The Acadiana Advocate 06-10-2025 by The Advocate

Senate adds $1.2B to state budget

Money

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN

Staff writer

for infrastructure, colleges, other projects 2025 LEGISLATURE

The Louisiana Senate on Mon-

day added $1.2 billion in one-time spending to the state government’s budget for the coming ﬁscal year, allocating money to roads and bridges, economic development incentives to attract businesses, and improvements to college campuses, among other new initiatives. That money comes from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, a savings account that consists of extra corporate and severance tax collections. It holds $3.9 billion, according to Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.

“What we’re doing today changes the overall budget climate in our state in terms of workforce investment, economic development

advancement and infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage for a better tomorrow,” Henry said in a statement. Drawing $1.2 billion from the fund appeared to be the biggest change the Senate made to the budget as it passed a ﬂurry of amendments on the ﬂoor on Monday The legislative session is scheduled to end Thursday The budget package, which

ä See BUDGET, page 4A

R-New Iberia, looks over the packet for a set of finance bills during Monday’s legislative session.

READY FOR READING

The Main Library played host to the Summer Reading Kickoff Celebration on Saturday in downtown Lafayette. With a theme of ‘Color Our World,’ program participants are challenged to read at least 20 minutes every day between May 26 and July 31.

ABOVE: Artist Paula Calderon leads children through a book-themed course at the library on Saturday.

RIGHT: Attendees enjoy a petting zoo as part of Saturday’s celebration.

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

Work begins on LNG export terminal

Calcasieu site could be largest facility in nation

BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer

Construction has begun in southwest Louisiana on what could be the nation’s largest export terminal for liqueﬁed natural gas, after federal regulators gave the controversial project the go-ahead last month.

Venture Global, the Virginiabased company behind the project, said in a statement last week that it had started site work at Calcasieu Pass 2, or CP2. The mega-project, which is expected to cost around $28 billion to build, would be Venture Global’s second export terminal in Cameron Parish and third in Louisiana.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in May authorized Venture Global to begin construction of CP2 and its 91-mile, CP Express pipeline which will carry natural gas from east Texas and southwest Louisiana to the export terminal — after the agency’s staff determined in an updated environmental review that the projects wouldn’t signiﬁcantly impact air quality

LNG exports from the U.S. have skyrocketed over the past decade, growing from around 16 billion cubic feet in 2014 to nearly 4.3 trillion cubic feet in 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration.

See TERMINAL, page 4A

Unsealed documents reveal abuse by former BR-area priest

He has been accused of sexual misconduct dating to 1970s

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

School leaders at Catholic High in Baton Rouge noticed a disturb-

ing pattern with a diocesan priest on the teaching staff in early 1993.

It was a red ﬂag that prompted a meeting between school ofﬁcials and a high-ranking clergyman from the Baton Rouge diocese, according to documents recently unsealed in court Even after being warned twice that “he was socializing too much with students” at the all-boys

school, the Rev Daniel Lemoine continued to spend time alone with them, said a report sent to the bishop of the Baton Rouge diocese following the meeting.

One student’s parents complained to Catholic High leaders in December 1992 that Lemoine took their son to Our Lady of the Mercy Church, where the priest lived at the time, and made the boy

wait in the rectory alone while he showered and changed his clothes.

When school administrators confronted Lemoine about his tendency to fraternize with ninth and 10th graders, he acknowledged how it could raise suspicions and cause “false impressions,” the report said. But the priest denied any sexual misconduct with students. Still, school ofﬁcials terminated

Lemoine’s contract, said the report, part of an ongoing lawsuit against Lemoine and the diocese.

While the newly unsealed records include no sexual misconduct accusations against Lemoine at Catholic High, they do reveal he has faced at least seven allegations of abuse elsewhere — some

ä See PRIEST, page 6A

Sen. Blake Miguez,

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Kyiv: Moscow launches biggest drone attack

KYIV Ukraine Russia launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, as the Kremlin presses its summer offensive amid direct peace talks that have yet to deliver progress on stopping the ﬁghting.

Despite the difficulties in reaching a ceaseﬁre, Russia and Ukraine swapped another batch of prisoners of war Monday

In addition to the 479 drones, 20 missiles of various types were ﬁred at different parts of Ukraine from Sunday to Monday, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles, claiming only 10 drones or missiles hit their targets

Ofﬁcials said one person was injured. It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battleﬁeld push along eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 620-mile front line.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday that in some of those areas, “the situation is very difﬁcult.” He provided no details.

6 killed in plane crash off San Diego coast

A small plane crashed off the San Diego coast shortly after takeoff, killing all six people on board the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday

The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the FAA said. The plane was returning to Phoenix one day after flying out from Arizona, according to the ﬂight tracking website Flightaware.com

The Coast Guard said searchers found a debris field later Sunday about 3 miles off the coast of Point Loma, a San Diego neighborhood that juts into the Pacific U.S. Coast Guard officials The water in the search area is about 200 feet deep. Although the FAA said all six people on board the plane were killed authorities haven’t identified them.

The FAA said the plane is owned by vitamin and nutritional supplement maker Optimal Health Systems. But the company based in Pima, Arizona, said in a statement that it sold the plane to a group of private individuals in 2023, meaning the FAA database could be out of date.

However, the company’s founder, Doug Grant, said in the statement that, “We personally know several of the passengers onboard and our sincerest condolences are offered to those affected by the tragedy, all of whom are incredible members of our small community.”

Complaints signal split jury at Weinstein’s retrial

NEW YORK The jury foreperson in Harvey Weinstein‘s sex crimes retrial complained Monday that some jurors were prodding others to change their minds, talking about the former studio boss’ past and going beyond the charges as they deliberate.

“I feel like they are attacking, talking together, ﬁght together I don’t like it,” the foreperson said, according to a transcript of his closed-door conversation with Judge Curtis Farber and the prosecution and defense teams.

The foreperson said he believed the jury was tasked only with considering “what happened at the time, in the moment” of the crimes alleged by the prosecution, but others “are pushing people, talking about his past.”

“I feel it is not fair taking the decision about the past,” the foreperson said. He didn’t specify what parts of Weinstein’s past came up.

After hearing from the juror, defense lawyer Arthur Aidala implored Farber to declare a mistrial, calling it a “tainted,” “rogue” and “runaway” jury

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo argued that the juror’s concerns didn’t warrant a mistrial, noting that some aspects of Weinstein’s past were allowed into evidence Farber denied the mistrial request but reminded jurors to weigh only evidence presented during the trial.

Marines to be deployed to L.A.

California to sue over Trump’s use of Guard troops to quell protests

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR, TARA COPP, JASON DEAREN and TIM SULLIVAN Associated Press

LOS ANGELES The Pentagon planned to deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles on Monday to help National Guard members respond to immigration protests, three U.S. ofﬁcials said, as California prepared to sue President Donald Trump over his use of the Guard troops and growing numbers of demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day.

The Marines were moving toward L.A. from their base at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California desert, the ofﬁcials said on condition of anonymity to discuss military plans.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the planned lawsuit by telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty

“We don’t take lightly to the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilizing California National Guard troops” Bonta said. He planned to seek a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.

The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday one day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on ﬁre as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and ﬂash-bang grenades. It could take days to clear the debris from burned cars and to clean off or paint over graffiti sprayed on City Hall and other nearby buildings.

The law enforcement presence was heavy with police cars blocking the street in front of the federal detention facility that was a focus of the protests.

But the clashes unfolded over just a few square blocks in an immense city of some 4 million people, most of whom went about

Gaza-bound aid boat arrives in Israel after seizure

BY YESICA FISCH and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press

JERUSALEM A Gazabound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists arrived at an Israeli port Monday after Israeli forces stopped and detained them — enforcing a long-standing blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the Israel-Hamas war.

The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in Ashdod in the evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry It published a photo on social media of Thunberg after disembarking.

The 12 activists were undergoing medical checks to ensure they are in good health, the ministry said. They were expected to be held at a detention facility in Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, a legal rights group representing them.

The activists had set out to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. Both have put the territory of around 2 million Palestinians at risk of famine.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the voyage said the activists were “kidnapped by Israeli forces” while trying to deliver desperately needed aid.

“The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted and its lifesaving cargo including baby formula, food and medical supplies — conﬁscated,” it said in a statement.

It said the ship was seized in international waters about 120 miles from Gaza, and Adalah asserted that Israel had “no legal authority” to take it over Israel’s Foreign Minis-

the Freedom Flotilla Coalition board the Madleen boat on June 1 ahead of setting sail for Gaza from Catania, Italy

try portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that “the ‘selﬁe yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

It said the activists would return to their home countries and the aid would be sent to Gaza through established channels. It circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing life vests.

Israeli officials said the flotilla carried what amounted to less than a truckload of aid.

“This wasn’t humanitarian aid. It’s Instagram activism,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said. “Meanwhile, Israel has delivered over 1,200 truckloads in the last two weeks. So who’s really feeding Gaza and who’s really feeding their own ego? Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself.”

After its 2½-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers and experts have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive. About 600 trucks of aid entered daily during the ceaseﬁre that Israel ended in March.

their normal business on peaceful streets. On Monday thousands of people flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huerta’s arrest on Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration’s crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state’s janitors, security ofﬁcers and other workers.

Earlier in the day, religious leaders joined protesters outside the down-

town federal detention where Huerta was held, working at times to quell outbursts of anger in the otherwise peaceful demonstration. Protesters linked hands and at times sang in front of a line of police ofﬁcers, who unsuccessfully asked people to move off the road and onto the sidewalk.

Bonta accused Trump of fanning protesters’ anger with his announcement of the deployment, saying he set off Sunday’s clashes with law enforcement in downtown Los Angeles. “This was not inevitable,” he said.

Trump said Monday that the city would have been “completely obliterated” if he had not deployed

the Guard.

Later, at a White House event, he added that state leaders “were afraid to do anything.”

U.S. officials said about 1,000 National Guard members were in the city under federal orders by midday Monday The full 2,000 members authorized by the president were expected to be on the ground by the end of the day The ofﬁcials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details of military operations. The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino city south of the city, and neighboring Compton.

Other protests were taking shape Monday afternoon in L.A., and more protests were scheduled for cities across the country Outside a Los Angeles clothing warehouse, relatives of detained workers demanded at a news conference that their loved ones be released. The family of Jacob Vasquez, 35, who was detained Friday at the warehouse, where he worked, said they had yet to receive any information about him.

“Jacob is a family man and the sole breadwinner of his household,” Vasquez’s brother, Gabriel, told the crowd. He asked that his last name not be used, fearing being targeted by authorities.

RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee

BY LAURA UNGAR and AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Monday removed every member of a scientiﬁc committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines and pledged to repla ce them with his own picks.

Major physicians groups criticized the move to oust all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Kennedy, who was one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists before becoming the nation’s top health ofﬁcial, has not said who he would appoint to the panel, but said it would convene in just two weeks in Atlanta.

Although it’s typically not viewed as a partisan board, the Biden administration had installed the entire committee.

“Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028,” Kennedy wrote. “A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public conﬁdence in vaccine science.”

Kennedy, in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, said the committee members had too many conﬂicts of interest. Committee members routinely disclose any possible conflicts at the start of public meetings.

Dr Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy’s mass ouster “a coup.” “It’s not how democracies work. It’s not good for the health of the nation,” Benjamin told The Associated Press.

Benjamin said the move raises real concerns about whether future commit-

tee members will be viewed as impartial. He added that Kennedy is going against what he told lawmakers and the public, and the public health association plans to watch Kennedy “like a hawk.”

“He is breaking a promise,” Benjamin said. “He said he wasn’t going to do this.”

Dr Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, called the

committee a trusted source of science- and data-driven advice and said Kennedy’s move, coupled with declining vaccination rates across the country, will help drive an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Today’s action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,” Scott said in a statement.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAE C. HONG

Protesters confront police Sunday on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles after the previous night’s immigration raid protest.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO Activists of

Kennedy

Ivermectin bill heads to Landry’s desk for signing

Legislation would allow pharmacy sales without prescription

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

A bill that will allow ivermectin sales in pharmacies without a prescription is headed to Gov Jeff Landry’s desk for signature after the Senate on Monday concurred with amendments added by the House.

The bill, Senate Bill 19, authorizes pharmacies to sell ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that has gained in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic, to adults 18 and older under a standing order issued by the Louisiana Department of Health. A prescription from an individual’s doctor is not necessary

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Mike Fesi, a Republican from Houma, who described it in previous committee meetings as a matter of medical freedom.

Surgeon General Dr Ralph Abraham also spoke in favor of the measure during several committee hearings

“Ivermectin has been

shown to have some quite impressive antiviral qualities, and that’s why some of us, including myself, started using it during the COVID epidemic,” Abraham said at a committee meeting in May

However, the use of the drug to treat or prevent COVID-19 has been discredited by medical experts, clinical trials and regulatory agencies, who say there is no reliable evidence to support these claims and that using the ivermectin outside of its approved uses could be dangerous.

In humans, ivermectin tablets are approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration to treat two conditions caused by parasitic worms, while some topical forms are approved to treat parasites like lice, and for rosacea a skin condition that causes redness For animals, ivermectin is sold in paste and liquid forms at feed and supply stores, where it is used to treat heartworm disease and internal parasites such as roundworms, lungworms and gastrointestinal worms, as well as external

parasites like mites, lice and certain types of mange.

The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals Clinical trial data has not demonstrated that ivermectin is effective against coronavirus in humans, according to the agency’s website. The FDA warns that large amounts of ivermectin can be dangerous, and even human-sized doses of ivermectin can interact with other medications, including blood thinners. Overdoses can cause nausea vomiting diarrhea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, balance problems, seizures, coma and death.

Interest in ivermectin surged again early this year after actor Mel Gibson said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that he knew people whose cancer had been cured by the drug.

Google search trends in Louisiana showed a 200% increase in February compared to a few months earlier Louisiana oncologists and other medical experts opposed the bill, citing concerns about misuse and the possibility that patients might forgo proven treat-

ments. New Orleans oncologist Dr Jon Mizrahi said he and his colleagues have seen patients who took ivermectin and experienced liver damage, which delayed their standard treatment or may have exacerbated treatment. Interactions between cancer drugs and ivermectin have not been studied.

“We don’t know if it might negatively interact with our treatments,” Mizrahi said.

“We could see strange interactions or decreased efﬁcacy or decreased safety.”

In a House Health and Wel-

fare Committee meeting in May, Abraham said he could recall some patients taking large doses who developed problems. He said they resolved once the patients were advised to take smaller doses.

“They were almost bathing in this stuff,” Abraham said.

“And we did pick up some elevated liver enzymes from those particular patients.” Abraham said pharmacy access would help reduce any stigma and encourage patients to inform their doctors if they use the drug so it

can be monitored. Under the new law, the Louisiana Department of Health will set standard procedures for pharmacists, which include using a risk screening tool and providing patients with information on the drug’s risks and proper administration. Pharmacists may charge an administrative fee for these services in addition to the drug’s cost. They are also granted immunity from civil liability or disciplinary action if they act in good faith and without gross negligence or willful misconduct. Health insurers will not be required to cover ivermectin dispensed under these provisions. SB19 passed 28-8 in the Senate on April 30. The bill was amended in the House, then approved 67-26 on June 3. The Senate concurred with the amendment 31-4 on Monday Louisiana joins other Republican-led states such as Idaho, Arkansas and Tennessee in allowing over-thecounter sales of ivermectin West Virginia and South Carolina are considering similar bills.

The law will take effect immediately upon signature by Landry, who is expected to sign it.

