The Advocate 05-13-2025

Addis teen in ‘American Idol’ finale

John Foster sings his way into top 3

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

Louisiana’s John Foster is headed into Sunday night’s “American Idol” grand finale after another magical “Disney Night” on Monday’s “Idol” episode.

Host Ryan Seacrest announced Foster as the first finalist of three headed into Sunday Foster will be singing against stay-at-home mom Breanna Nix, of Denton, Texas; and teacher Jamal Roberts, of Meridian, Mississippi, to become Season 23’s winner.

5 p.m. Wednesday along First Street in Addis and end with a concert on the waterfront in Plaquemine at 7:30 p.m., according to WBRZ, Baton Rouge’s ABC affiliate.

Seacrest also mentioned that Foster would be getting a hero’s welcome home to Addis. The parade in Foster’s honor is slated to start at

For the second of two “Disney Nights,” this one focusing on its memorable heroes and villains, the Addis teen chose to perform the jolly tune “Bare Necessities” from Disney’s classic film “The Jungle

ä See IDOL, page 4A

Despite cuts, Whitney Plantation sticks to mission

Fundraising continues to tell story of Black history

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

WALLACE The Whitney Plantation tells the story of slavery, one building at a time. A church, a cabin, a jail. Soon, if executive director Ashley Rogers has her way, through the plantation store.

On a muggy afternoon, she and John Blokker, director of historic preservation and facilities at the 250-acre plantation, stepped inside the store, which operated until 1975 They moved left to right front and back, discussing the repairs in progress and the work left to be done. The floors had been sanded, the holes patched. But the shelves were still empty

“Are these active outlets?” Rogers asked Blokker, leaning behind what was once the counter “Because I was thinking that one of the things I’d like to do here is have a way for people to listen to the oral histories, like on a kiosk or something.”

Rogers, who has led Whitney since 2014, had planned to open this store to the public this year. She spearheaded its restoration, collected oral histories about it and focused her doctoral dissertation on it But other buildings beckon, too. The vast

is

John Foster, of Addis, performs ‘Almost There’ from ‘The Princess and the Frog’ for the first of two ‘Disney Nights’ on ‘American Idol’ on Sunday.

PROVIDED PHOTO By CHRISTOPHER WILLARD/DISNEy

Teacher stipends included in House budget

Funds also allocated for private education grants

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO, PATRICK WALL and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN

Staff writers

Louisiana would spend nearly $200 million on one-time pay stipends for public school teachers and other school employees next school year under a proposed budget advanced by the House Appropriations Committee on Monday essentially keeping educator pay flat as lawmakers explore ways to fund long-term raises. The spending plan, which the full House is expected to vote on Thursday also includes $93.5 million that Gov Jeff Landry requested for a new education program, called LA GATOR, that gives families tax dollars to pay for private school tuition and homeschooling expenses. It cuts $30 million that had been allocated for student tutoring.

For the third year in a row, certified

ä See STIPENDS, page 4A ä See PLANTATION, page 5A

U.S., China agree to slash sky-high tariffs for now

BY JAMEY KEATEN, DAVID McHUGH, ELAINE KURTENBACH and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press

ä Wall Street rallies after pause announced.

PAGE 6A

GENEVA The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world’s two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets. But the de-escalation in President Donald Trump’s trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month.

ä See TARIFFS, page 7A

Metal figures by artist Woodrow Nash sit on a structure in which enslaved people lived at the Whitney Plantation.

A sugar kettle

placed in front of a structure at the Whitney Plantation.

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

Soon after the 230-year-old Whitney Plantation in Wallace welcomed its first visitors in late 2014, The New york Times declared it ‘the first slavery museum in America.’

Trump’s plan to accept free jet from Qatar raises

concerns

BY CHRIS MEGERIAN, ZEKE MILLER and BERNARD CONDON Associated Press

WASHINGTON For President Donald Trump,

accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer

“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the Republican told reporters on Monday “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”

Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.

“This is unprecedented,” said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law expert at Loyola Law School. “We just haven’t tested these boundaries before.”

Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he wouldn’t fly around in the gifted Boeing 747 when his term ends. Instead, he said, the $400 million plane would be donated to a future presidential library, similar to how the Boeing 707 used by President Ronald Reagan was decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece “It would go directly to the library after I leave office,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be using it.”

However, that did little to quell the controversy over the plane. Democrats are united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president’s allies are worried Laura Loomer, an outspoken conspiracy theorist who has tried to purge disloyal officials from the administration, wrote on social media that she would “take a bullet for Trump” but said she’s “so disappointed.”

Trump will likely face persistent questions about the plane in the coming days as he travels to the Middle East, including a stop in Qatar

Why does Trump want the Qatari plane?

The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades, and Trump is eager to replace them. During his first term, he displayed a model of a new jumbo jet in the Oval Office, complete with a revised paint scheme that echoed the red, white and dark blue design of his personal plane.

Boeing has been working on retrofitting 747s that were originally built for a nowdefunct Russian airliner But the program has faced nearly a decade of delays — with perhaps more on the way — from a series of issues, including a critical subcontractor’s bankruptcy and the difficulty of finding and retaining qualified staff who could be awarded high-level security clearances. The new planes aren’t due to be finished until near the end of Trump’s term, and he’s out of patience. He has described the situation as “a total mess,” and he has complained that Air Force One isn’t as nice as the planes flown by some Arab leaders.

“It’s not even the same ballgame,” he said Trump said Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, offered a replacement plane that could be used while the government was waiting for Boeing to finish.

“We give free things out,” he said “We’ll take one, too.” He bristled at suggestions that he should turn down the plane, comparing the potential gift to favors on the golf course.

“When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say ‘Thank you very much,’” he said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, expressed skepticism.

“I understand his frustration. They’re way behind schedule on delivering the next Air Force One,” the Republican told reporters. “Whether or not this is the right solution or not, I don’t know.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By BEN CURTIS

Boeing has been working on retrofitting 747s that were originally built for a nowdefunct Russian airliner for use as Air Force One. But the program has faced nearly a decade of delays.

Will the new plane be secure?

The Qatari plane has been described as a “palace in the sky,” complete with luxurious accommodations and top-of-the-line finishes.

But security is the primary concern when it comes to presidential travel. The current Air Force One planes were built from scratch near the end of the Cold War. They are hardened against the effects of a nuclear blast and include a range of security features, such as antimissile countermeasures and an onboard operating room. They are also equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities for contingencies, though it has never been utilized with a president on board.

A former U.S. official briefed on the Air Force One replacement project said that while it would be possible to add some features to the Qatari jet, there was no way to add the full suite of capabilities to the plane on a tight timetable.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive program, said it would be a risk for presidents to fly on such a jet.

One of the most important features of Air Force One is the communications capabilities. Presidents can use the plane as a flying Situation Room, allowing them to respond to crises anywhere on the globe.

However, on Sept 11, 2001, Republican President George W. Bush was frustrated by communications issues and ordered up massive technology upgrades over subsequent years to improve the president’s ability to monitor events and communicate with people around the world.

The new ones under development by Boeing are being stripped down so workers can replace the standard wiring with shielded cabling. They’re also modifying the jet with an array of classified security measures and communications capabilities.

Because of the high standards for ensuring a president can communicate clearly and securely, there are fears that Trump would be compromising safety by rushing to modify the Qatari jet.

“Disassembling and evaluating the plane for collection/spy devices will take years,” William Evanina, who served as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center during Trump’s first term, wrote on social media.

Is any of this legal or ethical?

Even for a president who has blurred traditional lines around public service and personal gain, Trump’s plans to receive a jumbo jet as a gift has rattled Washington.

The Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting things of value, or “emoluments,” from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“This is a classic example of what the founders worried about,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics chief under Bush. “But I don’t think the founders anticipated it would get this bad.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the details of the donation are “still being worked out” but would be done “in full compliance with the law.”

She dismissed idea the idea that Qatar wanted to influence Trump.

“They know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind,” she said.

Four Democratic senators on the Foreign Relations Committee — Brian Schatz, of Hawaii; Chris Coons, of Delaware; Cory Booker, of New Jersey; and Chris Murphy, of Connecticut — issued a statement saying Trump’s plan “creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government.”

Ex-Louisiana official named to FEMA

mitigating disaster damage through infrastructure improvements, such as strengthening levees and raising structures.

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Mark Cooper, who worked on Louisiana disasters for both Democratic and Republican governors, will join the presidential team that is studying the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Cooper was named to the panel over the weekend by President Donald Trump in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“I know that the new members will work hard to fix a terribly broken system, and return power to state emergency managers, who will help make America safe again,” Trump wrote. Cooper was former chief of staff for Democratic Gov John Bel Edwards and director of the Governor’s Office for Homeland Security under Republican Gov Bobby Jindal. Cooper has been on the ground in recovery efforts from disasters that have struck Louisiana in recent years, from Hurricane Katrina through the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before coming to Louisiana, Cooper was deputy fire chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department He is now a partner with Five Score Partners, a Baton Rouge-based business and government relations consulting firm.

On the campaign trail and since his election, Trump has said that FEMA doesn’t work properly and needs significant changes — up to and including being eliminated He wants some of the agency’s disaster relief functions returned to the states. FEMA has suspended or stopped taking applications for several programs aimed at

Last week, FEMA’s acting chair, Cam Hamilton, was fired. The Trump administration did not give a reason for his termination, but it happened the day after he testified to Congress that FEMA should not be eliminated. Trump established the council to assess FEMA by executive order on Jan. 24. The goal for the council is to advise the president “on the existing ability of FEMA to capably and impartially address disasters occurring within the United States” and to recommend changes to FEMA’s missions, procedures and operations. The council will be chaired by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The committee also includes Texas Gov Greg Abbott, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and former Mississippi Gov Phil Bryant.

Other members of the council include: n Jane Castor, mayor of Tampa, Florida n Rosie Cordero-Stutz, sheriff of MiamiDade County, Florida

n Robert Fenton Jr., Region 9 administrator and former acting administrator of FEMA

n Evan Greenberg, CEO of insurance company Chubb Limited

n Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management

n W. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management n Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee.

Trump has charged the council, whose members will only receive reimbursement of some expenses, with recommending significant policy and operational changes to FEMA before summer

U.K. government vows to cut immigration

By The Associated Press

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged Monday to cut immigration numbers and make it harder to settle in the U.K., confronting an issue that has bedeviled successive governments and fueled the rise of a new anti-immigrant party that could threaten the country’s political establishment.

Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory last July, is facing pressure from voters who are increasingly frustrated by high levels of immigration that many believe have strained public services and inflamed ethnic tensions in some parts of the country

Starmer said he would end “Britain’s failed experiment in open borders,” less than two weeks after Reform UK, the hardright party led by Nigel Farage, scored big victories in local elections.

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Business editor

Abusiness professor at the University of Tennessee has been selected to become the newdean of LSU’sbusiness school

RussellCrook is settotake over as dean of the E.J. Ourso College of Business,effective July 28, pendingapproval by the LSUBoard of Supervisors, the university announcedMonday Crook has been head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the UniversityofTennessee’s Haslam College of Business since July 2022. He also serves as the First Horizon Foundation Distinguished Business Professor and Cheryl Massingale Business Faculty Scholar Crook has been on theTennessee business school staff since 2007. During that time, he received multiple teaching and service awards fromthe school.

Crook said he is thrilled to join the LSU staff.

“Together,wewillnot only elevate the college to new heights in student success and thoughtleadership, but also enhance its role as acatalyst foreconomic growth and opportunityacrossthe stateof Louisiana,”hesaid in astatement.

He earned abachelor’s in economics fromFlorida State University, amaster’sinbusiness administration from AmericanUniversityand a doctorate in strategic management from Florida State. Beforeheearned his doctorate,Crook worked for several Fortune 500 companies, including American Airlines, US Airways and IBM in strategic planning and global procurement.

Crook is afellow and aformer presidentofthe Southern Management Association.

LSU President WilliamF Tate IV and Executive Vice President and Provost Roy Haggerty praised Crook’s backgroundand abilities.

“His leadership skills, scholarly expertise and industry experience makehim the ideal candidate to lead LSU’sdistinguishedE.J. Ourso Collegeof Business,” Haggerty said in a statement.

Crook will replace Jared Llorensasdean of the business school. LSU officials said Llorens, whohas served as dean since July 2020, will return to a facultyposition at the school’s Department of Public Administration.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEWYORK— Stocks rallied Monday after Chinaand theUnitedStates announced a90-daytruceintheir trade war. Each of the world’stwo largest economies agreed to temporarily take down most of its tariffs against the other, which economists hadwarned couldstart arecession and create shortages on U.S. store shelves.

TheS&P 500shotuptopullback within 5% of its all-time high set in February.It’sbeen roaring higher since fallingnearly 20% below the mark last month on hopes that President Donald Trumpwill lower his tariffs afterreaching trade dealswith other countries. The index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is back above where it was on April 2, Trump’s“Liberation Day,” when he announced stiff worldwide tariffs that ignited worries abouta potentially self-inflictedrecession.

BY MAE ANDERSON and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP business writers

NEW YORK American businesses thatrelyonChinese goods reacted with mutedrelief Monday afterthe U.S.and China agreedtopausetheir exorbitant tariffs on each other’s productsfor 90 days.

Importersstill face relatively high tariffs, however,aswell as uncertainty over what will happeninthe coming weeks andmonths. Many businesses delayedorcanceledorders after PresidentDonald Trump last monthput a145% tariff on items made in China.

Now,they’re concerned a mad scramble to get goods onto ships will lead to bottlenecks and increased shipping costs. The temporary truce wasannouncedasretailersand suppliers are looking to finalize plans and orders for the holidayshopping season.

“The timingcouldn’thave been any worse with regard to placing orders, so turning on a dime to pick back up withcustomers and our factories will putusseverely behind schedule,”said WS Game Company owner Jonathan Silva, whose Massachusettsbusiness creates deluxe versionsofMonopoly, Scrabble and other Hasbro board games. Silva said the30% tariff on Chinese imports still is astep in the right direction. He has nine containers of products waiting at factories in China and said he would work to get them exportedatthe lower rate

U.S. Trade Representative

BY JONEL ALECCIA AP health writer

People taking EliLilly’sobesity drug, Zepbound, lostnearly50% more weight than those using rival Novo Nordisk’sWegovy in the first head-to-head study of the blockbustermedications.

Clinical trial participants who took tirzepatide, the drug soldas Zepbound, lost an averageof50 pounds over 72weeks, while those whotook semaglutide, or Wegovy, lost about 33 pounds. That’s according to the study fundedby Lilly,which was published Sunday

Jamieson Greer said theU.S. agreed to lower its 145% tariff rate on Chinesegoods by 115 percentage points,while China agreed to lowerits retaliatory 125% rate on U.S. goods by the same amount.The two sides plantocontinue negotiations on alonger-term trade deal.

