The Acadiana Advocate 04-21-2025

In a small La. town, national spotlight returns

Jena’s ICE detention center has become a significant presence in the area

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer

Tulane archaeologists discover ancient Mayan city

New technology paints a clearer picture of region

BY JENNA ROSS | Staff writer

Discovering Mayan cities used to involve bushwhacking through the jungle, schlepping gear and sidestepping snakes And over the course of his career professor Marcello Canuto has done plenty of that. Still does, sometimes. But these days, the discoveries are coming from a dark, cool computer lab on the Tulane University campus.

That lab is the new star of the Middle American Research Institute, an enduring

ä See CITY, page 5A

ABOVE: Residents attend the Youngsville Community Church Easter Sunrise Services at Sugar Mill Pond Gazebo in Youngsville on Sunday

LEFT: Residents listen to pastor Andy Tribe preach during the service on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP

JENA A group of protesters stood outside the federal immigration center in this central Louisiana town a few weeks ago, calling for it to be emptied, when a truck rolled past and belched a plume of exhaust at them. The driver circled around as the group faced a bank of TV news cameras set up in the brush across the road, then repeated the act a greeting of sorts to a hamlet in the pines that once again has drawn a national media glare. The protesters had trekked 230 miles that morning from New Orleans to support Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, now in his second month at the detention center, where a judge that day had found him deportable. It’s here, at a compound cut into the pines a few miles from downtown Jena, that U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have sent

By

A truck with a Louisiana license plate makes one of two passes within 10 minutes purposely pushing out dark clouds of exhaust from its diesel engine next to faith leaders and protesters April 11 outside the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Jena. The crowd was supporting Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil after judges ruled he could be deported.

Carbon capture faces stricter rules

House committee to tackle two dozen related bills

BY DAVID J MITCHELL | Staff writer

Over the past four years, $49 billion in new industrial projects have been proposed in Louisiana to make hydrogen, ammonia and other products and all of them are banking on permanent underground storage of the greenhouse gas pollution they would produce.

“Carbon capture and sequestration” is a major economic development focus in Louisiana, given the state’s suitable geology and the industry’s move toward reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change.

ä See CAPTURE, page 3A ä See SPOTLIGHT, page 4A

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Tulane University professor Marcello Canuto, left, reviews LIDAR images with graduate student Miguel Garcia at the Middle American Research Institute in New Orleans this month. New technology is giving researchers a better view of ancient civilizations.

STAFF PHOTO

CHRIS GRANGER

Storm deals deadly flooding, large hail

A slow-moving, active storm system brought heavy rain, large hail and tornadoes to parts of Texas and Oklahoma and left two people dead as severe weather warnings Sunday continue to threaten parts of the south-central and Midwest U.S.

On Easter Sunday communities in Texas and Oklahoma were beginning to assess the damage wreaked by tornadoes. There were 17 reported events Saturday, according to Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center Five were confirmed in south-central Oklahoma, including one that inflicted substantial damage on a small town that was still recovering from a March tornado.

The storm also brought heavy rain to a broad swath of northcentral Texas across centraleastern Oklahoma, much of which saw 2 to 4 inches accumulate Saturday into Sunday Police in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, received dozens of reports of “high-water incidents” over the weekend, including two cars stranded in floodwaters Saturday evening. One car was swept away under a bridge, and police said they were able to rescue some people, but a woman and 12-year-old boy were found dead.

“This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” Moore police said in a statement Sunday Moore has about 63,000 residents.

Oravec said the system wasn’t moving much over Texas and Oklahoma Saturday, leaving the area stuck under a very active thunderstorm pattern that produced large hail, flash flooding and tornadoes.

Bill Macon, emergency management director in Oklahoma’s Marshall County, said their early assessments show a tornado “skipped and jumped around” over a path of 6 to 7 miles in the rural area that left at least 20 homes damaged, with some destroyed completely.

El Salvador proposes Venezuela prisoner swap

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador El Salvador President Nayib Bukele proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela on Sunday, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the United States his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

In a post on the social media platform X, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the government’s electoral crackdown last year

“The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold.”

2 Russians, 1 American back from space station

MOSCOW A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Sunday in Kazakhstan, ending their seven-month research assignment.

According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit of U.S. space agency NASA landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. Roscosmos said the parachuteassisted landing was a troublefree descent.

The trio returned after spending 220 days in space and orbiting the Earth 3,520 times, NASA said in a statement. The agency noted that, coincidentally, Pettit celebrated his 70th birthday on Sunday NASA said it was following its routine postlanding medical checks, and that the crew will return to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan

Pope greets Easter crowds

Pontiff briefly meets with VP Vance

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and SILVIA STELLACCI Associated Press

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis emerged from his convalescence on Easter Sunday to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile romp through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause as he continues his recovery from a near-fatal bout of double pneumonia

“Viva il Papa!” (Long live the pope), “Bravo!” the crowd shouted as Francis looped through the square in his open-topped popemobile and then up and down the main avenue leading to it. He stopped occasionally to bless babies brought up to him, a scene that was common in the past but unthinkable just a few weeks ago as the 88-year-old pope fought for his life

“Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!” Francis said, his voice sounding stronger than it has since he was released from the hospital March 23 after a fiveweek stay Francis didn’t celebrate the Easter Mass in the piazza, delegating it to Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica. But after the Mass

Pope Francis tours St. Peter’s Square Sunday in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi, Latin for to the city and to the world, blessing at the end of the Easter Mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

ended, Francis appeared on the loggia balcony over the basilica entrance for more than 20 minutes and imparted the apostolic blessing in Latin.

The crowd of people below estimated by the Vatican to be more than 35,000, erupted in cheers as a military band kicked off rounds of the Holy See anthem.

In all Francis was outside on a sunny spring day for around 50 minutes, with temperatures at 70 degrees in a piazza awash in daffodils, tulips and other flowers donated by the Netherlands for Easter

“It is excellent, a miracle,” said Margarita Torres Hernandez, a pilgrim from Mexico who was in the square. “Now that he has come out, for me it’s a miracle, it’s something very big, very beautiful.”

On his way to the basilica, Francis met briefly in his hotel with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who was spending Easter in Rome with his family The Vatican said the encounter lasted just a few minutes and was designed to allow for an exchange of Easter greetings.

Francis, for his part, gave Vance three big chocolate Easter eggs to give to his three young children.

“I know you have not been feeling great but it’s good to see you

Ukraine: Russia gives false appearance of honoring ceasefire

BY VOLODYMYR YURCHUK and ELISE MORTON Associated Press

KYIV Ukraine Ukrainian

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce.

“As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Despite Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire, Zelenskyy said Sunday morning that Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 in-

stances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units along the front line, as well as dozens of drone strikes.

In later updates, Zelenskyy said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, “the trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.” He said, however that it was “a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens.”

He noted that some Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian “ambush” on Sunday in the Donetsk region, and said the Russian soldiers responsible would be “eliminated.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire.

It said Ukraine had sent 48 drones into Russian territory According to the

in better health,” Vance told the pope. “Thank you for seeing me.”

Francis has only appeared in public a handful of times since returning to the Vatican after a 38day hospital stay He skipped the solemn services of Good Friday and Holy Saturday leading up to Easter, but he had been expected to make an appearance on Sunday

Doctors have prescribed two months of convalescence and respiratory therapy to improve his lung function after he came down with a life-threatening case of double pneumonia He still seems to require great effort to project his voice, and his breathing remains labored. But his voice sounded stronger than it has to date in the few words he uttered from the loggia.

“It was a very touching moment for us (to see the pope),” said Marcin Popowsky, a pilgrim from Poland. “And we are very happy that we can see a pope in good shape.” Easter is the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. This year Easter is being celebrated on the same day by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and has been marked by Russia’s announced temporary Easter truce in its war in Ukraine.

Ruined buildings sit Saturday in the city center in Kostyantynivka, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

ministry, there were “dead and wounded among the civilian population,” without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the truce.

Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces launched attacks.

Zelenskyy said Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days when it ends Sunday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybihaa said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.

Alito’s dissent says high court rushed to block deportation order

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a sharp dissent that castigated the seven-member majority Joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito said there was “dubious factual support” for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The group contended that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart such removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The majority did not provide a detailed explanation in the order early Saturday, as is typical, but the court previously said deportations could proceed only after those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.

“Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law,” Alito said in the dissent released hours after the court’s intervention

against Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

The justices’ brief order directed the administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Alito said that “unprecedented” relief was “hastily and prematurely granted.”

He wrote that it was not clear whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction at this stage of the case, saying that not all legal avenues had been played out in lower courts and the justices had not had the chance to hear the government’s side.

Israel probes killings of Palestinian medics

BY MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

JERUSALEM An Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said Sunday it found a chain of “professional failures” and a deputy commander has been fired. The shootings outraged many in the international community with some calling the killings a war crime. Medical workers have special protection under international humanitarian law The International Red Cross/Red Crescent called it the deadliest attack on its personnel in eight years. Israel at first claimed that the medics’ vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Cellphone video recovered from one medic contradicted Israel’s initial account. Footage shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that earlier came under fire.

The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander acted under the incorrect assumption that all the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. It said the deputy commander, operating under “poor night visibility,” felt his troops were under threat when the ambulances sped toward their position and medics rushed out to check the victims. The military said the flashing lights were less visible on night-vision drones and goggles. The ambulances immediately came under a barrage of gunfire that went on for more than five minutes with brief pauses. Minutes later, soldiers opened fire at a U.N. car that stopped at the scene.

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a U.N staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later

E-Edition: theadvocate.com/eedition Archives: theadvocate.newsbank.com

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GREGORIO BORGIA

PROVIDED PHOTO

BY STEVE PEOPLES AP national political writer

NEW YORK Now, it’s Chris Van Hollen’s turn.

The mild-mannered Maryland senator has suddenly emerged as a leading figure in the resistance to Donald Trump’s norm-busting presidency, becoming the latest in a small but growing collection of Democratic officials testing the strength of their political power in a weakened party with no clear leader Van Hollen’s rise follows his decision to travel 2,000 miles to El Salvador last week to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported and federal courts have said should be returned.

Van Hollen did not secure the release of the Salvadoran citizen who had been living in Maryland. But simply by meeting with him, in defiance of Trump and his ally El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Van Hollen created a new sense of hope and momentum for Abrego Garcia’s family and the anti-Trump resistance

“Sen. Van Hollen’s leadership in this moment is exactly how Democrats should be pushing back

CAPTURE

Continued from page 1A

But people in rural areas, many who might otherwise support new industrial and oil and gas proposals, are fighting plans to put carbon dioxide under their land, and their representatives in the state Legislature have launched a major effort to more strictly regulate or even block carbon storage.

The House Natural Resources Committee is expected to tackle close to two dozen bills in a potentially marathon hearing at the end of the month. The chair of the committee, Rep. Brett Geymann, a Lake Charles Republican, predicts it could be a “wild ride.”

In an opening move before that intense debate, a Senate committee unanimously blessed a bill that Geymann and his Senate counterpart, Bob Hensgens, an Abbeville Republican, hope could be a compromise to measures aimed at blocking underground carbon storage. The committee-approved bill would give local concerns some weight in the state permitting process.

In a public discussion on carbon capture earlier this month, Geymann and Hensgens said the bill from Republican Sen. Mike Reese, of Leesville, will be important when House debate opens up.

Geymann predicted that passing “local option” bills will be challenging.

”But the people want that,” Geymann said. “They want to have that discussion We’re going to have that discussion.”

Several bills, including House Bill 4 by Republican Rep. Chuck Owen, of Rosepine, would give police juries or voters the ability to block carbon storage in their parishes, in a fashion similar to local-option elections on

against a wannabe dictator like Donald Trump — calling for law and order over chaos and adhering to the Constitution instead of a tyrant,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told The Associated Press. “No matter how much Trump tries to act out his dictatorial fantasies, Democrats will always defend democracy when it’s on the line.”

Van Hollen’s emergence in a critical national debate offers a fresh window into the Democratic Party’s monthslong leadership carousel as it struggles to counter a series of Trump administration policies with far-reaching consequences, from slashing the federal workforce to stripping funding from universities, pushing back against court orders and launching a trade war that’s rattling the global economy

The Democrats’ most visible elected leaders, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both of New York, have lost the confidence of many progressive activists for not fighting Trump with the urgency or creativity that the moment demands.

Ezra Levin, co-founder of the resistance group Indivisible, said the growing protest movement is directed both at Trump and “the Schumers of the world, those who want us to roll over and play dead.”

“Courage is impressive and contagious,” Levin said, noting that he’s hearing “a ton of positive feedback for (Van Hollen) among our folks on the ground.” He said the reaction is akin to the outpouring of support for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., earlier in the month.

Booker had stepped into the leadership void by delivering a recordbreaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor that briefly served as a rallying point for the frustrated anti-Trump movement. Concerned voters also have packed into rallies hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. who have launched a national “Stop Oligarchy” tour

At the same time, potential 2028 presidential contenders such as Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have gone the other way by down-

video poker in 1996. State Rep Danny McCormick, a Republican from Oil City who has spent his private career in the oil and gas business, has taken a tougher tack. He’s filed one bill to ban carbon capture statewide and another to declare a one-year moratorium

Concern over leaks, McCormick, Owen and others are responding to constituents worried about permanent storage polluting underground drinking water supplies and about carbon dioxide leaks from pipelines. And some property owners are concerned that carbon storage zones could block drilling for deeper oil and natural gas deposits under their lands and interfere with basic property rights.

They point out these rural areas generally aren’t getting the new plants, tax revenue and jobs from carbon capture — the facilities are located primarily in other parts of the state but are being saddled with the pipelines and underground storage areas and any associated risks.

“We’re in a unique position, I think, where we are in the state,” Reese said. “Because we don’t really have emitters of CO2, right, but we have multiple projects that seek to store CO2 in our area. It’s not something

our citizens are comfortable with.”

Industry and academic experts say the technology is safe and largely relies on existing methods, putting carbon dioxide back into formations that can naturally store the gas once it’s converted into a near-liquid state. Industry groups add that Louisiana is primed for the new industry it will draw but is also competing with other states to be the technology’s leader

While the state Office of Conservation has approved carbon-capture “exploratory” wells to evaluate underground conditions, no actual injection wells or storage operations have been greenlit. The state’s first hearing on an injection well is set for May in Cameron Parish.

Reese’s Senate Bill 73 would fit into that process by requiring the state conservation commissioner to give “substantial consideration to local government comments” on carbon injection well permits

The bill wouldn’t require the state to act on those comments. But during the recent Senate committee hearing on Reese’s bill, he said the “substantial consideration” language was taken from the process for coastal zone permits.

