NIL deals worth over $18 million, and Tulane University has stepped up its efforts as well.

McNeese recently became the first smaller state university in Louisiana to begin a formal NIL program of its own. Keifer Ackley, McNeese’s assistant athletic director for NIL and student-athlete development, has been on the job for about six months, and he is now helping athletes at the Lake Charles school to forge their own path, albeit on a much smaller scale.

LSU is “at the forefront of the changes, and they embraced it, so they are ahead, which is great for them,” Ackley said. “There’s always going to be an unfair advantage.

“It’s the card we’ve been dealt, but we’re going to make the most out of it.” To help bridge the gap, McNeese held its first NIL Summit in January in its basketball arena.

Called “Trailblaze Your Brand: NIL and Life Skills Summit,” the summit introduced McNeese athletes to 30 businesses interested in NIL deals and educated the athletes on financial literacy and how to talk to businesses. Northwestern Mutual, a financial planning and life insurance company, offered internships and took 40 names. On one of the panels, Rylee Eyster, a softball player at McNeese, discussed pursuing her own NIL deals by messaging businesses herself. She said most athletes want to get into the NIL game but are unsure how to do it

Eyster has three NIL deals She scored a $1,000 deal with a bank at

the summit, making her one of the highest NIL earners on the softball team Her first deal, however, came from reaching out on Instagram to Edible Arrangements, a company that sells fresh fruit gift baskets, and simply asking to partner with them.

“What I do off the field is much bigger than what I do on the field,”

Eyster said. “I think if you want an NIL deal, you have to go out and work for it.”

Jamall Franklin Jr., a McNeese football player, said he has NIL deals with Edible Arrangements and 5 Star Nutrition, which sells muscle-building and weight-loss supplements Franklin also had to reach out to these businesses — which have locations in Lake Charles on his own. It took a year before he heard back from Edible Arrangements, which provides the athletes with free food and other items in exchange for social media posts.

“The community loves us so much,” Franklin said of Lake Charles. “No matter if you’re the first-string quarterback or the backup kicker you play for McNeese, they’re going to treat you like family.”

Braxston Blackwell, a football player at Southern University, also has sourced two NIL deals on his own and has a third in the works.

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“I just emailed them and gave them a little background about me,” he said.

Even the student manager with the McNeese men’s basketball team is cashing in, as Amir Khan became the first student manager of a college sports team to secure an NIL deal earlier this year Khan also has become a viral sensation on social media through videos of his pregame routine to rev up the team.

Something’s working, as the No. 12 seed Cowboys upset fifth-seeded Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday Shift in priorities

While most view NIL as a great opportunity, some athletes worry that the chance to make money will erode loyalty to smaller schools and make it harder for them to recruit and keep athletes.

Jett Booker, a wide receiver for Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, has earned a few thousand dollars as an ambassador for Honey Stinger an athletic energy bar company, and from an office that helps raise awareness for childhood cancer research.

But during his time at Southeastern, Booker watched about two dozen teammates leave the football program in pursuit of higherpaying NIL opportunities at other

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schools. Booker said that instead of developing players, many schools seem to be focused on buying the best ones they can afford.

“As it’s playing out more and more. You’re starting to see the ugly sides of people that are just trying to chase the money and not the experience of being on a team,” Booker said.

As a quarterback at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Chandler Fields experienced something similar Fields said 10 of his teammates left for money, some receiving upward of six figures to take their talents elsewhere.

“UL is a feeder school to help you get to the next level,” Fields said. “Some players will have a big game, and then the next week they’ll be like, ‘(University of Miami) is calling me saying they’ll give me $3,000.’ ” He said that “changes the game a little bit.”

Coaches and administrators are grappling with all the changes.

Matt McMahon, head coach for LSU men’s basketball, said NIL has become another factor in recruiting athletes.

“What’s the campus going to be like, style of play, opportunities to play at the NBA level when you leave all of those things are still incredibly important,” McMahon said. “But just like anything in life, sometimes money can trump

all those other things.”

David Harris, athletic director at Tulane University, has built the second-biggest NIL program in the state.

“Every head coach and every student-athlete, every sporting program wants to be able to compete for a championship,” Harris said. “They want to have a chance to be able to play at a high level, and they’re depending on the department to fund the program in such a way that it allows an opportunity to be able to do so.”

In the past, he said, most of the money was invested in coaches’ salaries and facilities. Now the focus is on compensation for athletes, and Tulane recently lost star quarterback Darian Mensah to Duke University for a big NIL deal.

Will Wade, the men’s basketball head coach who reached a deal this week to leave McNeese for North Carolina State, said relationships and trust remain important aspects of recruiting. He added that money cannot overcome a bad experience or situation.

Wade left LSU in 2022 due to a recruiting scandal involving payments to players before the NIL rules allowed players to make money, and his experiences have taught him to adapt to anything thrown at him, including helping players become knowledgeable about all the deal-making.

“That’s the way it works in the real world, and I think it’s a positive life lesson in that sense,” Wade said. “But it’s not going away we have to live in the world how it is, not how we wish it to be.”

More changes are coming. The NCAA has agreed to settle a lawsuit by former athletes that will allow institutions to compensate student-athletes directly through revenue-sharing up to a certain level rather than relying solely on businesses and boosters to do it.

The NCAA also will distribute $2.6 billion in back pay to former student-athletes if a federal judge approves the settlement after a hearing next month. Smaller universities can opt into the settlement or stay out.

Heath Schroyer, athletic director at McNeese, and his staff want to continue to expand benefits for their athletes.

“I think NIL has become something that every school needs to have in order to be competitive in recruiting,” Schroyer said. “In college athletics, you have to learn to adapt, or you die.”

LANDRY

Continued from page 1A

exemptions they need to survive.

“Politics and policy can make for strange bedfellows sometimes. I’m sure they’re coming from a sincere place, and so are we,” Jan Moller, director of Invest in Louisiana, a Baton Rougebased group that supports state programs that help low-income people, said of his newfound allies

Amendment 2 would double the standard deduction for seniors on their income taxes, lower the top individual income tax rate and impose a limit on the growth of government spending.

It would pay stipends that the Legislature approved last year $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff — a recurring part of their salaries. The money would come from ending three education trust funds

That would free up $300 million per year by eliminating $2 billion in debt.

Interest income from those trust funds has been providing $50 million per year for early childhood education, for improving struggling schools and for teacher recruitment. So eliminating the trust funds would put the money for

those programs in doubt, Moller said.

RichardNelson,therevenue secretary and the intellectual architect of the amendment, saidthegovernorhascommitted to finding money to keep funding those programs.

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

The property tax change is the provision prompting some social conservatives including the Rev Tony Spell, who made a name opposing COVID-19 restrictions — to work to defeat Amendment 2

The amendment also would merge two state savings accounts, and, if passed, allow Landry to use some of that money to pay parishes to drop the inventory tax program

The proposal does not touch two popular tax protections in the state constitution: the $75,000 homestead exemption and the sales tax exemption for the purchase of groceries, residential utilities and prescription drugs.

Landry moved quickly in his first year to put his stamp on government after

tween them and their families had caused Thomas to freeze her out from seeing the boy on a consistent basis.

eight years of Gov John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. A Republican supermajority in both the House and Senate the first ever in modern times — has mostly approved his proposals.

Last year, Landry got the Legislature to pass a raft of anti-crime measures including one that allowed the execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr at Angola on Tuesday night; to create Education Savings Accounts that allow children to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars; and to give him greater power to control state boards and commissions.

The various changes to the tax system approved by legislators in November came in bipartisan votes that will shift the burden from income taxes to sales taxes, which hit the poor hardest.

Amendment 2 was put on the ballot by passage of House Bill 7, sponsored by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro. It consisted of 115 pages.

On Tuesday, during an interview on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster on WRKF in Baton Rouge and WWNO in New Orleans, Landry said approval of Amendment 2 would make Louisiana more attractive to investors and move the state closer to his goal of phasing out the income tax.

“It paves the way for so many great things to hap-

pen,” Landry told listeners.

The political stakes for Landry are high, said Bernie Pinsonat, a veteran pollster and political analyst He notes that then-Gov Buddy Roemer never got back on track and lost his reelection race after voters in 1989 rejected his bid to rewrite the tax system.

Landry has more political support than Roemer had then, Pinsonat said, but added, “He has a lot riding on it politically.”

To help make sure it passes, Landry has spoken to chambers of commerce in Monroe, Covington, Houma and Plaquemine in recent days.

Make Louisiana Great Again, a Landry-supported PAC, is running TV, radio and digital ads extolling Amendment 2, said Brent Littlefield, the governor’s longtime media strategist.

While several prominent conservative organizations support the plan, some members of Landry’s political base are trying to defeat the measure because they say

taking property tax exemptions for nonprofits and religious institutions out of the constitution — as Amendment 2 would do would allow future Legislatures to eliminate the tax breaks with a two-thirds vote and the governor’s support.

“How do we know who will be the next governor?” asked Hunter Lundy, a Pentecostal minister who finished fifth in the 2023 governor’s race and otherwise praises Landry’s performance as governor Lundy is paying for a digital media campaign against Amendment 2.

Woody Jenkins, a former state legislator from Baton Rouge who was a delegate to the 1973 assembly that wrote the constitution now in effect, called the property tax provision “a poison pill” in Amendment 2 and is writing articles against it that are being shared throughout Louisiana.

“This is people to people talking and pastors talking,” Jenkins said. “They don’t ap-

preciate a lot of things loaded up onto one thing. When in doubt, people don’t vote for thingstheydon’tunderstand.” Moller said people who are not well educated on the amendment before they vote could be confused by the contents of a 115-page bill explained in only 91 words on the ballot.

“The overall message is that this amendment makes it harder to make the investments we need, drains critical trust funds and is based on misleading language and misleading promises,” Moller said.

A coalition of progressive groups are behind a webpage that tells voters to reject all four amendments on the March 29 ballot.

“They are using smoke and mirrors to pass them,” reads the webpage, which doesn’t identify who is behind the effort to defeat all four amendments.

Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate. com.

State prosecutors carved out a plea agreement that ostensibly will allow Thomas to escape prison and serve a term of probation. The victim’s mother pushed for the negotiated deal, saying she wants Thomas to remain active in the life of the couple’s child, who was 3 at the time of the crash

“No matter what, I still know that my grandson wants his dad And I know that he needs his dad,” a tearful Cassandra Spears said during Thursday’s hearing inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse.

“Right now, getting justice for my daughter is not putting him in jail Getting justice for my daughter is raising her son to be a productive individual That is what is most important to me.”

District Judge Louise Hines Myers sentenced Thomas to 101/2 years after he conceded his guilt on charges of negligent homicide, drag racing and driving while intoxicated.

The judge suspended the balance of the prison stints and ordered Thomas to serve five years of probation. Time behind bars remains a possibility until Thomas completes his probation, but the plea deal means he won’t have to spend time in jail or prison, if he abides by the conditions of his supervised release.

Among the conditions, Hines Myers ordered Thomas to work with Spears regarding custodial visits with her grandson after Spears told the judge friction be-

“She deserves to be part of his life just like you deserve to be a part of his life,” the judge said. “She’s given you the ability to remain in your child’s life as part of this plea. So quid pro quo, you should give her the ability to remain in her grandchild’s life.”

Thomas originally was charged with vehicular homicide and could have faced up to 30 years in prison, if he was convicted of that offense. Thursday’s agreement allowed him to plead guilty to the reduced charge of negligent homicide.

Assistant District Attorney Jaclyn Chapman said the state made the plea offer because the victim’s mother asked for it.

“She wants to protect her grandson,” Chapman said. “I can’t make this a condition of his probation — that’s more of a family law issue — but I really want to encourage Mr Thomas to maintain a relationship with his son and Ms. Spears. That’s her only link to her daughter, who is now deceased.”

The fatal wreck occurred on the night of Aug. 20, 2022 It came 10 days after the East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved drag racing sanctions to crack down on what had become an increasing problem in the parish.

According to an arrest report, surveillance cameras showed a friend in a black Camaro pull up beside Thomas as he sat behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang at a red light at Gwenadele Avenue.

The two cars raced southbound on Airline Highway and Thomas lost control of his vehicle, veering into a guardrail before the Mustang bounced off, careened across the roadway and slammed into a concrete support beam beneath the Interstate 12 underpass.

Jones, who was a passenger in Thomas’ Mustang, died at the scene, according to police. Thomas suffered moderate injuries.

Traffic homicide investigators with the Baton Rouge Police Department determined Thomas was traveling 94 mph in a 40 mph speed zone when he crashed his car Court records show prosecutors have filed vehicular homicide and drag racing charges against James Berryhill III, a Baton Rouge man. Authorities identified him as the driver of the Camaro Thomas was racing. Berryhill was never apprehended in connection with the fatal crash and remains a fugitive, officials said Thursday Judge Hines Myers ordered Thomas to pay the victim’s family $5,200 in restitution for burial expenses. He and his son must also take mental health evaluations and undergo any recommended trauma counseling.

In addition, Thomas has to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim impact panel, complete 32 hours of community service, take parenting classes and complete a driver improvement course as part of his probation.

Email Matt Bruce at matt bruce@theadvocate.com.

Already BRPD cut its Mounted Patrol Division and the ShotSpotter program in order to save money

Morse expects event organizers to shoulder the majority of the cost for officers, but said no exact formula has been developed on how those costs will be shared

He couldn’t provide an exact timeline for when the change will roll out, but said he wants to give organizers time to plan for the additional expense.

Edwards’ office plans to form a committee to decide the specifics of the change and is working to identify interested parties such as event organizers, law enforcement and residents BRPD’s traditional model for staffing events requires the department to offer overtime hours to entice off-duty officers to work community events

Under this model, event organizers aren’t required to pay the labor costs for any of the officers assigned to close roads and watch crowds. When organizers submit for a permit to block roads and intersections, the police department plans how many officers will be necessary

The new model, as envisioned by Morse, would require event organizers to recruit officers themselves Organizers would set an hourly rate of pay for the day’s event, then see if enough officers will volunteer at that rate If not, they may have to increase the offer This practice, called extra duty, is the same one used when bars, apartments and churches want to hire officers for security

“It’s, for lack of a better word, free market,” Morse said.

When city police officers work regular extra-duty opportunities, the rate is set by the business to attract the amount of officers it requires. Morse said factors like the difficulty or length of the work will usually affect the rate offered.

“A church might be able to pay $35 an hour for the officer to go, whereas a bar might have to pay $50 an hour,” Morse said. “Because that’s the only way they’re going to get officers to show up and actually want to work it.”

The minimum rate set by the department for extra duty pay is $30 an hour

The city’s biggest parades, like the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade and the Wearin’ of the Green Parade, require more than 100 police officers. Morse estimated the department paid about $50,000 in overtime pay for officers to work Wearin’ of the Green St. Patrick’s Day parade this year

“If you need 100 officers out there, the only way you’re going to get that many officers to show up is you’re going to have to be competitive with what the (extra duty) rates are,” Morse said. The amount of officers

“I’d like to see us discuss it with the city and sit down and see what we could do, because we do rely on our police officers. They do a good job for us with our parade. They enjoy working our parade.”

ROBERT KING, president of the group that organizes the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade

needed at an LSU or Southern University sporting event rivals or surpasses the largest of Baton Rouge’s parades These institutions, however, have already been staffing their events by paying extra-duty rates for nearly a decade, Deputy Chief Neal Noel said Smaller events, which might require only a handful of officers, will be in the same boat as the big parades.

“They may only want two or three (officers), they may want four or five, but after a year of it, it really does impact our budget,” Noel said.

Morse said the majority of officers at a parade are doing traffic control and street closures. These are the officers he expects organizers to pay

“But then you also have the public safety aspect, where we have extra police presence, security, we have operations set up, drone operators monitoring, that sort of thing,” Morse said. “I don’t expect them to cover that cost, because that’s something we want to do to make sure the city and the people are safe.”

He estimated 10% or 15% of the officers at a given event are doing this kind of public-safety work, leaving event organizers to pay the wages of the other officers.

Other departments, including New Orleans, have similar models for making event organizers carry some of the police labor cost of an event.

Robert King, president of the Society for the Preser-

vation of Lagniappe in Louisiana, which organizes the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade, has been involved in the parade business for more than 40 years.

He said the idea for organizers to foot the bill for police security at their events has been floated before.

“That would put us, hopefully, breaking even with what we charge now,” King said. “It could endanger the parade.”

Spokespeople for the Wearin’ of the Green and the Krewe of Oshun agreed the introduction of thousands of dollars in security costs has the potential to make their parades unfeasible.

King said his largest expenses are permitting and insurance for the parade. The latter nears $40,000 each year An estimated $50,000 for police pay would become one of the parade’s biggest expenses.

King said the parade might have to charge double for float entries to recoup the losses, which troubles him since Spanish Town Mardi Gras tries to remain a “poor man’s parade.”

The parade ends with a surplus of $80,000 to $100,000 each year which organizers donate to charity

Adding the cost of security could cut into the donation.