Before Trump started the latest U.S. tariffbattlewith China,Miami-basedgame company All Things Equal was preparingtolaunch its firstelectronicboard game Founder EricPoses saidhe spent two years developing The Good News Is..., afill-inthe-blank gamecovering topicslike politics andsports. He plowed$120,000into research and development.

Whenthe president in February added a20% tariff on productsmade in China, Poses startedremovingunessential features such as embossed packaging. When the rate went

up to 145%, he faced two options: leave the goods in China or send them to bondedwarehouses,a storage method that allows importers to defer duty paymentsfor up to five years. Poses contactedhis factories in China on Monday to arrange the deferred shipments, but with his games still subject to a30% tariff, he said he would have to cutback on marketing to keep the electronic game priced at $29.99. With other businesses also in arush to get their products, he saidheis worried he won’tbeable to his intoshipping containers and that if he does, the cost will be much more expensive “It’svery hard to plan because if you want to go back to production in acouple of months, then you’re worried about what will the tariff rate be when it hits the U.S. ports after that90-dayperiod,” Poses said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also climbed. It wasn’tjuststocksrising following what one analyst called a“best-case scenario” for U.S.-China tariff talks, which reduced tariffs by more than what manyinvestors expected. Crude oilprices climbed because aglobaleconomy less burdenedby tariffs will likely burn morefuel. The value of the U.S. dollar strengthened againsteverythingfrom the euro to the Japaneseyen to the Swiss franc. And Treasury yields jumped on expectations that the Federal Reserve won’t have to cutinterestratesas deeply this yearasearlier expected in order to protect the economy from the damage of tariffs.

Gold’sprice fell, meanwhile, as investors felt less need to buy something safe.

The moveannounced Monday could add 0.4 percentage points to the U.S. economy’sgrowth this year,according to Jonathan Pingle, U.S. chief economist at UBS. That’sasignificant chunk, and every bit counts when the U.S. economy shrank at a0.3% annual rate in the first threemonths of the year

The 90-day reprieve also comes at avital time forthe economy, allowing retailers and suppliers to “ensure that shelves are stocked forthe allimportant back-to-school andholiday shopping seasons,” said Carol Schleif, chiefmarket strategistatBMO Private Wealth.

Of course, conditionscould change quickly again, as Wall Street has seen all too often in Trump’son-againoff-againrollout of tariffs. Bigchallenges still remain in the negotiations between China and the United States, and there is “no reason to believe that this will be anything other than aslow process,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Both drugs are part of anew class of medications that work by mimickinghormones in thegut and brain that regulateappetiteand feelings of fullness. But tirzepatide targets twosuch hormones, known as GLP-1 and GIP,while semaglutide targets GLP-1 alone, said Dr Louis Aronne,director of theComprehensive Weight ControlCenter at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“Two drugs together can produce better weight loss,” said Aronne, who led the study and presented thefindings Sunday at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain.

While tirzepatide won out in what Aronne said manyview as “a drag race of efficacy,” both are important tools for treating obesity whichaffects about40% of Ameri-

can adults.

“The pointofthese medications is to improve health,” he said. “The majorityofpeople won’tneed the mosteffective medication.”

Thetrial included751 people from across the U.S. who were overweight or had obesity and at leastone other weight-related health problem,but notdiabetes. Participants received weekly injections of thehighest tolerated doses of Zepbound, either 10 milligrams or 15 milligrams, or Wegovy,1.7 milligrams or 2.4 milligrams. By theend of the trial, those who took Zepbound lost about 20% of their body weight on average, compared with anearly 14% loss for those who took Wegovy.The tirzepatide group trimmed about 7inchesfromtheir waistcircumference,compared to about5

inches with semaglutide. In addition, nearly 32% of people taking Zepbound lost at least aquarter of their body weight, compared to about 16% of those taking Wegovy, the study found.

Weight loss was about 6% lower in menthaninwomen in both groups, the authors noted. As participants in both groups lost more weight, they saw improvements in health markers such as blood pressure, blood fat and blood sugar levels.

TheGLP-1 drugs have become increasingly popular,with at least 1in8 U.S. adults reportingtheir use, according to a2024 survey by KFF,aindependent health policy research organization. Zepbound generated $4.9 billioninglobal sales last year.Wegovy brought in nearly $8.8 billion.

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LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Three blinks and apause

On Friday,Imade my way driving through the rainand felt asense of relief when the lighthouse finally came intoview. Even though Iwas in my car and not in asmall boat on LakePontchartrain, Igot asmall glimpse to how ship captains must feel when they see the guiding light.

Kristi Trail, executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy,met me at the door of theorganization’soutreach and education center. We walkedalong wooden walkways towardthe lighthouse, passing alarge bell Trail explained it was the “fog bell,” used when boats couldn’t see the lighthouse light.

“Weget alot of field trips here with students,” Trail said.“They love ringing it.” She gave me permission to ring it —achance Icouldn’tpass up. Inside the lighthouse, ourhistory lesson began.

“Do you remember what year the Europeans came to this area?” Trail asked.

Ever the student wantingtoanswer ateacher correctly,Ifroze. I’d known the answer,but wasn’t sure how broadly she meant “this area.” I’m pretty sureIhad alook of panic as Iscrambled mentally

She rescued me: 1718.

“At the time, they delivered goods into the city from Lake Pontchartrain. The river was difficult to navigate upstream, especially withclipper ships,” Trail said.

She pointed to the lake behind us,still rocking with wind and rain. In the 1700s, traderscamein from the east and took Bayou St. John into the city

Standing damp near the water’s edge, Icould imagine what navigating those rough waters centuriesago must have felt like.

Afterthe Louisiana Purchase in 1803, things along the lakefront got dicey “Urban legend says the French living here weren’thappy about it,” Trail said. “They didn’t want to be Americans, so they wouldn’t allow American ships to enter Bayou St.John, only French ones.” What did the Americansdo?

They dug their owncanal, naming it the “New Canal.” It wasprimarily dug by Irish immigrants escaping thepotato famine. Many died from accidents and disease, especiallyyellow fever.Some are said to be buried in thecanal itself.

Once the New Canal (orNew BasinCanal) was completed in 1838, they builtthe lighthouse to guide ships into it.

“This area was heavily used for commerce, but nobody lived out here on the lake,” Trail said,aswe walked through the museum It’sbeen in the same spot ever since its completion in 1939. Before World WarII, thefederal government would appointa family to run the lighthouse.

“The whole family —wife, children —moved in. If the husband died, the wife took over,” Trail said. “So we’re alittle unique in that we’ve had several women lighthouse keepers.”

Amuseum display highlights them:

n Mrs. Elizabeth S. Beattie, 1847

n Mrs. Jane O’Driscoll,1850

n Mrs. Mary F. Campbell, 186993

n Mrs. Caroline Riddle,18931924 n Mrs. Margaret(Madge) Norvell, 1924-32. “Back then, women didn’thave obituaries,sowedon’thavemuch information,” Trail said. “Butthis most recent one, Madge, we do.” Norvell is creditedwith rescuing more than 200 people in Lake

ä See RISHER, page 2B

PerkinsRowesoldto firm

Deal filedlastweekwithofficials

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Business editor

ADallas-based real estateinvestment firm has purchased the Perkins Rowe mixed-use development foranundisclosed amount

TGTPC PerkinsRowe Owner LLCbought thecenteratthe intersection of Bluebonnet Boulevard and Perkins Road in adeal that was filed last week with the

East Baton RougeParishClerk of Court’sOffice. The seller was Crawfish LLC, of FortWorth, Texas.

Crawfish has the same mailing addressasTrademark Property Co., whichbought intoPerkins Rowe in 2016.

TGTPC has thesame address as TriGate Capital, aDallascompany that lists the American Can Apartments in New Orleans as oneofits

investments. The company also owns retail centers, apartments and townhomes in Houston, Phoenix and Denver In aLinkedInpost, TriGate said they have started anew leasing anda targeted capital improvement plan for Perkins Rowe. “Our goal is simple: Elevate the shoppingexperience and unlock longtermvalue for this iconic asset,” thecompany said. Trademark will continue to handle Perkins Rowe’s leasing and management.

While the sale price was not disclosedinthe filing,TGTPC filedpaperwork at thesame time that it has secured a$47.3 million mortgage on the Perkins Rowe property Perkins Rowe,which opened in 2007, has 375,000 square feet of retailspace, withtenants such as Barnes &Noble, Cinemark, Starbucks and The Fresh Market;135,000squarefeet of office space; and more than 225 apartments and condominium units.

BALANCINGACT

Millions in opioid fundsremainunspent

BY EMILYWOODRUFF Staff writer

Louisiana is set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds over the next decade,but thestate has no designated authority to enforce how those funds are used, according to anew audit thatrecommends giving strongeroversight to the state’sopioid task force The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’sOffice on Monday saidmillions of dollars from

the state’sportion of the opioid settlement fund remain unspent amidthe ongoing opioid crisis. It concluded that the Louisiana Opioid AbatementTask Force, which is responsible for advising on the useofthe funds, does nothavethe authority to ensure that sheriff’soffices and local agencies receiving the funds areusing them as intended.

“Wehavenot found anyevidence of noncompliance,”said Emily Dixon, whomanaged the audit.“But we justfelt that moving forward, having somebody in thatresponsibilityrole could prevent any funds being spent outside of the approved methods.”

3rdsuspect booked in

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

Athird suspect has been arrested followingthe fatal shooting Friday at the Doyle High School baseball field. Lavorius Linson, 24, of Denham Springs, was arrested Sunday after officers issued an arrest warrant. Linson was booked in to Livingston Parish Detention Center on counts of first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy,firstdegree robbery and illegally supplying afelon with afirearm Linsonwas allegedlyactively involved in the incident, the Livingston Police Department said in anews release. “Our officers have been working

nonstop since the initial call Friday.Wewill not let up until everyoneinvolvedinthis incident is in jail,” Police Chief Randy Dufrene said. EvanLynch, a23-year-old Walker resident,was fatally shotbefore 9 p.m.Friday The department said there are still unanswered questions as this investigation continues but believe “the main players” involved have been arrested. Twoother suspects were arrested Saturday Caleb Rowley, 23,ofDenham Springs, was booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center on counts of first-degreemurder, aggravated burglary,obstruction of justice and tampering with sur-

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Apair of turtles balance on afallen cypress branch as theybask in the setting sun along the bank of City Park Lake on WednesdayinBaton Rouge.

‘Emperor of crawfish’ Al Scramuzza dies at 97

Seafood City owner known for his iconic commercials

BY JOHN POPE

Contributing writer

Al Scramuzza, a plainspoken man whose endearingly hokey commercials for his Gentilly seafood store vaulted him into the pantheon of pitchmen, died Sunday at his Metairie home. He was 97. Scramuzza, who took credit for making crawfish popular in New Orleans, sold mudbugs and other seafood on North Broad Street for 43 years. He promoted his business, Seafood City with a series of commercials that he wrote, produced and directed himself.

In one spot, Scramuzza, wearing a white medical coat, was scrutinizing crawfish with a stethoscope to determine whether they were healthy Others featured him, again in the white coat, prescribing crawfish and other seafood to help people recover from falls, depression and infertility Each ad ended with Scramuzza, surrounded by employees, announcing the address — 1826 North Broad — and waving.

“I always had plenty confidence” in those spots, he said in a 2001 interview with The Times-Picayune.

“They wrote my commercials at the TV station; I changed the scripts. I told the director, ‘Stand on the side.’” The ads “were so goofy, so different that they resonated with people,” said Dominic Massa, who featured Scramuzza in “Stay Tuned: New Orleans’ Classic TV Commercials,” a WYES-TV documentary he produced “New Orleans loves its characters,” Massa said, “and I think he in so many

RISHER

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ways typified a New Orleans character. Scramuzza, who proclaimed himself the emperor of crawfish, became a celebrity who was in demand for appearances. He was on hand when the Crescent City Farmers Market started selling seafood in 1999. In 1990, wearing his doctor’s coat and stethoscope, Scramuzza reigned as king of the Krewe du Vieux parade. In 2017, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board proclaimed him “The Seafood Champion.”

He branched into music in 1962, when he launched the Scram record label from the seafood store and hired pianist and singer Eddie Bo to lead the studio band. Among the label’s songs was “Do the Crawfish” by Assumarks Derfla, an almost-perfect backward rendering of Scramuzza’s name. In 1983, he traded on his fame in a run for a seat in the state House of Representatives.

When he was walking the streets of that Gentilly district, people recognized him from his commercials and said hello. His reply to one woman: “If you look this good after eating my seafood, think how you’ll look with my legislation.”

His slogan: “Vote for Al Scramuzza and you’ll never be a loser.” Nevertheless, he lost.

In 2018, The Times-Picayune named Scramuzza one of New Orleans’ 300 distinctive citizens in a series to mark the city’s tricentennial.

Born on Sept. 19, 1927, Scramuzza was the youngest of six children. His father, who sold produce in the French Market, left the family when Scramuzza was young, leaving his wife and their children destitute.

His mother worked in sewing factories and at the American Sugar Refinery In an interview, Scramuz-

Pontchartrain when lighthouse keepers were also first responders “If they saw an incident, they had to sound the alarm, notify authorities. Then she would row out and rescue people,” Trail said “She even saw a plane go down and rescued the passengers.”

Norvell now has a Coast Guard cutter named after her: the USCGC Margaret Norvell (WPC1105), based in Miami, commissioned June 1, 2013

The lighthouse played a vital role in the New Canal’s commercial life through the 19th century After World War I, portions of the canal were filled in. By 1950, all but a half-mile near the lake was gone. Even still, the lighthouse persisted with its bright light flashing.

From the 1960s until it was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it served as a Coast Guard station. The Pontchartrain Con-

OPIOID

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Louisiana is set to receive roughly $600 million between 2022 and 2038 from pharmaceutical companies, which settled a class-action lawsuit brought by state and local governments in 2021 for their role in fueling the opioid crisis. Each state decides how funds are distributed, and in Louisiana, 20% goes to sheriff’s offices and 80% goes to parishes. Under a state agreement, the funds must be used for evidence-based, forwardlooking strategies, programming and services aimed at addressing substance use disorders. Although the agreement allows for some flexibility, it cites examples such as providing funding for drug courts, addiction services, Narcan distribution, school education, first responder training and community out-

STAFF FILE PHOTO By

Al Scramuzza waves after announcing there are too many ‘Crawfish Kings’ and he is the ‘Crawfish Emperor’ during his 90th birthday party at Melba’s in New Orleans on Sept. 23, 2017. The self-proclaimed ‘Crawfish Emperor’ is famous for making crawfish popular in the 1940s and said to have started the first backyard crawfish boil.

za recalled going under fish trucks at the market to find fallen shrimp and loose crabs that his mother could use in gumbo. Scramuzza earned money by selling newspapers, shining shoes in Exchange Alley and selling duck eggs he had foraged in City Park. “I had my own way of selling shoe shines,” he said in a 1993 interview “‘Mister,’ I’d say ‘I can’t stand to see shoes like that. Put your shoe on the box, I’m giving you a free brush.’ They’d always pay me.”