Push to change La. primary elections doesn’t materialize

Rumors swirled that Senate would seek to help Cassidy

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

The State Capitol was abuzz with talk over the weekend that the Louisiana Senate could try to make a last-minute change to a campaign law to help U.S Sen. Bill Cassidy win reelection next year The idea was to eliminate the second primary under the closed primary system in federal elections that will begin next year With the change, a candidate could win the primary outright with a plurality and would not have to get over 50% of the vote.

Political analysts believe that Cassidy could run ﬁrst in the primary with a multicandidate ﬁeld that would split the conservative vote but would have trouble defeating another Republican head-to-head in the second primary.

Cassidy

Two legislators said Cassidy called to discuss the matter with them. In the end, the Senate made no such attempt Sunday, but the behind-thescenes discussions provided more evidence of the intense interest in whether Cassidy can overcome Republican opponents next year to win a third term. The talk about the possible

change began after Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter R-Port Allen, asked three weeks ago during a committee hearing on House Bill 592 whether the state could save money by eliminating the second primary The answer: about $3 million per election.

Rep. Beau Beaullieu, RNew Iberia, the sponsor of HB592, expressed his opposition to the idea that day and repeated that opposition in an interview Sunday Beaullieu said eliminating the second primary would have “collateral impacts” on the new election system. He said he received numerous phone calls over the weekend from other legislators about the idea.

Rep. Julie Emerson, RCarencro, and the sponsor of the legislation that passed last year to move to the

Some report extra scrutiny as Trump’s new travel ban begins

BY GISELA SALOMON Associated Press

MIAMI President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from a dozen countries took effect Monday with relative calm, as some travelers with valid visas reported extra scrutiny at American airports before being allowed entry. The ban targeting mainly African and Middle Eastern countries kicked in amid rising tension over the president’s escalating campaign of immigration enforcement. But it arrived with no immediate signs of the chaos that unfolded at airports across the U.S. during Trump’s ﬁrst travel ban in 2017.

Vincenta Aguilar said she was anxious Monday as she and her husband, both Guatemalan citizens, were

subjected to three different interviews by U.S. ofﬁcials after arriving at Miami International Airport and showing tourist visas the couple received last week.

“They asked us where we work, how many children we have, if we have had any problems with the law, how we are going to afford the cost of this travel, how many days we will stay here,” said Aguilar, who along with her husband was visiting their son for the ﬁrst time since he left Guatemala 22 years ago.

She said they were released about an hour after their ﬂight landed, greeting their waiting family members in Florida with tears of relief. Guatemala is not among the countries included in the new ban or ﬂagged for extra travel restrictions. The new proclamation that

Trump signed last week applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don’t hold a valid visa. The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday Travelers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect.

Palestinians: Israel, its allies fire on crowd near aid site, killing 14

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Israeli forces and allied local gunmen fired toward a crowd heading to an Israeliand U.S.-supported food distribution center in the Gaza Strip early Monday, Palestinians said. Gaza’s Health Ministry and local hospitals said 14 people were killed. The gunmen appeared to be allied with Israel’s military, operating in close proximity to troops and retreating into an Israeli military zone in the southern city of Rafah after the crowd hurled stones at them, witnesses said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel recently acknowledged supporting local armed groups opposed to Hamas It was the latest in a series of shootings that have killed at least 127 people and wounded hundreds since the rollout of a new food distribution system last month,

according to Gaza’s Health Ministry Israel and the United States say the new system is designed to circumvent Hamas, but it has been rejected by the U.N. and major aid groups. Experts have warned that Israel’s blockade and ongoing military campaign have put Gaza at risk of famine. Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians almost completely rely on international aid because nearly all food production capabilities have been destroyed.

closed primary, said in an interview that she is “100% opposed to the change.” Kleinpeter said in an interview that he had no interest in pushing the amendment. He is handling Beaullieu’s bill in the Senate. Kleinpeter said Cassidy didn’t call him. Word that Kleinpeter might be pushing the change prompted a lobbying effort by Republican women, including Gena Gore, the party’s national committee person.

“I don’t think it benefits the Republican Party,” Gore

said Sunday “Let’s give Republicans the chance to elect the person that the majority feels is the best representative.” Also expressing opposition to a possible change was Treasurer John Fleming, who is the main announced opponent of Cassidy at this point. Other Republicans could jump into the race before the qualifying period takes place in January Cassidy declined to comment Sunday on the possible change.

Cassidy suddenly lost con-

siderable support among Republicans when he voted in 2021 to convict Donald Trump of trying to incite a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 that year when he was president. Cassidy has been working hard to make amends, speaking to groups throughout the state, raising millions of dollars, supporting controversial Cabinet nominees, winning the support of prominent Republican donors and trumpeting his visits to the White House for meetings with Trump.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

A bill that will allow the sale of ivermectin in pharmacies without a prescription is headed to Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk.

Senate kills extension of inventory tax credit

Credit assisted businesses that paid the tax

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

The state Senate is killing the extension of a tax break sought by business groups that would have cost taxpayers $200 million over three years.

That means the long-standing inventory tax credit will expire in 2026 as previously approved

Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and Gov Jeff

Landry’s administration said extending the tax break a year was too expensive.

Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie, sponsored the one-year extension, House Bill 383, which passed the House 98-4.

Pushing for the extension were the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Louisiana Chemical Association and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association

Created in the early 1990s under then-Gov Buddy Roemer, the inventory tax credit aimed to assist businesses that paid the inventory tax. The tax and tax credit work in a

convoluted fashion. Under the current system, parishes levy a property tax every year on business inventory in the parish. Businesses pay the tax but then turn around and receive a tax credit for that payment from the state. As a part of a wholesale revision of the tax code in November, legislators and Landry repealed the inventory tax credit as of July 1, 2026. But that was supposed to happen in conjunction with the passage of a proposed constitutional amendment that, among other changes, would give each parish the right to opt out of the tax in exchange for up to $15 million to make up for the lost property tax

revenue. Voters rejected that proposed change in March as part of the sweeping Amendment 2. Through House Bill 365 and House Bill 366, the Legislature is set to give voters another chance to vote on the single issue of letting parishes eliminate the inventory tax. The bills, sponsored by Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Hessmer, are one step from winning legislative approval to be put on the statewide ballot in November 2026. If voters approve the constitutional amendment, the Landry administration believes that about 40 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes would repeal their inventory tax.

The Senate’s refusal to keep alive the inventory tax credit is the latest instance where the upper chamber, because of concerns about the hit to the state treasury has refused to go along with the House.

Senators also failed to advance House-passed cuts in the state sales and individual income tax, and they decided to spend half of what the House and Landry wanted to spend on LA GATOR, the program that gives parents taxpayer money to pay for private schools and other expenses.

Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate.com.

consists of multiple bills, now returns to the House for approval. If the House does not sign off on the amendments, the Legislature may need to extend the session

Henry said he hopes the House concurs with the amendments, adding that the two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days.

The Senate amendments set aside $709 million for the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund, which pays for improvements to roads, bridges and similar work, and another $273 million for the Louisiana Economic Development Initiatives Fund which funds efforts to attract new investments in the state

Another $75 million will go toward local water system improvements, while $43 million will fund higher education priorities, according to a release from the Senate. None of that spending includes recurring expenses, Henry said in an interview Monday evening.

The Senate’s version of the bill also gives the LA GATOR program, which gives parents money to pay for private schools and other expenses, $43.5 million. Gov Jeff Landry has asked for $93.5 million, and the House had approved that amount, but the Senate Finance Committee cut the program by more than half. The amount in the Senate budget would cover private education costs for

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Louisiana has emerged as a major player in the growing industry, and is now home to four of the nation’s eight export terminals. Venture Global also owns the Plaquemines LNG terminal, about 20 miles south of New Orleans.

LNG has been billed as an important bridge fuel that burns cleaner than coal, helping developing nations transition away from the dirtiest sources of electricity as the world moves toward renewable energy But

about 6,000 students, about half as many as advocates had hoped would receive grants. Nearly 35,000 eligible families applied. It is “incredibly disappointing” that the budget leaves thousands of lowincome and special needs students without money for their education shortly before the school year begins, said a statement Monday from Scott Simon, state director of Americans for

Prosperity-Louisiana, a conservative advocacy group that backs the LA GATOR program.

The students’ “last hope,” he added, “is that the House will have the will to restore the Governor’s proposed funding and do what’s right for Louisiana’s most vulnerable students.”

Anyone who received voucher funding last year will still receive funds, Henry said, adding that $43.5

million is about the same amount of money the state spent on its voucher program last year LA GATOR will replace the voucher

program, which covered private school tuition for low-income families.

“We made it crystal clear last year how much we were

going to fund it, and this year we followed through,” he said. “To make sure we don’t grow government too fast, which Americans for Prosperity does not want us to do, we want to make sure that we’re spending taxpayer money wisely.”

Some of the biggest questions surrounding the budget this year have concerned education. After Louisiana voters in March rejected a constitutional amendment that would have liquidated an education trust fund to make temporary teacher stipends permanent, legislators had to make various cuts to come up with nearly $200 million to continue giving those stipends. For the past two years, the state government has

LNG is also an important source of greenhouse gas emissions, and some question if the trade-off in pollution and major tax breaks amounts to a good investment for the state. In March, the U.S Department of Energy granted Venture Global’s CP2 conditional approval to export LNG to countries that don’t have free trade agreements with the United States

The authorization was the ﬁfth LNG-related approval from the federal government since President Donald Trump took office in January promising to fasttrack permitting

The Biden administration had paused export permits for LNG plants in part to study the facilities’ impact on global warming.

CP2 is planning to begin exporting LNG in 2027. It’s expected to employ around 400 direct permanent workers and approximately 7,500 construction workers, the company said.

Venture Global has proposed adding a third facility named CP3 further north up the Calcasieu River, closer to Lake Charles

Email Blake Paterson at bpaterson@theadvocate. com.

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uncovered by his own admission —dating back to the 1970s. It’sunclear from the records whether some of those allegations covered thesame incidents. He has notbeen charged criminally. Lemoinewas among the 45 clergy members deemed credibly accused of sexual abuseona2019 list released by the diocese.The list noted “several” allegations against Lemoine, but no exact number Almost fiveyears passed betweenhis first admission of molesting ateen andadecree from the diocese that he ceasebeing apriest. In late 1994, notquite two years after losing his teachingjob, Lemoine confessed to achurch official to having had sex with three boys, two of them under 16 years old, therecords show.Hewas suspended and ordered by church officials into therapy before being allowed to resume limited duties about a year later,largely in ahospital ministry.Ultimately after being suspended again amidmore allegationsof pastabuse, he was stripped of all duties as apriest in 1999, the records show The documents, which detail the accusations against Lemoine and the church’s response, were made public after ajudge unsealed confidential dioceserecordsas part of the lawsuit.

The plaintiff is aDenham Springs man who sued last year under the state’s“Lookback Window” law,which gave peoplesexually abused as minors athree-year window in 2021 to ﬁle lawsuits that otherwise would’ve been time-barred in court.

The man alleges Lemoine sexually abused him from 1984 to 1986 when he was an altar boy at Immaculate Conception Church in Baton Rouge. The diocese also is adefendant in the lawsuit, which alleges church leaders should’ve known Lemoine was arisk and breached their duty of care

Adiocese spokesperson declined to comment on the newly released documents, citingthe ongoing litigation. Lemoine has denied the allegationsmade in the lawsuit.

Catholic High ofﬁcials said in astatementthat they are not aware of any allegations of abuseagainstLemoine relatedtohis time as ateacher there, where he worked parttime overtwo school years.

“Weholdall thoseaffected by abuseinour prayersand remaincommitted to supporting their journey toward solace, peace, and justice, they said.

The diocese had filed much of its information relatedtothe case underseal, citing the sensitive nature of theallegations and theanonymity of the plaintiff. State District Judge Ronald Johnson ordered the ﬁlings to be unsealed, with the plaintiff’s full nameblacked out in the publicly available court documents, after ahearingbehind closed doors on May19.

“Webelieve it was important to unseal the records ﬁled by the Diocese of Baton Rouge to support thepublic purpose of the revivalwindow in educating the public about the prevalence and harm of child sexual abuse to preventfuture abuse,” the plaintiff’s lead attorney,Julien Lamothe, said in astatement last week.“Unsealing the records supports that public purpose.”

‘Dangersignals’

Lemoine served over 25 years in the ministryinBaton Rouge,PortAllen, White Castle,Denham Springs and Pierre Part. He spent two of those years teaching religion coursesatCatholic High.

TheRev.John Carville, administrator of the Baton Rouge diocese, wroteareport in April 1993 to thenBishop Alfred Hughes about Lemoine, who had by then alreadybeen removed from the school.

“I am concerned because this has beena pattern throughout his 13 years of priesthood,” Carvillereported. “Despite warnings from pastors and myself he has shown no willingness

to examine his behavior.As he growsolder,thisbehavior becomes more suspect.”

In his report to thebishop, Carville noted that Brother Francis David, the school’s principal, saidtherehad been no sexual allegations against Lemoine when they dismissed him as ateacher But Carville added that Lemoine’s“compulsion to socialize with adolescents was adanger signal.”

David recommendedLemoine undergo therapy for his behavior. Both he andVice Principal Greg Brandao “felt that Lemoine’spurpose in teaching was to satisfy his own social needs rather than to truly beneﬁtthe students,”Carville stated.

After his dismissal as a teacher,Lemoine remained achaplain at Baton Rouge Regional Medical Centerand was transferred to live at the St. Aloysius Parish rectory in Baton Rouge. He was evaluated for psychotherapeutic treatmentand began seeing apsychologist,according to Lemoine’s“delictsreservata,” the comprehensivereport done years later by the Catholic churchthatoutlined his infractions.

Then,inOctober 1994, Lemoine confessed to adiocesan ofﬁcial that he began grooming a12-year-old boy in 1976 and had a“sexual relationship” with the child until age 15, acasesummary included in that report says Lemoinefurther admitted to molesting a13-year-old boy at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Pierre Part,where he hadbeen apastorfrom 1985 to 1990, the report said He also saidhehad sex withateen while aseminarian in Labadieville, the report said, thoughit’snot clear in the records whether theyouth was 16 or 17. Lemoine claimed thatthe teen was the“aggressor,”the report states. It was notclear if church leaders at the time reported Lemoine’sconfessionsto law enforcement, but the correspondencebetween diocese officials indicated thestatute of limitations for prosecution in

incident had expired.

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Plaquemine lock site saved by locals who seeits value

Ellie Hebert insists credit for restoring Plaquemine’sold lockhouse belongs to others —especially the Friends of the Lock,the local group that worked for years to save the 114-year-oldstructure.

Last week, Imet Hebert and Dan Mooney, president of Friends of the Lock,for abehind-thescenes look at the lockhouse and to learn more about the locks and how the structure was saved.

Mooney has a lifelong connection to the locks, and he likes to point to the area’s cultural roots.

“Oh, some fellow by the name of Longfellow wrote apoem about this woman whose name was Evangeline,” he said. “Legendarily,she used thisbayou to get to the interior of Louisiana.”

Mooney grew up astone’sthrow from the lockhouse and, as akid, may have been known to ride his bicycle across the lock gates on occasion, much to the lockmaster’s ire.

For Hebert, the restoration was personal.

Once the lock stopped operating in 1961, what to do with thelockhouse became the breakfast-table conversation of her childhood Her family owned the local newspaper.Her father recognized the lockhouse’svalue and launched a public ﬁght to save it.

The white-tiledDutch Revival Plaquemine Lockhouse, completed in 1909, has been restored and opens as amuseum at 9a.m. Friday.

“My parents, my fatherin particular,and later my mother, worked to save this buildingfrom being destroyed by the state transportation departmentwho wanted to put in afour-lane highway,” Hebert said. Back in the 1960s and ’70s, people in Plaquemine werehungry for progress.

Dow Chemical was coming,and trafﬁc tie-ups had already begun. Residents wanted more andbetter roads.