“I’d like to see us discuss it with the city and sit down and see what we could do, because we do rely on our police officers,” King said. “They do a good job for us with our parade. They enjoy working our parade.”

Both King and Morse acknowledged the large amount of money the events bring to Baton Rouge. Both said they hope those impacts are considered when the committee discusses the change.

“I’m excited to be able to have the conversation, be in a room with people, bring up their concerns and see what people’s thoughts are on how we can come to an agreement, a resolution that’s best for taxpayers, best for citizens, best for the budget,” the city police chief said.

Trump announces Boeing wins contract for new jet

BY TARA COPP Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump an-

nounced Friday that Boeing will build the Air Force’s future fighter jet, which the Pentagon says will have stealth and penetration capabilities that far exceed those of its current fleet and is essential in a potential conflict with China.

Known as Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, the manned jet will serve as quarterback to a fleet of future drone aircraft designed to be able to penetrate the air defenses of China and any other potential foes. The initial contract to proceed with production on a version for the Air Force is worth an estimated $20 billion.

The 47th president, who announced the award at the White House with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force leadership, said with a grin that the new fighter would be named the F-47.

Gen. David Allvin, chief of staff of the Air Force, said, “We’re going to write the next generation of modern aerial warfare with this.” And Hegseth said the future fleet “sends a very clear, direct message to our allies that we’re not going anywhere.”

Critics have questioned the cost and the necessity of the program as the Pentagon is still struggling to fully produce its current most advanced jet, the F-35, which is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1.7 trillion over its life span. In addition, the Pentagon’s future stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, will have many of the same cutting edge technologies

RENDERING PROVIDED By THE U.S. AIR FORCE A rendering shows the Next Generation Air Dominance Platform, the F-47. On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the Air Force had selected Boeing to produce the next generation fighter jet.

in advanced materials, AI, propulsion and stealth.

More than 1,100 F-35s have already been built for the U.S. and multiple international partners.

A fleet of about 100 future B-21 stealth bombers at an estimated total cost of at least $130 billion is also planned. The first B-21 aircraft are now in test flights.

With evolving drone and space warfare likely to be the center of any fight with China, Dan Grazier, a military procurement analyst, questions whether “another exquisite manned fighter jet really is the right platform going forward.” Grazier, director of the national security reform program at the Stimson Center, said $20 billion is “just seed money The total costs coming down the road will be hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Under threat from Trump, Columbia University agrees to policy changes

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK Under threat from the Trump administration, Columbia University agreed to implement a suite of policy changes Friday, including overhauling its rules for protests and conducting an immediate review of its Middle Eastern studies department. The changes, detailed in a letter sent by interim president, Katrina Armstrong, came one week after the Trump administration ordered the Ivy League school to implement those and other changes in order to continue receiving federal funding, an ultimatum widely criticized in academia as an attack on academic freedom. In her letter, Armstrong said the university would immediately appoint a senior vice provost to conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of its regional studies programs,

“starting immediately with the Middle East.” Columbia will also bar protests inside academic buildings and the wearing of face masks on campus “for the purposes of concealing one’s identity.” An exception would be made for people wearing them for health reasons

The Trump administration pulled $400 million in research grants and other federal funding, and had threatened to cut more, over the university’s handling of protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The White House has labeled the protests antisemitic, a label rejected by those who participated in the student-led demonstrations.

As a “precondition” for restoring funding, federal officials demanded that the university place its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department under “academic receivership for a minimum of five years.”

Ozone 77/60

Board to probe firings of public defenders

Terminations alleged to be retaliatory

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

A committee will investigate the firings of five chief public defenders who claim the state terminat-

ed their employment without just cause — and in violation of their First Amendment right to freedom of speech

In February, State Public Defender Rémy Starns told the five chief public defenders their contracts would not be renewed. In a meeting Thursday, the Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board decided to create a committee to hold hearings about Starns’ decision. In letters to the board, the defenders have said they believe their terminations were at least partly retaliatory, as all five have spoken against Starns’ views

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of how public defense should operate in Louisiana. Last year for example, Starns supported a bill that overhauled the public defense system, making him a gubernatorial appointee and giving him the power to hire and fire public defenders. Previously, a different board had made those decisions and had the power to select the state public defender rather than the governor

The five public defenders, whose employment would end effective July 1, opposed that legislation, which ultimately passed and became Act 22. Now, they find themselves at odds with Starns over their jobs, and they’ve turned to the Louisiana

Live After Five releases concert lineup

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

Live After Five, the free Friday night concert series in downtown Baton Rouge, announced the lineup of musicians for its springtime shows that begin April 4. The concert series is back to its traditional form of six Friday night concerts in the spring and again in the fall. Earlier this year, organizers were looking at trimming the series in the face

of city-parish budget cuts before business donors made it possible to restore the series to its full run.

The shows run 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at North Boulevard Town Square and Davis Rhorer Plaza.

This spring’s lineup for Live After Five is on the following Friday nights: n April 4: Baton Rouge Blues Festival Kick-Off featuring Jonathon “Boogie” Long, Jovin Webb and Hanna PK n April 11: New Orleans-based

Pocket Chocolate and Lafayettebased Zach Edwards & The Medicine n April 25: Baton Rouge-based Phat Hat n May 2: U.S. Army Field Band Six String Soldiers featuring Baton Rouge-based David St. Romain n May 9: The Mixed Nuts, “America’s Favorite Party Band” n May 16: Baton Rouge-based brass band Michael Foster Project. J. Hover, managing director

and curator of the series, described the lineup, in a statement, as “featuring a solid mix of rising regional powerhouses and a few worldwide sensations, too.”

“We look forward to kicking off the amazing downtown Baton Rouge concert series two weeks from today,” Lauren LambertTompkins, president of Live After Five, said Friday

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate.com.

USDA shipments to Greater BR Food Bank canceled

BY ELLYN COUVILLION

Staff writer

Six truckloads of canned food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank have been canceled this year, the head of the local food bank said. The food bank relies on the USDA for a lot of the groceries it distributes, and, while the six deliveries were bonus shipments delivered outside of the bank’s typical allocations, their absence did not go unnoticed, Mike Manning, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, said

Thursday There’s always some uncertainty about shipments of both the allocated items and the bonus items, he said. Some years there have been cancellations of both, depending on the availability of certain foods. But, “the numbers canceled this year took us back,” Manning said.

“It’s unusual to start off the year with these many cancellations,” Manning said. “It raises a significant amount of concern.”

It also has made the food bank concerned about the shipments of its regular, allotted foods.

“We don’t know what will happen next; there’s quite a bit of un-

certainty,” Manning said. What’s happening in Baton Rouge is happening at food banks across the country, according to online news outlet Politico.

The Agriculture Department stopped millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks without explanation. Politico talked to food banks in Ohio, California, Delaware and West Virginia. The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank delivers food items to more than 125 agencies that serve those in need in the Baton Rouge area. The food bank’s programs include monthly grocery deliveries to atrisk seniors, as well as mobile pantries.

Manning said that the USDA this year also stopped providing funding the food bank used to buy from small, local farms.

If the U.S. Department of Agriculture stops its food deliveries altogether, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank would have to raise “significantly more money,” Manning said.

“In an abundance of caution, we’re looking at reducing the pounds per person for food distributions at the different agencies we supply,” he said.

“The uncertainty is the issue for us,” he said. “We don’t want to preemptively take steps we don’t have to.”

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Starns

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Jaydan Robinson attempts a shot from the floor after stumbling to the ground while being guarded by Derrick Washington during a friendly game of basketball Friday at Lanier Drive Park.

Landry names interim Louisiana health secretary

Drew Maranto to replace Michael Harrington

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

Michael Harrington has retired as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, Gov Jeff Landry’s office announced Thursday

Harrington’s departure comes after a short tenure at the agency, where he was appointed undersecretary in January 2024 and promoted to secretary in June.

Drew Maranto, who currently serves as undersecretary, will assume the role of interim secretary Gov Jeff Landry said he expects to name a new secretary in the coming weeks. Harrington, a former hos-

pital executive, joined LDH with the understanding that he would serve temporarily, according to a news release.

“This has been in the works for some time, as Michael has made it clear from the beginning that he intended to step down in the spring,” said Landry “He joined during a busy period, and we deeply appreciate his service and willingness to come to Louisiana and work in one

of the largest and most challenging departments.”

Harrington brought “vast experience” and “innovative ideas” to the Department, said Louisiana Surgeon General Dr Ralph Abraham.

The LDH secretary and the surgeon general serve in parallel roles within the department. While the secretary manages the department’s operations and budget, the surgeon general, a position

created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024, is tasked with shaping health policy and advising on strategic initiatives. The secretary carries out the surgeon general’s recommendations, according to the department. Maranto joined the LDH in January 2024 as chief of staff and was promoted to undersecretary in June. According to the LDH website, he is a former congressional

staffer campaign adviser and small business owner based in Baton Rouge. “LDH remains focused on implementing the governor’s charge to improve health outcomes and move people from dependence to independence,” Maranto said in the statement.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.

Lake Charles overjoyed with McNeese State’s tournament win

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer

For the McNeese State University men’s basketball team, it’s a memorable season of firsts.

The Cowboys made it to the NCAA Tournament two years in a row The team has its now-famous student manager Amir Khan, the first team manager in college sports to score an NIL deal. And the most exciting of all, the team made many college basketball fans outside Lake Charles believers in the Cowboys by making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

There’s no more McNeese who?

The No. 12 seed McNeese Cowboys stunned No. 5 seed Clemson Tigers 69-67 in a thrilling game Thursday Lake Charles native and basketball team manager

Boosie Bash adds scholarship

Memorial fund to honor late Southern student

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

The sixth Boosie Bash at Southern University in Baton Rouge will be about more than just hearing music.

Baton Rouge-born rapper Boosie Badazz (Torence Hatch Jr.) will help launch the Caleb Wilson Memorial Scholarship during the three-day hip-hop festival, he said on WBRZ’s “2une In” on Friday morning. The scholarship will honor the late Wilson, a Southern student who died during a hazing incident last month.

Boosie is working with the Wilson family and Southern’s Human Jukebox, of which Wilson was a member, to initiate the scholarship, he said, adding that some of the festival proceeds will go to the scholarship fund.

Subtitled Baton Rouge HipHop Festival, the three-day party features performances by Boosie in addition to Glorilla, Sexyy Red, Dababy, Snug, BG, Big Boogie, Level, BJ So Cole, Ratchet Lo and Supa King Big Pope.

A Boosie-hosted kickoff party (for those 21 and older), featuring an R&B karaoke, will get underway at 9 p.m. Friday at Red Stick Social, 1503 Government St. Tickets are $20-$1,500 at eventbrite.com.

Saturday’s all-ages main event at Southern’s F.G. Clark Activity Center, 801 Harding Blvd., opens at 4 p.m. Tickets range is $100$3,200 and includes VIP table seating and standingroom-only options on the floor and general admission raised seating. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com

Later Saturday night, the Bosses Only Celebrity Afterparty starts at 9 p.m. back at Red Stick Social. Performers from the Bash are scheduled to appear Tickets are $100-$1,500 at eventbrite.com.

More music is planned for Sunday, with the Boosie Blues and Southern Soul Extravaganza starting at 5 p.m in the F.G. Clark Activity Center (Mini Dome) on Southern University’s campus.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

Khan, 22, was there, getting plenty of TV attention, and the Cowboys cheerleaders’ socks were adorned with his face. The senior sports management major and boomboxtoting, rapping, rising social media star has scored endorsement deals over the past month with TickPick, Buffalo Wild Wings and Insomnia, the gourmet cookie franchise. In a postgame news conference, McNeese State head coach Will Wade, who is expected to lead North Carolina State’s team next season, said in the biggest understatement that it was a great win for the Cowboys.

“ We want to keep this going,” said Wade, the former LSU men’s basketball coach.

On Friday, the day after the historic victory, Lake Charles, home to public university McNeese State, was abuzz.

City Mayor Nicholas “Nic” Hunter said as a McNeese alum he feels “like a kid in a candy shop” seeing the school on ESPN and NBC’s “Today Show.”

Tonya Pousson, owner of Mr Bill’s Seafood Express across from McNeese’s campus, said the energy in the restaurant during the game against Clemson was “pretty electric” with Cowboys fans cheering. McNeese freshman and softball player Maddie Taylor watched the Thursday game with her team in the locker room. As a fellow student-athlete Taylor said it’s fun to see the men’s basketball team compete against larger schools like Clemson and Purdue, the Cowboys second-round opponent on Saturday “When you see other athletes on campus be able to go and compete, it just shows it doesn’t matter how

big you are,” Taylor said. “It matters how tough you are on the inside and how much heart you play with.”

McNeese senior Ben Wellens said the big win and resulting national attention on the basketball team is exciting and good for the school, yet also “weird.”

When you go on social media platform X, “you type in McNeese and see it’s all everyone is talking about McNeese, talking about Amir Khan, the (student team) manager,” Wellens said “It’s just weird. Usually when you type McNeese in you just get the last name, you don’t ever get 1,000 people talking about McNeese basketball.”

During Thursday’s victorious postgame news conference, McNeese junior and Cowboys guard Quadir Copeland thinks it will be better going back to the Lake Charles campus if the team makes

DEFENDERS

Continued from page 1B

Public Defender Oversight Board for help

Starns declined to comment on this story

In its meeting Thursday, the board decided it was obliged, under state statute, to appoint a committee to consider the chief defenders’ claims.

Board member Adrejia Boutté said she believed the chiefs’ letters had triggered a law requiring the board to do so.

“A district public defender who feels that he has been demoted or terminated without just cause may, within fifteen days after the action demand in writing a hearing and investigation by the board to determine the reasonableness of the action,” Louisiana Revised Statute 15:170 says. “Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the board shall appoint a fivemember hearing committee made up of five board members.”

In the end, Boutté’s argument won out, with the board overwhelmingly voting to create the committee. But not everyone agreed it was necessary

Board Chairman Gerard Caswell referred to an opinion that state Attorney General Liz Murrill provided to the board The opinion said that contract nonrenewals are not entitled to hearings, according to Caswell, who said he believed the nonrenewals did not count as terminations

“I don’t believe that their request for a hearing is well-founded,” said Caswell.

Caswell also contended that the board did not know which public defenders

were and were not doing their jobs — and that that was Starns’ responsibility

“We don’t have the authority as a board to hire district defenders,” Caswell said. “We don’t have the authority to overturn the public defender’s decision that he doesn’t want to renew a contract.”

Judge Frank Thaxton, another board member countered that it would be up to the committee to collect evidence to decide whether Starns had terminated the defenders’ employment by not renewing their contracts. And, he contended, “there is statutory authority for overturning what Mr Starns has purportedly done.”

Five board members will serve on the committee. They are Boutté, retired Judge Paul deMahy, retired Judge Ernestine Gray, retired Judge Freddie Pitcher and Peter Thomson. All board members have either served as judges or lawyers DeMahy will chair the committee.

State statute requires that the committee hold a hearing on the firings within 30 days. Then, it has another 30 days to submit a recommendation to the full board on whether to affirm the termination or overturn it. The full board must then vote on whether to adopt that recommendation.

It is unclear whether the committee will hold one hearing for all five public defenders, or one hearing for each. The chief defenders involved include Michelle AndrePont, of Caddo Parish; Trisha Ward, of Evangeline Parish; Brett Brunson, of Natchitoches Parish; Deirdre Fuller, of Rapides Parish; and John Hogue, of East Carroll,

Madison and Tensas parishes. The defenders also sent letters to Gov Jeff Landry’s office regarding Starns’ decision. At the board meeting, Christopher Walters, a representative for the governor, asked that the board give Landry’s team time to meet with the defenders before making a final decision.

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it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.

“Our goal is not to win one game,” Copeland said, confidently “That’s not the goal, that’s just one game.”

The Cowboys will play in the round of 32 against the No. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers at 11:10 a.m. Saturday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Back home in Louisiana, selfproclaimed optimist and Lake Charles Mayor Hunter went out on a long limb Friday, saying the hometown Cowboys will ride all the way to the tournament championship game.

“I’m going to say that we’re going to take it all the way,” Hunter said, for the record.

Email Courtney Pedersen at courtney.pedersen@theadvocate. com.

Continued from page 1B

the cause of the outages, according to Landry’s release.

In a news conference, OMV commissioner Dan Casey said he hoped that, by notifying everyone of the extension, the executive order would help people seeking to buy alcohol in state with expired licenses, as well as those who need to show their licenses to law enforcement.

Louisianans will still need up-to-date licenses to board airplanes.

Having fewer people using the system to renew driver’s licenses should also free up space in the OMV database and lessen outages, Casey said.

“The idea is to keep the Class E drivers away which will free up the system and allow us to serve everyone else,” he said.

Heavy traffic in the database, including from other states seeking information about drivers, appears to be contributing to system disruptions, he said. Because the out-of-state database traffic is quieter

on weekends, the OMV is opening eight offices Saturday for those in need of services.

