The Advocate 05-06-2025 by The Advocate

“For too many years, we’ve just hung on to property without any real plan. That property needs to be reinvested back into the community.”

GAUDET, East Baton Rouge Parish School Board vice president

MIKE

Vacant EBR schools pose challenges

Group seeking to return assets back to community

School counselor Kelli Zima offers a fist bump and encouraging words as students leave Westminster Elementary School on Monday. Westminster is one of five school buildings that will become vacant when the school year ends.

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

When the school year ends May 23, nine public schools in Baton Rouge will cease operations and, in the process, ﬁve school buildings will become vacant

These newly vacant facilities, emptied thanks to a vote last week by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, join at least ﬁve other vacant school buildings and several more vacant properties where the schools have been demolished

This glut of unused and underused properties is challenging local leaders to figure out ways to prevent

BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

WASHINGTON Pushing forward with its mass deportation agenda, President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it would pay $1,000 to immigrants who are in the United States illegally and return to their home country voluntarily The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release

these locales from devolving into blight and sources of criminal activity as has happened to other vacant school properties in the recent past

School Board Vice President Mike Gaudet said he recently sat in on the ﬁrst meeting of a group seeking to do just that, to ﬁnd the best ways to “return these community assets back to the community

“For too many years, we’ve just hung on to property without any real plan,” Gaudet said “That property needs to be reinvested back into the community.”

This ad hoc group is led by Build Baton Rouge, a public agency formed in 2007 to bring together

that it would also pay for travel assistance, and that people who use an app called CBP Home to tell the government they plan to return home will be “deprioritized” for detention and removal by immigration enforcement.

“If you are here illegally, selfdeportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,”

Secretary Kristi Noem said. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens ﬁnan-

public and private partners to redevelop property in order to eliminate or head off blight. Build Baton Rouge’s board has appointees from city-parish government, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber Representatives from each also are participating in this new group.

Deidre Robert, chief executive ofﬁcer of Build Baton Rouge, said her ofﬁce is working on a master mapping system that will identify publicly held property not just schools, that could potentially be pooled together and reused.

ä See SCHOOLS, page 4A

cial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App.”

The department said it had already paid for a plane ticket for one migrant to return home to Honduras from Chicago and said more tickets have been booked for this week and next.

Trump made immigration enforcement and the mass deportation of immigrants in the United States illegally a centerpiece of

Changes to jobless benefits eyed

House passes bill requiring work search actions

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana could require residents who get unemployment insurance to do more to find new jobs if a bill advancing in the Legislature becomes law House Bill 153, which passed the state House by a vote of 73-24 on Monday, with most Democrats opposed, would require those collecting unemployment benefits to perform five work search actions a week. Currently the Louisiana Workforce Commission requires three weekly work search actions, a standard that is not codified in state statute, said Secretary Susana Schowen. Work search actions can include attending interviews, filling out job applications, doing mock interviews and attending job fairs and networking events, said Schowen. Part of HB153 directs the commission to define appropriate work search actions through its regulations.

The goal of the bill is to get jobless Louisianans back into the workforce more quickly, proponents say “When you’re out of work, unemployment is a needed beneﬁt, but it’s a beneﬁt that comes with criteria,” said state Rep. Troy Hebert, R-Lafayette,

ä See JOBLESS, page 5A

Governor could have more appointment latitude

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Louisiana’s governor could soon have more latitude on who to appoint to 32 of the state’s occupational licensing boards and commissions, including those that oversee accountants, plumbers, nursing home administrators, contractors, psychologists and engineers, among a slew of other professions.

Current law requires the governor to appoint some members of these boards from lists of candidates put forward by industry trade associations.

his campaign, and he is following through during the ﬁrst months of his administration. But it is a costly resource-intensive endeavor

While the Republican administration is asking Congress for a massive increase in resources for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department responsible for removing people from the country, it’s also pushing people in the country illegally to “self-deport.”

It has coupled this self-deporta-

tion push with television ads threatening action against people in the U.S. illegally and social media images showing immigration enforcement arrests and migrants being sent to a prison in El Salvador The Trump administration has often portrayed self-deportation as a way for migrants to preserve their ability to return to the United States someday, and the president

ä See TRUMP, page 5A

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Schowen

Robert, who started with Build Baton Rouge in March, said that in other places, she’s seen abandoned schools converted into business centers with a mix of tenants as well as community meeting space.

Another common reuse is to create housing designated for key groups of workers who are important for a local economy such as law enforcement, educators and hospital staff, but have trouble ﬁnding good places to live.

“You have to be inclusive of what the community needs are,” she said.

Robert said successful redevelopment should not be rushed

“I think you have to balance a sense of urgency with thoughtfulness,” she said. “You can move swiftly but very thoughtfully as well.”

Alumni center stage at Capitol

Of the newly vacant properties, Capitol High has generated the most attention. It is the only high school among the 28 schools impacted in the realignment plan approved last week.

Capitol High’s 65-year-old campus at 1000 N. 23rd St. — designed by famed local architect A. Hays Town — faces an uncertain future.

Some alumni had hoped to have a new school built at this site but those hopes faded as such proposals stalled and enrollment at the high school nosedived.

The school system is exploring alternatives.

“We want to use that facility as a Capitol High alumni center along with some other services we want to provide to the area,” Superintendent LaMont Cole told School Board members last week

If it became an alumni center it would follow the path taken by the original McKinley High, which was turned into an alumni center in the 1990s after a ﬁre nearly destroyed that historic school. Like McKinley, Capitol is a historically Black high school. When Capitol High opened in 1950, it was the second public high school for Black children in Baton Rouge. It operated at a different location for a decade before moving to North 23rd Street.

“We want to designate an area for the alumni to be able to operate out of to get started and then after that, to think about how they can work as a nonproﬁt to generate revenues to support anything that happens at the facility in the immediate short run,” Cole said In the meantime, Cole said, he intends to move district staff in the areas of ﬁne arts and athletics into Capitol. It’s part of a larger strategy to maintain a human presence in old schools to prevent them from falling further into disrepair “(Closed schools) potentially

BOARDS

Continued from page 1A

For example, the governor must select three members of the Board of Examiners of Nursing Facility Administrators from a list provided by the Louisiana Nursing Home Association. And the governor’s five appointments to the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists must come from the Louisiana Psychological Association.

In another example, the governor must choose members of the State Licensing Board for Contractors from candidate lists put forward by several contractor trade associations, such as Associated Builders and Contractors of Louisiana and the Louisiana Council of the National Electrical Contractors Association.

House Bill 603 would change the law so that the governor’s appointments to occupational licensing board could come from trade associations on an optional rather than mandatory basis It passed the state House on Monday and next moves to the Senate for consideration.

“Occupational licensing boards exist to protect the consumer Associations exist to represent the industry,” said bill sponsor Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge. “Allowing associations to decide who can be on their regulatory board is a direct conﬂict with the licensing boards obligation to protect the consumer.”

The 32 licensing boards included in the bill are those where the governor’s ap-

could turn into vacant properties where homelessness may start to arise and things we don’t want to see happening in those neighborhoods. So, we got to keep some activity,” Cole said.

Teacher housing

Another reuse idea is to turn closed schools into housing for teachers.

When Cole ﬁrst presented his realignment plan on April 15, he suggested that Westminster Elementary might be a good candidate for conversion to affordable housing for teachers. It’s still an embryonic idea. The school system has not officially settled on what to do with West-

minster, which is located at 8935 Westminster Drive. Westminster is the only school being closed that’s located in the city of St George.

David Carnes, president of Westminster’s crime prevention district, said several residents of the neighborhood, which has nearly 600 homes, have expressed concern since Cole’s announcement about what such housing would do to their home values.

“People who are trying to sell their house feel that the uncertainty of that would have a negative effect on whether they could sell that house,” Carnes said. “I can understand their concern.” Cole last week said Bernard Ter-

race Elementary, 241 Edison St., which is also being closed, might also work as future teacher housing.

“I used the phrase affordable housing, but really what I’m talking about is luxury housing with affordable prices geared strictly to teachers,” Cole explained, likening it to other recent redevelopment projects in the downtown Baton Rouge area.

Amid a national teacher shortage, school districts across the country have experimented with housing incentives to attract people to work in the classroom. The East Baton Rouge Parish school system has had ongoing struggles attracting and retaining teachers, particularly in high-demand subjects and at its most struggling schools.

Cole said the idea of using housing to attract teachers took shape in his mind during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Folks who are in the profession started to make more money staying at home and getting online jobs,” he recalled.

“I was thinking it would be really attractive if a teacher knew they could come to the city of Baton Rouge and live in a luxury condo or in an apartment complex for a really nice rate,” he continued.

More vacant properties coming

The inventory of unused and underused school properties is likely to grow as the parish school system continues to see student enrollment slowly decline.

Cole’s realignment plan approved last week is just the ﬁrst phase of what promises to be a multiyear effort to readjust a school district built for more than 60,000 students that now has fewer than 40,000.

Even with the recently approved closures and school consolidations, at least 15 Baton Rouge schools are expected to have fewer than 300 students when the new school year begins in August. Three are neighborhood schools untouched by the recent changes, including Northeast Elementary and Northeast High schools, both in Pride. Six schools are expected to have room for at least 500 more students. That includes the two Northeast schools, as well as Belaire, Istrouma and Scotlandville high schools and Westdale Middle School.

Even with the recent closures, there are still 30-plus schools in operation that have not undergone major renovations and in facilities that are between 50 and 85 years old. The school district, however, is slowly shrinking its footprint. The School Board has spent more than $2 million tearing down three closed schools, including the former Glen Oaks Middle which was damaged by ﬁre in late 2023. This month, the board is poised to approve spending as much as $650,000 to demolish the former Eden Park Elementary

Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate.com.

Examiners of Psychologists

pointees are required to come from related trade associations, McMakin said.

He noted the bill would allow trade associations to offer recommendations to the governor, but it would also create guardrails to “ensure there is not an active market takeover of a regulatory authority.”

The governor’s board appointments would still be subject to any professional qualifications required by law

The Louisiana Association of Substance Abuse Counselors and Trainers opposes the change over concerns that appointments could become political and that candidates wouldn’t undergo thorough vetting by the association, said LASACT CEO Marolon Mangham

LASACT nominates six of eight members of Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority, which oversees addiction counselors.