“I was in school at the time,and Iremember getting hammered by schoolmates,” Hebertsaid.

“Their parents had talked about it, Iguess, at the dinner table and they were angry.”

The plan? Tear downthe lockhouse, level what was left of the locks and ﬁll in much of Bayou Plaquemine.

“They were going to ﬁll the whole damn thing in,” Hebert said. “Noneofthis wouldbehere today.The bayou wouldn’t.The waterfront park wouldn’t.This lockhouse wouldn’t.”

Today,the lockhouse bears her father’sname: the Gary J. HebertMemorial Lockhouse —a tribute to his dedication. Beside the plaque of her father on the white-tiled walls hangs one of her mother,JoyceS.Hebert, who served as president of Friends of theLock and continued the work her husband began.

Protesters decryICE detentions in Jena

Facility hasheldgrad studentMahmoud Khalil sinceMarch

BY STEPHENMARCANTEL Staff writer

Agroup of Louisiana residents continued protests Sunday and called for the release of ColumbiaUniversity graduate student MahmoudKhalil from aU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement complex in Jena.

The group of about 40, which included residents of Lafayette, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, made the trek to ruralcentral Louisiana to call for therelease of Khalil, who has been detained at the facility since his arrest in Marchfollowingnational pro-

Palestinianprotestsatuniversities “Mahmoud Khalil and other

detainees have hadtheir rights stripped away allbecauseofthe color of their skin or the con-

tent of their conviction,” Frank Crocco said. “Why? For peacefully protesting agenocide in Gaza. If we allow this to happen to Mahmoud, we’re all in danger of losing ourconstitutionalrights to free speech,due process, and liberty and justice forall.”

The facility held other students like Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, of Tufts University,and Iranian student Alireza Doroudi, of the University of Alabama, both of whomhave since been released.

Many of those attending Sunday’sprotest said it was their ﬁrst timeinJena, atown of about 4,000thathas garnered national attention and several protests from Louisiana groups. At least adozen lawenforcementagents

Firefighter graduates takethe oath Friday

Hotshots

whograduated from the Lafayette fire academy Friday.

Lake Charlescommunity policing bill gets approval

City marshalcan usesalaryto supplement pay

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

Aproposed state law that would allow the Lake Charles city marshal to spend aportion of his salaryoncommunity policing has beensent to the governor’s desk after sailing

through theLegislature. HouseBill 134 by Rep.Wilford Carter Sr., D-Lake Charles, would create anew avenue for the citymarshaltopay deputies for community policing. Existing lawallows himto paydeputiesadditional money in their regular salaries with a portion of themarshal’ssalary thatcomes from civil fee collections. The bill would allow the citymarshaltouse that

Lillian Edwards smiles as her mother, Allyson Melancon, and father, Luke Edwards, pinher badgeto her uniform.

Shooting at gasstation

followsfight

What beganasa series of ﬁghts during aconcert at aScott nightclub has resulted in the death of a20-year-old, according to Scott police. The fightserupted in the early morning hoursSaturday as a concert waswinding down, policesaid. The participants leftthe nightclub and walked across a roadway intothe parking lotof anearby gas station in

nightclub

block of NorthAmbassador Caffery,where fighting continued. During thealtercation,several shots were fired. Scottofficersrespondedand attempted to render aid to avictim whowas shot several times. The victim, identifiedasKylonCalais, succumbed to his wounds,according to police.

CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports ä See BLOTTER, page 4B

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Lafayette Fire Department hosted its 109th Fireﬁghter Academy graduation ceremony Friday at the Robicheaux Recreation Center

Stella Magee embraces her grandson Jeremiah,

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

MikeHowells, right, speaks to protesters Sunday across fromthe Central Louisiana ICEProcessingCenter in Jena.

Hebert

Mooney

OUR VIEWS

Getready, Omaha,LSU baseball fans coming for annual rite

In the seventh inning Sunday,when Chris Stanﬁeld smacked abouncer throughthe right side of adrawn-in West Virginia Mountaineer inﬁeld, most Tiger fans knew LSU’sbaseball team, which has won seven national titles since 1991,was headed backtothe place affectionatelyknown as Geauxmaha for another NCAA College World Series. Late May/early June baseball has become something of aritual in south Louisianainrecent years. And despite boilingtemps thatfans endured on Saturday for game one of the Super Regional series against West Virginia andthe three rain delays that preceded Sunday night’s series clincher,fans clad in purple andgold packed Alex Box Stadium in thisyear’s celebration of that rite.

The 12-5 win Sunday night followed a16-9 triumph theday before, andsetsupa showdown in the ﬁrst round of the CollegeWorld Serieswith Arkansas, the only remaining SEC team in the tournament. Butbefore we turn ourattention to the Hogs, we can take amomentto celebrate this step in the processand look forward to some time spent in Nebraska.

Many Tiger fans have been to Omahasomany timesthatit’slikea secondhome, an annual pilgrimage to the spiritual home of collegebaseball. Thoughthe games have moved acrosstown to Charles Schwab Fieldfrom theold Rosenblatt Stadium, the spirits of LSU greats past: Ben McDonald, Todd Walker,Eddy Furniss and, of course Warren Morris, still seem to linger. And the folks of Omahahavegreeted theLSU faithful with open arms. The two groups have struck up what might seem like an unexpected love affair.Who can forget twoyears ago, when the ﬁrst LSU team under coach JayJohnson made it to the season’sﬁnal tournament, andTigerfans not only dominated, butobliterated an annual Jell-O shot contest at alocalbar?

College baseball has exploded in popularity over the last several years, andLSU is fortunate to be one of the true blue bloodsinthe sport Not surprisingly,many other SEC teams have also ﬁelded national championship winners, and other teams in Louisiana havealso been strong. The diamond successofLSU, Tulane,Louisiana Tech, UL-Lafayetteand others in recent yearsisa credittoour state. We would be remiss if we did not mention theLSU-Shreveport Pilots, NAIA national championsthisyearwho completed the incredible feat of going undefeated in 59 games. 59!

This is all worth celebrating. College baseball hasnot been immune to thenew dynamicsat play in the NCAA, and LSU is no exception. But still some home-growntalent, like JoshPearson, asenior outﬁelder from West Monroe, andKade Anderson, the Tigers’ ace who hails fromMadisonville, anchor the squad.

As the tournament getsunderway Friday, we wish luck to the team and safe travelstothe fans following them to Nebraska. Maythe good timesrolland the balls ﬂy out of the park.

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

OPINION

Cartoonmisinterprets Trump’sactions

Ihope everyone is awarethat Walt Handelsman’scartoons on the Acadiana Advocate’sOpinion page are frequently politically biased. His recent one, indicating the Trumpadministration is making cutsto“NOAA, FEMA,and now comes the hurricane season,” is unhinged. Handelsman has to know that FEMA is being reorganized (not cut) so that emergency disaster funds will go directlytostates(such as Louisiana), whichcan more quickly,efﬁciently and smartly disburse funds to handle recoveries from hurricanes or other weatherrelateddisasters.

Does he not know howlong North Carolina has been struggling to get FEMA money to help itspopulation recover from thatlastgreat washout? Of course, he does. He obviously dislikes or even despises our president. Oh, and his biweekly cartoon contests? The ones with theblank bubble (balloon) thatheinvites readers to ﬁll in? Most of the comments sent in the contest are all good, and I, for one, don’tsee how the winner’s comments are any better than mostofthe others submitted.

JOHN

FRANCOIS Lafayette

Legalchanges in budget bill aren’t gettingattention

The SupremeCourt will have an important decision in regards to the TenCommandments in Louisiana public schools.

Pleaselet people know that the “big beautiful bill” in theU.S. Senatehas provisions to weaken federal courts’ ability and authority to enforce contemptofcourt if government ofﬁcials violateorders by thejudge. It’s in Section 70302 of this legislative bill —buried well enough that there is not enough attention on this. This is what President Donald Trump wants. He doesn’twant the federal judges gettinginhis wayand telling him that something is unconstitutional; thus, prohibiting himfrom doing what he wants. If this part passes, there will be nothing to stop him from doing illegal things.

With Trump’sorder,futuresoldierswon’t

What has happened to my country?

Orders from President Donald Trump have dictated that the military academies immediately purge books from their libraries of anything that smacks of the Holocaust. Do his MAGA supporters, alaDavid Duke, deny thewelldocumented history,ofthe enslavement and murder of over six million men, women and children? Does Trumpwant us to forget that the reason America was once admired, when America was “great,”was largely because we and our allies defeated the Nazis, those responsible for history’sgreatest evil?

Already, theNaval Academy has stripped off almost 400 of its library books, including those which tout the role of African AmericansinWorld War II. Does Trumpfear that our ofﬁcer corps will learn about the courage they displayed in overcoming segregation and contributing mightily to winning

JOEL THIBODEAUX Baton Rouge

thewar? Will the Navajo Code Talkers, whose language bewildered the Japanese and saved thousandsofAmerican lives, be targeted because they fall into theDEI bucket as well?

As avolunteer at our outstanding National WWII Museum, Iamsaddened to think thatseveral major exhibits of ours, including an honest, moving gallery on the Holocaust, now conﬂict with the Trump agenda. Our sobering display on the internment of Japanese Americans is another.Then too there is our African American exhibit, “Fighting for the Right to Fight.” One millionserved under segregation. Must we pretend thatthis did not happen?

My hope is that our museum stands as acitadel against this Orwellian upheaval of our history,one which ironically has itsorigins in ourown government. BRIAN ALTOBELLO NewOrleans

Cost of deathpenalty should be deciding factor

Inote the continued letters regarding the death penaltydebate. For many years, Iwas ambivalent, weighing the urge for retributive justice vs. therare but horrifying thought of executing an innocent person. However,years ago, Ilearned afact that made the choice of life without parole over the deathpenalty simple. That fact is that it costs the taxpayers

moreinlegal and administrative costs to ﬁnally executeaconvicted murderer than the cost of life imprisonment. Additionally,some of the moreunhinged with delusions of martyrdom (think TimothyMcVeigh) might actually prefer apublic execution andlifeinprison would be amore condign punishment.

DALE MORRIS Destrehan

The U.S. Constitution’sFirst Amendment prohibits the governmentfrom establishing areligion or favoring one religion over another.” Isubmit that the Ten Commandments are not areligion, which is prohibited by the Constitution. The Commandments set out core principles of behavior forindividuals and society,conduct which has been adopted by religions forthousands of years. Even the Quran adopts manyof the core principles of the 10 Commandments. Idonot know of any religion, per se, that believes the Commandments are areligion. They merely enumerate acode of conduct.

All religions have their own dogma, interpretations, rules, etc. It is that which designates them as religions, not the TenCommandments.

It should be emphasized that the TenCommandments are not the essence of, but an integral part of, the history of Western civilization lasting over 3,000 years. They have shaped moral and legal foundations with prohibitions on core crimes; lawsagainst murder,theft and perjury are found in every legal code. Additionally,the Commandments protect the rights of private property and give us a civil understanding of ownership, as wellasrespect forparents. Remember the Sabbath day has inﬂuenced the creation of Sabbatarian laws. Without the TenCommandments, we would have no Magna Carta, no Constitution of the United States or numerous other codes, including the French “Rights of Man.” They provide a moral framework with Godand fellow human beings. They provide aguide to individual conduct, fostering virtues of integrity and respect. They also are the sin qua non of social order by encouraging actions of trust and cooperation. Without them,wewould be savages.

ROGERJ.LEBLANC

Baton Rouge

St.Georgebudgetis balanced,but is it

It must be easy to balancea budget when somebody else is paying some of the bills

Just ask the CityofSt. George.

There, leaders of Louisiana’s newest city —the ﬁfth largest in thestate —passed abudgetlast week that projected $58 million in revenue for next year with only$44 millioninspending most of that going to private contractors who will provide cityservices

The budget, Mayor Dustin Yates argued, is transparentand lean, akey goal of city leaderswho werefrustrated by the city-parish’ssprawling bureaucracy Voters already feel “taxed to death,”he said. But here’sthe rub. St. George’sbudget is drawn largely from revenue provided by a2%sales tax originally approved parishwide. The revenue from that tax ﬂowed into the city-parish general fund, where it is then used to pay forthings that Louisiana’sconstitution requires parishes to fund, such as thedistrict attorney,coroner and thejail, among other things. But last year,St. George votersapproved ameasure thatwill take the revenue from the 2% collected in St. George and use it to fund their city. Those collections are projected to bring in that $58 million. None of that $58millionisgoing to those three law-enforcement services. Municipalities, unlike parishes, are not required to provide funding for the district attorney,the coroner and the jail. But they will stillget theservices Could you imagine if District Attorney Hillar Moore declined to prosecuteany defendants for crimes in St. George?Or if Sheriff Sid Gautreaux (who,itmust be said, willcollect about $2 4million from St. George in return forpatrol-

ling), refused to put them in jail?OrifCoroner Beau Clark decided he wouldn’tdoautopsies on St. George residents?

None of those will happen, of course.

City leaders in St. George are not chartingsome new,stingy path.The other municipalities in East Baton Rouge —Baker Zachary and Central —also don’t budgetanything for those ofﬁces. St Georgeisjust following their lead.

Thisposition is ashift for St.George.

City leaders have said in thepast that they planned to devotesome money to theconstitutional ofﬁces. Moore said at onepointhewas told $6.6 million would come to his ofﬁce.

“There is no other municipality that putmoney out of the general fund budgettoward constitutional ofﬁces,” Yates toldWBRZ-TV

“This isn’taSt. George problem,” Yates continued.It’sa “parish problem,” he said. In other words, why should St. George payfor these services when other cities in the parish are not?

Yates hasapoint. Buthe’sonly partially right aboutwhere theproblem lies.

It’snot theparish, it’s thestate constitution.

That document, adopted in 1974, provides aByzantinefunding formula for certain local ofﬁces and facilities like those mentioned above. In mostcases, parishes are required to provide signiﬁcantfunding, despite having little to no control over how they operate.

Forinstance, parishes must provide the jail, but sheriffs operateit. Andthe latter often collect revenue derived from the jail for thingslike state or federal inmates.

Fordistrict attorneys, the state pro-

Putinan open book that

vides somepay for prosecutors, but parishes provide facilities, equipment and funds for other stafﬁng needs.

This labyrinthine situation helps drive voter confusion and fatigue. And it shows at the polls.

Moore is apopular DA, but when he asked voters for a4-mill tax earlier this year,they rejected it soundly.Voters in St.Tammany —sometimes called St. Slammanyfor its devotion to lock ‘em up policies —have denied ahandful of attempts to dedicated funding for courts, judges and the district attorney AndinNew Orleans, atax crucial to thejail’soperation squeaked over the line by just two votes out of more than 25,000 cast.

Voterseverywhere want streetsfree from potholes and criminals. The current situation often leaves parish leaders having to choose between the two.

Perhaps St.George could become a model for other large unincorporated areas. Why shouldn’tMetairie, which is not itsown city,take its share of the local tax, devote it to ﬁxing potholes and thelike, and leave the bill for criminal justice with the parish? Or Moss Bluff, a big unincorporated suburb in Calcasieu Parish?Orlarge tracts of suburban St. TammanyParish?

This problem is one of thestrongest arguments for revisiting our half-century-old constitution. Louisiana voters want efﬁcient, effective services funded in atransparent way.Inother words, we want more bang for our buck.

The constitution —and theway it has evolved through years and scores of amendments —does the opposite. We can thank St. George for helping to makethat clear

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

Whatdoyou do aboutJoni Ernst? The Republican senatorfrom Iowa is being mocked by liberal media andbeyondfor her snarky response to aquestion about cuts in Medicaid: “Weall are going to die.”