Offices in Baton Rouge, Bossier, Monroe, Reserve, Shreveport and Winnsboro will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to an OMV post on X. So, too, will New Orleans’ Veterans Boulevard and Westbank’s Oakwood Center locations. The OMV encouraged people to renew their driver’s licenses online when possible. It also urged Louisianans not to wait until the last minute to do so. Driver’s licenses may be renewed up to 180 days before their expiration.

The OMV’s antiquated, 50-year-old software system is contributing to the outages. The agency is on the brink of picking a new system which will take two and a half years to fully install, Casey said. Landry’s executive order will allow the OMV to skip a six- to nine-month procurement process for selecting the new system, Casey said.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Louisiana Public Defender Board members Paul J. deMahy, Ernestine Gray and Freddie Pitcher, left to right, confer during a board meeting at the Capitol on Thursday.

observed in Martin &Castille's SOUTHSIDE Location on Friday, March 21, 2025, from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm and willcontinue on Saturday from 9:00 am until 12:15 pm. A Rosary willberecited on Friday evening at 6:00 pm in the funeral home. Reverend James Brady JCL, will be the Celebrant of the FuneralMass and officiate the services. Interment will be held in Lafayette Memorial Park Cemetery. Survivors include her daughter, Stephanie M. Olcsvary and her husband, Douglas; her son, Thomas J. Menard and his wife Christina;five grandchildren, Tanner Menard, Melanie Hebert and her husband, T.J., Peter Menard and his wife, Gina, Jeff Olcsvary and his wife, Tanya, andJennifer O. Fabacher and her husband, Brandon; ten great grandchildren, Molly Hebert, Finn Hebert, Noah Hebert, Luke Hebert, Flynn Olcsvary, Dalton Locke and his wife, Hannah, Lilah Fabacher, Arimae Fabacher, Brandon Fabacher,II, and Channing Fabacher; two great-great grandchildren, Oliver Locke and Charles Locke; and nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Davis L. Menard; her parents, Albert LeBlanc and Andrea Lauchasse LeBlanc; two sisters, Marie Dunne and her husband, Martin, and an infant sister; and five brothers, Gilbert and his wife, Elizabeth, Fred and his wife, Rose, Roy, Paul, and Walter. Ms. Violet, anative of Delcambre and longtime resident of Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana passed away surrounded by her loving family. A proud graduate of Delcambre High School,she dedi-

Jeff Olcsvary and hiswife, Tanya, and JenniferO Fabacher and her husband Brandon; ten great grandchildren, MollyHebert, Finn Hebert, Noah Hebert Luke Hebert, Flynn Olcsvary, Dalton Locke and his wife, Hannah, Lilah Fabacher, ArimaeFabacher, Brandon Fabacher,II, and Channing Fabacher; two great-great grandchildren, Oliver Lockeand Charles Locke; and nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends. She was preceded in death by herhusband, Davis L. Menard; her parents, Albert LeBlanc and Andrea Lauchasse LeBlanc; two sisters, Marie Dunne and her husband, Martin, and an infant sister; and five brothers, Gilbert and his wife, Elizabeth, Fred and hiswife, Rose,Roy, Paul, and Walter. Ms. Violet, anative of Delcambreand longtime resident of Baton Rouge and Lafayette,Louisiana, passed away surrounded by her loving family. A proud graduate of Delcambre High School,she dedicated her life to faith, family, and the simplejoys that brought her happiness.

She found great joy in sewing, reading, and tending to her flower beds, but above all, she cherished the time spent with her family, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Awomanof deep faith, she wasanactive member of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Baton Rouge,where she was involved with the Ladies Altar Society and volunteered at both Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School and Catholic High for many years. Since 1989, she had been adevoted parishioner of St. Pius XCatholic Church in Lafayette,where she and her husband regularly attendedMass together. Herkindness, devotion, and love for her family will be dearly missed, but herlegacy will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.

Pallbearers will be Tommy Menard, Jeff Olcsvary, T.J. Hebert, Finn Hebert Peter Menard, Tanner Menard, and Brandon Fabacher.

Honorary Pallbearers will be Flynn Olcsvary, Arimae Fabacher, Brandon Fabacher, II, Channing Fabacher, Lilah Fabacher, Luke Hebert, Noah Hebert, and Molly Hebert. View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com

&Castille Funeral Home -SOUTHSIDE.

E. FarrelRoad

Monica Rabalais Soday aresident of Baton Rouge and memberofJourney Church passedaway Monday March 17th, 2025 at the age of 61. Serviceswillbe held Thursday March 27th, 2025 at JourneyChurch 17407 GreenwellSprings Rd. visitation willbefrom 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with memorial service beginning at 12:30. Fullobituary at https://www.dignity memorial.com/ob it u ari es /1 22 88 73 8? ut m_source=obit_link_txt

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BUSINESS

BRIEFS FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

SBA to reorganize, cut about 2,700 jobs

The Small Business Administration said it will cut its workforce by 43%, or about 2,700 jobs, as part of a reorganization.

The SBA was established in 1953 to offer resources to small businesses and helps administer small-business and disaster recovery loans. It played a crucial role during the pandemic, helping distribute small-business aid. Now the goal is to return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and cut some programs started during the Biden administration, said the new head of the SBA, Kelly Loeffler

“By eliminating non-missioncritical positions and consolidating functions, we will revert to the staffing levels of the last Trump Administration,” Loeffler said Friday in a statement.

The SBA said its loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, as well as its field and veteran operations, won’t be affected. The staffing reductions, which will cull 2,700 jobs from the agency’s workforce of 6,500, will be a combination of voluntary resignations, the expiration of COVID-era and other term appointments, and some job cuts.

Separately on Friday Trump announced student loans would be handled by the SBA as part of a plan to shift Education Department responsibilities to other federal agencies.

Skenes baseball card purchased for $1.11M

A one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes baseball card was purchased by Dick’s Sporting Goods for $1.11 million after a two-week auction

There was a total of 64 bids on Skenes’ debut patch card, which is autographed and contains a patch that was on the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher’s jersey for his heralded major league debut in May

The final price announced by Fanatics Collect late Thursday night included a 20% buyer’s premium Fanatics Collect plans to donate its proceeds from the sale to the LA Fire Relief Fund. Skenes, 22, was a key member of the LSU baseball team that won the College World Series in 2023. A combination of Skenes’ burgeoning stardom, the considerable reach of his girlfriend, LSU gymnast/influencer Livvy Dunne, and a head-turning offer the Pirates made in hopes of securing the card fueled the hype for the one-of-one collectible.

Dick’s plans to display the card in a new collectors’ space at its House of Sport store at Ross Park in suburban Pittsburgh. Dick’s has its headquarters in Pittsburgh.

N. Mex. legislators OK increase on oil rates

The state Legislature has endorsed a bill that would raise royalty rates for new petroleum development on prime pieces of land in New Mexico, on one of the world’s most prolific oil production areas.

The proposal would increase the top royalty rate for oil and gas development from 20% to 25% on New Mexico’s state trust lands with implications for the energy industry in the Permian Basin, which overlaps southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. The area accounted for 46% of U.S. oil production in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas New Mexico deposits royalty payments from oil and gas development in a multibillion-dollar investment trust that benefits public schools, universities and hospitals.

Proponents say neighboring Texas already charges up to 25% on state trust land amid intense competition to drill in the Permian Basin. The royalty changes in neighboring New Mexico would not go into effect in Texas.

Opponents say the rate change threatens to penalize petroleum producers and public beneficiaries, noting that oil production is significantly taxed in other ways and hinges on volatile commodity prices.

New Mexico is the No. 2 state for oil production behind Texas.

Wall Street closes slightly higher

Stocks snap 4-week losing streak

BY DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP business writers

Stocks on Wall Street shook off a weak start and closed slightly higher Friday, snapping a four-week losing streak.

The S&P 500 edged up. The index finished with a 0.5% gain for the week It’s still down 4.8% so far this month

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain, while the Nasdaq composite rose Technology stocks, which had been the heaviest weights on the

market in the early going, bounced back to offset a big share of the declines elsewhere in the S&P 500. The sector has been at the center of much of the market’s recent selloff in a reversal from their marketdriving gains throughout the previous year The stocks are among the most valuable on Wall Street and have outsized impacts on the whether the market gains or loses ground.

Apple rose about 2% and Microsoft added 1.1% Another Big Tech stock, Nvidia, fell 0.7%, while Micron Technology slid 8% for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks.

Stocks have been losing ground for weeks over uncertainty about the direction of the U.S economy A trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners threatens

to worsen inflation and hurt both consumers and businesses. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%, and tariffs could hurt the central bank’s efforts to ease the rate of inflation.

President Donald Trump has set an April 2 deadline to impose more tariffs on trading partners. It follows a series of other deadlines that have been set for tariffs only to be postponed, sometimes at the last minute.

“Investors are confused, but there’s a lot less panic infusing the market,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

Businesses have been warning investors about tariffs, inflation and growing uncertainty about the impact to costs.

Nike slumped 5.5% after it forecast a steep decline in revenue in the current quarter, blaming geopolitical dynamics, new tariffs by the Trump administration and a less confident consumer FedEx tumbled 6.4% after the package delivery company said it expects revenue to be flat to slightly down year-over-year and lowered its per-share profit guidance.

Homebuilder Lennar fell 4% after giving investors a weaker-thanexpected forecast for new orders and average sales prices for the current quarter It said high interest rates, inflation, and waning consumer confidence are weighing on an already tough housing market

J&J plans $55B in investments

Four new manufacturing plants set as part of four-year developments

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP business writer

Johnson & Johnson says it will invest more than $55 billion in the United States over the next four years, including four new manufacturing plants.

A number of companies have highlighted investments in the U.S. in recent months, a focus of the Trump administration J&J rival Eli Lilly and Co. announced in late February that it planned to build four new factories in the U.S Both Lilly and J&J cited tax cut legislation passed in 2017 as factors in their U.S. investments.

Johnson & Johnson said Friday that it is a 25% increase in investment compared with the prior four years and estimates the U.S. economic impact will be more than $100 billion a year

“Our increased U.S. investment begins with the ground-breaking of a high-tech facility in North Carolina that will not only add U.S.-based jobs but manufacture cutting edge medicines to treat patients in America and around the world,” Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement.

The North Carolina plant is in Wilson, just east of Raleigh. The locations of the other three facilities were not disclosed.

Aside from building four new plants, Johnson & Johnson said that it will expand several existing sites. The company is also planning to make investments in research and development infrastructure and tech-

nology

Johnson & Johnson’s efforts are among several companies pledging to enhance their manufacturing in the U.S. Earlier this month chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said that it plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S., on top of $65 billion in investments the company had previously announced.

In February Apple announced that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas.

Apple outlined several concrete moves in its announcement, the most significant of which is the construction of a new factory in Houston — slated to open in 2026 — that will produce servers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features.

Greater

New Orleans Inc. details Super Bowl upgrades

Work will continue, chief says

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Greater New Orleans Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht told business and civic leaders Friday at his economic development group’s annual luncheon that the work helping coordinate street work and other infrastructure upgrades in the city’s preparations for Super Bowl LIX will continue.

During the gathering of more than 1,200 people at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans hotel, Hecht also touted his organization’s 2024 accomplishments and previewed priorities for the coming year

The annual event, which usually takes place in January, was delayed because Hecht was selected by Gov Jeff Landry last year to lead the city’s plan to complete a long list of improvements before hosting the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. That nine-month project led to more than 100 blocks of road repairs, over 200 drainage repairs

and more than 1,000 repaired streetlights in the French Quarter and along Interstate 10, Hecht said. He added that dozens of stakeholders who collaborated to get the work done will continue meeting regularly to check additional items off the to-do list.

“Everybody on the GNO Inc. board wants us to keep working with the city and state to make New Orleans as clean, safe and beautiful as it can be,” said Hecht during a meeting that rarely strayed from its gridiron extravaganza theme, complete with football references, and, near the end, indoor fireworks. “New Orleans is the brand and the heartbeat. Our next deadline is going to be Jazz Fest.” The Super Bowl was sandwiched between two other events — the Taylor Swift concerts in October, and this year’s Carnival season that together captured the world’s attention and brought record numbers of visitors to New Orleans. Hecht said other economic wins last year include the planned $1.3 billion Woodland Biofuels project

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

PHOTO By TED SHAFFREy

A person walks by the Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J on Feb 8, 2024.

STAFF PHOTO By RICH COLLINS

Greater New Orleans Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht delivers remarks at a meeting on Friday at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans hotel.

OPINION

ANOTHER

Supreme Court can fix this mess of its own making

The Supreme Court can begin cleaning up a predictable mess — it was predicted by a justice at the time — that it made with a misbegotten decision 20 years ago. The justices will consider whether to decide a case that gives the court an opportunity to overturn Kelo, a decision so bad it provoked the passage of many beneficial state laws.

When a regional health care provider announced plans to build a hospital in downtown Utica, New York, Bryan Bowers, a local developer, and his partner saw an opportunity. They purchased an unoccupied building, planning to turn it into medical offices, which would have competed with a nearby building occupied by some incorporated cardiologists.

They, too, saw an opportunity, one dependent on getting government to employ coercion on their behalf. Wanting to turn the property that Bowers had bought into a parking lot, they asked a county government development agency to seize the property using its power of eminent domain. The agency did so, arguing that the cardiologists’ corporation would serve community prosperity better than Bowers’s plan would.

How did we get to government forcibly transferring property from Party A to Party B, a competitor, because government guesses (read on) that the latter will enhance local “betterment.” (And perhaps pay more taxes to the coercing government.) Here is how:

The Constitution — the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause — stipulates “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” (emphasis added). At least 48 state constitutions contain a “public use” restriction on government’s eminent domain power. The phrase has, however become frayed

The Constitution’s framers were parsimonious with words and did not scatter adjectives carelessly “Public use” meant for use by the general public, e.g., roads, bridges, courthouses, etc. But in 1954, in a case arising from D.C., the Supreme Court essentially rewrote “public use” as “public purpose,” a category capacious enough to encompass removing “blight.”

The blight was real in the D.C neighborhood that the eminent domain case came from: Most dwellings did not have indoor toilets; tuberculosis and syphilis rates were high. Elsewhere, however, private developers, colluding with avaricious governments, began construing “blight” broadly to include cracked sidewalks, loose awning supports and other flimsy pretexts for wielding eminent domain power.

In Kelo, the court further diluted the concept of “public use,” making it mean “public benefit.” The court upheld (5-4) the New London (Connecticut) Development Corp.’s condemnation of a not-at-all-blighted blue-collar neighborhood so some unknown bigger taxpayer might benefit. After the condemnation, the Pfizer pharmaceutical corporation proposed, for a while, building a research facility where feral cats now roam.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, dissenting with William H. Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, presciently warned that the consequences of the decision “will not be random.” Affluent, articulate, well-lawyered factions would prey upon vulnerable, less sophisticated people.

In Kelo, the court tried to weave legal cobwebs that would restrain the locomotives of local governments. It said New London’s taking was constitutional only because it was part of a “carefully considered development plan.” (Not carefully enough. Twenty-five years later the land on which the destroyed neighborhood flourished is empty except that construction of a non-taxpaying community center has begun.) And because the identity of the private beneficiary was “not known when the plan was adopted.”

In the Bowers case, crony capitalism is undisguised. His property is being taken (with compensation but against his will) for a specific private competitor So much for the Kelo cobwebs. Lower courts construed Kelo to justify, even mandate, limitless deference to local governments wielding the life-shattering power of eminent domain.

The Kelo decision that diluted property rights was denounced by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist It was, however celebrated by speaking of the predictable — a developer who, like others of his ilk, sees moneymaking opportunities in collaborations with rapacious governments empowered to expropriate the property of less isolated, not-well-connected individuals. Said Donald Trump of Kelo: “I happen to agree with it 100%.” Since Kelo, 47 states have written laws making privateparty-to-private-party forced transfers of property more difficult. The Institute for Justice, a.k.a. the fourth branch of government, which prods the third (judiciary) to make the other two behave, lost in Kelo. It is, however, representing Bowers in his attempt to alter what the court did in Kelo when it construed almost to disappearance a right enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Cuts by DOGE will be felt close to home

The spectacle at CPAC of unelected President Elon Musk brandishing a chainsaw as he bragged about and promised more job cuts was abhorrent. The snide gloating and cheering by elected President Donald Trump of those job cuts was nauseatingly demoralizing. This was reality TV at its worst. Each of those jobs represents a human being, a civil servant who has worked for the good of the country They have families, mortgages, health care needs and responsibilities that require stable employment Many will not be eligible for unemployment benefits because of how they were terminated. Many terminations were illegal actions taken by the president and his shadow We all across America have families, friends and industries that will be impacted. National economic interests such as the stock market will be affected negatively The unemployment rate will go up. The quality of services across the country will deteriorate. Our national security is at grave risk.