“Usually a board like ours is so nonpolitical that it would be a real shame to just put political appointments,” Mangham said, adding that the association ensures members have proper credentials and demonstrated competency in the ﬁeld.

Gov Jeff Landry’s ofﬁce went on record in support of the legislation during a public hearing on the bill last month, but on Monday declined to comment further on that support.

“Too often, licensure boards are made up solely of representatives from the industries they oversee,” said Daniel Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy a conservative Louisiana think tank that is

backing the change.

“Efforts to democratize these boards and add more consumer members in the regulatory process are good for everyone involved, especially Louisiana’s emerging entrepreneurs,” he said.

Lawmakers have recently given the governor more authority over many state boards and commissions Last year, a new law gave the state’s chief executive authority to name the chairs of nearly 150 state boards.

“This continues the trend of the governor consolidating power of boards and commissions,” said Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, of House Bill 603.

But, Procopio added, there has to be a balance between the expertise trade associations provide and the real or perceived conﬂict of these organizations regulating themselves.

Here’s a list of the 32 occupational licensing boards that would be impacted under the current version of HB603:

n State Board of Certiﬁed Public Accountants of Loui-

siana

n Board of Barber Examiners

n Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board

n Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists

n Louisiana State Board of Dentistry

n Louisiana State Board of Nursing

n Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners

n Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board

of Examiners

n Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners

n Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners Physician Assistants Advisory Committee

n Clinical Laboratory Personnel Committee

n Advisory Committee on Perfusion

n State Plumbing Board

n Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors

n Louisiana Board of Veterinary Medicine

n State Licensing Board for Contractors

n Louisiana State Board of

n Louisiana Physical Therapy Board

n Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers

n Board of Examiners of Nursing Facility Administrators

n Louisiana Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

n Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners

n State Board of Electrolysis Examiners

n Louisiana State Board of Examiners in Dietetics and Nutrition

n Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners

n Respiratory Care Advisory Committee

n Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority

n Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board

n Louisiana Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors Board of Examiners

n Louisiana Board of Drug and Device Distributors

n Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners

n Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Capitol High School is one of five properties that will become vacant at the end of the school year It is the only high school among the 28 schools impacted in the realignment plan and has generated the most attention.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

One suggestion for Westminster Elementary School is to convert the facility into affordable housing for teachers.

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Bergeron,Margaret Lane Lefebvre

Margaret Lane Lefebvre Bergeron, anativeand life‐longresidentofPortAllen, passedawayatthe ageof 83surrounded by herfam‐ily on May3rd.Margaret devoted herlifetoher fam‐ily andcommunity.She cherished spending time withher grandchildrenand great-grandchildren and attendingtheir sporting events. Shealsoenjoyed spendingtimeather son’s meatmarketand watching her favorite television shows.Margaretretired after 41 yearsofservice for the West BatonRouge Clerk of Court. Shewas alsoa lifelong parishioner ofHolyFamilyCatholic Church in Port Allen. Visita‐tionwillbeheldatHoly FamilyCatholicChurchin PortAllen on Wednesday, May 7th, from 8:30 a.m. until aMassofChristian Burialat11:30 a.m.,concel‐ebrated by Rev. David Allen,Rev.Jerry Martin and DeaconJ.Brian Bergeron Entombmentwillfollowat St. John theBaptist Mau‐soleum. Margaret is sur‐vived by herthree children, ArlaneGilbert (Tommy), JeffBergeron(Brandi), and Craig “Moonie”Bergeron (Angela); twosisters,Char‐leneKemp(Ron) andGloria JeanCutrer(Billy);and a brother CharlesLefebvre. She waslovinglyknown as “MaMa”toher sixgrand‐children, BradyBergeron (Mich la), AbigailGilbert

Joseph Arthur “Butch” Bergeron; andher parents, Charles andMargaretForet Lefebvre. Pallbearerswill beBrady,Ben,and Bryan Bergeron, Ryan,Garrett and Landon Kemp,and ChadLefebvre. Thefamily extends heartfeltthanksto the staff of OurLadyofthe Lake’sCICUnursesand doctors fortheir compas‐sionate care.Inlieuof ﬂowers, donationscan be madetoHolyFamily Catholic Church in Mar‐garet’s memory.Please share memories at www wilbertservices.com

Berry, Octavia

OctaviaHebertBerry, age96, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 2, 2025.A native of Arnaudville, Louisiana,she was along-time resident of Baton Rouge. Sheretired from thebusinessoffice at Baton Rouge General Medical Center after35yearsof service.Octavia was devout Catholic and alongtime congregant of St. Thomas More Catholic Churchwhere she served as aLay EucharisticMinister for many years. She was precededindeath by her beloved husband of 60 years, Joseph Cecil" JC" Berry,Jr.,parents Alton (Altheon) and Agnes Bernard Hebert; brothers, Alton (Altheon), Jr Dallas, Douglas, andLeopold Hebert; sisters, Grace Castilleand June EllenSarvor. She is survivedbyher threechildren;Michael Berry and wife, Donna, RonaldBerry,and Lisa Wilbur and husband, Eddie; eight grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren; sister,LeeAnnaDe-

May 6, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. A Visitation willbeheldat thefuneral home beginning at 9:30 a.m. Burial will take place at Resthaven Cemetery following services.

Guy, Joyce Buhler

Joyce Buhler Guy passed away surrounded by her family on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at theage of 69. She wasaretired computer programmer and avid crafter who participated in many craft shows, resident of Plaquemine and nativeofGreenwell Springs, LA.Visitation will be held at Wilbert Funeral Home, 24120 Railroad Ave, Plaquemine, LA 70764, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, from9am until religious services at 11am, conducted by PastorTrisha Wilkinson. Entombment willfollowatGrace Memorial Park, Plaquemine.Joyce is survivedbyEvelyn Wilkinson; mother, Jeannette L. Buhler; uncle,Malcolm Buhler (Betty Helen); godchild, Jodi Salvadras Boudreaux (Kendall); great godchildren, Hunterand Hayden Boudreaux; extendedfamily,JoAnnSalvadras (Ervin), Joe Rodrigue (Gloria), and Jessie Wilkinson (Diane); nieces and nephews, RobbyRodrigue (Layna), Rodney McGraw (Tasha), Melissa Businelle(Scott), Matt Wilkinson, Trisha Wilkinson, and Jeremy Wilkinson (Diane); greatnephews and niece, Keegan (Victoria),Kyler,and AndrewRodrigue,JudeBusinelle, Alexisand Logan McGraw. Preceded in deathbyfather, DonaldJ.Buhler; sibli Robert "Bobby" Buh-

Businelle, and Rodney McGraw. Honorary pallbearerswillbeHunter and HaydenBoudreaux, Louis Milliken, Kyler and Andrew Rodrigue, and Jude Businelle. Joyce loved crafting, participating in craft shows and her craft show family.She loved horsesand competed in horse shows and rodeos as aGreenwell SpringsYouth Rider. Joyce enjoyed spending time at theballpark watching all thekids playing ball.She also enjoyed whitewater rafting.

With heavyhearts, we announce thepassing of James JosephLong, Jr known to everyone as "Jimmie", on May 2, 2025, in Baton Rouge at theage of 76. As aspecial needs person, Jimmie was a belovedmember of our family and hislarge extendedfamily.Jimmie's greatest joy was to runinto afriend and engagein conversation. Once you metJimmie,you werehis friend forlife.Henever forgota name or aface.Jimmie couldb-s his way throughany conversation, buthis favoritetopics were theDallas Cowboy and LSUTiger football teams,whomeverhehad recently seen, and whatever holidaywas next on the calendar. Jimmie also enjoyed playing bocce ball and bowling and was very proud of allhis medals and trophies. He willbemissed by allwho had thegood fortune to knowhim. Jimmie is predeceasedbyhis parents, JamesJ.Sr. and Eva Rita Schwabe Lo ,his

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, May6,2025 ■

brotherand sister-in-law Patrickand Jackie Longof St.Francisville,LA, hisbest friendKim Washington, andnumerous nieces, nephews, great nieces,and great nephews. There are no wordsto adequately express our deepestthankstothose wholoved, befriended, and caredfor Jimmie over the past 16 years, even "adopting" himinto theirown families, most especially KimWashington, Latonia Armwood, Marian Jeffrey, andCassiaDaigre. Visitation will be held from12:00 pm until2:00 pm on Thursday, May8th,2025, at Greenoaks Funeral Home 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA70815. Acelebration of Jimmie's life will be held following visitation.Inlieuofflowers, donations may be made to ARC Baton Rouge (https://thearcbr.org) or a charity of yourchoice

Ransome, Brian Thomas

Brian Thomas Ransome born in Baton Rouge,LAto PaulE.Ransome, Jr.and Diane Logsdon Ransome, passed away on May5, 2025 at the age of 66. Brian wasa graduate of Glen Oaks High School andwas an avidmusic fan and lovedspendingtimeplayinghis guitar. Brian is survivedbyhis siblings, Jeff (Linda), Bruce (Janet), Steve (Z), Anne (Ray), Daria (Rodney) andJudith (Mike); stepmother,Lynnell B. Ransome; and numerousnieces, nephews andcousins. Preceded in death by hismother, Diane Logsdon Ransome and father, PaulE.Ransome,Jr., grandparents, PaulSr. and Louise Ransome and MargueriteCrosby. Thevisitation will be held at St.Ann'sCatholic Church in Morganza,LAonWednesday, May7,2025 from 9:30 am

familywould like to give a special thanks to Solomon and thestaff at Life Source Hospice andLandmarkof PlaquemineNursing Home andRehab. In lieu of flowersdonationscan be made to SuperMusic School (17301 JeffersonHwy Suite 2. Baton Rouge,LA70817).

Long, James Joseph 'Jimmie'

VanSickle,Gertrude

Gertrude VanSickle, born in Cambridge, Marylandand

son, JamesBoley and wife Mona;grandchildren, Shawn Lisa Young and husband James, Michelle Wheelerand husband John, Bo Granger, Chad Grangerand wife Brooke, Wesley Boley and wife Heather,Jennifer Sibley andhusbandMicah, Matthew Boley andwife

in death by herchildren, Sherry A. Adams andDavid John Boley.

