The Times-Picayune 06-10-2025 by The Advocate

CharityHospitalproject gets city funds

Councilcommits $20M toward redevelopmenteffortbyTulane

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

Tulane University took akey step last week toward theredevelopment of Charity Hospital, agreeing to adeal withthe New Orleans City Council that will commit $20 millionincity fundsfor theambitious project.

But theuniversity still has more hurdles ahead as it seeks to bring the hulking building back to life. With two days left in the legislative session, no state funds have been earmarked for the project, which is now expectedtocost at least $650 million. Tulane did notmoveforward with a$30 million ”placeholder” request for

constructionfunds thatitsought last year,though state lawmakers could still set asidemoney for Charity in any number of other ways. The universityistrying to rescue the long-stalled efforttoconvertthe 1-million-square-foot landmark on Tulane Avenueinto amixed-use buildingwith labs,

medical offices, apartments and retail space that would anchor the biomedical district and Tulane’s growing downtowncampus.

Tulane President Michael Fitts has said it will take city,state and federal funds, as well as ahost of other public and private sources, to makethat happen. Late Friday,the university an-

nounced it had secured acommitment of funds from the city In abrief statement, it said it had reached asettlementina longrunning legal ﬁght over the Wisner Trust, acentury-old trust that included Tulane amongits beneﬁciaries and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars ayear forthe university According to three sources

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

The Louisiana Senate on Monday add-

ed $1.2 billion in one-timespendingto the state government’sbudget for the coming ﬁscalyear, allocating moneyto roads and bridges, economic development incentives to attract businesses, and improvements to collegecampuses, among other new initiatives.

That money comesfromthe Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, asavings ac-

Cajun, zydeco music bring national media attentionto La

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

When “60 Minutes” cametothe Lafayette area last fall to film a segment on Cajun and zydeco music, they were confronted withthe energy of athriving cultural scene. CBS correspondent Jon Wert-

count thatconsists of extra corporate and severance taxcollections. It holds $3.9 billion, according to Senate President Cameron Henry,R-Metairie.

“What we’re doingtoday changes the overall budget climate in ourstate in terms of workforce investment,economicdevelopmentadvancementand infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage forabetter tomorrow,” Henry said in astatement.

Drawing $1.2 billionfrom the fund appeared to be thebiggest change the

heim remarked that the soundsof southwest Louisianawereexperiencing a“most unlikely renaissance,” in the “60 Minutes” episode thataired on May 18. Seeing acts like Jourdan Thibodeaux, Chubby Carrier and Lil’ Nate Williams attract crowdsofeager fans to local wateringholes,Wertheim noted that Acadianafeels like aplace apart, where Cajun and zydeco music sets the rhythm of life insteadofbeing relegatedtothe history bin. That immediacy,and thevibrancy with which fans and artists con-

Senate madetothe budget as it passed aﬂurry of amendments on the ﬂoor on Monday.The legislative session is scheduled to end Thursday

The budget package, which consists of multiple bills,now returns to the House forapproval. If theHouse does notsign off on the amendments, the Legislature may need to extend the session.

Henrysaidhehopes theHouse concurs with the amendments, adding thatthe

tinue to engage withthe region’s folk traditions, is largely thanks to how Cajun and zydeco music andperformance have evolved through theyears —inaddition to amultidecadeeffort to promote theregion’s musicinLouisiana and beyond, according to experts.

“Welive for moments like this, when we see our culture representedanywhere —nationally andinternationally.It’swhatwe all work so hard for,” said Cynthia Simien,wifeofzydecostarand

ä See EVOLUTION, page 7A

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

The state Senate is killing the extension of atax break sought by business groups that wouldhave cost taxpayers $200 millionover three years. That means the long-standing inventory tax credit will expire in 2026 as previously approved. Senate PresidentCameron Henry,R-Metairie,and Gov.Jeff Landry’sadministration said extending the tax break ayear was too expensive. Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie, sponsored the one-year extension, House Bill 383, whichpassed the House 98-4.

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

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

The tax and tax credit workina convoluted fashion. Under thecurrent system,parishes levy aproperty taxevery year on businessinventoryinthe parish. Businesses pay the tax but then turn around and receive atax credit forthat payment from the state. As apart of awholesale revision of thetax code in November, legislators and Landry repealed the inventory tax credit as of July 1, 2026. But that was supposed to happen in conjunctionwith the passage of aproposedconstitutional amendment that, among other changes, would give each parish the righttoopt out of the

ä See INVENTORY, page 5A ä See CHARITY, page 5A

STAFF FILE PHOTOByBRAD BOWIE Jourdan Thibodeaux,left,and Cedric Watson performasJourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs at Festival International de Louisiane in 2024 in Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Senators work during Monday’ssession of the Legislature.

BRIEFS

Palestinians say Israel, its allies fire on crowd

KHAN YOUNIS Gaza Strip Israeli forces and allied local gunmen ﬁred toward a crowd heading to an Israeli- and 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.

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.”

Trump to send more Guard troops to L.A.

700 Marines also deployed; Calif sues over use of National Guard to respond to ICE raid protests

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

LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump authorized on Monday the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to help respond to protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids, according to U.S. ofﬁcials.

The order would put them on active duty One ofﬁcial warned, however that the order was just signed and it could take a day or two to get troops moving.

The ofﬁcials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.

Gov Gavin Newsom called the move reckless and “disrespectful to our troops” in a post on the social platform X.

“This isn’t about public safety It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego,” Newsom said.

desert to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement

More than 100 in New Orleans protest immigration raids.

The Pentagon also deployed about 700 Marines to Los Angeles on Monday to help National Guard members respond to protests over immigration raids, ofﬁcials said, as California sued Trump over his use of the Guard troops and demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day

The Marines are being deployed from their base at Twentynine Palms in the Southern California

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement Monday afternoon he was conﬁdent in the police department’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with the police department presented a “signiﬁcant logistical and operational challenge” for them

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops 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 sought a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful

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-

Activists of 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.

and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.

The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people that day across the city

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.

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

The clashes unfolded over just a few square blocks in an immense city of some 4 million people, most of whom went about their normal business on peaceful streets.

On Monday, thousands 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.

Early protests Monday had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huerta’s release.

Protesters linked hands outside the downtown federal detention center where Huerta was being held, 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. Religious leaders joined the protesters, working with organizers at times to deescalate moments of tension.

Chanting against a line of National Guard troops with Homeland Security ofﬁcers behind them surrounding the federal buildings ramped up in the afternoon as people yelled, “Free them all!” and “National Guard go away.”

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.”

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.

Kennedy

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAE HONG

Protesters clasp hands Monday in front of a line of California National Guard troops at a federal building in downtown Los Angeles.

Eventcomes as moretroopssent to LosAngeles

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

More than 100 people demonstrated peacefully in downtown New Orleans on Monday against President Donald Trump’simmigration agenda, criticizing immigration raids in the city and the administration’smilitary crackdown on protestersin Los Angeles.

The New Orleans demonstrators gathered outside thefederal building on Poydras Street, saying they were showing solidarity with David Huerta, aunion leader arrested and injured in Los Angeles during aprotest there last week.

Union leaders andrepresentatives of pro-Palestinian student groups joined withimmigrant advocates to deliver aseries of short speechesonthe steps of the Hale Boggs Federal Building, which housesthe U.S. District Court for the East-

ern District of Louisiana as well asother federalofﬁces.

Asingle uniformedDepartment of Homeland Security agent looked on from outside the federalbuilding for much of the event. But like in other cities that heldprotests in solidarity with Los Angeles early this week,New Orleans’ remained calm.

The demonstration followed heavyafternoon showers. Only asmallcrowd was present at the event’sscheduled starttime of 4p.m., but people streamed in after the rain slowed and the event’s ranks eventually exceeded 120 people.

Labor leaders and immigrant advocates saidthey were joining forces in solidarity with Huerta, and to emphasize Louisiana’s—and thenation’s —reliance on immigrant labor

“Do you think Trump Hotel couldrun without immigrant workers?” Rachel Tabor,an organizer with theimmigrationadvocacy group Union Migrante, asked the crowd.

Organizers alsocriticized an immigration sweep federal agents carried out last month at the site of amar-

quee New Orleans anti-ﬂooding project.

Fifteen migrants from Honduras, El Salvador,Nicaragua and Guatemala were detained at the siteinGentilly,according to federal Immigration andCustoms Enforcement ofﬁcials.

On Monday,Trump, aRepublican,sent 700 U.S.MarinestoLos Angeles to guard federal buildings as protests there continued. The Marine battalion adds to California National Guard units Trump hadalreadysenttothe city to quell protests in deﬁance

of Democratic Gov.Gavin Newsom.

That city,the country’ssecond-largest, hasseenprotesters clash with policefor several days after demonstrators confronted ICE agents carrying out an enforcement operation over the weekend.

Los Angeles police say they arrested 29 peopleSaturday night “for failure to disperse” and made 21 more arrestsonSunday. The Police Department conﬁrmed in anews release that it used tear gas and more than 600 rubber bulletsand other lessthan-lethalmunitions over the weekend. Huerta was released Monday on a$50,000 bond, according to news reports. At onepoint duringthe NewOrleansprotest, an organizer speaking through a microphone told the crowd that Huerta had been released from detention. Cheers rang out, mingling with sounds of downtown trafﬁc. Protests held in someother cities on Monday in solidarity with Los Angeles appeared to grow moreconfrontational than NewOrleans’. In New York, where about 100 protesters gathered outside afederal courthouse, demonstrators clashed with police and some were arrested,according to TheNew York Times. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Push to change La.primary electionsdoesn’t materialize

Rumors swirledthat Senate wouldseek to help Cassidy

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

TheState Capitolwas abuzz with talk over the weekend that the Louisiana Senate could try to make a last-minute change to acampaign 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, acandidatecould win the primary outright with aplurality and would

not have to getover50% of thevote.

Political analysts believe that Cassidycouldrun ﬁrst in theprimary with amulticandidate ﬁeld thatwould split the conservative vote but wouldhave trouble defe a ti ng another Republica n head-to-head in the secondprimary

Cassidy

Twolegislators said Cassidy called to discuss thematter withthem. In the end, the Senate made no such attemptSunday,but thebehind-thescenes discussionsprovided more evidence of theintense interest inwhether Cassidy

can overcomeRepublican opponents next year to win athird term.

Thetalk aboutthe possible change began after Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,R-Port Allen, asked threeweeks ago during acommittee 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 theideathat day and repeated thatopposition in an interview Sunday Beaullieu said eliminating the second primary would have “collateral impacts” on the new election system. He said he receivednumerousphone calls over the

Some report extrascrutinyas Trump’snew travel banbegins

BY GISELA SALOMON Associated Press

MIAMI President Donald

Trump’snew banontravel to the U.S. by citizens from adozen countries tookeffect Monday with relative calm, as some travelers with valid visas reported extra scrutiny at American airports beforebeingallowed entry. The bantargeting mainly Africanand Middle Eastern countries kicked in amid rising tension over the president’sescalating campaign of immigration enforcement. But it arrived with no immediate signsof the chaos that unfoldedat airports across the U.S. during Trump’sﬁrsttravel ban in 2017.

VincentaAguilarsaid she was anxious Monday as she and her husband, both Guatemalan citizens, were subjectedtothreedifferent interviews by U.S. ofﬁcials after arriving at Miami International Airport and showingtourist visas the couple received last week.

“They asked us wherewe work, how many children we have, if we havehad any problems with thelaw,how we are goingto afford the cost of this travel, how many days we will stay here,”said Aguilar, who along with her husband wasvisiting their son forthe ﬁrst time since he left Guatemala 22 years ago.

Shesaid they were released aboutanhourafter theirﬂight landed,greeting their waiting family members in Florida with tears of relief. Guatemalaisnot among the countries included in the new ban or ﬂagged for extra travel restrictions.

The newproclamation 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, Turkmenistanand Venezuelawho are outside the U.S. and don’thold avalid visa.

weekend from other legislatorsabout theidea.

Rep.Julie Emerson, RCarencro, andthe sponsor of the legislation thatpassed lastyear to movetothe closed primary,said in an interview thatshe is “100% opposed to the change.” Kleinpeter said in an interviewthathehad no interest in pushing the amendment. He is handling Beaullieu’sbill in theSenate. Kleinpeter said Cassidy didn’tcall him.

Word that Kleinpeter might be pushing thechange prompted alobbying effortbyRepublican women, including GenaGore, the party’snational committee

person.

“I don’tthink it benefits the Republican Party,” Gore said Sunday.“Let’sgive Republicans the chance to elect the person that the majority feelsisthe best representative.”

Also expressing opposition to apossible change was TreasurerJohnFleming, whoisthe 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 commentSunday on the possible change.

Cassidy suddenly lost considerable support among

Republicans when he voted in 2021 to convict Donald Trump of trying to incite a riot at theCapitol on Jan. 6 that year when he waspresident.

Cassidy hasbeen workinghardtomakeamends, speaking to groups throughoutthe state, raising millions of dollars, supporting controversialCabinet nominees,winning the support of prominent Republican donors and trumpeting his visits to the White House for meetings with Trump.

“There was very good conversation with President Trump aboutthe OneBig Beautiful Bill,” Cassidy said in astatement Wednesday

Work begins on new 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.

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 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 fast-track 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.

Continued from page 1A

familiar with the settlement, Tulane agreed to relinquish its claim to the trust, and in return the council agreed to contribute $20 million toward the Charity renovation

With the City Council now backing the project, the university was thought to be in a better position to ask the state for money But so far, that hasn’t happened and lawmakers must adjourn by Thursday Tulane declined to comment on the status of legislative discussions, but in a statement, spokesperson Mike Strecker said school ofﬁcials remain committed to the project.

“Tulane continues to work with state and city leaders regarding the redevelopment of the former Charity Hospital building,” Strecker said. “We are fully committed to owning, developing and occupying at least 500,000 square feet of the building.”

Gov Jeff Landry’s office and Louisiana Economic Development did not respond to requests for comment.

The long view

The Wisner dispute has involved the City Council, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Tulane, LSU and heirs of philanthropist Edward Wisner over who controls the annual proceeds from more than 38,000 acres of oil-rich land in coastal Louisiana. The land, donated to the city by Wisner in 1914, generates around $9 million per year

The council sued in 2022 after learning that Cantrell had quietly extended a decades-old income-sharing agreement with Tulane, LSU and Wisner’s heirs despite a 2014 court ruling that the trust had expired Council members argued the proceeds now belong solely to the city and moved to block funds from going to any of the defendants, including Tulane, while the lawsuit was pending Tulane claimed a 12% interest to the trust, which generated between $600,000 and $800,000 a year for the university But the university was in an awkward position, seeking public money from the city while also involved in a lawsuit against it.

Tulane did not discuss speciﬁcs of the settlement but in its Friday statement said the outcome the $20 million from the city — is a

Continued from page 1A

tax in exchange for up to $15 million to make up for the lost property tax revenue. Voters rejected that proposed

win-win.

“This collaboration will dedicate $20 million to help fuel the transformation of downtown New Orleans, bringing new life, opportunity and investment to a vital part of our city,” the statement said.

Council member Joe Giarrusso, who spearheaded the settlement talks, credited the university with taking the long view

“Tulane deserves credit for keeping an open mind and ultimately working towards the more important objective of reinvigorating Charity Hospital,” Giarrusso said. “The capital projects funding for reinvesting in Charity is a key to the City serving New Orleans.”

Ambitious project

The developments are the latest twist in efforts to revitalize the Art Deco-era landmark, which has been shuttered since Hurricane Katrina. The project is now more than four years behind schedule with an estimated price tag that is more than twice what it was

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

in 2018 when LSU, the building owner, selected a little-known development team, 1532 Tulane, to renovate the building following a competitive bid process.

Though initial remediation work began on the project, construction stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in construction costs and interest rates that followed hampered 1532 Tulane’s ability to secure ﬁnancing and the team spent more than $70 million with little to show for it.

From the get-go, Tulane University has been key to making the project work. The university initially agreed to be the anchor tenant and lease some 400,000 square feet in the building. More recently, it has been working on a new deal that would give the university more space, a majority ownership interest in the project and, therefore, greater control over making it happen — as well as greater risk.

For the past 18 months, the university has been working with Domain Cos., which was hired by

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

investors behind the project in mid-2023 to take over from 1532 Tulane, on a new plan for the renovation.

That plan essentially divides the project into two parts — a residential component that Domain Cos. will lead and the biomedical conversion that Tulane will lead.

Tulane’s estimated portion of the project will cost around $420 million, sources familiar with the project said.

The university is expected to put up some of its own money for the project and will also seek a mixture of dedicated funds from an economic development district, bond debt, federal and state historic building tax credits, and various federal programs in addition to the funds it has already secured.

Last fall, lobbyists for Tulane ﬁled a request for $30 million in the state’s construction budget, though that amount is not included in the capital outlay bill. However, lawmakers could add it back in the ﬁnal hours of the session. Alterna-

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,

tively, the university could secure funds from Louisiana Economic Development, which has various pots of money and greater discretion over which projects it wants to fund.

According to one source familiar with the situation, talks over state funding are expected to continue after the session adjourns. Separately, the City Council last fall allocated $14 million to Domain Cos. to help the developers create some affordable housing units in the residential portion of the building.

With the $20 million announced Friday, it has now put $34 million toward the project, which shows how important it is to the city, council member Helena Moreno said Monday

“It is vital we get Charity Hospital gets back into commerce,” she said. “It has been way too long.”

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.

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.

NATASHA WINFIELD, WILLIE BEE BENOIT,JOANN DIXON, ROSE MARIE MOORE, LINDA ANN MAGEE, MARYLOUISE CARMOUCHE LEPAGE, FREDDIE WINFIELD JR,CYN-

DELL ADDISON,BRANDI ADDISON,SHARON WINFIELD ESPRADON, MELVIN WINFIELD JR, DENISE MITCHELL, DONNA WINFIELD TOUSAINT,BEVERLYHAWKINS, RICHARD BELL JR, KARENLYNN BELL, KARAMEKA BELL, EMILE JAMES BLAIR III, CHARLES BLAIR, PATRICIA BLAIR SIMON,MICHAEL BLAIR, THOMAS BLAIR, DAVID BLAIR, SABRINABLAIR, MELVIN BLAIR JR, STATEOFLOUISIANA, OFFICEOF FAMILYSECURITY SQ 1395 LOT NORPTS 14 THRU 17 LOUISA 30X120

12/RMS A/R 2512-14 LOUISA ST Improvements thereon bear Municipal No.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

downtown. The facility has been shuttered since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

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

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Warner Bros. Discovery to split

Two companies will divide cable, streaming services

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP business writer

NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discov-

ery 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

two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days.

The Senate amendments set aside $709million for theLouisiana 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 newinvestments in the state

Another $75 millionwill go toward local watersystemimprovements, while $43 million will fund higher education priorities, according to arelease from the Senate.

None of that spending includes recurring expenses,Henry said in an interview Monday evening

The Senate’sversion 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 theSenate Finance Committee cut the program by more than half. The amount in the Senate budget wouldcoverprivate education costs for about 6,000 students, about half as many asadvocates had hoped wouldreceive grants. Nearly 35,000 eligible fami-

EVOLUTION

Continued frompage1A

Grammy winner Terrance Simien. Cynthia Simien is also an agent and booking manager who has long worked with her husband to promote Louisiana music worldwide. She was largely responsible for the campaign to include aCajun/zydecocategory in the Grammy Awards,which was inaugurated in 2008 but collapsed afew years later into the “Regional Roots Music” category And theSimiens were instrumental in bringing zydeco to Disney through their work on the 2009 “The Princess and the Frog” movie. Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience appear on the soundtrack and in music for the popular Disney ride, Tiana’sBayou Adventure.

“We’ve been exporting this music for 40 years now,so we know how many people are experiencing it for the ﬁrst time —but in Louisiana, notsomuch,”she said.“I mean,when you hit Disney you’ve turned acorner,but around here, it can be outof sight, out of mind.

“Roots music has become more mainstream, but from the ’80s, ’90s and mid-’00sto where we are today,it’sno accident. It’stakena lotof hard work, avillage, aconsciousness about American rootsmusic. We are in performing arts centers and schools across the country that don’tget alot of American roots music, they don’t see that much fromLouisiana. That’swhat Terrance and Buckwheat Zydeco did alot of —touring, educating. It’sall part of the evolution Every piece is an important part of it.”

Lafayetteresident Dustin Cravins said that he watched

lies applied. It is “incredibly disappointing” that thebudgetleaves thousands of low-income and special needs students without money for their education shortlybeforethe schoolyearbegins, said astate-

mentMonday from Scott Simon, state director of Americans for Prosperity-Louisiana, aconservative advocacy group that backsthe LA GATOR program.

The students’ “last hope,” he added, “is that the House will have

the will to restore the Governor’s proposed funding anddowhat’s right for Louisiana’smost vulnerable students.” Anyone who received voucher funding last year will still receive funds,Henry said, adding that

$43.5 millionisabout the same amount of moneythe state spent on itsvoucher programlastyear LA GATORwill replace thevoucher program, which coveredprivate school tuition forlow-income families.

“Wemade it crystal clear last year howmuchwewere going to fund it, and this year we followed through,” he said. “Tomake sure we don’tgrowgovernment too fast,whichAmericans for Prosperity does not want us to do, we want to make sure that we’re spending taxpayer money wisely.”

Someofthe biggest questions surrounding the budget this year have concerned education. After Louisiana voters in March rejected aconstitutional amendment that would have liquidatedaneducation trust fund to maketemporary teacher stipends permanent, legislators had to make various cuts to come up with nearly $200 million to continue giving those stipends.

Forthe past twoyears,the state government has given teachers $2,000 stipends and school support staff$1,000stipends, butit has struggled to ﬁnd the money to makethe pay raise permanent.

Total expected spending forthe coming ﬁscal year is $48.2 billion, according to Henry,who said nearly half of that budget is paid forby federal funds.

Staff writer Patrick Wall contributed to this story.

the episode with “mixed feelings.” Heisthe secondgeneration organizer of theZydecoExtravaganza, founded by his father as a radio show in the 1980s to promote themusicofCreole country

Thatprogram, which still broadcastsweekly on Z105.9, developed into atelevision show-turned-festivalheld annually over Memorial Day weekend at Blackham Coliseum.The festival is a keystone of the zydeco community;and stands alongside other long-running events like Festivals Acadienset Créoles,which started afew years earlier for the same reason —topromote the evolving sounds of Cajun andCreole music to bigger andbiggeraudiences

“Watching the episode did give me mixed feelings about this interpretation of the renaissance,” said Cravins. “That renaissance was in the ’80s. It mayhave slowed, but never went away. In largepart, it’sthanksto that that our Creole culture is verymuch lived now. It’s not something youexperience in amuseum.”

He said that when his fatherand uncle started their radio show,very fewyoung peoplewere listening to zydeco. Today,there’s been anoticeableshift. “There’s more young bands out now than older bands,” according to Cravins.

That youthful energy is reflectedondance floors, and in Lil’ Nate Williams’ streamingnumbers. The zydeco artist,who played at theZydeco Extravaganza this year with hisband, Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers, told “60 Minutes” that his streaming audience grew by over 3,000% last year.

Cravins said, “There’sa vibrant ecosystemhere, and while there are challenges, there was no lightning rod

recently that really changed the trajectory of where the music and culture are headed. It’s been aconcerted effortbyanumberofpeople for many years to preserve and promote the sounds.”

Barry Ancelet was one of thepeople engaged in that work with Cajun French music, more than 50 years ago. In 1974, Ancelet worked with Louisiana French artists like Clifton Chenier, MarcSavoy,Bois Sec Ardoin andthe BalfaBrothers to create“Hommage alaMusique Acadienne.” That concert brought 12,000 people to Blackham Coliseum, and has been held outdoorseveryyearsince as Festivals AcadiensetCréoles.

The concert grew from theidea that it would create an entirely new experience to feature Cajun and Creole musiciansonstage, instead of adance hall, to an audience of listeners instead of dancers

“Cajun music and zydeco was really dance hall stuff,” saidAncelet, aCajun folklorist andhistorianinthe Department of Modern Languages at theUniversityof Louisiana at Lafayette. “It wasn’tconsideredcool. It was old people’smusic.

“The real story is how festivals changed it, bringing it out of the dance halls and making it available to the wholefamily.Thatchange of context changed the way people played and listened.”

Ancelet says that emergingcyclesof“raw” and “reﬁned” sound have comeinto playthrough the years, also inﬂuenced by howbands and venues evolved to meet audience expectations.Cajun andCreolemusic largely evolved from raw, unrefined country players to tight, rollicking dancehall ensembles —and therise of music festivalsdeveloped seasoned stage performers thatplay more like arena

bands —faster,tighter and louder,with even moreaudience-focused energy

“That’sthe kind of ongoing evolution that’sbeenhappening that they missed,”

Ancelet said. “It’s an evolution,not arenaissance.

“History is constantly evolving. There’scontinuity,but that continuity is creating something new. Whenthis is working at its best,when it’s really good, it produces things that both surprise and reassure us. Yousee whereitcame from, but you recognizeitas somethingnew and exciting —and if Cajun music hadn’t done that, nobody would be listening to it anymore.”

Cajun artist Jourdan Thibodeaux, who was featuredonthe “60 Minutes” episode alongside Chubby Carrier,the SavoyFamily

Band and Lil’ NathanWilliams, says that he doesn’t knowmuchabout arenaissance. He’salways played this music,hesaid —“just doing the samething.”

He does think that the current crop of young musicians are more engaged, and talented,thanever. “Young bands out there are coming out like savants,” he said. “Theyare absolutelyincredible, coming out at 18 and 19 and they can play nine instruments.”

They arealsoincorporatingnew inﬂuences, reaching new audiences and continually pushing the Cajun and zydeco genresinwaysthat bring new attention to Louisiana roots music, thanks to the foundational efforts of musicians, historians, archivists, language teachers andothers who have helped

entrench amodern interpretation of the region’ssound.

Chubby Carrier has been part of that movement since he was ayoung man He learned accordion playinginhis father’s band,and later drummed for Terrance Simien. Carrier said that his father always madehim understand that he should follow his own path, even while representing his family and culture. He said, “I grew up in the ’70s,and daddysaid, ‘This is your job—listen to R&B, blues, rock n’ roll, funk. Be yourself. Don’ttry to be me or your grandfather.You grew up in this genre, so incorporate it, but do your own thing.’”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Senate PresidentCameron Henry, R-Metairie, calls for anyobjections to an amendment to House Bill 460 during Monday’s Senate session.

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JUNE

Plaquemine lock site saved by

locals who seeits value

UNOset to join LSUsystem

Governor expected to sign legislation

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

It’salmost ofﬁcial

Aftersailing throughthe House andSenate, abillthatwould make theUniversity of NewOrleans part of the LSU system is headed to Gov.Jeff Landry’sdesk to be signed into law

Pending approval from the university’s accreditation agency,Senate Bill 202 would shift UNO to theoversight of theLSU system, amove supporters say could breathe new life intothe struggling university,bolster its enrollment andhelp eliminate its deﬁcit.The bill by Sen. Jimmy Harris, D-NewOrleans, passed the state House of Representatives 95-1onMondayfollowing

a36-0 passage in the Senate last month. UNO has been in the University of Louisiana system since 2011, oneofeight institutions overseen by that governing body

“Today’s passage of legislation approving the University of New Orleans’ transition to theLSU System marks the beginning of an important newchapter in ourinstitution’shistory,”UNO

President Kathy Johnson wrote in aletter to faculty and staff on

Monday She added that the shift, which is backed theBoardofRegents, Landry and the state Legislature, “reﬂects ashared commitment to securing UNO’slong-term ﬁnancial health and elevating its impact as aresearch-driven, student-centered public university.” The LSU and UL systems did notimmediatelyrespond to requests for comment.

Ellie Hebert insists credit for restoring Plaquemine’sold lockhouse belongs to others —especiallythe Friendsofthe Lock, the local group that workedfor years to save the 114-year-old structure. Last week, Imet Hebertand Dan Mooney,president of Friends of the Lock, for abehindthe-sceneslook at the lockhouse and to learn more about the locksand how the structure was saved.

Mooney hasa lifelong connection to thelocks, and he likes to point to the area’scultural roots.

“Oh, somefellow by the nameof Longfellow wrote apoem aboutthis woman whose name was Evangeline,” he said. “Legendarily,she used this bayoutoget to theinterior 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 ownedthe local newspaper.Her fatherrecognized the lockhouse’svalue and launched a public ﬁght to save it.

“My parents, my fatherin

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

particular,and latermymother worked to save this building from being destroyed by the state transportation department who wanted to put in afour-lane highway,” Hebert said. Back in the 1960sand ’70s, people in Plaquemine were hungry for progress.

Dow Chemicalwas coming,and trafﬁc tie-ups had already begun. Residents wanted more and better roads.

“I was in schoolatthe time, and Iremember getting hammered by schoolmates,” Hebert said. “Their parents had talked about it, Iguess, at the dinner table —and they were angry.” The plan? Tear down the 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. “None of this would be here today.The bayou wouldn’t.The waterfront park wouldn’t. This lockhouse wouldn’t.” Today,the lockhouse bears her father’sname: the Gary J. Hebert Memorial Lockhouse —a tribute to his dedication. Beside the plaque of her father on the white-tiled walls hangs oneof her mother, Joyce S. Hebert, who

ä See AT LARGE, page 2B

MEGASTORE FANFARE

Buc-ee’sworkers prepare breakfast at the Pass

BY JUSTIN MITCHELL and POET WOLFE Staff writers

As dozens of people from Mississippi andLouisiana andevenasfar away as Hawaii —lined up Mondayoutside the newBuc-ee’sinPass Christian,Mississippi, workers inbright red T-shirts gave each other pep talks before opening the doors to a mass of beaver-crazed fans

“Y’all ready?” door greeter

Sara Reynolds asked cashiers at 5:58 a.m., twominutesbefore she began usheringfolksinside thestorejust off Interstate 10. “They ain’t ready,” shereplied.

When the clock struck 6a.m., hundreds of eager visitors began hollering, grabbing carts and recording videos as they got aﬁrst

ä See BUC-EE’S, page 2B

ABOVE: Buc-ee’s founder and CEO Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin right, attends the opening of the Pass Christian, Miss., location on Monday.

LEFT: Achild scans T-shirts forsale.

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

Abill that will allow ivermectin sales in pharmacies without aprescription 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 pharmaciestosellivermectin,anantiparasitic drug thathas gained in popularity since theCOVID-19 pandemic, to adults18and olderundera standing order issued by the Louisiana Department of Health. Aprescription from an individual’sdoctor is notnecessary

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Mike Fesi, aRepublican from Houma, whodescribeditinprevious committeemeetings as amatter of medical freedom. Surgeon General Dr.Ralph Abraham also spoke in favorofthe measure during several committeehearings.

“Ivermectin has been shown to have some quite impressive antiviral qualities, and that’swhy some of us, including myself, started using it during the COVID epidemic,” Abraham said at a committeemeeting in May

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

In humans, ivermectin tablets are approved by thefederal Food and Drug Administration to treat two conditions caused by parasitic worms, while sometopical formsare approved to treat parasites like lice,

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

hotelier’sFrench Quarter boutique lodgings, saying he is looking to boostperformanceamid tough conditions forthe hospitality market. Randy Waesche, who manages the trusts that control Jaeger’s16remaining “J Collection”

PROVIDED PHOTO

Hotel RoyalonRoyal Street in the French Quarter is part of the JCollection of hotels. JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

STAFF PHOTOSByJUSTIN MITCHELL

Christian, Miss., store on Monday.

Hebert

Mooney

PROVIDED PHOTO

Man arrested in Super Bowl reporter’s death faces more charges

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Rickey White, a New Orleans man jailed for his alleged role in the drugging death of a Kansas City sports reporter in town to cover Super Bowl LIX, has been arrested on new charges.

State Police booked White, 34, on June 4 on three counts each of identity theft, money laundering, theft, access device fraud and conspiracy to commit theft in what appears to be three separate cases, according to court records.

The agency confirmed the new charges came about as part of their continuing investigation into a longrunning scheme to target men out drinking in the New Orleans French Quarter, drug them and then rob them of their cash, credit cards and other property

Kenner police detectives say that’s what happened to Kansas City

BUC-EE’S

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glimpse of the massive store, one of the largest Buc-ee’s locations in the United States.

The $80 million development in Harrison County, Mississippi, opened Monday after starting construction in 2023. The store is about 75 minutes from New Orleans, but the Texas-based gas station chain has fans nationwide for its gargantuan size and number of gas pumps, clean bathrooms, prepared foods, snacks, beverages and merchandise.

The next-closest store is in Robertsdale, Alabama, near the popular I-10 exits to Florida beaches, and it’s often packed with Louisiana and Texas residents headed to the Gulf.

Buc-ee’s founder and CEO Arch “Beaver” Aplin spoke at a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting, along with a handful of local ofﬁcials, invigorating the crowd of hundreds who braved the rain.

“I don’t think when Beaver and them started in 1982 in a little 3,000-square-foot convenience store, they ever envisioned this would be the 52nd location,” said Tommy Duff, who has been involved in Mississippi politics for decades.

When asked what makes his franchise unlike any other in the country, Aplin spoke about “the passion, the love” that attracts people to the store every day “I have to pinch myself when I think about the distance people

INVERMECTIN

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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 treatments. 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 neg-

Telemundo reporter Adan Manzano when he encountered White’s accused accomplice, Danette Colbert on Feb. 5.

Colbert was the last person seen entering and exiting Manzano’s Kenner hotel room before he was found dead that day, police said.

An autopsy determined Manzano died of asphyxiation as he lay face down on a pillow while under the effects of alcohol and Xanax, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Ofﬁce. Colbert had used Manzano’s stolen debit card and was later found with his wallet, cellphone and other property

Colbert was booked on seconddegree murder in Manzano’s death while White, accused of helping her coordinate and execute the scheme, was booked on being a principal to second-degree murder, court records said.

Colbert, White and a third alleged co-conspirator, Christian Anderson,

travel just to come,” Aplin said.

“It’s just incredible.”

Superfans

Shoppers were greeted by dozens of employees, all chanting

“Welcome to Buc-ee’s” and walking around to help people ﬁnd shirt sizes or directing them to around the 74,000-square-foot store.

“Smells like Buc-ee’s,” Jas Key-

Wade said as a barbecue scent wafted into the humid air

Key-Wade left her home in Jackson, Mississippi, at 1 a.m. to get in line by 4 a.m. She was there, like many others, for a Mississippi Buc-ee’s shirt and was ready to get several brisket burritos.

“I’m a bit of a fan girl,” she said.

“I’ve been to seven Buc-ee’s stores over ﬁve states.”

Terry McCormick, of Gulfport, Mississippi, got in line early to get breakfast for his co-workers He ﬁgured it’d be easier to come when it first opened rather than wait until later in the day once people were off work.

He likes visiting Buc-ee’s because of the customer service.

“They’re, like, happier Chick-ﬁl-

A people,” he said By 6:15 a.m., carts were already ﬁlled with beaver-themed merch. Popular items included blankets, beaver plushes, Hawaiian button downs and Beaver Nuggets, a caramelized corn puff treat.

‘I’m only an exit away’

At the hot station, the “beast” burritos and brisket sandwiches were being refilled as fast as guests could grab them off the hot plate.

atively interact with our treatments,” Mizrahi said “We could see strange interactions or decreased efficacy or decreased safety.”

In a House Health and Welfare 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-the-counter 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.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com.

33, were also booked on several criminal charges related to ﬁnancial crimes committed in connection with Manzano’s death, similar to the new allegations White now faces.

Authorities have said White often supplied Colbert with the antianxiety medication Xanax, which they referred to as “knock out” in the many text messages exchanged over the course of several years.

White also helped Colbert in her attempts to access victims’ ﬁnancial accounts, according to investigators. State Police is part of the effort to search for any additional victims.

The agency on Friday declined to disclose any details about the new charges against White, citing the integrity of the investigation.

He was being held Monday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.

Fran Magee, of Diamondhead, Mississippi, stood near the hot station while looking for her family, who she convinced to travel from California to witness the grand opening. For years, Magee and her grandson, TJ Hathorn, would drive to Buc-ee’s in Alabama every time he visited.

By 7:30 a.m., Magee, her grandson and her daughter-in-law, Gabe Hathorn, were at the new location.

“I’m only an exit away,” Magee said. “I’m in hog heaven.”

What makes Buc-ee’s special to TJ Hathorn is “the energy — and pulled pork sandwiches,” he said.

With a basketful of merchandise, including a bathing suit adorned with the mascot, Gabe Hathorn added that she was amazed by the variety of products as a ﬁrst-timer at the convenience store.

At the other end of the store, Buc-ee the Beaver mascot danced and stopped for photos with fans in front of a red ﬁre-engine truck in the center of the store.

Outside, many of the 126 gas pumps were full by 7 a.m., but they were open at least an hour before the store opened to customers.

Bart Colosino ﬁlled up his tank before he and Suzanne West, both of St. Charles Parish, got in line and waited to be let into Buc-ee’s.

“He’s excited; he bought something before me,” West said, who had recently traveled to Colorado to visit a new Buc-ee’s store about an hour away from Denver

“We’ve taken vacations just to go to Buc-ee’s,” she said.

Email Justin Mitchell at justin. mitchell@theadvocate.com.

TODDLER

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booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center after investigators said his 21-month-old daughter died after being buckled inside a car outside a Madisonville-area residence for hours. Boatman’s bail was set at $750,000, according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Ofﬁce identiﬁed the toddler as Ansleigh Boatman.

St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputies were called to the residence shortly before noon Sunday after a family member found the girl unresponsive inside the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said Boatman had buckled the child into her car seat inside the vehicle after picking her up at a family member’s residence shortly after 2:30 a.m.

Sunday After putting the girl in her car seat, Boatman went back inside the residence but never returned to the vehicle. Detectives also learned that before Boatman arriving to pick up his daughter, he had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said.

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

A spokesperson for the St Tammany Parish Coroner’s Ofﬁce said Monday that an autopsy had been performed on Ansleigh, but that Coroner Christopher Tape won’t release a cause of death or manner of death until the toxicology results are in hand.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a child’s body temperature can rise three to ﬁve times faster than an adult’s, and the situation can quickly become dangerous.

Girlfriend of jail escapee Derrick Groves arrested

BY KASEY BUBNASH and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers

A woman described as a girlfriend and associate of New Orleans jail escapee Derrick Groves was arrested Monday, according to Deputy U.S Marshal Brian Fair Darriana Burton, 28, was booked on a felony count of conspiracy to commit simple escape, according to online jail records.

She is a former employee of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, the agency that oversees the New Orleans jail. Burton was among a handful of employees who were ﬁred and arrested between 202324 in connection with contraband in the jail. Court records show that while Burton was initially booked with malfeasance in ofﬁce and introducing contraband in prison, the Orleans Parish District Attor-

HOTELS

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Waterford Hotel Group would now manage ﬁve of the group’s properties — Audubon Cottages, Le Richelieu, Dauphine Orleans Hotel, Hotel Royal and Chateau Hotel which previously were run by Aimbridge Hospitality

The ﬁve hotels have a combined 359 rooms, which is about 30% of the total number of around 1,200 rooms in the J Collection hotel group. Aimbridge had been managing the hotels since Jaeger grouped them under the J Collection brand in early 2020.

“While I have no complaints about the manner in which Aimbridge has been managing, I thought a little competition is a good thing,” Waesche said.

Aimbridge Hospitality didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Plano, Texasbased hotel operator in January restructured its finances to reduce more than $1 billion in debt. Estate management

Waesche has been in control of the trusts since Jaeger died in June 2024 in a trafﬁc accident. In addition to his hotel group, Jaeger owned several high-profile development properties in New Orleans. Among them was the former naval base in Bywater, which is being turned into a mixed-use complex with subsidized apartments and a New Labs workspace. He also owned the Plaza Tower,

AT LARGE

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served as president of Friends of the Lock and continued the work her husband began.

By the numbers

The building, completed in 1909, is part of the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site and sparkles in its white-tiled glory The lockhouse reopens as a museum at 9 a.m. Friday, explaining how the lock — an engineering marvel built between 1895 and 1909 connected the ever-changing Mississippi River with Bayou Plaquemine.

“You have to remember back in the late 1800s when this work was happening to build the lock, it was really considered an engineering marvel,” Hebert said.

The lock operated 24 hours a day for 52 years, linking the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya and southwest Louisiana. The lock’s chamber was 51 feet high, 55 feet wide, 395 feet long and had the capacity to hold more than 8 million gallons of water Its ﬂoor was between 7 and 11 feet thick.

Colorized photos on display in the new museum show workers driving 8,803 wooden pilings to support the lock, alongside graphics and a video that explain how the system worked.

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

From catch-all to cohesive Over time, the lockhouse became a cluttered community historical catch-all. People brought in old things. The displays lacked

ney’s Ofﬁce ultimately refused the charges in October 2024.

Burton’s alleged boyfriend, Groves, is one of 10 inmates who broke free from the New Orleans lockup on May 16, spurring more than a dozen arrests and a multiagency manhunt that entered its 25th day on Monday Only 27-year-old Groves and 32-year-old Antoine Massey remained on the run Monday afternoon.

“The search for the two escapees continues,” Fair said. Groves is linked to the killings of four people in the New Orleans metro area.

He was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with a Lower 9th Ward shooting on Mardi Gras in 2018. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in separate cases.

where a potential plan is in the works to convert most of the aging high-rise into senior housing.

Before he died, Jaeger had been selling some of the J Collection hotels, including the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in the French Quarter and the Whitney Hotel on Poydras Street. The move was intended to put the group’s ﬁnances on a ﬁrmer footing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since he passed, Waesche also has sold the Clarion Hotel in Kenner Jaeger’s wife, Becky, and sons, Joey, Ryan and Mike, have said they do not want to actively run the hotel business. Waesche said he is open to offers on the remaining hotels.

“If someone comes to me with a reasonable offer it will be considered,” Wasche said.

Meanwhile, the historic Jung Hotel was seized by creditors in February and its fate is in the hands of a group of Chinese investors who had loaned money to the project under the controversial EB-5 visas-for-investment program.

Waesche said that the ﬁnancial performance of the late developer’s hotels has been better so far this year than last, but that they still have some way to go before getting back to their level before the pandemic.

“They’re not where we want them to be but we’re hoping for a better 2026,” he said.

Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.

a clear narrative. The restoration aimed to create a cohesive, compelling exhibit that truly tells the story of the lock — from my perspective, it achieved its goal. Some of the preservation work wasn’t glamorous. Dirt near the banks of the Mighty Mississippi moves and can cause cracks in buildings — even those built to withstand the elements like the Dutch Revival-style lockhouse building.

“I think this literally is the crown jewel of the city,” Hebert said. “We have the most beautiful historic district here. We have our national award-winning waterfront park and we have the Mississippi River levee right here where people can go sit on benches and look out on the river.”

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 most beautiful churches in south Louisiana, if not in the whole state.”

More than a century after the Plaquemine Lock opened its gates to boats navigating the uncertain waters between bayou 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.

Former Advocate environmentalreporter AmyWolddies

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

Amy Wold, aformer environmental reporter with The Advocate, who later worked with statewide natural resources organizations, died on May 29.

Wold, a native of the Paciﬁc Northwest, joined The Advocate in 2000 as environmental reporter and spent the next 16 years reporting on Louisiana andBaton Rouge-area environmental issues.

“Amy was passionate about the environment and had adeep understanding of all the issues that went along with covering it,”said Fred Kalmbach, The Advocate’smanaging editor.“She always reported her stories in an evenhanded way.More than that, she was akind person and agreat colleague.”

In thesummerof2016, she helped cover the Baton Rouge area’s devastating ﬂoods.

Wold went on to join The Water Institute in Baton Rouge, anonproﬁt research institution, in 2017asdirector of communications.

UNO

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Back to previous oversight

If the move proceeds, UNOwill become theninth LSU site —besides the ﬂagship in Baton Rouge, there are campuses in Alexandria, Eunice and Shreveport, along with an agriculture center,biomedical research center and amedical school in New Orleans. It would mark areturn to an earlier governance model.LSU oversawUNO from its founding until 2011, when it shifted to the UL system amid tensions between UNO ofﬁcials and LSU system leadership.

In the years since, UNO has struggled to recruit and retain students. Enrollment peaked at around 17,000 students before Hurricane Katrina, butfell to about 6,000 students last fall.The enrollment decline hascontributed to adeﬁcit that ofﬁcials say could be as high as $30 million.

The bill aims to reverse UNO’sfortunes by channeling the LSU name and resources to boost enrollment.

John Walters, LSU’svice president of external affairs, told the Senate Education Committee last month that enrollment at LSU’s campuses hasgrown to record levels and the same couldhappenatUNO. Increased enrollment would bring the school more revenue.

“UNO’senrollment has fallen abit, and we’re going to do everything in our power to make surethat enrollment grows back up,” he said. The move is expected to cost atotal of $81 million over five years, according to estimates LSUgave the Legislature, intended to help UNO pay off its debt, cover transition costs and pay for some deferred maintenance.

The bill will provide UNO $20 million next ﬁscal year, and Harris said at aSenate Education Committee hearing last week that additional funding may be available through other sources. The Senate on Monday passed abill that includes an additional $3 million for deferred maintenance at UNO, pending approval by the House. Under the bill, UNO’sassets, funds, obligations, liabilities, programs and func-

Cosgrove,Lee

Cowan, Curtis

GuichetJr.,Otis

Hobart,Stanley

Rodick,Jon'ee

“Amy was an inspiring woman,”saidAlyssaDausman, the WaterInstitute’s senior vice president and chiefscientist.“Shetaught me and so many how to communicate well and work with journalists to support coastal restoration grounded in science.”

In 2021, while at the Institute, Wold received the Coastal Stewardship Award fromthe Coalition to RestoreCoastalLouisianafor herwork as achampionof the coast.

In 2024, Wold joined the Louisiana WildlifeFederation, based in Baton Rouge, as policy director The nonprofit works to preserve thestate’snatural resources.

“So many people in the coastal restoration, environmental and research communities knew Amy and appreciated her intellect, kindness and professionalism,”the federation saidin astatement.“Shemadea lasting impact on addressing and understanding the challenges of natural resources management in Louisiana.”

StaffwriterDavid Mitchell contributed to this article.

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com.

tions will be transferred to LSU, pendingapproval from theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools CommissiononColleges, theaccrediting agency that oversees UNO Atransition team made up of legislatorsand “stakeholders from the New Orleans area” must submita transition plantothe Board of Regents and the House andSenate bynextApril. Some people —including UL Board of Supervisors member Julie Stokes have raised concernsabout the speed of the process.

Many questions still remain about how this shift willimpact students, faculty and operations at UNO. Harrissaidthe discussionsare still ongoing about whether UNO wouldretainits name, blue and silver colors and the privateer mascot —or assume LSU’s purple and gold and tiger mascot.

Supportfor themove

For more than ayear, UNO has taken steps to address its budget deficit, including layoffs andfurloughs, closing dilapidated buildings, andinstituting hiring and spending freezes

The university’sstrife caught the attention of SenatePresident Cameron Henry and House Speaker PhillipDeVillier,who in February penneda letter to theBoard of Regents requestingthe boardstudy shiftingitbacktothe oversight of LSU.

TheBoard of Regents has unanimously recommended the shift, and LSU leadershiphas saidatvarious legislative hearings that the systemsupports taking on UNO.Walters, with LSU, hinted at apotential partnership between UNO and the LSU Health SciencesCenter in downtown New Orleans.

With Landry likely to sign thebill intolaw when it reaches hisdesk,the only remaining step is approval by the accrediting agency

“We’re working on the governingstructure and the managementof(UNO), but the value of the institution must be continued to be lifted,” KimHunterReed, the state commissioner of higher education, said at a Senate Education Committee hearing last week. “It is doinggood work for students; it must continue to servethe community and business and industryinthe New Orleans area.”

Smith Jr., Frank Villarrubia, Jeannette

Weber, John

NewOrleans

Gertrude Geddes

Conic, Charles

Greenwood

Batt, Merlin

JacobSchoen

Villarrubia, Jeannette

Lake Lawn Metairie

Brinkmann, Marilyn

St Tammany

Audubon

Weber, John

EJ Fielding

Bennett, Judith Hobart,Stanley

Honaker

Clemons,Thomas Cosgrove,Lee

Smith Jr., Frank

West Bank

Robinson FH

Conic, Charles Monica Spears-Lombard (Martin);sonsMelvinAn‐derson Jr.and Kenneth Spears (Tammy); brother IrvinAndersonSr. (Shirley); sister Marilyn Anderson;godsons John BickhamJr. andLouis Sean Spears;grandchildren Louis, Ronica,Joshua,Jas‐mine,Olivia, Nigel, Nyla Leana, Ahmad; In-lawsBar‐bara Hills, YolandaMont‐gomeryand Alecia Williams (David), George Montgomery(Eleanor), PeterThompson(Lillian) andmanyotherswho were touchedbyhis warmth and humor.Hewas preceded in deathbyhis parentsHazel LoveyPayne-Andersonand Israel "JimE" Anderson; siblings CharlieAnderson Sr.and Anna M. Anderson; andnephewDerrick Ander‐son. Thefamilyextends heartfeltgratitude to the compassionatecaregivers who supportedMelvindur‐inghis ﬁnaldays: the OchsnerWestbankER staff; nursesofthe third andfourth ﬂoors; ICU team;Heart of Hospice; Compassus; Mrs. Dorothy Magee; andDr. Jake Rodi (PCP). Melvin Anderson Sr.’s legacy is oneofdedi‐cation—tofamily, faith community,country—and an enduring love forlife’s simple joys.May hismem‐orybring comforttothose who knew himand con‐tinue to inspireall to carry it forward. AVisitationwill be held on Wednesday, June 11,2025, from 08:00 a.m. to 08:45a.m.at Thompson Temple C.O.G.I.C.,1515 Whitney Ave. AFuneralService will be held on June 11,2025, from 09:00a.m.to10:30 a.m. at Thompson Temple C.O.G.I.C.,1515 Whitney Ave. He will be interred at SoutheastLouisiana Veter‐ansCemeteryinSlidell, LA Repast to follow at Thomp‐sonTempleC.O.G.I.C 1515 WhitneyAve., Gretna,LA 70053. Funeralplanningen‐trustedtoRobinsonFamily FuneralHome, (504) 2082119. Foronlinecondo‐lences,pleasevisit www robinsonfamilyfuneralho me.com

Anderson Sr., Melvin

Obituaries

Anderson Sr., Melvin

Melvin Anderson Sr., age83, passed away peacefully on Monday,May 26, 2025, at hishomeinTer‐rytown, Louisiana. Born on January2,1942, in Algiers, Louisiana, Melvin liveda full andvibrant life rooted deeply in thecommunity that shaped him. He began hiseducation at Samuel Lawton Elementary and graduatedfromL.B.Landry High School in 1958. After high school,Melvinen‐teredthe workforce with positionsatD.H.Holmes andK &B Drugstorebefore securing along-term role at American CanCompany When thecompany closed itsdoorsin1974, he transi‐tioned to theJefferson Parish Sewerage Depart‐ment,where he dedicated 28 yearsofservice until his retirement in 2005. Melvin proudlyservedhis country as aU.S.Armyveteran.His commitment to serviceex‐tended beyond themilitary into hisspiritual life and community involvement. He wasa 32nd-degree MasonwithNew Tuscan #5 andbecamea devoted member of FaithTemple Church of GodinChriston May27, 2023. Just weeks later, on June 18, he was baptized—amomentof deep personal signiﬁ‐cance. Alifelongresident of Algiersand an unmis‐takablepresencearound town, Melvin wasknown for dropping by to visitrel‐atives andfriends forcon‐versationand camaraderie —often accompaniedbya beverage or two. He hadan infectious love formusic across allgenresand espe‐cially cherishedtwo songs that held specialmeaning forhim andhis beloved wife Rita:“CanI Have This Dance” by Anne Murray and“Throughthe Years” by KennyRogers.Melvin’s passionfor theNew Or‐leans Saints wasunwaver‐ing. From theirearliestsea‐sons to recent years, he re‐mained aloyal fan—win or lose—alwayscheeringon theBlack andGoldfrom hisfavoriterecliner.Sun‐days were sacred football days ﬁlled with spirited supportfor histeam. He also found joyinsimple pleasure-takinglongdrives while listeningtohis fa‐vorite oldies station, singingalong to timeless tunes that broughthim peaceand nostalgia. Melvin is lovingly remem‐beredbyhis wife,RitaZ Anderson;daughters Phyl‐lisJ.Agee, Cheryl Ander‐son, TracyAnderson, and

June 11, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM followed im‐mediatelybya burial in Greenwood Cemetery at 5200 CanalBlvdinNew Or‐leans.

Bennett, Judith D.

NewOrleans Public School system, she graduated from McDonogh35High School in 1974. Joan attendedOur Lady of theLake Universityin San Antonio,Texas. She then returned home to NewOrleans andattended St.Mary's Dominican College. Later,she began herprofessional career working at BellSouth/ AT&T,where she retiredas aManager in 2009. Joan's interests includedfrequently travellingwith her friends andfamily, reading books, gardening,and cooking. Joan wasa true "CareBear". Shewas always checkingtosee if her familyand friends needed anything, andshe would gladlyshare herhomemade recipeswith them

Merlin CharlesBatt passedawayunexpectedly on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, shortlyafter his82ndbirth‐day. He wasbornonMay 25, 1943, in NewOrleans LA,and wasa resident of JeffersonParishfor almost 70 years. He waspreceded in deathbyhis father,Got‐tliebT.BattIII, andhis mother,Elsie B. Batt. He is survived by hiswifeof59 1/2years,CaroleTierney Batt, adaughter, MelissaB Winingham, agranddaugh‐terMegan E. Winingham, step-grandchildren George A. WininghamJr, and Tiffanie M. Winingham, as well as agreat grandson Porter Dupeire. He is also survived by sistersCarol B. Moragasand Bonnie B. Anton(Duke), hisnieces andnephews TracyMora‐gas, ShannonMoragas, CoreyMoragas,ErinM Abney, andShielaMora‐gas, who will greatlymiss their“UncleMern”.Merlin attended East Jefferson High School andDelgado Community College. He pursuedhis passionofcar‐pentry as amemberofthe NewOrleans Carpenters Local1846 forover60 years. He wasproud of the many buildingsand homes that he worked on through‐outthe GreaterNew Or‐leansareaand Northshore He wasa talented carpen‐terwho always ensured that thejob wasdone right. He wasalways eager to help with anyproject andcould take apartand ﬁxalmostanything handed to him. He pos‐sesseda wealth of knowl‐edge on just aboutany topicand aquick conver‐sation always turned into a historylesson. Anyone who methim walked away learning somethingthey didn’t know before.Hehad astyle of storytellingthat kept your interest andusu‐ally endedwithuncontrol‐lable laughter.Heloved ﬁshingand crabbing and wasanexcellent cook.His wife oftenreferredtohim as hersouschef. Addition‐ally,heenjoyed tendingto hisvegetable garden, spending weekends at the casinosonthe Gulf Coast as well as drinking hisaf‐ternoon beer.Hewillbe greatlymissedbyall who hadthe pleasure of know‐inghim.Relatives and friendsare invitedtoat‐tend avisitationatGreen‐wood FuneralHomeon

Judith D. Bennett, age 86, of Bush,LA, passed peacefully from this earth on Thursday,June 5, 2025. Shewas born on June 24, 1938 in Middletown, Ohio Judith wasprecededin deathbyher loving hus‐band,ErnestLouis Bennett, herson,Randall Leslie Ben‐nett Sr parents, James Kell Darraghand Thella KlingDarragh,sister, Gail Young Richardson,and grandson,JosephL.(Joey) Nuzzolill. Judith is survived by herdaughters, StephanieBennett, Laura Lawlor,Anne Favret;her daughter-in-lawKaren Bennett; hergrandchil‐dren,Nikki JoyNuzzolillo Norvell(Michael),Daniel LouisLawlor(Kayla),Abi‐gail LillianLawlor, Randall Leslie BennettJr.,Christo‐pher Ernest Bennett (Amanda),Brian LouisBen‐nett (Angelle), andRonnie Scelson; hergreat grand‐children,Emma Grace Norvell, Sophia Nicole Lawlor,Diana EllenLawlor, Claire Althea Bennett, Gabriella Noel Bennett, Laila JoyBennett, Kayla Scelson, CameronScelson, Robert Scelson; greatgrandson Luka Jace Hege on theway,and many ex‐tended familymembers andfriends.Judithgradu‐ated from Chillicothe High School,and then went to MiddletownHospitaland enrolled in theirx-ray pro‐gram.She became aregis‐teredx-ray tech andspent many yearsatMiddletown Hospital.Judiththenbe‐came an instructor shap‐ingyoung mindsatFort Hamilton Hospital in Ohio forseveral years. In 1969, Judith went to Boston to take summer classesat Northeastern University, where shemet Ernest Ben‐nett (her late husband) andweremarried for27 years. Hercareer in x-ray spannedover50years, beingregistered with ARRT andLSRTand teaching at DelgadoCommunity Col‐lege in NewOrleans and teaching andlater becom‐ingProgram Director at NorthOaksSchool of Radi‐ologicTechnology in Ham‐mond.LA. Judy's interest included ﬁshing, garden‐ing, watercolor painting, WWIIhistory,cruises to Alaska,and spending time with family. In lieu of ﬂow‐ers, donationsinmemory of Judith Bennett maybe made to Northshore Pas‐sagesHospice.The ad‐dressis46Louis Prima Drive, Covington, LA 70433. Checks or moneyorders canbemadepayable to Passages HospicewithJu‐dith Bennettonthe “memo line”. Relativesand friends areinvited to attend the funeralservicesonThurs‐day, June 12, 2025, at 11:00 at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home,2260 West 21st Av‐enue,Covington,Louisiana, with visitation beginning at 9:00 AM.Interment will follow in theadjacent PinecrestMemorialGar‐dens

Joan Elizabeth Bentley wasbornJune1,1956, and enteredintoeternal rest on Tuesday, May20, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. She wasthe fourth-born daughterofthe late Berthaweand Rosemary MartinEdwards. One brotherand twosisters preceded herindeath: BerthaweEdwards, II, GraceEdwards, and Brenda Edwards Hartford Born in NewOrleans, Louisiana, Joan,affectionately known to herfamily as Joanie,was baptized as an infantand confirmedas ayouth at St.Paul's EvangelicalLutheran Church.Educatedinthe

Joan leaves to celebrate herlifeand cherish her memories, herbeloved son, Albert(Aoi) Bentley III;two adopted sons: Demond (Kendra) Morris andJez Moffett;6 Grandsons: Aijalon, Azari, Amare, andAnzioBentley; Kensleyand NigelMorris; 1 sister:Valerie Edwards; 2 brothers-in-law:Alvin Hartford andAlvin Bentley; mother-in-law: Dorothy MaeBanks; 2sisters-inlaw:MirleBentley Goodwin andJeanHerbert;two nieces: Aleria Perryand Marinda Picou; 3nephews: Alan Hartford,Sr.,Lance Cagnolatti andChristopher Picou, anda host of great nephews, aunts, uncles cousinsand friends.

Brinkmann, Marilyn Golden Marilyn Golden Brinkmann peacefully passedaway on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Shewas born in New Orleans101 years ago to thelateWilliam PeterGoldenand Emily Reitmeyer Golden.She was adevoted sister to thelate EmilyGoldenMaher, Joyce Golden Hackett, and William PeterGolden. She attendedSophieB Wright HighSchooland graduated early to begin work at International Harvester Shehad arrangedtotransfer to theNew YorkCityoffice to study dressdesign, butchanged herplans when she fell in love with HenryBrinkmannafter his return from World War II. Theirfirst datewas a dance at the Fontainebleau Hotel, hosted by the B&B sorority of which shewas amember.Theycherished eachother for 67 years, untilHenry'spassing. Loving andcaringmother of Marilyn Stolzenthaler (Brent), thelateHenry Brinkmann,Jr. (Wendy), Deborah Jacob (thelate MichaelJacob), Brian Brinkmann (Sheri), and BridgetHelm(Tim). Avery proudgrandmother of Stephanie,Kevin,Alicia, Craig, Megan, Jordan, Hunter,Connor, Rory, Haley, Olivia, Katie, Annabelle,Elise, greatgrandmotherof11, and great-greatgrandmother of two. She is also survived by manyniecesand nephews. Marilyn was a talentedseamstress who created here ownpatterns anddresses for herdaughters.She lovedtodance, paint andtravel, butmore than anything,she loved herfamily. Shewas adevoutCatholicand aparishioner of St.Louis King of France for over 50 years. Sherecited therosary daily andhad aprayer intention list as thick as her prayer book. Shewas greatly lovedbyher family andher selfless, caring personality, gentletouch, andsparkling blue eyes will be greatly missed. Relativesand friends are invited to attenda visitation at Lake Lawn Metairie FuneralHome, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvdon Thursday, June 12 from 10:00 am-l2:00 pm, followed by Mass at 12:00 pm. Burialwill be at Lake Lawn ParkMausoleum. To view andsign the guestbook, please visit www.lakelawn metairie.com

Wold

NewOrleans Area Deaths

Clemons,Thomas

Batt, Merlin

Brinkmann, Marilyn Anderson Sr., Melvin Bentley, Joan Bennett, Judith

Batt, Merlin Charles

Bentley, Joan Elizabeth

Clemons, Thomas David'Tommie'

Thomas “Tommie” David Clemons, born July 11, 1936, returned home to our Heavenly Father on June 2, 2025. Tommiewas born andraisedonthe White See more DEATHS page

OPINION

Getready, Omaha,LSU baseball fans coming for annual rite

In the seventh inning Sunday,whenChris

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 Louisiana in recent years. And despite boilingtemps thatfans endured on Saturday for game one of theSuper Regional series against West Virginia andthe three rain delays that preceded Sundaynight’s series clincher,fans clad in purple andgold packed Alex Box Stadium in thisyear’s celebration of that rite.

The 12-5 win Sunday nightfollowed a16-9 triumph theday before, andsetsupa showdown in the ﬁrst round of the College World Series with Arkansas, the only remainingSEC team in the tournament. Butbefore we turn ourattention to the Hogs, we can take amoment to 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 spiritsofLSU greats past:Ben McDonald, Todd Walker,Eddy Furniss and, of course Warren Morris, still seem to linger And the folks of Omahahave greeted 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’sﬁnaltournament, andTigerfans not only dominated, but obliteratedan annual Jell-O shot contest at alocalbar?

Collegebaseballhas exploded in popularity over the last several years, and LSUisfortunate to be one of the true blue bloods in thesport. Not surprisingly,many other SEC teams have also ﬁelded national championship winners, and other teams in Louisiana have also been strong.

The diamond success of LSU, Tulane,Louisiana Tech, UL-Lafayette andothers in recent years is acredit to our 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.

Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Stop theassault on ourlibraries

In St. TammanyParish, we’ve spent years watching council member David Cougle’scrusade against our public library.Itall started with an LGBTQ book display during PrideMonth —an entirely lawful, inclusive display.From there, it became afull-blown effortto restrict books, rewritelibrary policy andinstall political allies on the board. Despite it all, voters stood up. We passed thelibrary millageoverwhelmingly.Wechose access toinformation over fear and political control. Now,Cougle is back —asking theAttorneyGeneral to reinterpret Act 436 and redeﬁne theword “access” in away that would allow libraries to restrict even adult literature. Let’sbeclear: This has nothing to do withprotecting

children. It’sabout using state power to limit what the rest of us can read. There are over 500books in St. Tammanythat have already received formal complaints —most of them adult titles,including classics by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Margaret Atwood. The disease here isn’tthe books —it’sthe censorship being pushed by a small but loud political minority

The library has survived every attempttodismantle it so far. But it’s time for thebroader public to stay engaged because what’sreally at stake isn’tjust books —it’swhether your access to ideas depends on someone else’s ideology

CYNTHIA WEATHERLY Abita Springs

KudostoJefferson forstreetresurfacing work

The Jefferson ParishDepartment of Streetsdeserves atruckload of kudos for therecent resurfacing of Bonnabel Boulevard between Metairie Road and Interstate 10. Not only was thejob done quickly,but it was also efficient. The flagmen kept thetraffic flow moving, and the workers were both professional

and polite. Iand other drivers often shouted, “thank you” or ﬂashed them athumbsup. Keep up thegood work Jefferson Parish, you are appreciated.

WESLEY T. RALSTON Metairie

With Trump’sorder,futuresoldierswon’t appreciate history

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

While Iamagainst another oversized,out-of-character hotel development catering to out of state corporate interests andtourists, the real issue for me with theproposed new Convention Cener hotel is the audacity to name theevent space the Warehouse.

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

To thethousands of music devotees who grew up in thereal Warehouse on Tchoupitoulas Street from 1970-1980, myself included, this is pure sacrilege. Butlike Isaid, for the tourists.

NANCY L. LONG Old Metairie

Tulane student neighborsneed alittle understanding

Irecently read the letter from Kathleen Folse chastising Tulane students for notbeing better, more considerate neighbors. It struckmethatsomany people forgetwhatthey were like before their frontalcortex was fully formed, what it’slike to be an undergradtesting the limits of freedom andresponsibility while protected by the bumpers acollege campus offers. Sure, the kids could pick up the trash a little better. Hasshe tried, Idon’t know, asking them? It might be more effective thanposting aletterinthe paper. Additionally,failure to collect trash is acity issue.Perhaps the neighborshould talk to hercouncilmember aboutgetting more frequent pickup for hercommunity because of its proximity to Tulane

She’s blaming kids (literal kids, athing Ithink adults too oftenforget) for living in circumstances theydid notcreate. They’dlovetonot have to live in acarveduphouse with not enough space. They’d love to have space atohostparties that isn’ta neighborhood. We were grantedbetteraccommodations in college,but the world has drastically changedthrough no fault of their own. So while Iunderstand acertain leveloffrustrationwith hercircumstances, Iverymuchdon’t respect blaming the students just trying to exist as the cause when there’s an entire ecosystem at playthatthey’re just the result of And again, she should talk to herneighborcollege students. Ask for some respectful parameters. Make friends with them. Build community.Cometoasatisfactoryunderstanding forall parties. Or she can complain in aforum those kids will never see. That seems just as effective. Let me knowhow it goes LISA TENNENBAUM NewOrleans

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.

RiverinCasscoe,Arkansas, where he enjoyed“thebest catfish in theworld”and played guitar in local bandsduringhis youth. Yearning foradventure and opportunityoutside of Arkansas,assoon as he wasold enough to enlist, he chosetohonorably serve ournationbyjoining theUnitedStatesAir Force. In 1959, after deployments to Texas, California,and Germany, he found hisway to Louisianawhere he begana career in aviation supportfor thepetroleum industry at theNew Or‐leansLakefront Airport. By 1961, he plantedrootsin Slidell, Louisianaand even‐tually hisexperienceinair‐craft mechanic services parlayed into an opportu‐nity to work forChevron USA. Whilehis home base forChevron wasNew Or‐leans, hisroleinvolvedex‐tensivedomesticand in‐ternationaltravel, andhe remained with Chevron until hisretirement. During histimewithChevron,he wasbuildinghis familyand wasinvolvedinvarious sports,church,and civic activities.Hewas instru‐mental in developing the SlidellJunior BowlingAsso‐ciation, enjoyedbowling with familyand friendsat LakeshoreLanes,and en‐thusiastically traveled across thesoutheastern United States foryouth bowlingtournaments as a bowlingcoach.Tommiebe‐came involved in martial arts andspent alarge por‐tion of hislifedevoted to teaching theprinciplesand craft of karate andother martialarts. With thehelp of familyand friends(who wouldbecomelifelong friends),hedeveloped karate schoolsinthe New Orleansregionalarea, in‐cludingSouthernBlack Belt Academy, andtraveled nationwide forkaratetour‐naments. He wascommit‐tedtophysical fitnessand health andcould oftenbe found workingout or play‐ingracquetball at Cross Gates. During histravels, he enjoyedscuba diving snow skiing, snowmobil‐ing, four wheelingand zip lining.Whenhis girlswere school age, he wasin‐volved in parish life at Our Lady of Lourdesand St GenevieveinSlidell, where he volunteered histime, talentsand abilities, in‐cludingproviding karate demonstrations at church fairs.Hewas amemberof theSlidell Elks lodgewhere thefamilyenjoyed the swimming pool,bayou and Bingo. In hisspare time,he wasanavidhobby me‐chanic,rebuildingcount‐less motors at hishome garage.Hehad several prized “toys” includinga ’66convertible Mustang, a Corvette,motorcycles and asnowmobile,justto name afew.His favorite pastimewas spending qualitytimewiththose he loved. WhileTommiehad no troublehavingfun with familyand friends, he was no stranger to thesalva‐tion ofJesus Christ.Later in life,heattended church services at variousChrist‐ianchurches in theSlidell area andunquestionably acceptedJesus Christ as hisLordand savior.Pre‐cededindeath by hispar‐ents,William Clemons, Lot‐tie(neeMarkham) ClemonsCowan andMan‐ualCowan,siblingsJimmy Clemons(Shirley) andLucy ClemonsBronson (Bob) Fox (Bill), anddaughterTom‐mieDareMarie Clemons. Tommie’slegacywillbe cherishedand kept aliveby survivingdaughters Jacki Grady(Michael) andKellie Bell,their mother FloMat‐teiClemons,grandchildren PatrickGrady,Rainbow Laurant(Elson),Casey Meitzler (Eric),RobertBell (Michelle), Ryan Bell, Kas‐sadi Bell (Joshand Bear Hamilton), andgreatgrandchildrenLondon Maliden(Miles),Crimson Hawkins, RizerMeitzler andLyla Bell. He wasalso lookingforward to theup‐coming birthofhis newest great-granddaughter, Maia Bell. Additionally,Tommie is survived by many nieces,nephews,godchil‐dren,cousins andex‐tended familymembers as well as an incredible host of friends, whomhecon‐sidered“chosen family” Thefamilywishestoex‐presssincere gratitude andappreciation to theen‐tire staffatSummerfield Retirement Community, where Tommiemade his home forthe past 4years Additional thanks to his Ochsnerhealthcareteam andPassagesHospice.Rel‐atives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend theFuneral Serviceat HonakerFuneralHome, 1751 GauseBlvd. West (In Forest Lawn Cemetery), Slidell, LA on Friday,June 13, 2025, at 2:00 P.M. Visita‐tion will be at thefuneral home on Friday after 12:00 P.M. until servicetime. Arrangements by Honaker

FuneralHome, Inc.,Slidell, LA

Conic, CharlesEdward

CharlesEdwardConic age72was born on Decem‐ber2,1952 in Woodville, MS departed this earthlyhome on Monday,June2,2025. He attended Wilkerson CountySchool District (Woodville, MS)and was employed as asandblaster offshore.Charles wasthe loving father of SiviaConic, Charle Conicand Chris Conic. Belovedbrother of Mary J. White, FrancisLane andSaraLane. He wasalso survived by 6grandchil‐dren,and ahostofnieces, nephews, cousins, family andfriends.Hewas pre‐cededindeath by hispar‐ents CharlieConic andIs‐dora Conic; hissiblings Willie Conic, CormealScott andRobertRobinson; and hislifepartner Louisa Robinson.Relatives and friendsofthe familyare in‐vitedtoattend theCele‐brationofLifeService on Thursday,June 12, 2025 at Gertrude Geddes Willis Fu‐neralHome, 2120 Jackson Avenue,New Orleans, LA 70113 at 10:00 a.m. Visita‐tion from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. PrivateBurial. Youmay sign theguest book on http://www.ger trudegeddeswillis.com. Gertrude Geddes Willis Fu‐neralHome, Inc. in charge (504) 522-2525.

Cosgrove,Lee AnnRust

In Loving Memory of Lee Ann(Rust)Cosgrove. It is with deep sorrow and much love that we an‐nouncethe passingofLee Ann(Rust)Cosgrove, who aftera long 5-monthbattle with cancer,departedthis life on May30, 2025 sur‐rounded by familyand friends. Born on September 9, 1963 in Slidell, La,Lee liveda life definedbycom‐passion, unwavering strength andboundless devotion.She wasthe heartofher family- a steady,quiet forcewho gave everything shehad to thoseshe loved, neverask‐ingfor anything in return Aselflesssoul, Leespent herlifecaringfor others, oftenputting herown needsaside to ensure thosearound herfeltloved andsupported.Her hands were neverstill -always cooking, cleaning,working, giving -alwaysdoing somethingtomakelife easier forsomeone else Shegaveofherself freely, neverseekingrecognition butalwaysearning re‐spect. Shewas apersonof integrity, atirelesswork ethicand remarkable re‐silience.Whether it wasat work,athomeorinoffer‐ingwords of comfortdur‐ingdifficult times, sheled by exampleand didher best in allshe did. Above all, shewas adevoted mother, grandmotherand wife.Her family was her greatest joyand proudest accomplishment. Herlove shaped many lives, andher wisdom will remain aguid‐inglight forgenerations to come.Lee is survived by herhusband,Richard Carl Cosgrove,her sonDalton Cosgrove;her daughter Scarlett Cosgrove (grand‐sonElliott Pena), herstep‐sonDustinCosgrove (grandsonDylan Cosgrove, grandaughter MiaMeyer) as well as ChrisRust (brother)and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles andcousins.A communityminded person,Lee served in many capacities forvari‐ousorganizations:StTam‐many ChamberofCom‐merce- 2011 &2013 Ambas‐sadorofthe Year,2016 Out‐standing Member of the Year,2010 Member of the Month; afoundingmember of thePopeJohnPaulII High School Alumni Associ‐ation, andits'President 2005-2007; Edward Jones andBNI member 2007-2009, Regional Leader 2007; Leadership Northshore Classof2012, Alumni of the Year 2016; National Associ‐

ationofWomen in Con‐structionRookie of the Year 2017, WomaninCon‐structionofthe Year 2023 andChapter President 2024-2025. Shevolunteered formultiplegroupsaswell, includingthe OZONEMusic Foundation.A memorial servicewillbeheld at HonakerFuneralHome, 1751 GauseBlvd. West (In Forest Lawn Cemetery), Slidell, LA on Saturday, June 14,2025, at 10:00 A.M. In lieu of ﬂowers, thefam‐ilyasksthatdonations be made to SMHFoundation, memo Regional Cancer Center.Thoughour hearts areheavy,weare grateful forthe time we hadwith LeeAnn.She left this world abetterplace andleaves behind alegacyoflove that will live on inall who knew her. Clothe your‐selves with compassion kindness, humility,gentle‐ness andpatience. Colos‐sians3:12

Cowan,CurtisMarvin

Curtis Marvin Cowan passed away on June 6th, 2025 at theage of 69.

Curtis was known for his strong opinions, silver hair, and unmistakable style—whether he was sunbathing in thefront yard, strutting around campus in chef'spants and amini mullet,or strolling the French Quarter in fullflair

GuichetJr., OtisPhilip

Longtime husband, father,friend, educator / principal,and sportsman Otis PhilipGuichet, Jr. (82 years old) of Harahan, Louisiana, passed away peacefullyinthe presence of his beloved familyat home on May29, 2025. Otis, aka "BigO"ispredeceased by his parentsOtisPhilip Guichet, Sr., Mother Clarabelle Hebert Guichet, Step-GrandsonJeffrey Klein, former Sister-in-Law Janet St.PeGuichet, and brother-in-law Charles "Charlie"Booksh Our fatherissurvived by hisbeloved wife of 60 years, Shirley Bouquet Guichet. DaughterMichelle GuichetKlein (Michael), Grandson DevinKlein (Dr. Alex Carter-Klein) and yetto-be-born Great Grandchild Baby Klein; DaughterMonique Guichet Lemoine (Chad), Granddaughter Mia Lemoine Stansbury (Scott) and Great-Grandsons Dawson Stansbury and HayesStansbury; Son Otis "Chip" Guichet, III(Aimee), Granddaughters Hannah GuichetFouchi (Vincent), Margaret"Maggie" Guichet, and Audrey Guichet; DaughterMelissa GuichetMurray(Kyle), Grandson Jackson Murray and Granddaughters Brooke Murray and Drue Murray;Brother Ronald "Noonie"Guichet, Nieces Erin GuichetNuss (Pete) and Heather Guichet; Sister Simone Guichet Booksh and Niece Tara Booksh Barnhart (Scotty); Sister-in-Law Linda Bouquet Passauer(Kenny) and Niece Lindsey PassauerVasquez (Javier) and Brother-in-Law Roland "Rusty" Bouquet,Jr. (Diana). Otis spenthis entire professionalcareer as alifelong educatorwith the Jefferson Parish Public School System.For his entire 33-year career with JeffersonParish, he served as the principal,chief mentor, rolemodel,and educational leader at Barbre MiddleSchool.The family wouldliketothankDr. Joseph Miceli from Ochsner Hospital,Rachel Stewart and Andrea Schexnayder-Guillot from St.Joseph's Hospice and Nurse PractitionerRebecca Ezell for their care and compassion during our dad's sickness. In the Bible, specifically Galatians 5: 22-23, the Apostle Paul lists9 specific character traits reflected and seen in aGodlybeliever'slife; these are commonly called theFruits of the Spirit.These fruitsare identified as love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Allwho knewDad,eitherfor abrief time or dur-

SmithJr.,Frank Matthew

ing alifelong relationship, couldeasilysee acontinual bounty of these fruits producedinhis life yearafter-year...these harvests resulted directlyfroma life firmlyrootedinfaith in Christ. Although hislegacy as awise,generous, caring,and Godly man lives on, he willbemissedbyso many family and friends. Visitation willbeon Thursday,June 12, from 10:00 AM -12:00 PM at St. Rita Catholic Church, 194 Ravan Ave, Harahan, La. A funeralmass will follow at 12:00 PM.Inlieuofflowers thefamily is requesting that donations be madeto eitherSt. Jude's Children's HospitalorShriners' Children's Hospital

Hobart,Stanley Roberts

StanleyRoberts Hobart, adevoted familyman of Waldheim,LApassedaway peacefully at home on June 6, 2025. Stanleyissurvived by hislovingwifeof33 years, JoyLynnDutschHo‐bart,his daughter Stephanie“Stevie”Brevé (Nelson),stepsonsWeller “Jay”Huhn (Maria)and GlynnHuhn (Julie), and stepdaughter,Nancy Jo‐hansen (Erik),along with many grandchildrenand greatgrandchildren who broughtgreat joytohis life.Hewas preceded in deathbyhis firstwife, MarilynFavret, achild lost shortlyafter birth, his brotherRussell,sisterMar‐ion, andparents Clarence andRuthShurtleffHobart. Stan wasborninNorth Amherst, MA andgradu‐ated from AmherstCol‐lege.Heservedfor two yearsinthe army,sta‐tioned at Camp LeroyJohn‐soninNew Orleans, where he methis firstwifeand settledthere.Hebegan a career as aresearch chemistatSouthernRe‐gional Research Center where he worked until his retirement.Hewas active in hischurch andenjoyed gardening, golfing,wood‐workingand hisnightly glassofwineonthe back porch. Knownfor hisquiet strength andhumor,as well as hishealthy ap‐petite,helefta lastingim‐pact on everyone he met. Hismemorywill live on in thelives he touched. Rela‐tivesand friendsare in‐vitedtoattend funeralser‐vicesatWaldheimChurch, 77067 Highway21, Coving‐ton, LA.Visitationat church will be held on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. with serviceto follow at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donationsmay be made in Stan’s memory to Northshore Food Bank E.J. Fielding FuneralHome hasbeen entrusted with funeralarrangements. The Hobart familyinvites you to sharethoughts, fondest memories,and condo‐lences online at E. J. Field‐ingFuneralHomeGuest Book at www.ejfieldingfh com.

Eldest daughter of Vera Wiley and ClaudeConnell, Jon'ee was borninNew Orleans and as achild, she and her family moved to Kenner. In theearly1970'sshe workedfor Sears Roebuck and Co.inJefferson, LA and later forNational Car Rental at MSY/New Orleans Int'l. Airport. At theage of 73, on May 31, 2025 Jon'ee peacefully passed away at home with her immediate family around her. She is survived by her husband of 56 years RalphHarry Rodick Jr., ret. Kenner FD; their daughter Dawn Rodick Gall,son-inlaw Bradley Gall and her onlygrandchildLogan BradleyGall; her twosisters Marie ConnellGaudet and nieces Shanna and Kira; CarolynConnell Theriot,nephew Richard and nieces Aim'ee, Jennifer and Jessica and numerous Connelland Rodick in-laws and cousins. Jon'eewas lovedbyusand willbe missed by allthatknew her.

FrankMatthew SmithJr. wasbornApril 3rd, 1961 in NewOrleans,LAand passedawaypeacefullyon May17, 2025, at hishome in Slidell, Louisiana. Frank, affectionately knownto many as “Frankie”, left this worldashelived in it –on hisown termssurrounded by love.Frankie liveda vi‐brantlifefulloflaughter, friendship,and unforget‐tablemoments.Hehad a fondness forthe simple joys;powdered jelly donuts, time spentout‐doors, theexcitementofa casino,and thecomfort of goodcompany.His love for horses wasmatched only by hisdedicationtohis work andhis joyinspend‐ingtimewithfriends and family. Frankiehad agift formakingthose around himfeel special. Hisniece Sharon fondly remembers thenicknamehealways called her: “LittleKaren”, a smallbut meaningful re‐minder of hisuniquesense of humor andaffection.He oftensaid, “thisisn’t good‐bye, this is seeyalater”, a phrase that perfectlycap‐tureshis warm,enduring spirit.Frankie waspre‐cededindeath by hisfa‐ther,Frank Matthew Smith Sr., hismother, Roberta ChildressSmith,and his sister,SharonSmith.Heis survived by hissiblings; brothers,Russell Smith (bestfriend),Donald Smith (Sabrina), DuaneSmith andsisters,Karen Acosta (Eric),Nancy Penton (john),and CatherineRoss. He also leaves behind a host of nieces and nephewswho cherished himdeeply.Honoringhim as pallbearerswillbehis nephews; JacobKreamer BrettKreamer,Joshua Kreamer, Brennan Kreamer, LucasSmith,and Austin Mooney.Frankie will be remembered forhis humor,his heart, andthe deep connections he built with everyone lucky enough to know him. Rela‐tivesand friendsofthe familyare invitedtoattend theGraveside Serviceat Forest Lawn Cemetery 1751 GauseBlvd. West, Slidell, LA on Friday,June 13, 2025, at 12:00 P.M.

Jeannette MarieVillar‐rubiapassedawaypeace‐fully,Saturday, May31, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. Jeannette wasbornonApril 4, 1942, in NewOrlean, Louisiana, where sheresided until HurricaneKatrina,2005, re‐locatedher to Baton Rouge, LA.She lovedher newhomeand quickly adaptedtonew friends andher neighborhood.She enjoyedgardening,deco‐rating,and discovering whatBaton Rougehad to offer. Jeannette waspre‐cededindeath by herpar‐ents,Freda Fabreand Wil‐frid J. Villarrubia, whom sheloved dearly,her brother, WilfridA.Villarru‐bia, andbrother in law, Joseph J. Lafranca,Jr. She is survived by herloving sister,Ninette Villarrubia Lafranca,sisterinlaw, Eleonore D. Villarrubia, 9 devotedniecesand nephews, 21 greatnieces and nephews, 11 great greatniecesand nephews, andanother on theway,all to cherishher memory Jeannette graduatedfrom St.James Majorelemen‐tary,St. Mary’s Dominican High School (summa cum laude),and Loyola Univer‐sity (summa cumlaude), receivinga B.B.A. Degree from Loyola University Jeannette taught secretar‐ialcourses at Loyola for7 years. Shethenmoved to thebusinesssector work‐ingatBellSouth andretir‐ingin1988 after 22 yearsof service. Followingretire‐ment,Jeannette served as coordinatorfor 10 yearsfor the“Making Strides AgainstBreastCancer Walk”sponsored by the American Cancer Society. TheFamilyisgratefulfor Jeannette’s twonieces, Dr AnnLafranca Handyand KathrynLafranca Rao, who

living closeby, offered much immediate loving care andassistance, and forher nephew,StevenVil‐larrubia,who visitedand transportedher frequently Family andFriends arein‐vitedtoattendthe Funeral Services to be held at,on Saturday,June 14, 2025, at 12 noon with Visitation at 10:30 A.M. until theMassof ChristianBurial. Interment at St.Louis No.3 Cemetery In Lieu of ﬂowers, Prayers andMasseswelcome

Deacon John C. Weberpassed away on June 3, 2025, at theage of 86, dueto Leukemia.Bornon July 3, 1938, in Port Arthur Texas, to thelateClovis andEllaWeber,Johnwas a resident of Perkinston, Mississippi,for thepast ﬁve yearsand aformer resident of Slidell, Louisiana, foralmost50 years. John, affectionately called “PawPaw,”was the loving husband of thelate JaynellWeber for59years until herpassing.Together, they raised afamilythat became hispride andjoy, which includehis children JasonWeber (Tina) and JayneHarrison(Chuck), andhis cherishedgrand‐children,JustinWeber (Nicole),VictoriaGrady (Andrew),BaileyWeber (Bailey),BrookeHardaway (Tyler), Chandler Weber, Taylor Weber, Logan Weber, Chad Harrison (Haley), Rachel Lizana (Kyle),DaniellePalmisano (Chris), Hannah Olvera (Martin),MaryClare War‐ren(Kenneth),TeresaHar‐rison, Gianna Harrison,and MirjanaHarrison, as well as 16 great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind a host of extended family membersand friends, all of whomheloved greatly. John wasthe last surviving sibling, preceded in death by hissisters,Georgia Hoitsma, EllenSpears, and Marian Parr. John'slife wasa testamenttohis un‐wavering commitmentto hisfaith andhis family. Afterearning hisbache‐lor'sdegreefromLamar University in 1966 andhis master's degree from LSU in 1968, John wasa chemist with theTexas Parksand Wildlife until 1972 before moving to Louisianato beginhis career with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, retiring as a Branch Chiefin1998. His work ethicandleadership were an inspirationtoall who knew him. In 1987, John answered thecalling to become adeacon, arole he embraced with the same passionand dili‐genceheappliedtoevery endeavor.His commitment to hisfaith communitywas evidentthrough hisin‐volvementinMarriageEn‐counter andthe Rite of ChristianInitiationof Adults (RCIA),where he guided many on theirspiri‐tual journeys.A manof many interests, John was an avid hunter who found solace in thebeautyofna‐ture.Those who knew John woulddescribehim as lov‐ingand faith-ﬁlled.His warm presence andthe wisdom he shared will be profoundly missedbyall. Hischildren, grandchil‐dren,and great-grandchil‐dren will cherishthe time they spentwithPaw Paw andGrannyattheir prop‐erty in Mississippi (“The Land”).Relatives and friendsare invitedtoat‐tend avisitationonFriday, June 13, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Slidell. AFuneral Mass will beginat11:00 a.m. John will be laid to rest in SaintMatthew's Catholic Church Cemetery locatedat27074 Saint Matthew Church Road in Kiln,Mississippi,at2:00 p.m. Memories andcondo‐lences maybe expressed at www.AudubonFuneralH ome.com

Weber, John C.

Villarrubia, Jeannette Marie

Rodick,Jon'eeConnell

DEATHS

WORN ROAD

Unexpected bumpsemerged,but LSUcleared familiar path to Omaha

Long after the last revelers rounded third and danced off for home —and wellpast the time LSUplayers wrapped up the high-fives, hugsand MardiGras 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

Scott Rabalais

College World Series for 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 LSU trailed the Trojans 5-1 in the

ä See RABALAIS, page 4C

This week promises fuller pictureofSaints

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints’ threeday mandatory minicampbegins this week, and for the ﬁrst two days, fans will get the chance to watch them in person. The franchise made tickets availabletothe public afterholding training 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 campstarts 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.

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

Pels GM Graham leaves post to join Hawks

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

Alongtime member of the New Orleans Pelicans is leaving.

Pelicans general manager Bryson Graham is finalizingadeal to become senior vice president of basketball operations for the Atlanta Hawks, asource confirmed. ESPN was the first to report. Graham spent15seasons with the Pelicans, starting as an intern in 2010 when he was hired by Dell Demps. Some of his early duties included things such as makingcoffee runs for the staff

“I try to still have that same mentality,” Graham said in an interview last year.“There is nothing too small for me to do. Thepeople that work here,everybodyisbust-

ing their butt and working towards the same goal. Whatever needsto be done,let’sget it done.”

That mentalityled to Graham’s ascension. His first promotion took him from intern to video coordinator.Eventually,hebecame an assistant general manager andlast year waspromoted to general manager by David Griffin, the Pelicans executivevice president of basketball operations at thetime. Griffin was fired in April after the Pelicans finishedthe season 21-61. Graham’smainrole was helping the Pelicans find talent in the draft. Last year, the Pelicans got one of the steals of the draft when theyselected center Yves Missifrom Baylor.Many expected the 21st overall pick to be more of aproject, but Missi ended up as asecond-team

pick on the NBAAll-Rookie team

Joe Dumars, hired in April as executive vice president of basketball operations to replace Grifﬁn, said in an interview last week that Graham would remain as generalmanager.Thatnow changes withGraham headingto Atlanta. The responsibility of ﬁnding talentnow belongs to Troy Weaver Dumars’ first hire was making Weaver his senior vice president of basketball operations. Weaver served as an adviser with theWashingtonWizards this season. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as generalmanager of the DetroitPistons “Troy has aunique skillset,”

LSU swinging bats way Johnson intends

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Once his hit dribbledthrough the right side of the infield, Chris Stanfield turned and pointed to the LSU dugout. The speedy nine-hole hitter wasstill on his waytofirst 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 wasreally just pointing at the team saying, ‘Let’sgo, let’skeep it going.’ LSU added fourmorerunsthat inning 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 hadnever in its illustrious history scored at least 10 runs in consecutive super regional contests. This season, LSU had recorded at

ä See LSU, page 4C

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 Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans general manager Bryson Graham, left,and executivevice presidentofbasketball operations DavidGriffin, talk at the Smoothie King Center on Sept. 30. After Graham left forthe Hawks, neither remains withthe organization.

7:35 p.m.Canada

7p.m.Talons

7p.m.Chicago

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

Lois Boisson,the revelation of the French Open, has rocketed 296 places up theWTA rankings after her fairy-tale run at Roland-Garros.

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.

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.

‘Sick’ Schauffele revels in U.S. Open challenge

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

OAKMONT, Pa Xander Schauffele wrapped up nine holes on the most punishing U.S. Open course and was smiling. This was on a Monday, only a practice round at Oakmont. But the image illustrates why Schauffele rarely seems to suffer at the major reputed to be the toughest test in golf. He has ﬁnished out of the top 10 only once in his eight previous U.S. Open appearances. His highest score is a 75 in the third round at Brookline in 2022. He tied for 14th that week.

“Maybe I’m just sick and enjoy the challenge,” Schauffele said with another smile. “Something about it playing really hard. I think a good attitude goes a long way It’s obviously easier said than done, hard to keep a good attitude through the entire stretch of 72 holes, practice rounds as well. I don’t know I think they’re a lot of fun.” The attitude will be tested at Oakmont, the course with rough that looks like a cabbage and greens so fast it can feel like putting in a bathtub.

Schauffele still hasn’t ﬁgured out the winning part of it, at least not at the U.S. Open. Despite his top 10s, he has yet to seriously challenge in the ﬁnal hour

This year presents a different test for the 31-year-old Californian, who broke through last year in the biggest events by winning the PGA Championship and the British Open.

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

He is still trying to find his groove after missing two months with a rib injury that signiﬁcantly slowed the start of his season.

“I felt like I was playing at a pretty high level. Then I got hurt,” he said. “My expectations of what I knew I could do to where I was were different. And accepting that was tough I think that was sort of the biggest wake-up call for me coming back.”

So a U.S. Open at Oakmont — fun he calls it might be a good measure of where he is.

Most of the 156 players, and even a few alternates, made their way out to the course on a relatively dry day that should stay that way at least until the weekend.

Justin Thomas was among those who came to Oakmont a few weeks ago to get in some serious study, knowing practice rounds can be the biggest grind because they take so long. Everyone is trying to ﬁgure out what to do from the rough, where to miss, how to avoid mistakes.

Dustin Johnson played nine holes, his first time back at Oakmont since he won his first major nine years ago. He played the final seven holes not knowing if the USGA was going to penalize him for his golf ball moving on the fifth green That’s some serious mental toughness.

There have been a few changes, including even fewer trees.

“The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder,” Johnson said.

The USGA likes to test every part of the game, and that includes the mental side of it. Jack Nick-

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

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 a role.

Danny Stutsman, a fourth-round 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

Don’t count out Winston taking snaps for Giants

PAT LEONARD New york Daily News (TNS)

NEWYORK Jameis Winston seems like the forgotten man in the Giants’ quarterback rotation, with Russell Wilson being handed the starting job and rookie Jaxson Dart being groomed as the future of the franchise.

But Winston is not forgotten when they take the ﬁeld, even on limited reps.

Last Thursday was a perfect example: Wilson‘s ﬁrst series with the starters was underwhelming. Dart, stepping in as that day’s second QB with mostly backups, found rough sledding, too.

Then Winston entered as QB3 with some of the starting skill players and immediately chucked a deep touchdown pass up the left seam to Darius Slayton. Slayton was being guarded by a young backup corner named Nic Jones. Still, this was an appropriate depiction of what the team’s quarterback situation has looked like in practice so far this spring.

Wilson is the clapping huddle leader of the ﬁrst-team offense who throws the occasional nice deep ball but has struggled with consistency and middle of the ﬁeld throws. Dart is the rookie drinking

through a ﬁrehose while trying to learn Brian Daboll’s offense and apply it in his ﬁrst series of NFL practices. Sometimes the arrow is pointing up, especially due to his mobility; sometimes it looks like he will need some time.

Winston, meanwhile, is the bigplay hunter The veteran who likes to let it rip.

Sometimes it gets him in trouble. Sometimes it leads to six points.

But if chasing explosive plays is what Daboll and the Giants are after, it’s hard to understand how Winston won’t receive an early call in the bullpen if he remains on the team come the fall.

These Giants need to score at a high clip, something they have never done under Daboll.

A lot of the offseason narratives are about how great the 2025 Giants defense should be given all the talent added to that side of the ball.

But the focus needs to be on whether the offense will score and win games for the team, not rely on avoiding turnovers and punting until the defense forces a takeaway of their own.

So far this spring, with Wilson at quarterback, the ﬁrst-team defense has looked like a much better unit than the offense.

Packers release Alexander after injuries limited the two-time Pro Bowl CB

BY STEVE MEGARGEE AP sportswriter

laus, a four-time U.S. Open champion, said he used to listen to players complain in the days leading up to the Open and ﬁgure he could rule them out.

“I hope it psyches a lot of players out,” Thomas said. “I understand this place is hard. I don’t need to read articles, or I don’t need to hear horror stories. I’ve played it. I know it’s difﬁcult. I also have faith that if I go play well and I’m driving the ball well and I’m hitting my irons like I know I can, I’m going to have a lot of birdie opportunities.”

Thomas also mentioned the need to have a good attitude. The deﬁnition is different for each player For him, it’s being committed over every shot on every hole and accepting the outcome.

“I think once I start secondguessing myself or not trusting my instincts is kind of where I get myself in trouble,” Thomas said. “Then when I do that, I naturally am pretty pissed off if it doesn’t work out. It wasn’t because of the shot, it was more from the lack of commitment. That’s where it starts for me generally.”

With Schauffele, it can be hard to tell when he loses his cool Tiger Woods, who won the U.S. Open three times, was among the best at putting any anger behind him before he settled over his next shot.

“I think I look pretty level-headed when I play, but internally I might be absolutely just thrashing myself,” Schauffele said. “I think truly having a good attitude is just sort of accepting what happened and allowing yourself to be pretty much at zero to hit the next shot.”

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

Jaire Alexander has been released by the Green Bay Packers, ending a seven-year run in which he emerged as one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks before injuries limited his availability

The Packers announced the move Monday, a day before they open their mandatory minicamp.

The decision is expected to clear about $17 million in cap space.

“In his seven seasons with the Packers, Jaire established himself as one of the premier players in the NFL at one of the game’s most challenging positions,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said in a statement.

“His contributions to our organization were felt on the ﬁeld, in the locker room and in our community and he will be missed We appreciate all he gave, and we wish him all the best moving forward.”

Alexander’s future with the Packers had been the subject of much speculation throughout the offseason because of his hefty contract and recent injury history Alexander who has 12 interceptions, had two years remaining on the four-year, $84 million contract extension he signed in May 2022.

The 28-year-old Alexander has spent his entire career with the Packers, who selected him out of Louisville with the 18th overall pick in the 2018 draft. Alexander made Pro Bowls in 2020 and 2022, but he has played in only 34 of the Packers’ 68 regular-season games over the past four years. Alexander missed two early season games last season with injuries

to his quadriceps and groin He then missed a Nov 3 loss to Detroit with a knee injury, returned to play 10 snaps in the Packers’ next game against Chicago and then was out for the rest of the season. His unavailability for much of the past few seasons has the Packers believing they can move forward without the player who had remained their best cornerback when healthy Green Bay’s cornerback room also has lost 2021 ﬁrst-round pick Eric Stokes, who had his own injury issues with the Packers before signing with the Las Vegas Raiders in March. The Packers return Keisean Nixon, a two-time All-Pro kickoff returner who has become more of a factor on defense the past couple of seasons while Alexander has struggled with injuries. Carrington Valentine, a 2023 seventh-round pick, has started 19 games over the past two seasons. The Packers also added former Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs in free agency and drafted Micah Robinson out of Tulane in the seventh round. Alexander was so effective early in his career that the Packers signed him to that big contract with a $30 million signing bonus even after a shoulder injury had limited him to four regular-season games in 2021. Alexander had returned for the Packers’ NFC divisional playoff loss to San Francisco during that 2021 season. But the injuries kept coming. He started 16 games and had a career-high ﬁve interceptions in 2022, but played just seven regular-season games each of the past two years. Alexander has remained effective in pass coverage when available.

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SUE OGROCKI

Xander Schauffele gestures after his putt on the ninth green during the third round of the Memorial golf tournament on May 31 in Dublin, Ohio.

BertmancelebratesLSU’s latest CWStripinperson

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Skip Bertman has been through alot since he retired fromcoaching. The loss of his beloved wife of 63 years, Sandy Bertman, in March. The loss of his home to a ﬁre about 20 yearsago.

Recently,Bertmanhad afallat arestaurant thatleft himwith 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’s20th trip to the College World Series with a12-5 super regional victory over West Virginia.

“I’m very,very proud,” Bertman said, wearing a“CHAMPS” capgiven to LSU players and coaches as the victory celebration swirled around him. “Jay (Johnson, LSU’scurrent coach) is terriﬁc. His staff is terriﬁc. But

“I’m very, veryproud. Jay(Johnson, LSU’scurrent coach) is terrific. His staffisterrific. Buttonight, the crowd wasterrific, they made adifference.”

SKIP BERTMAN,formerLSU coach

tonight, the crowd was terrific, theymade adifference.”

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

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

The founderof the LSUbaseball dynasty, Bertmancoached the Tigers from 1984-2001. He ledthe program from irrelevance to national prominence, including the program’sﬁrst trip to theCollege World Series in 1986.

LSU made atotal of 11 trips to Omaha under Bertman, winning

five CWS championships from 1991-2000. He went 870-330-3, acareer winning percentage of .724, including an 89-29 record (.754) in theNCAA Tournament that is thehighest by any coach ever Soon after retiring from coachingin2001, Bertman served as the LSU athletic director from 200108. Bertman,who turned 87 in May, moves with awalkernow.But he saidhestill intends on making the trek to Omahaatsomepoint during theCollege WorldSeries.

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LSU pitcher ChaseShoreswatches his teammates rush the field after throwingthe final striketoend Baton Rougesuper regional against West Virginia onSundayatAlex Box Stadium.

RABALAIS

Continued from page1C

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

In two super regional victories over West Virginia, the Tigers didn’tlose and didn’treally come close, winning 16-9 and 12-5. It marked the ﬁrst time in 17 super regional appearances that LSU scoredindouble digitsintwo games.

“I know our fans like doubledigit runs almost as much as their coach does,” LSUcoach Jay Johnson said with aself-satisﬁed grin. The Mountaineers were agame bunch of birds, roughing upthe 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 combinedrunsonjust 18 total hits.They scored 16 runs Saturday on eight hits —the fewest hits resulting in that manyruns in NCAA super regionalhistory, per ESPN —and had 12 runs on 10 hitsSunday.Making up the difference? The Tigers reached or advanced on base atotal of 30 other times on West Virginia walks (17), hit batters (nine) and errors (four).

The Tigers showed disciplineat the plate, allowing the Mountaineers to do themselves in free base after free base. When LSU did weave in ahome run here or a

LSU

Continued from page1C

least10hitsinatleast four straight gamesonlyonceafter 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 SECplay.Inthe tournament, it’sscoring 10.2 runs per night. Across the regional and super regional, Steven Milam andDerek Curiel combined to go 18 of 41 (.439)with 18 RBIs. EvenJared Jones, ajunior slugger who fell into agrisly hitting slump in the regional, hit 4for 8against West

LSU shortstopStevenMilam thanks fans behind home plate after defeatingWest Virginia in the super regional on SundayatAlex

double there, the result was devastating. Alandslide that brought the Mountaineers down.

“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,’ ”Johnson said.

TheTigers will practice at home Tuesday and be off to OmahaonWednesday in advance of their CWS openeragainstArkansas. LSU will have to be at its best at taking advantage of any free passes against theRazorbacks, along with the Tigersone of the twomost talented teams going to Omaha this year.Just one of them will be saddled with an opening loss after Saturday’s 6p.m. game in the double-elimi-

Virginia.

“I think justfor me going up there with aclear mind and taking it onepitchata time,”Jones said.

“I think Iget pitcheddifferently a lot more than mostguys andjust goingout there andunderstandingI’ve gottobepatient in the box and take my walks. When pitchers make mistakes, do damageon them.

“Today Iwas really trying to be really relaxed andmove the offense and get guys on base, get some momentum in ourdugout.”

LSU’sﬁrst opponent in Omaha is Arkansas, one of thetop 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 Iteams

Former LSU

LSU’swin over West Virginiatoclinchthe super regional and atriptothe College WorldSeries on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

Season starting to getaway from Braves

BY NOAH TRISTER AP baseball writer

One seven-gamelosing streak was manageable for Atlanta —a possible ﬂuke at the startofthe season But now the Braves have dropped seven in arow again, and it’stime to wonder whether this will simply be alost season for one of the game’sstar-studded teams.

Sunday’s4-3 defeat at San Francisco dropped Atlanta to 10 games under.500 and91/2 games behind the National League’s final playoff spot. TheBraves haven’tmissedthe postseason since 2017 —and it’stoo early to count them outthis year —but they can’tafford to have much moregowrong.

Atlanta started the season 0-7, then spent about six weeks clawing its way back to .500. All that work hasbeenundoneafter the Braves dropped another seven straight this past week. The last five of those defeats were by onerun, including aghastly collapse at homeagainst Arizona on Thursday in which the Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the ninthtowin 11-10.

Afterthat, Atlanta called up reliever Craig Kimbrel from the minors —the franchise saves leader returned to the Braves for the ﬁrst time since they traded him beforethe 2015 season.He pitched once, then wasdesignated for assignment.

Atlanta overcameinjuries to Ronald Acuña and Spencer Strider to make the playoffs ayear ago. Those two are back now,but while Acuña is hitting well, Strider has lost all ﬁve of his starts on the mound. TheBraves are also oneofonlythree teamsinbaseball with more blown saves (12) than saves (10).

There are some reasons for Atlanta to keep hope alive. A big problem so far has been the team’s9-19recordinonerun games, which suggests the Braves don’tneed to improve muchtoturn things around. Theyactually have apositive rundifferential on theseason

But the NL East may alreadybe out of reach, with Atlanta trailing the ﬁrst-place NewYork Mets by 14 games.

Right now the Braves are in fourth,asclose to last-place Miami as theyare to third-place Washington.

Line of theweek

Seattle’sGeorge Kirby struck out 14 and allowed just two hits in seven innings in a3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.That snapped aﬁvegame skidfor theMariners, who could use amore effective Kirby

The right-handeris1-3 with a6.53 ERA in four starts after missing the start of the season because of shoulderissues. Perhaps this performance was asign that he’srighting the ship. Comeback of theweek

This is obviously the Diamondbacks, who according to Baseball Savant faced awin probability of 0.1% after their leadoffhitter in the ninth struck out. Lourdes Gurriel hit asolo homer, Alek Thomas added atwo-run shot andKatel Marteproducedan RBI single before thesecond out of the inning. Then Ildemaro Vargashit an RBI single,and Eugenio Suárez’stwo-run double put Arizona ahead. Five otherteams have come back to win after trailing by six this year,but none of those sixrundeﬁcits were later than the seventh inning.

nation tournament.

LSU took two of three from Arkansas at The Box amonth ago, but it may need to beat theHogs two more times to get to theCWS championship series. Celebrating is nice for now for theTigers, but they know there is much workto be done. As ever,going to Omaha is just another step on thejourney to theultimategoal: LSU’s eighthnational championship.

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

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have this year

LSU may need astrong offensive showing toget past Arkansas.

Thegood news for theTigers is thattheir hittershave found a groove. That’sfrom the topofthe orderdown to Stanﬁeld,who gave Johnson the exact hit he was looking for at perhaps the most important moment of themost important gameofLSU’sseason —sofar

“I just had agood feeling,” Johnson said, “like,hehas hit these kind of guys well, and Ifelt like he was focused, and he’staken great atbats forseveral gamesinarow Regional, super regional, and I thinkthat was huge.”

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

Box Stadium.

STAFF PHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

coachSkipBertman, left,talks on the fieldafter

of Game2ofthe NBAFinals onSunday in Oklahoma City.

Pacers need to get into thepaint more

Thunderhas done good joboftaking that aspect away from Indiana

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Pacers simply couldn’twait to gethome early Monday

There’saslewofpossible reasons for that.Maybe they just wanted to get out of Oklahoma Citywiththeir splitofthe ﬁrst two games in the NBA Finals. Maybe they couldn’twait to seewhat ﬁnals fever will looklike in Indianapolis after a25-year wait to get back to the title round. Or maybe they just wanted to getbackto work.

It’sprobably alittle of everything —especially the last part. Yes, the Pacers are tied with the Thunder 1-1 after two games ofthe NBA Finals. For the lower-seeded team, that’shuge; the Pacers took home-court advantage away by winning Game 1. But they know that if they don’ttake care of their own business at home, starting with Game 3onWednesdaynight, it’ll be advantage Thunder again, just like that.

“We’re going to have to be alot better on Wednesday,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. That mightsoundlike coaching hyperbole, but really,itisn’t.The Pacers have yet to have anyone score 20 points in agame in these

ä Oklahoma City at Indiana, 7:30 P.M.WEDNESDAy,ABC

finals. They’ve led fora total —a total! —of1 minute, 54 seconds in this series, or just under2%of the time.(That’samajor improvement over the 0.0001% that they ledGame 1for,inawinning effort, somehow.) In Game 2, the the Pacersdidn’tscore apoint in the paint in the first quarter Points in the paint isn’tastat that tends to jump off the page.It’s possible that alot of people didn’t even notice. But consider this: Before Sunday night, more than nine years hadpassed since the Pacers didn’t manage asingle paint point in the first quarterofagame.

“Wehave todoabetter job of getting to the paint,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “It’salot easier said thandone Ouroffense is built from the inside-out, andwehave to do abetter job getting downhill. Theycollapse and make plays fromthere. Ithought we could improve alot there. But yeah, man, they are ﬂying around. They have got great point-of-attack defenders andgreat rim protectors.”

Fora team that has nowwon 81 of its 100 games this season(not countingthe NBACup final loss, since that doesn’tfigure into any records), theThunder somehow tend to get overlooked for its defense. Oklahoma City handcuffed the Pacers inthe first twogames, daring Indiana to take 3-pointers and barelygiving up anything easy aroundthe rim

It starts with bothering Halibur-

ton, whichthe Thunder hasmanaged to do for the majority of the ﬁrst twogames

“Most of the guys Iguard have theballmostofthe time,” said Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, who has drawn theassignment on Haliburton formuchofthe ﬁrst two games. “My main thing is to stay in front of him andmake everything tough.He’sagreat player.Heisgoing to make some tough shots andgreat reads, so I just have to stay in front of him.”

No team gave up fewer paint points in the regular season than theThunder.Ittruly is aclash of styles; thePacers are averaging 46 paint pointsintheir 13 wins in the playoffsasopposed to averaging 36 paint points in their ﬁve losses.

“I think we have been one of the better teams scoring in the paint all yearand we have to establish thatearly,” PacersforwardMyles Turner said. “I thinkweonly had four or six points in the paint in the ﬁrst half (of Game 2) andthat’snot Pacersbasketball. When you live and die by that threeormid-range shots, it doesn’talways fare well for you.”

Maybe at home, things will be easier.The Pacers gotasplit in Oklahoma City; things could be much worse. Andnow,the Pacers have two days to try to ﬁnd away to respondtowhatthe Thunderdefense is taking away

“We’ll watch the ﬁlm, see where we can get better,” Haliburton said. “Weknow thatthe 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.”

TitlegameMVPs highlightClass 3A all-stateteams

Erath’sPicardnamed coachofthe year

BY JAKE MARTIN

LSWA

Written for

Twotitlegame MVPs collected Outstanding Player honors forthe Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A all-state teams. Doyle’sKylee Savant and Miller Sheets of Sterlington were named thesoftballand baseball teams outstanding players. In softball, Savant garnered the accoladeafter hitting .434 with a.598 on-base percentage. The Houston signeerecorded 14 homers, 12 doubles and 60 RBIs. She also stole15bases duringDoyle’s statechampionship year.Savant hit agrand slam in asemifinal victory over No. 1Kaplan 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 statechampionship series forcertain classiﬁcations in baseball allowed Sheets ample opportunities to showwhy he’sone of the top prospectsinthe state. In awinnertake-all Game3 againstErath, Sheetsbroke a1-1 tie with atwo-

runsingle, propelling histeamto a5-3 wininthe nonselect Division III state championship.

The Baylorcommitmentboasted a.435 average with three homers, 23 doubles and 57 RBIs. He only struck outfourtimes this year

He is theson of former St.Amant High star and Major League Baseball pitcher Ben Sheets.

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

Making school history helped Picardtotakethe topcoaching honorinbaseball. Erath’scoach was unsuccessfulinwrestling a state titleawayfrom Sterlington this season,but his Bobcats made the school’sfirst appearance in the state finals in baseball. Erath finished with a26-13 record.

Miller Sheets, Sterlington

COACHOFTHE YEAR: JeremyPicard,Erath Honorable Mention Landon Bernadou, Patterson; Konnor Boudreaux, St. LouisCatholic; Brennan Broussard, Erath; LukeBrister, South Beauregard; Landon Bernadou, Patterson;LiamCazenave,St. James; Landen Derouen, Erath; Jeremy Gibson, Patrick Taylor; KadinGrimmett, Buckeye; MaddoxHebert, Jennings; Jed Henry,South Beauregard; ChanceJoubert, Lake Charles CollegePrep; Caden Kossum, Vidalia; JayceLantier,Iota;JustinLartigue,LakeCharles College Prep; Kash Martin, Westlake;KarterMeaux, Kaplan; TraceMoreau, St.Louis Catholic; Cayden Mursch, Jena;

Caldwell

Iota; TJ Williams Vidalia; Christian Wold,South Beauregard. Softball

Evie West,Sterlington; Kumarigrace Nadar, Berwick; Shiya Steib St. James.

No Finals moment toobig forSGA so far

BYTIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

The moment is clearly nottoo big for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. These are his first NBA Finals. It’shard to remember that sometimes. The Oklahoma CityThunder star —and NBA MVP —just had apair of debut finals games like nobody in leaguehistory with acombined 72 points in his first two appearances in the title series. That’sa record. Theprevious mark for someone in his first two finals games: 71 by Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson in 2001.

“I’m beingmyself,”GilgeousAlexander said. “I don’tthink Itried to reinvent the wheel or step up to the plate with adifferent mindset. Just try to attack the game the right way.IthinkI’ve done apretty good job of thatso far.” His next attack chance isn’tuntil Wednesdaynight, when the series —the Thunderand Indiana Pacers are now tiedata game apiece —shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3. He had38pointsinthe Game 1loss to the Pacers,34pointsin Sunday’sGame 2win. GilgeousAlexander has more points in the ﬁrst two games than any other two players in the series —not just Thunder players, any two players— do combined. Thunder coach Mar k Daigneault isn’ttaking thegreatness of the MVP for granted.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KyLE

OklahomaCityThunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots over IndianaPacersforwardAaron Nesmith, right, during Game 2ofthe NBAFinals on SundayinOklahoma City

He’sjust come to expect it by now.

“Yeah, unsurprising at this point,” Daigneaultsaid. “It’s just kind ofwhathedoes. He just continues to progress and improve and rise to everyoccasion that he putshimself in and that we put ourselves in. Ithought his ﬂoor game(in Game 2) was really,reallyina great rhythm. Ithought everyoneplayed better individually,and Ithought we played bettercollectively.Ithinkthat was a by-product.”

He had eight assists in Game 2, makinghim the17th player in NBAhistory to have that many

pointsand that many assists in a ﬁnals game; it has now happened atotal of 34 times in thetitle series.

Butitwasn’tjusthaving assists. It was the type of assists that were key. Of Gilgeous-Alexander’seight on Sunday, six of them set up 3-pointers. Those eight assists were turned into22 pointsinall.

“He’sMVP for areason,”Pacers center MylesTurnersaid. “He’sgoing to get off, and Ithink that we accepted that. It’samatter of slowing him down and limiting the role players.” Only sevenplayers in ﬁnals his-

tory —Jerry West (94 in 1969), LeBron James (83 in 2015 and 80 in 2018), ShaquilleO’Neal (83 in 2000, 76 in 2002 and 72 in 2001), John Havlicek (80 in 1969), Michael Jordan(78 in 1992 and73 in 1993), Cliff Hagan (73 in 1961) andnow Gilgeous-Alexander have scored 72 or more points in the ﬁrst twogames of atitle series.

“Shai, you can markdown 34 points beforethey even get on the plane for thenextgame,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “The guy’sgoing to score. We’ve got to find ways to makeitas tough as possibleonhim.”

In Game 1, the Pacers bottled up Gilgeous-Alexander’ssupporting cast. In Game 2, they didn’t. It’s not really simple enough to say that’swhy the Thunder lost Game 1and won Game 2, butitiscertainly part of the equation. Or maybe it’sjust as simple as saying the MVP is playing like an MVP.He’sthe scoring champion as well, leads the playoffs in total points andjust became the 12th player in league history to cross the 3,000-point markfor aseason(counting regular season and postseason)

“I would trade thepointsfor twoWs, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.“Butthis is where ourfeet are. This is where we are. Youcan’tgoback in the past, youcan only make the future better. That’swhatI’m focused on.”

PELICANS

Continued from page1C

Dumars

Dumarssaid in an interview last week. “His ability to identify talent in thisleague is elite. Youlook at the Detroit team in the playoffs those were predominantly guys that Troy drafted. Not only that, but Troy was in OklahomaCity when they hadHardenand Durant andWestbrook andthose guys.Sohehas alongtrack record of being able to identify players at an elite level.”

Although Dumars and Weaver both worked withthe Pistons, theirtime in Detroit didn’toverlap.

“Hiring Troy wasaneasy decision for me,” Dumars said. ”Troy and Igo wayback. We have knowneach other forever,but we had never workedtogether before. This was agreat opportunity forustoworktogetherfor the ﬁrst time.”

With Graham’sdeparture, the top three executives from last season (Grifﬁn, Graham andSwinCash) are no longer with the team.

EmailRod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KyLE PHILLIPS

Oklahoma City Thunder forwardJalen Williams, right, defends against Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton during the firsthalf

PHILLIPS

NewOrleans Forecast

00 003

Virginia IP HR ER BB

Kartsonas (L, 6-4) 25 55 41

42 21 41 Bassinger 3 34 000 McDougal 21 3 00 014 WP —Eyanson (10),Kartsonas (6). HBP—by Meyer (Brown), by Eyanson (Rinehart), by Meyer (Hernandez), by Bassinger (Jones). Umpires —HP: Jason Bradley.1BLinus Baker. 2B: MikeFichter. 3B:SteveMattingly Time —3:41. A—12,301 Pro basketball NBAFinals (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) Oklahoma City 1, Indiana 1 Thursday, June5: Indiana 111, Oklahoma City 110 Sunday’sgame: Okla. City 123, Indiana 107 Wednesday’s game: Oklahoma Cityat Indiana, 7:30 p.m. Friday’s game: Oklahoma City at Indiana, 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 16: Indiana at Oklahoma City 7:30 p.m. x-Thursday, June19: Oklahoma City at Indiana, TBA x-Sunday, June 22: Indiana at Oklahoma City,TBA Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 LATE SUNDAY INDIANA (107) Nesmith 5-12 0-0 14, Siakam 3-118-9 15, Turner 6-12 3-4 16, Haliburton 7-13 0-0 17, Nembhard4-8 2-4 11, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Toppin 1-8 0-0 3, Bryant 0-1 1-2 1, Mathurin4-7 5-7 14, Furphy0-0 0-0 0, McConnell 5-7 0-011, Sheppard1-2 0-0 3. Totals 37-8219-26107.

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, Jones0-0 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. Indiana 20 21 33 33 —107 Oklahoma City 26 33 34 30 —123 3-Point Goals— Indiana 14-40 (Nesmith 4-8 Haliburton 3-8, McConnell 1-1, Mathurin 1-2, Sheppard1-2, Nembhard1-4, 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 —Indiana35(Siakam 7),Oklahoma City 43 (Hartenstein 8). Assists—Indiana 27 (Haliburton, McConnell6), Oklahoma City 25 (Gilgeous-Alexander 8).Total Fouls —Indiana 25, Oklahoma City20. A—18,203 (18,203) WNBAglance

Boston 11, N.Y. Yankees 7 Monday’s Games Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 4 TampaBay at Boston, n Toronto at St. Louis, n AthleticsatL.A. Angels, n SeattleatArizona, n Tuesday’s Games Detroit (Gipson-Long 0-0)atBaltimore(Povich 1-4),5:35 p.m. Cincinnati (Abbott 5-1)atCleveland (Cecconi1-2), 5:40 p.m. TampaBay (Pepiot 3-5) at Boston (Giolito 1-1),6:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Schmidt 2-3) at Kansas City (Cameron 2-1),6:40 p.m. Texas(Mahle 5-3)atMinnesota (TBD), 6:40 p.m. Toronto (Bassitt 6-3)atSt. Louis(Mikolas 4-2),6:45 p.m. Chicago White Sox(Smith 2-3)atHouston (McCullers 1-1), 7:10 p.m. Athletics(Spence 2-1) at L.A. Angels (Soriano 4-5),8:38 p.m. Seattle(Woo5-3) at

8:40 p.m.

SCOREBOARD

L.A. DodgersatSan Diego, n SeattleatArizona, n Tuesday’s Games Cincinnati (Abbott 5-1) at Cleveland (Cecconi1-2), 5:40 p.m. Miami (Alcantara2-7)atPittsburgh(Keller 1-8),5:40 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Rea 4-2) at Philadelphia (Abel 1-0),5:45 p.m. Washington (Gore3-5)atN.Y.Mets (Canning 6-2),6:10 p.m. Atlanta (Holmes3-4)atMilwaukee (Priester 3-2),6:40 p.m. Toronto (Bassitt6-3)atSt. 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)atSan Diego (Cease 1-5) 8:40 p.m. Seattle(Woo5-3)atArizona (Pfaadt 7-4), 8:40 p.m. Hockey

NHL Finals (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) Florida 1, Edmonton 1 Wednesday, June 4: Edmonton 4, Florida 3, OT Friday, June 6: Florida 5, Edmonton 4, 2OT Monday’s game: Edmonton at Florida, n Thursday’s game: Edmonton at Florida, 7p.m. Saturday’s game: Florida at Edmonton, 7p.m. x-Tuesday, June 17: Edmonton at Florida, TBA x-Friday, June 20: Florida at Edmonton, TBA Soccer

‘Inever wore a mask’

Before the word ‘transgender’ existed, icon Bambi already danced for the stars

BY THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS Decades before transgender became a household word and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” became a worldwide hit before visibility brought rights and recognition — there was Bambi, the Parisian icon who danced for Hollywood.

The moment that changed queer history occurred on a sweltering summer day in early 1950s Algeria. An effeminate teenage boy named Jean-Pierre Pruvot stood mesmerized as traffic halted and crowds swarmed around a scandalous spectacle unfolding in the conservative Algiers streets.

All had stopped to look at Coccinelle, the flamboyant “transvestite” star of Paris’ legendary cabaret the Carrousel de Paris, who strutted defiantly down the boulevard, impeccably dressed as a woman, sparking awe and outrage and literally stopping traffic

What Pruvot — who would become famous under the female stage name “Bambi” and Coccinelle’s best friend witnessed was more than mere performance It was an act of resistance from the ashes of the Nazi persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in World War II.

“I didn’t even know that (identity) existed,” Bambi told The Associated Press in a rare interview “I said to myself, ‘I’m going to do the same.’

AP PHOTO By THOMAS PADILLA

Marie-Pierre Pruvot, 89, known as Bambi, one of the first trans women in the world to become a public star, and a pioneer in global LGBTQ+ history.

The Carrousel troupe in the late 1940s emerged as a glamorous, audacious resistance. Bambi soon joined Coccinelle, April Ashley, and Capucine in Paris to revive queer visibility in Europe for the ﬁrst time since the Nazis had violently destroyed Berlin’s thriving queer scene of the 1930s.

The Nazis branded gay men with pink triangles, deported and murdered thousands, erasing queer culture overnight. Just a few years after the war, Carrousel performers strode onto the global stage, a glittering frontline against lingering prejudice.

Remarkably, audiences at the Carrousel knew exactly who these performers were — women who, as Bambi puts it, “would bare all.” Elvis Presley, Ava Gardner, Édith Piaf, Maria Callas and Marlene Dietrich all flocked to the cabaret, drawn to the allure of performers labeled “travestis.”

The stars sought out the Carrousel to ﬂirt with postwar Paris’s wild side. It was an intoxicating contradiction: cross-dressing was criminalized, yet the venue was packed with celebrities.

ä See BAMBI, page 2D

CARRYING THE BURDEN

National WWII Museum will step up its education efforts to ensure that lessons of the war never fade

BY DAVE WALKER Contributing writer

The National WWII Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary Friday at a remembrance ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the epic air, sea and land campaign that launched the Allies on the road to Berlin and the defeat of the Nazi Third Reich.

Originally envisioned by University of New Orleans history professors Steven E. Ambrose and Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller to tell the story of that longest day, the institution has grown to seven pavilions over seven Central Business District acres — built via a $420 million fundraising campaign — welcoming more than 10 million visitors to learn the full story of the American experience in the war

Two million of those visitors have been students and educators, according to ﬁgures provided by the museum At the anniversary celebration, Stephen J Watson, who succeeded Mueller as president and CEO in 2017, announced a 10-year, $300 million “Victory’s Promise” fundraising campaign to further expand those educational efforts.

“As time marches on, fewer and fewer Americans understand the history of the war,” Watson said at

PROVIDED PHOTO

At a recent East Jefferson Business Association luncheon, Ronnie Abboud, of The National WWII Museum Speakers Bureau, recognizes World War II PTO combat veteran Melvin Munch and shares the museum story to honor the women and men of the ‘Greatest Generation.’

the ceremony, with 23 WWII veterans among the several hundred attendees

“We believe that with the passing of time, the museum’s work to teach, to learn, to remember and

to inspire, is more critical than ever

“We believe this commitment is just as ambitious as the promise Steven Ambrose, Nick Mueller our board and the early donors made 25 years ago when they opened these doors.”

A legacy of education

Teaching World War II’s lessons and legacies has been an institutional priority since the museum’s founding.

In addition to the students who have visited the New Orleans campus, more than 900,000 have been reached via virtual distance-learning programs. Since 2019, more than 250 master’s degrees in World War II studies have been awarded through a partnership with Arizona State University

More than 20,000 teachers have been trained in the history of the war using curriculum designed by museum educators and contributing scholars. Four new cohorts of 50 teachers each will be arriving on campus this summer, including a new program built speciﬁcally for Louisiana educators.

“What our teacher workshops do is bring teachers together (into) a community shaped by the museum,” said Chrissy Gregg, associate vice president of education.

ä See MUSEUM, page 2D

‘Succession’ creator cleverly skewers tech titans

Ramy youseff, from left, Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman in ‘Mountainhead.

BY MARK MESZOROS

The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) (TNS)

For

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans has been host to many interactive exhibits over its 25 year history. ‘We believe that with the passing of time, the museum’s work to teach, to learn, to remember and to inspire, is more critical than ever,’ said Stephen J Watson, president and CEO of the museum.

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

BAMBI

Continuedfrom page1D

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

MUSEUM

Continued from page1D

The curriculum createdover theyears is rooted in teaching through the museum’sprimary sources— objects and artifacts, oralhistories andarchival material —totell the personal stories of World WarII. That’swhat makes it resonate with students.”

Oneofthe ambitiousVictory’s Promise goals is to educate 5 million K-12 student and 15,000 teachers each year,eitheron campusoronline, by 2035. In the same time frame, another new initiative aims to offer free guided ﬁeld trips for 50,000 Louisiana students each year

The message they’ll hear is that theyoung Americanmen andwomen who prosecuted the war,overseas and on the home front, were not mucholder than they are now,said Peter Crean, vice president of educationand access. “And they changed the world,” he added. The “call toaction to youasateenager is that todayyou have thepotential to change theworld just likethey did.”

The population of World WarII veterans has gradually butinevitablydiminished over thelife of the museum. Accordingly,fewer people of all ages get to experience ﬁrsthand interactionswith witnesses to the war

“Wehave to carry the burden ourselves,” Crean said. “Wedon’t have them to do it for us.”

Building andrebuilding

The Victory’sPromise campaignwillalsofundconstruction of an “education corridor” of new

The history of queer liberation shifted in this cabaret, onesequin at atime.The contrast was chilling: as Bambi arrived in Paris and found fame dancing naked for ﬁlm stars,across theEnglish Channel in early 1950s Britain the codebreaking genius Alan Turing was chemically castrated forbeing gay,leading to his suicide. Evenings spentwithlegends

Today,Marie-Pierre Pruvot as she is also known —lives alone in an unassuming apartment in northeastern Paris. Herbookshelves spill over withvolumes of literatureand philosophy.Ablack featherboa, alonewhisperfrom her glamorous past,hangs loosely over achair At nearly 90, Bambiisthe last of adying generation. She outlived all her Carrousel sisters —April Ashley,Capucine, and Coccinelle. And though the spotlight faded, thelegacy still shimmers.

In her heyday,Bambi wasn’tjust part of the show; she was the show —with expressive almond-shaped eyes, pear-shapedface, andbeauty indistinguishable from any desired Parisienne. Yetone key difference sether apart —a difference criminalized by French law

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

Marie-Pierre Pruvot, knownasBambi, one of the first trans women in the worldtobecome apublic star,and apioneer in global LGBTQ+ history, shows aphoto of her with her mother during an interview with The Associated Press,inPantin, outside Paris.

called.“Someone said, ‘Midnight.’

So she joked, ‘Then it’ll be ﬁnished by ﬁve past midnight.’

Reassignment surgery

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.

andrepurposed buildings along the river sideofMagazine Street opposite the museum’smain campus, bracketing the Higgins Hotel and Conference Center and the Kushner Restoration Pavilion.

The expansion of themuseum’s virtualreach —website visits to historical content, onlineaccess to symposia, conferences and Meet theAuthor events, podcasts, etc. —isanother Victory’s Promisecampaignemphasis.

Refurbishments are also plannedfor themuseum’sexisting galleriesand attractions, includingthe Beyond All Boundaries multimedia presentation producedand narrated by Tom Hanks, and “The D-Day Invasion of Normandy” galleriesthatwere the solefocusofvisitors when the museum opened in June 2000, a full-circle moment for theinheritors of the vision conceived by cofounders Ambrose and Mueller

“A lot of the core stories will remain the same,”Watson said.

“Wehavealot of new artifacts, a lot of new oral histories, new archival footage, so we have more resources now.”

The renovation, planning for which is already underway,will require the exhibit to be closed for about ayear once the in-gallery work commences, Watson added,with2027asa reopening target.

“One of therules of engagement Isaid to the team when we startedwas ﬁrst do no harm,”he said.

Dave Walker focuses on behind-the-scenes coverage of the region’smany museumshere and at www. themuseumgoer.com. Email Dave at dwalkertp@gmail.com.

Thedepth of herhistoryonly becomes apparent as she points to striking and glamorous photographs and recountsevenings spent withlegends.

Such was their then-famethat thename of Bambi’shousemate, Coccinelle, became slang for “trans” in Israel —often cruelly

OnceDietrich, the starry queer icon,arrived at thetinyMadame Arthur cabaret alongside Jean Marais, the actor and Jean Cocteau’s gay lover.“It was packed,” Bambi recalled.“Jean Marais instantly said, ‘Sit (me and Marlene) on stage’ Andsothey wereseated onstage, legscrossed, champagne by theirside, watching us perform.”

Another day,Dietrich swept in to ahair salon.

“Marlene alwayshad this distant, untouchable air —except when late forthe hairdresser,” Bambi says, smiling. “She rushed in, kissed thehairdresser,settled beneaththe dryer,stretched her long legs imperiously onto astool, and lit acigarette. Her gaunt pout as she smoked —I’ll never forget it,” she says, her impression exaggerated as she sucked in her cheeks.Perhaps Dietrich wasn’t her favoritestar Thenthere was Piaf,who,one evening, teasingly joked about her protégé, theFrenchsinging legendCharlesAznavour,performing nearby.“She asked, ‘What time does Aznavour start?’”Bambi re-

REVIEW

Continuedfrom page1D

However,the hourlong format brought with it too much time for the viewer to wallowinall the Roys’ miseryand theinsultsthey ﬂung at each other

Contrast that with the 30-minute comedyseries “Veep,” whichalso ran on HBO andgavethe viewer afast-paced and smartly written slice of insult-based humor each week. (There’splentyofconnective tissuebetween theseries, as Armstrong worked with the creator of “Veep,” Armando Iannucci, on theBritish series “The Thick of It” andits excellent2009 bigscreen offshoot,“In theLoop.”)

“Mountainhead”succeedswhere “Succession” struggled.

Tech titans’poker game

Funny and thought-provoking, the clever ﬁlm sees four friends aquartet of tech titans —getting together for apoker weekendinthe new mountain retreat one of them had constructed in asnowy and entirely picturesque chunk of Utah.

Hugo (Jason Schwartzman)is hosting Randall (SteveCarell), Venis (CoryMichael Smith) and Jeff (Ramy Youssef), who call him “Souper” —shortfor “Soup Kitchen”—because while they areworth billions, he’s good for only about $500 million and some change. The weekendistoinvolve “no meals”—the men will really rough it with cold cuts and the like —and “no deals”—this is notatimefor business to be done.

Here’s thething,though: Ven’s socialplatform, Traam, hasjust released amassive update with new content-creation andmessaging upgrades, and the deepfake videos and rapid spreading of misinformation that thoseupgrades make easy for users is leading to unrest and violence around the globe. It would really smooth things over with his company’sboard if he could acquirethe strongAI-

Behindthe glamour lay constant danger.Livingopenly as awoman was illegal.“There was apolice decree,” Bambi recalls. “It wasa criminal offense foraman to dress as awoman. But if you worepants and ﬂat shoes, you weren’tconsidered dressed as awoman.” The injusticewas global. Homosexuality remainedcriminalized for decades: in Britain until 1967, in parts of the U.S. until 2003. Progress came slowly

In 1950s Paris, though, Bambi bought hormones casually overthe-counter,“like salt and pepper at the grocery.”

“It was much freer then,” but stakes were high, she said. Sisters were jailed,raped, driven into sexwork. One comradedied after botched genderreassignmentsurgery in Casablanca.

“There was only Casablanca,” sheemphasized, with one doctor performing the high-risksurgeries.Bambi waited cautiously until her best friends,Coccinelle and April Ashley, had safely undergone procedures from the late 50s before doing the sameherself. Each nightrequired extraordinary courage. Post-war Paris was scarred,haunted. The Carrousel wasn’tmere entertainment —but aone-ﬁngered salute to the past in heels and eyeliner

“There was this after-the-war feeling —people wanted to have fun,” Bambi recalled. With no television, the cabarets were packed every night. “You could feel it

drivencontent-moderation tech developed by Jeff’s company Ooooh, it’s too badVen said something rotten about Jeff on a podcast,isn’tit?

No heroes in startupworld

As with“Succession,” Armstrong isn’tinterested in giving us any heroes. Here, Jeff comes the closest, seeming to have genuine concern for the digital plague brought on by Traam— even as Jeff’s company suddenly is doing very well, now that the value of rooting out the fake from the authenticisbeing greatly appreciated. Venisn’tsure how to feelabout what’shappening —heck, he isn’t even sure other people are real but he largely sticks to the idea thatthis development will be good for his company in the long run, that after alearning curve, the majority of Traam’s4billion-plus userswillrealize that “nothing means anything and everything’s funny and cool.”

While Jeffbrainstorms ideas about how best to mitigatethe crisis, Randall seeks avenues to capitalize on it. He sees ways for the four of them to leverage it for evenmorewealth andpower,the little folk be damned. More importantly,hebelieves Ven’scontinued successcould facilitate the latter’s goal of developing tech that would allowfor thedigitaluploading of ahumanconsciousness. (Randall has his reasons.)

Andthen there’sSouper,who, at least initially,isjust happy to have the boys over to his fancy new digs, voicing excitement over the space turning into the “intellectual salon”he’d envisioned as the possibilityofanew world order is chewed on by the others. Musingsfor thelackluster Armstrong excelsinwriting absurd musings forlackluster humans, andthey hit at an impressive clip in “Mountainhead.”

“Not real,” Vensays when another showshim footage of violence on asmartphone. “Heads don’texplode like that.”

people demanded to laugh, to enjoythemselves, to be happy.They wanted to live again …toforget the miseries of the war.” In 1974, sensing ashift, Bambi quietlystepped away from celebrity, unwilling to become “anaging showgirl.” Swiftly obtaining legal female identity in Algeria, she became arespected teacher and Sorbonne scholar,hiding her dazzling past beneath Marcel Proust and careful anonymity fordecades. ‘I neverworea mask’

Despite what she’switnessed, or perhaps because of it, she’sremarkably skeptical about recent controversies around gender This transgender pioneerfeels wokeism has moved tooquickly, fueling abacklash.

She sees U.S. President Donald Trumpaspartof“aglobalreaction against wokeism… families aren’tready… we need to pause and breathe alittle before moving forward again.”

Inclusive pronounsand language “complicate the language,” she insists. Asked about author J.K. Rowling’santi-trans stance,her response is calmly dismissive: “Heropinioncounts no more than abaker’soracleaning lady’s.”

Bambi still stands —proud, elegant, unbowed —ina life spanning World WarIItoHarry Potter When she ﬁrst stepped onstage, the world had no words for someone like her.Soshe danced anyway.Today,the words exist. So do the rights. And the movements she helped inspire. “I never wore amask,” she says softly,but ﬁrmly. “ExceptwhenI wasaboy.”

‘MOUNTAINHEAD’ HHH

RATING: TV-MA

RUNNING TIME: 1hour,48minutes

HOWTOWATCH: Streaming on Max

Armstrongand the endeavor’s casting folks have assembled an appealing foursome, each actor bringing something to the increasingly high-stakes affair

The standouts are the veteran Carell (“The Office, Foxcatcher”), whosomehow makes Randall at least alittlelikable even as the character is giving in to his most despicable instincts, andSmith, whoimpressedasChevy Chasein last year’s“Saturday Night.” Here, again, Smith commands attention as the spiraling Venholds court. That said, Schwartzman (“AsteroidCity”)delivers as the subtly ridiculous Souper,and Youssef (“Ramy”) hits the mark with his insults aimed at the former’sexpensive, personality-lacking expensive new digs and referring to Randall, whom he sees as amentor, as “Dark Money Gandalf.” Asatirethathitshome

Given what transpires in the secondhalfof“Mountainhead,” thisgreed-is-good taleeasily could have gone off the rails but Armstrong leads it to asatisfying destination.

“Mountainhead” is only so ambitious, but, ultimately,this satire hitshome; what is happening to the world around these men and theirreactionstoitfeel onlyso far-fetched.

Armstrong seems to be saying we should be worried about powerful people like these four tech bros —but, perhaps, only so worried.Ven seemstothink Traam may be able to make adifference in the conﬂict between Israel and Palestine with the right funny video, andJeffpokes at Randall as the latter mishandles his phone while plotting the takeover of the world. “Hey,Grandpa,” he says, “you’re light’son.”

PHOTOByTHOMAS PADILLA

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.

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

FrAnK 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. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

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

Previous answers:

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words

four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,”

nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

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

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

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

Puzzle Answer

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

NINTHWARD 3Br/1BaPrivParking,fencedyard, applncsincl$1200/mo 504-638-3653

BE ACCEPTED ONLY FROM CONTRACTORS THATATTEND THEEN‐TIRE PRE-BIDMEETING. Bids shallbeaccepted from Contractorswho arelicensedunder LA R.S. 37:2150-2192 forthe classification of Building Construction.Bid Draw‐ings,Specificationsand Documentswillbepro‐videdbyemailingapp‐sLA@itexgrp.com. Bid‐ders areresponsible for theirown reproduction costs. No bidmay be withdrawnfor aperiodof forty-five (45) days after receiptofbids, except under theprovisionsof L.A. R.S. 38:2214. The Ownerreservesthe right to reject anyand allbids forjustcause 143553 June 3, 10, 16, 3t $937.30

andWater BoardofNew

Steel Piping

TheSewerageand

BoardofNew

(Board) is soliciting

from companiestosup‐plytosupplySteel Piping Materials. Invitation to Bid(ITB) will be available June 10, 2025, fordownloadatthe followingwebsites: Board: https://www2 swbno.org/business_bid speciﬁcations.asp LAPAC:https:// wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/OSP/LaPAC/dspBid cfm?search=departm ent&term=181 Faxand emailsubmis‐sion will notbeaccepted.

Bids will be received by theSewerageand Water BoardofNew Orleans ProcurementDepartment by June 25, 2025, at 11:00 AM.(CentralTime).For submission instructions seebid documents.

Bids will be publicly opened on June 25, 2025, at 11:30 AM (Central Time)inthe Procurement Conference Room,Rm 131, locatedat625 St Joseph St NewOrleans Louisiana70165.

LATE BIDS WILL NOTBE ACCEPTED 144238-JUN10-17-2T $37.74

PUBLIC NOTICE

In accordance with the OilPollution Actof1990 (33USC 2714(c)), Spec‐trum OpCo LLC(Spec‐trum)has been named as thesourceofa dis‐charge of an undeter‐minedamount of crude oilintoa tributaryofthe Gulf of America, that oc‐curred at theGardenIs‐land BayProductionFa‐cility,WellNo. 59 in PlaqueminesParish, near Venice,Louisiana on or about26April 2025. This spill impactedthe previ‐ouslymentioned tribu‐tary,known as Garden Is‐land Bay, andasthe owneroroperatorofthe unsecuredwellhead, Spectrum OpCo,LLC is acceptingclaimsfor cer‐tain uncompensatedre‐movalcosts anddam‐ages Removalcosts anddam‐ages which maybecom‐pensated includere‐movalcosts performed in accordance with the National Contingency Plan;damagetonatural resources; damage to or loss of real or personal property;lossofsubsis‐tenceuse of naturalre‐sources; loss of govern‐ment revenues;lossof profits andearningsca‐pacity;and increased cost of public services Claims should be in writ‐ing, signed by the claimant,for aspecified amount;and should in‐cludeall evidence to supportthe damages. Claims presentedmay in‐cludeclaims forinterim short-term damagesrep‐resentinglessthanthe full amount to which the claimant ultimately may be entitled.Itshouldbe notedthatpayment of such aclaim shallnot preclude recovery for damagesnot reflectedin thepaidorsettled partial claims.Claimsshouldbe mailedtothe following address: Global Risk Solutions Attn:Spectrum Well 59 Claim 1000 Brickell Avenue Suite610 Miami, Florida33131 Office hoursare from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST, Monday throughFriday, except holidays Claimantsmay call 866601-5880. Anyclaimswhich arede‐nied,orwhich arenot re‐solved within 90 days after thedateofsubmis‐sion maybesubmitted viaemail to: HQS-SMBNPFC-ClaimsInfo@uscg mil Alternatively, claims may be sent viamailtothis address: Director National PollutionFunds Center (Ca),USCOAST GUARDSTOP7605 2703 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AVESE

y inviolation of Codeof Ordinances,Chapter 29, Roadsand Bridges, Arti‐cleV.Constructionof Sidewalks, andmustin‐stalla newsidewalk and/or repair or replace an existing sidewalk,as thecasemay be Section 29-151, Para‐graph(C) requires that this notice be published three(3) timeswithin a thirty (30) dayperiodin theofficial journalofJef‐ferson Parish after which thepropertyowner shall have thirty (30) days from date of last publica‐tion to file objectionor requestanextension,in affidavitform, with the Director of Engineering. If no response is re‐ceived,the Department of Engineeringwillhave theworkdoneand pro‐ceed thereafter in accor‐dancewiththe afore‐mentionedCodeofOrdi‐nances Monette Malvoisin 3837 Chadwood Dr Harvey,LA70058 RE:WOODMERE SOUTH Lot40SqB Sec1 3837 Chadwood Dr Harvey,LA70058 Repair/replace Sidewalk 14452-jun10-17-24-3t $56.43

Followingisthe name andaddressofa prop‐erty ownerwhomthe Jef‐ferson Parish Depart‐ment of Engineeringhas been unable to contact by certified letter,who is in violationofCodeof Ordinances,Chapter 29, Roadsand Bridges, Arti‐cleV.Constructionof Sidewalks, andmustin‐stalla newsidewalk and/or repair or replace an existing sidewalk,as thecasemay be Section 29-151, Para‐graph(C) requires that this notice be published three(3) timeswithin a thirty (30) dayperiodin theofficial journalofJef‐ferson Parish after which thepropertyowner shall have thirty (30) days from date of last publica‐tion to file objectionor requestanextension,in affidavitform, with the Director of Engineering. If no response is re‐ceived,the Department of Engineeringwillhave theworkdoneand pro‐ceed thereafter in accor‐dancewiththe afore‐mentionedCodeofOrdi‐nances JamesW.Johnson 3841 Chadwood Dr Harvey,LA70058 RE:WOODMERESOUTH Lot41SqB Sec1 3841 Chadwood Dr Harvey,LA70058 Repair/replace Sidewalk 144529-jun10-17-24-3t $56.43

g p g theaffairs of thecorpo‐ration under theprovi‐sion(s)ofLouisiana Re‐visedStatute 12:12:1335. RichardMontgomery, Esq. Transcendent Law Group, 3726 CanalStreet NewOrleans,LA70119. 504-459-4557. 143608 June 3, 10, 2t $163.64

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that themembers of Bel‐legard Bakery Manage‐ment,LLC,a Louisiana LimitedLiability Com‐pany with an addressof 2538 DanteStreet,New Orleans, LA 70118, have approved aproposalthat thecompany dissolve TheMembers arenow engagedinwinding up andsettlingthe affairs of thecorporation under theprovision(s)of LouisianaRevised Statute12:12:1335. Richard Montgomery, Esq. Transcendent Law Group, 3726 CanalStreet NewOrleans,LA70119. 504-459-4557. 143607 June 3, 10, 2t $168.76

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice is hereby giventhatthe Goal and Conditions of the LouisianaDepartmentof Transportation andDe‐velopment'sDisadvan‐tagedBusinessEnter‐priseProgram areavail‐able forpublicinspection and/or comment.The De‐partmenthas estab‐li h d l

p lished a 17.8% annual DBEgoalfor FederalFis‐calYears 2026-2028. The methodology andspe‐ciﬁcinformation about howthisgoalwas estab‐lished areavailable for review andcomment for 30 days beginningMay 5, 2025 at: DBEGoal Methodology andIn‐struction2026-2028.pdf Writtencommentscan be sent to theLouisiana Department of Trans‐portationand Develop‐ment,CompliancePro‐gramsOfﬁce;ATTN: PaulaMerrick Roddy StatewideProgram Man‐ager –CompliancePro‐grams, P.O. Box94245, Room 305-L, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9245. This goalwas estab‐lished basedonthe DBE Program,49CFR Part 26 Terrence J. Donahue,Jr. Secretary 141056-may15-june 1330t $421.00

and statematch require‐ments; •$40 millionreduced from the Watershed Monitoring,Mapping andModeling program; and •$17 millionreduced from the WatershedPol‐icy, Planning,and Local Capacity Assistance pro‐gram

TheU.S.Departmentof Housingand UrbanDe‐velopmentconsiders this amendmentsubstantial becauseitmoves more than $25 millionor makesa change that af‐fectsmorethan25% of a program’sbudget. After acceptingpubliccom‐ments, thestate will sub‐mitthe plan to HUDfor ﬁnalfederal approval Once HUDapproves the plan,the statewillimple‐ment theproposed changes Theactionplanisavail‐able at doa.la.gov/doa/ ocd/policy-and-reports/ apa/ or by calling