These actions are already impacting our state of Louisiana. Where are Gov Jeff Landry and our elected representatives in protecting our citizens and way of life? USDA, USAID, NIH, USFWS, FEMA etc., all sound like big government acronyms that have nothing to do with our little state. But the funding and staff cuts coming at the direction of the president will impact many of the things we love and need such as crawfish, seafood, rice, recreational waterways and campgrounds, hunting camps, health care, medical research, and the institutions it supports like LSU, Tulane and Pennington Biomedical Research, hurricane preparation and recovery and many others not announced but yet to come. Parishes all over the state, many already suffering, are and will be impacted.

Contact your representatives in state and national office. Demand that they protect your personal and economic interests.

ROSE MARY WILLIAMS Baton Rouge

‘A strong Peace Corps makes our nation stronger’

Having served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines (19781980), I am one of the nearly quarter-million Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, who recently celebrated Peace Corps Week in conjunction with the March 1, 1961, signing of an executive order by President John Kennedy that established this iconic government agency which was formally authorized by Congress later that year

Most people know of the Peace Corps as a program through which citizens sacrifice two years of the comforts of home to work with counterparts in other countries more than 60 countries at present and 140 countries since its founding — in the spirit of friendship, progress and mutual understanding. Often forgotten is that the experiences and skills learned in service come home with the volunteers to the tremendous benefit of our communities. Because of the Peace Corps, tens of thousands of RPCVs came home to become teachers, health care workers, entrepreneurs,

public servants and community leaders.

I am an example of this. Following my return to the U.S. from the Philippines, I spent decades of my professional career working to end the global persistence of hunger and to end hunger and homelessness in the U.S.

Many RPCVs I know say regarding their time in service that they “got more than they gave.” The same can be said for our country For the cost of approximately 75 cents for every $10,000 of our federal spending, the Peace Corps remains one of our nation’s wisest investments, with a domestic returnon-investment that is incalculable. A strong Peace Corps makes our nation stronger A well-funded Peace Corps contributes to our nation’s prosperity It is my hope that Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter demonstrate their support of the Peace Corps and honor those who served.

JANINA M. FULLER St. Gabriel

There were two interesting articles on the front page of the newspaper on Feb. 25. “Budget bill stakes high for the state” notes that the current proposal would “increase the amounts the state must pay, wreaking havoc on Louisiana’s budget.” Immediately below it is the article, “Legislators eye tax exemption for NIL deals.”

Excuse the whiplash here, but during a revenue crisis, Louisiana lawmakers are considering state income tax exemptions as “a matter of attracting athletes to Louisiana?” Please help me understand how lawmakers can lament the loss of revenue that “pays for health care for pregnant women, children, elderly, disabled and working adults who rely on the state-federal health care insurance” and at the same time provide tax exemptions on money earned through NIL deals, which already “attract players with millions of dollars on top of what they will be paid by the school.” Through the looking glass indeed.

MONICA MURPHY Baton Rouge

do federal worker cuts have to do with price of eggs?

People believed President Donald Trump would bring down the price of eggs. He couldn’t and hasn’t. Now in his firings and closings of federal agencies and programs, he is in effect breaking a lot of eggs, but not making any omelets.

FAYE LIEDER New Orleans

George Will

JAGUARS

Southern-UCLA NCAA Tourney game ended after this edition went to press. For complete coverage, visit theadvocate.com

SPORTS

THEADVOCATE

Chio’s focus ‘like flipping a switch’

‘Locked-in’ freshman leads LSU to SEC championships

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

The first thing you notice about Kailin Chio, other than her amazing gymnastics skills, is her focus.

Seemingly an old soul beyond her 18 years, she has an innate ability to hone a laser-like focus on the next routine, the next move, tuning out all else

Amidst the mayhem, music, stick crowns and sequins that dazzle and overwhelm the senses at an LSU gymnastics meet, Chio is in her own bubble. Her own zone. Even though only a freshman, she doesn’t feel the pressure to pick up a teammate if they have a wobbly routine in front of her because she is just someplace else.

“I don’t watch the person in front of me,” Chio said. “I don’t really watch anyone who goes before me. I might watch a little, like one skill, but other than that, I don’t really watch, I’m just in my head and thinking about my mental stuff and my mental process before I do my routine.

“So if someone hits, if someone doesn’t hit, I don’t really know.”

Kailin’s mother, Sara, herself a former gymnast, saw that focus in her daughter from an even younger age, the competitive transformation she goes through.

“She gets very locked in,” Sara Chio said.

“It’s like flipping a switch. Even when she was younger, she started competing at 6, she was a goofy little kid on the sidelines, giggling and laughing and dancing.

Then she’s salute and it was a flip of the switch, that competitive focus. Then she’d come off and be that same goofy kid.”

That “goofy kid” has emerged as not just one of the best freshman gymnasts in the country — she won the Southeastern Conference freshman of the week award a record nine times — but one of the best gymnasts in the nation, full stop. One who goes into the postseason ranked No. 1 nationally on vault and No. 5 in the all-around.

She gives the appearance of being low key, placid, almost detached as a performer But inside, LSU coach Jay Clark said, burns an intense fire to compete and win.

“I’m extremely confident in her,” Clark said. “She has proven she is just a great, great competitor

Inside the rehab process that helped prepare Flau’jae for the Big Dance

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

You could see the thought cross Kim Mulkey’s mind Then you could hear it. The concern was important enough for the LSU coach to interrupt a postgame news conference, turn her head and whisper it to reserve guard Kailyn Gilbert.

“Hey KG,” Mulkey muttered.

Gilbert was walking off the podium. It was Feb. 9, and she had just scored 23 points in a home win over Tennessee She stopped for a brief second, flashing a puzzled look, then listened to Mulkey’s instructions. They were faint, meant only for Gilbert, yet they still reached the microphone in front of her

“Don’t let Flau’jae come out there,” Mulkey said. “I’m talking about extra work Because of her shin. Tell her you ‘gon call me.”

ä See FLAU'JAE, page 4C

LSU will need more than its ‘Big Three’ for this NCAA run

Any words about the LSU women’s basketball team on the eve of another NCAA tournament have to start with the Tigers’ “Big Three.”

How is Flau’jae Johnson’s shin injury? Is Aneesah Morrow’s foot sprain healed? Will Mikaylah Williams’ jump shot be filling up the nets?

All important questions, particularly concerning Johnson, who has been on the shelf for three weeks since missing LSU’s last regular season game and the SEC tournament. The Tigers are a legitimate contender to win their second national championship in three seasons, but only if all three of their All-Americans are at their best.

If you’re a close observer of the

ä See RABALAIS, page 4C

Moore commands room at coaching clinic

Saints coach provides glimpse into future

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Kellen Moore grew up the son of a high school coach, so when he was offered the opportunity to speak to high school coaches at LSU’s annual coaching clinic, it was no wonder the New Orleans Saints coach jumped at the chance. And in the process, the 36-year-old provided a glimpse of how he’ll run the Saints — and perhaps why the franchise hired him in the first place.

For almost an hour, Moore’s presentation offered an extended look at how the first-year head coach commands a room. Moore, in a clear and concise manner, laid out the basics of his coaching philosophy and dove into some Xs and Os that players themselves will likely hear on repeat this coming season. Like at his introductory news conference, Moore said the Saints’ identity would be built around smart, fast, and physical players Further, Moore said he wants to drill the fundamentals in players and have them become “situational masters.”

“As far as the 2025 New Orleans Saints, this is our mission: Our mission is to create an environment that allows every player, coaching staff member to be their best,” Moore said. “Listen, every walk of life — on the field, off the field, in the meeting rooms, in the weight room, in the nutrition (room) — every single aspect are we helping our guys to become the best single version of theirselves.

“That’s all that matters. If we put them in that position to be successful, we’ll have a heck of an opportunity.”

As a coach, Moore has drawn praise for his football acumen, his ability to adapt to personnel and the way he’s able to teach with precision. All three were on display Friday

Kailin Chio

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Scott Rabalais

AP FILE PHOTO By MATTHEW HINTON New Saints coach Kellen Moore speaks during his introductory news conference on Feb 13 at the team’s practice facility Moore spoke at an LSU coaching clinic on Friday.

ä See CHIO, page 4C

6:30

No Zion equals big problem for Pels

New Orleans blown out by Minnesota as Williamson misses game

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Any chance the New Orleans Pelicans had of getting their second win in three days over the Minnesota Timberwolves was probably gone about nine hours before Friday’s tip-off.

That’s when the Pelicans announced that Zion Williamson was unavailable because of a lower back contusion he suffered in Wednesday’s game against Minnesota Without Williamson, the Pelicans didn’t have nearly enough firepower for the Timberwolves.

The results were a 134-93 loss at the Target Center

It was the Pelicans’ third loss by 40 or more points this season

The Pelicans hung around early trailing just 28-22 at the end of the first quarter

But the Timberwolves stretched that lead to 62-48 at halftime

Two nights earlier it was Williamson’s 29-point, eight-assist and five-rebound performance that gave the Pelicans arguably their best win of the season over these same Timberwolves.

“Zion’s tough,” Timberwolves’ guard Anthony Edwards said after that one. “He’s a tough cover.” With no Williamson to worry

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABBIE PARR

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels on Friday in Minneapolis.

about, the Timberwolves had little trouble this time around.

The five starters the Pelicans used Friday night (Jose Alvarado, CJ McCollum, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Yves Missi) are averaging a total of 55.3 points this season.

“It’ll definitely be more on CJ,”

coach Willie Green said before the game. “He understands that and he’s capable. But collectively, we’ve got to attack as a team. CJ will get the ball more and get more touches, but he’ll also have the defense’s eyes on him more.

So trusting each other offensively and making sure we’re sound on the defensive end.”

It didn’t happen. McCollum scored 15 points to lead the Pelicans (19-52), who lost two of their three games against the Timberwolves (41-31) this season. Brown scored 14. Elfrid Payton, a Gretna native, made his return to the Pelicans after signing a 10-day contract. It’s the third stint with the Pelicans for Payton, who played with the team in the 2018-’19 season and again this season for seven games

before being waived in December

“Anytime I can put on this jersey, it feels good,” Payton said at Friday morning’s shootaround. Payton entered the game in the fourth quarter with the Pels trailing 97-72. He recorded an assist.

The Pelicans finish their 3-game road trip Sunday when they play the Detroit Pistons. Six days ago, the Pistons beat the Pelicans 12781 at Smoothie King Center The 46-point loss tied the record for worst regular season loss in franchise history

Saints reunite with veteran receiver Cooks

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

More than a decade after the New Orleans Saints selected Brandin Cooks with the No. 20 pick of the 2014 draft, the veteran receiver is back with the team.

The Saints announced Friday that they’d signed Cooks to a twoyear deal, addressing one of their soft spots on the roster by signing a veteran receiver to pair with young starters Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. He is coming to the Saints after spending the last two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

The 31-year-old Cooks recorded a pair of 1,000-yard seasons in his first three years with New Orleans,

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

In terms of the Xs and Os, Moore gave advice to the rising coaches in the room on how to name plays and the reasons behind them. He said he likes to use words that relate to a certain topic, so players can remember them easier Spacing concepts, for instance, used outer space terms like Saturn, Comet, Pluto and Orbit. RPO plays have fishing terms because run-pass options “bait” the defense (And Moore said he changes terminology at each of his stops, meaning there’s no guarantee that he was just giving away what he planned to use with the Saints next season).

but the Saints traded him to the New England Patriots prior to the 2017 NFL Draft — eventually using the draft pick they acquired to select offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

That was the first of several times Cooks has been part of an NFL trade

The Patriots traded him to the Los Angeles Rams, who traded him to the Houston Texans, who traded him to the Cowboys where he spent the last two years. This is the first time in Cooks’ 11-year career that he has signed a free agent contract.

Cooks fills a need for the Saints, who had little experienced depth beyond Olave and Shaheed. New Orleans was reportedly interested

But as he taught, Moore used film to back up the examples. In going over spacing concepts, Moore pulled up clips from his stops with the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles — and how those plays can be executed.

As for adapting, Moore also made clear he isn’t afraid to borrow from other coaches — including those he has, and hasn’t, studied under In borrowing from Chris Petersen, Moore’s coach at Boise State, the former quarterback said one of his sayings is that a coach’s No. 1 job is to build confidence in their players

Those pearls of wisdom also extend to coaches in different sports. When going over his three core values — together, joy

in signing veteran free agent Cooper Kupp recently but Kupp opted instead to sign with his hometown team, the Seattle Seahawks.

Though Cooks’ production has slowed some in the last few seasons in his two years in Dallas, he recorded 80 receptions for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns — he has been one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL since the Saints drafted him in 2014. From 2015-21, Cooks recorded six 1,000-yard receiving campaigns in seven chances a feat he accomplished with four different teams. Only DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper, Travis Kelce and Mike Evans have more 1,000-yard receiving seasons since 2015. Cooks played only 10 games last

and tough Moore said he was inspired by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and coach Steve Kerr to include joy as one of the three.

“You’re going to fall in love with this one,” Moore said, “because there’s an element of joy that goes into this game, guys. OK? One of the biggest aspects of us as we look for players is, do they love this game. Or do they love what comes with the game?

It’s a huge, huge emphasis.” Moore was the clinic’s featured speaker on an afternoon that also saw presentations from Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, LSU coach Brian Kelly and more Nussmeier, in his hour addressing the group, focused on the importance of situational football and playing

Former heavyweight champ Foreman dies at 76 George Foreman, the fearsome heavyweight who lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second act as a 45-year-old champion and a successful businessman, died Friday night. He was 76. A native Texan, Foreman began his boxing career as an Olympic gold medalist who inspired fear as he climbed to the peak of the heavyweight division by stopping Joe Frazier in 1973. His formidable aura evaporated only a year later when Ali pulled off one of the most audacious victories in boxing history in Zaire, baiting and taunting Foreman into losing his belt in one of the greatest fights ever staged. He left the sport shortly after but returned after 10 years. Foreman’s family announced his death on social media.

Hackney in 18th place at Bassmaster Classic

FORT WORTH, Texas Two of south Louisiana’s three anglers in the Bassmaster Classic have a hill to climb in Saturday’s second day to push through to Sunday’s final day Gonzales veteran pro angler Greg Hackney is in contention to remain among Sunday’s final top 25 on Lake Ray Roberts. His Friday five-bass limit weighed 17 pounds, 6 ounces to put him in 18th place. Raceland’s Tyler Rivet boated four keeper bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces for 35th place, and New Iberia’s Caleb Sumrall had two bass (5 pounds, 6 ounces) to rank 48th in the 56-angler field. Illinois’ Trey McKinney 20, leads (26 pounds, 9 ounces) after Friday’s first round and holds a one-pound lead over Canadian angler Cory Johnson.

One-of-a-kind Skenes card purchased for $1.11M

A one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes baseball card was purchased by Dick’s Sporting Goods for $1.11 million after a two-week auction.

There was a total of 64 bids on Skenes’ debut patch card, which is autographed and contains a patch that was on the pitcher’s jersey for his heralded major league debut in May The final price announced by Fanatics Collect late Thursday night included a 20% buyer’s premium. Fanatics Collect plans to donate its proceeds from the sale to the LA Fire Relief Fund.

The 22-year-old Skenes is slated to make $875,000 while in the major leagues this year with the Pittsburgh Pirates Dick’s plans to display the card in a new collectors’ space at its House of Sport store. at Ross Park in suburban Pittsburgh.

Fewer than 1% of brackets remain perfect after day one

season — matching a career-low after he had a knee infection following a surgical procedure in October of last year that forced him to miss seven games. He finished the 2024 season with just 259 receiving yards on 26 catches, never posting more than 52 yards in a single game. While he hasn’t posted a 1,000yard season since 2021, when he was with the Texans, New Orleans will almost certainly ask him to play a complementary role behind Olave and Shaheed.

He joins a receiver corps that also includes Cedrick Wilson, Bub Means, Mason Tipton, Kevin Austin and Dante Pettis. Staff writer Matthew Paras contributed to this report.

with tempo another key component of New Orleans’ offense next season. After Moore’s presentation concluded, he fielded several questions from the crowd. Those topics included how many run plays he goes into a game plan with, the balance between player development and winning and adapting to injuries.

Friday’s talk also appeared gratifying for Moore. He told the crowd that he grew up going to coaching clinics, adding he was “fired up” to be there now “Any time I get a chance to speak at one of these opportunities, this is big time,” Moore said, “because this is how I grew up.”

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

Fewer than 1% of NCAA Tournament brackets were still perfect after Thursday’s 16-game slate, according to several services where fans attempt the all-but impossible task of predicting every March Madness game correctly — or, barring that, win their office pools.

ESPN’s tracker listed 25,802 perfect brackets remaining out of more than 24 million filled out on its site following the final game of the day Texas Tech’s win over UNC-Wilmington.

The NCAA said 0.0938% of more than 34 million brackets were still perfect.

The numbers were similar at CBS Sports, where 0.09% of brackets were unblemished following the first day of action.

Rodgers, Steelers meet; QB leaves without signing Aaron Rodgers might still want to play football. He might even do it in Pittsburgh. The four-time NFL MVP met with the Steelers on Friday, a person with knowledge of the visit told The Associated Press. Rodgers spent several hours in the team’s facility gathering information but left without signing a contract. Pittsburgh currently has an opening at quarterback. Justin Fields, who along with Russell Wilson led the Steelers to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth last season, signed with the Jets last week. Wilson is a free agent but does not appear to be part of Pittsburgh’s plans for 2025. The Steelers signed veteran backup Mason Rudolph to a two-year deal earlier this week but still have plenty of room on the roster for another arm or two.