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Insteadof fluoride, lawmakersshould focusonpriorities that move La.forward

The current legislative sessionisracingtoward the finish, and lawmakers are considering ahost of bills, many tacklingthe state’sinsurancecrisis as well as important fiscal reforms. However, we’d like to see them pullthe plug ontwo fastmoving bills, which supporterssay aim at improving the health of Louisianans, but in reality do nothing of the sort and drain focusfrom the other,biggerissuesfacingthe state Senate Bill 2would ban the fluoridation of water in public water systemswith 5,000ormore people.While municipalitiescould petition for fluoride to be reinstated after avote, adding fluoride would be banned starting Jan. 1.The bill, authored by Sen. Mike Fesi, R-Houma,recently passed the Senate and is nowheaded to the House for avote.

Another Fesi bill, Senate Bill 19, would make ivermectin availableover the counter. The drug has been touted in some quarters as atreatment forCOVID andother ailments, but thereisno conclusive evidence of itsbeneﬁtsother than to treat some parasitic worms and some skin conditions, as approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That bill has also passedthe Senate. Indeed, in aﬁscalsession, onemight wonder why we’re even messing with these bills atall. The issues they purport to addresswould certainly rank low amongthe serious health challenges, such as high ratesofmaternal mortality, that remain unaddressed in Louisiana,whichlast year was ranked as the second leasthealthy state in the union.

The Louisiana Department of Health is already backing away from aonce-successful regimeof childhood vaccinations.These two bills would continue that deleterioustrend againstsound medicine.

The undeniable fact is that fluoride helps prevent tooth decay.Inthe 80 yearssince widespread fluoridation of drinking waterbegan, dentalhealth has risen precipitously,and places with fluoridated waterconsistently boast considerably better oral health.

Nobody here is just saying trust the experts Instead, the imperative is to trust the actual empirical data. There is no goodevidencethat ﬂuoride at the low levelsaddedtodrinking water poses any threat.

It’sone thing to allow doctors to prescribe ivermectin for off-label use. But why would anyone want to let individuals self-administera potentially dangerous drug without aphysician’s prescription?

The bills are in line withHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. KennedyJr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement. Increased focusonthe drivers of illness in theUnitedStates is welcome, but not health proposals based on conspiracy theories and bad science There is amessage that bills like thesesendto therestofthe country and the world. Louisiana is at acrossroads, withour state making news for major new investments and economic activity.Weencourage lawmakerstobuild onthis momentum by focusing their energy on solving ourinsurance crisis, whichisthe biggest threat we face. We hatetosee debatesoverﬂuoridation and ivermectin take center stage when theydon’t help advance the prioritiesthat will help our state move forward.

LETTERSTOTHE

Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone 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.

YOUR VIEWS

Atesttosee whoissincere aboutendingwar in Ukraine

Under the latest peace deal announced by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Ukraine would have to give up the territory thatRussia illegally took during the war,aswell as any chance for Ukraine to joinNATO. The Trump administration stated it would walk away if both sidesdidn’taccept its terms. This is absurd. Why should theaggressor,Russia, give up little or nothing and the victim, Ukraine, lose part of its country? Here’sa better idea: Call athree-monthtruce and have theUnited Nations, European Union and another independent entity monitor truly fair elections in Crimea. Let those residents vote peacefully and without threat or intimidation from either side. We can even send them our

voting machines to use. If two-thirdsvote (for acritical decision like this,asupermajority is required) to go to Russia, then Ukraine should give up Crimea. And vice versa. It would be apeaceful process to let those who actually live in the disputed territory have asay.IfRussia says “no vote,” then Ithink we know what we’re dealing withand should go full force in support of Ukraine. And if Ukraine says “no vote,” then we can tell them they’re on their own. Finally,under no circumstances should Ukraine be prevented from joining NATO.Russiahas shownits intent, and we need astrong NATO to keep it in check.

KYLE WATERS II Baton Rouge

Anew anthem forour troubled times

”God Help theUSA,” arewrite of Lee Greenwood’s“God Blessthe USA”

By tomorrow,the things will be lost we’ve fought for all along, Andwewill have to start again to correct what has gone wrong.

Inever thought our government would treat us all this way

‘Causethe ﬂag once stood for freedom,and now they’re taken that away Iwas proud to be an American where at once Ithought I’sfree

We’ve forgotten thefolks who died to give that right to you and me.

So I’d gladly stand up, next to you, to defeat tyranny today

‘Causethere ain’tnodoubt Iloved this land

God help theUSA From thelakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee Across theplains of Texas, from sea to shining sea, From Detroit down to Baton Rouge

and New York to L.A.

Well, there’sfear in every American heart

Andit’stime we stand, and say, That I’m proud to be an American where Iwill ﬁght to keep us free

Iwon’tforget thefolks whodied to give that right to me

AndI’d gladly stand up, next to you, to defeat tyranny today

‘Causethere ain’tnodoubt Ilove this land (I love this land)

God help theUSA

AndI’ll again be proud to be an American,when Iknow that we are free

AndIwill bless the folks whofought, to return that right to me

AndI’d gladly stand up, next to you, and save her still today

‘Causethere ain’tnodoubt Ilove this land (I love this land)

God help theUSA

Graves’workon Social Security showshe’sthe kind of leader we need

Thank you to former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves on behalf of all who are benefiting from his dedication to sign into law the Social Security Fairness Act. Ithank him.For more than 41 years, the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset unjustly denied Americans our full retirement benefits. For years, promises weremade by manypoliticians to have these lawsrepealed. However,Graves was the only representative whowas able to complete the task. As aresult, Ifirmly believe he could successfully move our state forward, including having anew I-10 bridge built. If he has given up on the thought of running forgovernor,I strongly encourage him to reconsider.Wedesperately need someone whoishard-working, action-oriented, listens to the needs of the people and fights forjustice. Graves has proven he is up to the task and would certainly have the support of those he has served. Again, thank you to Graves forhis service, his dedication and his courage to do the right thing.

CATHERINE ALTAZAN Port Allen

Fellow travelers’ kindness made a difference

We wanttoexpress our thanks and gratitude to twomen whohelped us change aﬂat tire recently.Myself and two other couples wereonour way homefrom New Orleans to Baton Rouge when apunctured tire caused aﬂat.

STEVENBARKER Baton Rouge

Keytolower auto insurancerates is in enforcinglaws

Iamwriting to suggest apartial solution to our high auto insurance rates. It stands toreason that if thereare fewer accidents, then there will be fewer lawsuits and rates then should come down. While ideas such as banning texting while driving makesense, they will not reduce accidentsand or make our highways safer.Why not?Because the traffic laws we have are not enforced. Many people ignore thetraffic laws because they know that they are not going to get aticket/fine forrunning red lights/stop signs, tailgating, speeding, etc. Before passing new laws, how about enforcing the existing laws? Who knows, thegovernment might make somemoney,reduce auto rates and makeour streetssafer.Win-win situation

We managed to pull off the interstate to an exit with agas station and started the process of putting on the spare. While this wasinprogress, twoSpanish-speaking men offered to change the tire forus. They had a hydraulic jack and had the spare on in no time. Several of us attempted to offer them cash fortheir help, but they ﬂatly refused to accept any of our offers. We felt much gratitude forthis cheerful, ready and unsolicited act of kindness from these two men

SHIRLEYPEAK Baton Rouge

BILL HINES Baton Rouge

Future of journalism in good hands

NATCHITOCHES Adorm loungeat

Northwestern State University is a strange place to see the future.

But it was there,lastmonth, that I gotaglimpse of what coming years portend. And Iamhappy to report that when it comes to journalism,the future looks strong. My colleague James Finnand Iwere in Natchitoches to speak to former Advocate |The Times-Picayune reporter Jim Mustian’sinvestigativereporting class. Over the course of afew hours, we shared some hard-won lessonsand told afew anecdotes about particular stories we had written. But the best part was hearing thestudents talk about the stories they were working on: how they learned about them and what they were doing to get them toa publishable shape. These young journalists showed passion, a willingness to question ofﬁcial statements and adesire to let people know whatwas reallygoing on.

Take Zoe Knighton. The 18-year-old sophomore has worked forweeks to convince the victim of an alleged sexual assault to tell her story

She’sasked administrators whythe case, which was reported to the police, did not result in more serious consequencesfor the alleged perpetrator She’d been dogged, compassionateand driven.

Or Pam Patton, another student in theclass. Patton ﬁled recordsrequests with the university police for footage and information related to apolice chase that began on campus, sped throughout the city and eventually ended when the woman beingchased died by suicide in her car after being stopped.

One student, Teldrick Cooper,began his project with asimplequestion:Why aren’tthere more recycling bins on campus?

We were joined at one pointbyHaley Wiggins, asenior who had taken the class in aprevious semester.For more than ayear,Wiggins has been pursuing

thetruth behind the deathofRonnie Caldwell, an NSU football player shot andkilled just off campus. Caldwell’s death forced the cancellation of the rest of theDemons’ 2023 season. No onehas been arrested for his murder Wiggins has received hundreds of pages of documents from public records requests related to the case.

Not every story they presented was apolished masterpiece. Someneeded signiﬁcantly moreresearch and reporting. Butthe corequalities of good journalism —curiosity,skepticism and determination —were clearly abundant What wasalso heartening is that these journalists were putting these skills to work at adirectional state school in asmall cityinnorthwest Louisiana Critics of the media often deride journalists as elitists. Andinsome cases, that’svalid. Butnot this case. Zoe, Teldrick and Pamare notinanivory tower.They arenot at atop-rated J-school or an Ivy League university. Not to disrespect thoseplaces, Ihave many wonderful andtalented colleagues from them. But they don’t have amonopoly on good journalism, which can be —and needs to be —doneanywhere at any time. Even in Natchitoches. Maybe one day somefrom theclass will endupatThe New York Times The Wall StreetJournal, Politico or the Atlantic. Maybe they’ll stay in north Louisiana. Maybe they’ll move to some

other small southern city or town. Wherever they end up, Iexpect they will be ready to use their skills to make their communities —our communities —more transparent, fair and knowledgeable.