He and his siblings spent time in Hope Haven, a Marrero home for orphaned and impoverished youngsters. At Hope Haven, Scramuzza was introduced to sports, which, he said, changed his life. He graduated from Warren Easton High School, where he had played football, and enlisted in the Navy When Scramuzza returned home in 1949, he operated a fruit stand at Camp and Calliope streets where he also sold oysters, shrimp, fish and crabs.

servancy bought the remains at auction and rebuilt it as a museum and education center Trail and I climbed the ladder to the tippy top and looked out on a menacing Pontchartrain. She told me about the conservancy’s work to improve the lake’s water quality

Today the lighthouse still shines — three blinks and a pause — a beacon of resilience.

“If you’re ever out here at night, you’ll see it,” Trail said.

As I walked to my car, I looked back and reflected on the lighthouse’s role as a symbol of New Orleans’ resilience. It’s a small museum that packs a big punch — whether you’re a curious student, a history buff or someone simply looking for a quiet place to watch the lake and ring a bell.

The New Canal Lighthouse is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday General admission tickets are $10. Seniors, students and military admission is $7.50. Children under 6 are free. The lighthouse is located at 8001 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans.

reach as approved uses.

Louisiana and Georgia are the only two states that allocate a portion of opioid settlement funds directly to sheriffs, and Louisiana is one of a few states that does not allocate any funds to the state itself.

The task force stated that opioid settlement funds were given to parishes and sheriffs because they bore the costs of combating the epidemic, and these local governments were the initial parties to sue pharmaceutical companies, according to the audit. However, the audit found the money isn’t being spent or tracked, and recipients in some cases are unsure how to use it.

As of October, the task force had distributed approximately $98.5 million to parishes and sheriffs. However, auditors discovered that the actual spending was much lower A survey conducted as part of the audit revealed that, as of September, only $8.6 million had been used by 20 parishes and 24 sheriffs

combined.

A year later, he moved his operation Broadview Seafood & Produce — to Terranova’s Broadview Meat Market at Broad Street and Bayou Road.

In 1951, a truck farmer sold him a few sacks of crawfish, which were not popular outside Cajun country Scramuzza, who described himself as “a good promoter,” put his marketing skills to work, showing curious customers how to boil, peel and eat the crustaceans, and he promoted the then-exotic mudbugs by paying children to dangle them from fishing poles as cars roared past

Eventually, crawfish boils became an integral part of springtime in New Orleans, and Scramuzza did his bit to supply the main ingredients. He said he sold up to 50,000 pounds of crawfish on Saturdays.

In 1961, he leased part of a building at 1826 N. Broad St. to open what became Seafood City Scramuzza became so successful that he wound up buying the entire block, and he operated the business until he

retired in 1993. Scramuzza moved to Metairie, where he was a longtime volunteer coach of a variety of sports at Johnny Bright Playground. Last year parish officials renamed a section of Marion Street near the playground in his honor

Although he prided himself on staying active into his 10th decade, Scramuzza acknowledged the aches and pains that are part of aging. His remedy: “I just get up in the morning and rub a little crawfish juice on the aches and pains, and I’m ready for the day.”

His marriage to Sarah Migliore Scramuzza ended in divorce. She died in 2017.

Survivors include two daughters, Toni Ann Scramuzza and SaraLyn Scramuzza Warren, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Lakelawn Metairie Funeral Home will handle arrangements, which are incomplete.

Contact John Pope at pinckelopes@gmail.com.

from sheriffs.

“That’s very strange,” said Glenn Sterner, a criminal justice professor at Penn State University Abington who is a member of Pennsylvania’s Opioid Overdose Task Force, in an interview to discuss how states can best use the money.

Sterner said Pennsylvania tracks every dollar spent and Arkansas has a public website tracking each county’s expenses. He noted it is a challenge to ensure the funds make a tangible impact.

“The most important part is getting these dollars into the hands of people who are implementing interventions to address opioid and other substance use-related issues,” Sterner said.

Calls for better guidance

While parishes are required to submit an annual expenditure report, as of December , only 36 out of the 53 required reports had been submitted, according to the audit. Louisiana’s agreement does not mandate the same reporting

The auditors surveyed recipients of opioid funds as part of their fact-finding process. Nine out of 29 parishes and 19 out of 43 sheriffs that responded to the survey had not spent any of their opioid settlement funds. They cited the need for clearer guidance on spending, a lack of staff to manage the funds, and a shortage of eligible programs and services in their areas.

“Some of them were just like, ‘We’re not sure how to spend this money yet. We’re kind of waiting and seeing what everyone else is doing, so that we can come up with some ideas,’” Dixon said.

Additionally, 21 sheriff’s offices did not respond to the survey

The audit offered six recommendations, including that the task force coordinate with the Attorney General’s Office to give it more authority and consider revising the agreement to require reporting from sheriffs as well.

The report advised using

BLOTTER

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veillance equipment.

Brandon Soileau, a 19, of Denham Springs, was booked on counts of first-degree murder aggravated burglary obstruction of justice and tampering with surveillance. Police said he fired the fatal shot in a social media post.

Siblings arrested after fatal shooting of child

One person died and two others, including a 2-year-old, were injured in a shooting in front of the Soap Opera laundromat in Hammond early Monday morning.

Bradley Blunt, a 23-yearold Hammond resident, died after being taken to North Oaks Medical Center Raleign Honor, a 22-year-old Tickfaw resident, and the 2-year-old child were also taken to the hospital, but both injuries are not life threatening, according to the Hammond Police Department.

Officers responded to the shooting at 2:48 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of the laundromat at 1001 N. Morrison Blvd.

Officers arrested the suspected shooter, Janvourian Franklin, 23, of Hammond, after he was discharged at the same medical center for treatment of a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening.

Franklin was booked on counts of first-degree murder attempted first-degree murder and illegal discharge of a firearm.

Additional investigation led to the arrest of Franklin’s sister, Demetriane Anderson, 20. Anderson was booked on principal to first-degree murder and principal to attempted first-degree murder, the department said in a news release.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Randall Baudier, of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division, at (985) 277-5740 or baudier_rf@hammond.org.

Man dies after fatal crash on Choctaw Drive

A 24-year-old man died and another person is in critical condition after a car went airborne and hit a pole on Choctaw Drive on Monday morning.

Baton Rouge Police Traffic Homicide detectives are investigating the incident that took place 2200 block of Choctaw Drive. Detectives responded to the location at 7:12 a.m.

Kristi Trail, executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy, stands at the organization’s public outreach and education center at the New Canal Lighthouse.

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

data-driven strategies with input from people who experienced opioid use disorder and required timely reporting of expenses.

The audit also suggests that the task force offer more guidance to parishes and sheriffs on how to spend the funds effectively

Task force response

Louisiana’s task force is composed of five people, appointed by the Louisiana Sheriffs Association, Louisiana Municipal Association, Louisiana Police Jury Association, the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and one licensed substance abuse and mental health provider chosen by the Governor’s Office.

The task force agreed with all six recommendations in the report. It outlined plans to improve guidance for parishes and sheriffs, including hosting open meetings, sharing best practices and providing resources on their websites.

The investigation showed that a Honda speeding east on Choctaw Drive crossed Plank Road and went airborne. The vehicle made contact with the road and began to swerve to the left, causing the front passenger corner to hit a concrete pole. The vehicle then rotated, and the front passenger door hit a wooden pole The vehicle split in half and both occupants were ejected from the vehicle, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. Both occupants were taken to a local hospital with lifethreatening injuries. Thailan Favroth, 24, died at the hospital. The other occupant is in critical condition, officials said.

Task force members also noted that the lack of enforcement authority stems from how the original agreement was structured, but said they are open to discussing potential changes to improve compliance monitoring.

Louisiana ranked No. 5 among all states and the District of Columbia for the rate of overdose deaths in 2022 Although opioid deaths are decreasing, they still exceeded 1,000 in Louisiana in 2023 — a 93% increase from 2019. Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.

LOTTERY SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2025

PICK 3: 6-3-3

PICK 4: 2-3-0-4

PICK 5: 3-3-8-3-5

SOPHIA GERMER

Bourgeois, Argelie Moran'Gee'

Argelie MoranBour‐geois, July 7, 1934 –May 6, 2025. Argelie “Gee” Moran Bourgeois, aresidentofSt. Amant, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on Tues‐day, May6,2025, at theage of 90. Shewas an active member of OurLadyofthe Holy Rosary Catholic Church formanyyears most notablyserving as a leader of theBereavement Committee providingfood forfamiliesinmourning. Shewas also a member of TOPS LouisianaCharter 46 servingasthe records recorder.Argelie wasa tal‐entedseamstressand cook.She enjoyedbeing around herfamilyand had agigglethatcould make anyone’s daybetter. Argelie wasprecededin deathbyher husband of 61 years, Milton Bourgeois; theirchildren, RockyPaul andRockell Marie; herpar‐ents,AlbertMoran Sr.and Ursule BourgeoisMoran; herbrothers, Alex Moran, MorrisMoran,JohnMorin, Joseph (J.C.) Moran, Albert MoranJr. andAndrew Moran; andher sisters, Rita MoranGautreau, Rena MoranNigg, andRuth MoranBraud.She is sur‐vivedbyher daughter and son-in-law,Rebecca and RichardBonneval; grand‐daughter andhusband Dareth Bonneval Wagues‐pack andDal Waguespack; grandson andwife, Erik Bonneval andBrandi BrazzelBonneval; five great-granddaughters, Madisonand Mylie Bon‐neval, andBlythe, Ada, and CamilleWaguespack; and hersisters,Theresa Moran Savoy(Joseph)and Bernar‐dine Moran. Family and friendsare invitedtoat‐tend Argelie’s services on Thursday,May 15,2025, at OurLadyofthe Holy Rosary Catholic Church 44450LA-429,St. Amant, LA 70774. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until the Mass of ChristianBurial at 11:00 a.m.,celebratedby Father Matthew Lorrain. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.The fam‐ilywould like to extend specialthankstoDr. John Fraiche; HospiceofBaton RougenursesHannah, Anyangue,Lisa, andMs. Linda, fortheir compassion andcarefor Argelie and thefamily. Gee’slegacyof love,faith,and strength will live on in allwho knew her.

Thomas Archer 'Tom'

Thomas "Tom"Archer Lanepassed away peacefully on Saturday, May 10th surrounded by his loving family.A lifelong resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tom was born on August 14th, 1951 to Horace and MargaretLane, who predeceased him. Agraduate of CentenaryUniversity, whereheformedlifelong

friendships as amember of Kappa Alpha fraternity, Tomwentontoearnhis Law Degree from Southern University. Tomservedhis country honorably in the United StatesAir Force. Tom's legal career spannednearlyforty years, beginninginpractice alongside his father, Horace C. Lane,before partnering with hiscousin, George S. Cotton.Helater served as an Assistant AttorneyGeneral forthe StateofLouisiana,specializing in the Litigation Division. Beyond hisprofessional achievements,Tom found community at Trinity Episcopal Church. One of the most meaningful experiencesofhis lifewas a mission trip to avillage near Copán Ruinas,Honduras, wherehehelped builda retaining wall to protect alocalEpiscopal church from flooding. To those who knewhim, Tom willberemembered for his dry wit, gentlenature, and unwavering kindness. He cherished time with family and friends, often sharing conversations at the City ClubofBaton Rouge. He is reunited in heavenwithhis beloved wifeof36years, SherillWomack Lane, whosememory he cherished every day. Tomis survived by his daughters, Camille Womack Palmer and herhusband Richard Seely, and Caroline Copeland Lane; his sons, Malcolm Taylor Lane and his wifeChristie, and ArcherCotton Lane; his grandchildren, Shawn, Riker,Logan, and Penny; his sister,Maggie Lane Evans, and her husband, Jim Evans; and hisnephew, Mark Evans, and his wife Courtney.Visitation willbe held at Trinity Episcopal ChurchonThursday, May 15th at 9:30am, followed by the service at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Episcopal Church or the charity of your choice.

PatriciaTurner Riddick passedawayonMay 5th, 2025inher hometown of Baton Rouge after abrief stay in hospice and along battle with organ failure. Despite challenges, she took to heart Matthew 25:14-30, and never buried her talents, nor did she allow others to burytheirs. She dedicated herself to teaching students andfellow attorneys how to fight the twin devils of poverty: inequality and public corruption. Pat wasborn in Buckhorn, KYin1939of tough hillbillystock in coal mining country and spent early summers with her siblings Nancy and Earl Kenneth, Jr. at her grandparent'sfarmonthe side of amountain where her beloved grandmother,Nan Jones, taught her to respect and help the less fortunate.The familymoved to Lafayette for herfather'sprofessorshipatUSL (now ULL). At Lafayette High, she studied speech with Novalyne Price. In the school choir with friends Gail Chachere Hartman and Jeanne Williams Cornay, she sangacross the South from DC to Texas andtheir quartettook asenior road trip to Mississippi. Pat also lovedthe piano and excelled in math, science and social studies-three loves she passed along to her son. Pat received abachelors in political science at USL in 1961with aminorin French and studiedRussian. There in Spanish class, Pat met her future husbandof63years,Winston Riddick, and they

married on Christmas Day, 1961. She served as editor of the college paper,The Vermillion, and was elected SGA Secretary.Inthe summer 1960, she participated in OperationCrossroads Africa, theprecursor to thePeace Corps, where her group builta schoolin Guinea-work featured in a one hour CBS Reportsand an article that puther on thecover of Look Magazine. She took PhDcourses in politicalscience at UNO, Tulane and Columbia UniversityinNew York,where she studied under Zbigniew Brzezinski and edited collegetextbooksfor InternationalPublishing, Inc. Afterreceiving her lawdegree fromLSU in 1982, she clerked for Judge Melvin Shortess on Louisiana's First Court of Appeal. She taught political science at Southern University over 23 years, beginning in 1969, and tooka particularinterest in civil rightsand constitutionallaw. She was proud of numerous papers she delivered on legal ethics forCLEs and her work as acertified fraud examiner fighting corruption in banking,insurance and publicservice.She served as general counsel at theLouisianaDeptofInsurance, where she assisted federal fraud investigations. Prior to that, she was senior attorneyatthe Office of Financial Institutions, handling banking regulation; an attorney at the DeptofAgriculture and Forestry and also amanaging partner of Riddick & Riddick law firm. She hada lifelong concern forenvironmental justicewhich served her son well when he dealtwithheavymetals poisoning. She was agifted and prolificartist in knitting, photography, fashion, world cuisine and jewelrymaking. She helpedorganizedand coach her son's softball team and designed itsjerseys.She also de-

signed aRiddickfamily crest. Patenjoyed family tripsacross Latin America and Europe.She spent the summer of 1965 driving fromCrowley,La. with her husband down theInterAmerican Highway to the Panama Canaland back,a 6000 miletrip through6 countries. In lateryears, she was aproud member of theBungee Jumpers investment club.She is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Lee Jones, and father, Dr. Earl KennethTurner, Sr;sister Nancy Turner-Alvet; in-laws ClaudeRiddick,CarlaRiddick, Boband Maxine Willoughbyand nephew Hugh Riddick. Sheissurvivedbyher husband of 63 years, Winston Riddick and son, WadeRiddick,both of BatonRouge;in-lawsCurtisRiddick;brother Earl Turner, Jr., both of Houston, and numerous nieces and nephews. Amemorial servicewillbeheldat 10am, Saturday May 17 at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 11,000FloridaBLVD; internment is on June 7, 10am at Riddick Cemetery in Troy, Arkansas.

Shewill be dearlymissed by all those whoknewand lovedher.A celebrationof life will be held by herfamilyatalater date.

Temple, Jonathan

Jonathan "JW" Temple, born on October8,1932, passed away on May10, 2025, at the age of 92. JW wasborninGloster, Mississippi.Hespent two years in theUnited States Army. He went on to become an electrician until hisretirement from AmericanElectric. JW wasa member of theInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workersand Local 995 for 65 years. JW is survived by hisdaughter, Marilyn Hines; sisters, Annette Zachary, ImogeneOrillion andCathyHasse;granddaughter, Melanie Kelley (Sam); great-grandchildren,Halle andKatie;and friend, Bobbye McInnis. He is preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Lela Musson Temple; parents, Felder W. andHelen Day Temple; andsister,Joann Temple Walker. Visitation will take place at ResthavenFuneral Home on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, beginning at 9:00 AM untilservicesat10:30 AM. Burial to follow at ResthavenGardens of Memory. Familyand friends may sign the online guestbook or leave apersonal note to thefamilyat

Williams, Wilbert Keith

It is with profoundsorrowand solemn reverence that we announcethe passing of Mr.Wilbert Keith Williams, whodeparted this earthly life on the30th of April,inthe year of our Lord 2025, at thedistinguishedage of 71. Apublic viewingshall be held in his honor on Tuesday, the 13th of May, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Winnfield

Taylor,LoisJ

Lois Taylor, bornin Natchez,Mississippiand a resident of Denham Springspassed away April 29, 2025 at theage of 75.

Riddick, Patricia Turner

Lane,

OUR VIEWS

AllLa. citizens should oppose erodingof ethics rules

This legislative session,bills that would give the public much lessinsight about the inner workings of government andwhomour public officials are beholdentoare moving forward with little resistance fromlawmakers on either side of the aisle

One piece of legislation allLouisianacitizens who care about good government should be watching is House Bill 674, byRep.Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, whichproposes to makea slew of changes to the stateethics codethat covers all publicemployees from teachersto lawmakers. The billwould addcumbersome layers to the proceduresofthe LouisianaBoard of Ethics, requiring atwo-thirdsvotebeforean investigation could be launched andsetting limitsonthe board’sability to gather information throughsubpoenas andsworn testimony. Rightnow,the board is required by lawto investigate any complaint it receives.Apparently, lawmakers think that toomanyofthose complaints are being aired andthatthe boardis harassingpublicofficials.

There’smorepackedintothisbill —from changes to when officials can acceptprivately paid travel to what amount they can acceptin gifts —soone would expect ittohavesparked spirited debate on theHouse floor.Yet nota single Republican or Democrat raised anyquestions. The bill passed the Houseunanimouslyon May 5and is now before the Senate GovernmentalAffairs committee.

We also note that this bill comes ayearafter alaw passed giving Gov.Jeff Landry and legislators sweeping control over whoisonthe board, even as the governor himself faces ethics charges over private plane trips paid forby adonor Government watchdog groupsworry that if this bill passes, future ethics investigations could be shut down before they even getoff the ground.

Steven Procopio, president of thenonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council,said, “I thinkit tips alittle too far in terms of protecting elected officials from investigations.”

Another concerning bill makingits way through the Legislature is one that would allow the identitiesofthose who finance campaigns involving ballot measures to be kept secret.House Bill 596 by Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, would make numerous changesto campaign finance laws, includingeliminating the requirement that money spenttopromote or defeat tax propositionsorother elections that don’tinvolve candidates bedisclosed.

The state seems to go throughcycles where rampant corruption gives way togoodgovernment reforms prompted by public outcry.Then politicians, weary of the constraints placed upon them, push to weaken ethics rules, hoping thepublicwillhave forgotten whytheywere needed in the first place.

As anewspaper,wewillalways defend the public’sright to know.But everyonemust speak up if we want to break this cycle. We must let our leaders know we wanttokeep strong safeguards that ensure our stateisamodelofopenness and good governance.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: 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.

TO SEND US A LETTER,

OPINION

Elon Musk’s supportfor Trumppartofapattern

This is not thefirst time for Elon Musk to support apresident withdictatorial desires who has no respect for thejudiciary or the truth.

In 2019, after Jair Bolsonaro took office as president of Brazil, Bolsonaro, like Trump, said there wereflaws in the voting machines and trashedthe courts without evidence. The judiciary in Brazil (specifically Supreme Court JusticeAlexandre de Moraes) clashed withMusk over Musk’ssocial media accountsthat spread hatespeech and malicious propaganda. Musk refused to stop. Braziliandemocracy was at risk. LikeTrump, he was OK with people who disagreed with him going to jail. Bolsonarosaid, “If afew innocent people die, that’sall right.” He spread false and inflammatory

claims against his opponent on the internet. News outlet Agencia Lupa called attention to disinformation and becameatarget of Bolsonaro’scall to attack his enemies. Agencia Lupa received 56,000 threats in amonth.

In theend (or at least fornow), the judiciaryand theequivalent of The Associated Press (which only states fact and not opinion, unlike Fox News)won and Bolsonaroisnow on trial forhis “hatecabinet,” whichgenerated online propaganda.

“If Goebbels were alive and had access to X, we would be doomed,” de Moraes said in aNew Yorker interview.“The Nazis would have conquered theworld.”

CINDYKENDALL youngsville

If we want guns in French Quarter, don’t hide it

When crafting thebill that authorized constitutional carry,the Legislature was wise enough to include exemptions for certain venues like schools, churches, courtrooms and, not surprisingly,the StateCapitol itself. It also realized that booze and firearms are abad mix and exempted all establishments that serve alcohol.

Although only afew of the lawmakers actually represent New Orleans, Ihave no doubt that most, if not all, have probably visited the French Quarter at some time in their lives. That is why it is hard to believe that, being familiar withthe neighborhood, they rejected thecity’srequest for a carveout for the French Quarter.Perhaps if they had considered that, constitutional carryinaroughly 20-block area with at least 60 establishments that serve alcohol; coupled with an open container law that legally allows

theconsumption of alcohol outdoors, they might have reached adifferent conclusion.

The streets of the French Quarter serve essentially as apatio forall of theestablishments that serve alcohol and should be treated the sameasthe patio of any other bar,where firearms are already prohibited.

Disregarding thewill of the mayor, thecity council, the district attorney, thepolice superintendent and the citizens of New Orleansshould not be an option.

If thegovernor and Legislature are so proud of their permitless carry law, why isn’titmentioned in any of Louisiana’stourism information?Perhaps, unless there are some restrictions placed on guns in the French Quarter, it should be arequirement.

SAL RAGUSA Old Jefferson

Trumpshows he’s outoftouch with howtariffs work

President Donald Trump’sstatement that the price increases resulting from his capricious tariffs are just “peanuts”istrue —for multi-billionaires. Not so for theaverage American family He also said, “Maybe thechildren will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.” For hard-working families at the low end of the pay scale spectrum who are already struggling to put food on thetable, it’smore like, maybe the children will have two mealsper day instead of three. Does this remind you of Marie Antoinette, whoresponded to the news that peasants were starving —“Let them eat cake.”

RICK FONTE St. Amant

So, Brenda Hafera, aHeritage Foundation vice president, and President Donald Trumpare concerned that museumslike the Smithsonian Institution are promoting a“false revisionist version of history,” as Hafera wrote in aguest column April 18, by presenting exhibits that feature the evils of slavery and the complicity of the founding fathers in that evil institution.

For example, Hafera complains that an exhibit at James Madison’s home, Montpelier,notes that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison did not free their slaves, but did not mention the fact that George Washington did free his slaves.

Let us leave aside forthe momentthe fact that Jefferson was too busy impregnating the teenager he enslaved, Sally Hemings, to free anyone.

While it is true that Washington did free his slaves, Hafera fails to mention that he did so in his will, which, even then, stipulated that his slaves could only be freed after Martha, his wife, died, which occurred three years after Washington’sdeath.

Donald Trumpand his enablers want to whitewash U.S. history to downplay slavery,Jim Crow and their effects on our current national life. This is presumably in order to shield the delicate sensibilities of White folks being confronted with the true history of this country

When Iwas in fifth grade in Baton Rouge, the year that my elementary school wasintegrated, Iwas taught that the Civil Warwas about economics, not slavery (the economics of free labor,perhaps?).

My teacher also read to the class “Huckleberry Finn” so that she had an excuse to say the N-word in front of the two little Black kids in the back of our classroom.

Trumpwants us to return to that shameful past and shove slavery and racial oppression downthe memory hole.

I, forone, will not be complicit.

JAMES TAYLOR Baton Rouge

No on oneofTrump’s ‘lists’

It’s rarely comforting to appearona government “list,” even (or perhaps especially) when compiled in the name of public safety

It was alarming in the 1940s, whenthe U.S. government collected the names of Japanese Americans for internment. Likewise in the 1950s, whenthe House Un-American Activities Committee cataloged communists.And it’sjust as troubling now,asthe Trump administration assembles registries of Jewish academics and Americanswith developmental disabilities.

Yes, these are real things thathappened recently,the latest examples ofthe White House’sabuseofconfidential data

Not long ago,faculty and staff at BarnardCollege receivedunsolicited texts askingthemwhether they wereJewish Employees werestunned by the messages, which many initially dismissed as spam. Turns out the messages came from the Trump administration. Barnard, which is affiliated with Columbia University,had agreed to sharefaculty members’ private contact infotoaid in President Donald Trump’spseudocrusade against antisemitism.

Ah, yes, afar-right president asking Jews to register as Jewish, in the name of protecting the Jews, after he has repeatedly accused Jews ofbeing “disloyal.” What could go wrong?

The same day,National Institutesof Health Director Jay Bhattacharya announced a“disease registry” ofpeople with autism, to be compiled from confidential private and government health records, apparently without its subjects’ awareness or consent. Thisis part of Health and Human Services SecretaryRobert F. Kennedy Jr.’svendetta against vaccines, which he hassaid causeautism despite abundant research concluding otherwise. This, too, is disturbing given authoritarian governments’ history of compiling lists of citizens branded mentallyorphysically deficient. If that historical analogue seems excessive, note that Bhattacharya’s announcement came justa week after Kennedy delivered inflammatory remarks lamenting that kids with autism will never lead productivelives. They “will never pay taxes, they’ll neverhold ajob,” he said, addingthey’ll neverplay baseball or go on adate, either This all happened during Autism Acceptance Month, establishedtocounter exactly these kinds of stigmatizing stereotypes. Kennedy’s comments and the subsequent “registry” set off awave

of fear in theautism advocacy community and earned condemnation from scientists.

Obviously,advocates want more research andsupport for thosewith autism.Theyhave been asking for more help at leastsince 1965 (when what is nowcalledthe Autism SocietyofAmericawas founded in my grandparents’ living room).But few in this community trust political appointees hostile to scientificresearch —orapresident who has publicly mocked people with disabilities— to use an autism “registry” responsibly Theseare hardly the administration’s only abusesoffederal data. It has been deleting reams of statistical records, includingdemographic data on transgenderAmericans. It has also been exploiting other private administrative recordsfor political purposes. Forexample, theInternal Revenue Service —inaneffort to persuade peopletopay their taxes —spent decades assuringpeople that theirrecords are confidential, regardless of immigration status. The agency is in factlegally prohibitedfrom sharing tax records,even with other government agencies, except underverylimited circumstances specified by Congress. Lawmakersset these limits in response to Richard M. Nixon’s abuse of privatetax data to target personalenemies

Trump torched theseprecedents and promises.After aseries of top IRSofficials resigned, theagency has now agreed to turn over confidential records to help Immigration and Customs Enforcementlocateand deport some 7mil-

lion undocumented immigrants. The move, which also has troubling historical echoes, is being challenged in court.But,inthe meantime, tax collections will likely fall. Undocumented immigrant workers had been paying an estimated $66 billion in federal taxes annually,but they now have even more reason to stay off the books

This and other DOGE infiltrations of confidential records arelikely to discourage public cooperation on other sensitive government data collection efforts.But that might be afeature, not abug, for this administration. Chilling federal survey participation and degrading data qualitywerearguably deliberate objectives in Trump’sfirst term,when he triedtocrama question about citizenship into the 2020 Census. The question was expected to depress response rates andhelp Republicans game the congressionalredistricting process. Courts ultimately blocked Trump’s plans. That’s what it will take to stop ongoing White House abuses,too: not scrapping critical government records, but championing the rule of law Ultimately,the government must be able to collect and integrate high-quality data —toadminister social programs efficiently,help the economy function and understand the reality we live in so voters can hold public officials accountable. None of this is possible if Americans fear ending up on some vindictive commissar’s“list.”

Email Catherine Rampell at crampell@ washpost.com.

Youcould perhaps be forgiven formissing the May 3election. For much of Louisiana, it was just another Saturday

There were no controversial constitutional amendments, no felons seeking public office, no national offices up forgrabs. Fewer than half of Louisiana parishes had anything on the ballot. The biggest municipal candidate races were formayor in Lake Charles and foraWest Bank parish council seat in Jefferson Parish.

“Itisthe policy of the United States to eliminate the use of disparateimpactliability in all contextstothe maximum degree possible to avoid violating the Constitution, Federalcivil rights laws,and basic American ideals.”