Hernandez homers as LSU downs Texas 8-2

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

AUSTIN, Texas

— First they were friends, but on this night they were enemies.

Luis Hernandez and Jared Spencer were teammates at Indiana State for the past two seasons. Together they won 89 games and reached a super regional in 2023. But the two found themselves occupying different dugouts on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Hernandez was LSU’s starting catcher, while Spencer was starting on the mound for Texas.

The senior faced off against the left-hander three times. And after laying down a sacrifice bunt in the second inning, it was Hernandez who got the better of Spencer

Hernandez went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs against Spencer as LSU took down Texas 8-2 in Game 1 of the first Southeastern Conference series between the two teams. Hernandez ended up going 3 for 4 with a homer and two singles. It took a few innings, but Friday was another good night for LSU’s offense. The Tigers had 13 hits and every starter had at least one.

LSU put a man in scoring position in each of the first three innings but didn’t score until the fourth when Hernandez marched to the plate with one on and nobody out.

With the count at 1-2, Hernandez took a high cutter from Spencer and deposited it into the LSU bullpen in left field.

The two-run homer was his third of the year and gave LSU a 2-1 lead.

After LSU extended its lead to 3-1 on a sacrifice fly out from Josh Pearson in the fifth inning, Hernandez dug back into the batter’s box and shot a single into left field that scored another run to give the Tigers 4-1 lead.

Spencer’s night was over by the end of the fifth inning He threw a career-high 96 pitches, but LSU’s assault on Texas pitching had only begun.

A run-scoring bunt single from senior Michael Braswell, a run-scoring double by junior Chris Stanfield and a two-run single from junior Jared Jones put four runs on the board for LSU in the seventh inning to give it an 8-2 lead.

All four runs were charged to redshirt senior right-hander Andre Duplantier Duplantier entered Friday’s game with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings.

LSU’s offense eventually stole the show but sophomore lefthanded starter Kade Anderson was the story for LSU on the mound.

He allowed just two earned runs and one extra-base hit in six innings. He gave up seven hits, but the first three didn’t even leave the infield His fastball sat in the mid 90s and mostly used the heater and his slider to retire hitters. He finished with eight strikeouts.

Junior right-hander Zac Cowan replaced Anderson in the seventh inning and threw three shutout innings to finish the game. LSU and Texas will square off for Game 2 of the series in Austin on Saturday First pitch from UFCU DischFalk Field is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+.

Email Koki Riley at Koki. Riley@theadvocate.com

Daniel

LSU second

has six home runs and a 1.268 on-base plus slugging percentage in 23 games.

Transfers making their mark for LSU baseball

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

As Jay Johnson walked around the forest, mosquitos kept munching on his leg.

But he couldn’t care less. LSU’s baseball coach was engrossed in a conversation with a potential transfer portal target.

“We literally talked for like 45 minutes,” Johnson said. “That’s not a normal recruiting conversation.”

That player was Daniel Dickinson. The rising junior from Utah Valley was coming off a season where he blasted 18 home runs and stole 32 bases, but it was his baseball acumen that stood out to Johnson more than anything else.

“I think it was the first conversation that we had,” Johnson said.

It didn’t take long for Dickinson to become a Tiger after their talk, becoming one of seven hitters LSU added out of the portal this past summer

Along with Dickinson, LSU brought in Auburn center fielder Chris Stanfield, Incarnate Word outfielder/left-handed pitcher Dalton Beck, Indiana State catcher Luis Hernandez, Dayton catcher Eddie Yamin and junior college transfers Tanner Reaves and Blaise Priester Beck, Priester and Yamin haven’t made a major impact through 23 games, but Stanfield, Hernandez and Dickinson have become every-day starters.

Reaves has also been in a platoon with former South Carolina infielder and senior Michael Braswell at third base.

Dickinson’s been one of LSU’s best hitters, providing protection behind junior slugger Jared Jones in the lineup

Heading into this weekend’s series against Texas, the LSU second baseman has six home runs and a 1.268 on-base plus slugging percentage.

“Our program needs Danny, like, right now,” Johnson said.

“And it’s not just his talent. He’s got great tools, obviously, but how he plays is what our team needed.”

There were questions surrounding Dickinson as to whether his power would translate to the Southeastern Conference. And though LSU has only played four SEC games, the weight he’s added since arriving to campus, combined with his baseball IQ, has translated into him being second on the team in homers.

His big three-run homer in Frisco, Texas against Kansas State was the perfect example of how he’s combined his physical abilities with his acumen for the game.

“He threw me a first-pitch slider And I see sliders pretty well, so I knew he wasn’t going to get me out with that,” Dickinson said.

“And then I knew that he was go-

ing to come with a heater at some point and inside And so I just tried to stay inside the ball and drive it up the middle.”

Stanfield, despite batting ninth, has been very productive in his first month at LSU. Besides playing stellar defense in center field, he came into this weekend with a .328 batting average and an 875 OPS.

Johnson was familiar with Stanfield, since he spent his first two years in the SEC He remembered Stanfield, as a freshman, getting two hits off of Paul Skenes.

“I saw two things,” Johnson said “Obviously, he’s an electric player Like he has God-given ability that you cannot teach and that you don’t see in college baseball frequently When they’re that athletic, if they have any skill at all, pro baseball is usually eating those guys up out of high school.

“And then secondly, just a really good competitive nature. And that stood out to me, you know, when he was across the field from us.”

After a solid freshman campaign, Stanfield didn’t take a step forward as a sophomore, posting a nearly identital batting average and on-base percentage.

But Johnson said he believed if there were any mechanical adjustments that LSU needed to make with Stanfield, they could do it

“I believe in myself and my staff that we can improve it,” Johnson said. Hernandez arrived in Baton Rouge as a potential power option for a lineup that lost Tommy White and Hayden Travinski. The former Sycamore blasted 23 homers a year ago.

But his contributions on offense have so far been modest. He’s only hit two homers and Johnson said that he doesn’t expect Hernandez to hit as many home runs as he did a year ago.

That’s because LSU has to rely on Hernandez’s defense. After catching just three games last season, he has taken the lead duties behind the plate since the Tigers’ trip to the Dallas area.

Hernandez said the opportunity to catch more was part of the appeal of transferring to LSU.

“I want to be a catcher, and I want to win a national championship,” Hernandez said, “and that’s why I chose LSU.”

Reaves, a left-handed hitter, has carved out a role for himself against right-handed pitching. He started and tallied another hit in LSU’s win over UNO on Tuesday

Despite playing at a lower level, Johnson said he believed that Reaves’ standout bat speed would translate to the SEC. It has so far as he owned a 1.030 OPS heading into this weekend.

“Great parents, great work ethic, blue collar, and he’s got a good skill set,” Johnson said, “and he’s got a fast bat.”

TRANSFORMING TRAUMA RECOVERY

Livingston rivals set for District 5-5A baseball showdown

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

scheduled to conclude their series on Tuesday at Live Oak.

“This district is something it is every year,” Cassard said “Prairieville is a first-year school and they’re good, which adds to it. The challenge at this point in the season is finding ways to keep winning games.

There is nothing quite like a Saturday that includes a baseball district showdown. Veteran Live Oak coach Jesse Cassard and first-year Denham Springs coach Kyle Cedotal agree on that point. Both coaches and plenty of other LHSAA baseball watchers across the state are eager to see want happens when the two Livingston Parish rivals meet for a District 5-5A showdown set for 1 p.m Saturday at Denham Springs.

“This is a real test for us,” Cedotal said. “And who wouldn’t want to play the team that is No. 1 team right now?

“You’ve got a rivalry with two teams located just down the street from each other These kids have all grown up knowing each other and playing with or against each other.” Live Oal (19-4, 4-0) is the topranked team in the LHSAA’s latest Division I nonselect power ratings. The Eagles have already gotten a jump on their 5-5A schedule by sweeping Walker and East Ascension.

This is the district opener for Denham Springs (19-4), rated No 7 in the LHSAA Division I nonselect power ratings. The teams are

“When he hired Kyle, I told Brett (Beard, Denham Springs athletic director) it was a home-run hire. He played at Redemptorist and then moved to Denham. He played in college (at Southeastern) and is a baseball junkie. I am impressed with what (Denham Springs) has done.”

UL commitment Sawyer Pruitt (4-1, 44 strikeouts, 27 innings) is set to start for Live Oak. Cedotal is unsure who his starter will be. Chase Thibodeaux (4-1) and Caleb Klug (3-1) have been the Yellow Jackets’ top starters.

Live Oak has eight players who have either signed or committed to colleges. Shortstop Brayden Allen is hitting 426 for the Eagles and has 23 RBIs. Catcher Cooper Smith is batting .383 with three home runs.

The top hitters for Denham Springs include Matthew Lewis (.450) and catcher Kayden Boyer (.350, 20 RBI).

“I don’t think you ever plan to be 19-4 your first year,” Cedotal said. “These boys have done a good job of taking on the plan, the philosophy and playing style. We’re really starting to put it together now Of course, this is a huge test.”

PREP REPORT

Track and field

Zachary Track Invitational

Boys Team scores: 1. Zachary, 121. 2. Denham Springs, 117. 3. Catholic High, 116. 4. East Ascension, 57. 5. North Pike, 42. 6. Baton Rouge High, 34. 7. Brusly, 32. 8. Woodlawn, 28. 9. Madison Prep, 17. 10. West Feliciana, 13. 11. Port Allen, 10. 12. University, 2. Track

100: 1. Brodie Roberts, Denham Springs, 10.81. 2. Caleb Hilton, Zachary, 10.86. 3. Rayvious Williams, Denham Springs, 11.01.

200: 1. Kededrick Walker, North Pike, 22.43. 2. Brodie Roberts, Denham Springs, 22.55. 3. Caleb Hilton, Zachary, 22.57.

400: 1. Chandler Sears, Baton Rouge High, 49.57. 2. Tyler Jackson, Zachary, 49.97. 3. Javon Javius, East Ascension, 51.47.

800: 1. Kydell Miner, Woodlawn, 2:02.04. 2. Philip August, East Ascension, 2:02.05. 3. Connor Conachen, Zachary, 2:02.21. 1,600: 1 Brenton Crow Catholic High, 4:54.02. 2. Marcus Weir, Denham Springs, 4:56.64. 3. Sabien Perry, Baton Rouge High, 4:57.37.

3200: 1. Maximo Gennaro, Zachary, 9:44.88. 2. Jayden Henriquez, Denham Springs, 10:40.48. 3. Marcus Weir, Denham Springs, 10:42.95.

110 hurdles: 1. Veron Bolden, Zachary, 17.14.

2. Braylon Pittman, North Pike, 17.55. 3. William Rudge, Catholic High, 17.58. 300 hurdles: 1. Cyren Oxley, Brusly, 41.97. 2. Jude Schlegel, Catholic High, 42.82. 3. Jaelon Carter, Denham Springs, 42.96. 4x100 relay: 1. Brusly, 42.49. 2. Catholic High, 42.82. 3. Denham Springs, 42.97. 4x200 relay: 1. East Ascension, 1:31.44. 2. Zachary, 1:31.57. 3. Catholic High, 1:32.45. 4x400 relay: 1. Catholic High, 3:22.52. 2. Denham Springs, 3:34.08. 3. Brusly, 3:34.90. 4x800 relay: 1. Baton Rouge High, 8:33.43. 2. Zachary, 8:35.13. 3. East Ascension, 8:37.98. Field Shot put: 1. Dar’Reyus Scott, Denham Springs, 55-5. 2. Jack Torrance, Catholic High, 54-1. 3. Keidrick Bailey, Zachary, 50-6. Discus: 1. Jack Torrance, Catholic High, 16401. 2. Alex Louque, East Ascension, 146-6. 3. Dar’Reyus Scott, Denham Springs, 139-10. Javelin: 1. Connor Conachen, Zachary, 15311. 2. LaDerrien Burns, Port Allen, 152-6. 3. Riley Polito, Catholic High, 139-4. High jump: 1. Brady Biossat, Catholic High, 5-8. 2. Isaiah Stokes, Zachary, 5-8. 3. Brycen Franklin, Denham Springs, 5-8. Pole vault: 1. Jake Norsworthy, West Feliciana, 13-00. 2. Overton John Henry, Catholic High, 12-6. 3. Asher Randall, Denham Springs, 12-6. Long jump: 1. Isaiah Stokes, Zachary, 21-3. 2. Patrick Lundy, Madison Prep, 21-3. 3. Cedric McGhee, North Pike, 19-5.50. Triple jump: 1. Maurjay White, Woodlawn, 43-10.75. 2. Cedric McGhee, North Pike, 43-10.50. 3. Patrick Lundy, Madison Prep, 42-1.50. Girls Team scores: 1. St. Joseph’s, 132. 2. Zachary 88. 3. West Feliciana, 67. 4. East Ascension, 65. 5. Madison Prep, 53. 6. Denham Springs, 50. 7. Baton Rouge, 49. 8. Brusly, 44. 9. Woodlawn, 29. 10. John Curtis, 8. 11. North Pike, 2. 11. Port Allen, 2. Field events

Javelin: 1. Morgan Vincent, East Ascension, 104-2, 2. Breanna Hambrick, Denham Springs, 89-8, 3. Marlee Vincet, East Ascension, 89-6 High jump: 1. Keari Stewart, Zachary, 5-0, 1. Diamond Peck, West Feliciana, 5-0, 2. Brook Smith, Madison Prep, 4-8.

Shot put: 1. Kiristen Mcgirt, East Ascension, 47-11, 2. Kai Richard, Zachary, 38-2. 3. Nilah Duhe, Zachary, 33-11. Long jump: 1. Chantel Hall, Baton Rouge, 167.75. 2. Jaelyn Jones, St. Joseph’s, 16-7.50, 3. Brennan Colbert, St. Joseph’s, 15-10. Pole vault: 1. Lillian Wood, West Feliciana, 8-0, 2. Gisele El Bechir, West Feliciana, 7-6, 2. Amayia Lusker, Denham Springs, 7-6. Discus: 1. Kiristen Mcgirt, East Ascension, 136-9, 2. Kai Richard, Zachary, 118-3, 3. Morgan Vincent, East Ascension, 112-1 Triple jump: 1. Diamond Peck, West Feliciana, 36-4, 2. Camryn Clayton, Brusly, 35-8.50, 3. Jaelyn Jones, St. Joseph’s, 34-0. Track events 4x800-meter relay: 1. St. Joseph’s, 10:09.65, 2. Baton Rouge, 10:27.24, 3. Zachary, 10:50.70. 100: 1. Tristen Harris, West Feliciana, 11.89, 2. Alexandria Stewart, St. Joseph’s, 12.32, 3. Talar Johnson, Zachary, 12.49. 100 hurdles: 1. Katie Truett, East Ascension, 14.71, 2. Dynasty Wilfred, Madison Prep, 15.03, 3. Courtney Smith, Denham Springs, 15.27. 4x200 relay: 1. Madison Prep, 1:44.12, 2. St. Joseph’s, 1:45.70, 3. Brusly, 1:46.35. 1,600 meters: 1 Michelle Daigle, St. Joseph’s, 5:08.25, 2. Lucy Thomas, Baton Rouge 5:09.34. 3. Anaya Patel, Baton Rouge, 5:52.11 4x100 relay: 1. Brusly, 48.95, 2. Madison Prep, 49.80, 3. Zachary, 50.47. 400: 1. Jaleyia Woods, Woodlawn, 55.45, 2. Ja’hanna McGuiness, John Curtis, 58.37, 3. Katie Truett, East Ascension, 59.66. 300 hurdles: 1. Dynasty Wilfred, Madison Prep, 43.02, 2. Baylee Bryant, Denham Springs, 46.09, 3. Audrey Manda, St. Joseph’s, 48.58. 800: 1. Ainsley Brignac, St. Joseph’s, 2:27.93, 2. Tiana Khuri, St. Joseph’s, 2:28.90, 3. Sidonie Bayard, Baton Rouge, 2:29.91 200: 1. Tristen Harris, West Feliciana, 24.66, 2. Alexandria Stewart, St. Joseph’s, 24.77, 3. Jaleyia Woods, Woodlawn, 25.14 3,200: 1. Lucy Thomas, Baton Rouge, 11:17.77, 2. Emmaline Ritter, St. Joseph’s, 11:50.66, 3. Hope Lemoine, St. Joseph’s, 12:21.86 4x400 relay: 1. Zachary, 4:09.50, 2. St. Joseph’s, 4:12.67, 3. Brusly, 4:14.71 Baseball Catholic 7, St. Augustine

Cedotal

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

baseman

Dickinson, a transfer from Utah Valley,

4C

LSU’s Johnson, Morrow set to play without limitations

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Both Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are ready to dance.