Andthat’s somethingworth celebrating. It’seasy to be jaded about the future of good local journalism.The industry’s“demise” has been welldocumented. There are exceptions, of course, but for themost part, it’sa bleak picture. In themiddle of all of that, spending afew hours with these studentswas an un-jading, if you will. The journalism market they are entering is uncertain, continually evolving and likely to look very different in just afew years. Technological advances and market conditions threaten to render certain beloved products—like printed broadsheets—obsolete. What will never be obsoleteare the traits those studentsput on display in that class. Their work may oneday be read on people’swatches or an image projected onto their eyeballs by augmented reality glasses. Maybe it will be some new product that we can’t even imagine. Butitdoesn’treally matter.Aslong as they keep doing what they’re doing, to borrow from The Who, thekids are alright.

Faimon A. RobertsIII can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Trump’sGOP,progressivesagree: Statism’sheavy hand is good

Even academicsare educable, so universitiesmight emergefrom their current travailsimproved —more willing to include intellectual diversity on campuses, or at least bemore circumspect about impedingit. This is the good news. The bad news: Republicans rejoicing about breaking academia to the saddle and bridle of federal government supervisiondemonstrate that we have two parties barely distinguishable in their sharedenthusiasm for muscular statism. As “conservatives” mount sustained attacks on left-dominated educational institutions, they advance the left’sperennial agenda —the permeation of everything with politics. Such statism will extinguish thecore conservative aspiration: acivil society in constant creative ferment because intermediary institutions —schools, businesses, religious and civic organizations —are given breathing room, and are free to ﬂourish or fail without supervision from above by aminatory central authority

andmore.

Kafkaesque. One hears that word alot in discussions of KilmarAbrego Garcia. Or,for lowbrows like me,“The Twilight Zone” might be the pertinent reference.

Abrego Garcia is the Maryland manwho was wrongly deported and imprisoned without trial in agrim prison in El Salvador.InMarch, agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped Abrego Garcia while he was driving with his young son. Within days, he wasonaplane to anotorious terrorist conﬁnement center called CECOT in El Salvador,where it is clear that U.S. ofﬁcials were content to leave him to an uncertain fate.

His wife sued the UnitedStates over the deportation in acase that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The process revealed asordid reality in the administration of President Donald Trump that brings to mind the scene in Lewis Carroll’schildren’stale “Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland,” whenthe Queen of Hearts impatiently declares during the trial of the Knave of Hearts: “Sentence ﬁrst —verdict afterward.” In essence, that’sthe shaky case against Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration no longer disputes that he wasmistakenly deported. And, indeed, the Supreme Court ruled thatthe government must obey alower court’sdirectionto“facilitate” the prisoner’srelease and return to the United States.

However,Trump, who shows little patience for anyone or anything that gets in the way of his agenda, curiously deferred to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has rebuffed calls for Abrego Garcia to be returned to U.S. custody And Trump and his minions continue to accuse Abrego Garcia, without credible evidence,ofbeing amember of the notorious international gang MS-13, whereas in fact he had escaped to the U.S., and was granted“withholding of removal” status in 2019, on the strength of his testimony that the gang had threatened his family in his native El Salvador For Democrats, the issue has been adefense of fundamental principles of human rights, legal access and equal protection under the Constitution. For Republicans like team Trump, equalrights for Abrego Garcia is amisguided gesture of sympathy for aman who,asthe White House notes repeatedly entered the U.S. illegally “It’sappalling and sad that Sen. (Chris) Van Hollen and the Democrats applauding his trip to El Salvador today are incapable of having any shred of commonsense or empathy fortheir own constituents,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary,said at abrieﬁng, displaying her rather typical role as agruff, judgmental megaphone for the president’sviews and prejudgments. Due process, all the formalitiesthat ensure individuals are treated equally under the law,has been called the fundamentalright on whichall other rights are grounded.

Thepolitical class is to be trusted to deﬁne proper “viewpointdiversity” in “each department, ﬁeld, or teaching unit.” (This languageisfrom theadministration’s letter commanding Harvard University.) And to measure the government-enforced diversity that conservatives favor —a “critical mass” of appropriately diverse faculty hires —byits intellectual micrometer.And to police deviations from propriety

AGerman concept used to validatethe society-saturating politics infecting Europe 90 years ago was Gleichschaltung. It denotedtotalistic government: the “coordinating” or “harmonizing” of all important social institutions. Aforeign word, but no longer aforeign practice.

As acandidatein2023, Donald Trump vowedto“choke off the money” to schools assaulting “Westerncivilizationitself.” As he deﬁnes this, and as he deﬁnes“assaulting” it.What could go wrong?

The president says he wants to “reclaim” the universities. His verb implies restoration: that theuniversities once were what he wants them to be, appendages of the federal government, subject to its agendas, which shift with gusts from the electorate. Even if the administration were not ﬂagrantlyviolating the law (the Administrative Procedure Act) concerning dueprocess when freezing or withdrawingfederal funds from universities, it would be then doing lawfullywhat should not be done at all.

The administration is rightaboutprotecting Jewish students from campus antisemitism. But this concern looks increasingly pretextual as the administration broadens government’s reach to encompassuniversities’ admissions, hiring, administrative and curriculum decisions, and to punish plagiarism,

LETTERS TO

America’sresearch universities are sources of U.S. economic dynamism andvital to technology-dependent national security. It is folly (andunlawful) to punishentire institutions for thefoolishness of afew departments. When English departments are “decolonized” —dead White men purged fromthe curriculum —the only victims are studentsdeprived of Shakespeare.Ideological indoctrination is rarer in engineering departments, where knowing theright facts ratherthan having theright feelings matters, otherwisebridges crumble andskyscrapers tumble. Leaveall departments alone, somebecause their silliness does not matter much,others because their excellence matters greatly. Some Republicanswant to further tax universities’ endowments. There is a14% tax on afew of the largest,

which include thousands of individual funds dedicated to particular uses, and money for student aid. The crux of the conservative case against taxation of endowments is: Such taxation is partly intended to further the homogenization of society —toenlarge government’s sway by enfeebling arival source of independent judgment and action. More devastating than taxing endowmentswould be stripping institutions of what enables them to build endowments: their tax-exempt status and their donors’ right to taxdeductions.The president says the universities’ exemptions are“totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”Heseemsto deﬁne this as conformity to his administration’sagenda and preferences. As the next Democratic administration surely will do regarding itsagenda. The IRS can be ahammer for pounding various institutions intoobedience to thepresidency of the moment. Government presumptuousness that strutsoncampuses will not strut only there: Secretaries of state wield alaw that says an alien is deportable if the secretary has a“reasonable ground to believe” that the alien’s“presence or activities” would “potentially” have serious adverse “consequences” for U.S. foreign policy.This potentially life-shattering discretion presupposes judicious, temperate secretaries of state, forever Today,each party pretends to be dramatically different from theother regarding philosophic fundamentals. Actually,they offer no clear choice to voters who are wary of any American Gleichschaltung. Both parties seem equally oblivious of the deep disharmony that inevitably accompanies attempts to harmonize all important sectors of civil societybymeldingpolitical and cultural power What could go wrong? Look around Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Indeed, as an American who happens to live near the strip mall in the Maryland suburb where Abrego Garcia wasarrested, Iﬁnd it “appalling and sad” that the administration shows so little respect for the constitutional right to due process. The Trump administration has admittedtoan “administrative error” in Abrego Garcia’scase, yet it also says they do not have the authority to secure his return.

Instead, as Abrego Garcia’slawyers have said, he “sits in aforeign prison solely at the behest of the United States, as the product of aKafkaesque mistake.”

There’sold Kafka again. And I’m not alone in noting the similarity Afederal appeals court scolded the Trump administration for its handling of the case.

“It is difﬁcult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter.But in this case,itisnot hard at all,” wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, in an opinion for apanel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. “The government is asserting aright to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.” Wilkinson’snobleeding heart liberal. The Reagan appointee, as Politico pointed out“has been on the bench for 41 years and is one of the nation’smost prominent conservative appellate judges.”

Earlier in that week, U.S. DistrictJudge James Boasberg found probable cause to hold administration ofﬁcials in criminal contempt for defying an order to halt deportations of people deemed “alien enemies.”

And U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has described the deportation of Abrego Garcia as “wholly lawless,” castigated administrationofﬁcials for having done “nothing” to comply with her order to facilitate his release and return. Well, not quite nothing. They have helpedstart adebate over the legal meaning of “facilitate.” I imagine Kafka would have some thoughts on the semantics. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if Team Trump knows the legal meaning of “freedom.”

Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail. com

Faimon Roberts

Clarence Page

George Will

STAFF PHOTO By JILLPICKETT

The main entrance gates of NorthwesternState University in Natchitoches

BitofPels’ flavor

The New Orleans Pelicans, as you know,didn’tcome close to snifﬁng the NBA playoffs this season.

So if you’re afan of the Pelicans, you’ll have to settle for the next bestthing: rooting for guys who once wore Pelicans uniforms.

Of the eight teams remaining, the DenverNuggets are the only team remaining that doesn’t haveatleast one former Pelican on their roster

In all, there are eight former Pelicans whoadvanced to the second round.

How many of those players will reach the conference ﬁnals? Well, some exPelicans mayhave alot of say-so in whetherthey do or not

So here’sour ranking, from most

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Grambling at LSU, 6:30 P.M.TUESDAy,SECN+

LSU baseball struggled at the plate last weekend against Texas A&M, resulting in aseries loss at Blue Bell Park that dropped the Tigers to 38-11 and15-9inthe SoutheasternConference. LSU played a doubleheader Saturday,losing the first game3-1 before winning Game 2byafinal of 2-1. The Tigers then dropped the series finale Sunday 6-4. Here arefive takeaways from the series loss.

What went wrongatplate?

The LSU hitters struggledmightily over the weekend.

The Tigers scored just sevenruns across thethree games.Theyhad only 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position all weekend and went just 7for 33 with runners on base. Some of LSU’sstruggles may have resulted from an undisciplined approach, or it could be because the unit waspressingasa whole. Therough weekend also could be attributed to the Tigers’ recent problems against lefthanded pitching.

important to least important, of which former Pels need to play thebest in the playoffstogive their teams achance to move on.