Thatclumsy remark has been skewered for its insensitivity,but its greater signiﬁcance liesinthe bigger issue. Ernst answers to Donald Trump and no one else

She is notalone in this. Bowing down to Trump’sdemands and caving in to MAGA threatshaveturnedseveral Republicans against the people who votedfor them. ElonMusk hascalledTrump’stax-andspending bill a“disgusting abomination,” thus freeing more Republicans to express their doubts. Some House members now express regrets aboutvoting forit. Their excuse is thatthey didn’tquite read it. Think aboutthat. Theyregard not doing their jobaslesspolitically damaging than owning up to their vote. More thanone in ﬁve Iowans receive Medicaidbeneﬁts. Rural hospitals will be especially hard hit by the cuts, but so will othermedical centers serving large Medicaidpopulations. Evenbeforethe Republican House votedtochop over $700 billion from the program, 28 Iowa hospitals were at risk of closing, according to Becker’s HospitalReview.

Recently,20,000 peoplewere evacuated from the center of the Germancity of Colognebecause of atimely reminder from the past: three unexploded bombs dropped on the pulverizedcity during World WarII. Athousand milestothe east, reverberationsfrom explosions in Ukraine are part of Europe’s present. And of its foreseeable future, in part becauseof past misjudgments. Consider 1994.That was three yearsafterthe disintegration of the Soviet Union. And ﬁve years after U.S. political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s inﬂuential essay argued that humanity’sideological evolutionhad culminated in “the end of history”: the exhaustion of all social systems hitherto considered plausible alternativesto open, liberal societies.

In 1994, Ukraine surrendered the Soviet-era nuclear weapons it possessed, receiving in exchange U.S., British, French, Russian and Chinese security guarantees. Twenty years later, Russia seized Crimea. And began supporting insurrections aimed at dismembering Ukraine.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’sministerof foreign affairs from 2020 to 2024,writinginForeign Affairs, says, “The stark reality is that neither Russia norUkraine has much of an incentivetostopthe ﬁghting.” What Vladimir Putin calls “the root causes of the conﬂict” are really one cause: Ukraine’sexistence as asovereign nation.

Although there is no excuse for it, thereisa reason for the failureofU.S. leaderstounderstand Putin. He isan open book who has been reading himself to the world since long before he published his 2021 essay “On the Historical Unity of Russiansand Ukrainians.”This farragoofethnic mysticisms and history seen through apseudo-theologicallens is Putin’s“Mein Kampf.” Hisresentments andrevenge aspirations areall there. But are largely ignored or disbelieved by the West’sstatesmen and publics who complacentlybelieve that the end of historymeant the end of toxic nonsense such as this: Putin believes Russia is a“civilizationstate” with cultural-cum-religious signiﬁcance, rights and responsibilities that justify the erasure of other nations Which is why the Economist correctly

says thatfor Putin “war has become an ideology.” What Johns Hopkins University’s HalBrands describes as Putin’s“quasigenocidal barbarities” are committed in the name of atotalizing, uncompromisable objective:the political and cultural extinctionofUkraine. Russia haskidnapped, forthe purpose of “Russiﬁcation,” uncountable thousands of Ukrainian children. Their return is, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, Kyiv’s“number one” priorityinnegotiations. Tryexplaining thattoSteve Witkoff. This real estate developer,Donald Trump’sdesignated war-ender,says he andPutin have developed a“friendship.” Witkoff echoes JimmyCarter’s Secretary of State Cyrus Vance saying that Sovietleader Leonid Brezhnevshares similar“dreams and aspirations” Witkoff wonders, “Whywould [Russia] want to absorbUkraine?” Putin explained in his 2021 essay, which shows that peace is impossible.

In 1991,Crimea, like therestof Ukraine, voted for independence. In 2018,the ﬁrst Trump administration’s Crimea Declaration said “the United Statesreafﬁrmsaspolicy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin’sclaimsofsovereigntyoverterritory seizedbyforce in contravention of international law.” Trump’sState Department said this wouldbeU.S. policy “until Ukraine’s territorial integrityisrestored.” In 2022, then-Sen. Marco Rubio sponsoredabill that would have forbidden U.S. acknowledgment of Russian sovereigntyover

seizedUkrainian territory. Recently, however,the elastic Trump breezily said Crimea was “lost years ago.” The end of history has not yet reached Europe. Writing in Foreign Affairs, TheodoreBunzel and Elina Ribakova recall aprophecy from Jean Monnet,a founder of the European Union: “Europe will be forged in crises, and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for thosecrises.” Unintended beneficial consequencesof Putin’scatastrophic blunder in Ukraine include NATO’senlargement (Finland and Sweden), revitalization of the U.S. defense industrial base and renewed seriousness about Europe’sself-defense In a1951 lettertoa friend, an American contemporaryofMonnet said that the challenge then was “howtoinspire Europe to produce for itself thosearmed forces that, in thelong run, mustprovide the only means by which Europe canbe defended.” So wrote someone with firsthand experience of European dangers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Today,Dalibor Rohacofthe American Enterprise Institute writes: “The good news is thatweknow for afact, basedon the experience of the pastthree years, thateven arelatively small and poor country suchasUkraine —never mind the top-shelf militaries of Poland or Finland —can stopRussia in its tracks, withwhat has been modestU.S. and international support.” This reality has escapedthe notice of “realists”who think Ukraine is flimsy.

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

As the Senate considered the nominationofPeteHegseth for Defense secretary,Ernst was riding high as oneofthe holdouts. Ahandful of other Senate Republicanswouldn’tgoalong, giving Ernst the powertoditchacandidate known for sexualassault, drunkenness andabuse of corporate funds. Worse,Hegseth hadlittle experiencerelevanttoheading the department taskedwith defending Americafrom foreign attack.Hewas just apretty boyon FoxNews. Acombat veteran, Ernst made some impassioned objections to the appointment. But when the MAGA brigade threatened herreelection with aprimary challenge, she forgot allabout national security She explained her decision to cave as follows: “I will be supporting President Trump’spickfor secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.”Inotherwords, she was doing it for Trump.

American soldiers risk their lives for the country.Ernst was one. But then she changedshape into apoliticianwho wouldn’tevenrisk reelection, thatis, ajob for the country

In her servicetoTrump, she turned out to be notverygood at politics either.Ernst’s attempted recoveryfromher unfortunate “we areall going to die” comment wasa not-very-clevervideoonInstagram, foolishly stagedina cemetery.Screwing her face up in alook of pain, she apologized for anymisunderstanding. Thenshe made a failed stabathumor,saying, “I’m really,really gladthatIdid nothave to bring up the subject of the ToothFairy as well.”

She furtherinsulted the audience by stating, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we areall going to perish from this Earth.” Thatalso divertedattention from the issue at hand. The voters weren’t demanding immortality,just medical care thatwould enable them to live longer, healthier lives. If she really wanted fuller recovery from some awkward moments, Ernst could have looked straight at the camera and said, “You know? I’m going to vote against abill thatwould deprive so many of my constituents of the most basic health care.”And if she wanted to nail down her conservative bona ﬁdes, she should have added, “I’m also notvoting fortax cuts that blow up federal deﬁcits by trillions.” Chances areexcellent that she will vote for whatever Trump wants. That’sthe real problemwith JoniErnst. It’snot astray comment. It’sstraying fromher duty to her constituents andthe country

Froma Harrop on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com

Faimon Roberts

George Will

Froma Harrop

KREMLIN POOL PHOTO

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs acabinet meetingvia videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, Russia,onJune 4.

St.Tammany sheriff: Toddlerleftinsidehot

carfor 9hours dies

BY BOBWARREN Staff writer

AHammond-area man has been booked on seconddegree murder in connection with thedeath of his daughter,who died after being left inside ahot car for more than nine hours Sunday,according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Joseph Boatman, 32, was arrested andbookedinto the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center after investigators saidhis 21-month-old daughter died afterbeing buckled inside a car outside aMadisonvillearea residence for hours. Boatman’sbail was set at $750,000,according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’sOfﬁce identiﬁed the toddler as Ansleigh Boatman. St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputies werecalled to the residence shortly before noon Sunday after a family member found the girl unresponsive inside the vehicle.

TheSheriff’s Ofﬁcesaid Boatman had buckled the child into her car seat inside the vehicle after picking herupata family member’sresidence shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday.A Sheriff’s Ofﬁce spokesperson, Lt. Suzanne Carboni, said Boatman had been at work in St.Tammany andthathis daughter was staying at the father and stepmother’shouse in the Fox Branch Estates subdivision. After putting the girlin her car seat, Boatmanwent back inside the residence butnever returned to the vehicle. Detectives also learned that before Boatman arriving to pick up his

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same,fee-drivenportion of his salary to also supplement payments to deputies for community policing outside their regular shifts. The department has more than 50 reserve deputy marshals.

Thebillpassed without opposition in both the House and the Senate and has been sent for Gov.Jeff Landry’ssignature.

Lake Charles Ward 3 Marshal Nathan Keller said community policing has been apriority since he took ofﬁce in 2021.

Part of the marshal’ssalary comes from fees that his ofﬁcecollects for civil matters, including serving court orders andeviction notices. The amount collectedvaries from year to year The marshal’ssalarywas $165,000 in 2023, with the civil fees totaling about $82,000, or about half his

daughter,hehad consumed multiple alcoholic beverages, theSheriff’s Ofﬁce said.

The National Weather Servicedid not have Sunday temperature readings for Madisonville, but said it was 90 degrees in Hammond at 11 a.m., witha heatindex of100-104degrees. Slidell hit 89atthe same time, with aheat index of 98-100, according to the weather service Mandeville was also at 89 degrees.

Aspokesperson for the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’sOfficesaidMonday that an autopsy had been performedonAnsleigh, but thatCoroner Christopher Tape won’trelease acause of death or manner of death until the toxicologyresults are in hand

“This is adevastating loss that no family everwants to face,” St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith said.“When achild is left in avehicle, especially onaday when theheat index climbs over 100degrees,the outcome can turn deadly in amatter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment, and theresultwas heartbreaking.”

TheNationalSafety Council says on average, 37 children under the age of 15 die each year after being left in vehicles. Some newer vehicles have sensors that alert drivers to check their back seats whenthe ignition is turned off.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says achild’sbody temperature can rise three to ﬁve times faster than an adult’s, and the situation can quicklybecome dangerous Staff writer Willie Swett contributed reporting to this story

salary,according to the agency’smost recent Louisiana LegislativeAuditor’s Ofﬁce report.

Keller said using those fees to pay extra to his deputies helps to give them competitive salaries with other law enforcement agencies in Calcasieu Parish.

Many deputies work offduty security gigs,which can lead to extra pay,Keller said.But he said many part-time reserve deputies also volunteer theirtime to work with children and senior citizensinunderserved communities.

“This way we can actually pay them sometype of stipend to go outand assist, Keller said in aMay interview.“Anditnow frees up Lake Charles city police andthe CalcasieuParish Sheriff’s Ofﬁcebecausethe average parade maytake30 to 100 people for us to make that route safe.”

Email Megan Wyatt at mwyatt@theadvocate com.

PROTESTERS

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stood on the other side of the two-laneroad in front of the detention facility

“I cannot sit quietly by as Iwitnesswhat is happening in ourcountry today,” Ward Reillysaid. “That being the total subversion and perversion of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus.

U.S.representatives, senators andstate representatives have visited the facility in recentweeks, as wellasanother ICE facility in Basile. The lawmakers voiced their concern over medical care in both facilities. Protesters at past events have calledthe compound’sconditions inhumaneand prison-like.

A2021 study by Tulane University’sImmigrant

AT LARGE

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By thenumbers

The building,completed in 1909, is partofthe Plaquemine Lock State HistoricSiteand sparkles in its white-tiled glory.The lockhousereopens as amuseum at 9a.m. Friday,explaining how thelock —anengineering marvel built between 1895 and1909 —connected theever-changing Mississippi River with Bayou Plaquemine.

“You havetoremember back in thelate 1800s when this workwas happening to build thelock, it was really considered an engineering marvel,” Hebertsaid.

The lock operated 24 hoursaday for 52 years, linking theMississippi River,the Atchafalaya and southwestLouisiana. The lock’schamber was 51 feet high, 55 feet wide, 395 feet long and hadthe capacity to hold morethan 8million gallons of water.Its ﬂoor was between 7and 11 feet thick.

Colorized photos on display in thenew museum show workers driving 8,803 wooden pilingstosupport thelock, alongside graphics and avideo that explain how thesystem worked

“Yes, 8,803 of these piles, 30 feet deep,set on 3-foot centers during theconstruction,” Mooney said.

From catch-alltocohesive

Over time, the lockhouse became acluttered community historical catch-all. People brought in old things The displays lacked aclear narrative. The restoration aimed to create acohesive, compelling exhibit that truly tells thestory of thelock —from my perspective, it achieved its goal. Some of thepreservation

LOTTERY

SUNDAY,JUNE 8, 2025

PICK 3: 1-7-1 PICK 4: 0-9-5-8 PICK 5: 1-2-4-8-5

laration from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The judge,Jamee E. Comans, foundthatthe government had established that Khalil being in the U.S. posed “potentially serious foreign policy consequences,” according to The Associated Press.

On May 28, Judge Michael E. Farbiarz ruled that the use of the rarely citedlaw waslikely unconstitutional. Still, the judge chose notto free Khalil.

Rights Clinic found “pro-

longed and punitive” detention of immigrants who land in Jena or other ICE facilities in Louisiana, withlittle chance of success on their pleas for relief.

An immigrationjudge on April10declared Khalil deportable as anational security risk in response to adec-

Khalil,who missed the birth of hischild while being held in the complex, recently wrote that his detainment hascaused“irreparable harm”tohis life.

Stephen Marcantel writes forThe Acadiana Advocate as aReport for America corpsmember Email himatstephen. marcantel@theadvocate. com.

work wasn’tglamorous. Dirt near thebanks of the MightyMississippi moves and can cause cracks in buildings— even those built to withstand theelements like theDutch Revival-style lockhousebuilding “I think this literally is the crown jewel of the city,” Hebert said. “Wehave the most beautiful historicdistrict here. We have ournational award-winning waterfront park—and we have the Mississippi River levee right herewherepeople can go sitonbenches and look out on theriver.” The lockhouse is perched

at the top of all of that, right across the street from St. John Church, which Hebert describes as “one of the mostbeautiful churches in south Louisiana, if not in the whole state.”

More than acentury after the Plaquemine Lock opened its gates to boats navigating the uncertain waters betweenbayou and river,the lockhouse opens its doors again —this time, to the stories that built a town, and the people who refused to let them sink.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

Policelater learneda secondpersonhad been wounded and wastransported to ahospital by a private vehicle. Thatperson is in stable condition. If anyone hasany information regarding this incident,contact the Scott PoliceDepartment at (337) 233-3715 or Lafayette CrimeStoppers at (337) 232-8477.

Man caught over ayear after escape

Aman who escaped from AcadianMedical Centermorethana year ago has been captured, Eunicepolicesaid.

Andrew Morrison, 47, of Eunice, was arrestedSunday after escaping treatment in May2024.

Eunice policesaid theyreceived information Sunday from an anonymous source on the whereabouts of Morrison. While en routetoserve a warrant, policeobserved Morrison and awoman enter avehicle and leave aresidence. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver tried to elude them but was stopped afew blocks later Morrisonexitedthe vehicle and began running away.After abrieffoot pursuit and struggle, officerswereable to take Morrison intocustody, ofﬁcials said.

PolicesaidMorrison hadillegalnarcoticsand drug paraphernalia in his possession. He was transported to theSt. LandryParish jail, where he was booked on the original counts of aggravated flight from an officer, possession with intent to distribute amphetamine,aggravated criminalproperty damage, possession of drug paraphernalia,simple escape and trafﬁc violations.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

The Rev. Raymond Brown, center, speakstoprotesters gathered acrossfrom the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER

Ellie Hebertand DanMooneywalkacross the bridgeover BayouPlaquemine where the oldlocks used to operate.