At least that’s what the two LSU stars said Friday a day before they’ll each return to the court in an NCAA Tournament game that’s set to tip off at 9:15 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (ESPN). The No. 3 seeded Tigers are hosting No 14 seed San Diego State.

Johnson (shin) said she is 100% healthy

And Morrow (foot) said that the last two weeks have been “difficult,” although she has learned that “everything happens for a reason.”

“I’ve been getting my conditioning up,” Morrow said Friday, “Being in the weight room, strength and conditioning, getting as much treatment as I can. I’m ready.” Johnson has been battling shin inflammation for about a month. She last played in a Feb. 27 loss to Alabama, shortly before LSU decided to shut her down for its regular-season finale and the Southeastern Conference Tournament, buying her about three weeks of rest for the games that mattered most.

Initially, Morrow’s prognosis appeared to be more dire. In LSU’s conference tournament semifinal loss to Texas, she jumped and landed awkwardly on a drive to the rim, then grabbed her left foot in obvious pain. Trainers helped the senior up off the floor but she couldn’t put any weight on her left leg.

So they brought Morrow directly into the LSU locker room, where she underwent an x-ray

Once those scans came back negative, coach Kim Mulkey said, Morrow even tried to re-enter the game. But because the Tigers had “bigger fish to fry,” they gave her a walking boot and kept her on the bench while the Longhorns pulled away for a win.

“Both of them have had some days to rehab and start feeling better,” Mulkey said, “and they’ve been practicing. So, there doesn’t seem to be limitations on how long they can play or anything like that. I haven’t been told that.”

LSU needs Johnson and Morrow to help it reach the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row

To advance to that round, the Tigers must win two games, one against the Aztecs and another against the winner of Saturday’s first-round matchup between No. 6 seed Florida State and No. 11 seed George Mason (6:45 p.m., ESPN2).

Seminole guard Ta’Niya Latson

FLAU’JAE

Continued from page 1C

Mulkey had two things in mind then. Her more immediate worry was Flau’jae Johnson’s shin injury The more distant concern? That was, of course, the NCAA Tournament. That postseason action has now arrived, which means that only four do-or-die games separate the LSU women’s basketball team from a return trip to the Final Four. The first, a Round-of-64 battle with No. 14 seed San Diego State, will tip off at 9:15 p.m. Saturday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (ESPN).

The No. 3 seeded Tigers drove a bumpy road to get here. They were 25-1 when Mulkey encouraged Gilbert to alert her if Johnson tried to squeeze in a workout after the win over the Lady Vols. LSU had just won its third game in eight days, giving itself an opportunity to ride a five-game winning streak into a pivotal road matchup against Texas. A victory that day would’ve boosted the Tigers’ odds of drawing a No. 1 seed But since then, LSU is 4-3. Johnson’s shin inflammation worsened. Star senior Aneesah Morrow even aggravated a foot sprain in an injury scare that diminished the Tigers’ chances of reaching the Southeastern Conference Tournament title game. Now both stars are healthy and rested. And by all accounts, they each appear to be ready for whatever this NCAA Tournament throws at

“I don’t tinker with something that works that well. I stay out of her head and let her do her thing.”

Five to watch Here are five top gymnasts

pressure. That’s always been her thing.”

As with most gymnasts, however, there was a major setback for Chio to overcome. She injured her back in 2022, forcing her to take a year off from competition.

leads the nation in scoring.

LSU may ask Johnson to defend her, and now, all indications are that she’s healthy enough to take on that assignment.

Mulkey ‘family friend’ on George Mason

Mulkey has an unlikely connection to a player on one of the teams assigned to play in the NCAA Tournament’s Baton Rouge regional.

The LSU coach is close friends with CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford, whose daughter, Page Greenburg is a junior guard on the George Mason women’s basketball team.

“We’re family friends,” Greenburg said. “She’s really involved in our family.”

Mulkey met Crawford when she sat down for an interview with her after the Tigers won the national championship in 2023. The two then struck up a friendship grounded in basketball, motherhood and their shared southern roots.

“They met,” Greenburg said on Friday, “and they just kind of hit it off.”

On March 11, Mulkey interviewed Crawford on LSU’s campus.

They discussed Crawford’s journalism career, her experiences covering the U.S. Supreme Court and the modern media landscape, then fielded questions from the audience.

Three of Crawford’s four children attended the discussion.

The fourth, Greenburg, was busy preparing for the NCAA Tournament with the No. 11 seed Patriots, unaware that the NCAA selection committee would later place them into the Spokane 1 region of the bracket and send them to Baton Rouge for a firstround matchup against Florida State.

Lagniappe

A Mulkey-coached team hasn’t lost a first-round NCAA Tournament game since 2001, her first season as a head coach. Since then, she’s guided her Baylor and LSU squads to 21 consecutive Round-of-64 victories.

This tournament appearance is Mulkey’s 23rd. She’s led her teams past the first two rounds 17 times

Four of the squads that made this NCAA Tournament have three players who average at least 15 points per game, and two of them are playing in the Baton Rouge regional.

One of them is LSU.

The other is No. 6 seed Florida State, which has not only the nation’s leading scorer in junior guard Latson (24.9 ppg), but also senior forward Makayla Timpson (17.6) and senior guard O’Mariah Gordon (16.2).

On a roster dominated by 10 seniors, including reigning NCAA and SEC all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and 2024 Olympian Aleah Finnegan, Chio has emerged as LSU’s most consistently excellent gymnast. The only one who has performed on all four events as an all-arounder in every one of LSU’s 11 meets, Chio has won 20 individual titles including five all-around crowns and got her first career 10, on vault, this past Friday at Auburn.

If LSU is to win Saturday to repeat as SEC meet champions with the Tigers’ sixth title overall and fifth since 2017, it will take a top performance from Chio. In Session II, at 7 p.m. in Birmingham, Alabama, on the SEC Network, the session in which the winner will almost certainly be crowned, the No. 2-ranked Tigers will have to overcome No. 1 and SEC newcomer Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida and No. 7 Missouri.

Given her on-the-floor demeanor, it isn’t surprising that Chio isn’t getting caught up in the intensity of the matchup with three other highly ranked teams.

“I feel like nothing changes,” she said. “You don’t have to try any more, any less. It’s like just another meet.”

Like most college gymnasts,

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

game, however you know that college basketball isn’t the 3-on-3 version of the sport. To survive, advance and ultimately thrive, the Tigers will need more than Johnson’s quick hands, Morrow’s relentless rebounding and Williams’ knack for scoring while playing multiple positions. At some point along the story arc of a six-game winning streak required to cut down nets, LSU will need its supporting cast to come through in a big way

The Tigers’ will need role players to play a starring role. The way they did in the run to the 2023 national title.

The regional semifinals against Utah. Forward LaDazhia Williams, playing the entire season in the shadows of her counterpart, All-American Angel Reese, dazzled with the game of her career She played 40 minutes, scored a team-high 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds as the Tigers survived the Utes 66-63. It turned out to be LSU’s closest game of the entire tournament, a game LSU didn’t win without Williams.

The national championship game against Iowa. All eyes were on the Reese/Caitlin Clark showdown and rightly so. Reese would earn Final Four MVP honors after the Tigers’ historic 102-85 victory but the honor could easily have gone to reserve

them. A relief for an LSU team with national title hopes.

“I have my joy back,” Johnson said. “I learned to take care of my body I learned to be a better teammate. I learned how to watch the game from a different perspective, so it taught me a lot of things.” Johnson told The Advocate on March 7 that she began feeling pain in her shin around the time the Tigers were preparing to host

Tennessee in early February She played through it for five games, she said, and wanted to keep doing so. But by the time LSU lost to Alabama, the inflammation had sapped most of her leaping ability She and Mulkey then decided to play it safe and buy time for the pain to subside. Over those three weeks, Johnson couldn’t work out or practice. Instead, she spent most of her time treating her inflammation.

Chio can’t remember not doing her sport. Sara Chio started her in a “mommy and me” class at age 2 and she never stopped leaping and tumbling.

Chio spent her entire youth gymnastics career training at a place called,perhapsappropriately,Gymcats, in her hometown of Henderson, Nevada, a Las Vegas suburb. Cassie Rice, co-owner of Gymcats and Chio’s long-time coach, echoed what Sara Chio said about her daughter’s competitive demeanor

“She’s always been like that,” Rice said. “If she feels prepared and relaxed, she’ll be good under

guard Jasmine Carson. Carson simply had the game of her life on the women’s game’s biggest stage, pouring in a team-high 22 points on 5 of 6 3-point shooting in 22 fateful minutes.

Kailin Gilbert was home in Tampa, Florida, (which happens to be the site of this year’s Women’s Final Four) from her previous school, Arizona, watching Carson go off on the Hawkeyes.

“I was in complete awe,” Gilbert said. “To play like that in the biggest game of your life is any basketball player’s dream. She played a big role in the win.”

A role Gilbert, LSU’s top bench scorer with 9.7 points per game, may be called upon to play in this year’s tournament. A role she played this season already, hitting the game-winner against Washington and going off for 25 points and the game-winner at Tennessee.

Maybe fate will point toward forward Sa’Myah Smith. This year’s version of Williams, playing in Morrow’s shadow, Smith has had a quieter season than Gilbert, again the way Williams did until March and April.

“I definitely think we’re ready,” Smith said. “Next man up.”

One thing LSU doesn’t possess is a player the caliber of Alexis Morris, 2023’s point guard, to run the offense and anchor the defense. It’s been point guard by committee with Shayeann DayWilson and Last-Tear Poa, the latter one of three key players still left from 2023 along with Johnson and Smith.

There are plenty of new faces

She received massages. Climbed into red-light therapy beds. Took pain medication. Slipped on compression calf sleeves and ambled around in walking boots. Johnson would even bring a chair onto the court, she said, so she could take shots without standing up.

Johnson relayed that story on Friday while her left foot wore a bulky, futuristic shoe with flashing red and green lights. It’s a compression device, she explained, complete with heating components that activate her muscles before a practice or game.

It was a year in which the lessons Chio learned from Rice, lessons that said don’t be completely consumed by gymnastics, led to a major shift in her career

“After my back was injured, I made the decision to drop back (from elite) down to Level 10,” Chio said, “because my back still wasn’t doing that great after six months. I was like, ‘You know what? Do what’s best for your body.’ As much as it hurt me to make that decision, I think it’s what was right.”

Despite her injury LSU continued to pursue Chio. Assistant coach and lead LSU recruiter Garrett Griffeth recruited Chio since she was 13 or 14 when he was still at Utah, making her decision to come to LSU an easier one.

“I took my visit and I absolutely loved it,” Chio said. “I just loved the community, the coaches. The facilities are absolutely beautiful, the girls just were always so welcoming when I first came here.

“There’s nothing like this place. I mean, there really isn’t. Every day I come into this facility, I’m just amazed at how much, money and how much time they put into it for us to have such a beautiful place to practice.”

The kind of place where Chio could flip the switch and be at her best.

from just two years ago, as LSU has continued to go heavy into the transfer portal, but those faces like Gilbert and Day-Wilson and Mjracle Sheppard bring their own brand of experience, too.

Coach Kim Mulkey, who goes in pursuit of her fifth national title as a coach and her 22nd straight NCAA first-round victory, knows the formula quite well.

“You don’t win big games or even championships if you don’t have contributions from everyone,” Mulkey said. “Back two years ago in the national championship game, who were the three MVPs of that game? It wasn’t Angel Reese. It wasn’t Morris. It was Poa. It was Sa’Myah. And it was Carson. Those three came off the bench.”

Who can help the Tigers off the bench this year? Will someone have the Jasmin Carson game of their lives, the LaDazhia Williams’ clutch performance of a career?

At some point, the Tigers will need it. As Mulkey said, a team needs three things to win a title: being on the same page on offense and defense, staying away from injuries and one or two lucky plays.

Maybe make that a lucky player

“I’m more than ready,” Gilbert said. “There’s nothing more I want than the ring.”

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

I have my joy back. I learned to take care of my body. I learned to be a better teammate. I learned how to watch the game from a different perspective, so it taught me a lot of things.”

FLAU’JAE

“I’ve been doing more treatment than I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. On March 13, Johnson resumed her individual workouts and began slowly ramping up her activity She got some shots up in the PMAC after it emptied on Selection Sunday, then crammed in some extra work with Gilbert on Thursday night in between LSU practices. On Friday, she moved fluidly through drills in the 15-minute window of practice open to the media.

“I think it was a smart decision to do what we did with Flau’jae,” Mulkey said. “She probably didn’t like it, but she didn’t fight me on it. You can’t go wrong when you err

on the side of being conservative, and you have the ability to be conservative as a coach with injuries.” That approach was intended to give Johnson a chance to play her best basketball of the season in the NCAA Tournament — just like she did last year In those four matchups, she averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 58% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. In a Sweet 16 clash with UCLA, Johnson scored 24 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. One of those rejections thwarted a field-goal attempt by Lauren Betts, the Bruins’ 6-foot-7 AllAmerican center LSU could find itself in a rematch with UCLA, now the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field, as early as the Elite Eight. It will likely need Johnson’s full repertoire of skills to get both to that game and through it.

So Mulkey barred her from workouts and shelved her for games — a month-long process that will come to an end on Saturday once the Big Dance begins. “It was a change for me,” Johnson said, “but it really did change my perspective, I think, for the better.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson smiles as she waits for her turn to run a drill during a practice session for the NCAA Tournament on Friday

Alabama survives scare, defeats Robert Morris

The Associated Press

CLEVELAND All-America guard Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and second-seeded Alabama pulled away late to escape 15th-seeded Robert Morris 90-81 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

The Colonials gave the Crimson Tide (27-8) all they could handle and even took their first lead at 65-64 on a layup by Josh Omojafo to bring the Rocket Arena crowd to its feet.

Alabama responded behind Sears, who had seven points during an 11-2 surge that gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room against the Horizon League champions.

“(I) kept playing the right way, and then the game repaid me back,” said Sears, who also had five rebounds and 10 of Alabama’s 25 assists.

Robert Morris (26-9) came in as a 22-1/2 point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, yet spent most of the afternoon threatening to author the first true bracket-buster of the tournament after a relatively quiet opening day on Thursday Instead, the Crimson Tide gathered themselves to advance. Alabama will face Saint Mary’s in the second round on Sunday after the seventh-seeded Gaels rallied past 10th-seeded Vanderbilt.

“We’ve been here before,” said Crimson Tide sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 21 foul-plagued minutes.

“We’ve been in these positions all season and last year So we’ve been here before, so we’ve seen this before.” Cleveland native Amarion Dickerson led the Colonials with 25 points, including a spectacular sequence in the second half in which the 6-foot-7 junior put together a series of athletic buckets

that helped erase a 10-point deficit. Dickerson added nine rebounds, and his six offensive boards were one more than the Crimson Tide had as a team.

“He seemed to be everywhere when we needed a play,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said of Dickerson. “We were down 10. He went on his little personal run there and got us back into that game, and I don’t think anybody that was associated with Robert Morris basketball is surprised by it one bit.”

BAYLOR 75, MISSISSIPPI ST 72: In Raleigh, North Carolina, NBA lottery prospect V.J. Edgecombe had just four points at halftime of Baylor’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Mississippi State. That didn’t concern Bears coach Scott Drew

The athletic Edgecombe responded with a big second half and finished with 16 points, including two clutch free throws down the stretch to help the ninthseeded Bears hold off the eighth-seeded Bulldogs 7572 on Friday

IOWA ST 82, LIPSCOMB 55: In Milwaukee,Milan Momcilovic scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, and third-seeded Iowa State routed Lipscomb in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday Curtis Jones had 17 points as Iowa State bounced back nicely after dropping four of seven going into the tourney Joshua Jefferson finished with 10 points and eight assists.

No. 1 DUKE 93, MOUNT ST MARY’S 49: In Raleigh, North Carolina, Tyrese Proctor had 19 points and freshman star Cooper Flagg returned from an ankle injury as No. 1 seed Duke beat Mount St. Mary’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday Flagg had 14 points and seven boards for the Blue Devils (32-3), the East bracket headliner opening

a push for a sixth national title roughly a half-hour’s drive from its Durham campus. Duke jumped to a 13-2 lead in a dominant first half marked by clean execution on the way to a big lead.

COLORADO ST 78, MEM-

No. 12

PHIS 70: In Seattle, Kyan Evans made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 23 points to lead No. 12 seed Colorado State past fifthseeded Memphis in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday “Whatever Kyan was feeling tonight, I just want to feel that one time,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said.

MARYLAND 81, GRAND CANYON 49: In Seattle, Julian Reese had 18 points and nine rebounds, and fourth-seeded Maryland pounded No 13 seed Grand Canyon on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 16 points for the Terrapins (26-8), who will play No. 12 Colorado State on Sunday in the second round of the West Region. The Rams beat fifthseeded Memphis.

UNC 71, OLE MISS 64: In Milwaukee, Sean Pedulla maintained his belief in himself and his team even as Mississippi let most of a 22-point lead slip from its grasp. He responded by delivering a shot that helped send the Rebels to their first NCAA Tournament victory in a decade.