1. Julius Randle (Timberwolves) Randle spent the2018-19 season in New Orleansbefore signing with the

BY NOAH TRISTER AP baseball writer

New York Knicks the next season. He was traded from the Knicks to the Timberwolves before thestart of this season and has been akey piece in gettingMinnesotaastep closer to the Western Conference ﬁnals forasecond straight season. Randle will have to play well for them to get past theWarriors in the next round. Randle averaged 18.7 pointsper game in theregular season, but he upped his scoring to 22.6 ppg in a gentleman’ssweep over the Los Angeles Lakersinthe ﬁrst round. While Anthony Edwards is thestar in Minnesota and Rudy Gobert dominated in the close-out gameinL.A., Randle’splay likely will

ä See WALKER, page 3C

Facing three left-handed starters, LSU posted a.214 batting average in 84 at-batsagainst Texas A&M lefties. The subpar showing was actually an improvement from last week when the Tigers were3for 36 against Tennessee left-handers. This problemextends to the series againstAlabama andAuburn. TheTigers were 7for 33 against the Crimson Tide lefties after they went 7for 39 against Auburn southpaws.

Cowan’srough weekend

Junior right-hander Zac Cowan has been one of the best relievers in college baseball this season, entering the weekend with a1.07 ERA in Southeastern Conference play But in two appearances against the Aggies, he surrendered as many earned runs to TexasA&M (four) as he hadall season against the SEC before the start

ä See LSU BASEBALL, page 4C

TedWilliams is the last American League player to hit .400, and thereare actuallyplentyofsimilarities between him and Aaron Judge.

The one major difference is in thestrikeout column, and that’s why Judge is highly unlikely to repeat Williams’ famous feat.

With a.423 batting average through 34 games, Judge leads the major leagues in hitting by awhop-

HEALINGTHROUGH MUSICTHERAPY

ping 74 points over NewYork Yankees teammatePaul Goldschmidt. Judge’s OPS of 1.287 is actually the samenumber Williams finished with when he hit .406 in 1941. Williams averageda homer every 12.32 at-bats that year. Judgeis hittingone every11.82 so farthis season.

ButWilliamsstruck out only 27 times in all of 1941. Judge already has done so 31 times. Judge hasstruck out in 20.3% of his plate appearances. In the live ball era, only one player in the AL or NL has even hit .350 with astrikeoutrate of at least 20% Thatwas Manny Ramirez at .351 in 2000.

Still, Judge’sstrengths —and his one big weakness —can help us come up witha roadmap of sorts for aspiring .400 hitters.

Step One: Shrink the sample size. It’snoaccident that all of baseball’s.400 hitters played before the season expanded to 162 games. Smaller samples lead to more extremestats, and when Williamshit .406 in 1941, he played in only 143 games. George Brett played in 117 games when he hit.390 in 1980. Tony Gwynn topped out at .394 in 1994 —the seasonthatended in mid-August because of astrike. No, that doesn’tmean players should try to get injured or miss games for other reasons. Buta high walk total is imperative to qualify forthe batting title while still keeping your at-bat total reasonably low.Williamshad only 456 at-bats in 1941 because he drew 147 walks.

ä See JUDGE, page 4C

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday reactstogetting pokedinthe eyeduring agameagainst the Portland Trail Blazersatthe Smoothie King Center

COLLEGESOFTBALL (SEC TOURNAMENT)

noon Kentucky vs.Georgia SECN

3p.m. Missouri vs. Ole Miss SECN

6p.m. Auburnvs.Alabama SECN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

6p.m. San DiegoatN.y.yankees TBS

8:30

6p.m.

6p.m.CarolinaatWashington

2p.m.BarcelonaatInterMilan CBS

9p.m.Portland

PacificFCvs.Vancouver FC FS2

*Joinedinprogress

Juices flowingagain forPenske

Logano gets firstwin of season andteamclaimssecondstraightvictory

BY STEPHEN HAWKINS AP sportswriter

FORT WORTH, Texas Joey Logano

quickly flipped the script for Team Penske.

The focus after this win can be on, well, the first win thisseason for NASCAR’sreigning Cup Series champion. Not like last week followingAustin Cindric’svictory at Talladega, when Logano had an expletive-laden rant on the radio directed at his teammate during that raceand then afterwardhad whatwould have been afifth-place finish disqualified because of amissing nut and loose bolt on the spoilerduring the postrace inspection.

“It’snicetochange the storyline,” Logano said. Loganorecoveredfrom starting 27th at the 11/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday in the 11th Cup race of the season, and surged ahead after the restart in overtime with teammate Ryan Blaney to his outside.

“Wepaidthe price from last week in qualifying,going out

early,and now you have abad pit stall. OK, Ijust got to (get a) top10, top ﬁve and start clicking those off, getting some points, I need that,” Logano said.“Then just foundourselves in position to win. Glad we capitalized on that.The goalwas to get some momentum rolling.I feel likejust getsome stuff going, juices ﬂowing again. Yeah, turned out well.”

All three Penske drivers led laps at Texas. Cindric was in front for 60 laps and won the ﬁrst stage, but ﬁnished 25th after getting caught up in alate-race crash.

Logano and Blaney were on the front row for the ﬁnal restart afterthe race’s 12th caution.Logano was the control car for the green-white-checkered finish, even though Blaneywas actually shown as the leader when they reachedthe line. Blaney ﬁnished third, still his best of the season, after Logano and Ross Chastain gotinfront of him on the final run.

Walter Czarnecki, the team’s vice chairman, dismissed the

notion thatback-to-back wins brought asigh of relief.

“Rather,itreduces thepressure. The fact that here we are .11thrace of the year,and we got twocars in already for the playoffs.Soitallows theteam to, Iwon’tsay freewheel, but to be able to do somethings thatperhaps theymight not have been otherwisetodo,” Czarnecki said.

“Now, the missionistoget Ryan Blaney into the playoffs.”

Blaney is the team’shighestranked driver at seventh in the Cup standings aftermoving up aspot following hisbest ﬁnish of theseason. Logano is ninthand Cindric 14th.

“I’m really proudofthisteam.

Team Penske hasbeenbringing good,competitive carsfor the ﬁrst 11 races. We’vebeen in the hunt in everyone of them. We’ve qualiﬁed verywell. Had achance to win someother races.Now, twoinarow.Hope that’sareal momentum builder for us,” Czarnecki said.

“Ifweweren’t bringinggood cars or there were other issues,

that’sone thing, but we’ve been there. So Blaney’stime is coming, too.”

There are 15 points racesleft before the playoffs begin Aug. 31.The Cup Series is at Kansas on Sunday, followed by the nonpointsAll-StarRace. Then comes Charlotte, where Blaney haswon before.There arealsoraces left at Pocono andIowa, other places he has driventovictory lane.

“I think Blaney surely could have won multiple races,” Paul Wolfe, Logano’screw chief, said after Sunday’srace. “I really appreciate thatrelationship we have amongst our team and specifically the 12. We work very closely together,and it’skind of ironic how the endofthe race we were racing the 12 for the win.

“The way the racing is with limited tracktimethese days and things like that, Ithink it’s very important the teamwork aspect andhow well we’reabletohelp one another to ultimately make us better on race dayand as the race goes on,” he said. “Wecontinue to work together.”

Washington to host 2027 NFLDraft

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AP sportswriter

LSU women’sgolfteam

sitsinthird at regional

Led by 3-under-par69s from freshman Rocio Tejedo and senior Elsa Svensson, the 10th-ranked LSUwomen’s golf team wascomfortablyinthirdplace Monday after the ﬁrst round of theNCAA Columbus regional at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

TheNo. 2seedinthe regional, the Tigers shot a4-under284 to stand five strokes back of host Ohio State and just two behind Arkansas,the regional’stop seed

The top ﬁve teamsatthe conclusionof54holes of regionalplay

Wednesday will advancetothe NCAAchampionships on May1621 in Carlsbad, California. Tejedo overcameabogey on the par-5 third hole with birdies at 6, 9 and13. Svenssonmade birdies on four of herﬁnalﬁve holes.

Rangershire ex-player

Boone as hitting coach

Former big-league inﬁelder Bret Boonewas hiredMondayasthe hitting coach forthe Texas Rangers, whoare last in the American League in runs scored.

It will be the ﬁrst time Boone, thebrother of NewYork Yankees manager Aaron Boone, is on amajorleague coachingstaff. Bret Boonewill jointhe Rangers on Tuesday forthe opener of their three-gameseries in Boston. Boone’shiring cameaday after Texas ﬁred offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker

In 14 big-league seasons as a player, Boonewas athree-time All-Star and hit .266 with 252 homers and 1,021 RBIs in 1,780 games from 1992-2005 forﬁve teams: Seattle, Cincinnati, Atlanta, San Diego and Minnesota.

Former Tulane AD Dannen added to CFP committee

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen and longtimeadministratorJeffLonghavebeenappointed to the CollegeFootballPlayoff selection committee, CFP executive director Rich Clark announced Monday

Dannen will replace DamonEvans, who recentlybecame athletic director at SMU. Long will serve aone-year term,replacing Steve Weiberg, whostepped downfrom the committeefor personal reasons.

Dannen is in hissecond year at Nebraska aftera short stint at Washington and eight years at Tulane. He served from 2021-23 on the NCAA Constitution Committee and the Division ITransformation Committee.

Long returns to the committee after having served from 2014-18.

Three Cavaliersplayers

questionable for Game 2

Cleveland Cavaliers forwards Evan Mobley andDe’Andre Hunter have joined guard Darius Garland among those who are questionablewhen the top-seeded Cavaliers try to even their playoff series at homeagainst the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday Mobley andHunter were both injuredina 26-secondspaninthe fourth quarter of what wasaclose game before Indiana took control and pulled away fora121-112 victory on Sunday night.

Mobley sprained his left ankle with 8:10 remaining.