Reese said some of those permits were denied after local officials spoke against

playing their Trump criticism at times. Others, including Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland, have largely avoided stepping into the national debate.

“I don’t think it’s ever wrong to fight for the constitutional rights of one person, because if we give up on one person’s rights we threaten everybody’s rights,” Van Hollen said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think a lot of voters both Republican and Democrat — are tired of elected officials and politicians who just put their finger to the wind. And I would say that anyone who’s not prepared to stand up and fight for the Constitution doesn’t deserve to lead.” Van Hollen’s trip was praised by many on the left, but there was no shortage of detractors — even within his own party Newsom described the Democratic Party’s focus on the Abrego Garcia case as “the distraction of the day” that allows Republicans to avoid tough questions about Trump’s tariffs, which have upended global trade and threaten to worsen inflation Indeed, Republicans have em-

them. He said his bill attempts to replicate that, giving local concerns similar weight for carbon-capture permitting.

Reese’s bill has drawn opposition from a Louisiana climate group and trade associations representing the chemical and oil and gas industries. The trade groups are also against bills proposing more rigorous restrictions on carbon capture.

In an interview, Hensgens said he believes Reese’s bill, which is headed for a Senate floor vote Tuesday so it can reach the House, strikes the right balance.

“I think in a very difficult situation and a very difficult subject this year, Sen. Reese has found a middle ground between saying how important carbon capture is going to be to our energy industry and keeping the locals and the public informed and giving

braced the Abrego Garcia debate. White House border czar Tom Homan called Van Hollen’s move “disgusting.” Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, speaking at the White House, said Van Hollen’s “heart is reserved for an illegal alien who’s a member of a foreign terrorist organization.”

“It seems to me that these Democrats are representing the illegal aliens against the very constituents, the U.S. citizens, that they’re supposed to be protecting,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., also on CNN. When pressed repeatedly, Emmer did not say whether he backed Trump’s suggestion that U.S. citizens convicted of serious crimes could be jailed in other countries such as El Salvador Abrego Garcia came to the United States illegally in 2013 at 16, but an immigration judge in 2019 granted him legal protection that allowed him to stay and work in the U.S. He has a valid work permit. His wife and their three children are U.S. citizens.

The administration insists that Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, although he has not been charged with any crimes.

them some say-so about what happens,” Hensgens said.

‘Let the parishes decide’ Reese, however, said he doesn’t see his bill as a middle ground alternative but an addition to measures that would give locals an actual vote on whether to allow carbon capture in their communities. He said he would “vote for every one” of those “local option” bills.

He called his bill on local government input for state hearings “just one more layer of protection that’ll hopefully complement the work that they’re doing in the House.”

Roland Hollins, an Allen Parish police juror who leads a collection of southwest Louisiana officials opposed to carbon capture, said he appreciates Reese’s bill.

It would give local governments more say than they

have currently over a process that is moving quickly into their communities, he said. But he added that the parish coalition he’s a part of doesn’t want just half or three-quarters authority over the issue.

He said his parish asked Gov Jeff Landry to halt the carbon sequestration permitting process this spring while so many bills are pending in the Legislature. A public hearing for two new exploratory wells in Allen Parish is planned later this month. Locals should have the final say, Hollins said. “Let the parishes decide,” he said. “I don’t know of a more American way than to let the people decide if the benefits are worth the risks, you know.”

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO A rendering shows an $800 million carbon capture facility

Van Hollen

Khaliland some other noncitizens and students targeted for removal by President Donald Trump’sadministration, in some casesfor their speech.

The complex is one of several privately run facilities under contracts with ICE that have made Louisiana the second-leading state for U.S. immigrant detainees, behind only Texas. About 7,000 detainees are being held in the Pelican State.

Advocatesfor Khalil and other recent detainees say they’ve been spiritedtoremote areas like Jena with a purpose: to confound access to their lawyers and challenges to deportation. Advocacy groups have chronicled what they call inhumane, prisonlike conditions inside the Jena facility,which houses more than 1,100 immigrant detainees,the most in the state

What happens behind the barbed wire along Pinehill Road doesn’tconcern too many locals, said Rodney Begnaud, aretired Pentecostal pastor,ashesat ina downtown barber shop.

“I realize they’re there because Isee their buses,” he said. “Mostly it’sthe logging business and hunting. Most everything else doesn’tmatter that much.”

In LaSalleParish, where 91% of voters favored Trump last year,the facility run by the GEO Group, called theCentral Louisiana ICE Processing Center,has become asignificant and largely unbothered presence. The company,which declined to comment for this story,isthe third-leading taxpayer in the parish,at just under $1 million last year in an agreement with the assessor.The facility accounts for about 6% of parish property taxes.

The GEO Group also employs afew hundred people at covetedpay rates,residents said. Some Jena leaders point to aset of $1,000 scholarships the company funds eachyear for high school seniors in atown of about 4,000 residents.

The company is the primary source of revenue for the LaSalle Economic Development District, which is aparty to the agreement between GEO Group and ICE to operate the complex. District audits show the facility runs on $40 million annually

The deal doesn’trequire local approval for how the detention center operates.

“I’ll leave the management end to GEO and ICE,” said Walter Dorroh, alocal attorney who has headed the economic development district for three decades.

“I certainly don’t want to be doing anything that’s inappropriate, dishonestor mistreating anybody. But we’ve never heard of any problem there at all.”

Dorroh said he was not familiar witha series of reports critical of the treatment of the detaineesinside the Jena complex and others.

Fillinganeconomicvoid

To hearDorroh tell it, GEO has been animportant if not crucial business for the parish, operatinga facility that came about largelyasa result of bad economic luck.

The parishsuffered adebilitating one-two punch in thelate 1980s when its two majorindustries —oil and timber —tanked. Twolocal banks went belly up, Dorroh said.

Apushtodiversify eventually broughtajuvenile detention center run byWackenhut Corrections Corp., which later became the GEO Group

It was billed then as stateof-the-art. But news reports soon chronicled abuses by guards inside the $16 million juvenile lockup, which employed about 160 people when it shuttered in 2000 afteronly afew years.

The property was mothballed until 2007, whenofficials announced thenew ICE contract and a$30 million expansion intoanallinclusive immigrant detention camp, transforming a narrow dirtpass.

Now,ICE buses with no windows share rural byways with timbertrucksas they shuttle detainees about an hour toand from Alexandria,where ICErunsthe only immigration jailinthe U.S. that is directly connected to an airport. Not all locals are keen on the situationinJena, where “A Nice Place to Call Home” is the town slogan “I find it strange theyput afacility likethat in asmall town.Just theplacement. We’re not equipped,” said Hailey Loveasz, a30-yearoldstay-at-home mom who lives in Jena. “Welive in the Deep South.

Ifeel like this town has had alot of drama. It’sput on the map for the wrong reasons It kind of makes us an infamoustown.”

Atroubledhistory

Thetroubles that shut downthe juvenile detention center in 2000preceded a farbiggerscandal in Jena six years later

In the “Jena Six” case, six Black teens were convicted of simple battery in the2006 beatingofaWhite student at Jena High School in what waswidely viewedasracially fueled violence. Some of the teens were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder, which captured national attention —and backlash.

To some locals, what ensuedwas aJena miscastby famed the Revs. Al Sharpton andJesse Jackson andotherswho arrived in September 2007 to protest. An estimated 15,000 or more people came —four times the town population.

It was only afew weeks before the protest thatofficials unfurledthe deal to expand the former juvenile facility into afull-scalefederal immigrationdetention center.It’snow the largest ICE detention center in the state by population, accordingtoMarch data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University

The Jena complex was among the subjectsofareportlast year by advocacy groups that found “rampant abuse” within U.S. immigration detention facilities in Louisiana.

The report described in detail the deathofErnesto Rocha-CuadraatLaSalle General Hospital in June 2023 of cardiacarrest. The 42-year-old Nicaraguan asylum-seeker hadbeen detained there for more than a year and was recommended for release.

‘Littletonoinformation’

A2021 study by Tulane University’sImmigrant Rights Clinic found “prolonged and punitive” detention of immigrants who land in Jena or other ICE facilities in Louisiana, withlittle chance of success on their

pleas for relief.

That’swhy advocates say the Trump administration has sought to transfer the petitions of Khalil and others to Louisiana courts —and why their attorneys have fought back.

Khalil’sarrest was the first of several attempted deportations of foreign-born students whojoined pro-Palestinian protestsor expressed criticism of Israel, or who authorities sayposea national securityconcern.

doctorate student in mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama. Doroudi was arrested last month in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and brought to thesame facility.

Immigration Judge Maithe González ruled him aflight risk withfew community ties and found he failed to prove he was notathreat to nationalsecurity,according to AL.com.

Doroudi, who entered the U.S. on a studentvisa, faces deportation to Iran, said his attorney David Rozas, who has pledged to appeal the ruling.

appalling.” Khalil’sattorneys described him as sleeping “in abunkerwithout apillowor blanket” inside the Jena compound.

“It’sabout being in the middle of nowhere,” Rozas said. “Out of sight, out of mind.” The facility is far from out of sight for Cheryl Lindloff, who lives down the street, selling herbsout of ashop she built in her driveway Whatconcerns hermostare escapes, she said, though officials said it’s neverhappened.

So far,the immigration court within theJenacompound has appeared to side withthe administration.

An immigration judge on April 10 declared Khalil deportable as anationalsecurity risk,inresponse to a declaration from U.S. Secretary of State MarcoRubio. Thejudge,Jamee E. Comans, found thatthe government hadestablishedthatKhalil beinginthe U.S. posed“potentially serious foreign policy consequences,” according to The Associated Press.

Adifferent judge in Jena denied bail Thursday to Alireza Doroudi, a32-year-old

Landing themin remote detention centers like theone in Jena appears aimed at making communication more difficult, said Rozas, who runs a large immigration practice in Louisiana.

“They’reinprison, in a room with like 60 to 80 people in some instances. It’san actual prison, not like adetention center,” said Rozas. He describedDoroudias “crèmedelacrème” in academia, abeloved university student being treated contrary to ICE policies.

“You movehim 600 miles away from any support, with little to no access, to force him, to break him, to want to give up,” Rozas said. “This whole idea of self-deportation and(to)justleave withoutputting up afight —it’s

“As long as they’re kept under control,they’re fine,but there’salways the niggling in the back of your mind,” she said. “It would be niceto know who’sthere, and why they’re there. They give little to no information at all.”

From what Bernell Wiley sees,what’shappening in the woodsafew miles away doesn’tsit well.

Wiley,58, said he once held ajob as aguard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola,where “theydidn’t put them in there for ringing church bells too loud.” He said he doesn’tsupport what he’sheard for why Khalil andotherslandedin hiscommunity —not for crimes. Wiley pointed to a photo of his grandfather,a military veteran, on the wall.

“He didn’tfight forthis mess,”Wiley said.“What are they holding them for? It affects us no matter what.”

Sabrine Mohamad, right, ahuman rights attorneywith the SouthernPoverty LawCenter,isconsoled by Fatima Kahn as theyand other friends and supporters of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil gather

font of information about Indigenous America, especially the ancient Maya, who lived in what is today southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

For decades, information about thevast civilization depended upon arduous expeditions that, it turns out, missed wide swaths of gardens and terraces,houses and yards.

Not only the pyramids, but the neighborhoods.

Archaeologists are now studying images made via LIDAR, which uses laser pulses fired from aplane, to uncover structuresswallowed by foliage, giving scientists akind of X-ray vision. And the Tulane research center,which in March celebrated its 100year anniversary witha symposium anda new exhibition, is at the center of a burst of new research.

“In 100 years, we had done about 1,000 square kilometers of survey mapping, plus or minus,”saidCanuto, who hasled MARI since 2009. “In the last 10 years,wenow have data for about 10,000 square kilometers. So in a tenth of the time, we have 100moretimes more data.

It’sascale of athousand.”

In October,the journal Antiquity publishedastudy by Luke Auld-Thomas, aformer Tulane doctoral student, and Canuto, his doctoral adviser,uncovering aMaya city,which they dubbed Valeriana, complete with plazas, causeways and ball courts. The site was completely canopied, in an area that,today,islightly populated. It was just the latestof several studiestomap a clearer,more complex pictureofthe Maya.

Just browsing Auld-Thomas found the LIDARimages on “the digital equivalent of ahigh, dusty shelf,” he said. It was 2018, and AuldThomas was in Guatemala City,doing field work that would become the basisof his dissertation. He was supposedtobelooking at ceramics,“butinclassicgradschool fashion, Iwas doing something else.” He’d read an article analyzing environmental LIDARdatacaptured by NASA and figured,where there’sone, there’smore. So he started Googling,and severalpages deep,found LIDAR images collected for aforest monitoring project in 2013 andreleased online for free.

He zoomed intoanarea of Campeche, Mexico, where Mayanists had long suspected there might be settlements but where there hadn’t been much research, “not for lack of interest, but because there are only so many Mayanists to go around.”

As soon as he opened the 3D images, he knew.Rising from even the “quick and dirty” versions of the files was “a big, conspicuous city.” Thus began aproject “that is only really possible in a place like MARI,” saidAuldThomas, now afaculty mem-

ber with Northern Arizona University.The research centeris“the last of its kind —not to make it sound like adinosaur but to describe it as aresilient holdout.A survivor.”

That survival is partly due to Canuto, Auld-Thomas said, who “in addition to being a reallycreativeand prolific researcher is also very,very much an institutionalist.”

Andheinherited quite the institution.

In 1923, TheNew York TimesannouncedthatTulanewould establish adepartment focused on “Middle America,”studying“the language and history of the founderofCentral America as well as conduct expeditions to that country.”(The center preceded the term “Mesoamerica.”)

The effort was buoyed by New Orleans businessman SamuelZemurray,president of theCuyamel Fruit Company,who donated $300,000, more than $5 million in today’sdollars

The research center’sfirst director,William Gates,had more than scientific research in mind, as Canuto wrote in

an article for the Society for American Archaeology.In alettertothe Tulane president, Gates spelled out“his vision of gathering ‘information useful to the Port of New Orleans, and the business thatlies behind it.’”

Soon, and under new leadership,the center embarked on important “and often arduous” field expeditions, Canuto wrote, to Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.Ontheir first expedition, MARI researchers in Mexico discovered agiant stone head —amajor Olmec monument. “And agolden age of research at Tulane was inaugurated.”

Muchofthatresearch focused on the Maya, who before the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America, built distinct and sophisticated societies reflected in their iconography,art andarchitecture. And, it turns out, how theyshaped theland.

‘Myjaw dropped’

WhenCanuto came to Tulane from Yale Universityin 2009, he rebooted the place. Renovations to Dinwiddie Hall followed, with better

more accessible storage for the center’scollection,including35,000 objects and100,000 photographs.Ona recent morning, inthe bright, clean collections room, six colorful textiles were spread out across atable, anticipating a visit from an art history student.

The institutehas along traditionofcartographic analysis, and one of Canuto’sown specialties as an archaeologist was settlementpattern analysis —less excavating and more surveying.

So one of his interestswas GIS, or geographic information systems. As atechnology, LIDAR, short for “light detection and ranging,” wasn’t new.Ithad been used by architects, meteorologists and astronauts. Butover the past 15 years, it’sbecomemore available and less expensive. By being able to survey much larger swaths of land, LIDAR solves aconundrum Canuto, who grew up in Manhattan, describes as the Central Park problem.

Sayyou’re aresearcher withthe ability to see only afew yards ahead of you. If youwere to drop intoCentral Park,withthe goal of understanding thepeople who once lived in NewYork City, you might spend weeks in the park andreturn to writeapaperabout howthis population of people hadnosettlements, allalong, therewereskyscrapers just afew meters away Archaeologists are still trekking intothe jungle,of course. But now,with LIDAR, they’reheaded toward aspecific site, with aspecific purpose.

In 2016, the research institute receivedits first sets of LIDARdatafroma project funded by Pacunam, a Guatemalanfoundationthat preserves Maya cultural heritage. Afew researchers gathered in the GIS labto open the LIDAR files. “My jaw dropped many times,” FranciscoEstrada-Bell, aresearch professor in archaeology at the Middle American

Research Institute, would later tellThe New York Times

“Itwas just four of us at 2o’clock in the afternoon, right?” Canuto said, telling the story in that same dark lab, lined with computer monitors, adecade later.But as theimages lit up thescreens, afew more Ph.D. students joined, then afew more. Then, suddenly,itwas 5p.m., andthe smallroom waspackedwithdozensof studentsand professors. In detailed 3D,they saw site after site, city after city Houses andhighways, terraces andirrigation systems. It would lead to agroundbreaking 2018 paper suggesting that millions morepeople lived in theMayan region than previously thought. At onepoint,asthey studied the images, Canuto cleared his throat.

“Stop, everyone,” he began. “Just appreciate that we have nowseen,inthe last three hours, more than theentire discipline has seen in the last 100 years.”

Morton Salt clears regulatory safety watch

FederalagencysaysNew Iberia mine implementedupgrades

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

After nearly 21/2 years of regulatoryscrutiny and upgrades, the Morton Salt mine in New Iberia has been removedfrom a“safety watch” after improving its compliance with federal rules, U.S. officials said.

In December 2022, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, the workplace safety regulatorfor miners, placed the Morton Salt mine inside the Weeks Island salt dome under greaterscrutiny for

Lafayette protesters call on La. Congress members

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

About 100 people gathered in downtown Lafayette on Saturday,joining thousandsofothersacross the nation in aprotest against President Donald Trump, his administration and thelightning-fast cuts,layoffs and policy changeshe’s made since taking office in January

The Easter weekend protest was considerably smaller than the Hands Off protest at the same location April 5, although most of the concerns were the same. “A lot of people are opposed to what’shappening,” SallyDonlon an organizer of the event,said. “We’re trying to demonstrate that not all support what’s going on in Washington.”

Louisiana and Lafayette Parish arestrongly Republican and voted for Trump by alarge margin in the 2024 election.

Trump’ssupport may be falling nationally.Fox News reported on Friday that “the most recent national public opinionpolls suggest that Americans aren’t thrilled with the job the president is doing.”

AGallup poll conducted April 1-14 andreleaseddaysago indicates Trump has a44% approval rating and 53% disapproval rating. The Fox News report attributed Trump’sfall in the pollstogrowing concerns over the economy and inflation, sparked in large partbythe president’s announcement of tariffs two weeks ago that crashed the stockmarket andsparked atrade war and fears of arecession.

Some people are losing hope under the weight of all that is occurring on the national level, Donlon said Saturday. Demonstrations likethis, Donlon said, let those people know they are not alone and there is hope.

Louisiana’scongressional delegation and itslackofaction to curb Trump and his administration as they pushthe limits of legality and the U.S. Constitution were the target of some of Lafayette’sprotesters.

“I just wantCongress to do its job,” Donlon said.

Protestersdisplayed signs declaring, “Throw me something LA senators,” “Cassidy, Cajuns rejectcruelty and chaos” and “Where’sCassidy?” in reference to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy One protester called on supporters to urge their senators and Congress members to protect the National Weather Service, the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration, and theFederal Emergency Management Agency as hurricane season approaches.

aseries of violations that could have resulted in serious employee injuries.

Morton Salt, which operates theWeeksIslandMine andMill, implemented measures that led to better workplace conditions, MSHAofficialssaid.

“Werecognize the effortsmade by Weeks Island Mine and Mill to take the corrective actions needed,”Melanie Calhoun, MSHA’s acting deputy assistantsecretary foroperations, said in astatement “They have created asafer working environment for their miners.”

MSHA officials declinedtocomment in detail on what changes MortonSalthas madeatthe mine MortonSalt officials andrepresentatives of the miners’ unionhave notresponded to requests for comment.

Theend of the watchstatus came three months after the mine had asmall fire tied to an equipmentbreakdown. No one was injured.

Also, since earlyDecember 2004, five employees have received injuries that caused time away from thejob or limited workduties at

Morton Salt, including slips and falls that tore athigh muscle and an Achilles tendon, atwisted back anda punch that brokea jaw

The fire and injuries unrelated to thefire did notappear to be tied to any notices of serious violations fromMSHA, according to an agency database.

The“pattern of violations”notice that triggered the earlier safetywatch revolvedaround mine shaft roofsand walls andthe prevention of potentially deadly mine collapses, agency officials said.

Apattern of violations amounts to aserious warningwiththe threat of apotential halt of mining in areas where safety problems are found.

The notice was the first MSHA hadissuedagainst amining operation since2014. At thetime,agency officials said the Morton Salt mine was achronic violatorthat demonstrated “a disregard for the health andsafety of miners.”

The mine has employed between 150 and 230 people in recent years, MSHA data show.Though known for table salt, the company also sells salt to de-ice roads in coldclimates, the company says.

LOUD ANDCLEAR

AcadianAmbulance to honortop health staff

Paramedics,EMTs of theyearnamed

BYADAMDAIGLE Acadiana business editor

Acadian Ambulance will honor itstop emergency medical technicians and paramedics of theyearduring itsannualmeetingMay 9at the Cajundome. Now in its 54th year,Acadian willname atop paramedic and top EMT along with top EMTs and paramedics in each of its14regionsinLouisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Allhonoreeswerenominated andvoted on by peers in their district while also participating in an interviewprocesswith Acadian’s leadership team. Tophonorees will go to Joan-

nieSanchez, aflight registered nurse withAcadian Air Meds, and Alison Cagle, an EMT with the Lafayettebased Hub City Region.

Regional honors include:

n Bayou:Paramedic Bryce Po in con and EMT Ta nya McPherson

n Capital: Paramedic Kate Pringle and EMT

Kaydee Kider

n Central Louisiana: Paramedic Lee Thopmson and EMT Thando Pahla

n Central Texas: Paramed-

ABOVE: Afullorchestra led by conductorDavid Torns performs Saturdayincelebration of the launchofthe Louisiana Scoring Studioinside the Acadiana Center forthe Arts. Thestudio, which aims to drawcomposers to thestate, offers state-of-the-art orchestral recordingservices ideal forfilm, TV, videogames andcommercial audio projects.

LEFT: SamOliver,executive director of the AcA, cuts theribbon forthe newstudio.

An Abbeville man was arrested on Thursday on accusations of shooting at his wife and motherin-law, according to the Abbeville Police Department. In ajoint operation, the Police Department and Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office located andarrested Quintal Davis, 44, and booked him on two counts attemptedfirst-degreemurder, illegal possession of aweapon and felon in possession of afirearm Police saidDavisopened fireon his wife, who received multiple gunshot wounds to her legand buttocks,onWednesdaymorning Nugier Street in Abbeville. Police said Davis then started shooting at his mother-in-law.The

wife wastransported to Abbeville GeneralHospital by Acadian Ambulance and later airlifted to aLafayette Hospital. Davis was booked at Abbeville PoliceDepartmentthentransported to Vermilion Parish Correction Center and is being held without bail.

IberiaParishman gets lifeinjuvenile rape case

An Iberia Parish manwas sentenced to life Friday in the assault of an 11-year-old girl, according to the 16th Judicial District. JeffBourque, 47, wasunanimously convicted by ajuryon one count of first degree rape, onecount of attempted first degree rape andtwo counts of

PHOTOSByROBIN MAy

Takeover of La.’spublic defender system is a travesty

At the end of February, State Public Defender Rémy Starns notified five of the 37 district defenders that their contractswould not be renewed. Over thelast several years, oversight and governance of the Louisiana public defender system, which handles almost 90% of criminal defendants in the state, has been transferred from aboard appointed by various constituencies —including academics, publicdefenders, the state Supreme Court and thegovernor —toadepartment headed by Starns and included within the executive branch. There is areason the federal public defender system is ensconced in the judiciary.That reasonispolitical independence. The chief public defender in every district is appointed by the court of appeal in which the district is located, insulatingthe public defender from the wrath or gratitude of the district court judges before whom he practices. So when the five state public defenders who recently received termination notices drew attention to themselves by criticizing Starns’plans for the statewide system, they placed targetson themselves. And for voicingtheir concerns, their contracts were not renewed. Who said this was legal? Well, Starns went to Liz Murrill’soffice. Youremember her,she’sour attorney general, aprosecutor and formerly the second-in-command to Jeff Landry,the governor who appointed Starns. From that little circle came the attorney general’s opinion saying Starns could simply not renewcontracts and didn’t have to give any reasons.

Ihave adog in this fight. As apublic defender who handled regular felony trials, capital trials and appeals for over 40 years, I care what happens to the system so painstakingly built. Butevery one of us concerned for the honestyand competency of our justice system has adog in this fight Butthere’sonly afight because Landry took his attack dog offthe leash.

DWIGHT DOSKEY Covington

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR

AREWELCOME.HEREARE

YOUR VIEWS

Newveteransmemorialgives overduehonor to liveslost

On Sept. 8, 2007, Ireturned to the United Statesafterasix-month deployment in Iraq. Ivividly recall landing at Baltimore-Washington Airport,still in my desert fatigues, exhausted,yet excited to watch the LSU vs. Virginia Tech game later that night As Iexited the plane, Iwas met withapplause and thanks from thepublic, amoment Iinitially took for granted. Years later,while watching Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War, Igrasped thesignificance of that reception. Unlike Vietnam veterans, who faced hostility upon their return, we were welcomed and appreciated, achange driven by their experiences. TheVietnam Wardeeply affected American society,leaving many veterans physically andmentally scarred. Vietnam veterans understood that future servicemembers would return home needing support for issues like PTSD and job placement. The foundingprinciple of theVietnam Veterans of America, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” has ensured that subsequent service members received the recognition and assistance they lacked

On March 29, Louisianafinally honored the 885 Louisianans who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam. Amongthem are Captain Ralph Wayne “Hawkeye” Magee, whowas the first Louisianian to losehis life in the war, and First LieutenantSevero James “Sonny” Primm III, who was thelast Louisianan killed, days after the Paris Peace Accords were signed. Both men were Air Force pilots who were killed 12 years apart, and their stories highlight thewar’sprofound impact on families.

Louisiana’sofficial Vietnam Veteran Memorial stands as atestament to the sacrifices madeand theneed for recognition of all Vietnam veterans. It serves as areminder that they should never feel isolated or unappreciated. Their leadership andresilience are needed morethan ever in America today

Thank you to LakeCharles Mayor Nic Hunter,state Sen. JeremyStine and each person who supported the creation of this long-overdue memorial.

To theVietnam veterans, welcomehome!

CHARLTONJ.MEGINLEY secretary, Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs

Death penalty part of a political agenda

Last month, the state of Louisiana committed murder.The governor promised it as part of his campaign pledge, the attorney general pushed it forward, judges signed off on it and astate executioner took ahuman being in full consciousness of what washappening to him, strapped him downonagurney, covered his face with amask and gassed him to death.

While Jessie HoffmanJr.’s violent crime 30 years ago was horrible, not one justification forhis ghastly execution is valid. It does not deter violent crime, it does not save the state money,nor does it serve as just punishment. In fact, it makes a mockery of justice, delegitimizing the legal system as awhole, and exposes the state’scapacity to do great and irreversible harm without any consequences.

Thankssomuch for publishing Sen. John Kennedy’s heartfelt paean to his beloved petrochemical industry

In this age of hook-up culture and marriages of convenience, it was heartwarming to read starry-eyed Kennedy’sunabashed expression of his deep and abiding devotion to liquefied natural gas. Older folkssay it reminded them of their long-gone passion for coal which, sadly,has fallen on hard times simply becauseitreleases greenhouse gases, desolates land and pollutesnatural waters.

generous campaign donation into Kennedy’s suit coat pocket thesame nightthat he slyly placed acolorful bouquet of allthe actions he’staken in Congress to let the petrochemical industry roam free as Godintended.

While mostpeople hopefully see the state’saction last month as beyond moral comprehension, it is also necessary to understand the political agenda that has brought us to these dark times. The moral responsibility forthis horror lies completely with the Republican Party —its politicians and the voters whoelect them to office. The ghastly execution at Angola demonstrates the moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party in its current form starting from the top with Donald Trumpright down to the violently hypocritical Jeff Landry.Their political agenda that commits state-sanctioned murder while trying to force the TenCommandments into every classroom is dangerously delusional. Republican voters need to wakeupand see their own role in creating this moral problem,while Democrats need to double downontheir commitment to real social justice. The Republican Party has proven itself not only capable of threatening great harm to score cheap political points but also of following through with those threats to commit true crimes against humanity

TO SEND US ALETTER SCAN HERE

OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

The rumor amongromance fans is that Kennedy and LNG will soon wed. Washington gossipmavens whisper that asmitten andtrembling LNG slipped acutepink envelopecontaining alacy valentine and

No one will say how they know,but the rumor is that President Donald Trumpwill officiatethe Kennedy-LNG nuptials with Reps. Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise as groomsmen,Gov.Jeff Landry as ring bearer,U.S. Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene as flower girl and U.S. Rep.Clay Higgins as altar boy Kennedy told LNG that Isle de Jean Charles would be anice honeymoon spot. LNG didn’telaborate, but responded, “How about somewhere in themountains?”

MARK MARLEY NewOrleans

TrustTrump to rightthe ship of oureconomy

Questionfor HandsOff! protestors: Who pays for all these government programs?

Answer: Hard-working families,business owners, loyal sports fans, patriotic military veterans, first responders and other taxpayers. They have to carry on theirbacks those unwilling to work and those who just want a free ride in life.

Alexander Fraser Tytler said, “A democracy cannot exist as apermanent form of government. It can only exist until voters discover that theycan votethemselves largesse from the public treasury.From that moment on, the

majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefitsfromthe public treasury with theresult that ademocracy always collapses over loose fiscalpolicy.”

We need to supportconservative leadership in cutting waste, fraud andabuse

Don’tbelieve the fears the news media spreads. PresidentDonald Trump will clean up, preserve and protect Social Security and Medicare, not eliminate or reduce them.

MIKECOON Lakeland,Florida formerBatonRougeresident

Teachkids aboutkeeping environment cleanearly

Litter cleanup is needed, but littering needs to be nipped in the bud. It should begin in preschool along with the ABCs. Enlightening children about their responsibility and respect for the ground we walkonand drive through gives them somecontrol over their environment. It will take years of highlighting. If this ethic is reinforced throughout their school life, it may becomeingrained. On the large scale, mostofusfeel helpless. On this scale, we can all makeadifference.

KATHLEEN

BIERMAN Baton Rouge

ROBERT AZZARELLO NewOrleans

STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Aveteran raises his Vietnam capasthe Army anthem is played during aVeterans Dayservice in Lafayette

COMMENTARY

FEST TIME!

Jazz Fest is here again and it’stime to celebrate, dance, eat, drink and be happy! Have fun, everyone!

So,what’sgoing on in this cartoon? youtellme. Be witty, funny, crazy,absurd or snarky —justtry to keep it clean. There’snolimit on the numberofentries.

Thewinning punchline will be lettered into the word balloon andrun on Monday,April 28 in our print editions and online. In addition, the winner will receivea signed print of the cartoon along with acool winner’sT-shirt!

Some honorable mentions will also be listed. Emailyour entries to cartooncontest@theadvocate.com DON’T FORGET!All entries must include your name, home address and phone number. Cell numbers are best.

Thedeadline for all entries is midnight on Thursday,April 24. Goodluck,folks! —Walt

Theelevating,attimes appalling, path to America’sfounding

Saturday was the 250thanniversary of the first day of the3,059-day warthat birthed the modern world. Commemorating the April 19, 1775, skirmishes at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge begins acelebration that will culminate July 4, 2026. These almost 15 months will inflame the perpetual scolds who, examining this nation’s history with adisapproving squint, see little to celebrate. In the half-century since the bicentennial, however many Americans havedeveloped adeeper,sturdier patriotism. They have benefited from historians whodemonstrate howmature minds can combine unblinking assessments of history’s inevitable mistakes, cruelties, tragedies and sorrowswith gratitude for those who persevered, and reverence for what they achieved: awonderfulnation.

nation’ssurvival beyond infancy

In 1925, Winston Churchill said, “In no field of man’sactivity is the tendencyofmass effects and the suppression of theindividual more evident than in modern war.”

As foreshadowed by 19th century Napoleonic Wars, when the battles of Austerlitz (1805) and Borodino (1812) involved 158,000 and250,000 troops, respectively

One such historian, Rick Atkinson, hasnow fired ashot heard ’round the world where scrupulously clear-eyed butrespectful American histories are savored. In 2019, he published “The British Are Coming,” which ended with the Jan. 3, 1777, Battle of Princeton. The final volume of his RevolutionTrilogy will perhaps coincide withthe 250th anniversary of the Oct. 19, 1781, world-turned-upside-down British surrender at Yorktown.

This year’svolume, “The Fate of theDay,” which ends in 1780 at Charleston, recounts the two stages of the battle of Saratoga (Sept.19 andOct. 7, 1777), arguably this nation’smostimportant military triumph.

Victories at Gettysburg and Midway hastened the probable defeat of grave threats to the nation. Saratoga, by bringing France into the war on America’sside, assured the

TheRevolutionary War was premodern: At Saratoga, about 22,200 clashed, producingfewer than 1,500 dead and wounded. The war,far from being acollision of vast forces, was atheater of human agency —of unsuppressed individuals making choices based on principles.Ofthe roughly 200,000 who served in the patriotforces, only half were in Washington’sContinental Army,the rest in militias. Washington was not at Saratoga. Desertions were almost ruinous Washington worried that “we shall be obliged to detach one-half of the army to bring back theother.” This waspartlydue to American individualism. Washington: “A people unused to restraint mustbeled, they will not be drove.”

Eighteenth-century Americans, lacking social media, Netflix and otherdistractions, wrote letters and diaries in profusion, astaggering number of which Atkinson has read Including those of Connecticut’sMosesDunbar

Dunbar wrote that he was “the second of sixteen children, all born to my Fatherbyone wife.” Dunbar himself had five children withhis first wife, and seven more with his second, Phebe. His fervent Anglicanismcaused him to align with the British, for whom he recruited support. He was convicted of high

treason againstConnecticut. In March 1777, Phebe, pregnant with his eighthchild, was forced to ride with him in atumbrel to the gallows Dunbar’sfather,asupporter of independence, reportedly offered to supply thehemp for the hanging. What Americans call the Civil War (1861-1865) was actually our second such. More New Yorkers fought for than againstthe British.Atkinson saysalmost20% of the population (excluding enslaved people) was loyal to Britain; 30,000 of them fought for it. Each side often treated the other savagely But, then, those who lived in the 18th century were inured to death, violent and otherwise, burying children swept away by disease and women who died during childbirth. “Typhus and other diseases,”Atkinson writes, “killed at least 8percent of all passengers on transatlantic crossings.” Medicine was almost nonexistent, and where practiced was often more lethal than battle. Combat wasoften up close and personal, with edged weapons: swords, knives, hatchetsand especially bayonets.

Eighteenth-centuryAmerica, of which we are areverberation, was boththe age of reason and of barbarities.History,Atkinson reminds us,isalways,asnow,acompound of theelevating and appalling. Americans who fear arancorous plod toward America’s250th birthday should remember: 250 years ago, the nation knew much worse. Then it healed, passed through the furnace of another civil war,then resumed itszigzag but upwardpath toward amore perfect union. Atkinson’s reminder is that thebirth of this nation, like that of ababy,was painful but worthit.

Email George Will at georgewill@ washpost.com.

As aNew Orleansschoolboy in the 1960s and 1970s,Iwas taught the insidious “Lost Cause”myth of the Civil War. In the poisonous fiction of the Lost Cause thatwas fed to millions of other southerners, the brutal institutionofslavery,which the Confederacy seceded to preserve, had nothing to do with the Civil War. Instead, the war was fought to defend anoble, chivalrous wayoflife against barbarous northern aggression. Slavery,to the extent thatitwas acknowledged at all, wasa benign, paternalistic, mutually beneficialrelationship between masters andservants.

Until recently,I believedthe Lost Cause myth —and the hideous Jim Crowpoliciesitwas used to justify —had been mostly consigned to the garbage heap of history

To the contrary,not only has it been simmering beneaththe surface all along, it has comeroaring back with avengeance.

And when Isay vengeance, Imean it literally.Itis the vengeance of some aggrieved, misguidedpeople who resent having to compete on alevel playing field with qualifiedwomen andpeople of color

Historicalrevisionism —whetherthe Lost Cause mythology of my youth, the “anti-CRT” backlash of the last five yearsorthe current gutting of museum andlibrary funding —isn’tsimply an effort to paint arosierpicture of the past. It’sajustificationfor regressive, unjust policies that reinforce White, male advantage. According to Lost Cause revisionism, Black Americanswerecontent to be enslavedbytheir benevolent andindulgent masters. The responsibilitiesoffreedom were overwhelming to them, and oppressive JimCrowlaws did them afavor by restoring the naturalorder

This mythology persisted throughout the Civil Rights era, when activists and protesters were deridedas“outside agitators” seeking to disrupt a cherished andpeaceful social order

The current movement to distort American history doesn’tcontend that Black Americans are content with andeven cherish the system of oppression. It contends thatthe system of oppression doesn’t exist. It’smuchhardertomake the case against diversity,equity andinclusionpolicieswhenyou understand thatJackie Robinsonwas —inthe sneering terminology of the anti-equality movement —“a DEI hire.”So, Jackie Robinsonmust be wipedfrom history If you want to make the case thatPat Boonerecordedthe greatestrendition of “Tutti Frutti” in history,you’vegot to make damn sure no oneever hearsLittle Richard.

There’s nothing wrong with preferring Pat Boone, of course,but areyou really making an informed decisionifyou haven’theardthemboth?

That’sthe fear at the heartofthe “anti-woke” campaign to erasehistory.President Donald Trump claims to seek “a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”What he and his uninformed accomplices actually seek is to maintain the fictionthat the advantages they enjoy are the result solely of “merit” andnot in part due to systemic andhistorical inequities. Theycan’t do thatwithout wiping those systemic andhistorical inequities from the record. That’s why theywanttohide the history of slavery,segregation, discriminatory hiring practices, redlining, appraisalbias, inequitable school funding, voter suppressionand gerrymandering

Exhibits like NOMA’s “New African Masquerades,” made possible by the federal funding that hasbeen snatched away,aren’tjust accidental casualtiesoffiscal-mindedbudgettrimming. They arethe deliberate targets of acultural purge aimed at stifling expression by historically marginalized communities. But even before Trump’sreturn to the OvalOffice, Louisiana beganits crackdown on policies, programs, lessons and activities that celebrate diversity or acknowledge inequality Now,the Trump administration says those policies, programs, lessons andactivities must be bannedor schoolswill lose their federal funding.

As mayor,I learnedthe powerofmulti-racial coalitionbuilding to drive change, such as historic crime reductionand major advances in building affordable housing. Now that Iamonthe national stage,Isee the need for the same type of coalition building to repair the cracks in our institutions and build astronger,moreresilient nationtogether In New Orleans, we know thatthe beauty of a good gumbo comesfrom the unique blend of avariety of flavors. To leave out even one flavorful ingredient is to diminish its richness. We know better thantosabotageour own taste buds like that. Cutting essentialingredients out of our history is far worse thana bland and tasteless gumbo. It deprivesusnot just of flavor,but of nourishment. The nationwill growweak and falter Diversity andinclusion aren’tabout choosing one ingredient over another,but the reality that we are greater together thanweare divided from one another.

Marc Morial is the president of the National Urban Leagueand theformer mayor of NewOrleans.

Marc Morial GUEST COLUMNIST

George Will

Officials seek fixfor Ascensionred dust

Wasteponds plague neighbors

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

Ascension Parish govern-

ment drainage workers are preparing to cap a4-acre section of the “red mud” waste ponds at aclosed refinery in hopes of controlling dust that has plagued nearbyneighborhoods for several years southofGonzales.

The plot is atest site for alarger plan that could takeuptofour yearsto cover about105 acresof ponds with dirt and used asphalt and concrete, partially closing more than 400acres of the ponds, according toaparish plan and other regulatory papers. That longer-term planis expected to require more than 6,720 truckloadsof dirttobedelivered to the site over the life of the job

The work on the test plot is beginning about two weeks after DEQ, LAlumina and the parish signed aformal agreement. The Parish Council approved the deal last year.Earlier this year,residents were submitting comments to the state Departmentof EnvironmentalQuality urging it to sign the deal.

“This marksacritical step forward in our efforts to protect our residents and begin the process to mitigate this area,” Parish President ClintCointment added in arecent statement on the plans.

The estimated 15 million tons of toxic red mud are the legacy of years of alumina production in Burnside, the waste byproduct of anow-shuttered plant that wasformerlyowned by Ormet, later Almatis and now LAlumina.

The leveed-off impoundments east of La. 44 and north of La. 22 hold the rust-colored waste, aprocessed version of bauxite ore with naturally occurring and slight radioactivity as well as trace heavy metals.

The waste mud candry out and get lifted up by the wind. The dust has beenthe source of regular complaints to DEQ from residents in thePelican Crossing neighborhood, regulatory papers show, with some as recent as this February “Red dust still blowing off-site from the old Ormet facility.Was really bad Sunday (2/9) and is still blowingtoday (2/11),” aDEQ complaint description states.

The red dust is among several legacy problems, which also includewaste tire dumps, that new DEQ Secretary Aurelia S. Giacomettohas focused on in her first year in office. She hascreated special Tiger Teams to bring acrossdisciplinary approach to theselong-standing issues and, agencyofficialssaid, the start of the test trialin Burnside is asign of those teams’ progress.

“This approach was designedtobring focused attention,technical expertise,and newmomentumto asite where progress had stalled for years,” DEQ officials said in astatement.

“Todate, the L’Alumina Tiger Team has dedicated more than 1,000 staff hours to advancing asolution,and

Twochildren ride on their scooters Aug. 19,2020, in the Pelican Crossing neighborhood built next to one of the red mud ponds holding waste ore from the LAlumina complex in Burnside.

in the area are complainingabout red dust

thisis the start of avital undertaking to protect the community.”

In astatement,DEQ officials added theagency had been waiting on aformal commitment from LAlumina to sign the finaldeal on April 1, following earlier agreements reached last year.That datealsocoincided withDEQ’sapproval of LAlumina’s“partial closure planthat endorsedthe parish’splan to conduct atrial beforethe work across Ponds4 and5.”

The twopondshavebeen “identified as the highest priority due to their current conditionand proximitytoresidences” for the use of LAlumina’sexisting closure funds,DEQ officialsadded. They areboth nearest the Pelican Crossing neighborhood LAlumina officials didn’t immediately respond to a request forcomment on Monday

In an interview last week, Cointment saidparish crews were still in the logistics phase of capping the test plot, including preparing to work on the unstable red mud that has seen equipment sinkintoit in the past.

Once theparish begins the work, its crews will placea 6-inch-deepcap across the 4-acrestretch of red mud, the parish president said.

DEQ officials are requiringthe parish to test the success of growing grass on the 6-inchlayer of dirt becausethe redmud can leach highly alkaline runoffwhenrainfallsand inhibit thegrass’growth.

Cointment said the work time frame forthe first 4-acre test plot will depend on weather as crews will try to cover the mud when it is wettoavoid causing dustproblems

“I don’t want to create an even bigger problemin helping to solvethe problem, and so these are things we are goingover withour staff, so they understand that,” Cointmentsaid

Earlyworkonthe partial closure plan, accordingto the parish, also calledfor toxicity testing of the red mud and runoff water in the ponds to help determine what kind ofprotective equipment workers will need

Under therecently signed agreement,the parish will be able to reimburse itselfwith a$5.5 mil-

HONOR

Continuedfrom page 1B

ic Kim Cole and EMT

medic Elaine Carter and EMT KurstieDoles

n North Texas:Paramedic Marcela Vazquez and EMT Mela Trimble

medicAndrewHeulerand

EMT

Joseph Bessard

n Southwest Louisiana: Paramedic Nathan Emmons andEMT Sydney Horne

lionfund LAluminaand its predecessors set aside to closethe entiresite.

Theparish plans to use almost the entire closure fund, however,totackle Ponds 4and 5, according to parishplans.About $2 million of that spending is to buy excavators and other special equipment, includingamphibiousmachines, to workonthe softred mud.

Though parish governmentisstepping in to addressthe reddustproblem, DEQ had required LAlumina and itspredecessors to payinto afund to close all of its waste ponds so thecompaniescould dump waste for years. LAlumina currentlyhas oneemployee associated with the site.

Under the recently signeddeal, the remaining threeponds,which contain red mud below their containmentlevee and generally arecovered with water, will be lefttoLAlumina. Maintenance of theponds that the parish will capwill also remain the company’s responsibility In all, Ponds 4and 5cover about150 acresbut theparish plans to apply dirt on 100 acrescombined, coveringthe slopes and stacked peaks that rise abovethe height of the pond containment levees by nearly threetimes.

Parish officials believe it is these elevated sectionsofthe ponds thatare causing the dustproblems Left uncovered would be the outer perimeters of the ponds, which dip lower than the containment levees and routinely hold standing water from rain runoff.

Under the parish plan, once the full capping job begins,workwould be conducted in 1-acre plotsina grid-likepattern designed to minimize dust,starting on theeastand working west. The parish also plans to install an irrigation system and drainage culverts.

Theparish plans to use dirt from drainage projects,state highwayprojects and the nearby Air Products site in Burnside for the cover material.Air Products is planningto build a$4.5 billionlow-carbon hydrogen plant along the Mississippi River

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

MacKenzieDowse

n Houston: Paramedic

Chad Johnston and EMT

BrandonJones

n HubCity: Paramedic

Brandi Leonard

n Mississippi:Paramed-

ic Charles Wise and EMT

NoahEsparza n North Louisiana:Para-

BLOTTER

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molestation of ajuvenile under theage of 13, 16th Judicial District Attorney MichaelHaiksaidina statement.

In thefirst-degree rape convictios,Bourquewas sentenced to lifeimprisonment at hardlabor,with-

n Northshore: Paramedic Meg McLeod and EMT

Christian Kinsley

n Orleans: Paramedic

WhitneyHouston and EMT

Shannon Majcina

n South Central Texas: Paramedic Sandy Castorena and EMT Nicholas Wiatrek

n SoutheastTexas:Para-

out benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Theattempted first-degree rape conviction added asentence of 40 years at hardlabor,without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Thecharges stem from Bourque’ssexual abuseof

Officials said the 11-yearold girl disclosed thesexual abusebyBourque to her

n Tennessee: Paramedic Erica Shipp and EMT

Tykelia Bowen

n Safety Management Systems: Remoteparamedic TrishKrampe

Email Adam Daigle at adaigle@theadvocate. com.

mother,who then reported theabuse to law enforcement.Aninvestigation revealed additional materials that corroborated the victim’s disclosure. “I finditparticularly fittingthatthissexual predator was brought to justice and sentenced for his crimes againstachild during National Crime Victim’sRights Week,” Haik said.

PROTEST

Continuedfrom page 1B

Trump hasfired employeesofall three agencies and said thereare plans to eliminate them.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy will be in Broussard on Monday.Heisthe guest speakerfor an event at 9a.m. at the Madison Banquet center, 406 E. Madison St.,sponsored by the Broussard Chamber of Commerce. The event, accordingtothe chamberFacebookpage, is sold out.

STAFFPHOTO By CLAIRE TAyLOR

Protesters gather in opposition to President DonaldTrump and hispolicies Saturday in downtown Lafayette.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVIDJ.MITCHELL

Neighbors

whipping up from the wastesite.

ALL EYES ON NEW ORLEANS

All eyes are on the New OrleansSaints for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders has noted as much, sending out an eyeball emoji in wake of DerekCarr’sshoulder injury thatcould lead theSaints to draft aquarterback when theNFL draft runs April 24-26. Sanders, of course, haspersonal interest in seeinghis son ShedeurSanders, a topquarterback in this year’s class, get selected. But so many ofthe Saints’ plans areunknown at this time.

“Man, they’ve been oneofthe most curious teams for me to tryand piece together,” Yahoo Sports NFL draft analyst NateTice said. With Carr’sinjury,wespoke with Tice to get his outlook on theSaints draft and how he sees it from anational perspective: First off, let’sstartwith DerekCarr. How do you think his injuryaffects what the Saints want to do, specifically at number9? NateTice: Well, obviously,thatinjury news gets floated forareason especially the timingofthat.Then for me, maybe on theoutside of

An expert breaks down howCarr’sinjuryimpacts Saints’NFL draftplans ä See DRAFT, page 3C

Sophomoreoutfielder shines in weekendseries

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU baseball had aproductive weekend in its return to Alex Box Stadium,winning two of three games against Alabamatoimprove to 12-6 in Southeastern Conference play

The Tigers won11-6 on Thursday and 4-3 on Fridaybeforedropping Saturday’s series finale by afinal score of 7-4. Here are five takeaways from LSU’sthird series victory in the SEC.

Should Jake Brownplayevery day?

Sophomore Jake Brownonly started once this weekend but he wasexceptional whenever his number was called.

The outfielderhad asingle andscored arun on Thursdaybefore coming offthe bench Saturday and blasting his second home runofthe season and hitting arunscoring triple.In37games,Brown hasan .883 on-base plus slugging percentage and leadsthe team in steals. He’s also playedsolid defense in right field and has only struck out 15 times. So how come he’sonly started in 27 games anddidn’tplayFriday? Forone,LSU hashad to manage playing time between him, senior Josh Pearson and junior Ethan Frey,especially since Frey has started playing more

ä See LSU, page 3C

LSUright fielder Jake Brown

NF DRAF

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON ä Round 1 7P.M.THURSDAy, ABC, ESPN, NFL NETWORK

perspective, Ilook at it as like, ‘OK, whyisthat coming out? Why is that comingout aweek before thedraft or two weeks before thedraft?’ So obviously,Ithink they were going to be interested in aquarterback (who) is this regime, meaning the coachingstaff’s guy.Even if they like Carr,they like Spencer Rattler

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Have the first three weeks of UL’s spring seasonbeen challenging for transfer cornerback Trae Tomlinson?

Absolutely Is he having thetimeofhis life nonetheless?

Absolutely

“Practice has beenawesome,” Tomlinson said.“The level of competition here has been awesome.Comingfrommyold school,

or whomever,(new) coaching staffs like having their dude. That’s what Ithink, that no matter what, they were going to be interested in somebody at somepoint in this draft. Ithink just now saying, ‘Hey,our starter’shurt’ changes the math. Ithink it’sjust more thatnow that it makes the No. 9pick more aliveas opposed to what Ihad perceived before as maybe aDay 2selection at thequarterback position. Buttome, it just seems like astaff that wants

the FBSlevel has been really great —just being around guysthat love the game and them pushing me sinceI’vebeenhereso far.”

Growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, football was not theNo. 1sport like it is in the deep South.

Still, the5-foot-10,175-pound defensive back spent three seasons at Richmond at the FCS level, before transferring to UL.

“Me, that’sthe type of personthatI am, I’m very grateful,”hesaid. “I comefrom Canada —just being here, I’mblessed. Not alot of peopleget theopportunitytocome play down here.Ijust love being around guys that love football, because I’ve always

loved football from ayoung age.

“I always knew Iwas going to play Division Ifootball. It was just amatterof where.”

Having that kid-like love forthe sport has been helpful, because Tomlinson’sto-do list has been pretty daunting since arriving. For one, there was the heat.

“The first day, Icramped up,sogetting used to the heat and the environment,” he said. Next up is learning the playbook, butfor both outside cornerback and the nickel spot as well.

ä See CAJUNS, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

UL senior transfer cornerbackTrae Tomlinson makes acatch during springpractice.

LSU transfers find new landing spots

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

LSU men’s basketball junior

Tyrell Ward and redshirt junior

Daimon Collins are among the six players to enter the transfer portal after the 2024-25 season.

Ward is heading to VCU in the Atlantic 10 and Collins to South Florida of the American Athletic Conference, they each announced on Instagram.

Ward, a Washington, D.C. native, stepped away from the program to focus on his mental health and was never expected to return. The news came about 15 minutes before LSU’s season opener

The 6-foot-6 wing was a part of coach Matt McMahon’s first recruiting class at LSU and averaged 9.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game as a sophomore. Ward was ranked the No. 34 player in the 247Sports Composite in the 2022 class.

Collins started 22 games in place of Jalen Reed, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury on Dec 3.The 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward/ center averaged 8.0 points on 58% from the field, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 20.4 minutes last season.

The Atlanta, Texas, native started his career at Kentucky after being ranked the No 16 player in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

“After careful consideration,” Collins said in his statement, “I

U.S. tops Canada in OT to win hockey worlds title

CESKE BUDEJOVICE, Czech Republic

Tessa Janecke scored the winner as the United States prevailed in overtime over reigning champion Canada 4-3 to win the women’s hockey world championship on Sunday Janecke struck with 2:54 left in overtime for the Americans to claim the 11th title at the worlds.

Abbey Murphy and Taylor Heise scored a goal and had an assist, and Caroline Harvey also scored for the U.S.

The U.S. cruised through the tournament, winning the preliminary group with four wins from four including a 2-1 win over Canada, and eliminating Germany in the quarterfinals and Finland in the semifinals. The 12-day, 10-nation tournament represented the final major international tune-up before the 2026 Winter Games in Italy

Zverev downs Shelton to win third Munich title

MUNICH Top-seeded Alexander Zverev beat second-seeded American Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 to win his third Munich title on Sunday It was the big-serving German player’s first title of the year and 24th overall on the ATP tour He previously won the clay-court tournament in 2017 and ‘18.

Shelton was playing in his fourth career final and second on clay after winning in Houston last year In sunny conditions at the BMW Open, Zverev served for the match and set up match point with a sliced backhand at the net that Shelton could not get back in. He clinched the win with a sharp backhand volley at the net following a brief rally It was a dominant performance on serve from Zverev, who did not face a break point.

The other LSU players to decide on their new landing spots are freshman Vyctorius Miller who committed to Oklahoma State, redshirt freshman Corey Chest going to Ole Miss and junior Noah

have decided to enter the transfer portal. This was not an easy decision but I believe it is the best step for my future and continued development. Thank you Tiger Nation, for your unwavering support. I will always carry these experiences and lessons with me as I embark on this new chapter.”

Boyde to Western Kentucky Sophomore Mike Williams hasn’t announced his transfer destination. LSU has five transfer additions, highlighted by UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas who is the No. 14 transfer on 247Sports.

Thunder beat Grizzlies in 131 -80 in Game 1

BY CLIFF BRUNT AP sportswriter

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday, the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history

The 51-point margin was seven points shy of the record and was the largest Game 1 win in NBA playoff history Aaron Wiggins scored 21 points, Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Shai GilgeousAlexander, the league’s scoring champion with nearly 33 points per game, scored just 15. The Thunder still shot 50.5% from the field.

“We played to our identity,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Noth-

ing more, nothing less than that.

We were who we were all year and it’s going to be the key to our success, just staying true to who we are.”

Gilgeous-Alexander had said several times since Oklahoma City’s loss to Dallas in last season’s Western Conference semifinals that he would be intentional about getting his teammates better prepared for this postseason. So far, so good

“I have a great group of guys around me, and I know that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And I’ve known that for a long time. They obviously played amazing.”

There have been two 58-point playoff margins in NBA history: Denver beating New Orleans 121-63 in 2009 and the Minneapolis Lakers beating the St Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956. The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden

State by 56 (126-70) in 1973 and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 (120-66) in 2015.

Ja Morant scored 17 points for Memphis on just 6-for-17 shooting. Jaren Jackson Jr., who averaged just over 22 points in the regular season, scored four points on 2-for-13 shooting. The Grizzlies shot just 34.4% overall.

The Thunder, who finished the regular-season with a leaguebest 68-14 record, took control with a 20-0 run that gave them a 55-22 lead in the second quarter They took a 35-point lead into halftime.

“I just felt like after that, the energy just kind of wasn’t there and we were just trying to talk to ourselves to get back into the game,” Morant said.

This was Memphis’ first playoff game under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo. He coached just nine

NBA regular-season contests before the play-in games. “If you’re in a playoff series, it’s a best of seven,” Iisalo said. “It doesn’t matter if you win by one point on a buzzer-beater or you win by 50 points, you get one win. So luckily for us, there’s only one way from this and that’s up. And we will analyze it and learn from it. And then we will fix those things that hurt us.”

Game 2 is Tuesday, and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault expects a closer game.

“They played 36 hours ago and had an emotional game, had to turn around and play at noon today, which is a really tough turnaround,” Daigneault said. “So they’re going to be better Tuesday So I thought we did a good job But I don’t think we can expect that from them (again). You know they’re going to play a lot better than that.”

Thomas ends drought with RBC Heritage victory

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Justin Thomas ended nearly three years without a victory Sunday by making a birdie putt from just outside 20 feet in a playoff at Harbour Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC Heritage Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions for a 3-under 68, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th that looked like it might be the winner until Novak, who grew up in South Carolina, matched him with a big birdie of his own for a 68.

Novak, who has had three good chances to win in his last 14 tournaments, had an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation that was left all the way In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue. His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022 His game slipped

and he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off the Presidents Cup team a year ago. His game was back in order — he cracked the top 10 again — and needed only a victory to confirm his game was back among the elite.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to wife Jill and 5-month-old daughter Molly Thomas and Novak finished at 17-under 267, three shots clear of anyone else.

Novak was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall. He was right there at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He was in the mix at the Valero Texas Open. And this looked like it might be his moment to break through until Thomas refused to be denied.

“Winning is hard. It’s really, really hard,” Thomas said with a tinge of emotion in his voice. “I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.”

He won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour, and to his recollection, he has never had to make a putt of length on the 18th hole to win

by a shot.

“That was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.

They pulled away in the middle of the round from a tight leaderboard — a four-way tie at one point as they were joined by 54hole leader Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler even got in on the act, just briefly He started four shots behind and was even for the round through eight holes. But he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to pull within two. Scheffler was running out of hole when he took on a high-risk shot needing eagle to have a legitimate chance. That found the water, leading to double bogey He still shot 70 and tied for eighth, his third straight top 10 while contending into the final hour

“I think I’m really close,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I did a lot of things well this week, just a few of the important shots I just didn’t pull off Outside of that it was a pretty solid week.”

Thomas won the tournament with a birdie in a playoff. He saved his chances toward the end of the front nine when he made four straight putts starting on the fifth hole — 7 feet for birdie, 7 feet for par, 8 feet for par and just inside 15 feet for birdie on No. 8, where he took on the trees with a 7-iron to give himself a chance.

Novak had tree trouble and battled away, getting a few good bounces and a remarkable par save from a sandy lie amidst a forest on No. 11.

He moves high enough in the world ranking — inside the top 35

— that he should be a lock for the U.S. Open and now needs to stay in the top 50 the next month for the British Open.

“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be.” Novak said.

“I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week.

“I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past. Justin just went out and won it. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”

Ashun Wu rallies to win second China Open

SHANGHAI Ashun Wu made a Sunday charge on the back nine with five birdies for a 6-under 65 that enabled him to overcome a four-shot deficit and win the China Open for the second time. The victory came 10 years after the 39-year-old Wu first won the China Open. It was his fifth career victory on the European tour Li Haotong and Eugenio Chacarra of Spain, who began the final round tied for the lead at Enhance Anting Club, each closed with a 1-over 72. Wu was three shots behind Chacarra when he made the turn and promptly ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch. Chacarra, playing behind him, had three bogeys on the back nine and fell back.

Rune upsets Alcaraz to win Barcelona Open

BARCELONA, Spain Holger Rune upset home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets on Sunday to win the Barcelona Open for his first title since 2023. Rune defeated the Spaniard 7-6 (6), 6-2 for his first title since winning in Munich two years ago, and fifth overall. It was the Dane’s first ATP 500 title.

Alcaraz was coming off a ninematch winning streak and was searching for his third title of the year and 19th of his career He won the Barcelona Open in 2022 and 2023.

Rune, runner-up to Jack Draper at Indian Wells, rallied from a break down in the opener and converted his fourth set point. He cruised in the second set against Alcaraz.

Washington Spirit star Rodman out indefinitely

Trinity Rodman is taking time away from the Washington Spirit as she deals with back issues, the National Women’s Soccer League team said. The forward, who also plays for the U.S. women’s national team, will be sidelined indefinitely. The Washington Post was first to report Rodman’s absence.

Last September Rodman was injured during a match against the Kansas City Current.

She returned to the national team early this month and scored in a 2-0 victory over Brazil. She also played last weekend in the Spirit’s 2-0 victory over Racing Louisville. She has played in four games for the

ers

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU forward Daimion Collins shoots over Florida Gulf Coast forward Keeshawn Kellman on Dec. 8 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Collins announced his transfer to South Florida last week.

against right-handed pitching Pearson had just two hits this weekend but his experience is bound to keephim in the lineup mix. Frey may nothavethe defensive value that Pearson and Brown provide, but he went 3for 9with a homer over the weekendand now leads the Tigers in batting average.

Unless freshman Derek Curiel or junior Chris Stanfield start sitting some, LSU can’tplay Frey, Pearson and Brown at the same time, even if they’re all starting caliber bats.

“You have to pick sometimes,” Johnsonsaid. “And Ithinkwe’ve done areally good job of that this year,and we have the luxuryto be able to do it. But Imean, Idon’t view him as not an everyday player

“Jake Brown is, in my opinion, oneofthe best players on our team.”

Whydidn’tShoresstart Saturday?

Redshirt sophomore righthander Chase Shores waslisted as LSU’sstarter on Saturday before the weekend began, but Johnson had achange of heart once these-

CAJUNS

Continued from page1C

“It’sbeen different, but Ilove it,” said Tomlinson, who had 75 tackles, 12 pass breakups and an interception over the last two seasons at Richmond. “I love learningnew positions.

“I love being versatile. Ilove playing defensive back, whatever it is.” So he’shad to putinextra time with coaches and teammates to get comfortable.

“Going in for extra time and learning the play book andstaying

DRAFT

Continued from page1C

their guy.They have no attachment to Derek Carr

Who do you see at No. 9then forthe Saints as it relates to quarterback?Shedeur Sanders? Would Jaxson Dartsurprise you? Dart wouldn’tsurprise me, just reading tea leaves,but Iwouldn’t do it. Iwouldn’ttake any quarterback in the first round this year other than (Miami’s) Cam Ward. Every other guy Ihave aDay 2grade on, including Shedeur Sanders, Dart,Tyler Shough and Jalen Milroe and all those guys Iconsiderthem agrab bag of like, ‘OK, if you prefer thisguy, youmight like him in the 20s.’ I don’tthink any of these guys—a lot of these guys are scary to me, the top 10 or even in the top 20. Iwould reallyjust waituntil the back half of the first round.So maybe they’re atrade-back candidate as well, which is also against type. (laughs) But Ireally do think that they have more preferencefor Dart And again, this is not me hearing anything. This is just me reading tea leaves, seeing who they went on the pro day.Only(Saints quarterbacks coach) ScottTolzien went to Colorado, Ibelieve, for the pro day there.Again, you can have workouts with quarterbacks privately.But what you’re signaling at pro days is interesting. And then also, they go to the Ole Miss pro day,which Iknow Oxford isn’tthat crazy of adrive from New Orleans, but everybody was there. Head coach Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator,quarterbacks coach. (Doug) Nussmeier’s there. Tolzien’sthere. So just the signaling of that seems more of a preference for Dart. But again, it’snoisyeverywhere, and they might have him graded higher. But again, to me, my grading, Ithink these guys are more Day 2guys thatyou take in the second round as opposedtoyour top 10.

Of that Day2group —and you can throw Sanders in if you’dlike—who do see fitting the Saints and see as amatch for Kellen Moore specifically? Is there anyoneyou like of that group the most? That group? Let’ssee, there’s even my guy —the guy Iconsider that group, too, is Riley Leonard from Notre Dame. I’m the only person in public media saying that. But Iactually like Leonard in that offense alittle bit.But he’saproject to me. He’sgoing to take ayear or two. Theguy that Icould see them talk themselves into is Dartjust because of hisskillset andsomeofthe accuracystuff, how he throws to the outside, how he throws deep balls. That makes sense for what

ries got underway

Instead of starting Shores, Johnson turned to junior left-hander ConnerWare. Ware didhis job, throwing two scoreless innings before giving up aleadoff single in the third and comingout for Shores.

“I just feltlike to hold them down as best we could,wejust were goingtoneed more guys,” Johnson said.

Johnson pointed to matchup reasons as to why LSUturned to Ware at thestart andnot Shores.

TheCrimson Tide startedfive left-handed hitters on Saturday, including leadoff hitter Bryce Fowler and top sluggers Kade Snell and Will Hodo. Snell, in particular,was givingLSU fits. He hittwo homers on Thursday,went 2for 4with adouble on Friday and had two more hits and threewalks in the series finale.

“Snell is asgood ahitter as I’ve seen in theleague thisyear,” Johnson said. “I really mean that.”

ReassessingLSU’s bullpen

Walks continue to be an issue for the Tigers’ bullpen, but it wasn’t abad weekend for the unit as a whole.

Freshman right-handerCasan Evans was dominant again and juniorright-hander ZacCowan

up at night studying the playbook …asadefensive back,you have to see thefield,you have to seethe formations, youhave to know the coverages, you have to know what the person next to you is doing and what the linebackers aredoing,” he explained. During the recruiting process, UL coach Michael Desormeaux described him as “a cover guy who is physical enough to play nickel too.”

But the nickel spot is more complicated, which Tomlinson relishes.

“You are involved in the running game,especially when you’re in thefit andyou’vegot to fillthe gaps,orifyou’re blitzing,” he said.

Moore kind of likes. But that’sthe thing is, Kellen Moore, it’shard to gauge what he prefers. He wasn’t part of the Dak Prescott selection committee, andDak was afourthrounder OK, soDak is aunique player.Heisavery smart, cerebralquarterback,had athleticism that he doesn’trely on as much anymore. Has good size. OK, that kind of there’ssome Ward there, but some Dartthere, too. Some Milroe there. Ithink Dak is way morepolished. IthinkMilroe is a huge project OK, then (Moore) goes to the Chargers and (hehas) Justin Herbert.Herbert’salready been selected, already ready-made. OK. Goes to theEagles. It’s(Jalen) Hurts. Hurts is aone-of-one thing, too, and also benefits from the situation there. Iwish that Ihad a good answer going, ‘Yeah, this is histype of guy.’ But it’shard for me to decipherthat. Ithink so much of the interviews is goingtomatter to him becauseofhow competitive and smart Dak is and was as a prospect,too. Soifhe’sgoing like, ‘I want the Dak guy or Iwant a guy that plays like me,’ —Imean, that’shard for me to find in this class. If hewants aquarterback that plays like Kellen Moore, OK, that’sTylerShough.Tyler Shough is 26 (years old). And that’sjust aweird hard pivot to go from, you’renot gettingthat much younger,you’re not getting aguy with aton of upsideand everything.Ifyou can’ttell, it’shard to find some realclean fits for alot of teams with this class.

Whodoyou like at 9ofthe non-quarterbacks forthem? Man, they’vebeen one of the most curious teams for me to try andpiece together.Because they get going so many different directions. Ilike maybe an edge player for them. If they want to go for an upside player like Mykel Williams or Shemar Stewart.Ican see them going receiver with (Arizona’s) Tetairoa McMillan. That’s another guyI’d actually like. If (Chris) Olaveevercomes back healthy,ohmyGod, McMillan and Olave, you couldn’task for abetter1-2 at receiver.But where the Saints are rightnow,it’slike, Do youguys really want to take another receiver in thefirst round?

Forme, there’strench guys. Iactually really liked them to maybe go safety,but then they signed JustinReid in freeagency. So that changed my math,maybe like Malaki Starks or something. And that might have been alittle rich for Starks. So for me, Ilooked at edgeplayers, more projectyedge players with tools like Stewart orWilliams. Or McMillan if they want to make asplash andsay,whoever’sthrowing the ball, we’re going to get you some Class Aweaponsout here. Butthe Saintshave been one of my —if

closed outFriday’swin despitegiving up two earnedruns, including his first earned run allowed since March 16.

Freshman left-hander Cooper Williams, freshman right-hander MavrickRizy andredshirt sophomore left-handerDJPrimeaux also combined to throw 22/3 scoreless innings on Saturday.The trio faced 13 batters and allowed just onehit, keeping the Tigers within striking distance from innings five through eight

“I don’tknowwhattheir lines completelylooked like,” Johnson said, “but Ithink that’swhen we gotthe three zeros in arow.”

But noteverything went swimmingly for thebullpen. Control issues plagued junior right-hander Connor Benge on Thursday and freshman right-handerWilliam Schmidt, redshirt sophomore right-hander JadenNootand junior right-hander Jacob Mayers.

The four arms combined to walk eight batters over the weekend.

Shores also struggled to get outs, allowing four hits, walking two battersand committing an error in 22/3 innings. Half of thebatters he faced reached base.

BetweenShores, Benge, Mayers, Noot and Schmidt,the Tigers will need moreconsistent play from at

“It’s abit more, so I’ve been heavy in theplaybook andheavywith extratime. And asking my teammates and the other nickels what to do.

“It’s been great.Everybody has been really welcoming and supportive.

Even his moretraditionalcornerback spot, the kinds of coverage are different.

“Because coming from aschool wherewedidn’tpress much, I’ve really been focusing on pressing alot more,” Tomlinson said.“I’ve been working my presstechnique alot and getting with the guys and working on releases and everything.”

Iwent not aquarterback in the mock draft,they’re one of my morehard teams to findapairing that truly makes sense. Which is Saints-like. Younever know what they’re going to do.

It’sfunny. If Dennis Allen wasstill here, I wouldbehammeringthe drum for Stewart, because that’sverymuch his styleofdefensive end. Stewart or Williams is Dennis Allen all theway.Both of those guys.

So with Allengone, are the Saints actually open to aJalon Walker type? What do you think about them needing to changetheir edgerushing,what they look for in an edge rusher? Do you think Walker will be there at No. 9when they’re on the clock? Ido. Ithink alot of teams Walker is one of these players, and even me as an evaluator everyone likes him. Everyone really likes him.Everyone loves thefootball player.I’ve never interviewed him, but apparently, his football character is amazing. Him as aperson is really great. It’sjust that it’sone of those we’ll seeondraft time whoactually pulls thetrigger.It’sa lot of like, ‘Oh, Ilove this guy,but maybe for you.

Short answer is that Idothink he’ll be there at No. 9. Ithink thePanthers, who have No. 8, is where his range starts. Ithink his range is 8-16. Ithink theCardinals at 16. The Falcons are 15. He’svery popular in the NFC South. Ithink Jalon Walker is going to be. Butno, Ithink his range is 8-16. So Ithink he will be there at 9when it does cometodraft Also, thePatriots really like him. Butnow Ireally do think(Will) Campbell is their guy

Will Campbelllikely won’tbethere, but he’dfill alot of needs for the Saints at No. 9.Youcould move him to guard or keep him at tackle and maybemove Trevor Penning to guard. Campbell would be great for them. Ijust thinkhe’sgoing to be gone.The Jags and Patriots bothlove Campbell. Ithink one of those two teams are going to take him. Yeah, no, he would make a lot of sense for the Saints because it’slike, OK, even if he doesn’t stay at tackle, no matter what, he can start somewhere, which is what the Saints needs so badly right now Just reliability up there, and that’swhat he’sgoing to provide. Iwouldn’tmind offensive line for theSaints either at No. 9. Again, it just has to be, Does Mickey Loomis wanttoadmit that (Trevor) Penning failed or somethinglike that? Andthat’s also apart of the equation, too.

Right. Ithought Penning played OK last season. Second half of the year? Yeah. He’snot aabject ‘shouldn’tbeon thefield’ anymore. He’s actually

least afew of them by the timethe postseason rolls around, although Mayers got abig out in relief on Thursday

“The command piece is the last piece for those guys really having achance in their baseball career,” Johnson said. “And Imean to play fora long time andsomebody pay them alot of money to do it.

“We’ll keep working with them We need those guys.”

Eyansonovercameorder hurdles

Getting through opposing lineups asecond time has been an issue for junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson on numerous occasions. Missouri, Texas and Auburn all had their way with the UC San Diego transfer as each gamewore on.

But that wasn’tthe case on Friday. Eyansongot betterasthe night went alongafter allowing a run in the first inning. He finished his outing striking out 12 batters in 6innings, tossing aseason-high 115 pitches in the process. Even if he didn’thavehis best control —Eyanson walkedfive batters —his curveball was as good as its been all season. He also effectively commanded his splitter and slider below theknees, generating morewhiffs on pitches out of the

Although Tomlinsonisanolder college athlete, he’slearning anew system at anew school andhe’s also partnering with aextra young cornerback room

“A lot of young guys whohave a lot of potential and can play.I feel like all of us we’re capable of playing,”hesaid. “It’sjust aboutputtinginthe effort and the time and extrafilm time to get to know each other

“I feel like we’re atalented and fast group who can playagainst anybody.”

Ironically,the biggest changes to everyonearoundhim in SouthLouisiana wasthe once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm in late January

aplayable now,which is big improvementfor where he wasat.

In terms of the receiver with McMillan, is he your No. 1guy? MatthewGolden,anyone there? McMillan also fits since he’s the type of receiver that they don’thave, which I think makes alot of sense forthem. But do you likehim more than Golden or anyofthe other guys?

Oh,yeah. McMillan is No. 3 overall on my big board, period. Iconsider (Colorado’s) Travis Hunter moreofa corner first. ButIstill think if you do draft (Hunter) at receiver,I totally get it. ButIview him as acorner McMillan, though, is my WR1, No. 3onmybig board. Ithink he’s ano-brainer top 10 talent, even with the long speed stuff,because it doesn’thinder his tape at all because he wins in so manyother ways.

Golden is WR3 formeafter (Ohio State’sEmekaEgbuka), but they’re tiered the same. Ihave them in the 20s on my big board. That’swhere the range I’mmore comfortable with him,late first, early second types. Golden ran fast, but his speed isn’t—that’s not how he wins. He’smore of asmooth…He’slike asmaller DJ Moore. That’swho I’ve been comparing him.But that’salittle scary because he’ssmaller.He’s 190. He’snot 215, which is what Ithink DJ Moore is now.Then Egbuka’sadirty work guy,but a good one. Ireally like his game. I thinkheactually wouldn’tbebad for theSaints either,but it’stoo rich at nine.

That’d be morelike asecondround pick,orI’d be morecomfortable with him at 20, so I’m on atradeback or something like that. Butyeah, McMillan is easily, definitivelymyWR1. If the Saints trade up, is there aplayeror position group youthink they could target if aguy falls or players starttocome offthe board —similar to what happenedlast year with them grabbing Kool-Aid McKinstry?

Idon’tknow if this guy’sa…he might be the perfect LSU guy, but Mason Taylor,atight end. Offensive line, if maybe like (tackle) Donovan Jackson is there from Ohio State,I really like him.That would be his range. If they want to go off this line, he slipped alittle bit.Going like other positions. Ilike (defensive tackle) Tyleik Williams from Ohio State. He’sa big plugger type. Idon’tknow if you want to tradeupfor that skillset,though.Sothat’sthe thing, too. Malaki Starks maybe. That’d be agood one Ijust mentioned, but yeah, they signed Justin Reid. Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) is only going to be there forso long. Honey Badgers tape’snot great.But Malaki Starks, though, his range is all over the place. I mentioned him,oh, Iliked him at No. 9acouple of months ago. He’s like 18, 20, somewhere in that range on my big board. He might be aguy —because it’simpossi-

strike zone with all three off-speed offerings.

CanLSU find room forLarson?

SophomoreAshton Larson has been on theoutsidelooking in all season.Afterstarting as afreshman, he entered this weekend with just one at-bat in SEC play

Buthis secondtriptothe plate on Thursday became amemorable one. Larsonblasteda three-run homer,cutting LSU’s deficit at the time down to one. It wasonlyhis seventh hit of the season.

“It’sbeen interesting for sure,” Larson said when asked about how he’d describe his season thus far “It’snot necessarily howI pictured it going into the year,but Iknow that Godhas aplanand through Him all things are possible.

“So I’ve just beenrelying on my faith, relying on my people,and trying to learn from anything that happens and makethe mostofit.”

Larson’sbig swing helpedhim earn three moretrips to theplate during the series. But finding anymore playing time for him in the near future, whenJohnson is already having trouble juggling starts between Frey,Brownand Pearson,will be extremelydifficult unless something dramatically changes soon.

For Tomlinson,itjust felt like home.

“I’m used to it,” he laughed. “Everybody was freaking out here, but it was normal forme. It’s like a normal day back home.”

Whathas been newtohim has been the food and Mardi Gras.

“I love seafood —I had crawfish for the first time this weekend It’s good to try.Itwas amazing. It’s just alot of work to getthe seafood.

“The culture, Ihad never experienced aMardi Gras. Being around that, it wascrazy to me the amount of people that cometogether and dance and the music and the food, it wasreally awesome to see.”

ble to predict where safeties go in the draft—sohemight be aguy that slips and slips and slips, and they pop up. Maybe they moveup to 33, something of that sort, and stop the fall of Malaki Starks. But that would be one. Maybe if they did want to target asafety whohas someversatility,which makes sense forBrandon Staley as well. So that might be acandidate there.

Anotherbig positional need forthe Saints is cornerback. Is there anyone youlikefrom the Day2group? Ireally like Trey Amos from Ole Miss. He’sgetting alot of heat. Ithought Iwas going to be the only guy that really liked him Now, no one will shut up about it. Trey Amos, he’s38onmybig board, so right, perfect range there. Icould see him actually squeaking into the first. He’sjust easy to like. Corner’svolatile, but he feels safeish foracorner,and he tested much better than people anticipated, including me. And he’sgot agood skillset. But Amos is that perfect guy I’mlower on Maxwell Hairston from Kentucky.I think he’sgoing in the first round, so he might not be there. Azareye’h Thomas from Florida State is agreat call. ...Darien Porter from Iowa State. Big, long, converted receiver He’salittle older,but tested well. He’sgot acool skillset. Ithink someone’sgoing to take aswing on him in Round 2. Ihad him moreofa late second, early third grade, but his skillset and how big he is and his traits, that’sanother guy that could be picked at 40, I think that’savery valid candidate there.

One playerIdidn’task about in terms of Round 1isPennState tight endTyler Warren. How do you feel about him?

It’s funny,I ended up writing an article about him and (Michigan’s) Colston Loveland and comparing them. And Iwent in, viewed him as the sametier, Ihad Warren on top. And then after that article, Iput Loveland on top. But with Warren, though, specifically,his athleticism is his strength. His balance, he’sgood after the catch. He’sgot great hand-eye coordination. He doesn’t have alot of length, and it shows up on film. Sometimes when he has to be pressed, and maybe longer safeties are on him,hehas sometrouble getting separation. Also as ablocker,I think he has to be aguy on the moveasablocker, not aguy that you just trust, ‘Hey,boom, you’re in line and knock them down.’ Idon’tthink that’shis style. Ithink that his team fit is going to matter more and his role is going to matter more. Ithink he was 14th on my big board. Istill think he’savery good talent. Isaid that if everything hits, he could end up being very much like aTrey McBride, whoisthe highest-paid tight end in the NFLhistory right now

On target

Gotham Archery’syouth programbuilds

community, raises grades andself-esteem

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

AtBao Trinh’sfirst archery competition in Alexandria, she had apanic attack. She went to the bathroom and cried. She wasn’tthe only one —other members of her team struggled, too. Soon,theyhad ahuddleofgirls in the bathroom, simultaneously comforting each other and trying to calmdown.

Afterthis, she and the others pulled it togetherand did what they came to do: shoot arrows at targets among the 2,000 otherkids competing.

About ayear later,she laughed easily when asked aboutit.

“When Ireally think back on it,” she said, “I’m like ‘How could I be so scared of atournamentthat would be one and done?’

Trinh’sarchery team at Live Oak High School was co-founded by Gotham Archery.Their youthprogram partners withschools in the GreaterBaton Rouge area to bring archerytopeople who may not try sports otherwise.

Gotham Archeryowner Ken Hsu, who is from New York City, said he didn’t have opportunities to trysportslikearchery while he

wasinschool duetofinancialreasons. When he was about 19 years old, he resolved to try adifferent hobby every year to “catch up.”

Archerywas the second or third hobby he tried. Now,his goal is to teach theskill andcultivate aspace where anyone can find their place.

“I just don’tlike seeingpeople treated theway Iwas treated when Igot into the sport,” he said.

According to Hsu, the first bow shop he visited in New York didn’t even measure him. They sold him

an expensive bow that didn’tfit him.The second one he drove to was 45 minutes away,and they alwayssaid they didn’thaveroom forhim,evenwhenthe rangewas empty. He ended up driving an hour anda half each waytoanother shop that had awelcoming environment. Eventually,after 10 years of workingininvestment banking, he decided to pivot andstart his

ä See ARCHERY, page 6C

I’ve definitely gotten alot more confident in myself.It’s(archery)made me accept that not everything’sgonnabeperfect,and that sometimes you’re just gonna have to acceptthat badthings will happen,but you just have to persevere.” BAO TRINH,student at Gotham Archery

Psychiatric condition imitates dementia

What is meant by pseudodementia?

Pseudodementia is apsychiatric condition that appears to mimicsymptomsofdementia but does not have its roots in neurological degeneration. This condition is sometimes called depressive pseudodementia, as the symptomsoften stem from moodrelated conditions such as depression. Pseudodementia had sometimes been linked to any factitious mental illness, however,inthe 1960s the term came to be knownmore specifically to the situation in which a “functional” psychiatric illness imitated dementia.

The primary symptoms of pseudodementia include speech and language difficulties, lapses or losses in memory,attention deficits, problems with organizing and planning and trouble with regulating emotions. Because these symptomsare very common in individuals with dementia, adoctor may diagnose and treat these individuals as though they have dementia. Yet, because pseudodementia often has a link to depression, individuals also may experience symptomsthat include aloss of interest in activities, adepressed mood that lasts forweeks at a time, social withdrawal, insomnia, fatigue, loss of appetite or overeating, and even suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

Mood-related conditions such as depression are potential causes and the mostcommon. Many doctors will not consider pseudodementia until they have entirely ruled out dementia and other possible causes of the symptoms. In older adults, particularly,depression may cause significant cognitive impairment that can lead to consideration of adiagnosis of pseudodementia.

However,though it is most commonly associated with depression, other mental health conditions, like schizophrenia or dissociative disorder,can cause similar symptomsand should be evaluated.

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Theatre’sproduction of themusical “Cabaret” do as the jazz age is about to giveway to Hitler’srise. McNeeseisdirectingthe show, whichopens April24onthe Ascension Community Theatre stage at 823 N. Felicity Ave. in Gonzales. Rehearsals for the musical came on theheels of Sullivan Theater’s musical, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which McNeese also directed in March. “They’re two totally differentstories, but Isee alot of the same kind of themes in it,which is seeing people for people,” he said.“So thereare commonalities there, but of course, the stories are set in two different time periods. But the same things run throughout both of them, and its seeing people for who they are.”

Ascension Community Theater

And everybody is living life on their terms in and around “Cabaret’s” setting of Berlin’sKit Kat Club, known forits decadent celebration. Theclub’sentertainment is helmedbythe Emcee, played by Michelle FreneauxChassaing, backedbya choruscalled theKit Kat Girls. Standing in the

ä See 'CABARET', page 6C

Pseudodementia and dementia can be difficult to distinguish. For instance, individuals experience changes in cognition and brain function as they age, so separating normal agerelated changes versus early signs of depression or dementia proves problematic. Additionally,itisvery possible for an individual to have true dementia and suffer from depression at the same time. Thus, diagnosing pseudodementia can take time as athorough round of tests and evaluations are needed to ascertain adiagnosis. Once diagnosed with pseudodementia, treatment can take along period of time, noting the individual’sresponse to the treatment options and any adjustments that need to be made. In many cases, this involves treating the depression that has led to the symptoms, so treatment typically involves acombination of psychotherapy and medication. Medications fordepression, such as antidepressants,

ä See CONDITION, page 6C

STAFF PHOTOSByHILARy SCHEINUK

Students scoretheir targets after shooting their bows April 2atGotham ArcheryinCentral.

Ryan Henry, 9, scores his target April 2atGotham ArcheryinCentral.

Proper hydrationiscrucial to health

DearDoctors: My doctor wants me to hydrate more, but Ifind it difficulttodrink the 64 ouncesof water per day he recommends. I have aprotein shake with 8ounces of milk each morning —does that count toward my total consumption? What other strategies would you suggest?

Dr.Elizabeth Ko

Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

as we age. The amount someone needs to drink each day also varies. It depends on age, body size, fitness and activitylevel. Butclimate, environment and even altitude also play important roles.

Dear reader: Theconversation with your doctor about drinking enough water mirrors one we have with many of ourown patients. It’sanimportant topic because water plays akey role in so many bodily functions. We need it to regulate body temperature; break down, transport and absorb nutrients; maintain blood volume; eliminate metabolic byproducts; regulate electrolyte balance;support immuneresponse; maintain healthy blood pressure; moisten the mucus membranes; keep skin moisturized; and keep the connective tissuespliant and lubricated

ARCHERY

Continued from page5C

own archery business in New York City.Hestill has locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, buthemoved to Louisiana seven years ago in search of adifferent market for archery

To him, archery isn’tjust about hunting or shootingat targets, it’salso about community andbuildingconfidence. For alot of the students, he said, it’sthe first sport they really take to and do well in, and he wants to make it easy for people to give it atry.That means telling kids not to buy equipment in the beginning.

“Whatwe’ve seen down here is alot of kids don’tparticipate in sports because of the high cost of just starting,” he said. “It’snot fair to tell aparent to take 100% of the risk.”

Isabella Russell, asophomore at Live Oak High School, found archery when shewas anew studentat anew school. Last year was her first year in public school after being homeschooled for the first years of her education. Hsu was sitting at atable during freshman orientation, ready to recruitnew students.

Russell’slove of archery wasn’t immediate, butshe stuck with it, made friends and now,she lovesit. According to her mother Deanna Russell, it’sbeen transformational.

“She was very quiet, very introverted, didn’t really want to get involved in any type of school activities, and this year is the opposite,” her mom said. “I just see a lot more joy in her this year.”

According to Deanna Rus-

‘CABARET’

Continued from page5C

spotlight is British chanteuse Sally Bowles, played by Kamryn Hecker Meanwhile, American writer Clifford Bradshaw, played by Don Fields, steps off atrain and rents aroomat anearby boarding house. He meets Sally, and their eventual romance walks atightrope betweenhope and doom.

“Cabaret” debutedin Broadway’sBroadhurst Theatre on Nov.20, 1966, winning eight Tony Awards and inspiring the 1972 Oscarwinning, Bob Fosse-directed film starring Liza Minnelli.

The musical duo of John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the music and lyrics, and Joe Masteroff wrotethe book for “Cabaret,” which is based on Christopher Isherwood’s1939 novel, “Goodbye to Berlin.”

“Its setting of Berlin in Weimar Republic that was very much aplace of freedom of expression since the late 1800s,” McNeese said. “It was aplace of freedom to express your gender identity,sexuality,those types of things.” With that in mind, McNeese chose to cast Chassaing in the role of the Emcee, which, most times, is played by amale actor Joel Grey originatedthe role on Broadway and won an Oscar for the role in the film. Alan Cumming later wonaTonyAward forhis portrayal of the Emcee in

In theory,thirst will prompt people to drinkthe water they need. In reality,that’snot always the case. When you’re busy, stressed or absorbed in atask, thesignals of thirst can be easy to ignore. There’salso the fact that thesensation of thirst diminishes

The 64 ounces your doctor recommends is based on the guideline of eight glasses of water per day.Another common rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day.With our own patients, we simplify thingsand recommenddrinking to quench thirst and —this is theimportantpart —enough to ensure that the urine runs clear You’renot alone in struggling to stay hydrated. The good news is that, yes,the milk in your morning smoothie, as well as the tea, coffee and other beverages

sell, abig drawofarchery is therelativelylow barrier to entry:it’snot like gymnastics where someone has to start as asmall child or be behind your peers.Archery is something youcan learn within ayear andexcelat. This kind of transformation is commonplaceatGotham. For Hsu,huntingseason and the associated business in bowrepairs paythe bills. The rest of theyear,he focuses on giving back to the community

“He probablyhas oneof the biggesthearts Iknow for thekids,” said Andrew Finn, afather of astudent whose daughter, Bailey,isalso part of theyouth program. In years past,Hsu has made dealswith kids in the programto try to help get theirgradesup. He incentivized kids who were about to be expelled to make honor roll.

“If kids have straight Fs, if they can make straight As, I’d give themabow,” he said.

“With that, we’ve been able

‘CABARET’

The Ascension Community Theatre productionruns April 24-27 and May1-4 in the theater at 832 N. Felicity Ave, Gonzales. Sundaymatinees begin at 2p.m.All other shows begin at 7p.m.Tickets are $20$35.Visit actgonzales.org

the 1998 revival. But, as McNeese sees it, theEmcee’sgender doesn’t matter.

“We’re taking aandrogynous approachtothe Emcee,”hesaid. “Michelle and Ihave talked alot about the Emcee, and there is along tradition of peopletaking on theroleand playing it in totallydifferent ways. Ithink not putting the Emceea genderedbox really kindofencapsulates thekindoffreedomthat was inthe Weimar Republic at thetime. And then throughout the story, yousee whathappens when youstart to have this threat of fascism andauthoritarianism cometoBerlin.”

Chassaing, meantime,auditioned for “Cabaret”solely to winthe part of the Emcee.

“The Emcee specifically hasalways been arolethat Ifound very intriguing,”

Chassaing said. “Thisisan undefinedcharacter,becausethe Emcee doesn’t directly take partinthe in the plot, andI like theidea of acharacter that’salso aconcept. So, the Emcee, as acharacter,doesn’t really exist. We feel like we go through the story with

to track over400 Fgrades go to As.”

He’shad to scaleback on makingdeals (giving away $1,000 bows is not asustainable businessmodel), but he still does them. Evenwithoutthe incentive of free equipment, the program offerssomething not monetarily quantifiable: selfesteem.

Trinh wentontoplace 14th at theJuniorOlympic indoor nationaltournament in her division this year.She also won first place at adifferent tournament and left witha $250 scholarship.

“I’ve definitely gotten alot more confident in myself,” Trinhsaid. “It’s(archery) mademeaccept that not everything’sgonna be perfect, and that sometimes you’re just gonna have to accept that badthingswillhappen, but you just have to persevere.”

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

Cliff andSally andFraulein Schneider,Herr Schultz, and they’rereal characters, but theEmcee is morelike asort of manifestation of theculturalawarenessofthe time into aperson. It’slike we are all the Emcee —the Emcee could be any of us.

Chassaing’smention of Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz bring up two other characters whose romance plays out in the story

Fraulein Schneider, played by KatieSills-Thibodaux, owns the boarding house where Clifford lives. She fallsinlove with boarder Herr Schultz, played by Devin Rogers, whoseoverthe-top positivity is described as toxic.

But there’s one thing hampering their romance —Fraulein Schneideris German and HerrSchultz is Jewishina time when antisemitism is growing in Germany as the Nazis step into power

“She loves Herr Schultz, but she has to make adecision whether to stay with him or break off the relationshiptoprotect herself,” Sills-Thibodaux said.

What does shedecide in the end? Well, even those whohaveseen only the movie version of “Cabaret” will have to makeatripto Gonzales to find out.

“Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultzaren’tmajor charactersinthe film, so youreally don’tknowmuch about themlike you do in the play,” Sills-Thibodaux said.

So, no spoilers here.

you may drink throughout the day,count toward your hydration total.Depending on your diet,upto20% of daily water can come from fruits, vegetables and liquid dairy products. But thebalance hastobemade up with beverages. Some people find adding asqueezeofcitrus or a few slices of cucumber to plain water makes it more palatable Sparkling water is also agreat alternative. But limit sweetened beverages, which contribute added sugars. Ditto for artificially sweetened beverages, which add chemicals to your diet. If you find you’re still falling short, consider water-based strategies. Starting the day with aglass of water can awaken your thirstawareness. Water before a meal not only contributes to daily

totals, but it can also help manage appetite. Track water intake by filling areusable bottle with your daily amount, and empty it gradually throughout the day.And, if all else fails, try tough love. Remind yourself that being chronically dehydrated increases your risk of developing gallstones, kidney stones, heart arrhythmias, pancreatitis, blood clots, high or low blood pressure, headache and fatigue. Bottom line: Getting enough water each day is crucial to staying healthy

Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles CA, 90024.

Temper friends’ nosiness

Dear Miss Manners: Between my husband and me, who have each been married previously to other people we have four children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. We have been married to each other for almost 25 years. Six of the grandchildren and all of thegreat-grandchildren have been born during our marriage.

Iamespecially close to some of the grandchildren from his side of the family.But when Iamwith agroup of friends and mention somethingabout thekids, Iam often asked which of them are my “real” grandchildren. Ifind that question to be extremely rude, and I reply that we do not divide up grandchildren. Is there abetter way to answer this question? I have thought about asking why the person wants to know,orwhy it is important.

Gentlereader: “They’re all very real, last Ichecked.” What you need is an answer that shutsdown that line of inquiry,and “Why

do you wanttoknow?” is not it. Youwill only get aresponse of “I was just curious,” which still leaves you in need of apresentable form of “Well, it’s none of your business.” Aquick-witted person might even come up with adifferent reason for their question say,being intrigued by family resemblances —which would prolong the inquiry.Ifitwere Miss Manners, she would prolong it in adifferent way: “Let me think,” she would say.“Well, Lily is certainly real. She is finishing college and going on to take amaster’s. Kyle is taking agap year,traveling in Asia, and he is real. Lauren is sort of doing that, too —taking aleave from her law firm while the triplets are babies, all very real. Jessica’shusband can workfrom home, so she wentright back to work after each baby,and she’srealistic enough to makeitwork. Garvin is going into business for himself,which is scary but thrilling, and noth-

ing if not real. Jordan is teaching high school; you can’tget morereal than that. Andre even works forareality show.Annabel works on AI in ways Idon’t understand, but she tells me it’sthe coming reality.Madison had arough timefor awhile, but she plunged back into reality and is awonderful mother and community activist.” And so on.

“But that’sthe grandchildren. The children are retired or reaching retirement, and talking about what they really want to do now.And you’re probably wondering about the greatgrandchildren! Let’ssee: Olga, Oliver and Tommy —he’snamed formyTom —plus Zelda and Sam Tomand Ilike to babysit, so we know they’re real, all right. Would you like to see them?I have somevideos on my phone …” And so on, foraslong as possible. Miss Manners can promise you that there will not be ashred of curiosity leftinthose formerly nosy questioners.

Send questions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.

Dealingwithannoyingscamcallers

Dear Heloise: In arecent column of yours, areader wrote that when they get an call from an unknown person, they pick up, then immediately hang up. It may save time, but it signals to thecaller that the number they called is active. It might be better to waste a bit of timeand request that thecaller put your number on their “Do Not Call” list. —HaroldS., in Minneota, Minnesota

ByThe Associated Press

Harold, these scam callers have no sense of guilt or shame. They’ll keep calling even if you ask them not to call. It’s best to simply not answer the phone if you don’t know the number or hang up immediately if they start one of their sales pitches. —Heloise Ripand roll

Dear Heloise: My vacuum roller brush gets all kinds of hair,yarn, thread, etc.,

wrapped tightly around it. Ifigured out that the perfect little tool to remove the debris is aseam ripper —L.C., via email

Replacinga toothbrush

DearHeloise: I’m old-school when it comes to replacing my toothbrush. Isimply write the date on the handle with permanent marker andreplace every it six months. —C.D.H., via email

Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Today is Monday April 21, the 111th day of 2025. There are 254 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On April 21, 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis from an accidental fentanyl overdose; he was 57.

On this date:

In 1836, an army of Texans,led by Sam Houston, defeated theMexican Army, led by Antonio López de SantaAnna, in theBattle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution.

CONDITION

Continuedfrom page5C

may reduce symptoms. Cognitive behavior and interpersonal therapies may alsohelp improve the

In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better knownasMark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74. In 1975, with Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyen VanThieu resigned after nearly 10 years in office, fleeing the country five days later

In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, but waslater exposed as having cheated by entering the racecourse less than 1mile before the finish line. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women’srace.)

symptomsand treat the underlying cause. Though individuals with depression may respond well to treatments, cognitive impairment may linger but may also return over time.

Dana Territo is an

In 2015, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012. (Morsi collapsed and died during trial on espionage charges in June 2019.)

Today’sbirthdays: Actor-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May is 93. Author-activist Sister Helen Prejean is 86. Singer Iggy Pop is 78. Actor Patti LuPone is 76. Actor Tony Danza is 74. Actor Andie MacDowell is 67. Musician Robert Smith

Alzheimer’sadvocate andauthor of “What My Grandchildren

Taught Me About Alzheimer’sDisease.” Shehosts “TheMemory Whisperer.” Email herat thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK youthcoachBraelon Hobson providesinstruction to his class April 2at Gotham Archery.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Hints from Heloise

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Uncertainty is the enemy. Whenindoubt, ask questionsand look foraway to reviseissues to suit your needs.Achange of attitude will broadenyourperception.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Go directly to the source when something appears questionable. It's up to you to get your information straight before making decisionsthat willaffect your next move.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Say no to excess andyes to ahealthy lifestyle. Learn from your mistakes and consider what's important to you. Brainstorm and discover aunique way to use your talents

LEo(July 23-Aug. 22) Push forward with thought,planning and curiosity. It's never too late to change, upgrade or expand your circle of friends. Your thirst for knowledgewill lead to serious considerations and adventure.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) It's up to you to bringabout change. Digin; discipline and determination will helpyou reach yourgoal andleave alasting impression on the people youencounter. Engage and control theoutcome.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Shake things up and see what happens.Your abilityto movemountainswith your charm, connections anddisplays of appreciation will contributetoyoursuccess.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Putyour emotionsaside and focus on self-improvement andchanges that make your life

less chaotic. Network or take on aprojectoractivity thatchallengesyou to look and feel your best

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Think before you spend money, and you'll avoidfalling short. Generosity won't buy you what you want.You'll make the best impression if you finish what you start and liveuptoyour promises.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Establish your position andwhatyou wantto achieve.Knowledge andmaking key connections to people in apositionto help youwill get you whereyou want to go.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Channel your energy wisely. Thetemptationto squander your timeorcash will leave youataloss. Maintaining apractical attitude and concentrating on your goal will pay off.

PIscEs(Feb. 20-March 20) Work alone. Letting others interrupt or talk you into unnecessary spending and add-ons will complicateyour goals. Changing your surroundings will offer inspiration. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Positioning yourselffor success will broaden your scope and encourage you to findnew outlets for your skills. Achange in how you earn and handleyour money looks promising.

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

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms arecreated from quotations by famous people, past and present. Eachletter in thecipher stands for another toDAy'scLuE: REQuALs P

FAMILYCIrCUS

For better or For WorSe

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe 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.

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

AldoLeopold,anecologistandenvironmentalist who died in 1948, said, “Conservationisastate of harmony between men and land.”

Entry conservation in bridge is astate of harmony between cards and hands. That was thesubject of last week’s columns. But before we move on, here is one more declarer technique that requirescareful entry handling. How shouldSouth play in four hearts after West leadsthe club king?

Theauction followedapredictable path

South has four losers: two diamonds and two clubs. He has only nine top tricks: two spades,six heartsand one club. The only chance for an extra winneristoestablish dummy’s spades. But if that suit is splitting 4-2, as it rates to do, declarer will need three dummy entries: two for ruffing spades in his hand and one to return to the dummy to cashthe 13th spade. Whatare those entries?

Theymustbeonespadeandtwohearts. Why not twospades?

Because an entrycountsonly if South can immediatelytrump aspade in his hand. This is thebestline: Win thefirsttrick with the club ace, cashthe heartking, playoff dummy’s top spades, and ruffa spade high in hand so that theunfriendly

wuzzles

West cannot overruff. Continue with a low hearttodummy’s nine, ruffanother spadehigh,andplayatrumptodummy’s ace (removing West’slast heart). Then South can happily cash the spade six and discard one of his minor-suit losers. That is textbook entry conservation and suit establishment ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.ByAndrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name,place,saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons:

toDAy’sWoRD

Averagemark15words

Time

Canyou

thought

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.