WORN ROAD

Long after the last revelersrounded third and danced off for home —and wellpast the time LSUplayers wrapped up the high-fives, hugs and Mardi Gras bead-bedeckedselfies withfamily and friends on the field —the wordshone into the night like abeacon from Alex Box Stadium’shugevideo board in left field:

“Geauxmaha” That’sCajunFrenchfor:“LSUisgoing to Omaha. Again.” Like the song goes, theTigers are backhome in Omaha—their summer home away from home—playing in the

College World Seriesfor the20th time since 1986. That’ssooften it seems like LSUisalways there. That atrip up the Mississippi River with aleft on the Missouri is always part of the plan. This year’sRoad to Omahawas any-

thingbut glass smooth. More like one of our pothole-ﬁlled South Louisiana streets(I’d nameone, but Idon’twant to makethousands of our other streets jealous), full of rough spots and unexpected bumps. First there was last week’sNCAA regional at The Box. Remember the regional, when LSU lost to lowly Little Rock (RPI: 243) 10-4? No revelry then, just retching.Tiger fans were really reaching for the antacids when LSUtrailed theTrojans 5-1 in the

This week promises fuller pictureofSaints

BY MATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints’ threeday mandatory minicamp begins this week, and for the ﬁrst two days, fans will get the chance to watch them in person. The franchisemade tickets availabletothe public afterholdingtraining camp in California last summer,and they quickly were claimed. “I think they’ll see ateam

that’scompeting, having fun,” Saints coachKellenMoore said when asked what he wants the fans to take away from the sessions. “Hopefully there’sjuice and there’senergy.Come Sundayinthe fall, we’ll be needing them as well.” With several practices on deck —the last before asixweek breakuntil training camp —here are fourkey areas worth monitoring when camp starts Tuesday

Defenseinfull

With offseason workouts voluntary until this point, this week’sminicamp will present theﬁrst chance tosee the Saints as awhole. Andthat should have amore signiﬁcant impact on defense, with several key veterans set to return. This week should provide a better look at how defensive coordinator Brandon Staley plans to use someone such as safety

Tyrann Mathieu alongside Justin Reid, the marquee free-agent addition this offseason.With Mathieu not in attendance for the previous stretch, third-year safety Jordan Howden largely had worked with Reid. And we’ll get aglimpseatthe team’sdefensive line rotation The voluntary workouts, forinstance,featured alot of defensive lineman Jonah Williams.

Pels GM Graham leaves post to join Hawks

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

Alongtime member of the New Orleans Pelicans is leaving.

Pelicans generalmanager Bryson Graham is finalizinga deal to become senior vice president of basketball operations forthe Atlanta Hawks, asource confirmed. ESPN was the first to report Graham spent 15 seasonswith the Pelicans, starting as an intern in 2010 when he was hired by Dell Demps. Some of hisearly duties included things such as making coffee runs for the staff.

“I try to still have that same mentality,” Graham saidinaninterview last year.“There is nothing too small for me to do. The people that work here,everybody is bust-

ingtheirbuttand working towards thesame goal. Whatever needs to be done, let’sget it done.” That mentalityled to Graham’s ascension. His firstpromotion took himfrom intern to video coordinator.Eventually,hebecame an assistant general manager and last yearwas promoted to general managerbyDavidGriffin, thePelicans executive vice president of basketball operations at the time. Griffin was fired in April after the Pelicans finished the season 21-61. Graham’smainrolewas helpingthe Pelicans findtalentinthe draft. Last year,the Pelicans got one of thesteals of the draft when they selected center Yves Missi from Baylor.Many expected the 21st overall pick tobemoreofa project, but Missi ended up as a

second-team pick on the NBA AllRookie team. Joe Dumars, hired in April as executive vice president of basketball operations toreplace Grifﬁn, said in an interview last week that Graham would remain as general manager.Thatnow changeswith Graham heading to Atlanta. The responsibility of ﬁnding talentnow belongs to Troy Weaver Dumars’ first hire was making Weaver his seniorvicepresident of basketball operations. Weaver servedasanadviser withthe Washington Wizards this season. Prior tothat, he spent four seasons as general manager of the Detroit Pistons. “Troy has aunique skillset,”

ä See PELICANS, page 3C

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Once his hit dribbled through the right side of the infield, Chris Stanfield turned and pointed to the LSU dugout. The speedy nine-hole hitter was still on his way to first base.

YetStanﬁeld already knew that his timely seventh-inning hit had turned the Tigers’ 12-5superregional-clinchingwin over West Virginia back into a lopsided affair

When he stepped to the plate, three runners were on with no outs. The circumstance addedweight to his at-bat, which hadbecome so important that coach Jay Johnson considered bringing in apinch hitter

But he decided against it and stuck withStanﬁeld, a.309 hitter who recognized apitch away and slapped it out of the reach of the inﬁeld shift.

“I was just excited,” Stanfield said about his hit that turned a6-4 gameinto 8-4. “I came through in thatmomentand was really just pointing at the team saying, ‘Let’sgo, let’skeep it going.’ LSU added fourmorerunsthatinning as part of astrong weekend at the plate. Itsrewardisa trip to Omaha, Nebraska,for games inside pitcher-friendly Charles Schwab Field.

The ballpark can swallow power hitters alive. It also can play well for smart batters, the kind who exemplify the ideal offensive version of Johnson’sfourth Tigers team This LSU squad, Johnson hassaid, is built to turn long, competitive at-bats into walks. Then turn those free bases into runners sitting in scoring position. Then ﬁnd away to smack an extra-base hit, turning those runners sitting in scoring position into runs.

On Sunday,the Tigers scored 12 runs. They plated 10 of them before they even hit their ﬁrst homer,Jake Brown’sdeep, two-run shot to center ﬁeld that capped LSU’s scoring for itsmilestone20th trip to Omaha.

“It manifests itself into free bases,” Johnson said, “extra-base hits, hitting with runners in scoring position and putting up 12 runs. Imean, there were so manykey at-bats in that deal tonight. It would be agame that you would want to put on atape and show future teams, like, ‘This is how we play offensive baseball at LSU.’ ”

On Saturday, LSU hit two grand slams.

Itshitters hadaccomplishedthat feat in an NCAA Tournamentgameonlyonce before in program history,and not since 1998. The Tigers notched 16 runs against West Virginia on Saturday,then stacked 12 moreonSunday. Before that series, LSU had never in its illustrious history scored at least 10 runs in consecutive super regional contests. This season, LSU had recorded at

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

The Tigers cheer as LSU right fielder Josh Pearsonraises the regional trophy after defeating West Virginia in the BatonRougesuper regional on SundayatAlex Box Stadium.

STAFF FILE

PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD Pelicans general manager Bryson Graham, left, and executive vice presidentofbasketball operations David Griffin, talkatthe Smoothie King Center on Sept. 30. After Graham leftfor the Hawks, neither remains withthe organization.

Alcaraz, Sinner take rivalrytoWimbledon

BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP tennis writer

The takeaways from CarlosAlcaraz’sfifth-set tiebreakervictory over Jannik Sinner in theriveting and record-breaking French Open men’sfinal were multiple andsignificant.

Let’sstart with this:Anyone worried about how men’stennis would survive in thepost-Big Three era can resteasy.Alcaraz andSinner produced 5 1/2 hours of evidence Sunday thatthe game is in good hands —and that their rivalry willbe, and perhaps already is, atranscendent one. Take it from no less an authority than Roger Federer.The retired ownerof20Grand Slam titles, and rival of Rafael Nadal (22 majors) and Novak Djokovic (24), begana post on socialmedia by declaring, “3 winners in Paris today,” then listed Alcaraz, Sinner and“the beautiful game of tennis. What a match!”

Sinner,Alcaraz couldrenew rivalry

This was the 12th Alcaraz-Sinner meeting,the ﬁrst in amajor ﬁnal.

“Hopefully not the last time,” Alcaraz said. “Every time that we face each other,weraise our level to the top.”

It would be shocking if there weren’tmany more of these to come—perhaps as soon as at Wimbledon, whereplaybegins on June 30 andNo. 2-rankedAlcaraz is the two-time defending champion.

His comeback against No. 1 Sinner from two sets down, then three championshippoints down, to win 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) was unprecedented at Roland-Garros. It wasunforgettable. Alcaraz’s coach, Juan CarlosFerrero,described his guy’sbesttrait this way:“His strengthis(to) keep believing all the time, until thelast ball is gone.”

Alcarazhas 5Grand Slam titles

Alcaraz’sfive Grand Slam titles at 22 —that’sthe age at which Nadal, BjornBorg andPete Samprasalsogot to five; no one’sdone it younger —show how special he is. So doesthe Spaniard’s5-0 record in major finals, acareer start surpassed amongmen only by Federer’s7-0.

Sinner is pretty good,too. Tuesday marks afull year that he has been ranked No. 1. He hasreached the ﬁnals of hislast eight tournaments, arun last accomplished by Djokovic adecadeago. He has won three majors. He haswon 47 of hislast 50 matches. Notably,all three of those

lossescame against— yes, you guessedit—Alcaraz. That hearkens back to thedayswhen Federer would beat everyone other than Nadal Sinner had claimed 31 Slam sets in arow right up until themoment he was up 2-0 against Alcaraz.

What was unmistakable to anyone watching in-person at Court Philippe-Chatrier or following along from afar on TV is that Alcaraz vs. Sinner is amust-see. “The level,” Alcaraz said, “was insane.”

Alcaraz, Sinner dominating Sinner’stake?

“I’mhappy to be part of this,” the23-year-old Italian said. “Would be even more happy if I would have the big trophy.”

As with anygreatrivalry think Evert vs. Navratilova or Borg vs. McEnroe or Federer vs. Nadal, no ﬁrst namesneeded —Alcaraz vs. Sinner provides a clash of excellence and astudy in contrasts.

Alcaraz displays emotion, pumping his ﬁsts,pointing to an ear to askfor more noise, yelling “Vamos!” Sinnerisrather contained. Sinner’s long limbsget himto nearly everyball.Alcaraz’s motor reaches speeds no one can equal.

Sinner’s ball-striking is pure. Alcaraz’sdropshots arelegendary

Both hammer groundstrokes that leaveopponents exasperatedand spectators gasping. Both can improve. Sinner has never won amatch that lasted four hours. Alcaraz loses focus on occasion.

Both are eager to improve. When Sinner returnedfroma three-monthdoping banlast month, he introduced anew, angledreturn stance. Alcaraz tweaked hisserveand backhand technique. Who knows what heights each can reach? They split the past six Slam trophies, and eight of the past 11.

Federerpredicted bigchampions Federer saw this coming. During an interviewwithThe AssociatedPressinDecember 2019, Federerpredicted someone would win major after major the way he,Nadal andDjokovic did. Just didn’tknow there would be a Big Twodoing it.

“It’sgoing to happen, inevitably,” Federer said. “And it’salmost not going to be that hard, maybe .becausethe players will have seen what we did. And they didn’tsee just one guy doing it, once every 30 years. They sawlikethreeguys doingit, in theshortest period of time Players are going to believe more.”

Niners embraceurgency afterdisappointing 2024 season

BY JOSH DUBOW AP pro football writer

SANTACLARA, Calif.— The vibes were off from the start of last season for the San Francisco 49ers. Contractdisputes provided a cloud over the team throughout the spring and summer;the SuperBowlhangover anda third straight shortoffseasonsapped some energy; and alack of roster turnover led to some staleness around the Niners

Those factors andabevy of injuries turned aSuper Bowlcontender into a6-11 also-ran, leading coach Kyle Shanahan to deliver ablunt message at the end of the season about what needed to change in 2025.

“I felt guys weren’tready to come back,” Shanahan said about the 2024 season. “I understood that. But Itold them howIwon’t really understand it this year Not that that was right or wrong, but Icouldn’t comprehend it. We’re off ﬁve weeks earlier.We all know how disappointed we are and alot of us have played alot of football here. But we’re going to have ateam that doesn’t know what we’ve done in the past or how you guys have earned a lot of stuff, we needtoshow them.” As the 49ers begin their final week of the offseason program on Monday,the change has been palpable.

Theteam was abletoresolve its major contract questionsearly in the offseason by reaching extensions with quarterback Brock Purdy,linebacker Fred Warner and tight end George Kittle without any drama or acrimony

The attendance forthe voluntary offseason program was high with most of the key playerson hand to helpteach therookies and other newcomersthe standard for how the 49ers operate. Star left tackle TrentWilliams was one of the fewnotable players not on hand forthe ﬁrst week of on-ﬁeld practices but was back in town last week. Shanahan stressed theimpor-

tance of showing up in Apriland theplayerslistened, leading to the successful spring. Shanahan saidhedidn’thave to make any requests after the season-ending meeting andthe players said there was no need for agroup discussion about making sure everyone was bought in for this season. “I didn’t thinkwehad to do all that,” Warner said. “Kyle made a point of that at the end of last season when he said howimportant it was to be back for this phase because of how last season went, and we knew what we were getting ourselvesintowithawhole new group, alot of young players. We all made the decision on our

Saints OL Ramczyk officiallyretires from NFL

It hasbeen nearly two years since Ryan Ramczyk sawafootball field forthe NewOrleans Saints,and the teamnow hasmade his long-expected retirement from football ofﬁcial.

Ramczyk, who was one of the mostimportantplayers of the Saints’ ballyhooed 2017 NFLdraft class, was placed on the reserve/ retired list Monday afternoon. He is thesecond notableSaintsplayer to officially retire this month, joining quarterback Derek Carr Though this newsbecame official Monday, it haslongbeen in the works. Ramczyk was effectively retiredlastyear,whenhespent virtually the entire season away from the team. By delaying the announcementfor ayear,Ramczyk gave New Orleans significant salary-cap flexibility

JaguarsmakeCooke highest-paid punter

Jacksonville’sLogan Cooke is now the NFL’s highest-paid punter Cookesigneda four-year, $16 million contract extensionwith the Jaguars, according to aperson familiar with the negotiations.

Asecond-team All-Pro selection in 2024, Cooke was entering the ﬁnalyear of his second deal with theteam. He had been scheduled to make $3 millionin2025 and now willget araise after making his ﬁrst Pro Bowllast year

The Jaguars draftedCooke in the seventh round from Mississippi State in 2018, andhe’sthe team’s longest-tenured player.Cooke, whowillturn30nextmonth,establishedcareer-highs with agross putting averageof49.4 yards and anet average of 44.8 yards last season.

Cavaliers guard Garland has surgeryonbig toe

Cavaliers guardDarius Garland had surgery Monday on the injured left big toe that hampered him during Cleveland’splayoff run.

The Cavaliers said theprocedure was performed by Dr.NicholasStrasseratVanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

The All-Star guardmissed the final two games of the regular season and four games during the playoffs with the injury,which wasdescribed as asprain.

“Definitely wasn’tmyself.Itwas prettyuncomfortable but tryingto do everything to win the game. It was frustrating because Iwasn’t 100 percent,” Garland said after the Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers in five gamesinthe Eastern Conference semifinals.

Boisson up 296 spots; Sinner stays No. 1man

own to be back here.”

Theurgency thatmay have been lackingattimes in 2024is back this offseason as the Niners want to avoid any sort of repeat of last year’sdisappointment.

San Francisco hadlost in the NFC title games following the 2021 and 2022 seasons and then felljust short in the Super Bowl in the 2023 season, losing the title gameinovertime to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Those deep runs led to reduced time off with someplayers choosing rest over rushing back to be on hand for theentireoffseason program

That was notthe casethis spring as theteam plans to incorporate severalnew startersonboth sides of the ball following aroster purge in March.