WASHINGTON The 2027 NFL Draft is heading to the nation’s capital on the National Mall,PresidentDonald Trump said Monday,bringing the widely popular event back to Washington for the ﬁrst time in more than eight decades. After word of Washington getting the draft two years from now surfaced Sunday night, Trump made the formal announcement in the Oval Office flanked by Commissioner Roger Goodell, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser “I don’tthink there’sever been anything like that,” Trumpsaid. “It’sgoing to be beautiful. It’sgoing to be something that nobody else will ever be able to duplicate that, Idon’tsuspect. It’svery exciting.” It is the latest off-ﬁeldvictory for the Commanders, who aweek ago reached an agreement with

theD.C. government to build a new home onthe old RFK Stadium site, pending council approval.Trump also endorsed that plan in hisremarks,saying, “I don’tthink there is abetter site anywhere in the world.”

Under former owner Dan Snyder, the team previously tried multiple times to landthe draft and was unsuccessful. Now,it’ll happen behind theteam’s new Harris-ledownership group, which bought the Commanders from Snyder in 2023.

“What agreat day for Washington,”Harrissaid. “I believe we’ll get over amillionpeople, and it’s going to be an amazing day and it’ll showcase what Washington’s allabout.” Washington last hosted the draft in 1941 at the WillardHotel.

“Webelieve in investing in sportsbecause they have helped us transform neighborhoods, and theNFL bringingthis event to the nation’scapital will help us ﬁll hotel rooms, our restaurants,” Bowser said. “Americans from all 50 states will come to their nation’s capital and enjoy our beautifulcity and museums.” Green Bay,the NFL’ssmallest market,hosted themostrecent

draft in late April outside historic Lambeau Field. TheNFL announced acrowd of 600,000 fans attended over the three days.

“The draft has really become one of the great entertainment andsports events,” Goodell said, trumpeting the popularity of the draftinrecentyears.“It will not just be an event. It will be something that will show the world how far thenation’scapital has come and where it’sgoing.”

The NFLdraft used to be a ﬁxtureatRadio City Music Hall in New York andhas become an even biggerhit since it hit the road in 2015. Chicago hosted the draft in 2015 and‘16. Philadelphia had it in ’17, followed by Dallas and Nashville. Goodellannounced thepicks from his house in 2020 during the pandemic.Itwent to Cleveland in 2021 followed by Las Vegas, KansasCity andDetroit. Arecord crowdof750,000 attended Detroit’sdraft in 2024. Pittsburgh will host next year

ThedraftinWashingtonin‘27 will mark the third anniversary of thefranchise-altering selection of former LSUquarterback Jayden Daniels withthe second pick.

The Commanders made the playoffs andreached the NFC championshipgameinDaniels’ rookie year and look to be aSuper Bowl contender for years to come.

“I have to say that Josh hada verygood draft ashort while ago,” Trumpsaid. “You have a verygood quarterback—agreat quarterback, Ithink.”

Successonthe ﬁeld under Harris-hired generalmanager Adam Petersand coach Dan Quinn hasmadeWashingtonapremier market again, decades after the organization’s glorydaysthatincluded three SuperBowlchampionships.

After the news conference last week unveiling plans to build a 65,000-seat stadium, Goodell said theturnaround from losing to winning is “immeasurable in so many ways.”

“This marketisobviously critical,” Goodell said. “Tobeable to have afranchise here thateverybody here is proud of that’sgotten back on the football ﬁeld in apositive way and now to have astadium that brings their team back intoD.C., Ithink that’sa really big step andsomething that’s going to be great for the NFL.”

On Cleveland’sensuing possession, Hunter dislocated the thumb on his shooting hand after Bennedict Mathurin blocked his running dunk attempt. Garland has missedthe last three games because of asprained leftbig toe.

Jazz extends contract of head coachHardy Will Hardy is being given more timetocontinue the rebuild of the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz announced Monday that Hardy has signed acontract extension, one that could keep him as head coach through the 2030-31 season. He’ll enter his fourth season with the Jazz next fall. Hardy has gone 85-161 in his ﬁrst three seasons with the Jazz, missing theplayoffs in each of those years.Utahwon 37 gamesinhis ﬁrst season, 31 in his second and just 17 this season.

The Jazz didn’tplay anyone over the age of 27 in the ﬁnal weeks of this season andﬁnished theyear with the youngest roster in the NBA.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByRANDyHOLT

Joey Logano celebrates after winning aNASCAR Cup Series race on SundayatTexas Motor SpeedwayinFortWorth,Texas. Logano recovered from starting 27thinthe fieldafter he was imposed apost-race penalty the week before.

Goodell

Catholic,Episcopal girlsleadafter 1round

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Catholic High and Episcopal are in ﬁrst place in their respective divisions after Day 1ofthe LHSAA golf championships being played at multiple courses in the Lafayette area. The Bears are tied with Shreveport power C.E. Byrd in boys DivisionI which is being played at The Wetlands course. Both teams shota285 score, just one stroke ahead of Jesuit on Monday.Mandeville is fourth at 291.

LHSAA golf

Meanwhile,the Episcopal girls shota 157 to lead Sacred HeartNewOrleansbyone stroke in the DivisionIIcompetition at Les Vieux Chenes.Parkview Baptist is second in the Division III boys race at 300, eight strokes behind traditionalpower Ascension Episcopal.

The threat of inclement weather on Tuesday has prompted LHSAA ofﬁcials to opt for ashotgun start at 9a.m. in hopesofplaying at least 27 holes.

“DivisionI boys golf is agauntlet. Youknow you have to show up andplayreallywell,” Catholic coach Christopher Davis said. “They always say you can’t wina

tournament on the ﬁrst day,but you can lose one if you don’tplay well enough.

“What we did is give ourselves a chance to win, which is all you can askfor.Becauseofthe weather,we know this won’tbeanormal day of golf. We’ll havetosee how it plays out.”

Drew Prieto andKevin Zheng each shot 3-under-par 69 at the Wetlands to lead the Bears. Jesuit’s Drew Nitcher led the ﬁeld with an 8-under 64.

Reigning champion Sophia Macias shot5 under on the back nine forEpiscopal to ﬁnishat1-over75 —just one shotbehind theleader

Sinner returnsfromdoping bantogreat fanfareinRome

BY ANDREW DAMPF AP sportswriter

ROME Rarely has an athlete been welcomed back from adoping ban with so much fanfare.

Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was treated to astadium ﬁlled with nearly 5,000 fans for his ﬁrst practice session at the Italian Open on Monday —the day his three-month banishment from the sport expired.

The training session —which was shown live on local TV came after Sinner was the most celebrated player in aceremony to honor the Italian teams that swept the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup last year

Both trophies were on hand and the Campo Centrale crowd belted out Italy’snational anthem.

It’sthe ﬁrst time that Italy has had aNo. 1player for itshome tournament. Still, Sinnerwas at a loss to explain why he attracts so much attention.

“I don’tknow.Honestly,Ithink I’m asimple 23-year-oldkid.I’m good at playing tennis but I’m not

changing the world,” he said. “I always remember thatIcome from asmall townof2,000 people. Being here in Rome and playing in front of so many people is abig deal.”

The sceneat theForoItalico came in sharp contrast to how Sinner felt back in February when he received athree-month banina settlementwiththe World Anti-Doping Agency

“At the start Iwas abit confused because Ididn’t knowexactly what Iwanted to do,” Sinner said.

“Then Iwent home and stayed with my family.Itried to understand betterwhat wasreally important to me.

“I know how many sacriﬁces I made and my daily routine was always practice, practice, practice. But at that momentIdidn’t have any of that. Icame to understand that what’s important to me are the people by your side. That they give you the strength to move forwardand continue smiling.”

Besides his familyinthe German-speaking Alto Adige region of northernItaly,Sinner also spent more time with friends at home in Monaco,participated in other sports likecycling, and

then only gradually came back to tennis

“Wewentabout amonth without touching (a racket) and then we restarted really softly,”Sinner said.

“When we started pushing more, blisters developed on my hands. Thatwas something Ihadn’texperienced in along time.”

The settlement was made after WADA appealed adecision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerateSinner for what it deemed to be an accidentalcontamination by abanned anabolic steroid in March 2024.

The settlement raised questions, since it allowed Sinnernot to miss any Grand Slams andreturn at his hometournament. The ItalianOpenisthe last big claycourt eventbeforethe French Open, which starts on May 25.

“I didn’twant to do it in thebeginning, andalso it wasa bitnot easy for me to accept it, because Iknowwhatreallyhappened,” Sinner saidofthe ban. “But sometimes we have to choose thebest in averybad moment, andthat’s what we did. So it’sall over now “So I’m happy to playtennis again.”

Sacred Heart’sJade Neves, who carded an even-par 74 at Les Vieux Chenes.

TheKnights gota boostfrom seventh grader Marcella Rabalais, who is fourth at 82 in her ﬁrst LHSAA state tourney

“Sophia is always so steady,” Episcopal coach Steve Baronich said.“We have twoseventh graders, and theywere both alittle nervous. Marcella calmed herself and had areally nice round. Hopefully we can build on that tomorrow.”

Twoother BatonRouge areagolfers,Brusly’sMaci Williams and Evelynn Artieta, are in the top ﬁve of the Division Igirls competition also

at Les Vieux Chenes. Williams shot in a4-under 70 and is one stroke behind Benton’sGrace Goodwin. Artieta shot an even-par 74 and is ﬁfth. Benton leads the DivisionIgirls team race at 142. St. Joseph’sAcademy(165) is tied for third with Southside Hunter Cope and Jack Carter each shot 1-over 73 at the Wetlands to lead the Parkview boys. In Division II boys, at Carencro’sFarmd’Allie course,Brusly’s Brody Bourgoyne shot a5-over 77. The Panthers’ Mason Comeaux led all golfers with a33onthe front nine but wasforced to withdraw because of illness.