Those words, the operative section of “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy,” one of several executive orders President DonaldTrump issued on April 23, mark agiant step forward for equal rightsunder law,the motivating principle behind ratification of the 14thAmendment in 1868 and passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

In September 1965, Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order11246, requiring federal contractors to take“affirmative action” authorizing racial quotas and preferences in federal contracting. After some missteps, theNixon administration’s“Philadelphia Plan” implemented it in 1969. It was challenged in court by abuilding trades union whose practices were directed less at excluding Black people than at excludinganyone not abrother, son, nephew or cousin of acurrent member.A federal appeals court upheld theNixon regulation in 1971, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Unhappily,those motivatingprinciples were frustrated in practice. The legal establishment proved reluctant to interfere with Southern states bent on subjecting Black citizenstosecondclass citizenship. Thus, the Supreme Court adopted astingy view of the “privileges and immunities” clause of the14thAmendment in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) and, with just one dissent, sanctioned “separatebut equal” racial segregationinPlessy v. Ferguson (1896). With this history in mind, the framers of civil rights legislation in the 1960s took care to explicitlyban racial discrimination. The bill’sSenatefloor manager,Hubert Humphrey,assured colleagues thatifthe bill means “that an employerwill have to hire on the basis of percentage or quotarelated to color,race, religion, or national origin, Iwill start eating the pages one after another.” Alas, this assurance, by apolitician whose sincere belief in equal treatment and nondiscrimination was transparently sincere, turned out to be as illfounded in practice as Reconstruction laws proved to be three generations before.

In acomplex ruling in Regents of theUniversity of California v. Bakke (1978), justices ruled that “diversity” would justify racial discrimination in admissions. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), thecourtreaffirmed that quotas didn’tviolate the14th Amendmentbut also ruled that in 25 years, they might In advance of that deadline, thecourt in Studentsfor Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) ruled against that school’s well-documented use of racial quotas andpreferences. The April 23 executive order overturns the60-year-old Executive Order 11246 and, because of theinterlacement of the federal government withother governments andthe private sector,bans the racial discriminationthat Humphrey and congressional majorities tried to ban in 1964.

Corporations and other private businesses, federal agencies and local governments are now on notice that the racial quotas and preferences they have routinely deployed are now subject to legal challenge by the Justice Department. The civil rights laws are ready to be enforced as Humphrey wanted.

Public opinion polls show large and bipartisan majorities of people oppose theracial discrimination that has been practiced, not always surreptitiously but often pridefully,byelites in positions of institutional power.It’s not clear whether Trump’sopponents will want to spotlight this issue. Who’s against equal treatment?

The strongest argument against racial quotas and preferences, in my view,isthat they cast apall of illegitimacy over thegenuine achievements of the intended beneficiaries. They have also fostered, as the Harvard case showed, aculture of systematic lying among those elites who head institutionssupposedly dedicated totruth. They also violate common sense. The disparateimpact doctrine implies that in afair society,every discernible slice of the population would be found in equal proportions in every educational and occupational niche. Ordinarypeople know this is nonsense. They know that afair society should give everyone equal opportunity but that it cannot guarantee any group equal outcomes. Let’shope the people won’tlet this civil rightsinitiative be set aside as institutional elites set aside those of 1868 and 1964.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

But there weresome notable results to be found among what was, formany,asleepy affair.In the bigger races, NewOrleans SheriffSusan Hutson’smillage renewal passed by just twovotes out of morethan 25,000 cast, and in Baton Rouge, District Attorney Hillar Moore’smove fora new 4-mill property tax wassoundly defeated. In Jefferson, adedicated library tax won62% approval, continuing libraries’ strong run at the polls.

Perhaps the quirkiest election took place in the state’snorthwest, in Bossier City,where, forthe second timeinjust over amonth, voters approved athree-term limit forthe city’s mayor and council. More than 80% of voters there approved ameasure that sets aretroactivelimit, meaning it doesn’tmatter when the first term started. That measure will supersede another passed on March 29. That onewould have started the three-term clock with the next term,onJuly 1. The irony,for folks whodon’tfollow Bossier City politics closely,isthat the long-serving council members targeted by the stricter termlimits measure either opted not to run on May 3orwere defeated. So, despite the ballot question’spassage, no one in city government will be term-limited until June 2033.

Turnout formost of these races wasdepressingly but not surprisingly low.Just under a third of Lake Charles voters cast ballots for mayor,and just over aquarter pulled alever in the Jefferson Parish council race. The numbers wereeven worse forthe propositions. The incredibly close tax measure in Orleans Parish drew fewerthan 10% of the city’s voters. Samefor the hot-button issue in Bossier City.Turnout was slightly higher in Baton Rouge, where, perhaps boosted by twocouncil runoffs in the new city of St. George, almost 18% voted on the district attorney millage. It wasasomewhat brighter picture in someof Louisiana’spolitical nooks and crannies, where almost no issue —orelectorate —istoo small. Take, forinstance, the Belle Maison subdivision near Gonzales in Ascension Parish. The 54-homesite subdivision is still under construction, according to its website, with about two dozen of its lots sold.

Seven voters in that subdivision approved a 15-mill property tax in perpetuity,accounting for100% support. That’sabout 54% of the eligible voters in that subdivision. That means, if my mathisright, there are 13 eligible voters in Belle Maison. So even if the other six had voted against the tax, it would have passed.

Up north, in the tiny Jackson Parish village of Eros, 14 voters approved a1%sales tax. That wasfewer than one-fifth of the eligible voters. In St. Mary Parish, Fire Protection District 1’s 2-mill renewal won23-1, the 24 votes making up about one-third of the district’seligible voters, according to the secretary of state.

These sorts of results weren’tlimited to the May 3ballot. On March 29, aparcel feecontinuation forthe Bayou Pierre Part N. Gravity Drainage District in Assumption Parish drew four votes, all in favor.That equates to about 16% turnout, according to the Secretary of State.

So, what’sthe takeaway here? Low turnout, even in major elections, is not exactly anew problem.Plenty have argued that Louisiana should reduce the number of election days. That’sprobably agood idea.

But maybe we should also look at the timing of when we ask voters to weigh in on, matters from fire protection and road lighting to recreation, drainage and everything in between. Perhaps there should be fewerofthese taxing entities overall. If doing that helps encourage moreLouisiana voters to get to the polls, then it would be worth it.

Faimon A. Roberts III canbereached at froberts@theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA

President Donald Trumpspeaks at an educationevent and executiveorder signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

Faimon Roberts

Michael Barone

Catherine Rampell

LSU football to play SMU

Home-and-home series set for 2028-29 seasons

BY WILSON ALEXANDER and RASHAD MILLIGAN Staff writers

LSU football scheduled a homeand-home series with SMU on Labor Day weekend for the 2028 and 2029 seasons, according to a copy of the game contract obtained by The Advocate.

The teams will play Sept 2, 2028, in Baton Rouge, and Sept. 1, 2029, in Dallas. In both cases, the home team will pay the visitor $750,000 for the game. LSU now has one game on the schedule in 2028.

In 2029, the Tigers also have nonconference games set against Arizona State, Rice and McNeese State. They are scheduled to host Arizona State on Sept. 8 in the first part of a home-and-home series, and Rice on Sept. 29 A date for the game against McNeese State has not been set. With the series against SMU LSU will continue to open the season against power-conference teams. The Tigers have lost five straight season openers, all against powerconference opponents, heading into a matchup at Clemson this fall. They host Clemson to start the 2026 season. Unless they schedule a Week

Zero game or alterations are made to the college football calendar, LSU will begin four of the next

seasons against Clemson and SMU. The Tigers have not scheduled a season opener in 2027.

Emery finds new home

Former LSU running back John Emery has found a new college football home for his seventh season.

The former five-star recruit has signed with Texas-San Antonio, a source confirmed with The Advocate.

Emery played in only one game last season, recording 61 yards rushing on 10 attempts in a loss to Southern California He also caught a pass for 10 yards. His best statistical season came as a sophomore in 2020 when he rushed for 378 yards and three touchdowns on 75 carries. Emery also reeled in 14 catches for 73 yards receiving.

Emery was a member of the 2019 LSU national championship football roster He missed all of the 2021 season and the first two games of the 2022 season because of academic issues. He also tore his ACL twice, once in 2023 and then again in 2024. He appeared in only eight games in the past two seasons.

Emery is from St. Rose and went to Destrehan High School. Coming out of high school, Emery was the No. 2 running back in the Class of 2019 behind Trey Sanders, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Other notable prospects in that class included New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.

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

Colleges look to get control of the chaos

Changing contracts with athletes is one proposal being tossed around

BY MAURA CAREY AP sportswriter

As the amateur model of college athletics disintegrates, a handful of unusual ideas have been floated as ways to reign in some of the chaos surrounding the explosion in name, image and likeness compensation and a transfer portal that sees thousands of athletes changing schools every season. Whether any of the ideas end up being implemented is unknown and every school is awaiting a decision from a federal judge on whether a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement against the NCAA and the five largest conferences will take effect as early as July 1. If it does, that opens the floodgates for schools to share millions in revenue directly with their athletes amid a host of other changes

Here is a look at some of the topics:

Athlete contracts

A formal agreement between an athlete and a school is not a new concept, but with the uptick of NIL deals the thought of pro-style contracts is becoming increasingly more common. There are plenty of ways to get creative with contracts. Rich Stankewicz, operations director for Penn State’s NIL collective Happy Valley United, said he favors an incentive-based approach essentially adding money for athletes who not only perform but stick around.

“I personally really like the idea of incentivizing performance in school, those kinds of things that would only be occurring in the season while they’re playing,” Stankewicz said “If more money is paid out in those time frames, then that gives the incentive for the player to stay and see those dollars from their contract, rather than potentially collect up front and then decide the grass is greener somewhere else three months later barely doing any school, you know, without playing at all.”

Transfers and buyouts

This topic is red hot at the moment. Entering the transfer portal comes with the risk of not landing

in a better spot — or any spot — but athletes have shown every single season over the past few years that they are comfortable going anyway Athletic departments are beginning to fight back.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek recently encouraged the school’s NIL collective to pursue legal action after quarterback Madden Iamaleava departed for UCLA after just five months in Fayetteville. Iamaleava allegedly collected significant money upfront and cited homesickness as his reason for following his brother to California. This is a scenario Penn State hopes to avoid. And the importance of contract details is clear “Commonly, there’s nothing binding students in certain instances to the institution they’re with for the entirety of the contract,” Stankewicz said. “We’ve definitely looked into having measures in place to discourage transfers during the time of the contract. There are a bunch of different ways to do that, from buyouts to how you load the contract.”

Athletes as employees

Groundbreaking shifts in the landscape have sparked conversations about athletes becoming official employees of their universities.

It’s a controversial subject to

say the least Universities would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers’ compensation and schools and conferences have insisted they will fight any such move in court (some already have) Complexities go beyond the concept While private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state and it’s worth noting that virtually every state in the South has “right to work” laws that present challenges for unions.

There is also a new administration in power now, said Michael LeRoy, a labor and employment professor at Illinois who has studied the NCAA and athlete rights.

“With the election of Donald Trump, and what that would mean for a new National Labor Relations Board, what that would mean for repopulating the courts with judges who are likely not congenial to that view I no longer have much hope that we’ll get a ruling in the next 5-10 years that these are employees,” LeRoy said. Despite the lack of employment status, LeRoy said, athletes should advocate for themselves and use the entertainment industry as a model. He said athletes currently are offered “take-it-or-leave-it” NIL contracts when a broader approach might have benefits.

Eagles-Cowboys matchup to kick off regular season

The Philadelphia Eagles will start defending their championship at home on Sept. 4 against the division rival Dallas Cowboys.

The matchup for the annual regular-season kickoff game was revealed by the NFL in the first in a series of announcements of notable games this week ahead of the full schedule release.

The Cowboys-Eagles matchup will be on Thursday night in the first game in NBC’s package of primarily Sunday night games.

NBC also announced that its streaming service, Peacock, will exclusively broadcast a Saturday night game in Week 17 on Dec. 27, a matchup that will be determined later from a pool of possible options based on how the playoff races have shaped up then.

Jordan to work for NBC as NBA special contributor

NEW YORK — Michael Jordan is joining NBC Sports as a special contributor to its NBA coverage when the 2025-26 season begins. NBC made the announcement on Monday morning during its upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall previewing the network’s offerings during the upcoming television season.

“I am so excited to see the NBA back on NBC,” Jordan said during a video message. “The NBA on NBC was a meaningful part of my career, and I’m excited about being a special contributor to the project. I’m looking forward to seeing you all when the NBA on NBC launches this October.” NBC returns to carrying the NBA after a 23-year absence. It had NBA rights from 1990-2002.

Cavaliers star Mitchell questionable for Game 5 CLEVELAND — Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell is listed as questionable for Cleveland’s pivotal Game 5 of its second-round series against the Indiana Pacers after reaggravating a sprained left ankle on Sunday

The All-Star guard had an MRI on Monday, which confirmed the sprained ankle.

Mitchell did not play in the second half of the Cavaliers’ 129-109 loss at Indiana after he appeared to experience pain while warming up during halftime. His status for Tuesday’s game is likely to go down to game time. Mitchell first suffered the injury on April 6 during the second half against the Sacramento Kings. He stepped on the foot of Sacramento’s Keon Ellis near midcourt before losing his balance and rolling his left ankle.

“I think athletes should start to look at Hollywood and Broadway contracting arrangements that deal with publicity rights,” he said “I think there’s a way to frame this collectively The framework of collective bargaining and employment, I would say, the entertainment industry generally offers a blueprint for success.”

Playing for another school

Things are so chaotic right now that the very lines of who an athlete is playing for could get blurred.

Saying he was inspired by the NBA’s G League, University of Albany basketball coach Dwayne Killings is proposing a two-way contract for college players. Albany would welcome transfers from top-tier programs who need more seasoning and help them develop — with plenty of game time vs sitting on the bench before sending them back to their original program, where they’d be ready to compete.

“The best development happens on the floor, not necessarily on the scout team, given the new 15-man scholarship limits,” Killings told CBS Sports.

And then there is Division III, which recently approved an unusual pilot program: Athletes would play for one school but do their coursework at another school that does not sponsor varsity athletics.

LSU men’s golf team slips to 11th place in regional AMHERST Virginia — The LSU men’s golf team needs a serious rally to qualify for the NCAA championships. The top seed in the NCAA Amherst regional in Virginia, the No. 6-ranked Tigers fell further behind in the second round LSU was tied for 10th after Sunday’s first round and is now 11th in a 13-team field after a 9-over par 289 Monday The Tigers are at 15-over par for the tournament, 10 strokes behind Florida Gulf Coast, which is in the fifth and final transfer spot for the NCAA championships in Carlsbad, California.

Arni Sveinsson was the only LSU player to break par Monday, birdieing the 17th and 18th holes to shoot a 2-under 68, tied for 12th.

Browns LB to miss 2025 season with neck injury

Linebacker Jeremiah OwusuKoramoah has been placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list by the Cleveland Browns and will miss the 2025 season because of a neck injury

Owusu-Koramoah suffered the injury last season during the second half of a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 27. He took a blow to the head and neck area while assisting on a tackle of Ravens running back Derrick Henry Owusu-Koramoah was wearing a protective padded guardian cap over his helmet but appeared to be unconscious when he

Owusu-Koramoah was leading the Browns with 61 tackles and having his best season at the time when he was injured.

five

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Brian Kelly watches his team against Oklahoma on Nov. 30 at Tiger Stadium.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL CATERINA

Texas forward Kyla Oldacre, right, throws a pass around Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron, left, as she falls out of bounds on Dec. 5 in South Bend, Ind.

LSUpitchingsettlinginduringpursuit of national seed

BY KOKI RILEY

Staff writer

LSU earned amassive series victory last weekend over Arkansas, taking two games out of three at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers won 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday and 13-3 on Saturday before dropping the seriesfinale7-4 on Sunday Here are five takeaways from thepivotal series.

Eyansonshining

Juniorright-hander Anthony Eyanson is on fire, allowing just one earned runand eight hitsin15innings over his past two starts. He also has struck out 25 while issuing only two walks.

Not only has he pounded the strike zone,Eyanson hasimproved his quality of strikes. He’sgotten ahead in the count consistently before getting hitters to chase his curveball, slider or splitter below the zone.

The curveball has looked sharper; the slider and splitter continue to break late; and he’s done an excellent job of locating his fastball in the upper half of the zone.

“He’sexecuting allhis pitches all the time now,soit’sreally hard to do anything with and feel convicted in the box,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “Those are the toughest (pitchers). We’veseen some guys like that this year.”

Shores’solid weekend

Redshirt sophomore righthander Chase Shores is showing improvement since moving to the bullpen after the Auburn series.

Last weekend was his best yet In two appearances, he struck out four batters and walked only one in 42/3 innings. He allowed a run in 11/3 innings on Friday before

SAINTS

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Week 4

 SUNDAY,SEPT.28(NOON): NEW YORK JETS

Aaron Glenn turned down an opportunity to interview in person with theSaints so he could coach the Jets. Is that enough of astoryline to put this game in prime time? This scheduling committeeofone saysno. Noon it is.

Week 5

 SUNDAY,OCT.5 (NOON): ATLANTA

FALCONS

Another divisional showdown

This also presumably will be New Orleans’ first game against Michael Penix, the Falconsquarterback who started the final three games last year after Atlanta benchedKirk Cousins.

Week 6

 SUNDAY,OCT.12(NOON): AT MIAMI

DOLPHINS

This feelslike ahuge season for the Mike McDaniel era in Miami. The Dolphins have gone 28-23with twoplayoff appearances in his three-year tenure, but Miami is coming off an under .500 campaign. Will Tua Tagovailoa still be healthy by this point?

Week 7

 THURSDAY,OCT.16(7:15 P.M.):SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Thursday Night Football

wasn’tkind to the New Orleans Saints ayear ago. The team was blown out in prime time by formerSaintscoach Sean Payton and theDenver Broncos. But the 49ers are abig enough name to put the Saints in this slot again

Week 8

 SUNDAY,OCT.26(NOON): AT TAMPA

BAYBUCCANEERS

The Buccaneers have won the NFC South four years in arow, and if they do it again, they’ll set arecord for the division since itsformation in 2002. TheSaints, whowon the NFC South from 2017-20, and Tampa Bay currently share the record.

Week 9: BYE

Week 10

 SUNDAY,NOV.9 (NOON): TAMPABAY BUCCANEERS

I’m always afan of when the league schedulesrivalry games sandwiched between abye like this.Let’smake it happen again

Week 11

 SUNDAY,NOV.16(3:25 P.M.): AT LOS ANGELES RAMS

The Rams allowed Matthew Stafford to survey the market this offseason, but he opted to stay in Los Angeles after overtures from the NewYork Giants

giving up just oneearned run in 31/3 frames

Sunday

Shores featured better command and asharper slider throughout theseries,and he’smadetwo noticeable mechanical adjustments since becoming areliever.He’s throwing from the stretch and closing off his stance to create moredeception with his delivery “It just helpsmestayclosed andjustfinish down the mound,”

Shores said. “I thinkithelps my stuff kind of break later to kind of get thehitters off balance.”

The adjustments alsohave helpedhim command thebaseball better

“(Pitching coach Nate Yeskie) is helping me with that and Ithink it’staking good steps,” Shores said. Concerns aboutEvans?

Sunday wasn’tagreat afternoon for freshman right-hander Casan Evans, whoallowedfourearned runs in the thirdinning and lasted just 32/3 innings while walking three batters andallowing seven hits.

He left too manypitches high andover the heartofthe plate, and the Razorbacks made him pay.He alsohad trouble putting away hitters with two strikes, allowing all four runsontwo-strike counts.

Allthree of Evans’ starts this season have come againsttalented lineups in Tennessee,Texas A&M andArkansas. He excelled against Tennesseebut failedtoget past the fourth inning in his last two outings. Given the quality of competition, thelast two weeks shouldn’tbe of major concern. Whoever LSU faces in theregional won’thave as much talent as its last three opponents, andthere’s astrongchance that also will be thecase in atheoretical super regional.

andLas Vegas Raiders. Isn’tit nice when aquarterback andhis team can beonthe same page?

Week 12

 SUNDAY,NOV.23(3:25P.M.): AT SEATTLE Seahawks

Scheduling back-to-back games onthe West Coast would allow theSaints to stay on that side of the country between games. New Orleans has ahistory of doingso—the Saints practiced in Seattle in 2019 —but wouldneed theNFL to cooperate.

Week 13

 SUNDAY,NOV.30(NOON): ARIZONA CARDINALS

What are the odds the Saints face three straightNFC West teams? Probably not great. But it’d be neat

Week 14

 MONDAY,DEC.8 (7:15 P.M.): AT CHICAGO BEARS

This is asneaky great matchup, one worthyofbeing in prime time.Ben Johnson’sstaff in Chicago hasseveral New Orleans ties,including hiring Allen as his defensive coordinator.Also, if Spencer Rattler somehowwins thestartingjob or has to fillin at any point,hewas once teammates with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams at Oklahoma. Rattler was benched for Williams, which led Rattler to transfer to South Carolina.DecemberinChicago adds afun wrinkle, too.

Week 15

 SUNDAY,DEC.14(NOON): NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Iused too many words to sell theBears matchup.So, let’skeep this oneconcise: Shough vs. DrakeMaye. Next

Week 16

 SUNDAY,DEC.21(NOON): AT CAROLINA PANTHERS

It’ll befascinatingtosee what kind of step BryceYoung can takeinthe third year of his career,particularly after overcominghis benching last season. If thingsgosouthfor both Carolina andNew Orleans, this could be an important game for draft position

Week 17

 SUNDAY,DEC.28(NOON): NEW YORK

GIANTS

Scheduling this game late in the season probably opens up the possibility that we get to see Jaxson Dart against Shough, rather than theGiants starting Russell Wilson or old friend Jameis Winston.

Week 18

 SUNDAY,JAN. 4(NOON): AT ATLANTA

FALCONS

The NFLloves to end theseasonwith divisionalgames. It’s unlikely the division would be at stake for this matchup, but you never know.

If Evanscan locate theballlower more and cut down on thewalks, he should be fine moving forward. Is LSUanationalseed?

Probably.Barring adisastrous outcome at South Carolina next weekend, theTigerslikely have secureda top-eight seed in theNCAA Tournament LSUisNo. 7inthe country in RPI with13wins against Quad1teams Texas, Vanderbilt andAuburnare the only teams in the nation with moreQuad 1victories.

The Tigersalsoare No. 7inKPI

beforeSunday.KPI —another results-based rating systemused by the selectioncommittee —has LSUbehind Texas, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Arkansasand Georgia, amongthe Southeastern Conference teams, but theonly non-SEC team it trails is North Carolina. LSUwent 1-5againstTexas and Auburn,but theTigershavea series victory over Arkansas and abetter conference record than Georgia and Vanderbilt. Even if thecommittee places LSUbehind mostofthose teams, the only team outside of the SEC that’sahead of

the Tigers in the RPI is Oregon State at No.6,but the Beavers have only five Quad 1wins. TwoorthreelossesinColumbia, SouthCarolina,could complicate things andmakea win or two at the SECTournamentimportant.But as long as the Tigers take careofbusiness againstthe strugglingGamecocks(26-26, 5-22 SEC), theyshould expect to have home-field advantage throughoutapotentialruntoOmaha Signsoflife

LSU enteredthe weekend after scoring just seven runs the week before at Texas A&M. The performance screamed trouble heading into aseries against atalented Arkansas pitching staff. The weekendwasn’tperfect for theTigers, butitwas amuchbetter result than the week before. They scored 22 runs and blasted seven homeruns, improving their record in games where they’ve scored at least five runs to 34-1. LSU received contributions from avariety of sources. Sophomore Jake Brown hit two homers and drove in acareer-high five runs Saturday.Junior Daniel Dickinsonhad threehits on Sunday. JuniorEthanFreyhomered andhit awalk-off sacrificeflyonFriday. Freshman Cade Arrambide also had his first SEC homer and threehit gameSaturday

“We’re areally good team,” Brown said. “Wehaveareally good offense, and it wasnever that faraway.”

The Tigers had at least nine hits in every contest, including 10 on Sunday despite scoring only four runs. They werejust 3for 16 with runners on base in that game, but just being able to consistently generate opportunities as they did all weekend is agood sign.

Saints addWR, safety aftertryouts

Veteranreceiver signed to 1-year deal

BY MATTHEWPARAS and LUKE JOHNSON Staff writers

DonovanPeoples-Jones gotan opportunity to try out for theNew Orleans Saints at rookieminicamp,and that auditionlanded him ajob.

The Saints are signing theveteran wide receivertoaone-year contract,asource with knowledge of the situation said. Peoples-Jones, a2020sixth-roundpickout of Michigan, comes to theSaints after spending time with theDetroit Lionsand Cleveland Browns.

In five seasons, the6-foot-2, 204-pound wideout has 122 catches for 1,895 yards and eight touchdowns. The 26-year-old’smost productive year came in 2022 when he had 61 catches for 839 yards with theBrowns.

“It’s awesome to see Donovan out there,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said Saturday at rookie minicamp.

RABALAIS

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done enough tobeconsidered as good, or better,than anyone else in aseason without aclear juggernaut anywhere acrossthe college baseball landscape. Sittingthree games back of Texas (40-10, 20-7) and one game back of Arkansas (41-11, 18-9) in the SEC standings, theTigers need asweep this week at South Carolina, Texas to get swept on theroad at Oklahoma, and at least one loss by Arkansas at home against Tennessee to claim a piece of their first SEC regularseason championship since 2017. As Skip Bertman used to say, that’s“low percentage.”

Butthe mostimportantthing is gettingtoOmahaand theCollege World Series. That makes themost important thingsecuring atop-eight national seed.

As everyone in the class knows, being atop-eight seed means you get to host an NCAAregional and then asuper regional, if you advance. It’ssuper important, because all nine times theTigers have advanced toOmahainthe super regional era (since 1999) they’ve done so at home. Again, they’re not perfect, but it’sbetter than LSU’s0-4 super regional record on theroad.

Atop-eight national seed is within the Tigers’ grasp. About all they need to do is not fall on their collective faces. Were LSUtopair

“He’sbeena really productive player.Just acouple of years ago, he hadaton of catches,aton of production in Cleveland, and so certainly aguy thatwhenyou went through thedraftprocess, he was highly thought of.”

His addition gives the Saints somesize at wide receiver.General manager Mickey Loomis said after the draft that New Orleans would explore its options at the position after electing to not select a wide receiver

The Saints also signed veteran safety TerrellBurgess afterhe tried out over the weekend. Burgess wasathird-round pick of theLos Angeles Rams in 2020. He has appeared in 43 games with two startsover four seasons with theRams, Giantsand Commanders, mostly in aspecial-teamsrole.

The 5-11, 202-pound safety played under Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley during his2020 rookie season.

To make room forthe signings, the Saints are releasing safety Millard Bradford and running back Jordan Mims, both of whom

Sunday’sloss to Arkansas with being swept at lowly South Carolina (26-26, 5-22) and go one-anddone in nextweek’snew 16-team, single-elimination SEC Tournament, that would probably knock theTigers out of the elite eight. So there is work to be done in Columbia, South Carolina, this weekend. One win, or two, may do it.That’sthe position LSU has put itself in. The only tournamentprojection that was out as of Monday afternoon was On3.com, which had the Tigers as aNo. 6 national seed. Considering how brutal the SEC has been —nine of its 16 teams are in theD1Baseball Top25— it’sabout all LSU and its legion of baseball eating/sleeping/breathing fans could have asked for. The Tigers have agreat 1-2 pitching combination with Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, have good

spent time on theactive roster last season

Public practices

After taking training camp on the road last year to Southern California, theSaintswillallow fans to attend someoftheir minicamp practices in Metairie this summer

The Saints announced Monday that theJune 10-11 minicamp practices at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center will be open to the public. The practicesare scheduledtobegin at 11:50 a.m., and tickets will be free though capacity is limited. Saints season-ticket holders can reserve tickets with their account manager starting 9a.m. Tuesday. All other fans can reserve tickets by registering at neworleanssaints.com/minicamp,inthe Saints mobile app or the Seatgeek app starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday Fans must haveatickettoattend the practices, and each registrant is limited to six tickets. Free parking will be available in the lots next to the Shrine on Airline. Gates are scheduled to open at 11 a.m.

TIGERS CLIMB TO NO.1 IN NATIONAL POLL

LSUisthe No.1 college baseball team in the country. The Tigers were awardedthe top spot in the D1Baseball poll Monday aftertheydefeatedArkansas twice in their three-gameseriesatAlexBox Stadium

LSUisfollowedbyFlorida State at No.2,TexasatNo. 3, NorthCarolina at No.4 and Oregon at No.5

LSUdethronedTexasfor thetop spot.The Longhorns dropped two of threegames to Florida this past weekendand are 1-5 in theirlast six contests against Southeastern Conference foes

Koki Riley

hitting throughout their lineup, play solid defense and have areasonably good bullpen. About the only thing LSU needs to makeadeep run into and in Omaha is to get athird starter to elevate his gametopitch when Anderson and Eyanson simply have to be rested. It’s easy to point out the Tigers’ issues considering the magnifying glass this program always resides under.But LSU’s issues are no moresignificant than anyone else around the country.They have as good of ashot as any halfdozen or so teamsofwinning the 2025 College World Series. That’ssomething the Tigers would have taken in January,and they certainly should take it now

PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU pitcher AnthonyEyanson finishes apitch against Arkansas in the second inning of their game on SaturdayatAlex Box Stadium.

THE VARSITY ZONE

FCA baseball team grows up together

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Because more people are growing their own vegetables, the term “homegrown” takes on a new meaning.

Family Christian Academy’s Jon Bolton has his own spin. Instead of beans or brussel sprouts, the FCA coach has grown baseball players.

“A lot of these kids were in fourth and fifth grade when I came here,” Bolton said. “So, we started an elementary school program six years ago. And they started playing then. They’ve grown up in it, and it’s been fun to watch.

“Some of them weren’t even 10 years old. We’ve been in the playoffs the last three years and lost. We played a tougher schedule this year and so far, the stage hasn’t been too big for them.”

The top-seeded Flames (17-14) take on fourth-seeded Ebarb in a Class C semifinal set for 11 a.m Tuesday The game helps open the five-day LHSAA baseball tournament at Sulphur’s McMurry Park.

Family Christian’s District 7-C rival, Maurepas, the No. 3 seed, faces No. 2 Harrisonburg in the other semifinal at 2 p.m

The winners meet in the final set for 11 a.m. Wednesday. This is Family Christian’s first LHSAA tourney berth since winning backto-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

The Flames are led by junior pitcher Sam Stewart (10-2) and sophomore shortstop Devyn Baker Jr Stewart won both playoff games, has a 2.57 ERA and is batting .378. Baker, the son of Northeast football coach Devyn Baker is batting .390 with 26 stolen bases.

“Sam is our No. 1,” Bolton said.

“He’s thrown 137 pitches in two playoff games. When you have a guy pitching that well it’s hard to get him off the mound.

“It seems like Devyn is always on base. We’ve gotten a lot of production out of our seventh, eighth and ninth hitters in the playoffs That has helped, too.”

Outfielder Parker Ruckman is batting .368 with a team-high 38 RBIs.

Trinston Williams, an all-state basketball player, provided a postseason boost with four doubles and one triple.

Losses to two top-seeded teams from higher classes, Division II nonselect finalist Brusly and Parkview Baptist, illustrate how Bolton has upgraded the schedule.

Before coming to FCA, Bolton spent 13 seasons as an assistant to legendary Southern University coach Roger Cador He has prepared for big games before but admits he would like to know more about Ebarb, a north Louisi-

ana school based in Sabine Parish. That unknown is one reason why Bolton won’t entertain notions about a title-game rematch with Maurepas. The teams split extra-inning games in the regular season

“We’re keeping it simple for them (players),” Bolton said.

“Last year, I think we gave them too much information before we played Rapides. “They won’t have the scouting report. As coaches, we’ll make adjustments as needed and let them play.”

Email Robin Fambrough at rfambrough@theadvocate.com

Class 5A results from the LHSAA track championships held Saturday at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium.

Class 5A

Boys Team scores: 1. Catholic High, 61. 2. Jesuit, 60. 3. Scotlandville, 37. 4. Slidell, 33.5. 5. Holy Cross, 30. 6. West Monroe, 28. 6. Destrehan, 28. 8. Parkway, 26. 9. Alexandria, 23. 10. Central Lafourche, 22. 10. Haughton, 22. TRACK EVENTS

100: 1. Josh Brown, Holy Cross, 10.27. 2. Easton Royal, Brother Martin, 10.40. 3. Phillip Wright, Destrehan, 10.44. 110 hurdles: 1. Ja’ir Burks, Jesuit, 13.62. 2. Zion Smith, Airline, 13.95. 3. Jaivyn Washington, Prairieville, 14.04. 200: Josh Brown, Holy Cross, 20.43. 2. Phillip Wright, Destrehan, 20.80. 3. Caleb Hilton, Zachary, 21.01.

300 hurdles: 1. Ja’ir Burks, Jesuit, 38.18. 2. Joseph Encinas, Haughton, 38.80. 3. Dylan Evans, Scotlandville, 38.90. 400: 1. John Brown, Haughton, 47.37. 2. Chandler Sears, Baton Rouge High, 48.16. 3. Henry Mensman, Catholic High, 48.83.

BY DOUG FERGUSON

bit longer from the rain that drenched the 7,626-yard course

Quail Hollow is familiar to most players in the 156-man field, hosting a PGA Tour event every year since 2003 except for when it held the PGA Championship in 2017 and the Presidents Cup in 2022. Even so, it leads to a short week of practice. Sunday would have been an ideal time to see the course, but there were only a few players here. “They’re all at tournaments,” said Kerry Haigh, the championships director at the PGA of America. Rory McIlroy Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele led a parade of stars at the signature event at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, won by Sepp Straka. There also was a PGA Tour event at Myrtle Beach, which featured more than

a dozen players in

2:11.80.

Siner,

2:11.87. 3. Grace Keene, Northshore, 2:12.13. 1600: 1. Grace Keene, Northshore, 4:59.93. 2. Catalina Reichard, Mount Carmel, 5:01.68. 3. Stella Junius, Mount Carmel, 5:07.33. 3200: 1. Catalina Reichard, Mount Carmel, 10:59.00. 2. Michelle Daigle, St. Joseph’s, 11:15.04. 3. Stella Junius, Mount Carmel, 11:20.89. 4x100: 1. Ouachita Parish, 47.90. 2. Airline 47.93. 3. Zachary, 48.00. 4x200: 1. Liberty, 1:39.80. 2. Lafayette, 1:39.89. 3. Alexandria, 1:40.15. 4x400: 1. Barbe, 3:47.63. 2. Zachary, 3:55.53. 3. St. Joseph’s, 3:57.14. 4x800: 1. St. Joseph’s, 9:36.11. 2. Ruston, 9:41.76. 3. Lafayette, 9:42.77. FIELD EVENTS Discus: 1. Kiristen McGirt, East Ascension, 145-6. 2. Journi Douglas, Ruston, 134-2. 3. Nyla Stewart, Alexandria, 130-11. High jump: 1. Addilyn Dufrene, John Curtis, 5-7.75. 2. Stella Zippert, Dominican, 5-3.75. 3. Taylor Bennett, Barbe, 5-3.75. Javelin: 1. Maria LaFleur, Barbe, 125-2. 2. Morgan David, Barbe, 119-1. 3. Saylor Woosley, Central, 113-8. Long jump: 1. Marley Richard, Destrehan, 202.50. 2. Noelle Williams, Alexandria, 18-5.25. 3. Julia Jenkins, Covington, 17-8. Pole vault: 1. Scarlett Petticrew, Lafayette, 11-5. 2. Annabelle Griffin, Live Oak, 10-11. 3. Miranda Weeks,

800: 1. Brandt Blanchard, Jesuit, 1:52.58. 2. Tytan Johnson, West Monroe, 1:54.19. 3. Brayden Berglund, Mandeville, 1:54.29. 1600: 1. William Decuir, Catholic High, 4:12.62. 2. Brady Mullen, Jesuit, 4:12.87. 3. Brennan Robin, Parkway, 4:17.58. 3200: 1. Brady Mullen, Jesuit, 9:09.68. 2. Brennan Robin, Parkway, 9:13.26. 3. Brady Monahan, Jesuit, 9:19.36. 4x100 relay: 1. Holy Cross, 40.87. 2. Destrehan, 40.89. 3. Acadiana, 41.38. 4x200 relay: 1. Acadiana, 1:25.62. 2. Catholic High, 1:27.05. 3. Scotlandville, 1:27.11. 4x400 relay: 1. Catholic High, 3:18.21. 2. Ruston, 3:19.99. 3. West Monroe, 3:20.28. 4x800 relay: 1. Central Lafourche, 7:58.92. 2. Mandeville, 8:02.88. 3. Ruston, 8:08.63. FIELD EVENTS Discus: Lionel Prudhomme, Captain Shreve, 176-0. 2. Joseph Carter Rivet, Alexandria 172-0. 3. Devon Oliver, Parkway, 162-6. High jump: 1. Gionni Wiltz, Slidell, 6-9.50. 2. Austen Nelson, Dutchtown, 6-7.50. 3. Landon Gibbs, Huntington, 6-7.50. Javelin: 1. Robert Conley, Catholic High, 209-5. 2. Jaxon Talley, West Monroe, 202-0. 3. Austin Billiot, St. Paul’s, 186-2. Long jump: 1. Ferzell Shepard, Scotlandville, 24-5. 2. Gionni Wiltz, Slidell, 24-2.50. 3. Damien Richard, Destrehan, 23-6. Pole vault: 1. Carter Hooks, Barbe, 14-5.25. 2. Miller Malley, Benton, 14-5.25. 3. Ryan Klester, Catholic High, 13-11.25. Shot put: 1. Kaden Adams, Central Lafourche, 60-4.50. 2. Darreyus Scott, Denham Springs, 59-3.50. 3. Devon Oliver, Parkway 59-2.25. Triple jump: 1. Ferzell Shepard, Scotlandville 51-6.50. 2. Gionni Wiltz, Slidell, 48-9.50. 3. Marquis Butler, Alexandria, 48-5.50. Girls Team scores: 1. Barbe, 71. 2. St. Joseph’s’s, 41. 2. Alexandria, 41. 4. Destrehan, 40. 5. Mount Carmel, 37. 6. Lafayette, 34.5. 7. East Ascension, 32. 8. Ruston, 31. 9. Liberty, 29. 10. Zachary, 27. TRACK EVENTS 100: 1. Marley Richard, Destrehan, 11.53. 2. Gabriella Glover, Ouachita Parish, 11.81. 3. Destiny Harrison, Liberty, 11.86. 100 hurdles: 1. Katie Truett, East Ascension, 14.28. 2. Serenity Early, Zachary, 14.43.

LHSAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT yORK Raindrops

in Charlotte, N.C.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LIVING

So many choices

Spring plant shopping canbe overwhelming.Here’s howtosimplifyit.

It’sspring, and everyone seems to have the gardening itch

If you head to your local garden center right now,you’re likely to find theplace stuffed to thegills with warm-season plants andbustling with customers Shopping for plants this time of year can be exciting. There’s so much to choose from, and everything is so colorful.But this wide variety can also proveoverwhelming.How is one to decide which plants to bring home?

Youcan start narrowing down your options by thinking about the lighting conditions inyour garden.When shopping for plants, you’ll notice tags indicating dailysunlight requirements —usually listed as full sun, part sun, part shadeand full shade.

Here’s aquick vocabulary lesson: n Full sun: Six or more hours of directsun n Part sun: Four to six hours of direct sun, including intense afternoon rays.

n Part shade: Four to six hours of direct sun before midday

n Full shade: Less than four hours of direct sun. Plants rated for shade may scorch if they get too much sun. And full-sun plants that don’tget enough light won’tbloom as much —oratall —and could struggle in other ways. So it’simportantto pay attention to these labels and select plants that are amatch for your garden. Another suggestion: Focus on tough plants that have been battle-tested in Louisiana’shot, humid climate. Those that have been designated by the LSU AgCenter as Louisiana Super Plants are agood place to start. They’ve passed years of scientificevaluationswith flying colors. Youcan learn more about this program and see alist of Super Plants at www.LSUAgCenter.com/SuperPlants. And, if you still feel like there arejust too many plants out there, AgCenter horticulturist Jason Stagg has you covered Some of Stagg’sfavorite plants for full-sun locations are:

Lantana is atried-and-true favorite for Louisiana gardensinthe warm season.

n Lantana: This plant, known for its vibrant flower clusters that attract pollinators,does well in both containers and in-ground gardens. During average winters, most lantana cultivarsare reliably perennial, meaning they come back year after year.“Lantana comes in myriad colors, and now, a lot of the lantana stays in asmaller,bushier form, so it’salittle better behaved in the garden,” Stagg said. n Zahara and Profusion series zinnia: These drought-tolerant, disease-resistant zinnias are great for Louisiana gardens and loved by pollinators. “They form nice little mounds that are fullofcolor all summer long,” Staggsaid Both series include classic zinnia shades of orange, yellow and pink. n FlameThrower series coleus: “Don’tforget foliage colorfor fullsunareas,” Stagg advised. This

BY COLETTE DEAN Contributing writer

Look insidesome of the Baton Rouge Garden District’s privategardens on the Friends of LSU Hilltop Arboretum’sSpring Garden Tour on Sunday.

Localdesigners will enhance afew of the porches, andmusicians will entertain throughout the day as participantsenjoy the event subtitled“Celebratethe Garden District: ADesigner Porch and Garden Stroll.”

One of the oldest neighborhoods in BatonRouge, the mature live oak trees andlarge blooming magnolias lining the boulevards of the Garden District guarantee apleasurable stroll from garden to garden.

The Garden District is in the Mid-Cityarea between Government Street and Park Boulevard and is made up of aconglomerate of threehistoric districts defined by theLouisiana NationalRegister of Historic Places:Roseland Terrace,Drehr Place andKleinert Terrace. Homes vary between grand or quaint, connected by sidewalks and alleys. Preservationistshave continued to uphold andmaintainthe neighborhood’sbeautyand appeal, andseveral homes have commemorative historic plaques posted.

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

TheRev.Donnie Wilkinsonapproached in ablack T-shirt and lounge pants,barefoot

Not your typical attirefor apastor inside church, but this wasn’t Sundaynor wasita typical service. The word styled in script on his shirt spelled it out —“breathe.”

Participants in the monthly Saturday morningYogaMassat BroadmoorUnited Methodist Church, 10230 MollyleaDrive, wouldhear that word frequently in thenext90minutes.Yes,instructions from the yoga leader who, for some, is also their pastor “One of my favorite quotes is from HowardThurman,who was apastor and leader in the Civil

Rights Movement backinthe

LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA McCLURE

PHOTO By PAyTON PRICHARD

Aclass member faces the altar during yogaMass on April12at Broadmoor United Methodist Church.

The featured homes on tour include:

Cindy and Steve Tiek, 2355 Olive St. (historic house)

This home was built for the W.P. Craddock family in 1928 and designed by architect Lewis Grosz, who lived on Reymond Boulevard. The backyard garage and carriage house were renovated in 2007 in conjunction with the backyard landscape. The space now functions as a pool house and dining area with a cooking fireplace. Two large live oaks flank a central flower bed; the walkways and driveway are all made of granite cobblestones. Boxwood hedges throughout the yard are set off by plantings of hydrangeas in the front beds. Wood ferns and autumn ferns are planted under the live oaks and fig trees line the driveway A “secret garden” is a central water feature that connects the property’s water features from the front to the sunroom. The backyard is in a checkerboard design with limestone blocks and grass. Planters surrounding the yard contain magnolias and satsuma trees. A wisteria arbor connects the pool house to the main house. The antique decorative obelisks and a bust behind the pool are from France. Tiek ByDay is the front porch designer Cindy Tiek and her daughter, Bridget, coown Tiek ByDay with Hance Day Hughes. The firm will soon have a showroom on Government Street.

Vicki and Dennis Swain, 803 Camellia Ave. (historic house)

The Swain home was built in 1914 as an old schoolhouse and underwent a complete renovation in 1980. The Swains decided to take out two “out of control” azaleas in the front yard, do away with the grass and enhance with garden plants throughout

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, May 13, the 133rd day of 2025. There are 232 days left in the year

Today in history:

On May 13, 1846, the United States Congress formally declared war against Mexico, following battles along the disputed U.S.-Mexico border in the preceding weeks; the MexicanAmerican War would continue for nearly two years until the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848.

On this date:

In 1940, in his first speech to the House of Commons as British prime minister, Winston Churchill said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

In 1973, in tennis’ first socalled “Battle of the Sexes,” Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in Ramona, California. (Billie Jean King soundly defeated Riggs at the Houston Astrodome later that year.)

In 1980, a tornado struck downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing five people and injuring 79.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca. (Agca was sentenced to life in prison in Italy in July 1981, but was pardoned in 2000 at the Pope’s request.)

In 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as a police helicopter dropped two bombs onto the group’s row house, igniting a fire that killed 11 people (including five children) and destroyed 61 homes.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued a directive requiring public schools to permit transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity

Today’s birthdays: Actor Harvey Keitel is 86. Musician Stevie Wonder is 75. Screenwriterproducer David Simon (“The Wire”) is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is 64. TV host/comedian Stephen Colbert is 61. Musician Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 59. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is 48. Actor Samantha Morton is 48. Actor-writer-director Lena Dunham is 39. Actor Robert Pattinson is 39. Actor Debby Ryan is 32. Country musician Morgan Wallen is 32.

with small rock garden paths. The porch was left intact, with the addition of railings added through the years. The backyard has been transformed from a small grassy area by adding a brick patio with decks. Along the way, they’ve added a small cocktail pool, a koi pond and an outdoor kitchen. Better Homes and Garden Magazine photographed the Swain yard for a potential article a few years ago. The Swains have enjoyed sharing their yard with guests and have hosted three weddings on the property, the last one for a niece. For the tour the “Fretless Yard Girls” quartet will be playing ukuleles on the front porch.

Diane Garrett, 2236 Tulip St.

After almost 30 years of pool ownership, Garrett filled in her backyard pool last year and has never looked back. She is enjoying the extra yard space she now has for more gardens, including installing two aboveground bins that host seasonal vegetables. A native plant enthusiast, Garrett is always on the lookout to add more species to her evergrowing collection. Ornamental trees bring color and some muchneeded shade to the area. Many of the flowers are passalong plants or gifts from family and friends. She has also included a wilder “meadow” for testing new varieties of flowers. Allyson Hicks Design Consulting will be enhancing Garrett’s back patio area. Hicks’ showroom is located on Highland Road.

Ginger Ford, Corner Pollinator Gardens, Camellia Avenue

A lifelong resident of the Garden District, Ford remembers when most of the neighbors had lush gardens, including vegetable gardens in their yards. Two years ago, she began to plant corner pollinator plots along Camellia Avenue. In the spring, the gardens explode with vibrant colors: yellow coreopsis, purple coneflowers, red salvias, pink zinnias and orange blanket flowers. Bees, butterflies and

YOGAMASS

Continued from page 1D

So immersed did Wilkinson become in the practice of yoga that last year he became a certified yoga teacher

“Not to change careers, but just to do something new,” he added.

The pastor trained for his certification alongside Heather Kemp at Yoga Rouge in Baton Rouge.

“As part of the training, we went to Trinity Episcopal (Church) in New Orleans, and they had YogaMass,” he said. “As we’re doing it, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna bring this back to Baton Rouge, bring it to Broadmoor.’”

Last summer, Wilkinson trained with the founder of YogaMass, Gena Davis, an Episcopal priest who lives in the Houston area. With a grant from the United Methodist Foundation, YogaMass at Broadmoor Methodist commenced last fall.

The grant helped in purchasing the blocks, mats, bolsters, cushions and other equipment. Classes are free and open to all skill levels.

The event is small — 11 took part in the April event, but numbers have reached around 20 — and it’s growing.

Wilkinson says for those with whom the practice resonates, “it’s just a new way of connecting with God that allows it to create a space where you can encounter God.”

Theology, breath and body work, along with the principles of yoga overlap between Christian spirituality, according to Wilkinson.

Frequent YogaMass-goer Alexa Harris would agree. Harris, 25, lives in Baton Rouge, graduated from LSU in 2022 and works as an environmental consultant.

Harris has been attending Broadmoor since she was young.

“I attended the ‘trial run’ of YogaMass before it was open to the public and try to go as often as I

CHOICES

Continued from page 1D

Louisiana Super Plant selection offers leaves with interesting patterns of vivid reds and greens on compact plants. “This plant comes in so many different color combinations, you’re sure to find to find something that’ll work with your color scheme,” Stagg said. For shady areas, there are fewer flowering choices than in sunny gardens. But Stagg said you can still achieve a beautiful, colorful garden with these plants: n Beacon series impatiens: Impatiens produce vibrant blooms against deep green foliage. A

hummingbirds are regulars to the street. During the pandemic, Ford began giving away small flower bouquets from her porch. Her neighbors have credited her for beautifying the neighborhood and bringing gardens back to the Garden District. She has begun expanding the corner pollinator gardens to other streets in the neighborhood and encourages everyone to include pollinator plants in their home gardens. Ford has been credited by many neighbors for teaching them how to transform their yards into an oasis for pollinators.

Whitney Hoffman and Elgine Sayal, 1959 Tulip St.

Whitney Hoffman Sayal has been a resident of the Garden District since 2006 and now shares the home with her husband, Elgine. Sayal originally chose the neighborhood for its proximity to City Park, the incredible canopy of trees and the lush, vibrant plant life. Its proximity to LSU was also a determining factor as her life in Baton Rouge began with obtaining her master’s degree from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. Her passion for landscapes and urban spaces led to a career at the Downtown Development District, conveniently also just a short commute to her home. Over time, she has poured

a great deal of “sweat equity” into renovating the entire house, carefully restoring and reimagining every corner The porch is a peaceful and shady spot to showcase her love of plants and bright design. The tree and porch cover provide an ideal location for saying hello to her many neighbors and displaying many of her houseplants during the hot Louisiana summers. The porch designer for the Sayal home is Baton Rouge Succulent Company, which is located on Highland Road. Dave Randall, acoustic guitarist and vocalist, will provide musical accompaniment to the garden stroll. Ray and Greta Corona, 2175 Myrtle Ave.

When the Coronas first bought their home, there was an enormous red oak tree on the front corner providing shade to the front and backyards and, Corona admits, there wasn’t much to garden. In 2008, Hurricane Gustav took out the tree. Within 15 seconds, the yard transitioned from complete shade to full sunlight. Greta Corona slowly started to fill garden beds with plants and added a fence based on a design she admired which featured wood with heavy gauge hog wire lattice. The fence provides a great visual barrier for neighborhood dogs without having to fence in the whole yard. Grass kept creeping into her garden beds, so the couple agreed to scrape up all the sod and dedicate the front yard to garden beds with pathways between. She is a tomato plant aficionado and makes sure to plant several varieties every season. Meyer lemon, satsuma and a recently replaced grapefruit thrive on site. Intuitively, she has been gradually using permaculture techniques in creating her multipurpose garden. Trees, shrubs and vegetables are in her front yard which provide food, shade and soil improvement offering the Coronas a mini “farmers market” just outside the front door Walkways throughout the yard enable the Coronas to check out pollinators, as well as the

readiness of fresh herbs and produce while keeping beds tidy Tribe Market, an antiques and plant shop located behind Circa 1987, will offer porch enhancements.

Megan & Aaron Sheehan-Dean, 615 Camellia Ave

The Sheehan-Deans lived in Virginia, Florida and West Virginia prior to moving to Baton Rouge in 2013. They planted small butterfly gardens in each yard, and Megan Sheehan-Dean enjoyed bringing monarch caterpillars into her classrooms for her students to observe the life cycle. While raising children, they kept up their wellmanicured yard on Camellia but admired neighbor Ginger Ford’s garden from afar In January 2019, Ford helped them transform their whole yard into a garden. Ford helped her get over concerns about getting it right — “if a plant didn’t thrive in a certain spot, I could move it,” Sheehan-Dean said. The yard now has plenty of purple coneflowers, gaura and giant black-eyed Susans. Now, the couple enjoys watching the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies that frequent the yard. Cutting grass and edging never brought much joy “I’ve had many lovely conversations with strangers and neighbors walking by which never would have happened with a lawn. I can bring gifts of cut flowers anytime I go to someone’s house. Who doesn’t like that?” she said. Louisiana Nursery Home and Garden Showplace will decorate their porch. Brian Babin, former LSU band member and saxophone player, will entertain at this site.

The Garden Tour proceeds will support site development and educational programming at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum, located on 14 extraordinarily beautiful acres in Baton Rouge. It showcases an extensive collection of Louisiana native trees and shrubs. The property known as “Hilltop” is on Highland Road, south of LSU.

can,” she said. “It’s a time for me to connect my mind and body with my spirit. It’s a time to escape the noise of the world to relax and reconnect.”

According to Wilkinson, there are a variety of reasons church members and nonmembers are drawn to this exercise-worship combo.

“There’s a woman who said there was just something so beautiful about coming back into the Methodist Church and being in this beautiful space and finding a way to connect with God that just kind of reawakened something deep within her family,” recalled. “I said, ‘Well, welcome home.’”

The environment is welcoming, calming, whether one is participating or just watching from the pews. Lit candelabras stand near the altar with more candles burning on the altar The yoga leader lightly taps a sound bowl with a mallet to begin.

The use of the term “mass” may be confusing to Catholics, but the

Louisiana Super Plant selection, the Beacon series includes many flower colors; Stagg favors coral, which pops in the shade and has a summery feel. “These will mass and do really well in the shade,” he said. Beacon series impatiens also have a proven disease resistance record. n Caladium: These variegated, heart-shaped foliage plants have been around for decades but sometimes get forgotten. You can find many colors — from whites to pinks to reds and patterns. Carolyn Whorton, which sports deep pink and green variegations, is a popular cultivar in Louisiana. “They’re going to throw tons of lush, tropical color in any shady space,” Stagg said.

minister explained that in this sense it’s just another word for celebration of the Eucharist — which is what the whole sequence leads up to.

“We move. We breathe. We create space in our hearts and minds to hear a word from God through the Scripture and through the little homily and reflection,” he said.

“But then the real moment is when we commonly receive the bread and the cup, and again, it’s kind of an embodied spirituality.”

Last month, participating yogis were predominantly female, save for one male attendee and their teacher. Ages ranged from 18 to 80. All claimed a spot in the sanctuary or near it, where they rolled out their mats and waited for Mass to begin.

The first 15 minutes consist of very gentle breath and body work, centering themselves, beginning to move, to flex. The yoga sequences are not anything too strenuous

Wilkinson said

“I kind of base kind of the flow of what we’re doing based on who’s here and what everybody can handle,” he said.

A brief Scripture reading follows, then a homily and more breath and body work

It’s a participatory liturgy Each attendee reciting a line from a handout sheet.

“Then we receive the bread and the cup, and then back to our mats for kind of a closing sequence, a little guided meditation,” Wilkinson said, “allowing yourself to deeply rest and relax and integrate everything that we’ve done here before,”

From there, participants go into the final resting pose — and then they get up and go out about their day

Likely with a renewed spirit.

Broadmoor Methodist’s next YogaMass will be at 10:30 a.m. May 17.

LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA McCLURE Impatiens offer a way to incorporate color into shady areas.

PHOTO By PAyTON PRICHARD

A class member reaches to the right as she hears instruction from the Rev. Donnie Wilkinson during yogaMass.

PHOTO By COLETTE DEAN

Diane Garrett’s home, 2236 Tulip St.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Tally up the pros and cons of your situation before acting. You're best off watching what transpires and striking only when you have enough information to come out ahead.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) If you can imagine something, you can find a way to make it happen. Trust your instincts, intelligence and ability to implement your plans. A unique approach to life, love and happiness will pay off.

CAnCER (June 21-July 22) You'll receive mixed messages from those you deal with, which can confuse you and cause you to make poor decisions. A back-out clause is necessary if you plan to sign an agreement.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Get in the swing of things, participate and show off your skills, but don't make promises you can't keep. High energy and quick decisions will put you in a good position.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Set your sights on what's tangible and move forward with intelligence and cooperation. Being a good listener will prompt others to accept your suggestions and rely on you more readily.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Get the momentum flowing; nothing will stop you from reaching your objective. Home improvements will ease stress, lower overhead and bring you closer to someone special.

sCoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Listen, learn and excel. Put your mind, body and skills to work, and you'll find interest-

ing alternatives to make your life easier. A change is overdue, and discovery is your ticket to new beginnings.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Underestimating the extent of a job will be your downfall. Consider what might go wrong and have a plan to ensure success. Self-improvement will offer high returns.

CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Shift your thinking to keep up with the times. Sign up for an event, activity or selfimprovement venue that will motivate you to implement changes that instill stability. Physical activity will ease stress.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take the plunge and change what isn't working for you. Set your sights on saving money, setting doable goals and using your creative skills to benefit you financially.

PIsCEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Learn through observation. Taking a fresh approach to an old project will encourage you to finish what you start. Debates will lead to anger, not to solutions. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) You'll come across unique investments, budget options or moneymaking ventures. A social event or activity will lead to someone who will enhance your life and your confidence.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. 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: F EQuALs V

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

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

Celine Dion said, “Golf is a search for perfection, for balance. It’s about meditationandconcentration.Youhavetouse hand and brain.”

In bridge you must use your brain to gain the most from each hand you hold. And in this week’s columns, we are looking at balancing, when one player, if he passes, will end the auction.

If the dealer opens one of a suit, the next two players pass, and the fourth player jump-overcalls two no-trump, it is no longer unusual, showing at least 5-5 in the two lowest unbid suits. Now it is natural. In principle, the intervenor has a hand with which he would have opened two no-trump, but he might be a point or two short of the normal requirements when he has a respectable six-card minor.

In this deal, though, South has a classic two-no-trump opening and a balancing two-no-trump overcall. North transfers intohearts,thenrebidsthreeno-trumpto offer a choice of games South, with only two hearts, passes. After West leads the spade queen, how should South plan the play?

Declarer starts with eight top tricks: two spades, three hearts and three clubs. He should work to get a fourth heart winner. After winning the first trick in his hand with the spade ace (to

keep dummy’s king as an entry), South should cash his heart ace, then overtake the heart queen with dummy’s king.

today’s thought

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

Andrews McMeel Syndication

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield B.C.

mallard fillmore