“When your season ends and you’re not making the playoffs, your desire to be back in the building and to getthat taste out of your mouth, Ithink is expedited,” Kittle said. “Guys want to be back for it. When you’re playing in the middle of February, you kind of need an extra month. That’s why alot of guys don’t show up to phase two or stuff like that.But there is an importance of phase one, the team building stuff. Kyle wanted us to be back. Ithink guys were going to be here regardless just because theywere ready to go back and play football.

Lois Boisson,the revelation of the French Open, has rocketed 296 places up theWTA rankings after her fairy-tale run at Roland-Garros. The Frenchwoman, who was 361st before making it to the semifinals at theclay-court GrandSlamlastweek, jumpedto65thinthe latest edition of the rankings published Monday Coco Gauff defeated Boisson in the semifinals en route to her first French Open title.There was no change at thetop of therankings, with Aryna Sabalenka leading the pack ahead of Gauff and her fellow American Jessica Pegula. After retaining his title on Sundayinthe longest ever finalat Roland-Garros against top-ranked Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz remained second in the men’sATP rankings behind his Italian rival.

Braves loserookie RHP to Tommy John surgery

A.J. Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season forthe slumping Atlanta Braves.

Smith-Shawver had reconstructive surgery on the ulnarcollateral ligament in his right elbow,knocking the rookie right-hander out for therest of this season andlikely the start of next season.Keith Meister performed the procedure in Arlington, Texas.

“Itwas acomplete Tommy John, and now he starts the long road of the rehab,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Everything wentwell.” Braves officials already had announced May30thatSmithShawver had atorn UCL. SmithShawver,22, hadgone 3-2witha 3.86 ERA in nine starts this season. He had struck out 42 batters in 441/3 innings.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD

Spain’sCarlos Alcaraz, right, hugs Italy’sJannik Sinnerafter winning the French Open at Roland-Garrosstadium on SundayinParis.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF CHIU

San Francisco49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks at anews conference after practice on May29inSanta Clara, Calif.

Bertman celebrates LSU’s latest CWS trip in person

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Skip Bertman has been through

a lot since he retired from coaching. The loss of his beloved wife of 63 years, Sandy Bertman, in March. The loss of his home to a ﬁre about 20 years ago.

Recently, Bertman had a fall at a restaurant that left him with a fracture in his hip. But that was not keeping him off the ﬁeld Sunday night at Alex Box Stadium

— the ﬁeld named after him — as he helped celebrate the LSU baseball team’s 20th trip to the College World Series with a 12-5 super regional victory over West Virginia.

“I’m very, very proud,” Bertman said, wearing a “CHAMPS” cap given to LSU players and coaches

as the victory celebration swirled around him. “Jay (Johnson, LSU’s current coach) is terrific. His staff is terrific. But tonight, the crowd was terrific, they made a difference.”

Bertman particularly was impressed by the standing ovation given to LSU senior Josh Pearson for his last home at-bat in the ninth inning. Pearson is the only player who has been with Johnson his entire four years at LSU.

“That can’t happen anywhere else but here,” Bertman said.

The founder of the LSU baseball dynasty, Bertman coached the Tigers from 1984-2001. He led the program from irrelevance to national prominence, including the program’s ﬁrst trip to the College World Series in 1986.

LSU made a total of 11 trips to Omaha under Bertman, winning five CWS championships from 1991-2000. He went 870-330-3, a career winning percentage of .724, including an 89-29 record (.754) in the NCAA Tournament that is the highest by any coach ever Soon after retiring from coaching in 2001, Bertman served as the LSU athletic director from 200108. Bertman, who turned 87 in May, moves with a walker now. But he said he still intends on making the trek to Omaha at some point during the College World Series.

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

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

winner-take-all regional ﬁnal before rallying to win 10-6.

In two super regional victories over West Virginia, the Tigers didn’t lose and didn’t really come close, winning 16-9 and 12-5. It marked the ﬁrst time in 17 super regional appearances that LSU scored in double digits in two games.

“I know our fans like doubledigit runs almost as much as their coach does,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said with a self-satisﬁed grin.

The Mountaineers were a game bunch of birds, roughing up the Tigers’ vaunted dynamic pitching duo of Kade Anderson on Saturday and Anthony Eyanson on Sunday But in the end, the West Virginians were their own undoing.

The Tigers scored those 28 combined runs on just 18 total hits. They scored 16 runs Saturday on eight hits the fewest hits resulting in that many runs in NCAA super regional history, per ESPN — and had 12 runs on 10 hits Sunday Making up the difference? The Tigers reached or advanced on base a total of 30 other times on West Virginia walks (17), hit batters (nine) and errors (four).

The Tigers showed discipline at the plate, allowing the Mountaineers to do themselves in free base after free base. When LSU did weave in a home run here or a double there, the result was devastating A landslide that brought the Mountaineers down.

“It would be a game that you

Continued from page 1C

least 10 hits in at least four straight games only once after Southeastern Conference play began. Then the Tigers started playing NCAA Tournament games, and they’ve since cleared that threshold in all but one of the six postseason games they hosted. LSU scored, on average, 6.2 runs per game in SEC play In the tournament, it’s scoring 10.2 runs per night. Across the regional and super regional, Steven Milam and Derek Curiel combined to go 18 of 41 (.439) with 18 RBIs. Even Jared Jones, a junior slugger who fell into a grisly hitting slump in the regional, hit 4 for 8 against West

LSU shortstop Steven Milam thanks fans behind home plate after defeating West Virginia in the super regional on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

would want to put on a tape and show future teams, like, ‘This is how we play offensive baseball at LSU,’ ” Johnson said. The Tigers will practice at home Tuesday and be off to Omaha on Wednesday in advance of their CWS opener against Arkansas. LSU will have to be at its best at taking advantage of any free passes against the Razorbacks, along with the Tigers one of the two most talented teams going to Omaha this year Just one of them will be saddled with an opening loss either Friday or Saturday in the double-elimination tournament LSU took two of three from Ar-

Virginia.

“I think just for me going up there with a clear mind and taking it one pitch at a time,” Jones said.

“I think I get pitched differently a lot more than most guys and just going out there and understanding I’ve got to be patient in the box and take my walks. When pitchers make mistakes, do damage on them

“Today I was really trying to be really relaxed and move the offense and get guys on base, get some momentum in our dugout.”

LSU’s ﬁrst opponent in Omaha is Arkansas, one of the top offensive teams in the country The Razorbacks lead the SEC in batting average (.313), on-base percentage (.422) and scoring (8.7 runs per game). They’ve also cranked more than 120 home runs, more than all but four other Division I teams

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

Dumars said in an interview last week. “His ability to identify talent in this league is elite. You look at the Detroit team in the playoffs, those were predominantly guys that Troy drafted. Not only that, but Troy was in Oklahoma City when they had Harden and Durant and Westbrook and those guys. So he has a long track record of being able to identify players at an elite level.”

Although Dumars and Weaver

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

Will he see the same workload now that the others are back?

Rattler the front-runner?

The starting quarterback competition won’t be decided in June, but through the voluntary portion of the offseason, Spencer Rattler appeared to have a leg up on rookie Tyler Shough. Is it his job to lose?

Rattler has not only received most of the first-team reps in practices open to reporters but he also appears much more decisive in his throws. That, in some ways, is to be expected: Shough is going against an NFL defense for the ﬁrst time; when Rattler was in the same position a year ago, he also looked hesitant.

At the very least, mandatory minicamp will give coaches the chance to evaluate Rattler with a (mostly) healthy supporting cast — a luxury he didn’t receive last season.

“For Spencer’s situation, anytime you get a chance to play, there’s always value and lessons in that,” Moore said. “No matter the circumstance, I thought he handled himself well last year competing and navigating potentially a few that were a little bit of challenging situations. And then for any guy in general, your second offseason is always a huge jump.”

Rookie roles

kansas at The Box a month ago, but it may need to beat the Hogs two more times to get to the CWS championship series. Celebrating is nice for now for the Tigers, but they know there is much work to be done. As ever, going to Omaha is just another step on the journey to the ultimate goal: LSU’s eighth national championship.

“All the hard work, the grind, the sweat and tears paid off in a big way,” LSU ﬁrst baseman Jared Jones said before adding, “We’re not done yet.”

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

have this year

LSU may need a strong offensive showing to get past Arkansas.

The good news for the Tigers is that their hitters have found a groove. That’s from the top of the order down to Stanﬁeld, who gave Johnson the exact hit he was looking for at perhaps the most important moment of the most important game of LSU’s season — so far

“I just had a good feeling,” Johnson said, “like, he has hit these kind of guys well, and I felt like he was focused, and he’s taken great at-bats for several games in a row Regional, super regional, and I think that was huge.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

The nine draft selections make for the Saints’ biggest rookie class since 2015. Even if Shough doesn’t start right away, there are good opportunities elsewhere for this class to carve out

both worked with the Pistons, their time in Detroit didn’t overlap.

“Hiring Troy was an easy decision for me,” Dumars said ”Troy and I go way back. We have known each other forever, but we had never worked together before. This was a great opportunity for us to work together for the ﬁrst time.”

With Graham’s departure, the top three executives from last season (Griffin, Graham and Swin Cash) are no longer with the team.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

a role.

Danny Stutsman, a fourthround linebacker, popped during OTAs (organized team activities) as he ﬁlled in with the starting defense during the few weeks that Demario Davis wasn’t present.

Devin Neal, a sixth-round running back, received ample work with the ﬁrst-team offense with Alvin Kamara absent. Even with Kamara’s expected return, the Saints have an open competition for the spot behind him. Defensive lineman Vernon Broughton, picked in the third round, has been used in a variety of spots so far Will he see extended playing time because of it?

And of course, ﬁrst-round tackle Kelvin Banks is in a prime position to win a starting job from the jump.

Injury updates

Though attendance this week is mandatory, there will be a few players sidelined with injuries. Jake Haener has missed most of OTAs with an oblique injury, and he told reporters that he expects to return in training camp. For now, the Saints’ three-man quarterback battle remains two. Tight ends Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau are both recovering from serious knee injuries, while offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri was sidelined last week reportedly with a calf injury

In positive news, rookie cornerback Quincy Riley may see an increased workload after returning for individual drills last week. He is recovering from an unspeciﬁed surgery

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler throws the ball during organized team activities at the team’s practice facility in Metairie on May 29.

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU pitcher Chase Shores watches his teammates rush the field after throwing the final strike to end Baton Rouge super regional against West Virginia on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Former LSU coach Skip Bertman, left, talks on the field after LSU’s win over West Virginia to clinch the super regional and a trip to the College World Series on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

Pacers need to get into the paint more

Thunder has done good job of taking that aspect away from Indiana

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Pacers simply couldn’t wait to get home early Monday.

There’s a slew of possible reasons for that. Maybe they just wanted to get out of Oklahoma City with their split of the ﬁrst two games in the NBA Finals. Maybe they couldn’t wait to see what ﬁnals fever will look like in Indianapolis after a 25-year wait to get back to the title round. Or maybe they just wanted to get back to work.

It’s probably a little of everything — especially the last part Yes, the Pacers are tied with the Thunder 1-1 after two games of the NBA Finals For the lower-seeded team, that’s huge; the Pacers took home-court advantage away by winning Game 1. But they know that if they don’t take care of their own business at home, starting with Game 3 on Wednesday night, it’ll be advan-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KyLE PHILLIPS

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, right, defends against Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton during the first half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday in Oklahoma City

tage Thunder again, just like that.

“We’re going to have to be a lot better on Wednesday,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. That might sound like coaching hyperbole, but really it isn’t. The Pacers have yet to have anyone score 20 points in a game in these ﬁnals. They’ve led for a total a

total! of 1 minute, 54 seconds in this series, or just under 2% of the time. (That’s a major improvement over the 0.0001% that they led Game 1 for, in a winning effort, somehow.) And in Game 2, the Thunder held the Pacers without a point in the paint for the whole ﬁrst quarter Points in the paint isn’t a stat that tends to jump off the page. It’s possible that a lot of people didn’t even notice. But consider this: Before Sunday night, more

SCOREBOARD

(107) Nesmith 5-12 0-0 14, Siakam 3-11 8-9 15, Turner 6-12 3-4 16, Haliburton 7-13 0-0 17, Nembhard 4-8 2-4 11, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Toppin 1-8 0-0 3, Bryant 0-1 1-2 1, Mathurin 4-7 5-7 14, Furphy 0-0 0-0 0, McConnell 5-7 0-0 11, Sheppard 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 37-82 19-26 107. OKLAHOMA CITY (123) Dort 1-3 0-0 3, Jal.Williams 5-14 8-9 19, Holmgren 6-11 2-2 15, Gilgeous-Alexander 11-21 11-12 34, Wallace 2-4 0-0 4, Dieng 0-0 0-0 0, Jay.Williams 1-1 0-0 3, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Hartenstein 1-2 1-2 3, K.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Caruso 6-11 4-4 20, Joe 1-3 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-0 2-2 2, Wiggins 6-11 1-2 18. Totals 40-82 29-33 123. Indiana20213333107 Oklahoma City26333430—123 3-Point Goals — Indiana 14-40 (Nesmith 4-8, Haliburton 3-8, McConnell 1-1, Mathurin 1-2, Sheppard 1-2, Nembhard 1-4, Siakam 1-4, Toppin 1-5, Turner 1-5, Bryant 0-1) Oklahoma City 14-36 (Wiggins 5-8, Caruso 4-8, Jay.Williams 1-1, Dort 1-3, Holmgren 1-3, Gilgeous-Alexander 1-4, Jal.Williams 1-5, Joe 0-2, Wallace 0-2). Fouled Out — None. Rebounds Indiana 35 (Siakam 7), Oklahoma City 43 (Hartenstein 8). Assists — Indiana 27 (Haliburton, McConnell 6), Oklahoma City 25 (Gilgeous-Alexander 8). Total Fouls — Indiana 25, Oklahoma City 20. A — 18,203 (18,203) WNBA glance

6:10 p.m. Atlanta (Holmes 3-4) at Milwaukee (Priester 3-2) 6:40 p.m. Toronto (Bassitt 6-3) at St. Louis (Mikolas 4-2), 6:45 p.m. San Francisco (Harrison 1-1) at Colorado (Palmquist 0-4), 7:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (TBD) at San Diego (Cease 1-5) 8:40 p.m. Seattle (Woo 5-3) at Arizona (Pfaadt 7-4), 8:40 p.m.

than nine years had passed since the Pacers didn’t manage a single paint point in the ﬁrst quarter of a game.

“We have to do a better job of getting to the paint,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “It’s a lot easier said than done. Our offense is built from the inside-out, and we have to do a better job getting downhill. They collapse and make plays from there. I thought we could improve a lot there But yeah, man, they are ﬂying around. They have got great point-ofattack defenders and great rim protectors.”

For a team that has now won 81 of its 100 games this season (not counting the NBA Cup final loss, since that doesn’t figure into any records), the Thunder somehow tend to get overlooked for its defense. Oklahoma City handcuffed the Pacers in the first two games, daring Indiana to take 3-pointers and barely giving up anything easy around the rim.

It starts with bothering Haliburton, which the Thunder has managed to do for the majority of the ﬁrst two games.

“Most of the guys I guard have the ball most of the time,” said Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, who has drawn the assignment on Haliburton for much of the ﬁrst two games. “My main thing is to stay in front of him and make

everything tough. He’s a great player He is going to make some tough shots and great reads, so I just have to stay in front of him.” No team gave up fewer paint points in the regular season than the Thunder It truly is a clash of styles; the Pacers are averaging 46 paint points in their 13 wins in these playoffs as opposed to averaging 36 paint points in their ﬁve losses.

“I think we have been one of the better teams scoring in the paint all year and we have to establish that early,” Pacers forward Myles Turner said.

“I think we only had four or six points in the paint in the ﬁrst half (of Game 2) and that’s not Pacers basketball. When you live and die by that three or mid-range shots, it doesn’t always fare well for you.”

Maybe at home, things will be easier The Pacers got a split in Oklahoma City; things could be much worse. And now, the Pacers have two days to try to ﬁnd a way to respond to what the Thunder defense is taking away.

“We’ll watch the ﬁlm, see where we can get better,” Haliburton said. “We know that the paint is our emphasis and the paint is our friend.

“The more that we’re able to attack the paint, usually better things happen for us.”

Title game MVPs highlight Class 3A all-state teams

Erath’s Picard named coach of the year

BY JAKE MARTIN Written for LSWA

Two title game MVPs collected Outstanding Player honors for the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A all-state teams. Doyle’s Kylee Savant and Miller Sheets of Sterlington were named the softball and baseball teams outstanding players. In softball, Savant garnered the accolade after hitting .434 with a .598 on-base percentage. The Houston signee recorded 14 homers, 12 doubles and 60 RBIs. She also stole 15 bases during Doyle’s state championship year Savant hit a grand slam in a semifinal victory over No. 1 Kaplan and knocked in three runs in Doyle’s 4-3 victory over Jena in the nonselect Division III final. The first year of best-of-three state championship series for certain classifications in baseball allowed Sheets ample opportunities to show why he’s one of the top prospects in the state. In a winner-take-all Game 3 against Erath, Sheets broke a 1-1 tie with

a two-run single, propelling his team to a 5-3 win in the nonselect Division III state championship. The Baylor commitment boasted a .435 average with three homers, 23 doubles and 57 RBIs. He only struck out four times this year He is the son of former St. Amant High star and Major League Baseball pitcher Ben Sheets.

Doyle’s Kyle Wieck and Erath’s Jeremy Picard collected Class 3A coach of the year honors. Wieck led his team past last year’s state champion Sterlington in the quarterfinals before upsetting No 1 Kaplan, 13-3, and earning an opportunity to play for a state title. Doyle defeated Jena 4-3 to earn the school’s ﬁrst state championship in softball since 2018.

Making school history helped Picard to take the top coaching honor in baseball. Erath’s coach was unsuccessful in wrestling a state title away from Sterlington this season, but his Bobcats made the school’s first appearance in the state finals in baseball. Erath finished with a 26-13 record.

Kadin Grimmett,

Find your thrill with easy-to-grow andin-season blueberries

School is out, and summer is near.Here’ssomething else to celebrate: Blueberries —those refreshing, deeply hued orbs of sweetness —are now ripening on bushes across Louisiana.

Blueberries are among the easiest fruit crops to grow

These deciduous shrubs provide aesthetic value and attract pollinators and birds, too. And they can even be grown in containers. If you want to add blueberries to your home landscape, you’ll ﬁnd agood selection at garden centers this time of year.Just remember that, if you want to plant them in the ground, it’s best to wait until fall or winter to reduce stress on the plants. There are lots of different kinds of blueberries out there. How do you decide what to buy?

LSU AGCENTERPHOTO

By OLIVIA McCLURE

Rabbiteye blueberries are commonly growninLouisiana.

First things ﬁrst: Make sure you get more than one plant, ideally of two to three varieties. Blueberries need crosspollination for maximum fruit production. Having multiple varieties encourages betterquality berries and abigger harvest.

Second, you’ll need to decide between rabbiteye and Southern highbush blueberries.

Rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium virgatum or V. ashei), which are native to the southeastern United States, are most common in Louisiana. These plants tend to be long-lived and disease-resistant, and they usually produce fruit between May and July.Before berries ripen, they are pink, reminiscent of the eyes of albino rabbits.

Southern highbush blueberries, on the other hand, ripen as early as April and are widely used in commercial production in other states.They’re crosses between native Southern blueberries and Northern highbush blueberries (Vacciniumcorymbosum),which are grown in places like New Jersey and Michigan.

Highbush blueberrieshave that name because the plants grow taller than lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium), which are found in Canada and New England Southern highbush blueberries aren’tfor everyone. In fact, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Mary Helen Ferguson generally steers home gardeners awayfrom them.

“I don’ttypically recommend peoplegrowthem unlessthey really want the early-ripening varieties and they know what they’re getting into,” she said.

To understand what Ferguson means, it’simportantto talk about the concept of chill hours. Most fruit crops —blueberries included —need to be exposed to acertain number of hours of cold temperatures to ensureproductivity. Different blueberry species and even individualvarieties have different chilling requirements, makingitcrucialfor growers to choose plants that will work well in their local climate.

ä See BLUEBERRIES, page 6C

Good nature LIVING

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

The tragedy of selling the family farmisaplotline so common that it’s become atrope. Afamily farm is loved, carefully tended to and passed down, but thenext generation doesn’twant to or can’tbe farmers. But selling the family farm isn’tthe only option anymore Maybe arebrand is in order, which is what Sarah Allen did when she inherited her family’sfarm in Livingston. When Allen’sgrandparents passed away,their farm was passed down to herfather and then eventually to her. When she moved to the house on the property,she did not want tobeafarmer.She had just welcomed twinstothe world. Butafter living in hergrandparents’ old house and ﬁguring out the daily routine, Allen andher husband startedtoacceptfarmlife. They got chickens and started gardening.Today,she andher family operate OldRusty GateFarmin Livingston on that same property. They provide goat yoga, soap making classes and other events. Raising animals is hard work and involves alot more than what people see on social media. Plus, there are aspects of it that are decidedly not aesthetic: animals give birth, have bowel movements andpass away.But in recent years, whether it’stojustify ahobby or to carry on

Co-ownersJoe Foster,left, and Manning Bergeron pose for aphoto inside their new coffee

afamilytradition, people are creating wellness experiences on farms around Baton Rouge.

Goat yoga

Allen’sdaughter,Rose Allen, 15, has worked on the farm since the beginning. She assistswithsoapmaking classes and helps participants interact with thegoats during goat yoga. She thinks of lifeon the farm as alifestyle that she’s sharing withothers.

“Thisissomethingpeoplelove, and it’snot something that’sfake. It’snot something that we’ve propped and made it look acertain

way,” Rose Allensaid. “It’sjust how we live.”

The family startedoffering goat yoga almost adecade ago as afundraiser fortheir church. Therewas so muchinterest that they had to turn people away.Inthe spring and fall, Old Rusty Gate Farm still offers classes and aimstohost goat yoga every six to seven weeks. During the classes, instructor KristieCraig tells people to make peace withthe ideathatone of them will be pooped or peed on in the course of the 30-minute class (it

See NATURE, page 6C

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

twoweeksafter closing the downtown location on

“Wehad avisiontobedowntown,” co-ownerManning Bergeron said. “I don’tthink we were necessarily agood ﬁt (atthe Florida Street location) forthe

The short term wasgreat, Bergeron said, but after running the numbers, they realizedthat HouseBrewwouldn’thavebeen able to survive past another year or so. The margins forcoffee are really thin, Bergeron explained, andthe business was only makingenough money to keep itself aﬂoat if no unexpected expenses like broken equipment or utility bills increased.

PHOTOSByMOLLy BAHLINGER

Goat yoga washeld May24atthe Old Rusty Gate Farm in Livingston

SarahAllen is the owner of Old Rusty Gate Farm,where she hosts goat yoga,parties and soap-making classes

Vinegareasily rids kitchenofodors

Dear Heloise: Another easier tip to get rid of kitchen cooking odors is to put out acup of vinegar after cooking foods whose odors hang around. It does the trick overnight! If we leave on an extended vacation, I’ll put a larger bowl of vinegar on the counter,and it keeps my house from smelling stale upon my return. It’s natural, and Ifound that it’samore effective alternative to essential oils and the furnace ﬁlter hack. (I’ve used both of those methods.) —Darlene Barth, inFlorida

Usinglongerspoons

such as applesauce and thelike.

—B.O.B., in Connecticut

Strawcleaning

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: Iclean straws by puttingsoap on pipe cleaners and inserting them into thestraws. Then Iwash the pipe cleaners and recycle them. If you have alargestraw,simply twist two pipe cleaners together —Janet Culbertson, in Spokane,Washington

Hair creamrinse

Dear Heloise: Reachinginto deeper jars with aregular teaspoon or tablespoons that have shorter handles can be messyand inefﬁcient. I’ve had better luck using an iced tea spoon with its longer handle. Ican get to the bottom of ajar and scrape the sides without getting stuff all over my ﬁngers. I’m thinking of things

Dear Heloise: I’vebeen using hair cream rinse instead of shaving cream for years. Iget alarge bottle of theleastexpensive brand Ican ﬁnd.It smells great andsoftensthe hair on my legs so that the razor glides easily with no nicks. Abottle lasts for a really long time, andInolonger endupwith itchy skin from the drying effectsofshaving cream —Sandy O.,via email Email heloise@heloise.com.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,June 10,the 161st day of 2025. There are 204 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On June 10, 2018, the rover Opportunitysent its lastmessage from the surface of Mars. Originally expected to serve a three-month mission, Opportunity functioned for over 14 years, traveling over 28 miles across Mars and unveilingcritical discoveries about the planet’s geology

Also on this date:

In 1692, the ﬁrst execution resulting from the Salem witchtrials in Massachusetts tookplace as Bridget Bishop was hanged.

In 1854, the U.S. Naval Academy held its ﬁrst graduation ceremony In 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain, formally entering Italy into World WarII.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at eliminating wage disparities based on gender In 1967, six days of warinthe Mideastinvolving Israel, Syria, Egypt,Jordan andIraq ended as Israel and Syria accepteda United Nations-mediated ceaseﬁre.

In 1977, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee with six others. He was recaptured three days later

DRIVE-THRU

Continued from page5C

“If we make $100 aday,” Bergeron said. “I might make Idon’t know $5?” With expenses like rent, added inﬂation and the impending slow summer season impactingthe bottom line, it wasn’tsustainable. Co-ownersJoe Foster and Bergeron bought the trailer a month and ahalf ago, planning to take it on the road, but after making the decision to close the Florida Street location, they decided to pivot.

The new location, which opened June 3, is atrailer in the parking lot of Oxbow Rum Distillery at 760 St.PhilipSt. Bergeron and Foster plan to run the location themselves from9 a.m. to 2p.m. every day but Sunday (Oxbow is closed on Sundays as well)

The pair have been making do with their savings, butthey’re hoping that with the trailerand less overhead expenses, theycan start paying themselves andshift to abusiness model that will also pay their bills.

“Wetook arisk withthis because we’re young,”said Bergeron. “Weknow how tosafely invest, we’ve been doing that for years. How do we maybetake theriskier route?What can we do to maybe speedthatprocess of investing. So that’swhere this came in.”

With atrailer, House Brew can move as needed for festivals and events downtown such as Night Market BTR or 225fest.

The goal is to provide Baton Rouge withahomegrown and ethical quick-service coffeeop-

NATURE

Continuedfrom page5C

happens every time).

In 1978, racehorse Afﬁrmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, won the 110th Belmont Stakes to claim the11th Triple Crown. Alydar,ridden by Jorge Velasquez,ﬁnisheda close second in each of theTriple Crown races.

In 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard of Meyers, California, was abducted byPhillip andNancy Garrido; Dugard was held by the couple for 18 years before she was found by authorities.

In 2009, James von Brunn, an 88-year-old White supremacist, opened ﬁre in theU.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,D.C killing security guard Stephen T. Johns. (Von Brunn diedataNorth Carolina hospital in January2010 while awaiting trial.)

In 2020, protesters pulled down acentury-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond,Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy

Today’sbirthdays: Political commentator Jeff Greenfield is 82. Actor FrankieFaison is 76. FootballHall of Famer Dan Fouts is 74.Former Sen.JohnEdwards, D-N.C., is 72. Actor Gina Gershon is 63. Actor-model ElizabethHurleyis60. Comedian Bill Burr is 57. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is 53. R&B singer Faith Evans is 52. Actor Hugh Dancy is 50. Countrymusician LeeBrice is 46. Actor Leelee Sobieskiis42. Olympic figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinskiis43. Model KateUpton is 33. Former first daughter Sasha Obama is 24.

tion to respond to the needs of downtown commuters. After abouta week,the ownersplanto facilitate adrive-thru option.

“You can rock with the AC in your car and be totally comfortable for thetwo or three minutes it takes us to makeyourorder,” Foster said.

Walk-ups arealsowelcome.

House Brew’snew location will still have afullmenu of drink offerings —but now,thanks to Oxbow,they’remaking drinks with reverse osmosiswater,which Foster said amplifies the qualities of theespresso. Thewater purification process removes contaminants likesalts, minerals and other dissolved solids to create highly puriﬁed water

“The citrus ﬂavor you naturally getfromour Colombian beans? I got alittle more of that. The kind of caramel-y chocolatey undertones that youget?I gotalittle bitmore of that,” he said.

Their other pop-up vendors (Mid-City Bakery and Lona Rai’sKitchen andBakery) will be restocked at the new location soon, so they’ll still have aregularrotationofamazing pastries, cinnamonrolls and croissants.

HouseBrewwillalsoexpand its breakfast options, offering bagels with cream cheese and breakfast sandwiches. There’sstill muchtodo—the trailer doesn’thave functioning airconditioningyet —but both owners areexcitedfor the changes comingsoon.Bergeron said they are investingnow to ensure that they’reable to show up and keep HouseBrewrunning for the long term.

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

Participants should know that goat yoga is more like playing with goatswhile stretching. Thereare no headstands or superdifficult moves.Instead, there are opportunitiestopet and/or hold goats and take photos with them after class. They also have apot belly pig, cow and some chickensroaming around the propertythat mayor may not join in on thefun.

At M&M Farm in Prairieville, Rachel McGuerty,owner of BlueLotus Yoga, partners with the Prairieville farm to teach goat yoga as well. McGuerty started offeringgoat yoga last year andhosts classesoncea month.McGuerty said she had to modify herclassessubstantially to accommodate the goats.

“You have to stay alittle more aware of your surroundings in the goat yoga because the goats frolic and jumpand get thezoomies,” she said. “It isn’tayoga whereyou can just lay there withyour eyes closed because agoat might jump on you.” Goats are friendly,but they’re still animals.McGuerty has had agoat pee on her mat,and multiple goats have triedtodrink out of her water cuporeat herhair. Butit’sfun,she said, and nature is avitamin in it of itself. She ﬁnds that the goats draw in alot of beginners, and shetries to make the practice accessible for them.The classes are great options forcelebrations, datesorjust trying something new,she said.

Plus,after yoga is over,people have theoption to bottle-feed the baby goats.

Fluffy cowtherapy

Bre Boyette, aphotographer who lives in Walker,ownsHighland cows and offersfluffy cow therapy and/or photo sessions. She’s always wanted miniature fluffy Highland cows as pets, and after herhouse was built three years ago, there was enough land to make the purchase. She bought thecows under the condition from her husband, Cameron, that shefigure outhow to pay themoff. Highland cows can cost anywherefromthousands to tens

BLUEBERRIES

Continuedfrom page5C

“If avariety requires too few chilling hours, it’slikely to flower too early and have those flowers killed by alate freeze,” Ferguson said. “If it requires too many chilling hours, it won’tcrop consistently.” Because mostSouthern highbush blueberries need fewer chill hours, they begin setting flowers and fruit sooner.That’s fine and dandy —unless alate freeze entersthe forecast

“The ﬂowers or the fruit will get killed by alate freeze,” Ferguson said. “They alsotendtobemore ﬁnicky in terms of soil requirements.They need good drainage, high organic matter andsoil pH within the appropriate range. And they tend to be moresusceptible to diseases.”

Still, she added, Southern highbush varieties yield high-quality fruit. Andthe prospect of an earlier crop of berries can be importantfor commercial producers, who sometimes plant both Southern highbushand rabbiteye blueberries to lengthen their season. Southern highbushblueberries also may be aﬁtfor some home gardens.

“If you’re along the coast or in New Orleanswhere you don’tget alot of chilling, you may wantto

of thousands of dollars. The ones Bre boughtwere $5,000 each.

So she bought one three years agoand started hostingphoto sessions. Every year since, she’sgottenanother cow. Thecows, she said, paythemselves offwithin the month. In 2022, shestarted a TikTok to document life withthe cows. Her account exploded. Herpage nowhas over 730,000 followers andover33millionlikes. Herfollowers fell in love with the threecows, whoeachhavedistinct personalities, andstarted messaging to askifthey could meet the cows. Thus, fluffy cow therapy was born: it’sanexperience where people can brush, pet, cuddle, take photos with and feed the cows. She tells people stories, answers questions, and people can also just watch thecows interact.

She wouldn’tconsiderher residence afarm,even though those whovisit typically do.There are a lotofanimals on the property,but the only farm animals are the three cows: Dumplin, Wafﬂesand Nugget.

“It feels like we’re outinthe country,but we’re like 15 minutes from town,” she said.

Offcamera, she takes care of the uglier side of having animals: trimming nails,vaccinations and cleaning up poop in the pasture. There’s

moretohaving animals than what people see on TikTok.

“You show their cute personalities, but they are animals. They are livestock, andthey do have attitudes sometimes,” she said. “There aretimesyou go outthere,and they don’twant to be messed with. They’ll let you know real quick.”

But mostdays, thisisn’t aproblem. Boyette has astrong bond with her cows, and she never makes themdoanything theydon’t want to do.

“They get excited anytimethey see me comeout there with the big wagon,”she said. “Theyknow they’re about to get pampered and spoiled and fed.”

n Old Rusty Gate Farm, 12802 FloridaBlvd., Livingston.Check their Facebook pagefor eventinformation.

n M&MFarm, 16042La. 929in Prairieville has goatyoga once a month but not on aset schedule. Check their Facebook pagefor more information.

n Cuddly Cow Therapy is $100/ hour for up to four people or $150 fora group of ﬁve to six. For more information check out https://book usesession.com/s/_8GMc8JmLv

Email SerenaPuangatserena. puang@theadvocate.com.

look at growing Southern highbush varieties in pots,” Ferguson said. Butfor mostfolks, rabbiteye blueberries are theway to go. Ferguson is evaluating 31 blueberry varieties —both rabbiteye and Southern highbush —atthe AgCenter HammondResearch Station.

“I wanted to look at how some of the varieties that werenot commonly planted in Louisiana performed here,” she said.

“There’salot of new blueberry varieties that have been released in the last 20 or 30 years, and alot

of the varieties that we’ve grown are ones that have been around foralong time.”

Last year,the top producers in Ferguson’sstudy werelargely old standards: Tifblue, Ochlockonee, Brightwell, Premier and Austin, all of which are rabbiteye varieties.

“All of those yielded over 10 pounds per plant on average,” Ferguson said.

Youcan learn moreabout growing blueberries and ﬁnd publications speciﬁc to rabbiteye and Southern highbush production at www.LSUAgCenter.com.

LSU AGCENTER PHOTOByOLIVIA McCLURE Southernhighbush blueberries require fewerchilling hours than rabbiteye blueberries.

PROVIDED PHOTOByBRE BOyETTE

Highland cows are featured in Bre Boyette’s fluffy cowtherapy.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Rachel McGuerty poses with agoat on M&M Farm

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Use your gifts to build wealth and enhance your reputation. Be aware of who is on your team and who is there to observe and interfere. A change of space, direction and associates will broaden your vision.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Honesty and integrity will prevent trouble. align yourself with people who share your values. An unexpected change will disrupt your plans or cost you if you are too abrupt.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Use your skills, time and energy to help a meaningful cause. Focus on what's important to you. Know what you want to achieve and make it happen Don't let others slow you down.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Refuse to let life's little dramas cause you to lose sight of what's important. Travel or attending events will lead to interesting encounters and connections.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Promising too much will backfire. Make suggestions, ask for help and do your part, and you'll make inroads and allies. Offer only what's tangible. Exaggeration and empty promises will be damaging.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Put your energy into educating yourself in areas that will enhance your earning, investing and financial maintenance. Personal growth is in the stars. Seek out a capable partner for a business venture

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Let go of the past. Pay attention to domestic matters and personal relationships. Look for

opportunities, and change your routine and how you handle responsibilities.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Misleading information is apparent. Your goal is to maintain integrity without prematurely divulging incriminating information. Proceed with caution precision and attention to detail.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) If you act hastily or out of anxiety, it will cost you. Discipline and hard work will pay off. Take a deep breath and a backseat while the show unfolds; you'll find it easier to control the outcome.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Situations will escalate if you are aggressive or unpredictable. Be open to suggestions and patient with those who don't share your beliefs. Refuse to let emotional interference cloud your vision.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Keep situations, thoughts and feelings in perspective Wait for things to unravel before you act. Pay attention to your responsibilities and stick to a budget regardless of what someone else suggests.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Contain your emotions and actions to avoid controversy. Take care of financial and medical issues by paying attention to detail and researching your options thoroughly. Don't let a last-minute change unsettle you.

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

toDAy's cLuE: t EQuALs F

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

peAnUtS zItS

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon dooneSbUrY

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

Robert Bresson, a French film director, said, “Cinema radio, television, magazines are a school of inattention: People look without seeing, listen without hearing.”

Some bridge players are guilty of listening without hearing to the auction. Every bid and most passes supply some information for the attentive player.

In today’s deal, look at only the West hand and the auction. What would you lead against four hearts?

The auction followed a normal path North’s jump to four hearts showed game-goingvalueswiththree-cardheart support. South was close to a slam-try (imagine North’s having ace-third of spades), but chose to pass.

If you use two-over-one game-forcing, North would rebid three hearts. Then the auction might continue four clubs — fourdiamonds(bothcontrol-bids)—four hearts - pass. Yes, here five diamonds makes, but do not make a habit of playing in five of a minor when four of a major is a favorite to succeed. (A defender having acefourth of hearts and being able to give his partner a heart ruff in five diamonds is much more likely than a 4-0 diamond break and a defender gaining two diamond ruffs in four hearts.)

West should lead a diamond. Since diamonds have been bid and supported, it is

Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a

etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

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

toDAy’s WoRD — KEELson: KEL-sen: A longitudinal structure fastened to the keel of a ship to strengthen its framework.

Average mark 14 words Time limit 20 minutes

Can you find 19 or more words in KEELSON?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD — EGoIstIc

egis egoist gest gestic gist goes iciest sect site stogie stoic togs cite cities coset cost cote

today’s thought “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Amazon to spend $20B on Penn. data centers

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Amazon says it will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, including one it is building alongside a nuclear power plant that has drawn federal scrutiny over its arrangement to essentially plug right into the power plant.

Kevin Miller, of Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, told The Associated Press on Monday that the company will build another data center complex just north of Philadelphia. The data centers are designed to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence products.

Amazon has recently committed to big data center projects in Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina as it expands to compete with other tech giants

Stocks stay quiet as trade talks begin NEW YORK U.S. stocks drifted through a quiet Monday as the world’s two largest economies began talks on trade that could help avoid a recession.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1% and is within 2.3% of its record, which was set in February The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 1 point, which is well below 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.3%.

Officials from the United States and China met in London to talk about a range of different disputes that are separating them. The hope is that they can eventually reach a deal that will lower each’s punishing level of tariffs against the other, which are currently on pause, so that the ﬂow of everything from tiny tech gadgets to enormous machinery can continue.

Hopes that President Donald Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching such trade deals with countries around the world have been among the main reasons the S&P 500 has rallied so furiously since dropping roughly 20% from its record two months ago. It’s back above where it was when Trump shocked financial markets in April with his wide-ranging tariff announcement on what he called “Liberation Day.”

This may be the shortest selloff following a shock of heightened volatility on record, according to Parag Thatte, Binky Chadha and other strategists at Deutsche Bank Typically, stocks take around two months to bottom following a spike in volatility and then another four to ﬁve months to recover their losses.

Tesla downgraded amid feud fallout

Tesla Inc. received a pair of downgrades on Monday, with analysts warning that Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company is facing a highly uncertain outlook, especially on the political front. The stock fell 1.1% in premarket trading, suggesting it will extend its pronounced year-to-date decline. Shares are down about 27% in 2025, making it the weakest performer of the so-called Magniﬁcent Seven stocks. Tesla shares had rallied in the wake of President Donald Trump’s reelection, but peaked in December

Much of the stock’s recent decline has followed a highprofile blowup between Musk and Trump While Musk subsequently suggested he was open to making amends, the tension especially given Musk’s connection to the administration — is seen as a signiﬁcant question mark overhanging the shares.

“Looking ahead, we are concerned that the war of words between President Trump and Elon Musk, along with expiration of EV credits, could further weaken demand for new Teslas,” wrote analysts at Argus Research, who downgraded the stock to hold from buy The feud, they added, is emblematic of how the stock appears to be currently trading on nonfundamentals events.” This view was echoed by Baird, which cut the stock to neutral from outperform

BUSINESS

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

Warner Bros. Discovery to split

Two companies will divide cable, streaming services

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP business writer

NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery will calve off cable operations from its streaming service, creating two independent companies as the number of people “cutting the cord” brings with it a sustained upheaval in the entertainment industry

HBO, and HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, will become part of the

streaming and studios company

Warner Bros. said Monday

The cable company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.

Shares jumped 11% at the opening bell.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav will serve as CEO of the company for what is called Streaming & Studios. Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer of Warner Bros. Discovery, will be CEO of the cable-focused entity, for now known as Global Networks.

“By operating as two distinct and

optimized companies in the future we are empowering these iconic brands with the sharper focus and strategic ﬂexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolving media landscape,” Zaslav said in a statement.

Just days ago Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders in a vote that was symbolic as it’s nonbinding, rejected the 2024 pay packages of some executives, including Zaslav, who will make more than $51 million.

Warner Bros. Discovery said in December that it was implementing a restructuring plan in which Warner Bros. Discovery would become the parent company for two operating divisions, Global Linear Networks and Streaming & Stu-

dios That was seen as a preview of the separation announced Monday

Warner Bros. Discovery was created just three years ago when AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and it was merged with Discovery Communications in a $43 billion deal.

The cable industry has been under assault for years from streaming services like Disney, Netﬂix, Amazon and Warner Bros. own HBO Max. The industry is also being pressured by internet plans offered by mobile phone companies. Comcast, which is of nearly equal size to Charter, spun off many of its cable television networks in November seeing so many customers swap out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms.

Apple unveils software redesign

Tech company reeling from AI missteps, upheaval, Trump’s trade war

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP technology writer

CUPERTINO Calif. After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artiﬁcial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during an annual developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology

The presummer rite, which attracted thousands of developers from nearly 60 countries to Apple’s Silicon Valley headquarters, was more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years.

Apple highlighted plans for more AI tools designed to simplify people’s lives and make its products even more intuitive while also providing an early glimpse at the biggest redesign of its iPhone software in a decade. In doing so, Apple executives refrained from issuing bold promises of breakthroughs that punctuated recent conferences.

In 2023, Apple unveiled a mixed-reality headset that has been little more than a niche product, and last year WWDC trumpeted its ﬁrst major foray into the AI craze with an array of new features highlighted by the promise of a smarter and more versatile version of its virtual assistant, Siri — a goal that has hasn’t been achieved yet.

Apple had intended the planned Siri upgrade to herald its long-awaited attempt to become a major player in the AI craze after getting a late start in a phenomenon that so far has been largely led by OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and an array of cutting-edge startups.

“This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s top software executive, said Monday at the outset of the conference. The company didn’t estimate when its upgraded Siri would be completed.

“The silence surrounding Siri was deafening,” said Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said. “No amount of text corrections or cute emojis can ﬁll the yawning void of an intuitive, interactive AI experience that we know Siri will be capable of when ready. We just don’t know when that will happen The end of the Siri runway is coming up fast, and Apple needs to lift off.”

The showcase unfolded amid nagging questions about whether Apple has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter during its nearly 50-year history

Instead of making a big splash as it did

U.S., China

Trump had phone call with Xi Thursday

BY JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON High-level delegations from the United States and China met in London on Monday to try and shore up a fragile truce in a trade dispute that has roiled the global economy, A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, an ornate 200-year-old man-

with the Vision Pro headset and its AI suite, Apple took a mostly low-key approach that emphasized its effort to spruce up the look of its software while also unveiling a new hub for its video games and new features like a “Workout Buddy” to help track physical ﬁtness on its smartwatch.

Apple executives promised will make its software more compatible with the increasingly sophisticated computer chips that have been powering its products while also making it easier to toggle between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

“Our product experience has become even more seamless and enjoyable,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd as the 90-minute showcase wrapped up.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Apple seemed to be largely using Monday’s conference to demonstrate the company still has blueprint for success in AI, even if it’s clearly going to take longer to realize the vision that was presented a year ago.

“This year’s event was not about disruptive innovation, but rather careful calibration, platform refinement and developer enablement — positioning itself for future moves rather than unveiling game-changing technologies,” Jeronimo said.

Besides redesigning its software. Apple will switch to a method that automakers have used to telegraph their latest car models by linking them to the year after they ﬁrst arrive at dealerships. That means the next version of the iPhone operating system due out this autumn will be known as iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 — as it would be under the previous naming approach that has been

used since the device’s 2007 debut.

The iOS 26 upgrade is expected to be released in September around the same time Apple traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models.

In an early sign that AI wasn’t going to be a focal point of this year’s conference, Apple opened the proceedings with a short video clip featuring Federighi speeding around a track in a Formula 1 race car Although it was meant to promote the June 27 release of the Apple ﬁlm, “F1” starring Brad Pitt, the segment could also be viewed as an unintentional analogy to the company’s attempt to catch up to the rest of the pack in AI technology

While some of the new AI tricks compatible with the latest iPhones began rolling out late last year as part of free software updates, Apple still hasn’t been able to soup up Siri in the ways that it touted at last year’s conference. The delays became so glaring that a chastened Apple retreated from promoting Siri in its AI marketing campaigns earlier this year

While Apple has been struggling to make AI that meets its standards, the gap separating it from other tech powerhouses is widening. Google keeps packing more AI into its Pixel smartphone lineup while introducing more of the technology into its search engine to dramatically change the way it works. Samsung, Apple’s biggest smartphone rival, is also leaning heavily into AI. Meanwhile, ChatGPT recently struck a deal that will bring former Apple design guru Jony Ive into the fold to work on a new device expected to compete against the iPhone.

are holding trade talks in London

sion near Buckingham Palace. Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, also was part of Beijing’s delegation.

The talks, which may continue Tuesday, follow negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war

The two countries announced May 12 they had agreed to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession.

The U.S. and China are the world’s biggest and second-biggest economies. Chinese trade data shows that exports to the United States fell 35% in May from a year earlier

Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artiﬁcial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and “ rare earth ” minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries.

President Donald Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. Trump announced on social media the following day that the trade talks would resume in London.

Rare earths were expected to be a focus of the talks. The Chinese government started requiring producers to obtain a license to export seven rare earth elements in April.

Resulting shortages sent automakers worldwide into a tizzy As stockpiles ran down, some worried they would have to halt production. Beijing indicated Saturday that it is addressing the concerns, which have come from European companies as well as U.S. ﬁrms. Kevin Hassett, a U.S. economic adviser told CNBC on Monday that he expected a short meeting with “a big, strong handshake” on rare earths. The U.K. government says it is providing the venue and logistics but is not involved in the talks, though British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves met with both Bessent and He on Sunday, and U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was due to meet Wang.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF CHIU

Apple CEO Tim Cook greets thousands of attendees at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., on Monday