LHSAAGOLFCHAMPIONSHIPS

First-dayscores

DivisionIboys At The Wetlands-Lafayette

Par72

Team Results:.1.C.E. Byrd,285. 2. CatholicBaton Rouge, 285. 3. Jesuit, 286. 4. Mandeville, 291. 5. St. Thomas More, 297 Topindividuals 1. Duke Nitcher, Jesuit,34-30—64

2. MaddoxMowad, Neville, 34-32—66

3. JustinLotz, Northshore, 33-33—66

4. Drew Sliman, Lafayette,33-34—67

5. Rylan Hess, St.Paul’s, 36-33—69

6. Andres Prieto,Catholic-BR, 35-34—69

7. KevinZheng, Catholic-BR, 34-35—69

8. Bradley Wall, Mandeville, 36-34—70

9. ShepherdSmith, C.E. Byrd,34-36—70

10. Slayton Guidry,C.E. Byrd,36-34—70

DivisionIIboys At The Farm d’Allie-Carencro

Par72 Team Results:.1.St. LouisCatholic, 301. 2. Teurlings Catholic,329. 3. St. Charles Catholic,341. 4. Vandebilt Cathlolic,348

5. Brusly,352 Topindividuals 1. KyeHanks, St. Louis, 34-35 —69

2. Fulton Pigeon, Holy Cross, 34-41—75

3. Samuel Broussard,St. Louis, 37-39 —76

4. Kane Hanks, St.Louis, 37-39—76

5. Brody Bourgoyne, Brusly,39-38—77

6. Jude LeBoeuf, South Lafourche, 38-40—78

7. DaneGaliano, St. Charles, 41-37 —78

8. Jackson Dauzat, Teurlings,38-40 —78

9. Spencer Hagan, Teurlings,40-39 —79

10. Kaine Stevens, North Vermilion, 41-38—79 DivisionIII boys At The Wetlands-Lafayette Par72 Team Results:.1.AscensionEpiscopal, 292. 2. Parkview Baptist,300. 3. Loyola Prep, 309. 4. Ouachita Christian, 313. 5. University,319 Topindividuals 1. Noah Chauvin, AscensionEpiscopal, 34-36 —70

2. Ben Blanco, Ascension Episcopal, 38-33 —71

3. Silas Lovett, Ouachita Christian, 35-36—71

4. JackLauve, Loyola Prep,36-35—71

5. JackGilmer, Loyola Prep,36-35—71

6. Hunter Cope, Parkview Baptist,35-38 —73

7. JackCarter, Parkview Baptist,38-35 —73

8. Hayden Amy, Ascension Episcopal, 38-36 —74

9. Owen LeJeune,Dunham, 38-36—74

10. Peyton Parker,Ouachita Christian, 36-38 —74

Division IV boys At Cane RowGolf& Turf Club New Iberia Par72

Team Results: 1. Vermilion

2. Maci Williams, Brusly,70. 3. Abigail McWilliams, Benton, 73. 4. Evelyn Artieta, Walker,74. 5. Mattie Purgahn, Barbe,79. 6. Kate Boersma, Ruston, 79. 7. ScarlettKirsch,St. Joseph, 80. 8. CarolineEndsley,Southside, 81. 9. Emmi Marceaux,Sam Houston, 81. 10. Lexie Crappel,Northshore, 84. Division II girls At LesVieuxChenes-Youngsville Par74 1. Episcopal, 157. 2. Academy of Sacred Heart, 158. 3. Westlake,184. 4. St.Mary’s, 192. 5. St. LouisCatholic, 193. Topindividuals 1. Jade Neves, Academy of SacredHeart, 74. 2. Sophia, Macias, Episcopal, 75. 3. Ashley Biehl,Ursuline, 78. 4. Marcella Rabalais, Episcopal, 82. 5. Ali Evans,Westlake,83. 6. Madeline Rudolph, Academy of Sacred Heart, 84. 7. Kaylie Hui, Newman, 87. 8. Audrey Perry,St. Frederick, 87. 9. Reese Crooks, St. LouisCatholic, 87. 10. GraceGunn, Academy of SacredHeart, 93.

Sinner

La.Shakespeare Company’sﬁrstfest eyes inclusivity

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Hamlet will be there.“Twelfth Night’s” Viola and Sebastian will, too.

Visitors have achance to meet these, along with other characters created by The Bard, when they visit the Louisiana Shakespeare Company’sShakespeare Festival on Saturday

The festival is the ﬁrst in what the company hopes to be an annual event in the Capitol Park Museum, 660 N. Fourth St., Baton Rouge.It runs from 10 a.m. to 2p.m.both inside and on the museum grounds

“This is our inaugural event, and it is something that we’ve wanted to happen since our founding in 2023,” artistic director Jennifer Bouquet said.“We just didn’tknow what this kind of festival would look like, but we have awonderful partnership with theCapitol Park Museum, and they’re very excited about this festival.”

Family-friendlyfest

This free, family-friendly event promises aday filled withsuch Shakespeare-themed activities as:

n Library program plays: Interactive performances designed to introduceaudiences of all ages to Shakespeare’s most belovedworks

n Combat demonstrations: Live showcases of stage combat techniquesusedinShakespearean productions.

n Outdoor scene performances: Enactments of iconic scenes from Shakespeare’splays performed in an open-air setting.

n Gall ink experiment: Attend-

Ascenefrom the Louisiana Shakespeare Company’s past production of ‘A Midsummer Night’sDream.’Excerptsfrom this Shakespeare playwill be performed duringthe company’sShakespeare Festival on May10at theCapitol Park Museum

eeswillwrite like Shakespeare througha hands-on activity where theycan create and usegall ink, offeringaglimpse into thewriting practices of the Elizabethan era.

n Renaissancecostumeexhibits: Displays featuringperiod costumes that bring the fashion of Shakespeare’s time to life.

“The festival willhavesomething for everyone while also celebrating allthings Shakespeare,” Bouquet said.“The goal is to create afun atmosphere whilealsogivinga learning opportunity to all ages.”

Considered doingrepertory Company membersdeveloped the festival idea while considering

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,May 6, the 126th day of 2025. There are239 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogenﬁlledGerman airship Hindenburg caught ﬁre and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on boardand onecrew member on the ground were killed.

On this date:

In 1882, President ChesterAlan Arthur signed the ChineseExclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for 10 years. (The act would remain in effect until 1943.)

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened to the publicaspart of the Paris World’sFair

In 1954, medical student Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile during atrack meet in Oxford, England, ﬁnishing in 3:59.4

In 1994, former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones ﬁled asuit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he’d sexually harassed her in 1991. (Jones reached a

SHADE

Continued from page1D

Ajuga is agenus of perennial plants that are related to —and somewhat resemble —mints. They send up bloom spikes in mid- to late spring. Most blooms are blue, although some cultivars can have white and pinkﬂowers.

“Usually,ajuga has alot of dark colors in the foliage,” Stagg said. “But in recent years, more chartreuse and lime greenshave been bred into the plant, andI think they show up even better in the shadedlandscape, especially when you pair themwith these nice blue blooms.” Ajugas tend to have small leaves, but larger-leaved cultivars such as Catlin’sGiant are available.

Ajugas, sometimes called bugleweed, canhandle almost any conditions you throw at them. They’revigorous growers that will ﬁll in empty spaces and suppressweed growth.

If you’d prefer aground cover that produces more prominent ﬂowers, agreat, low-maintenance option is torenia, also called wishbone ﬂower,Stagg said. The Kauai torenia series, whichhas

BOOKSTORE

Continued from page1D

settlement with Clinton in November 1998.)

In 1994, theChannel Tunnel connectingEngland and France beneaththe English Channel was ofﬁcially opened in aceremony attended byQueen Elizabeth II and French president François Mitterrand.

In 2004,President George W. Bush apologizedfor the abuse of IraqiprisonersbyAmerican soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison, callingit“astain on our country’s honorand reputation,” but rejected calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’sresignation. Today’sbirthdays: Rock musician BobSeger is 80. Country musician JimmieDaleGilmore is 80. Former BritishPrime Minister Tony Blair is 72. TV host Tom Bergeron is 70. ActorRoma Downey is 65. Actor-director George Clooney is 64. Hockey Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur is 53. ActorAdrianne Palicki is 42. ActorGabourey Sidibe is 42. NBA point guard Chris Paulis40. Actor-comedian Sasheer Zamata is 39. RapperMeek Mill is 38. Actorsinger Naomi Scottis32. WNBA forward AngelReese is 23.

an uprightgrowth habit, is aLouisiana Super Plant selection offeringcompact, mounding plants with ﬂowersinvarious shadesof purple,pink, yellowand white.

Fora torenia with moreofa trailing habit, Staggsuggeststhe Catalinaseries.

Seasonal beddingcolor

To liven up beds located in the shadeinthe warmseason, Stagg likes using caladiums and the Beacon series of impatiens, both of which are available in many colors.

Caladiums’ uniquely patterned,heart-shaped leaves lend atropical feel to thegarden while impatiens offer those coveted,brightly colored blooms that don’tmind the shade.

Vine to be aplace that “brings Jesus to people,” and she will utilize aroom in the back of the store for Bible studies. To kick off her vision forThe Vine, Mahler is having agrand opening with Harvestcoffee, music,giveaways andfun from 10 a.m. to 6p.m. Friday. For moreinformation, follow the Facebook page @TheVine Books.

Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.

asummerrepertory of theatrical productions.

“Whenwesat down to form the company,welookedathow other Shakespeare companies had outdoor repertoirefestivals,”Bouquetsaid. “Theywould do three shows withone company, beginning withone show for two weeks, the next showfor thenexttwo weeks and the next show for the next two weeks. Then they’d performthem all three until the end of the summer.”

TheBaton Rouge-based company consideredstaging itsown summer repertory of shows but quickly shelvedthe idea because of challenges such as being brand new and

ﬁnding actors to perform outside during Louisiana’shot summers. Festival wasdoable

Butadaylong festivalinMay? Well, that is morethan doable.

“Weknewwewanted aheavy concentration on education and literacy,because ourwhole mission is accessible arts education through Shakespeare,” Bouquet said. “Andweknowwhether Shakespeare is anybody’scup of teaornot, at some point in their life, they’re going to encounter him.So, we werethinking if there was away that we could enrich that and make the language alittle more understandable andentertaining, they would appreciate Shakespeare more.”

Thegoalfor the festival is to make Shakespeare as fun as possible for allages.

As the day progresses, attendees will have the chance to experience special guest performances by acclaimed improvduo Jeff Wolfthal and Jules Schrader.The Chicagobased duo have deep ties to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, where Wolfthal serves as astaff writer and director,and Schrader has performed the character Queen Elizabeth Ifor ﬁve seasons.