ST MARY’S 59, VANDERBILT 56: In Cleveland, Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ross keyed a second-half rally while star Augustas Marciulionis dealt with foul trouble, and the seventh-seeded Gaels fended off 10th-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday

The Commodores led by 12 points when Marciulionis — the two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year — exited with his fourth foul early in the second half.

LHSCA all-star basketball games set for new venue

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Think the high school basketball season ended March 15 in Lake Charles with the LHSAA boys basketball tournament?

Guess again. The annual LHSCA AllStar games make their Lake Charles debut with a boys/girls doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at McNeese’s Legacy Center arena.

“The move to the Legacy Center is such a huge thing for our athletes,” LHSBCA president Christopher Ko-

vatch of Carencro said. “It’s just a premier venue here in Louisiana and to be able to give our athletes that experience means a lot. It’s a great place for them to showcase their talents.”

The East-West boys game tips off the action at 1 p.m. with the East-West girls game to follow at 3 p.m Though a total of six players had to be replaced as the four squads reported on Friday, the list of players set to compete is impressive. Baton Rouge players on the East team squad are

Ascension Catholic names James new coach

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Sometimes, direct connections are the best.

But that is just part of the story for Taylor James, who has been hired as Ascension Catholic’s new football coach.

Donaldsonville-based Ascension Catholic announced the hiring of the 30-year-old James, a Winnfield native who has coached at multiple high schools in Texas since 2020, on Friday

It is the first head football coaching job for James. He previously worked with Ascension Catholic baseball coach Gee Cassard at Houma-based Vandebilt Catholic before the COVID 19 pandemic.

“My wife and I are both

from Louisiana, and we’ve been wanting to get closer to family,” James said. “We’ve got four children. They are at the age where they want to be around family and we have family in this area.

“I am excited to get started. I was able to meet with the players and some parents today.” James takes over for former St. James and LSU quarterback Lowell Narcisse, who led the Bulldogs to the LHSAA’s Division IV select semifinals in his only season as head coach last fall. Narcisse is now the head coach at Class 5A Thibodaux High.

Before accepting the Ascension Catholic job, James was defensive coordinator at Mt. Vernon, a Class

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT

3A public school located between Dallas and Texarkana.

James was part of the 2011 Winnfield team that finished as the Class 2A football runner-up to John Curtis. He played quarterback, receiver and running in high school and went on to play wide receiver at Louisiana College, now known as Louisiana Christian.

James then spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State before entering the high school coaching ranks.

“I’ve had people say, ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this,’ ” James said “Knowing coach Gee helped get me here. I feel like this is where I am supposed to be.”

ROUNDUP

Edwards leads South Carolina to win over Tennessee Tech

By The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Freshman

Joyce Edwards scored 22 points in her first women’s NCAA Tournament game as No. 1 seed South Carolina began its run at a second straight national title with a 108-48 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday

The Gamecocks (31-3) improved to 17-1 in the past four women’s tournaments, winning in 2022 and 2024. The lone defeat came to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the national semifinals in 2023.

With Edwards, named to the all-Southeastern Conference first-team this season, leading the way, the top seeds of the Birmingham 2 Regional looked poised for another title in a few weeks.

The 6-foot-3 forward swears she’s always nervous before games and felt some jitters before stepping out for to start her NCAA Tournament career But she looked and played as poised as she has all season for the Gamecocks.

“Everything comes at you, you don’t know what to expect,” Edwards said “Once you get your first rebound, the nerves settle down.”

Edwards had more points in her NCAA debut than Gamecocks national champ and WNBA No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston, who went for 20 in a win over Mercer in the 2021 event.

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said Edwards’ relentless approach has endeared her to her older teammates. Edwards rarely stops moving on the court and when she sees a layup

go in, Staley thinks it opens the floodgates for her allSEC player

“The basket gets big,” Staley said.

South Carolina will face ninth-seeded Indiana on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16 The Hoosiers outlasted eighth-seeded Utah 76-68 earlier Friday

Edwards scored six straight points to open up the game as the Gamecocks went ahead 31-11. The Golden Eagles (26-6), champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, saw their 17-game win streak come to an end. Taris Thornton led Tennessee Tech with 13 points. MiLaysia Fulwiley added 15 points as all 12 Gamecocks who played scored baskets.

Tennessee Tech coach Kim Rosamond was impressed with the Gamecocks overall skill and discipline. South Carolina made 43 of 67 field goals.

“If they shoot the basketball like that the rest of the way, they’re going to be almost impossible to beat,” Rosamond said.

KENTUCKY 79, LIBERTY 78: In Lexington, Kentucky, Georgia Amoore scored 34 points, including three free throws in the final 10 seconds for fourth-seeded Kentucky which nearly blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead but held on for a 7978 victory over 13th-seeded Liberty in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday The second-team AllAmerica guard made 6 of 10 3-pointers and added eight assists, two steals and two blocks. She scored 23 first-half points for the

Wildcats (23-7), who led 6750 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter KANSAS ST 85, FAIRFIELD 41: In Lexington, Kentucky, Ayoka Lee had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her return to the lineup, and fifthseeded Kansas State beat Fairfield in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament. Lee went 7 for 10 from the field in her first game since she played just four minutes in a 90-60 victory over Kansas on Feb. 22. The 6-foot-6 center has been hampered by foot injuries. She played 15 minutes against the Stags before departing with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter INDIANA 76, UTAH 68: In Columbia, South Carolina, Yarden Garzon scored 17 points and Shay Ciezki added 16 as No. 9 seed Indiana won its opener for a sixth straight NCAA Tournament with a victory over eighthseeded Utah. The Hoosiers (20-12) reached 20 wins for a sixth consecutive season. Their reward is a likely matchup with the Birmingham 2 Regional’s top seed in South Carolina, who will play later Friday against No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech. MICHIGAN 80, IOWA ST 74: In South Bend, Indiana, Jordan Hobbs scored 28 points to help No. 6 Michigan hold off 11th-seeded Iowa State to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines (23-10) will play on Sunday in South Bend, Ind., against the winner ofthe Notre Dame-Stephen F. Austin game for a shot at the Sweet 16.

Craig Lovelady of McKinley, Catholic’s Tate McCurry and Kelinee Stone of Woodlawn.

Southern Lab’s Shaila Forman, Quiana Lavergne of Liberty, University’s Taylor Lee and Ryli Martin, Walker’s Arionna Patterson and La’Shantae Clay, Amijah Price of Woodlawn and Taylor Smith of Denham Springs are part of the East girls squad. White Castle’s Cambrieion Link is part of the West squad. Quianna Chaney of Southern Lab is an assistant coach for the East girls squad.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAVID RICHARD Alabama forward Jarin Stevenson dunks against Robert Morris in the second half of a firstround NCAA Tournament game on Friday in Cleveland

Leo Cyrus celebrating end of pastoral service

The voice that has shared the Gospel to thousands across Baton Rouge and the world for more than 50 years won’t be silent.

The Rev Leo D. Cyrus, 81, is retiring as pastor of the New Hope and Second Baptist churches, but he intends to continue preaching.

“It’s time for me to step away from the pastorate — never from preaching,” said Cyrus, who has led New Hope for 48 years and Second Baptist for 41 years. “Even though my voice is not what it was, I’ll still be preaching. And I will continue to preach until I die.”

This weekend marks the culminating celebration of Cyrus’ dedicated pastoral service at the two remarkable congregations A retirement banquet was planned Friday The retirement celebration will conclude at 11 a.m. Sunday at New Hope, 5856 Greenwell Springs Road, Baton Rouge, where the Rev Borris Braggs, of Monroe, will be the speaker

Married for 58 years

Cyrus has faced challenges with his voice in recent years, but the former mail carrier is determined to keep using his voice to deliver inspiring messages. “I’ve been preaching 51 years, and the muscles in my voice box are shot. I don’t have the voice I used to have,” said Cyrus, who will hold the title of pastor emeritus. “It was hard to accept, but I realized the Lord does work in mysterious ways. I don’t know why this happened, but it’s here, and I’m going to work with what I have.” Cyrus initially planned to retire from pastoring about four years ago. Those plans changed when his wife, Deloris Morris Cyrus, became ill. She died in 2021.

“I tell people all the time, do what you can right now Don’t wait until a certain time. I had planned that she and I would travel, go places and just enjoy life. Then, she came down with cancer,” he said.

The couple had been married for 58 years. Cyrus says the members of New Hope and Second Baptist churches helped him through the lonely times. Seeing others experience the loss of a loved one now gives Cyrus a better sense of their grief while reliving his own grief.

“I’m more empathic because now I know how they feel,” he said. “It’s going to be rough when you live with a person that long and the Lord calls them home.”

Preaching at dog funerals

Preaching has long been a part of Cyrus’ family His father, the Rev Johnny Cyrus, was a minister for about 50 years. When he was 6 years old, Cyrus started “preaching.”

“I used to bury every dog in the neighborhood,” he recalled “A dog would get hit We would put it in a wagon and take him out there on the lot, and I’d preach the dog funeral.”

His passion for preaching persisted during his years at Capitol High School when he’d preach during football team trips.

“Finally, coach would holler at me, ‘Cyrus, shut up,” he said. However preaching for Cyrus paused for a while as a young adult

“I got tied up with the things of the world,” said Cyrus, who lost his father at 17. “My daddy’s church was next door to our house. I used to go to church with him until I became a teenager and met people from other schools that had different ideas.” His life took a dramatic turn

Raised to fight for White supremacy, Derek Black grew up to renounce racism

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

David Duke was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives on Feb. 18, 1989, three days after his ex-wife and her new husband in Florida welcomed a baby boy

A decade later, these two events seemed to provide an intriguing convergence — for the slice of American society that wanted a racially segregated country

The Florida-born boy was named Derek Black and at age 10 in 1999, he appeared in the media for the first time, showing a precocious ability to articulate a message when he declared on a nationally syndicated TV show that his father had taught him to be proud of his White heritage Young Derek’s father, Don, had coached him on what to say And this is where it ties back to Duke. Don had been Duke’s top lieutenant in the Ku Klux Klan and had gone on to create Stormfront the biggest racist website in the world. Derek’s mother, Chloe, had been Duke’s wife before marrying Don. In 1991, Duke generated headlines nationwide when he mobilized Louisiana White people to mount a surprisingly strong bid to be elected governor Duke finished second to Edwin Edwards but won notice for collecting over half the White vote in Louisiana.

But when 10-year-old Derek made his media debut in 1999, Duke was losing his perch as America’s preeminent White supremacist after being defeated in four more races for office.

Don and Chloe raised Derek to be Duke’s successor one day

Apparently they failed.

Renouncing the path

Derek, now grown, has renounced White supremacy and is making public appearances to explain why — a move that has stunned Duke and his parents.

The onetime heir apparent tells the story in the recently published book, “The Klansman’s Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism” (Abrams Press, $30).

“I am haunted by the White nationalist movement I inherited, and whose future I helped advance,” Derek writes. “Its violence is a source of infinite guilt and irreparable harm.

“I fear for our future, because I know that its ideology is not

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

Robinson

Whoeverfindsthe bandagewinsaprize!

Dear Miss Manners: I had a severe injury to a finger It has since healed, but when I cook, I usually keep a bandage over the injury to protect the area.

One night I made dinner for my husband and a very close friend (who has a great sense of humor). I had the entrees placed on the table and was serving the salads when I noticed the bandage was missing. When I sat down, I debated what I should do, but then came clean: I informed them that the bandage was missing and that I was afraid it might have ended up in a salad. They both thought it was hilarious, and jokes about the possibility of it turning up in the pizza were the order of the night I realize the topic is gross, and most people would likely not see the humor However, it brought up the hypothetical discussion among us of what I would have done had this been a larger group that extended beyond the three of us. If I had a larger group of people — say, a dinner party of six — and the entrees were already on the table when I discovered the bandage missing, would it be appropriate to keep quiet and hope the bandage did not show up in someone’s food? Or warn them ahead of time and completely destroy their appetites for dinner? (Since this is hypothetical, let’s say that dumping the whole dinner and ordering out is not an option.)

What say you?

and was always the dependable, devoted daughter

Judith Martin

MISS MANNERS

Seven years ago, my father made a derogatory comment towards my husband and I over politics at a family gathering, and when I objected to him and my mother privately, he decided that I wouldn’t be included in future family events. In the years since, both my father and my brother have told many mutual friends and relatives about our rift, but have told different versions to different people, none of which are true.

I am regularly approached by well-intentioned acquaintances, urging me to mend fences with my grieving parents; I never know what story they’ve heard, and have responded by telling them politely that the issue is a private family matter, and that I prefer not to discuss it with them.

Three times recently, I’ve been told that my reply was rude, and one lady even remarked that my parents might be better off the way things are. How should one respond to such suggestions, especially if the person is an old family friend?

Gentle reader: “Thank you. I will think about it.”

Dear Harriette: My youngest sister is in the process of applying and being accepted to colleges — for the second time. She’s had some trouble in the past in terms of staying focused and prioritizing her degree and her education, and now as she’s applying to get back into college, she’s constantly consulting her friends. I won’t pass judgment on any of her friends because I don’t really know their track records all that well, but I worry that she is more concerned with going to the same school as friends than with using college as an opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and explore herself more. Having friends going

through the same things as you can be great, but I don’t want her to be too dependent on others or use friends as a crutch out of fear I don’t want to come off as controlling. I just don’t want to see her get distracted from another great opportunity — College Influences Dear College Influences: Talk to your sister more, and offer to help her through the application process. Ask her what she wants to study and what she wants to do with her life. Encourage her to select schools that specialize in her interests as her top priority In this way, she can prepare herself for her future. Without being too judgy, point

out that if it works for her to attend college with her friends, that’s fine, but it should not be her priority Each person has a destiny, and now is the time to start determining what hers is. Remind her that being attached to her current friends is not necessarily part of it. You can tell her that many people who grow up together remain close even if they go to different schools, live in other cities and follow different paths. She doesn’t have to worry that she will lose her friends as she makes smart choices for her life.

Gentle reader: Miss Manners, thankful that this scenario is hypothetical, will take the opportunity to urge those who cook with injuries to wear non-hypothetical gloves.

Dear Miss Manners: My elderly parents and I seldom talk or visit, per my father’s wishes. I am the older of their two children,

By The Associated Press

Never mind that you, Miss Manners and probably your old family friends know you will not. The fact that you appear to be considering their advice should be enough to satisfy them in the moment. And since thinking is an ongoing activity, presumably you can repeat the sentiment if they follow up.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@ gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Saturday, March 22, the 81st day of 2025. There are 284 days left in the year

Today in history

On March 22, 1963, The Beatles’ debut album, “Please Please Me,” was released in the United Kingdom on the Parlophone record label.

On this date:

In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to raise money from the American colonies, which fiercely resisted the tax. (The Stamp Act was repealed a year later.)

In 1894, ice hockey’s first Stanley Cup championship game was played, in which the Montreal Hockey Club defeated the Ottawa Hockey Club, 3-1.

In 1933, during the Prohibition Era, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which allowed the sale of beer and wine with an alcohol content of 3.2%. (Prohibition would be fully repealed nine months later with the ratification of the 21st Amendment.)

In 1941, the Grand Coulee hydroelectric dam in Washington state officially went into operation; it remains the largest capacity power station in the United States.

In 1972, in the Eisenstadt vs. Baird decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that unmarried

people had the same right to possess and use contraception as did married people.

In 1978, Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of “The Flying Wallendas” high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable strung between two hotel towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 2019, former President Jimmy Carter became the longestliving chief executive in American history; at 94 years and 172 days, he exceeded the life span of the late former President George H.W Bush. (Carter would die at age 100 in December 2024.)

In 2021, 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. (The shooter Ahmad Alissa, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in September 2024.)

Today’s Birthdays: Artist Yayoi Kusama is 96. Actor William Shatner is 94. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins is 84. Musician George Benson is 82. Writer James Patterson is 78. TV journalist Wolf Blitzer is 77. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is 77. Sportscaster Bob Costas is 73. Actor Lena Olin is 70. Singer-actor Stephanie Mills is 68. Actor Matthew Modine is 66. Football Hall of Famer Jim Covert is 65. Actor-comedian Keegan-Michael Key is 54. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is 52.

BAZAAR

Continued from page 1D

books or rare finds can browse the more than 70,000 new and used items — many priced as low as 50 cents to $1, plus CDs, DVDs and vinyl records. Shoppers will find new items on the tables each day,

CYRUS

Continued from page 1D

at the age of 29. He recalls the night sitting on the hood of a car drinking beer and talking with others.

“Then, all of a sudden, a voice said to me, ‘What are you doing here?’” Cyrus recalled. “I was dumbfounded. It said, ‘This is not where you’re supposed to be.’ I put that beer down and walked home. ...From that day on, I didn’t go to any nightclub and didn’t drink. I started going back to church like I should have.”

Cyrus became a deacon and was called to ministry a year later

From mail carrier to pastor

In 1976, a 33-year-old Cyrus was called to pastor New Hope and its 35 members. But full-time ministry would have to wait while he labored as a mail carrier at the LSU post office.

After he took too many days off from his postal job for church funerals, Cyrus said his supervisor had enough.

“He said, ‘You have to make up your mind if you’re going to be a postman or a preacher You got to make up your mind because we

making every visit a chance to find hidden treasures. The varied collection of available books this year includes different genres of fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, rare and collectible books, works on art, architecture, military history, the Civil War, Louisiana and the South. Vintage books dating back to the 1800s will also be for sale.

can’t keep letting you off like this.”

After sitting down to sort his mail, Cyrus returned with an answer: preacher He left the post office after 18 years.

The next challenge was informing his wife.

“She said, ‘Are you crazy? We got these kids to educate, and the insurance and benefits, you’re going to lose all of that. And these people aren’t going to take care of you.’ I said, ‘We’ll see.’ I never regretted one second doing that.”

The New Hope members took care of Cyrus. The little church moved from North 46th Street to Greenwell Springs Road and now boasts more than 700 members.

‘Nothing but the grace of God’

Cyrus served for about two years as interim pastor of St. Paul Baptist Church. In 1983, he took over at Second Baptist, 914 N. Acadian Thruway West.

“Nothing but the grace of God” enabled Cyrus to effectively serve two churches with two different messages each week.

“It’s been challenging, but I loved it,” said Cyrus, who attended Southern University and graduated from Christian Bible College. “When I became a pastor, I had so much energy The Lord worked it out for me for 41 years.

The 2025 Book Bazaar is sponsored by Frost-Barber of Louisiana, LLC, and Kean’s Fine Dry Cleaning, with all proceeds benefiting LSU Libraries.

For more information, visit www lib.lsu.edu/friends#bookbazaar Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.

That kept me busy.”

In addition to his churches, Cyrus has served on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and with other civic groups. He is involved in various religious organizations; prison ministry with Hunt and St. Gabriel correctional institutions; Federation of Churches and Synagogues; National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc.; Louisiana State Baptist Convention; Greater Louisiana Baptist State; and the Fourth District Missionary Baptist Association. For 21 years, Cyrus participated in an evangelistic and churchbuilding pilgrimage to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. Ministerial journeys have also allowed him to preach in the Holy Land and Africa.

Cyrus remains steadfast in preaching the message of Christ.

“Without him, I can’t accomplish anything,” he said. “I tell people the greatest thing you can do in life is to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior But then follow him and grow to be all he’s called all of us to be.”

For more information, visit www newhopebr.com or www.secondbaptistbr.com

Contact Terry Robinson at terryrobinson622@gmail.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By TRAVIS SPRADLING

The cashiers’ tables, foreground, are busy, on the first day of the annual Friends of the LSU Libraries Book Bazaar in 2023

Baha'i Faith

isolated or fringe — it rises up every time a politician talks about ‘woke ideology,’ a columnist writes about ‘the immigration invasion,’ or a radio host rants about ‘crime in our inner cities.’

“No matter what choices I made, I cannot escape its impact on our society, and none of us can.”

‘Virtually unprecedented’

Derek has a unique story to tell. Some White Supremacist leaders move on to other things. But few actually repudiate their anti-Black and anti-Jewish views.

Mark Potok published Derek’s disavowal for the Southern Poverty Law Center 12 years ago

“For Derek Black to leave was virtually unprecedented, and for him to go to us well, Don Black flipped his wig,” Potok said recently “I dealt with a lot of people who left the movement for a variety of reasons. Not one of them was as intelligent and thoughtful as Derek Black.” Derek has gone through an additional transformation. Now 35 and pursuing a doctorate in medieval studies, he has come out as transgender and has taken the name Adrianne. (We’ll use Derek when describing his younger activities and Adrianne when we quote them.)

Old pals

Duke and Don Black met in 1969 when they drove together to attend a meeting of the National Socialist White People’s Party, a neo-Nazi organization in Virginia. They became friends and served as leaders together in the Klan group that Duke reactivated in Louisiana in the early 1970s. In 1989, Don surreptitiously established a digital communications hub for Duke’s 1989 legislative campaign in Metairie.

Don needed to be out of sight because Duke was telling the public that his own Klan and anti-Semitic activities had been a youthful indiscretion. In an ironic twist, Don had learned his computer skills while serving two years in prison for a bungled attempt hatched in New Orleans to invade the Caribbean island of Dominica and overthrow its leftist government.

Derek’s parents steeped Derek in their ideology, home-schooling their child in West Palm Beach, Florida, after third grade.

At age 10, Derek gave his first public interview, on a daytime talk show

It was “my first time claiming publicly my intention to lead White nationalism into its next generation,” Derek writes.

White supremacist ideas

Derek made more public appearances and learned the White supremacist code numbers of 14 (a 14-word

phrase promising to secure a future for White people and their White children) and 88 (for the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, and representing “Heil Hitler”)

Derek became completely inculcated in the White nationalist beliefs that White people are innately more intelligent and capable than Black people and that Jews control the media and financial institutions and use their power to force White and Black people to live, study and work together. According to this ideology, the inevitable racial mixing weakens the sacred gene pool of the White race.

In time, Duke called Derek “the heir,” Derek writes.

Derek decided to attend New College, a small liberal arts university in Sarasota.

Don and Duke weren’t worried that attending a free-thinking university would pose problems for Derek.

Duke’s extremist views had only hardened during his studies at LSU after arriving there in 1968 and becoming a campus celebrity for spouting off against Black people and Jews during the weekly “Free Speech Alley” forum in front of the student union.

But at New College, Derek began to live a dual life, embracing the friendship and compassion of Jewish and Black classmates even as he kept appearing on his father’s talk radio program five days a week and attending White supremacist gatherings elsewhere.

“I was split between the community that had raised me, told me every day that we were hated by the world, and the one that I loved privately, but expected to reject me as soon as they learned who I really was,” Derek writes.

That inner struggle only intensified during his years at New College after students learned of Derek’s racist activities and put him on the spot.

Making the break

In 2013, Derek finally decided to break with his parents, Duke and the move-

ment that had spawned him.

Turning his back on everything he knew wasn’t easy for him, and it happened only after a long transformation. Then he acted decisively, going public on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center a mortal enemy of Don and Duke.

“I felt in that moment like I was jumping off a cliff into the abyss,” Derek writes.

His father didn’t believe the news.

“I think you’ve been hacked,” Don texted. “Call me back.”

When Derek confirmed it was true, Don’s “familiar jokey tone ended. He said he needed to go, and hung up.”

During a radio program immediately afterward, Duke said Derek was suffering from Stockholm syndrome, having spent years with “liberal captors” during their undergraduate and graduate studies.

In an interview, Duke elaborated, saying that Derek has been brainwashed by Jews, who in Duke’s view, control the media and are bent on destroying the White race to ensure their domination.

“Derek is part of the Jewish enmity toward Europeans and European Christians,” Duke said. “They have motives to try to discredit anybody who dares to speak out against Jewish supremacism in the world, which is the greatest threat to humanity.”

Duke added that he hasn’t

given up on Derek: “I believe that some day he’ll say,

‘You know, I had it wrong. I was ostracized I wanted a career in academia. I gave in to them to get their boots off my neck.’”

‘Who I am’

Adrianne dismisses Duke’s notion, saying the change reflects personal growth.

“I felt boxed into a corner and wanted to say who I am and want to be,” Adrianne said in an interview. “Now I’m not a White nationalist. I’ve moved on I don’t have these beliefs.”

Adrianne is invited now to speak about their changed beliefs and uses the communication and organizational skills developed as a young White supremacist to inform their audience.

In the meantime, Adrianne’s relationship with their family remains a work in progress.

“Mine was a family that defined itself through their shared beliefs,” Adrianne said in the interview

“I knew that condemning White nationalism would be condemning them, and our relationships. They were shocked that I could understand it, be raised in it and think it was wrong There’s never a conversation whether they don’t say they are horrified and shocked by what has happened.”

Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate. com.

A sweet reminder

Dear Heloise: What a great hint in your column about sending letters and postcards to kids, including little thank-you notes. It was especially important that the reader said not to expect or demand a response. I mailed a picture from the newspaper to my little grandson who showed me a baseball player he liked. My daughter told me that he looked carefully at the envelope with his name on it, then examined the picture. When I visited some time later, he showed me the picture, which was carefully placed in his dresser drawer So sweet! — Elizabeth Hoffman, via email Mug eggs

paper rolls, egg cartons, cardboard boxes, and plastic lids and bottles for the Children’s Museum in Denver They have a construction area where children can learn to use basic tools and build projects with their parents. The children love what they can build, and we help with repurposing. — Jan, in Colorado Springs, Colorado Dealing with crumbs

Dear Heloise: I was raised to keep a tidy table whether we’re dining or eating breakfast. This always included brushing dust and tiny crumbs

Dear Heloise: I have been making mug eggs for years! Janet Sloey sent in a good idea. However, she used three dishes for this. I do the mixing in the mug (using the oversized ones), heat the eggs up in the mug, and also eat directly from the mug. The eggs stay hot for longer this way, and only one container needs cleaning. Sharon Lewis, in Henrico, Virginia Museum donations

Dear Heloise: We save paper towel rolls, toilet

RELIGION BRIEFS

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Mt. Zion Baptist

celebrates milestone

Louisiana Supreme Court

Associate Justice John M. Guidry will speak at the 100th anniversary of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1920 Progress Road, Baton Rouge, at 11 a.m. Sunday All are invited.

Day of devotion

features speaker

A Holy Face of Jesus Devotion will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 1,

at Immaculate Conception

Catholic Church, 865 Hatchell Lane in Denham Springs. The veneration’s origins date to 1849, when a vision of the face of Jesus appeared for three hours in front of the relic of St. Veronica’s veil at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The devotion focuses on a strong resolve to uphold the first three commandments: belief in God, the name of the Lord and the sanctity of the Sabbath. Guest speaker will be the Rev Miles Walsh.

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM R. DEREK BLACK

A reunion of some of Derek Black’s college Shabbat crew in 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Point yourself in a direction that offers rewards. Immerse yourself in learning something that could help you professionally. Look the part and market yourself for success.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Before altering your life check that your paperwork is updated to avoid setbacks. Stick to a budget you can handle. Balance, integrity and living up to your promises will help you achieve your dreams.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Work behind the scenes to finish things on time and without interference. Put a plan in motion to address your concerns and ensure you maintain a strong financial position and peace of mind.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Build strength, gain support and do your best to advance. Pay attention to situations that are in dire need of an overhaul. Concentrate on results to make letting go of the past easier.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Learning will have an impact on how you press forward. Refuse to let others' choices disrupt your plans. Someone you connect with will offer a perspective that resonates with what you want to achieve.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) A change will lift your spirits and offer insight into something that interests you. Dig in and learn all you can. Be cautious of emotional situations involving money, contracts or health issues.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Problems will surface if you let emotions step in and

take the lead. Do whatever it takes to keep the peace; you'll dodge a situation that could leave you struggling over what to do next.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Stop procrastinating and start doing. If you need to pick up knowledge, get busy doing research. Reach out to experts and pick their brains. Give yourself a chance to be imaginative and playful.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Question everyone and everything. Get your facts straight and a budget in place. Self-improvement will boost your confidence and encourage you to let go of the past.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Revisit contracts and joint ventures. Keep an eye on what your partners or colleagues are doing. Refuse to let anyone bully or manipulate you with fast talk or charm.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Go over your expenses and see where you can cut corners. Refuse to let anyone talk you into a change that will inflate your budget. Explore new ways to use your skills to bring in extra cash.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Participate in something that brings you joy. Refuse to let anyone put a damper on your day. Say no to emotional chaos and personal affronts.

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

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Groucho Marx said, “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

That sounds like a good plan. Every time someone in your house turns on a television set, go into another room and reread this column!

Good bridge players do a lot of “reading” at the table. They read the bidding and the played cards, gaining information from them. A good reader would find this deal easy, but someone less literate would struggle.

How should South play in four hearts afterWestcashestwotopdiamonds(East playing jack-four, high-low, to show his doubleton), then shifts to a club?

Note South’s advance of his partner’s takeout double. Since South was an unpassed hand, his two-heart single jump showed some 9 to 11 points with four-plus hearts. (If South were a passed hand, he would have been promising a good seven to a poor 10 points.)

South has already conceded two tricks, so he can afford only one more loser. The black suits are safe, so he must handle trumps carefully. Normally one would either cash the ace, cross to dummy and lead toward the queen;orimmediatelyfinessethequeen.

However, can East have the heart king here?

Not if the bidding is to be believed. West surely needs that king. So, reading West for king-doubleton, the right line is to cash the heart ace, then to continue with a low heart, hoping that the king appears. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel

Syndication

Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters.

today’s thought

“What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” Psalms 116:12

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

Angela Harms, Darlene Jarvis, Steven Knight, RaHarold Lawson, Mike Raby,Ryan Reed, and Chris Marchiafava. Murphy Foster, legal counsel; Rhonda Ruffino, Executive Director of Friends of the Baton Rouge Zoo; and Carl Stages, Executive Director or

The

Superintendent Wilson stated that thereweretwo items under Administrative Matters. He explained that the first item was originally approved in December but since therehas been achange in the administration at City-Parish and some changes to the agreement, it was necessary to bring it back for approval. He then read the following resolution: Resolved, That the Commission approve amemorandum of understanding with the City of Baton Rouge –Parish of East Baton Rouge for the construction of aDistrict 6Community Center in Tams Drive Park, as presented.

Ms. Lewisthanked Councilman Dunn for his efforts to securea community center for District 6. She stated that as the previous council member for District 6she was happy that BREC was able to be apartner on this project. The Superintendent introduced Councilman Dunn who spoke about collaborating and pooling resources to develop acooperative endeavor agreement for the project.

Motion to approve the resolution by Ms. Lewis

Second by Mr.Washington

Unanimouslyapproved

Superintendent Wilson then read the following resolution: Resolved, That the Commission approve the execution of the “Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire” by the Chairman, Treasurer and Superintendent and to authorize it to be delivered to EisnerAmper LLC as required by Louisiana Legislative Auditor for Audit engagements of government entities.

Ms. Gordon asked for an explanation for the answer provided for item number 27 on the questionnaire. The Superintendent recognized Chief Financial Officer Don Johnson who explained this question was related to some final payouts to employees that wereimproper and werereferenced in an internal audit. The funds wererecovered and controls wereput in place to prevent arecurrence.

Motion to approve the resolution by Mr.Washington

Second by Mr. Rogers

Unanimouslyapproved

Standing Committee Reports

The Chair stated that Communication and Information Systems Advisory Committee was information only

The Chair noted that the Human Resources Advisory Committee action item for the routine transactions was on the Consent Calendar Chairman Pointer recognized Mr.Washington for the Selection of Professionals report. Mr.Washington stated that therewerethree Items that require action from the Commission and asked Don Johnson to present the first two items. Mr.Johnson reviewed the first item and read the following resolution: Resolved, That the Commission approve amending contract #202000079 with Postlethwaite and Netterville, APAC (EisnerAmpler) increasing it in the amount of $159,000 for audit services and other required non-attestation services for the completion of the 2023 audit, from $71,000 to the new contract total of $230,000. (This is the final year of a five-year contract.)

Motion by Mr.Washington Second by Mr.Rogers

Approved by unanimous consent

Mr.Johnson reviewed the next item and read the following resolution: Resolved, That the Commission approve utilization of State Contract #4400030691 with EisnerAmpler,LLP for accounting services and other required non-attestation services for the completion of the 2024 audit for an amount not to exceed $230,000.

Motion by Ms.Lewis Second by Mr.Temple

Unanimouslyapproved

Mr.Washington asked Reed Richard, Assistant Superintendent of System Planning, to present the third item. Mr.Richardreviewed the item and read the following resolution: Resolved, that the Commission approve acontract with Duplantis design Group for Phase 1design of the Scotlandville Master Plan including surveying, design, construction, permitting, bidding, and construction administration for aNTE amount of $260,0000 including reimbursable expenses, utilizing FHWATransportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Funds. The TAPgrant awardtoBREC is $1,200,000 for construction.

Motion by Mr.Washington Second by Ms. Gordon Unanimously approved Reports of Special Committees None.

The

seconded.

Aroll callvote wastaken at the direction of the Chair with the following results: Yeas: 9Ms. Gordon, Ms. Lewis, Mr.Pointer,Mr. Polito, Mr.Rogers, Mr.Rust, Mr.Temple, Mr.Vicknair,Mr. Washington Nays: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent:0

The Commission retired to executive session at 6:02 p.m.

The Commission returned from executive session and Mr.Washington made amotion to reconvene, Ms. Gordon seconded, and Chairwoman Lewis called the meeting back to order in open session at 7:27 p.m. without objection.

The Chair stated that no decisions weremade and no votes were taken in executive session.

Adjournment

Chairwoman Lewis adjourned the meeting at 7:28 p.m. without objection.

Corey K. Wilson, Superintendent Kenneth Pointer,Chairman and Ex-Officio Secretary

DRAFT

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