Additionally,visitors can step into thepast at the festival’s “Scribe School” station, led by presenter Nathalie Roy, aLatin and Roman Technology educator at Glasgow Middle School. Through experimental archaeologyand hands-onhistory, Roy’s students discovereda methodtoproduce ink using oak trees at their school, mirroring techniques used in

Howyou canhelpbirds

1. MAKEWINDOWS SAFER, DAY ANDNIGHT

Up to 1billionbirds are estimated to die each year after hitting windowsinthe United States and Canada. On the outside of windows, installscreensorbreak up reflections, using film, paintor othermarkers spaced uniformly twoinchesapartacross the entire surface of the glass.

2. KEEP CATS INDOORS

Cats are estimated to kill more than 2.6 billion birds annually.This is the No. 1human-causedreason forloss of birds,aside from habitat loss.

3. REDUCE LAWNS ANDPLANT NATIVE PLANTS

Birdshavefewer places to safely nest during migration and to raise their young.Lawns and pavement don’t offer enough food or shelter formanybirds and other wildlife.

WARBLERS

Continuedfrom page1D

details of the route and what stops this current pair mayhave made are forthcoming.

According to Erik Johnson, director of bird conservation for AudubonDelta, the prothonotary warbler hasbeen the focus of the AudubonSociety’sconservation project as aspecies of conservationconcernand has many conservation challenges, as do many other neo-tropical migrants.In2013, a prothonotary warbler was banded in BREC’sBluebonnetSwamp Nature Center andreturned to the same place thefollowing spring after wintering in Colombia. This wasthe ﬁrst time aprothonotary warbler was tracked making a Louisiana-to-Colombia round trip.

Data collected from this bird’s geolocator showed thatthe journey of theBluebonnet Swamp prothonotary warbler was a31/2-month fall migration, and a3-week spring migration to Louisiana covering 5,000 miles. This one birdvisited seven countries and ﬂewover three major water crossings.

“This pattern is afairly normal migration pattern forsongbirds,” Johnsonexplained. “The birds want to return back to theirbreeding site as fast as possible to seek outthe best territoryand secure amate.”

Theprothonotary warblers preferred habitat —swampy forest andwater —isroutinelyatrisk almost everywhere. The birds eat aquaticinsects,ﬂies, beetles, moths and caterpillars,aswell as spiders, snails and occasionally seeds,fruit and nectar.They breed entirely in the eastern United States, especially concentrated in theSouth, with afew in Canada, where they are endangeredspecies. Their mi-

Shakespearean times.

Attendees will have the chance to make their own tiny vial of ink and test their writing skills just as Shakespeare once did.

Theatrical combat demonstrations will be led by Liz Odom-Dalton, head of combat at the Louisiana Shakespeare Company. Dalton has trained in stagecombat since 2018, primarily with Dueling Arts International.

Outdoorperformances

“We’llalso have threeperformances from the three showsthat we’ve done so far,”Bouquet said. Those three productions are “MuchAdo About Nothing, “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer Night’sDream.”

“We’re goingtohaveexcerpt scenes outside on the grounds, and we’ll have group leaders who will take groups around to view those scenes,” Bouquet said.

As forHamlet, those participants will meet the Prince of Denmark in the interactive library program

Though thefestivalisfree, the museum is offering adiscount on its tickets for visitors whoare interested in seeing itscurrent exhibits. The ﬁrst 100guests will receivecomplimentary museum tickets.

“All of our festival activities will be free, andwewanted this event to be free, because it is the root of our missiontomake arts education accessible forasmany as possible,” Bouquet said. “Come out and enjoy afree day of fun.”

Email RobinMilleratromiller@ theadvocate.com.

Native plants provide shelter and nesting areasand food sources, such as nectar,seeds,berries and insects, will help sustain birds.

4.AVOIDPESTICIDES

More than 1billion pounds of pesticides are appliedinthe United States each year,most commonly insecticidescalledneonicotinoids, which are lethal to birds and the insects that birds consume.

5. DRINK COFFEE THAT’S GOOD FORBIRDS.

Three-quarters of the world’s coffee farmsgrowtheir plantsinthe sun, destroying forests that birds and other wildlife need forfood and shelter.Instead, insist on shadegrowncoffee that’sgood forbirds; it helps both coffee farmers and more than 42 species of NorthAmerican migratorysongbirds that winter in coffee plantations, including prothonotarywarblers.

6. PROTECTION FROM PLASTICS

Studiesshowthat at least 80 seabird speciesingestplastic, mistaking it forfood. Reduce your use of plastics, avoiding single-use plastics including bags, bottles, wraps, and disposable utensils. It’s farbettertochoose reusable items and if youdohavetouse plastics, be sure to recycle them.

7.WATCH BIRDS AND SHARE WHATYOU SEE.

Monitoring birds is essential to help protect them, even reporting what youare seeing in your backyard. Joining acitizenscience project throughplatforms such as eBird, Project Feeder Watch, Christmas Bird Count or aBreeding Bird Survey is also away youcan contribute valuable information.

INFO: www.3billionbirds.org www.braudubon.org

gration towintering habitats takes them into Latin America, and currentdata says that 90 percentof the warblers surveyed so far have been found wintering in Colombia.

These birds are cavitynesters, which means they build nests in cavities already in place, such as a hollowed-outtree stump,a nest box or other itemprovided by ahuman, or ausednest of another bird. This alsomakes the birds ideal subjects for aconservation project.

“The male prothonotary warbler will take apiece of mossand place it in aproposed nest, and once the female approves, she’llbeginto build or enhancethe nest,” Johnson said. He explainedthatthe songbird research is crucial for conservation to show where the best place is to put conservation dollars to beneﬁt bird species. Information from the geolocators shows not just flight patterns, but also the barometric pressure component offering higher resolutionand estimates of the ﬂight height of the bird. This data helps inform whether the birds are at risk forcollisions

with wind turbines or other proposedstructuresinthe Gulf of Mexico. Flight height combined with weatherpatternsare valuable evaluation tools for conservation.

“Last year,wedeployed 15 geolocatorsonprothonotary warblers, and so far, we have three in-hand,” Johnson said. Theywere scattered in nearby observation areas in South Louisiana.

“Our return rate has been 40 percent so far, so if we can ﬁnd two more birds, we’ll meet ourgoal,” Johnson said.

The prothonotary warbler is just one of manybirds that are at risk. North America has lost morethan one-in-four of its bird species, according to research,and more than 2.9 billion birds have been lost since 1970, including birds in every ecosystem. The decline of birds signals a broader crisis in thenatural world, due to global losses in insects, amphibians, and wildlife. The website www.3billionbirds.org,sponsored by several conservationagencies, offersseven actionsthe public can take to makeadifference.

PROVIDED PHOTO By LOUISIANA SHAKESPEARE COMPANy

PROVIDED PHOTOByJOHNEDWARD HARTGERINK Aprothonotarywarbler holds food, in thiscase an insect, in itsmouth.

LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA McCLURE Gold dust plant displays unique yellowspeckles eveninshade.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Change begins with you, but first tidy up unfinished business. It will make your journey and your choices easier. You'll face opposition if you allow others to weigh in on a subject that's meaningful to you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Consider your options and align yourself with people who are as diverse and innovative as you. Don't pressure someone uncomfortable with your plans to join in, or a setback will occur.

cANcER (June 21-July 22) Distance yourself from situations you cannot resolve, and you'll gain insight into unique options. Altering your lifestyle to suit your demands will speed things up.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Live and learn. Your actions and words matter, so act and speak with caution and courage. Put your energy where it counts and be true to yourself. Don't hesitate to take on something that matters to you

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Press forward with passion, experience and knowledge, and you will leave a lasting impression. Taking short trips and reconnecting with associates or partners will be uplifting.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Be silent while you observe what others do and say, and you'll spare yourself ridicule and criticism. Expand your interests, and you'll connect with someone who intrigues you.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-Nov. 22) You'll crave change, excitement and being in the

middle of the action. Before you rush in and share your thoughts, consider who you are dealing with.

sAGIttARIus (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Opportunity is within reach. Keep the momentum going and share your vision with the people you care about most. You'll get the input you need, but at a cost you may not like.

cAPRIcoRN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take a backseat and consider your options. Attend events that allow you to network, connect and position yourself strategically. An energetic approach to partnerships will encourage closer ties.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pay attention to money matters and save for a rainy day Expand your interest in something that you can use to boost your qualifications. Rethink your lifestyle and make healthy choices.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Stick to your plans; any deviation will cost you. Trust your instincts, follow your heart and distance yourself from those offering chaos and divisiveness.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Consider your options, ask an expert and adjust your plans to meet demands. Participate in events and build direct links to what interests you. Personal gain is apparent.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

toDAy's cLuE: X EQuALs G

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

WilliamLyonPhelpswasapopularcolumnist and public speaker whotaught the first American university course on themodernnovel.Hesaid,“Ifatfirstyou don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.” At thebridge table, aloser usually gives atrick to theopponents.Sometimes, though, taking that trick can be costly.Intoday’sdeal,whatshouldbethe resultinfourspadesafterWestleadsthe club king?

Note East’s balancing one-no-trump overcall.Thisshowsonly11to15points. With anormal strong no-trump, East doubles and rebids in no-trump. South’sthree-heart rebidand North’s jumptofourspadeswereaggressivebut reasonable. North liked his three-card spadesupport,aruffingvalueinSouth’s second suitand an ace.

Southwinsthefirsttrickwithdummy’s ace, plays aheart to his queen, cashes theheart ace, andleads another heart. Should West ruffwithhis spade 10 or pitch aminor-suit card?

Ingeneral,ifdeclarerisabouttoruffa loser, the defender shoulddiscard. Here, if West ruffs, the contract can be made. South trumps the (say) club continuation, ruffs aheart on theboard (bringing down East’sking), and plays aspade to hisnine. He continues witha hightrumpandlosesonlytwospadesand onediamond.IfWestcorrectlydiscards at trick four, the play gets interesting. Southruffs, trumpsaclub in his hand and leads another heart. Now West mustruff! He then leads aminor, and Southcannot avoid losing another two spades and one diamond to East.

Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers: wuzzles

word game

INstRuctIoNs: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD MEPHItIc: meh-FIH-tik: Foul-smelling.

Average mark15words

Time limit 20 minutes

Can you find 21 or morewords in MEPHITIC?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —INEXAct

today’s thought

“Neither repented they of their murders,nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” Revelation 9:21

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard