The Acadiana Advocate 06-11-2025 by The Advocate

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Ceremony officially opens Fire Station 6 in Lafayette

Fair Grounds racing season in peril

Owner Churchill Downs says it plans to give up licenses at N.O. track

BY ANTHONY McAULEY and TYLER BRIDGES Staff writers

The upcoming horse racing season in New Orleans is in peril after the owner of the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots said it plans to give up its racing and gambling licenses following a failed effort to get state legislators to agree to a subsidy to replace lost revenue from slots.

William Carstanjen, the chief executive of Churchill Downs Inc., which has owned the historic track for the past two decades, told the Louisiana State Racing Commission and state legislators in a letter dated June 9 that the company plans to relinquish its license to

operate the track and its other 13 off-track betting operations at the oversight board’s next meeting.

The commission’s executive director, Stephen Landry, said Tuesday that he’s seen the letter but the commissioners haven’t yet set a date for the meeting. He said they expect it will be held sometime within the next 30 days. He declined to comment further

The stalemate leaves in doubt the upcoming season, which normally begins on Thanksgiving and runs through March. The Fair Grounds season is a critical part of the $2.5 billion Louisiana horse racing and breeding industry’s annual calendar, and includes the Louisiana Derby and the Risen Star Stakes, both high-purse races

that are part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series.

At issue is the loss of tens of millions of dollars in revenue by Churchill Downs after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in March that the company could not operate a type of slot machine called Historic Horse Racing, or HHR — unless it got voter approval in each parish where the slots operate. The court decision overturned a 2021 law that had allowed the HHR slots, which are based on anonymized previously run races, as an extension of horse race betting. The court ruled that HHRs are effectively another type of

ä See FAIR GROUNDS, page 4A

ALYSE PFEIL

Lawsuit against police put on hold

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

A federal lawsuit against Lafayette Consolidated Government and several police officers over the shooting death of a child during police response to a 2023 domestic disturbance has been delayed until a related criminal case is resolved. Kaci Cyprian, 19 months old, was shot and killed in August 2023, allegedly by a Lafayette police officer Police responded to a disturbance call

Family suing Lafayette, officers over girl’s death ä See LAWSUIT, page 5A ä See ABORTION, page 5A

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

fighters chat outside following the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for Fire Station 6 on Camellia Boulevard in Lafayette. The 7,156 square-foot station was completed in April and cost $3.3 million.

From left, Russell Trahan, owner of Trahan Architecture and Planning; Warren Abadie, director of public works; Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet; and Fire Chief Robert Benoit share a laugh following the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for Fire Station 6.

Firefighting gear is hung up and ready for use at Fire Station 6 on Camellia Boulevard.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

The Fair Grounds season includes the Louisiana Derby and the Risen Star Stakes, both high-purse races that are part of the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ series.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Barbara weakens to a tropical storm

MEXICO CITY Tropical Storm Barbara gradually weakened Tuesday as it continued heading northwest away from land after earlier strengthening to a hurricane. The storm marked the ﬁrst hurricane of the eastern Paciﬁc hurricane season.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said swells generated by the storm system will affect portions of the coast of southwestern and west-central Mexico, as well as the southernmost portions of Baja California, on Tuesday Those swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Hurricane Barbara was located about 180 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. It strengthened into a hurricane on Monday, but its maximum sustained winds had since decreased to about 60 mph. The storm’s center was moving northwest at 8 mph. The NHC said continued weakening was forecast, and Barbara is expected to dissipate by Wednesday

The storm had been expected earlier to bring heavy rainfall to coastal areas of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco states, with the possibility of localized flooding. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cosme strengthened slightly Monday but remained well off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday about 605 miles southsouthwest of the tip of Baja California, the NHC said.

Penguins show decline in region of Antarctica

WASHINGTON The population of emperor penguins in one part of Antarctica appears to be declining faster than previously thought, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery released

Tuesday

The estimated population of 16 penguin colonies — visible in satellite photos taken between 2009 and 2024 — had declined 22% during that period mainly because of climate change that’s shrinking the amount of available sea ice. It’s unclear whether this drop is seen across the continent, scientists said.

“Sea ice is very important for the penguins because they breed on sea ice and forage on sea ice,” said Peter Fretwell, of British Antarctic Survey, who helped analyze the data.

Scientists previously estimated that the total emperor penguin population declined about 10% across all of Antarctica over the past decade and a half. The latest survey included a region covering the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea.

“It’s absolutely alarming that the numbers are so much worse than predicted,” said Daniel Zitterbart, a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the study There are uncertainties in the latest estimate. The analysis relies on a calculation of how densely the penguins are clustered in each area where they’re detected in a single satellite photo taken each year 4 dead in explosions in southwest Colombia BOGOTA, Colombia — At least four people were killed in Colombia on Tuesday as rebel groups detonated bombs near police stations in the city of Cali and the neighboring Cauca province, according to authorities.

Military and police spokespeople blamed the attacks on the FARC-EMC, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.

Authorities said the rebels placed bombs in cars and motorcycles that were parked near police stations. The attacks on the police stations come just days after Miguel Uribe, a conservative presidential candidate, was shot during a rally in Bogota. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe, who is in a critical condition in hospital in Bogota. Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia following its peace deal with the government.

Two Israeli Cabinet ministers sanctioned

BY JULIA FRANKEL and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

JERUSALEM Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two farright Israeli government ministers for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence, which has spiked since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, are champions of Israeli settlement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements there. They could now face asset freezes and travel bans.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the ﬁve countries said Ben-Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the two men “have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months” and “encouraging egregious abuses of human rights.”

“These measures are directed at individuals who directly contribute to extremist settler violence,” said Canadian

Foreign Minister Anita Anand. “The measures are not directed against the state of Israel itself.”

Smotrich wrote on social media that he learned of the sanctions while he was inaugurating a new West Bank settlement.

“We are determined to continue building,” he said.

Ben-Gvir, also writing on social media, said “we overcame Pharoah, we’ll overcome Starmer’s Wall,” referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Israel’s government condemned the announcement, which came as traditional allies of Israel escalate denouncements of Israel’s actions in Gaza, from the high civilian death toll to a monthslong blockade that led to famine warnings.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions decision “outrageous.” He said he had discussed it with Netanyahu and they would meet next week to discuss Israel’s response.

He said that the move threatened to harden Hamas’ stance in ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza and to cut short Israel’s operation in Gaza before it achieves its goals.

Benny Gantz, an centrist Israeli lawmaker an political rival to Netanyahu, wrote he “vehemently” disagreed with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir but said the move was “profound moral mistake and sends a dangerous message to terrorists around the world.”

Netanyahu is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza, part of a global wave of outrage at Israel’s conduct during its 20-month war against Hamas. Netanyahu has denied the allegations and accused the court of being biased against Israel.

Former student opens fire at an Austrian school, killing 10

BY PHILIPP JENNE and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

GRAZ, Austria A former student opened fire at a school in Austria’s secondbiggest city on Tuesday, fatally wounding 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life, authorities said.

There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who had no previous police record. He used two weapons, which he was believed to have owned legally, police said.

“Today is a dark day in the history of our country,” Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker told reporters in Graz, a city of about 300,000 people in southeastern Austria.

He called it a national tragedy that shocks us deeply” and said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff at ofﬁcial buildings A national minute of silence is to be held on Wednesday morning in memory of the victims.

Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, over half a mile from Graz’s historic center, after calls at 10 a.m. reporting shots at the building. More than

300 police officers were sent to the school, which was evacuated Footage from the scene showed students ﬁling out quickly past armed ofﬁcers.

Police said security was restored in 17 minutes.

The assailant, who acted alone, was a 21-year-old Austrian man who lived near Graz, police said. His name wasn’t released.

Regional Police Chief Gerald Ortner said two ﬁrearms a long gun and a handgun — were used in the shooting and recovered from the scene, and that the assailant was apparently legally in possession of them. The man took his own life in a bathroom Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the gunman had been a student at the school and hadn’t

Wis. man accused

of threatening Trump can be released on bail

BY SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press

CHICAGO An immigrant man who was falsely accused of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump can be released from a Wisconsin prison on bail, an immigration judge determined Tuesday Ramón Morales Reyes was accused of a writing a letter threatening Trump in a blistering social media post by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem The post includes Morales Reyes’ photo and an excerpt from the letter he purportedly wrote in English. But the claims quickly fell apart as Wisconsin authorities determined that Reyes, who doesn’t speak English well or write in the language, was framed.

The immigrant from Mexico was a victim in a violent 2023 attack where his bike was stolen. According to authorities, the alleged attacker Demetric D. Scott, forged the letter to try to clear his case. Morales Reyes was set to be a witness in Scott’s July trial for armed robbery and aggravated battery Judge Carla Espinoza set Morales Reyes’ bail at $7,500 during a brief hearing at immigration court in Chicago.

“The defendant does not present a danger to the community,” she said.

Morales Reyes, 54, appeared virtually from Dodge Detention Center in Juneau about 70 miles north of Milwaukee. He could be released this week if the federal government does not appeal.

An attorney for the federal government did not speak at the hearing. In a statement Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security said it would “continue to ﬁght for the arrest, detention, and removal” of immigrants without legal status but did not respond to a question about whether government attorneys would appeal Morales Reyes’ bail.

Morales Reyes, a married father of three U.S. citizen children, works as a

dishwasher in Milwaukee. He was arrested by immigration agents last month after dropping a child off at school. He immigrated from Mexico in the 1980s and doesn’t have legal permission to be in the U.S. This year, he applied for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who are victims of serious crimes. Getting such a visa can take years.

Homeland Security issued a statement to reporters last week saying that although Morales Reyes was no longer considered a threat to Trump, federal attorneys would still pursue an immigration case. The government alleges that Morales Reyes reentered the U.S. times numerous times without a visa.

However, Noem’s social media post blaming Morales Reyes for an assassination attempt, which was circulated by Trump supporters, remains online. Cain Oulahan, an attorney for Morales Reyes, said his client is a crime victim and blasted the misinformation.

“We’d like to hear an ofﬁcial public correction and that someone else is responsible,” he said. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Morales Reyes daughter spoke to reporters, saying her father is hardworking and always focused on putting food on the table and keeping a roof over the family’s heads. She said he also loved to take his children to parks or for walks and planned frequent cookouts.

“My dad is a not a threat to anyone. He is a good man who got caught up in a terrible situation,” said Anna Morales. “Now that the truth has been proven, I ask from the bottom of my heart he gets the justice he deserves. We need him more than words can explain.”

A hearing for Scott on newer charges related to the letter, including felony witness intimidation and theft, was rescheduled from Tuesday to June 23. He is in the Milwaukee County Jail.

completed his studies. He didn’t specify when the man left the school or at what age.

Karner said Tuesday afternoon that six of the dead were female and three male, but didn’t give further information. He said 12 people were wounded. The state hospital in Graz later said that a 10th victim, an adult woman, had died of her injuries, the Austria Press Agency reported.

Austria’s Red Cross said it had deployed 65 ambulances to the scene and 158 emergency staffers were helping treat the injured In addition, 40 specially trained psychologists were counseling students and parents. The Red Cross also called on locals to come forward and donate blood.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAJDI MOHAMMED

An Israeli armoured vehicle drives near burning tires during a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KLEINE ZEITUNG

Police officers attend the scene of a shooting at a school in Graz, Austria, on Tuesday.

Calif. governor asks court to blocktroopsinraids

BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ, CHRISTOPHER WEBER, LOLITAC.BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press

LOS ANGELES California

Gov.Gavin Newsomasked afederal court Tuesday to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in LosAngeles, saying the practice would only heighten tensions.

Newsom ﬁled the emergency request after President Donald Trump ordered the deployment to L.A. of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines following protests driven by anger over the president’s stepped-up enforcementof immigration laws.

The governor’srequest said it was in response to achange in orders for the Guard members, who wereoriginally deployed to protect federal buildings. The court documents said sending troops on immigration raids would only escalate tensionsand promote civilunrest.

TheMarines and another 2,000 National Guard troops were ordered to L.A. on Monday,adding to amilitary presencethatlocal ofﬁcials andNewsom do not want and thatthe policechief says makesitharder to handle the protests safely Marine CorpsGen. Eric Smith said Tuesday that the Marines deployed to the area had not yet been called torespond tothe protests and were there only to protect federal ofﬁcials and property.

TheMarines were trained for crowd control but have no arrestauthority,Smith told abudget hearing on Capitol Hill.

Paul Eck, deputy general counsel inthe California Military Department,said the agency was informed that thePentagon plans to direct theCaliforniaNational Guard to start providingsupport for immigration operations.That support would include holding secure perimeters around areas where raidsare taking place and securingstreets forimmigration agents, he said in

the governor’s emergency request. AccordingtoU.S. ofﬁcials, theCalifornia Guardmemberswho weredeployed were authorized to provide protection and secure streets and perimeters around areas where enforcement actions aretaking place. The officials,who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said theGuard membersare not participating in any of the enforcement actions,but are providing security andhave already been doing some of those missions in theLos Angeles area.

Insurrection Act

Trump left open the possibilityofinvoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy militaryforces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It’s one of the most extreme emergency powersavailable to aU.S. president “If there’saninsurrection, Iwould certainly invoke it. We’ll see,” he said Tuesday

from the Oval Office. “But Ican tell youlastnight was terrible,and thenight before thatwas terrible.”

Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsomsay are nowhere close to the truth.

While protesters blocked a

major freeway and set cars on fireoverthe weekend, the demonstrations in the city of 4million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown. On Monday,they werefar less raucous, with thousands of people peacefully attending arally at City Hall and hun-

dreds more protesting outside afederal complexthat includes adetention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city Los Angeles police said they made over 100 arrests Monday evening, mostly for failing to disperse the downtownarea. One person was arrested forassault with a deadly weapon and two police offers were injured, the department said. Obsceneslogans directed at Trump and federallaw enforcement remained scrawled across several buildings. At theWaltDisney Concert Hall, workers were busy washing away grafﬁti Tuesday morning. In nearby Santa Ana, armored Guard vehicles blocked aroad leading to federal immigration and government ofﬁces.Workers sweptupplastic bottlesand broken glass.

BY CHRIS MEGERIAN and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

FORT BRAGG, N.C. President Donald Trump called protesters in Los Angeles “animals” and “a foreign enemy” in aspeech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday as he defended deploying the militaryondemonstrators opposed to his immigrationenforcement raids.

Trump, in his most aggressive language yet regarding the protests in Los Angeles, used aspeech ostensibly supposed to be used to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Armytodenounce the protesters while repeating his false statements about the 2020 election being rigged and attacking the previous commander-in-chief, former President Joe Biden.

TheRepublican president, who sees the military as a critical tool for domestic goals, has used the recent protests in Los Angelesas an opportunity to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines over the objections of California’sDemocratic governor to quell disturbances that began as protests over immigrationraids.While protesters blocked amajor freeway and set cars on ﬁre over the weekend in Los Angeles, the demonstrationsin thecityof4million people have largely been centered in several blocks of downtown.

“Wewill not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by aforeign enemy.That’swhat they are,” Trump said Tuesday Trump’sheatedrhetoric came has he’sleft open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, one of the

most extreme emergency powers available to the president. It authorizes him to deploymilitary forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce thelaw in certain situations

Trumpreceivedplenty of cheers from the crowd, but someinthe audience were uneasy with partsofhis remarks.

Robin Boothe,50, works on the base as an audiology assistant. She votedfor the president and said his speech was “classic Trump.” However, shealsofoundittobe too partisan, especially his comments onLos Angeles.

“I thought that was better left for apress conference than what we were celebrating today,”she said The president alsocalled Los Angeles “atrash heap” with “entireneighborhoods under control”ofcriminals and said the federal government would ”use every asset at ourdisposal to quell the violenceand restorelaw and order.”

“Wewill liberate Los Angeles and make it free,clean, and safe again,” Trumpadd-

ed. Trump hasauthorizedthe deployment of 4,000 National Guardsoldierstothe city over the objections of DemocraticCalifornia Gov.Gavin Newsom. About 700 Marines weredeployed to the Los Angelesarea, buthad notyet been sent to respond to the protests.

CaliforniasuedTrump over the deployment, with the state attorney general arguing that the president had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty. California leaders accused Trump of fanning protesters’ anger,leading crowds to block off amajor freeway and set self-driving carsonﬁre

Trump also announced his administration was restoring the names of sevenmilitary bases thatwere given the monikersofConfederate leadersuntil being changed by the Bidenadministration. Fort Pickett, Fort Robert E. Lee and Fort A.P.Hill in Virginia,Fort Hood in Texas, FortGordon in Georgia, Fort RuckerinAlabama, and Fort Polk in Louisiana will have theirnames changedback, Trump said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByDAMIAN DOVARGANES

Protesters gather to denounceICE, U.SImmigration and CustomsEnforcement, operations TuesdayinLos Angeles

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President DonaldTrump speaks

slot machine and require parishby-parish permission under the state constitution.

The lawsuit hadbeenbrought by agroup of truck stop owners whose video poker operations had been hit by thegrowth of HHRmachines, which can pay outjackpots of up to $100,000, compared with acap of $1,000 for video poker ChurchillDownsrepresentatives told the commission last month that the HHR ruling would mean thelossofhalfits Louisiana revenue and nearlythreequarters of its proﬁts. They said they wouldn’tbeable to run Fair Grounds and their other13offtrack betting outlets profitably unless therevenue was replaced by asubsidy In the letter,acopy of which was obtained by The Advocate| The Times-Picayune, Carstanjen said thatefforts to lobby for astate subsidy had made no progress.

“Todate, our effortstoengage elected ofﬁcials have not led to meaningfuldiscussions and, confoundingly,CDI’sefforts have been metwithacombinationof reluctance, indifference,apathy and even opposition,” Carstanjen wrote to the commission.

The letter was copiedtoGov Jeff Landry; Senate President Cameron Henry,R-Metairie; House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice; andSen.Jimmy Harris, D-New Orleans, whose constituency includes the Fair Grounds. Landry declined to comment. Churchill Downs, in astatement Tuesday,reiterated the points Carstanjenmade in his letter to the commission.

Newrules

In addition to theﬁnancialhit Churchill Downssaiditis taking because of the ruling on HHR slots, the state Legislature this week passed two bills that Carstanjen saidwould further eat into the operator’srevenuein Louisiana.

The biggest concern is House Bill 540, which was passed by the House and Senate andawaits Landry’ssignature. The bill allows truck stop operators to increase the number of pokermachines at each site from 50 to 60, and licensed bars and restaurants

to go from 3to4machines.

HB540 aims to offset the loss of revenue to the horse racing industry from the shutdown of Churchill Downs’HHR machines Forthe ﬁrsttime, the new law sets aside ashare of videopoker revenue from sources other than track operators. That moneywillgodirectly to the horse racing industry in the form of higher purses. Under the legislation, the ﬁrst $22 million in tax revenuefromthe additionalmachines would boost winnings at thefour horse racing tracks in Louisiana.Apart from the Fair Grounds, the others are Louisiana DownsinShreveportBossier City,DeltaDowns at Vinton in Calcasieu Parish, and Evangeline Downs in St. Landry Parish, just east of Opelousas.

ing theracing license held by the FairGrounds.”Thatwould also mean it would have to surrender itsgambling license, which is tied to its obligations to operatethe horse racetrack,headded.

Carstanjen said in the letter that the new legislation and lack of progress on the subsidy mean Churchill Downs“is left with no choice” but to “begin the next steps for voluntarily surrender-

If Churc hill Downs does relinquishits license, it is not clear what will happen to this year’sracing season, racing ofﬁcials said.

The most likely scenario would be that the races would have to be moved from the Fair Grounds to oneormore of the otherracetracks, said oneseniorracing official, who wasn’tauthorized to be quoted.

AfterHurricane Katrina, when theFair Grounds was ﬂooded, the entire racing season wasmoved to LouisianaDownsand held under the Fair Grounds banner Record revenue

While thehigh-stakes game of chicken threatens the future of racing at the historic track, at least for thetime being, Senate

President Henry saidlawmakers balked at paying apublic subsidy to ahighly profitable private company,especially at atime when the state was making efforts to find money for teachers andtofill other gaps in the state budget.

“Theycameatthe end of the session and wantedasubsidy fromthe state, and we saidwe couldn’tdoitbecause they’re a proﬁtable business,” Henry said Monday

“If they choose to closethe track, we’ll work through that. If they choose to sell it, we’ll work through thataswell,” Henry added.

Gov.JeffLandry’sofﬁcedidn’t respondtoarequest for comment.

Churchill Downs doesn’treport separate ﬁnancial results forthe FairGrounds, but lawmakers and racing industry ofﬁcials have pointed to thecompany’srecord revenue of more than $2.7 billion andall-time-high profit of $427 million last year

The record pacecontinuedin thefirst three months of this year, and Louisiana racing officials noted that Churchill Downs accounts showed it reported positive cash flow of $44million in Louisiana, withjust $6 million coming from HHR.

The companyhas notcommented on whether it plans to sell the Fair Grounds if it pulls out of Louisiana Butithas strategically exited several horse racing markets in theU.S.overthe past twodecades, selling properties to focus more on gambling, online wagering, and marquee assets like the Kentucky Derby In some cases, this hasresulted in racing ceasing at the tracks. For example, the sale of Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Illinois, in 2021 to the ChicagoBears organization for $198 million prompted astrongbacklashfromIllinois horse racing stakeholders.

There likely would be similar efforts by the Louisiana horse racing industry to keep racing at Fair Grounds, which haszoning stipulations that would makeredevelopment difﬁcult, racing industry ofﬁcials said.

“It would seem to me they would be better off having alicense in good standing if they are looking to sell Fair Grounds,” the senior racing ofﬁcialsaid.

Speculation among Louisiana horse industry players has focused on Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson as the most likely buyerifChurchill Downs seeks to sell FairGrounds as a going concern. She andher late husband, TomBenson, had talks eight years ago about buying the grounds, where there hasbeen horse racing in someform since the 1830s

Benson owns ahorse breeding operation in Kentucky and has adeep interest in the industry,spokesperson Greg Bensel said last month, after Churchill Downs’ initial threat. While he declinedtocomment on whether Benson would be interested in buyingFairGrounds, he noted that she hassupported several other historicNew Orleans-area enterprises and is “monitoring the situation.”

Henry said it is premature to discuss who might buy the track but said thereare severalgroups that might be interested. He said the topic cameupwhen he had lunch with Benson on June 3in BatonRouge

“She loves the horse racing industry,” he said, declining to give speciﬁcs of their conversation. Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.

coverage fortheir entire working life, through employer-provided benefits.Whenthose benefits end with retirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock, leading people to putoff or even go without care. Simply put —without dentalinsurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

Ask about the

Proposed lawcould speedupexecutionsinLa.

Bill headed to Landry’s desk forsignature

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana may be able to speed up executions after the Legislature passed abill to overhaulpost-conviction relief, amechanism where inmates seektohavetheir sentences shortenedoroverturned

While debate over the bill centered around capital cases,House

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for sending the medication to people here.

HouseBill575 creates an avenue to hold someone civilly liable for providing abortion drugs,Emerson said.

“When doctors and pharmacies realize that this is a thing in Louisiana and that they could be civilly liable, then they’ll stop sending them here,” she said, referring to abortionmedication.

The bill the Legislature ultimately passed was signiﬁcantly narrower than the original version. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers had raised concerns that previous versions were too broad and could end up entangling women and their medical records in lawsuits against their will.

An earlier iteration of the measure would have allowed “the mother of the unborn child” as well as the biological father and the maternal and paternal grandparents to sue anyone “who performs,causes, or substantially facilitates” an abortion for up to 10 years. Now,only apregnant woman herself would have acause of action during that same timeframe.

Emerson said the father and grandparentswereremoved from the bill over concerns that it could be difﬁcult to prove paternity and to avoid compromising awoman’smedical records

LAWSUIT

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around 2a.m. Aug. 5at106 South GeneralMarshall St. near East Simcoe Street. When officers arrived,police reports indicate John Mitchell Nicholas, of Lafayette, began shooting. Several police officers fired back.

Kaci Cyprian was fatally shot. Her brother,Kaisyn Cyprian, described in the lawsuit as autistic, was shot in the hand. Awoman and two police officers alsowere shot. One of the officers was left partially paralyzed. Jowanna Washington and Trenton Cyprian, parentsof the children, filed afederal civil rights lawsuit in Lafayette. They are seeking damages and injunctive relief for the wrongful death of Kaci and

Bill 675 by state Rep. BrianGlorioso, R-Slidell, would affect farmore than Louisiana’s55death row inmates.Itwould apply to anystate prisonerseeking post-conviction relief.

Thebill setsnew,tighterdeadlines for judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys handling postconviction relief petitions.Italso restricts shell petitions, bare-

in alawsuit. Lawmakersalso narrowed the deﬁnition of what would countasanact that “substantially facilitates an abortion” for the purposes of suingunderthe law

Thelegislationnow clarifies that it wouldonlyinclude instances when abortion drugs were provided to someone in the state of Louisiana, and it would not include providing abortion drugs forusesthat are legal underLouisiana law.

Aregimen of mifepristone andmisoprostol can be used to terminate apregnancy but both drugs have other uses, too. Mifepristone can be used totreat Cushing’s syndrome, and misoprostol can beusedfor stomach ulcers and for miscarriages, for example.

Theterm “substantially facilitates” is nowdefined in thebill as “administering,prescribing, dispensing, distributing, selling or coordinating the sale of an abortion-inducing drug to a person in this state.”

Apreviousversion simply defined “substantially facilitates” as “administering, prescribing,dispensing, distributing, marketing, advertising, promoting,orselling an abortion-inducingdrug.”

The ﬁnal versionalsosays that Louisiana health care providers licensed to practice medicine,Louisianalicensed pharmacists in compliance with state pharmacy board rules, and apregnant woman herself could not be sued under the act

Theprevious version

thesevere damage to her brother,the useofexcessive force, police brutality,unlawful entry without awarrant,discrimination based on race, failure to provide medical care, failure to accommodate disabilities, and therefusal to releasebody camera footage and the autopsy report. Magistrate Judge David Ayoon Tuesday stayedthe lawsuit until resolutionofa criminal caseagainst Nicholas in 15th Judicial District CourtinLafayette.That trial is set for Sept.15, but is subject to delay Attorney D. Cooper Fournet, of Lake Charles, representing theplaintiffs,wanted thecourt to allowhim to subpoena the District Attorney’sOfﬁce forits ﬁle on the criminal caseagainst Nicholas. Fournet said Ayocould seal the records, ordering all partiesnot to makepublic

bonesapplicationsfor post-conviction relief that act as placeholders so that defendants can come back later to ﬂesh out legal arguments.

The Senate softened some of the bill’smeasures through amendments. For example, an earlier version of the bill gave defendants untilthe endofthe year to ﬁlefully “briefed” applications in place of shell petitions. An amendment extended that deadline to July 2026.

Anotheramendment allows defenseattorneys andprosecutors to

would have allowed for somecases when Louisiana healthcareproviders or pharmacists could be sued under themeasure.

Many Democrats still opposed thebill, however Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, this week called it “pretty horrific” during Senateﬂoor debate.

“Wealready have the most restrictive laws on thebooks as it relates to abortion,”he said. He argued that “year after year,” the Legislature returnstofurther restrict women’sautonomy andhealth care, anddrives health care professionals andyoung people outof Louisiana.

Last year,lawmakers added mifepristone and misoprostol to the state’s listofcontrolled dangerous substances. They also created the crime of “coerced criminalabortion,”when someone givesapregnant woman an abortion-inducing drug without her consent.

This year,Emerson,bill sponsorRep. Lauren Ventrella,R-Greenwell Springs, andLouisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill have allargued that Louisiana law contains aloophole allowingout-of-state doctors to prescribe abortion drugs for pregnant women in Louisiana.

While presenting themeasure on the House ﬂoor last month,Ventrella linked the need forthe lawtothe case of New York doctor Margaret “Maggie” Carpenter Carpenter earlier this year

anyinformation on the case derived from thedistrict attorney’sfile until after the criminal case is resolved. Ayorefused,ordering neitherside to seek discovery of evidenceuntil after resolutionofthe criminal case. Once the case against Nicholas is resolved, he said evidence revealed at the trialwould be public record anyway Joy Rabalais, whorepresents the cityand police officers, also was seeking the districtattorney’sfile. She has thepolice officers’ body camera images because she representsthem but doesn’t have the districtattorney’s file. As part of herdefense of thepolice, Rabalais said she intends to claim qualified immunity which at times shields government officials from civil liability

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.

ask for up to three 60-dayextensions on certain court deadlines.

The bill originally would have allowed an inmate one year to ﬁle for post-conviction relief after their sentence was ﬁnalized —that is, afterthe inmate completed their direct appeal. The final version of thebill bumps that timeframe back to twoyears.

Proponents of the bill, which was backed by Attorney GeneralLiz Murrill, saiditwould give closure to victims andprevent them from

faced afelony indictment in West Baton Rouge for allegedly prescribing abortion drugs that resulted in the termination of aPort Allen teenager’spregnancy.The case against Carpenter is at astandstill, however, as New York Gov. KathyHochul has blocked Louisiana’sattempts to extradite her “If doctors are going to

having to wait decades to see perpetrators on death row executed. Criticssaiditwould create chaos in thecourts andplace too many burdens on prisoners who typically have fewresources to pursue post-conviction claims.

HB675 passed the Senate by a 28-11 vote, withDemocrats opposed. The House agreed to the amendments on Tuesday on avote of 82-13. The bill still needsGov Jeff Landry’ssignature before becoming law

come to our state andharm our people and our unborn children —who we do recognize as life—then they need to think twice about coming into our state,” Ventrella told her colleagues.

Murrill spokeinsupport of the measure during two public hearings on thebill this session.

“There areactivists who areintentonsending these pills to people through the mail,” Murrill said last month at ameeting before a House committee. “This bill providesfor civil liability and allowsanother mechanism —itisanother tool in the toolbox —for people who are harmed by somebody whoisintent on violating our laws.”

Homeless people could be arrested after refusing shelter in Calif.

BY JANIE HAR Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO Homeless people who reject three offers of shelter could be arrested under a controversial proposal before the city council of the most populous city in California’s Silicon Valley on Tuesday

The proposal being pushed by San Jose Mayor

Matt Mahon is eye-opening because it comes from a liberal city headed by a Democrat in the left-leaning San Francisco Bay Area. It is among the stricter anti-encampment deterrents proposed by elected officials since the Supreme Court in 2023 made it easier to ban homeless people from camping on public property

And it’s another sign of just how frustrated people have become with squalid tents lining sidewalks and riverbanks, and erratic behavior of those using drugs or in distress in a state with an estimated 187,000 homeless people. California is home to roughly a quarter of all homeless people in the country Mahan says most people do accept offers of shelter. But he wants to make clear to the small percentage of people who refuse, that as the city builds more shelter and interim housing, they have a responsibility to move indoors.

“I think we need a cultural change, a culture of accountability for everyone involved,” said Mahan. “I don’t want to use the criminal justice system to make vulnerable people’s lives harder I want to use it as a last resort.”

California Gov Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and former mayor of San Francisco, has repeatedly urged cities to ban encampments. Arrests for illegal lodging

have soared in San Francisco, and its current mayor, Daniel Lurie, has reiterated that it is not appropriate for people to live outdoors

Advocates for homeless people say cracking down on encampments is traumatizing and even counterproductive. Forcing a person to clear out sets them back in their search for stability as they could lose important documents needed to apply for work and housing, they said.

“Pushing people with mental health needs or drug addiction into incarceration — without any crime committed — is both inhumane and ineffective,” said Otto Lee, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, in a written statement emailed Monday to The Associated Press.

Lee and other county leaders are opposed to the mayor’s proposal. They say they need more housing, beds and services, and not punishment.

The “responsibility to shelter” proposal does not mandate an arrest after three rejected offers. After talking with the city attorney’s office and police, Mahan said it made more sense to give front-line outreach workers and police officers discretion to decide when to escalate or prioritize a situation. The city will set up a new six-officer quality of life unit within the police department.

People who repeatedly violate the city’s encampment code of conduct — which also includes keeping tents free of trash and not blocking the public right of way — could be sent to a recovery center for detox or petitioned for court-mandated treatment to mental health and substance use disorder care, Mahan said.

Hegseth faces questions on deploying troops

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Sec-

retary Pete Hegseth was met with sharp questions and criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who demanded details on his move to deploy troops to Los Angeles, and they expressed bipartisan frustration that Congress has not yet gotten a full defense budget from the Trump administration.

“Your tenure as secretary has been marked by endless chaos,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told Hegseth. Others, including Republican leaders, warned that massive spending projects such as President Donald Trump’s desire for a $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system will get broad congressional scrutiny

The troop deployment triggered several ﬁery exchanges that at times devolved into shouting matches as House committee members and Hegseth yelled over one another

After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million.

Hegseth defended Trump’s decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents as they do their jobs.

And he suggested that the use of troops inside the United States will continue to expand.

“I think we’re entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland,” he said.

The hearing before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee was

ministration’s ﬁrst proposed defense budget, which Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a signiﬁcant increase over the current spending level of more than $800 billion. And they said they are unhappy with the administration’s efforts to go around Congress to push through changes.

Spending issues that have raised questions in recent weeks include

the first time lawmakers have been able to challenge Trump’s defense chief since he was conﬁrmed. It is the ﬁrst of three congressional hearings he will face this

week.

Planned spending Lawmakers complained widely that Congress hasn’t yet gotten details of the ad-

Russia launches new large-scale drone, missile attack on Ukraine

BY VASILISA STEPANENKO and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine Russia attacked two Ukrainian cities with waves of drones and missiles early Tuesday, killing three people and wounding at least 13 in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “one of the biggest” strikes on Ukraine’s capital in the 3-year-old war

The attack struck Kyiv and the southern port city of Odesa. In an online statement, Zelenskyy said Moscow’s forces ﬁred 315 drones, most of them Shaheds, and seven missiles overnight.

“Russian missile and Shahed strikes are louder than the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,” Zelenskyy wrote, urging “concrete action” from the U.S and Europe in response.

A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the southern port of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured, according to the regional prosecutor’s ofﬁce.

Another person was killed in Kyiv’s Obolonskyi district, regional head Tymur Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.

“Russian strikes are once again hitting not military targets but the lives of ordinary people. This once again shows the true nature of what we are dealing with,” he said.

Explosions and the buzzing of drones were heard around the city for hours POWs swapped

The fresh attacks came a day after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest

overnight drone bombardment of the war. Ukrainian and Western ofﬁcials have been anticipating Moscow’s response to Kyiv’s audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases.

Russia has been launching a record number of drones and missiles in recent days, despite both sides trading memoranda at direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2 that set out conditions for a potential ceaseﬁre.

However, the inclusion of clauses that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely, and a ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive.

The only tangible outcome of the talks has been the exchange of prisoners of war with a swap that began Monday for soldiers aged between 18 and 25. A second group was exchanged Tuesday, focusing on seriously wounded and sick Ukrainian service members, Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “Exchanges must continue We are doing everything to ﬁnd and return everyone who is in captivity,” he said. Among them were soldiers captured over three years ago in the battle for

Mariupol, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Telegram.

All of those freed had severe injuries and illnesses, including amputated limbs and vision problems, it said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it also received a second group of exchanged soldiers in the deal

Amina Ivanchenko was reunited Monday with her husband, a POW for 18 months, in the initial release. She said was grateful to Ukrainian officials for supporting her

“My struggle was much easier thanks to them. Our country will deﬁnitely return everyone. Glory to Ukraine! Thank you!”

Anastasia Nahorna waited in the Chernyhiv region to see if her husband, who has been missing for eight months, was among those being released in the latest swap.

“This pain is more unbearable every day,” she said. “I really want to hear some news, because since the moment of his disappearance, unfortunately, there has been no information. Is he alive? or maybe in captivity? Has someone seen him?” she asked.

BY JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK Jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial appeared to be focusing on one of his three accusers as deliberations stretched into a fourth day Tuesday, with no further sign of interpersonal tensions that ﬂared earlier

The jury had requested to start off Tuesday with electronic copies of emails and other evidence pertaining to Jessica Mann the accuser with arguably the most complex history with Weinstein. Ju ro rs d el ib er at ed through the day, winding up with a request to rehear on Wednesday a key part of Mann’s testimony. Jurors also indicated they want on Wednesday to keep reviewing the emails and some medical records concern-

ing her reaction to news accounts of other women’s allegations against him. During days of testimony Mann said the Oscar-winning movie producer raped her in 2013 amid a consensual relationship that continued for years afterward. Weinstein’s lawyers emphasized that she kept seeing him, accepting invitations and sending warm messages to him. Mann said she “compartmentalized” the pain he caused her Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges in the case. In addition to the rape charge, he’s accused of sexually assaulting two other women, Mimi Haley and Kaja Sokola. Weinstein didn’t testify during the current trial, but maintained through his attorneys that he had completely consensual encoun-

ters with his accusers, who wanted his help building show business careers. Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most powerful ﬁgures until a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fueling the #MeToo movement and eventually leading to criminal charges. The jury is made up of seven women and ﬁve men. Their closed-door

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVGENIy MALOLETKA

People sleep on a floor as they take cover at a metro station during a Russian drone strike on Kyiv Ukraine, on Tuesday.

Measure loosens rulesfor police to advance

Billtochange Lafayettepromotion processeasily passes

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

Aproposed state law that would reform the police civil service promotion process forhigh-ranking positions in Lafayettehas been sent to the governor’sdesk after sailing through the Legislature.

Senate Bill 142 by Sen. Brach Myers, R-Lafayette, loosens the requirements for some promotions in the Lafayette Police Department by allowing anyqualified employee who is ranked sergeant or above and who passesthe civil service exam to be considered for apromotion to major. Thepromotions wouldalso only last forone year,subject to an annual review from the police chief, who could then decide whether to reconfirm the appointment for another year Before now, candidatesatthe Police Departmentcouldonly be considered for promotionsbased on “departmental seniority,” under civil service rules. Past rules also did not require annual reviews for majors, who could remain in the job indefinitely

ä See POLICE, page 2B

Lafayetteairport put on lockdown forhours

Flightsdelayed as packageinvestigated

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

The Lafayette Regional Airport was on lockdown for several hours Tuesday morning and severalﬂights were delayed while security personnel investigated a suspicious package.

Lafayette Fire Department’sHaz-Mat team, the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce were all on the scene.

The airport’sExecutive Director Steven Picou said law enforcement agencies were investigating asuspicious package that was detected during the TSAscanning process

ä See AIRPORT, page 2B

BLOTTER Advocate staff reports

ALafayette man faces amurder charge in the overdose death of a 29-year-old Lafayette woman Reginald Bernard, 43, was arrested Friday and faces onecount of second-degree murder,possession with intent to distribute Schedule Iand II drugs, obstruction of justice, monies derived from drug proceeds andpossession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to aLafayette Police Department statement.

Themurder count stemsfrom the March heroin and fentanyl overdose death of awoman. Police accuse Bernard of providing the drugs to the woman.

ä See BLOTTER, page 2B

Staff report

Lafayette residents eager to cooloff at theGirardParkpool will have to wait abit longer.The pool’sreopening, initially setfor Monday,has been delayedbecause of amechanical issue. After inspecting thepool Tuesday,Lafayette Consolidated Governmentofﬁcials said thedelay is because ofapump malfunction

Thepoolis nowexpectedto reopenaround June 23 after the pumps are replaced. Various improvements have been completed, includinginstalling new ladders, repaintingthe pool, adding lifeguard chairs and repairing cracks.

The pool has been closed since the pandemic. This spring, LCG announced it would be reopening.

“Wewant to thank the community for theirpatience in this process.Girard Parkpool has not been open since summer of 2019, so we recognizeit’slong-awaited, especially giventhis Louisiana heat,” said JamieBoudreaux, communicationsofﬁcer at LCG. “Although there’sbeen delays, we look forward to opening up the pool here in acouple weeks.”

Theoutdoor swimming pool at theMartinLutherKing Recreation Center opened May27. TheEarlJ.ChrisPool at theRobicheaux Recreation Center,operated by Champions of Lafayette Aquatics,isalso open during the summerfor swim programs and public access.

PHOTOByBRAD BOWIE

Evacuated travelers begin filing backinto the terminal Tuesdayfollowing the investigation of apossible security threat at the Lafayette Regional Airport.

STAFFPHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

Lawenforcement personnel respond Tuesdaytothe Lafayette Regional Airportafter asuspicious package wasfound

Lawenforcement personnel respond tothe Lafayette Regional AirportonTuesday.

AIRPORT

Continued frompage1B

“As aprecaution, an isolated section of the LFT terminal has been evacuated,” Picou said Tuesday morning.

“At this time, ﬂights have been delayed.”

BLOTTER

Continued frompage1B

Police arrested Bernard during atrafﬁc stop in the 100 block of North Beadle Road. Bernardisbeing held at the LafayetteParish CorrectionalCenter on a$1.9 million bail.

More than 40 rounds fired in Sunday shooting

The Abbeville Police Department is searchingfor three people seen on camera shooting more than 40 rounds and injuring two people Sunday night.

Officers were called about 9p.m. to the intersection of Dutel Street and Franks Alley after several reports of gunshots.

Video shared by the PoliceDepartment shows awhite Cadillac

About 11:30 a.m., Picou said therewas no threat and regular airport operations would be allowed toresume.

“An investigation by lawenforcementdetermined that a packagedetected in the TSA scanning area was not hazardousand presented no threat to LFT passengers oroperationsstaff,” he said.

SUVsouthbound on Dutel Road

The car stops, three people get out and shoot at an unseen target. Police said the three shooters ﬁred more than 40 roundsattwo peoplewho were in parked cars. Both were shot in the legarea, takentoa hospital and are recoveringfrom injuriesthatare not life-threatening. Thedepartmentisaskinganyone with informationabout the SUV,shootingorthe threepeople in the SUV to call (337) 893-2511 or anonymouslycall (337) 8926777 or Crime Stoppers of Vermilion Parish at (337) 740-8477.

Jennings man out on parole booked in assault

AJennings man wasarrested, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her home, police said.

On Thursday, theJennings Police Departmentrespondedtoa

During the investigation, some travelerswere moved to another other terminal andothers, including employees were not allowed intothe building, according to witness reports.

At least two people were detained for questioning, according to theLafayette ParishSheriff’s Ofﬁce.

At onepoint, an erroneousre-

rape in progress near the 1700 block of NorthCary Street. A caller said an unknown man was sexually assaulting awomanin thehome.

Ofﬁcers arrived less than aminute later and discovered Tristan West, 44,ofJennings, pulling up his pants, according to Jennings police. He was booked intothe parish jailona count of seconddegreerape. Police said he admitted to thesexualact.

Police said West was walking in front of the victim’shome and asked her to use the restroom.He entered thebathroom,cameout andbegan sexually assaulting the victim, police said. The victim pleaded for himtostop but the attack continued until other occupants in the home intervened, police said.

Thevictimwas takentoahospital for treatment.

Police said West wasrecently

“These majors run divisions. They run athird of the department,” said Lafayette Police Chief Paul Tr ouard while testifying in Aprilatthe Legislature.

“And we’re looking for basically competency over tenure.”

Thebill, which piggybacks on an existing law allowing asimilar process for promotions at theLakeCharles Police Department, passed withoutopposition in both thestateSenateand the House.

Trouard told theSenate’s Localand Municipal Affairs Committee that he hasjust three applicants,orabout 1% of his department, whohave passed the necessary test to be promoted to major.But the candidate pool wouldsigniﬁcantly expand underthe proposed law,which would allow an additional 70 to 80 people to apply.

TheLafayette Fire and PoliceCivil ServiceBoard supported the bill. Some said that theannualreviewprocess added alayer of accountability

“This is to makesure you getthe best, notthe oldest,” said Candice Hattan, an attorney for the board, in an April interview.“Andthen once youpickthe best, that person doesn’t just have it made since this is justa yearlong appointment. These chiefs never feel likethey can ﬁre anybody.And when they ﬁre them, they thinkthat the boardisgoing to put them back in their jobs, so they

N.O. jailbreak

BY MARCO CARTOLANO and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

Aformer Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee and girlfriend of NewOrleans jail escapee Derrick Groves is accused of aiding in the planning of the breakout and setting up phone calls with athird party in which Groves discussed ﬂeeing, according to police records.

Darriana Burton, 28, was arrested and booked Monday on afelonycountofconspiracyto commit simple escape, according to online court records. She was describedbylaw enforcement as agirlfriend and associate of 27-year-old Groves, one of 10 inmates whoﬂed the Orleans Parish jail on May 16.

Only Groves, aconvicted murderer,and 32-year-old Antione Masseyremainedonthe run as of Tuesday afternoon.

LESLIE WESTBROOK

port circulated that hand grenades had been found in apiece of baggage. Officials said the items in question wereactually car parts. Around noon,travelers were allowedback into the airport and began boarding ﬂights. Email Ja’kori Madisonatjakori madison@theadvocate.com.

releasedfromparolefor resisting an ofﬁcer and possession of fentanyl amonth prior.

Cameron Parish couple killed in house fire State Fire Marshal Ofﬁcedeputies are investigating adeadly ﬁreinsouthwest Louisiana that claimed the livesofa Cameron Parish couple.

Around 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Grand ChenierVolunteer Fire Department responded to aresidential fire in the300 block of North Island Road in Grand Chenier. A54-year-old manand his 55-year-old wife were killed in theblaze. Asmokealarm awoke another resident of thehome, allowing her to escape the ﬁre unharmed. Deputies are continuing to investigate to determine thecause of the ﬁre.

According to apolice afﬁdavit, investigatorsfound that Burton and Groves had exchanged texts andvideocalls before the jailbreak through SmartCom, an internet-based messaging and video calling service that inmates use through jail-provided iPads.

On May14, two days before the escape, Groves took aFaceTime call with Burton and an unknown manwhose identityinvestigators say they kept “intentionally vague,” apparently aware the call wasbeing monitored, according to the afﬁdavit.

Investigators saiditwas implied that Burton would make an unmonitoredcalltothe unidentiﬁed man where they would go over timing, transportation and the man’srole in the escape. In anotherFaceTimecall betweenthe three people, theunidentifiedman allegedly told Groves theescapewas a“bad move” that would trigger a “manhunt,” according to court records. He advised Grovesto seek his release through the justice system,according to the afﬁdavit.

“This exchange conﬁrmed that Burton had already disclosed theescapeplantothe outside contact, actively solicitinghis involvement,” investigators wrote.

Burton also allegedly drove another escapee,LentonVanburen, 26,toa houseinNew Orleans East the morning of the jailbreak, according to police records.

don’teven writethem up.” Trouard, who was appointed as policechief earlierthis year,saidsome majors work hardwhile othersare doing the bare minimum while waiting for theirretirement. Trouard said he’salso received support for thebill from the Lafayette mayorpresident, the Police Union and the Police Department. “I’m notlookingfor any disruption,” Trouard said. “I’m not looking to move anybody.I’m just looking for ahigher quality of leadership.”

Email MeganWyatt at mwyatt@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTO By

Soak’n Fun will lease only water park, not Dixie Landin’

BY ELLYN COUVILLION and TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writers

Blue Bayou Water Park in Baton Rouge will reopen in May 2026 under new management and a new name

Soak’n Fun it was announced Tuesday

The water park off Interstate 10 didn’t open this summer, and it was unclear what the future of the popular venue was, especially after its sister attraction, Dixie Landin’ Theme Park was open for about a week.

The new management company is Leisure Sports and Recreation, based in Mandeville, which also owns and operates the Gulf Islands Waterpark in Gulfport, Mississippi. Gulf Islands is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year

“The Soak’n Fun family of water parks is known for delivering clean and safe family fun,” the news release said.

“We’re thrilled to bring the Soak’n Fun experience to Baton Rouge,” Glenn Haggerty, managing partner of Leisure Sports and Recreation, said in the announcement.

Like Blue Bayou, Gulf Islands is a regional attraction, also located off Interstate 10. It features a wave pool, waterslides and what it bills as a “water roller coaster.” Gulf Islands recently started courting Baton Rouge visitors after Blue Bayou announced it was not opening this year

Leisure Sports and Recreation will be working this year in preparation for the new Soak’n Fun opening next year it said. The company said further details will be announced later this year. It will not be leasing or

operating Dixie Landin’, it said. The theme park located next door to Blue Bayou reopened for the 2025 season but closed about a week later Sam Haynes Jr., CEO and owner of Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin’, told WBRZ that Dixie Landin’ has closed permanently

The parks have operated on a limited basis since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dixie Landin’ was closed from 2019 to 2024, while Blue Bayou closed after a shortened season in 2021 due to Hurricane Ida. In 2022, the water park was open for only a couple of weeks due to staffing issues. In 2023, park officials said Blue Bayou was open while Dixie Landin’ remained closed because the water park was more popular They denied widespread speculation that staffing issues were keeping both parks from operating fully

Before COVID-19, the parks traditionally were open from mid-May to Labor Day weekend and featured concerts from pop, rock and country acts including Blake Shelton, Panic! at the Disco, Jason Aldean and Cheap

Trick.

According to a lease ﬁled

Friday with the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court’s Office, SFBB LLC of Mandeville will pay $50,000 a month in base rent for Blue Bayou. SFBB is made up of Haggerty; Paul Rees, a Mandeville tax attorney who serves as president and chief financial officer of Leisure Sports and Recreation; and Mark Moore, general manager of Gulf Islands Waterpark, according to a business filing with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.

The lease is set to expire at the end of 2027, but there are options to renew the lease for up to six ﬁve-year terms. SFBB also has the right of ﬁrst refusal to buy Blue Bayou if the park ownership receives an offer for the land.

The agreement allows SFBB to bring in third parties to run restaurants, gift shops or retail in the park and to add new attractions, waterslides and permanent structures to the park.

Along with Gulf Islands and Soak’n Fun, Leisure Sports and Recreation is developing Jubilee Park, a

OUR VIEWS

Moving UNO into theLSU system

anew startfor beleaguered school

The University of New Orleanshas longbeen akey economic beneﬁt to thecityand the state as awhole.

But since Katrina, dropsinenrollment and funding have led to asevere crisis at the once thriving school,which in recentyears has faced mounting debt and an uncertain future.

That’swhy we applaud theLegislature for overwhelminglypassing Senate Bill 202, sponsoredbySen. Jimmy Harris, D-NewOrleans.

The bill moves the school from the University of Louisiana system, where it has beensince 2011, back under the LSU system, whereitwas beforethat year

The LSU system, which in recent yearshas experienced record enrollments at its campuses,isbetter positioned to pullUNO up from its doldrums.

The bill will now go to Gov.Jeff Landry’sdesk, whereheisexpected to sign it. It mustalso be approved by UNO’saccreditingagency, the Southern Association of Colleges andSchools, beforeitcan become ofﬁcial.

UNO’schallenges are signiﬁcant.The deﬁcit is estimatedashigh as $30 million. Enrollment hasshrunk from apre-Katrinapeakofaround 17,000 to around 6,000. Employees havebeen furloughed and laid off. Some majors have been eliminated and colleges consolidated

UNO President Kathy Johnson hailedthe move, calling it “the beginningofanimportant new chapter in our institution’shistory” and adding that “it reﬂects ashared commitmentto securing UNO’slong-termﬁnancialhealth.”

There are already some encouragingsigns Enrollment was up slightlyinthe fall, andadministrators will end furloughsonJune 30. Hiringand spendingfreezesremain in place.

The school,which was foundedin1958 as LSU NewOrleans, was akey driver in creatingthe large New Orleans middle class in the second half of thelastcentury.Offeringmyriaduseful degrees, UNO was aplace where Korean War veterans and local high school graduates could get aworthwhile education.

Now,the school boasts more than 53,000 graduatesinthe New Orleansarea, in ﬁeldsacross the professional spectrumfrom hospitality to engineering. Yetithas struggled to ﬁnd footing within the state’s higher education ecosystem

The passing of SB202 is agood step,but there is still plenty of work to be done. Atransition team has been named and must submit aplan to theBoard of Regents andthe Legislature by April. Potential impacts on students,faculty, operations and programs must beworkedout, including whetherthe school will retain its blue and silver colors and Privateer mascot or be wrapped in purple and gold.

We trust that the transition team andstate leaders are up to the task. UNO has givenmuch to the people of New Orleans andLouisiana. It would be ashame to allow it to fade away

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Changestolong-term care facilities tucked in budget bill

If you have aloved one living in a Medicare or Medicaid-funded longtermcare facility,you need to know about “The OneBig Beautiful Bill.” Tucked inside this massive piece of legislation are devastating changes that will eliminate all required stafﬁng standards in these facilities. While thewealthiest Americans stand tobeneﬁt from tax breaks, the mostvulnerable —our elderly and disabled family members—will pay theprice.

Amongthe mostalarming provisions is the removal of any requirement for registered nurses to be present 24/7. In fact, under this bill, not even a single RN would be required to staff an entire long-term care facility,even though many residents require complex, specialized care. These facilities are already strug-

The 10 pointsraised by Baton Rouge lawyer Eric Guirard in arecent letterto the editor are excellent recommendations for lowering automobile insurance rates. He says, however,“Don’tblame the lawyers.” Ibeg to differ.Wemoved here from Indiana nearly 10 years ago, astate in which automobile insurance ratesare seventhfromthe bottom nationally.One difference Iimmediately noticed when we moved here is the large number of ads from personal injury lawyers —ads on billboards and television, especially.These ads encourage potential plaintiffs to seek large settlements using testimonials, some allegedly from past clients, who say such things as,“So-and-so got me asettlement of $400,000,” or “Let so-and-so get you the settlementyou deserve.”

The Indiana legal code of ethics speciﬁcally states that information in legal advertising is unethical if it “contains

gling withinadequate stafﬁng. Quietly stripping away what little oversight remains—without public debate and buried in amassive bill —isboth reckless and cruel. This change will impact countless families who depend on LTCfacilities to provide essential care foraging or disabled relatives. We’ve already seen substandard conditions in manyof these institutions. Removing the last line of defense —mandatory stafﬁng by trained health care professionals like RNs, LPNs and LVNs —will only worsen thequalityofcare. This is not theway to save money Ourmost vulnerable citizens are already carrying aheavy burden. Asking them to carry moreisnot only unjust,it’sinhumane.

NICHOLE ROBICHAUX Slidell

statistical data or other information based on past performance or express or implied prediction of future success;” or “contains any reference to results obtained thatmay reasonably create an expectation of similar results in future matters;” or “appeals primarily to a lay person’sfear,greed, or desire for revenge.” Louisiana’sethical guidelines have no such statements. Iwould be less inclined to holdthe Louisiana legal profession partially responsible for the high automobile insurance rates if it hadsimilarethical guidelines, and if personal injurylawyers demonstrated awillingness to follow them. So, Iwould addan11th point to the 10 posed by Guirard: “The legal profession should adopt andfollowethical guidelines in advertising that do not encourage clientstoseek largesettlements.”

MARC LOUDON NewOrleans

No reason to lament enforcementofimmigration laws

In response to theletter,“Cartoon sadly captures where our country is today:” It’sa shamethat manyinthis country continue to blatantly ignore simple facts.

Along line of past presidents, excluding Joe Biden, have strongly advocated for strong compliance with

immigration laws and deportation of those in this country illegally,including the children of undocumented immigrants. Ourcountry must continue to insist that immigrants follow the laws for entry into theUnited States.

JACK TRUITT

Covington

Whenmydaughter wasfirst diagnosed withautism, Iwas overwhelmed withfear anduncertainty. Butbecause of accessible, well-funded earlyintervention programs, we had avillage of support to help guide our journey.Therapists, educators and specialists helpedher build theskills sheneeded to thrive andgavemethe hope andtoolsI needed as aparent. Recently, during ReadyLouisianaCoalition’sEarlyEdDay at the Louisiana State Capitol,asaSavethe Children Action Network volunteer advocate, Iwas able to share that my daughter is now thrivingasa GirlScout and4-H participant;she shinesintheater classes, confidently performing on stage; she’scurrently learning Russian,having developed alovefor languages; and, shecodes herown videogames! Iproudly see my child communicate, connect and create daily,having hadthe support to grow andshine As amental health professional workinginthe earlylearning sector, Itake my daughter’sstory intomy professional role, and Isee firsthand howinvestmentinearlychildhood education reduces costlyintervention later in life.I see parents’ livesbeing positivelyaffected when children are fully supported through theservices earlychildhood programsprovide Yet, in allthat I’ve seen through my personal andprofessional journey,it saddens me to knowthatnot every child gets these opportunities, though they should. Many families are stuck on waitlists or can’taccess thehelp they need.

Thatiswhy,asthe state budget moves through theLegislature, Iam urging lawmakers to protect and expand funding forearlychildhood programs. Because allLouisiana children,nomatter theirfamily’sZIP codeorsocioeconomicstatus, deserve to thrive

KRYSTLE JOHNSON Elton

As alifelong citizen of Louisiana living in New Orleans, Ifeel safer in my townwith escaped inmates than Ifeel with the recent vaccine announcements from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr CAROLYN CLARK NewOrleans

COMMENTARY

Watchyourlanguage

Thebeginning of summer offers acolumnist the opportunitytoaddress subjects he might avoid the rest of theyear because of his focus on domestic and foreign issues.

Inattention to proper English seems to be a subject that few are bothering to address. I have been making alist of misusedwords that in the past might have labeled aperson uneducated. The following are just afew of what could be hundreds, even thousands, added almost daily toagallery of misspoken words.

People who appear on TVare frequently guilty of mangled English. “As you can see” is one phrase that is especially annoying. Someoneshould tell them we CAN see because it’s called television.

“Obviously” is repeatedly used by some of the most experienced news anchors. If it is obvious,why are you telling me?

The use of nouns and pronouns in the same sentence is annoying. Example: “The (name of team) they,” or “(name of quarterback),he.” Pronouns are supposed to replace nouns, notadd to them. Former quarterback Troy Aikman, who is nowanNFL sports commentator,does thistothe point of major irritation

Whydothey say “mayoral” and “gubernatorial” and not mayor or governor? No one says, “who are you voting for in the gubernatorial or mayoral election?” Only TV people say that.A “goober” is achocolate-covered peanut or alabel kids used tocall phlegm when it is coughed up. Icannot ﬁnd the meaning of “natorial.”

Whydoes David Muir on ABC’s “World News Tonight”say “tonight” in virtually every sentence? Has that word been poll tested for some reason? Doesn’therealize it isn’tnight at 6:30p.m. ET in other time zones?

“Like” and “You know” are used as sentence ﬁllers. Like what? If Iknow,

why are you telling me?

“Here” and “there” are other unnecessary sentence place holders.

“At the end of theday” is ameaningless statement. Would that be standard or daylight time?

How about “Alleyes areon?” Really?

“Gearing up” is asubstitute for preparing, or getting ready. Do people have gears?

“The American people” is used by all politicians, as if we are united in beliefs. If we were, we wouldn’thave twoparties and independents.

“Ifyou will.” What if Iwon’t?

Why do so many,especially young restaurant servers, respond when you thank them by saying “noproblem” instead of “you’re welcome?”

Airportshave their own language.

“Preboarding” is afavorite. Youcan get on before others, or boardearly butyou can’tpreboard. It’sanimpossibility,like preexisting, unlessyou believe in reincarnation.

About thatairplane seat —itmust be returned to its“full, upright and locked position.” Isn’tthat redundant? Ilike this one: Passengers who choose to wear face masks must lower those masks before putting on oxygen

masks. What’snext,instructionson how to usethe toilet?

Airlines lie alot. Those countdown clocks at thegate almost always expire before you are allowed on, assuming theplane is at thegate. When it’s not,the screen goes from “time to board” to “boarding soon”toblank.

“Bombshell” used to refer to an especially attractivewoman. Now it is used to describe almosteverything, except an explosive device. Cliché.

“Change theworld” is often used to label an individual who apparently is thought to have powers no oneelsepossesses. If someonecould change the world (and deﬁne what that means) would it not have been changed by now,presumably for the better?

(Someone) has “come under ﬁre.” Call theﬁre department.

The teaching of what was once called “proper English” apparently has been replaced by woke subjects and arefusal to correct its misuse. It’sbecoming obvious to anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see, you know Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com.

NewpoliticsofMetropole vs.Heartland Democrats really want your votes

Yousee the same pattern over much of the world. In three consecutive presidential elections in theUnited States. In the latest polls in Britain, where the 2016 Brexit referendum wasthe ﬁrst notable outbreak. In France’smost recent national electionand in Germany’s. In Canada’selection lastmonth And maybe in Poland and South Korea earlier this month. The pattern can be summarized in asimple formula. M+M versus H. Or,increasingly and to the discomfort of established politicians and presspersonnel, M+(1-x)M.

Where are the Democrats? What are they doing about the damage President Donald Trumpisdoing to everything?

Ihear that alot from my liberal friends these days, ever since Trumpsweptthe battleground states six months ago and proceeded to dismantle government as we Americans used to know it. With the fury of aman whoistrying to makeupfor the time he lost on the sidelines after losing to Democrat Joe Biden, Trumphas been rolling out radical changes almost daily that seem to be aimed at retribution —one of his favorite words —more than decent governance. In the face of the onslaught, Democrats sound about as depressed as the party’sapproval ratings —27% in arecent NBCNews poll, or barely morethan afourth of the electorate.

That’sthe party’slowest positive rating in the network’spolling data since 1990. Only 7% say those viewsare “very positive.”

Throwing moresalt into their wounds is the simmering discontent in the party’score constituencies on whom the party has come to count for decades: young people, Black voters and Latinos, in particular,all of whom turned toward the political right, atrend that —unlike 2016 —included Trump’swinning the popular vote forthe ﬁrst time.

Self-identiﬁed Democratic voters say by atwoto-one margin in the NBCpoll that they would rather see their party “hold the line on their positions, even if it leads to gridlock,” instead of looking forareas of compromise to, as the old Capitol Hill saying goes, get things done. As aself-described moderate liberal, I’mdismayed but not surprised by that angst-driven reaction. Trump’sslash-and-burn approach to reform —onissues as varied as immigration enforcement to Medicaid to Veterans Affairs and COVID-19 shots, just forstarters, it will take a strong pushback just to land somewhere there near the ever-elusive sensible center

Where are the Dems now?Ofparticular interest this timearound, the party is trying to wooyoung men —diligently

The ﬁrst Mstands for “Metropole,” thedominant governmental, media and cultural center of eachcountry.London and Paris in Britain and France, obviously, with 16% to 20% of thenation’spopulation and practically allits elites. In the U.S., metro New York, Washington, Los Angelesand San Francisco. In Canada, Toronto and Anglophone Montreal. In SouthKorea, Seoul.

The second Mstands for“Minorities,” racial and ethnic. In Britain, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Muslims in industrial cities. In the U.S., the various peoples, bracketed bythe Census Bureau ukase, as Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Francophone Canadians. People whoseexperiences have setthem apart as alien and potentially adversary to thedominantsociety.

Theelites have fought back. Johnson wasoustedfollowing an ethics complaint,and aFrench court barred Le Pen from runningfor five years on a flimsyrationale. European Union elites removed the candidate who led the first ballot in Romania from the runoff andhavethreatened to bar Germany’s AfD party,the second-place finisher in theFebruary election, from future contests.

Youcan see the similarities with the lawfare attacks on Trumpand thekangaroo court prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Elites justify these moves by invoking the tragic history of the ﬁrst half of the20th century.But objecting to having economic policies set by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels is not undemocratic. Andbarring or limiting theuncontrolled inﬂux of often culturally hostile immigrants is not the moral equivalent of murdering 6millionJews. Preventing voters from exercising theirfree choice is afunny way of “saving democracy.” And not avery effective way.LePen’sdeputy Jordan Bardella is running well in polls, and Labour in Britain polls way behind Nigel Farage’sReform party by 362 to 136seats at present, with nearly 40% of theparty’s seats in metro London. AndTrump’s2024 victory seems to

Iﬁrst discerned the M+M vs. Hpatterns in June and November 2016. As Iwrote in 2019, in the Brexit referendum, 60% or more of voters in metro London and Scotland voted against leaving the European Union, but Brexit won because 57% in Englandoutside London voted for it. Similarly,inthe U.S., Hillary Clinton beatDonald Trump 65% to 30% in the NY/DC/LA/SF Metropole, which is 15% of the nation, but Trumpwon 49% to 45% in the Heartland in between Key electoral votes came from 2012 Obama voters switching to Trumpin thenonmajor metropolitan half of the Midwest. The Heartland doesn’talways lose. Joe Biden’s November 2020 victory over Trumpisone example of that The ouster of pro-Brexit Prime Minister Boris Johnson in summer 2022, and theLabour party victory in the July 2024 general election, is another 2022 saw incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron, whointhe ﬁrst round ran behind aleftist in the Metropole andjust 4points ahead of the populist anti-mass-immigration MarineLePen in the Heartland. Macron won the runoff butbyonlyhalf the margin of four years before.

have produced arealignment in his direction. The Metropole-Minorities alliance is fading, as Hispanics, Asians and, to alesser extent, Blackshave trended Republican.

Abrilliant New York Times graphic shows that Trumphas gained percentages in each of the last three elections in 1,433 counties with 42 million people, while his Democratic opponents have gained percentages three times in only 57 counties with 8million people. As Jewish Insider’sJosh Kraushaar noted on X: “For years, thebelief was Democrats have had demographic destiny on our side. Now,the inverse is true.”

Onecorollary of this largely unpredicted movement of Minorities away from Metropole attitudes and toward theHeartland is that the young, for Minorities tendtobeyounger than average, are moving that way too. Perhaps that helps account for the victory of KarlNawrocki, who was trailing in preelection polling and even in the exit poll in Poland. There’s polling evidence that young voters switched from the center-left in 2020 to theright this time.

At thesame time, the map of last weekend’sPolish election results looks almost identical to those from 2005 to 2020. Andthey’re correlated withhistoric patterns. The center-right party wins areas within the pre-1914 tsarist Russia empire, minus the large cities of Warsaw and Lodz. The center-left wins those areas within pre-1914 Germany. The strongest right areas are in southeast Poland,along the Ukrainian border,which were in pre-1914 Austria, theonly one of those multi-ethnic empires with aCatholic monarch. All of which is to say that the “Metropole plus Minorityversus Heartland” patterndoes not apply everywhere, and history still has its claims on many voters. Butwe’re watchingsome new electoral history being made, with no clear end in sight. Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

The harsh Democratic reality includes downwardlong-term trends forDemocrats while Republicans have been gaining ground in recent decades, particularly among noncollege graduates. Working-class voters have been turning away from the Democrats, long-viewed as the party for working families but increasingly perceived as the party of college-educated elites. Which leads us to the mostsigniﬁcant new moves by the Dems’donor class and strategists: a $20 million “strategic plan” called “Speaking with American Men,” or SAM forshort.

That’sright, guys. Like an old Uncle Sam poster today’sDemocrats wantyou! Perhaps morethan ever

The decline of men and concomitant rise of women in Democratic voting ranks has been observed fordecades and is not expected to change drastically soon.

Democratic pollsters are advising the party leaders to avoid taking the wrong lessons from the 2026 midterms, when manyofthem hope President Trump’sexcesses will backﬁre in favor of the Dems

That’swise. Trump’ssuccesses, including his victory last year,have tended to be larger than expected after the Democrats underestimated his popularity As Anat Shenker-Osorio, aDemocratic consultant, told The NewYork Times,“Voters are hungry forpeople to actually stand up forthem —or get caught trying.”

In other words, she said, “The party is doing a lot of naval-gazing and not enough full-belly aching.”

I, too, have heard that lament, particularly from Democrats in cities like Chicago who remember an era when the party seemed less concerned with trying to sound polite and moreconcerned with delivering the goods to its constituents.

That’sespecially important at times like these when funding cuts forresearch, veterans and health care, among other issues, can mean life and death forthem Scott Galloway,amarketing professor at NYU and aprominent commentator,has gained ameasure of fame forhis speeches and research on the feeling of abandonment by the Dems that has been amajor turnoff forthe audience of the socalled “Manosphere” of malepodcasting.

He argues that the party’sfocus on other demographics, like womenvoters, is important, but has fedafeeling of neglect and abandonment among young men

This development caught little attention in the era before podcasting. But today’selectorate, like the news, is not what it used to be. Democrats will have to keep up with changing times before the party’scandidates are overwhelmed by them Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail. com.

Clarence Page

Michael Barone

Cal Thomas

Maggard: Revenue-sharingmodel doable

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

When themonumentalrevenuesharing era news broke Friday with acourtruling in California, there was more relief than anxiety for athletic directors across much of the country,including at UL. “Without question, we’vebeen planning and anticipating the rulingwould comedownthe way it did,”ULathletic director Bryan

Maggard said. “What caused the most angst was the delay —just why it took so long. I’m sure Judge (Claudia) Wilkenhad herreasons, but no, Idon’tthink anyone wascaught off guard byany means.” Still, there are manyunanswered questionsmovingforward.

The 10-year,$2.8 billion settlement will pay past athletes who missed out on potential NIL revenue, but the present and future of college athletics will also change.

For this next athletic year, schoolscan share as much as $20.5 of their revenues with student-athletes.

Maggarddoesn’t seethisnew era as simply awin for power schools and aloss for the mid-majors.

“I don’t think it’sabad thing for

anybody,” he said. “I think it’san opportunitytoprovide somelevel of guard rails within our industry —create some balance at least of acompetitive playing ﬁeld.Although that’sgoing to be segmented by thelevels.”

Most schools, especially in leagues like the Sun Belt Conference, won’tapproach the cap, Maggard said.

“The Power 4s are going to operate with that $20.5 million cap and the Group of Five,Ithink, we’re all going to ﬂoat within that one million to three milliondollar

Familiar start

LSUopens CollegeWorld Series with Arkansas.Here’sa look at theRazorbacksand theother twoteams in theTigers’ bracket

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU is back in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Tigers begin their 20th trip to theCollege World Series on Saturdayagainst Arkansas (6 p.m., ESPN)before facing either Duke or Murray State on Monday.IfLSU wins, it’ll play at 6p.m. Monday Aloss would mean the Tigers would play at 1p.m. Here’sadeeper look at theother teamsonLSU’s side of the bracket: the Blue Devils, Razorbacks and Racers.

Arkansas

LSU is familiar withArkansas, afoe the Tigers have faced every year since2021. The twosides played in May at Alex Box and LSU wonthe series

with a5-4 victory in 10 innings in Game 1and a13-3 run-rule victory in seven innings in Game 2while Arkansas won the ﬁnale 7-4. Arkansas will almost certainly start junior lefthanderZachRootonSaturday. TheEastCarolina transfer was pursued by the Tigers in the portal but chosethe Razorbacks andhas been theirace this season. Root hasa 3.59 ERAin922/3 innings. He allowed just one earned run in seven innings Saturday against Tennessee in theFayettevillesuper regional, surrendering twohits and striking out six. Against LSU in May, Root gave up twoearned runs on ﬁve hits in six innings. He’ll be amajor challenge for aTigers lineup that at times has struggled

ä See LSU, page 3C

gap initially,” he said. “Itallowsus to strive to adjust and reevaluate how we’re spending current dollars and do somemoney allocation to start providing someﬁnancial support to our student-athletes.”

Perhaps the biggest mystery is how the new clearinghouse board is going to police the future NIL process that beginswithmonitoring of any payments morethan $600.

“What remains to be seen is the legitimacy and the accuracy of the

Sporting new‘do,’ Mathieusayshe

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

At ﬁrst, Tyrann Mathieu washard to ﬁnd.

The NewOrleansSaints safety had returned forthe start of this week’smandatory minicampafter sitting outthe voluntaryportion of the offseason.But if not forthe No. 32 on his jersey, Mathieu would have blended into the crowd. He wasn’taseasy to spot sincehis goldendreads werenolonger there, ﬂowing out of his helmet.

“(I was) trying to shave some yearsoff,”Mathieu said with asmile.

Mathieu now sports a buzzcut after getting in abarber’schair this offseason. And though the 33-year-old joked about wanting to feel younger ahead of his13th season, Mathieusaidthe real reason for the makeover was that he was tired of his old look.

Thedecision, he said, wasn’ttough —even if it took someconvincing at home.

“I just hadtopersuade my daughter,” he said. “Because all her brothers have long hair, she was looking at me strange fortwo days.

“I wastrying to shave some yearsoff.”

TyRANN

MATHIEU,Saintssafety

And then finally she was like,‘Dad, your hair looks good.’ ” With his daughter’sapproval, Mathieu is back with the Saints for another season. For the second straight year,hereworked hiscontracttostay— this timeagreeing to lower his $6.25 millionbase salary foraone-year,$4million deal. This time around, however,Mathieu’scontract also comes with anew defense.

Aftermissingthe team’s voluntary workouts, Mathieuwill have to getupto speed in defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s scheme. The lack of familiarityperhaps explains whyMathieu’s snapswere limited Tuesday. The safety said he was on a“pitch count,” held somewhere in the range of 7-10 plays during seven-on-sevens. ButMathieuisoptimistic. As he stood at his locker, he recalled facing Staley’s

TuesdayinMetairie.

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Sibling squabbles were handled at MountTrashmore Park during Michaela Rose‘schildhood.

That’sthe Virginia Beach, Virginia, park where the LSU middle-distance starhad one of her early seminal moments in track. Michael RoseSr. took his kids to run. Michaela and Michael Jr.sometimes

raced around one of thehills with their dad observing from above. One Saturday morning, Michaela’s best chance to dethrone her older brother arrived. His early lead in the race wasn’tasign of an eventual win When his pace slowed,she pressed harder with aburning desireuntil she was in front. Atrailing Michael Jr., whobecamea sprinter at Liberty,tried to regain an advantage, but it was afutile effortas his sister, who is two yearsyounger ﬁnally beat him. As expected of asibling, he assumed malpractice. Their father rejected the cheating claim.His 6-year-old daughter won decisively Michael Rose Sr.remembers it as

the moment he realized his oldest daughter had something his other kids didn’t.

“(That was) themoment Irealized that sheisdetermined to work harder, outworkanyone that she’scompeting against,” he said. “When shebeat him,hestopped trying to beat her in distance. “She took it from him that day,and shenever relinquished it.”

That same moxie is still within the soon-to-be 22-year-old. Michaela Rose intends to take amedal or two in the NCAA outdoor championships.She’s among the 21 entries,nine menand 12 women,LSU is sending to Hayward

Maggard

SAINTS MINICAMP

PROVIDED PHOTO

LSU’S Michaela Rose, whohas the second-fastest 800-meter runtime in women’scollegiatehistory, will compete in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships starting WednesdayinEugene, Ore.

STAFFPHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu, left, warms up during minicamp practice

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU catcher Luis Hernandez catches the ball as Arkansas center fielder Justin Thomas slides into homesafely in thethird inningonMay 11 at Alex Box Stadium.Arkansas wonthe game 7-4, butLSU took theseries 2-1.

LS UV S. AR KA NS AS •6 P. M. SA TU RD Ay •E SP N

Finals are shifting to Indianapolis

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

INDIANAPOLIS The Oklahoma City Thunder showed their bounce-back capability in Game

2. The Indiana Pacers know they better do the same in Game 3. The NBA Finals resume Wednesday night with the series tied at a game apiece, the matchup shifting to Indianapolis for Game 3 and what will be the ﬁrst ﬁnals game in that city in 25 years. And the Pacers know it’s on them to respond after Game 2 wasn’t much of a contest.

It’s obviously possible: The Pacers haven’t lost back-to-back games in three months, going 9-0 after losses in that span. This would be a good time for them to extend that run.

“Biggest game of the year,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said That’s technically accurate when said before any ﬁnals game, but it does ring especially true in this case Indiana did what it had to do in Oklahoma City; it got a win and stole home-court advantage. Win three games at home over the next week or so, and the Pacers will be NBA champions. Lose any game at home, and the Thunder get the edge right back

But the Pacers have shown a penchant for resiliency It’s much like how Oklahoma City is 17-2 after losses this season (or 18-2, if counting the NBA Cup ﬁnal); the latest bounce-back effort for the Thunder came in Game 2 after Indiana won Game 1 of the ﬁnals.

“I think that we try not to dwell on things,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “As NBA players, just as basketball players in general, it’s easy to make a mistake and dwell on it, give up a bucket or whatever I feel like we do a great job of getting to the next play.”

When the ﬁnals are tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner eventually wins the title 80.5% of the time. It’s a big, big game and everybody knows the stakes.

“I think we just have to keep finding ways to get better as a group,” Thunder guard and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “If we continue to do that, we’ll be just ﬁne. If we’ve struggled in an area, that’s an area we can get better at. We have to attack that opportunity I think Game 3 is a perfect example of that.”

ä Thunder at Pacers. 7:30 P.M.WEDNESDAy,ABC

Haliburton’s status

Haliburton was limping after Game 2 and acknowledged there’s an issue with his lower leg. He didn’t offer much in the way of details, and it doesn’t matter He’s playing.

“He practiced. He went through everything,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said “I know he has some discomfort He feels it But each day it’s getting better I don’t think you’re going to hear him making a big deal out of it. This is the time of year where it just doesn’t get any better than this.”

Pacers at home

The Thunder have a big homecourt edge thanks to their crowd at Paycom Center

The Pacers are hoping for just as much energy — if not more — from their crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Games 3 and 4.

And the Thunder know what’s coming

“That’s one thing we have to

be ready for coming in here, is understand they’re going to be playing with a lot of energy,”

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They play very well here. They play very comfortable here. We’ve got to level up to that if we want to give ourselves a chance to compete.”

Long time coming Indiana’s Myles Turner has played in 346 games at home with the Pacers, including playoffs — by far more than anyone else on the team. No. 347 will be his ﬁrst there in the NBA Finals.

“I think the city’s been waiting for an opportunity like this. I expect a hell of an environment (Wednesday),” Turner said. “I know it’s going to be. It’s exciting times for everybody, just to experience the ﬁnals in Indianapolis.” Thunder in the first half

The Thunder won the ﬁrst and second quarters in Games 1 and 2, taking a 12-point halftime lead in Game 1 and an 18-point halftime lead in Game 2.

Indiana knows that can’t keep happening. Oklahoma City is 63-9

with halftime leads this season.

“Obviously it’s going to be a different challenge coming on the road,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso said. “This place will be rowdy They’ll be excited to cheer on their team. For us, I think just sticking with the details of the stuff that we’ve talked about as a team that are important to win the game.”

Winning on the road

Road teams are still winning at about a 44% clip in these playoffs, which is on pace to be the best record in 30 years. Entering Wednesday, road teams are 35-44 in this postseason.

Teams won road games at a 45% clip in 1995. That doesn’t count the 2020 COVID-19 “bubble” playoffs, where everybody was in one spot at Lake Buena Vista, Florida and the “road” winning percentage was .518 43-40. Oklahoma City is 4-3 on the road in these playoffs.

Indiana is 7-3. The best league-wide road record for a playoff season was in 1966 — 14-13, a .519 winning percentage.

Rodgers learning ropes during ﬁrst Steelers practice

RAY FITTIPALDO

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

PITTSBURGH Aaron Rodgers is jumping on the proverbial moving train Mike Tomlin references so often. Eventually, the train will slow down, but on Tuesday, Rodgers felt like a rookie during his first day at the office on the first day of Steelers minicamp.

“Everything is new,” Rodgers said after practice. “It’s like the ﬁrst day of school. I don’t know a lot of guys’ names They don’t have names on the back of their jerseys yet. They don’t have names on the meeting rooms. I literally walk out of the locker room lost. I have to grab somebody and say, ‘Hey, where am I going?’ But I’ll get the feel of it. I’m excited about making this home.” Rodgers might not know many of the new faces, but they know him Rookie quarterback Will Howard was 4 years old when Rodgers entered the NFL in 2005 after being selected in the first round of the draft by the Green Bay Packers. Heck, even the oldest Steeler is six years younger than Rodgers and grew up watching him. When Cam Heyward entered the league in 2011, Rodgers was fresh off of a victory in Super Bowl XLV over the Steelers and already had six years of NFL service under his belt.

“I’m ﬁred up, too, man,” Howard said. “Believe me, he’s a guy I grew up watching idolizing.

It’s cool to be in the same room as him. Just hearing the ﬁrst day, his thoughts, the way that he looks at things — he’s a legend in this game. I’m going to try and learn as much as I can from him and be the

Pittsburgh.

best support guy I can be for him.

It’s amazing The opportunity for me to learn and work with a guy like that is second to none.”

Rodgers spent most of practice watching Howard and the other quarterbacks run the offense during team and seven-on-seven drills. He watched alongside offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, trying to get a feel for the play calls and the verbiage in Smith’s offense.

Rodgers said he expects to have the playbook and the new verbiage down “in a couple of weeks.”

“I trust that whatever issues or learning curve things he needs to get through will be handled during the down period of the summer for sure,” said Tomlin, who down-

played the signiﬁcance of Rodgers not working with the starters

“June reps are a heck of a lot more important for a guy like Will Howard than a guy who has been doing it for 20 years,” Tomlin added.

Rodgers did not call the Steelers to tell him he was going to sign until June 1, ending a monthslong courtship during which he got married and had been dealing with some personal issues.

Rodgers said it wasn’t until recently he felt comfortable making a commitment for the 2025 season.

“I was dealing with a lot of things in my personal life,” Rodgers said. “Things improved a little bit where I felt like I could be

Cajuns’ Higgs earns All-South region honors

UL outﬁelder Conor Higgs was recognized as a second-team selection on the NCAA Division I All-South region team.

The Texas City, Texas, native was a consistent performer for the Cajuns, earning ﬁrst-team AllSun Belt honors after leading the Cajuns with a .355 batting average, 16 home runs and 46 RBIs to become the program’s 17th triple crown winner since 1963. Higgs, a senior, had a team-high 21 games with multiple hits, including finishing his college career by going 5 for 6 in the loss to Marshall in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Division I All-America & Coach of the Year Committee.

Phillies pitcher Nola sidelined two more weeks

PHILADELPHIA Phillies righthander Aaron Nola suffered another setback in his return to pitch when an MRI showed he has an injury in his right ribcage and will be shut down for two weeks.

Nola, a former LSU star, had already been out since early May with a sprained right ankle that was progressing more slowly than expected. He experienced stiffness in his right side last week in Toronto and that wiped out a planned session against live batters. Nola underwent testing this week and had what the Phillies called a stress reaction in his right ribcage. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs that Nola was unsure how the injury may have happened.

Corso’s ‘GameDay’ finale set for Aug. 30

BRISTOL, Conn. — Lee Corso’s final headgear pick on “College GameDay” will be on the campus where it all started. ESPN’s iconic show will begin its 39th season at Ohio State before the defending national champion Buckeyes host the Texas Longhorns on Aug. 30.

Corso, who turns 90 in August, announced earlier this year that his ﬁnal show would be on the opening week of the season.

Corso began his popular headgear segment on Oct. 5, 1996, before Ohio State faced Penn State. Since then, he has gone 286-144 in 430 selections wearing everything from helmets and mascot heads to dressing up as the Fighting Irish leprechaun from Notre Dame, the Stanford tree and historic ﬁgures James Madison and Benjamin Franklin.

Sanders absent from camps at Colorado

all in here with the guys. I didn’t want to short change the guys, be signed and be elsewhere mentally or physically Until I could be here and be all in, I had to take care of business.”

The Steelers and Tomlin gave Rodgers the space to work through the issues in his personal life He visited the Steelers for a day in March, but he kept in contact with Tomlin and other members of the Steelers front ofﬁce for the past few months. Rodgers said Tomlin’s handling of the situation is one of the main reasons he signed with the Steelers.

“A big attraction was Mike Tomlin,” Rodgers said. “The way the conversations went, they were some of the coolest conversations I’ve had in this game — deﬁnitely with a head coach. He’s a big reason I’m here. I believe in him.”

And why was Tomlin willing to wait so long for Rodgers?

“Read his resume,” Tomlin said. Rodgers won his only Super Bowl at the expense of Tomlin and the Steelers. He also is a four-time NFL MVP and a future ﬁrst-ballot

Hall of Famer

“We won’t make any bold predictions,” Tomlin said. “We’re going to roll our sleeves up and go to work and let our efforts do the talking.” Rodgers went through individual drills on Tuesday, but he did not take part in any of the team drills. Tomlin wants him to learn the offense first before he does that. Rodgers plans to work with his receivers and tight ends after minicamp ends and he expects to be ready to practice in team drills next month when the team reports for training camp.

BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders has not attended football camps in Boulder, Colorado, this spring. The University of Colorado said it couldn’t comment on a reason for his absence. ESPN, citing a source it did not name, said Sanders has been ill and out of the ofﬁce recently Over the weekend, his son Deion Sanders Jr posted a livestream video on YouTube in which he said his father remains at his Texas home and “feeling well,” according to USA Today His son added in the video: “He’ll tell y’all soon enough what he’s going through.”

The 57-year-old Sanders has struggled with his left foot since having two toes amputated in 2021 because of blood clot issues while at Jackson State.

WCWS sees record attendance, viewership

OKLAHOMA CITY The Women’s College World Series has set viewership and attendance records. ESPN said in a news release that the average of 1.3 million viewers across 15 games on its platforms was the most-watched World Series

Game

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIO CORTEZ

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, left, greets guard Bennedict Mathurin after losing Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday in Oklahoma City

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GENE J PUSKAR Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws during practice on Tuesday in

Happyfans

Saints tight end Taysom Hill signs footballs and T-shirts for young fans during minicamp practice

TuesdayinMetairie.

MATHIEU

Continued frompage1C

Los Angeles Chargers when he was still with the Kansas City Chiefs —and how hard Staley’sdefenses played “Even from the back-end perspective, Ialways felt likethe safeties were very involved,” he said. “They played alot of top-down (coverages). Youcan go watch Derwin James’ﬁlm, a couple of other guys’ ﬁlm. I think that’sexciting.”

The next few weeks and months will reveal how Mathieu ﬁts in. He saidhe’sstill learning his role, but added Staley’ssystem emphasizes vision and that plays to his

MAGGARD

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clearinghouse,”Maggard said. “I know alot of smart people have worked very hard on trying to create a platform thatwill make this something that’sdoable.

“Like anything in our society, Ithink the ﬁrst time adeal is denied, there’s going to be a lawsuit. We shouldall anticipate thatand it’llbeinteresting to see how that all plays out.”

The landmark court ruling has been discussed extensively,but Maggard doesn’t buy some of the predictions thus far. For example, he’s not expecting widespread elimination of sports soon

“Who knows what’sgoing to happen in 10 years, but I don’tthink anytime soon,” he said. “TheNCAAhas interest in decreasing the number of sports sponsorships to remain in Division I.

ROSE

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Field in Eugene, Oregon, from June 11-14.She will be competing in the 800 meters and the 4x400-meter relay The 5-foot-9 seniorenters her ﬁnal NCAA championships with her name already etched in the collegiate record books. Her personal best timeof 1minute, 58.12 seconds in the 800 is the second fastest in collegiate history.She is a10-time All-American, a six-time Southeastern Conference champion anda 2023 outdoorNCAA champion in the 800. She also holds the collegiate record in both the indoor600-yard race (1:16.76) and outdoor 600-meter race (1:25.75). Amodel of consistency is the easiest way for her distance coach, Houston Franks, to describeher greatness.

“She’salways in themix,” Franks said. Since her freshman season, Rose has made the final in every SECand NCAA championship and U.S.Olympic trials. She is the only LSU runner on the All-SEC first team, and, for athird straight season, is on the Bowerman watch list. The Bowerman Award is given to the most outstanding male and female athlete in American collegiate track and field.

strengths. Mathieu has had 10 interceptions in his past three seasons with the Saints,which ranks 10thin the NFL.

Butifheretains his starting status,he’lllikely be pairedwitha newsafety acrossfrom him. In March, the Saints signed JustinReid from the Kansas CityChiefs to athree-year,$31.5 million deal in an attempttoshore up their secondary.

Thetwo have history, however.Not onlydid Reid replace Mathieu in Kansas City in 2022, butthe two spent oneseason together in Houston in 2018. Reid, 28, was arookiethen.

“We’re two veteransinthe back end now,” Reid said. “When Icame in as arookie,

“That will stay at 16. We don’t anticipate that dropping at all. For the foreseeable future, that regulation will stay in place.”

Another popular prediction is facility projects will be squashed to be ableto fundathletes.

“At least for those who have some holesintheir programming, bricks and mortar still matter,” Maggard said.“We knew we had to get that football stadium renovated for an opportunity togrowinthatsportand be successful. Istill want to completeabaseball clubhouseatRusso Park

“Weneed to some major renovation work at our Culottatennis complex. We need abrand-new video boardat footballtoreally top off that project. So, raising dollars for capital projects is still apriorityfor us.”

The Cajuns are also hopingtohaveahotter ticket on their hands in men’sbasket-

‘Not themosttalented’

Rose’sfirst day at LSU washer first day at any school. The biology graduate was home-schooled for the first 18 years with her two brothers and one sister

One guarantee in the Rose family was apassion for track and ﬁeld. Michael Rose Sr who is from Jamaica, andhis wife, Marcia Rose, both competed at Auburn. Michaela Rose started running in the Faith in Action Ministries track program, led by her dad, at her church when she was 4.

Between in-home classes, the Rose kids trained and remained mindful of their diets.

Her parents used what they learned from thenAuburn assistant Dennis Shaver,who is now the LSU’shead coach. Michaela Rosedidn’t committo LSU because of that familiarity. Her decision rested more onthe relationship with Franks, herdistance coach.

One of their ﬁrst interactions was avirtual campus visit during the COVID-19 pandemic. He aimed his phone’scamera around the school grounds as assistant coach Tamara Ards drove the golf cart.

After ameticulous collegesearch and some prayer,Michaela Rose chose LSU for her education and athletic development. She knew her

it was really following behind him.I learned so much from him. He had abig impact on theearly stages of my career.And now we both come in with awardrobe of experience.

“Weboth get to come in and add our own ﬂavors to thedefense.”

Mathieusaid Reid’saddition can help with mentoring what is otherwise ayoung secondary.The Saints drafted safety Jonas Sanker and cornerback Quincy Riley, and projected starters KoolAid McKinstry and Alontae Taylor are entering their second and fourth seasons. Mathieu said communication will be key, so they’re on thesame page come the fall.

Standing at his locker,Ma-

ball with newcoach Quannas White.

“What we have in Quannas White is acoach who hasboththe relationships andthe reputation,” Maggard said. “When you look at the roster he’s put together,I think we gotthematagood deal. These players want to come playfor him because they know his ability to help developtoget them to the next level.”

Perhaps themostcomplicated sports are UL baseball and softball —both coming off subpar seasons— in the midst of this NIL explosion.

That’swhere rosterlimits enter thepicture. Football is at 105 with theCajuns expected to remain at 85 and basketball is at 15, but baseball can have 34 and softball is up to 25.

Mid-major athletic departments won’t approach those limits right away “Wehave agood idea about what we’regoing to

Olympic hopes as amiddledistance runnerdepended more on her training than natural ability

Despite being the most successful runnerinher family,her dad said she’s the least athletically gifted.

Franks said something similar several months ago in ameeting with the distance team.

“Michaela, she’s not the most talented person,” Roserecalled him saying. “She’s herebecause of her hard work.

“And Iwas like, ‘You know what, that is so true’ because I’ve seen alot of parts in my life where I struggled because just people were better than me.”

Rosewas fast but lacked aerobic capacity and overall strength.

At her ﬁrst 800-meter competition at LSU, she was crushed after not making the ﬁnal. In freshman year practices, shewas in back of the pack in drills as her endurance was tested.

Last year,she lost at the indoor NCAA championships after alackluster kick, the ﬁnal push near the end of arace.

Any shortcoming in the lastfour yearsonly sharpened her focus.

“She’s verytalented, but her best talents are her focus,her drive, her dedication,” Franks said.

Striving for excellence is true off the track. Michael RoseSr. recalled his daughter crying as akid when she hit the wrong

LSU

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againstleft-handed pitching. Against Arkansas, the Tigers were 11 for 44 against lefties. If Root is out of the game, Arkansas has optionsinthe bullpen. The Razorbacks have six pitchers with an ERA less than 4.00 who have made at least 14 appearances this season. Right-hander Christian Foutch leads the team in saveswith four despite having a4.15 ERA. LSU will also have its hands full on the other side of the ball. Arkansas hasone of themostexplosive lineups in the nation. They’re fourth in the country in home runs and ﬁnished ﬁrst in the Southeastern Conference in batting average and slugging percentage.

Coy Junior right-hander Nic Schutte is Murray State’s ace, but the Tigers would likelyface right-hander Isaac Silva if the two sides face off Monday.Silva surrendered sixearned runs in 51/3 innings last week againstDukeafter giving up threeearnedrunsin four innings the week before facing Ole Miss. In thebullpen, Murray State lacks quality depth. It doesn’thave apitcher who has made at least 10 appearances and has an ERA under 4.30. Righthander Graham Kelham leads theRacersinoutings with 23.

UCLA

thieu acknowledged outside expectations for the Saints aren’tthe highest

The defense, in particular is comingoff aseason having givenupthe third-most yards pergame. Mathieu said the defense needs to tackle better as well as ﬁnd away to force moreturnovers.

Still, change can be agood thing,Mathieu said. Andthe Saints have made plenty of changessincelastseason, starting with the hiring of coach Kellen Moore.

“I’mhappy to be here,” Mathieu said. Even though he looksa little different than usual.

Email Matthew Parasat matt.paras@theadvocate.com

do this year andobviously we want to try to grow that,” Maggard said. “What’simportant is that we’restaying budget neutral with this. So there’snodoubt we had to do some reallocations of expensesgoing into (ﬁscal year) 26 to carve out some revenue-sharing money

“But at theend of the day, we want to stay budget neutral with the internal dollars.” Maggard said both baseball and softballremain a priority.

“Those twosports will remaina very high priority for us —nodifferentthanfootball and men’sbasketball,” he said. “When you look at the historical success and passion towardour diamond sport programs, we absolutely have to continue to have theminthe conversationeach and every day as we talk about progressing, moving forwardand remainingcompetitively successful.”

note in choir rehearsal at Mount CarmelBaptist Church.

“Pretty muchevery part of her life, you know,she practiced,” he said. “So when it’stimefor her to perform, whether in the classroom,whether it’son the track, whether it’sin church, wherever she goes, she wants to make sure that she’s giving the best.”

Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy leads the charge for their attack. He’sfirst on the team in home runs and slugging percentage and is acriticalpartoftheir defense at shortstop.

Seven Razorbacks have at least 13 home runs this season, includingoutﬁelders Charles Davalan and Logan Maxwell, designated hitterKuhioAloy and inﬁelder Cam Kozeal. Kuhio is Wehiwa’syounger brother and leads the team in RBIs.

Murray State

The Racers, in many respects, are the opposite of ateam like Arkansas or LSU.

Murray State had to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament just to reach the NCAA Tournament. But once they punched its ticket into the dance, the Racers never looked back, defeating Georgia Tech and Ole Miss twice to win the Oxford regional before coming back from aGame 1losstodefeat Duke in the Durham super regional. The strength of the Racers is theiroffense. They’re top-30 in the country in batting average and on-base percentage while being ﬁfth in doubles.

Eight of their nine starters have started at least 57 games. Center fielder Jonathan Hogart leads the way with a1.162 on-base plus slugging percentage and team-high 22 home runs. Second baseman Dom Decker is ﬁrst on the team in battingaverage and has a.504 on-base percentage.

The only Racer who has started at least 10 games and has an OPS under .790 is outﬁelder Jackson Mc-

The inspiration to do her bestreached anew high after an underwhelming freshman year,byher standards

UCLA has not been to the College World Series since 2013, but coach John Savage knows athing or two about Omaha. The Bruins made it to the College World Series three times in four years beginning in 2010 under Savage, winning the program’sﬁrst national championship in 2013. Heading into 2025, they had only made one super regional since winning the title, but the Bruins ended theirOmahadroughtthis year after taking down UTSA in the Los Angeles super regional.

UCLA heads to the College World Series with one of thebest hitters in the field in Roch Cholowsky The shortstop leads the Bruins with a.742 slugging percentage, .367 batting average, 23 home runs and a.494 OBP Cholowsky is surrounded by alineup that includes third baseman Roman Martin and left fielder Dean West. Both hitters have better than a.450 OBP and are hitting over .310. Besides Cholowsky,ﬁrst baseman Mulivai Levu and outﬁelder AJ Salgado are the only Bruins with double-digit home runs.

Right-hander Michael Barnettleads theUCLA pitching staff. But if it faces LSUonMonday,righthander Landon Stump will likely start. Stump didn’t allow arun in four innings on Sunday against UTSA, posting a4.54 ERA in 731/3 innings on the year.He’s surrendered more than three runs in an outing just twice this season. Out of the bullpen, UCLA has some intriguing pieces. Right-hander Jack O’Connor holds a1.80 ERA in 24 appearances while right-hander CalRandall has an ERA of 3.09 in 26 outings.

Email Koki Riley at Koki. Riley@theadvocate.com.

That summer, she earned abronzemedal in the 400-meter hurdles at the WorldAthletics U20 championships in 2022. But seconds beforeshe earned amedal in Colombia, an uncharacteristic smile crossedher face. Awave agratitude washed over her Herreason for putting in copious hoursinthe sport sheloved changed suddenly.Becoming afuture Olympian took abackseat to her new guiding light that she’ll carry to Eugene. “Mymotivation used to be, ‘I wanttobethe best,’ but now Isee apurpose

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

OAKMONT,Pa Scottie Scheffler doesn’t care what the oddsmakers think or what people say about his status as the overwhelming favorite in this U.S. Open, and pretty much everywhere he plays. But he can hear them and sometimes, he hears from them.

“That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling,” Schefﬂer said with a laugh Tuesday at Oakmont. It wasn’t entirely clear if he was kidding.

He did say later the most anyone tried to pay him for a win he has won 19 times worldwide in just over three years — was a couple of dollars.

“That didn’t happen nearly as much as the requests did,” he said. Perhaps the most telling number for Scheffler, No. 1 in the world ranking for the longest streak since Tiger Woods in the late 2000s, is that he has won 25% of his tournaments since capturing his first PGA Tour title at the Phoenix Open in 2022. He has won three of his past four tournaments — including his third major at the PGA Championship last month at Quail Hollow — by a combined 17 shots There’s a lot of numbers that define his dominance in golf.

None of it matters to him.

“I don’t pay attention to the favorite stuff or anything like that,” he said. “Starting Thursday morning, we’re at even par and it’s up to me to go out there and play against the golf course and see what I can do.” That doesn’t figure to be easy Oakmont is considered the toughest golf course in

SCOREBOARD

America, and the last few days of practice rounds have not changed anyone’s opinions. Most of the attention is on the rough that covers the tops of shoes. Sunshine on Tuesday made the greens feel even faster after a few days of rain. Schefﬂer said he thinks the bunkers are underrated.

The overall consensus?

“Man, it’s just tough,” Collin Morikawa said. Scheffler would seem to have a game built for this given his extraordinary ability to control his golf ball from tee-to-green He has yet to win his national open, though he had chances at Los Angeles (2023), Brookline (2022) and Torrey Pines (2021). The exception was last year at Pinehurst No. 2, where Schefﬂer was never in the mix. One reason might be the schedule — the Memorial was the week before the U.S. Open last year another tough test that Schefﬂer won and never felt he had a chance to catch his breath. He won the Memorial again this year

“Having the week off was

really important for me to get home, get some rest, recover, and I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play maybe 11 holes and really get used to the conditions,” Schefﬂer said. “It feels much more like my normal major prep, versus last year where you’re coming in from basically a major championship test. Coming into another one is pretty challenging.”

Rory McIlroy had a few extra days off after missing the cut in the Canadian Open last week, giving him time to ﬁnd a driver that will help ﬁnd the fairways at Oakmont, perhaps the most critical part of this test.

McIlroy and Schefﬂer were listed as close to co-favorites after McIlroy won the Masters, giving him the career Grand Slam. He already had won three times on some of golf’s biggest stages Schefﬂer at that point had yet to win this year

McIlroy spoke last week of lacking motivation when getting ready for the Canadian Open.

“At some point you have to realize that there’s a

‘Inever wore a mask’

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

BY THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS Decades before trans-

gender 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.’

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

GROWTH MINDSET

Delcambre Seafood Market brings new faces, exciting eats to this Louisiana shrimping town

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

When this Texas couple decided they wanted to travel somewhere nearby, yet new and exciting, they landed in Acadiana for a summer getaway Brock and Linda Brown of Rockport, Texas, based themselves in New Iberia for the week, and enjoyed the area so much they decided to extend their trip after hearing about a south Louisiana gem — the Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market, which takes place the ﬁrst Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Bayou Carlin Cove Pavilion in Delcambre, right where the shrimp boats come in to sell their catch. You have to get there early to buy the fresh shrimp before it sells out, but this thriving small-town market has something delicious for everyone — Iberia Parish-style tamales in a vinegar and tomatobased sauce, “Casian” dishes from local Lao and Vietnamese families, bloody marys from the drinks bar, and a welcoming community feel that the Browns loved.

Jay Florsheim of Peace, Love & Smoke prepares samples of his smoked cheeses at the Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market.

“Everyone’s been so friendly and welcoming,” said Linda Brown, after a morning spent exploring the market. “We’re so glad we decided to come.”

One of my favorite tries at the Delcambre Market was a deli-

cious slice of lemon blueberry cheesecake from 2 Girls and a Cheesecake from Loreauvillebased home baker Amy Jo Diaz Her confections are almost surgical in how perfectly they combine cheesecake and cake slices, while being moist, ﬂavorful and texturally perfect throughout.

“I love that I can come to the market and see my regulars all the time,” said Diaz, who rotates between markets in Delcambre, New Iberia and Abbeville. “Or when they post pictures of a cake they got for their wife’s birthday That makes me happy.”

The Delcambre market has around 70 vendors, roughly half the size of the regional Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market, but packs a big punch when it comes to highlighting local vendors, regional specialties and the unique atmosphere of feeling the fresh Gulf breeze blow off the bayou. Vendor Jay Florsheim of Peace, Love & Smoke has been working area markets for several years now, offering specialty cheeses like “Sergeant Pepperoni,” a

PHOTOS By LEE BALL

The Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market is open on Bayou Carlin Cove in Delcambre.

AP PHOTO By THOMAS PADILLA

ä See MARKET, page 6C

Hibachi chicken at Hawaii Grill in Lafayette STAFF PHOTO By KRISTIN ASKELSON

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, June 11, the 162nd day of 2025. There are 203 days left in the year Today in history:

On June 11, 1963, the University of Alabama was desegregated as Vivian Malone and James Hood became the ﬁrst two Black students allowed to enroll in classes; Alabama segregationist and Gov George Wallace initially blocked the doorway to the auditorium where course registration was taking place, delivering a speech before deferring to National Guard orders to move. Also on this date: In 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five (composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livings-

BAMBI

Continued from page 5C

The history of queer liberation shifted in this cabaret, one sequin at a time. The contrast was chilling: as Bambi arrived in Paris and found fame dancing naked for ﬁlm stars, across the English Channel in early 1950s Britain the codebreaking genius Alan Turing was chemically castrated for being gay, leading to his suicide.

Evenings spent with legends

Today, Marie-Pierre Pruvot as she is also known — lives alone in an unassuming apartment in northeastern Paris. Her bookshelves spill over with volumes of literature and philosophy A black feather boa, a lone whisper from her glamorous past, hangs loosely over a chair

At nearly 90, Bambi is the last of a dying generation She outlived all her Carrousel sisters — April Ashley, Capucine, and Coccinelle.

And though the spotlight faded, the legacy still shimmers. In her heyday, Bambi wasn’t just part of the show; she was the show — with expressive almond-shaped eyes, pear-shaped face, and beauty indistinguishable from any desired Parisienne. Yet one key difference set her apart — a difference criminalized by French law

The depth of her history only becomes apparent as she points to striking and glamorous photographs and recounts evenings spent with legends.

Such was their then-fame that the name of Bambi’s housemate, Coccinelle, became slang for “trans” in Israel — often cruelly.

Once Dietrich, the starry queer icon, arrived at the tiny Madame 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’ And so they were seated onstage, legs crossed, champagne by their side, watching us per-

ton and Roger Sherman) to draft a declaration of independence from Great Britain, to be completed in the subsequent 17 days. In 1955, in motor racing’s worst disaster more than 80 people were killed during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France when two cars collided and crashed into spectators In 1962, Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin, prisoners at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, staged an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft They were never found or heard from again. In 1963, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc lit himself on ﬁre on a Saigon street as a protest against the Vietnamese government’s persecution of Buddhists. In 1987, Margaret Thatch-

form.”

Another day, Dietrich swept in to a hair salon

“Marlene always had this distant, untouchable air except when late for the hairdresser,” Bambi says, smiling. “She rushed in, kissed the hairdresser, settled beneath the dryer, stretched her long legs imperiously onto a stool, and lit a cigarette. 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 favorite star

Then there was Piaf, who, one evening, teasingly joked about her protégé, the French singing legend Charles Aznavour, performing nearby “She asked, ‘What time does Aznavour start?’ ” Bambi recalled.

“Someone said, ‘Midnight.’

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

Reassignment surgery

Behind the glamour lay constant danger Living openly as a woman was illegal.

“There was a police decree,” Bambi recalls. “It was a criminal offense for a man to dress as a woman. But if you wore pants and flat shoes, you weren’t considered dressed as a woman.”

The injustice was global. Homosexuality remained criminalized 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 over-the-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 sex work. One comrade died after botched gender reassignment surgery in Casablanca.

“There was only Casablanca,” she emphasized, with one doctor performing the high-risk surgeries. Bambi waited cautiously until her best friends, Coccinelle and April Ashley, had safely undergone procedures from the late 50s before doing the

er became the ﬁrst British prime minister in over 160 years to win a third consecutive term of ofﬁce as her Conservative Party held onto a reduced majority in Parliament.

In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, 33, was executed by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. Today’s Birthdays: Drummer Bernard Purdie is 86. International Motorsports Hall of Famer Jackie Stewart is 86. Actor Roscoe Orman is 81. Actor Adrienne Barbeau is 80. Rock musician Frank Beard (ZZ Top) is 76. Singer Graham Russell (Air Supply) is 75. Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana is 69. Actor Hugh Laurie is 66. TV personality and current Medicare Administrator Mehmet Oz is 65.

same herself.

Each night required extraordinary courage. Postwar Paris was scarred, haunted. The Carrousel wasn’t mere entertainment — but a one-ﬁngered salute to the past in heels and eyeliner

“There was this afterthe-war feeling people wanted to have fun,” Bambi recalled. With no television, the cabarets were packed every night. “You could feel it — people demanded to laugh, to enjoy themselves, to be happy They wanted to live again to forget the miseries of the war.”

In 1974, sensing a shift, Bambi quietly stepped away from celebrity, unwilling to become “an aging showgirl.” Swiftly obtaining legal female identity in Algeria, she became a respected teacher and Sorbonne scholar, hiding her dazzling past beneath Marcel Proust and careful anonymity for decades.

‘I never wore a mask’

Despite what she’s witnessed, or perhaps because of it, she’s remarkably skeptical about recent controversies around gender. This transgender pioneer feels wokeism has moved too quickly, fueling a backlash. She sees U.S. President Donald Trump as part of “a global reaction against wokeism… families aren’t ready… we need to pause and breathe a little before moving forward again.”

Inclusive pronouns and language “complicate the language,” she insists. Asked about author J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans stance, her response is calmly dismissive: “Her opinion counts no more than a baker’s or a cleaning lady’s.”

Bambi still stands proud, elegant, unbowed — in a life spanning World War II to Harry Potter

When she first stepped onstage, the world had no words for someone like her So she danced anyway Today, the words exist. So do the rights. And the movements she helped inspire.

“I never wore a mask,” she says softly, but ﬁrmly. “Except when I was a boy.”

of fried rice and noodle dishes — lots of chicken dishes, but shrimp and steak are also options. Each dish is made fresh to order — no soggy broccoli that’s been sitting in sauce all day I ordered hibachi chicken off the lunch specials menu, which features 20 options, all but one under $10. The chicken was tender, the vegetables were al dente, the sauce was delicious and the rice wasn’t drowning in it. Also, the portions were huge, a pleasant surprise at that price point. It was some of the best fried rice I’ve eaten, and I’ll deﬁnitely be going back to sample more lunch options.

— Kristin Askelson, Acadiana managing editor

Combination souvlaki n Zorba’s Greek Bistro, 5713 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge

After this meal, I think Zorba’s may be my favorite restaurant in Baton Rouge. While the main course was delicious, it’s

MARKET

Continued from page 5C

mozzarella coated in pepperoni spices, or his new “Funkadillic” cheese, a white cheddar marinated in pickling spices.

According to Florsheim, local markets offer a ton of visibility to people building craft brands. While there are challenges — it can be hard to manage inventory, for one, when rotating between weekly or monthly markets, and bad weather can ruin a market day — he says that markets like Delcambre are a great way to step into small-business ownership.

“You go through a growth process, trying to figure out if this is something you want to do,” he said. “Is it worthwhile? Can it be a side gig? And then down the road, you’re like, ‘Can this be more than a side gig?’ Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it’s no. Right now, this is a side

and the tzatziki was noticeably homemade and refreshing.

Lauren Cheramie, features coordinator

Rasta pasta

n The Royal Taste of Jamaica,

320 St. Charles St., Baton Rouge

worth mentioning the starters as well. Don’t miss the roasted garlic hummus, feta fries with tzatziki or politika meatballs with lamb, pork, tomato and yogurt. For an entree, there are several showstoppers on the menu, but I opted for the combination souvlaki plate, which comes with grilled chicken, beef tenderloin and gyro, along with Greek salad, grilled vegetables and potatoes fournou. It’s enough to feed a crowd. My favorite part about the dish was the potatoes, which are exceptionally crispy on the edges and soft on the inside The vegetables were ﬂavorful,

gig that’s a passion. I love doing it. If it never gets any bigger than this, I’m happy although it has brought some great opportunities.”

For Florsheim, those opportunities might include placing his cheeses and dry rub products in grocery stores. Other vendors may eventually expand beyond local markets and move into storefronts of their own. For communities like Delcambre, markets provide benefits beyond giving locals space to ply their wares — they attract visitors, catalyze community investment and build a local identity based on pride of place.

Port of Delcambre director Wendell Verret helped open the Delcambre market in 2013, after hurricanes Rita and Ike led the town to reenvision the use of what had been an industrial fabrication site on Bayou Carlin. He said that over the past 10 years, the market has brought thousands of new visitors to the area and helped improve sales for lo-

At Royal Taste of Jamaica, everyone is royalty When I introduced myself to the man taking my order, he told me I could call him “King David;” he called me “Queen Serena.” It was my ﬁrst time dining at the casual Jamaican eatery, and I went for the rasta pasta with jerk chicken, which, like all their rasta pastas, is only available on Friday Looking at the styrofoam take-out container it comes in (styrofoam plates are extra), it looks like a simple dish, but what it lacks in presentation, it more than makes up for in ﬂavor The creamy pasta

cal shrimpers.

“We’ve expanded this pavilion since it was built, and we’re full up as it is,” said Verret. With the success of the market, the Twin Parish Port District is now planning to build out a seafood hub in Erath, designed for seafood vendors afﬁliated with the market and the Port of Delcambre as a place to prepare product and sell to larger accounts.

“Seafood is an easy sell, so we were able to do the marketing on that and just build on it,” he said.

“If you don’t have people coming to your town, you don’t have the chance to grow You don’t even get the chance for economic development. That’s what we’re trying to do. If we can start with the premise that we can get people to want to come to town, know who we are and then want to come back, we can take the next steps from there.”

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

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Focusing on what you can afford will help you dodge getting involved with a risky joint venture. Keep an open mind, but refuse to let anyone pressure you into participating in something that isn't right for you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Be specific and accommodating if you want to get your point across. Participate in causes that resonate with you, and you'll connect with someone unique. Romance is favored.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) A passionate approach to whatever you pursue will pay off. Stand tall, be proud and make your point heard. A distinctive plan will separate you from any competitor.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Keep to yourself. You'llgaingroundifyouplaytheroleofa sounding board reflecting and directing without trying to control. Your best resultswillcomefromself-improvement projects.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Show respect, and you'll gain respect. Charm and persuasive tactics can do wonders initially, but you'll need a backup plan if you want to go the distance. No lazy Libra tactics will suffice; you must deliver the goods.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Set your sights on a financial goal and put a solid plan together. Leave nothing to chance or in someone else's hands. Do the work and finish what you start; everything else will fall into place.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Keep emotions under control and your mind on what you want to achieve. Expect dis-

tractions and false information, and be ready to deal with them. Success is within reach if you finish what you start.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Distance yourself from negativity and people who cause chaos. You have plenty to gain if you maintain a positive attitude and a willingness to compromise. Opportunity knocks, so answer the door.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take on a challenge and show everyone your capabilities.Yourinputcanleadtoanewideaand position you for future opportunities. Be the one to lead the way; a positive change will enrich your life.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Pay more attention to domestic issues. Discipline will be necessary to divert negativity and opposition. Listen to complaints, show compassion and offer solutions. Don't be afraid to compromise.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Stay alert and be aware of what everyone around you is doing and saying. Someone will try to take advantage of you. Take care of your responsibilities and protect your rights. Travel and learning are favored.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Don't overextend yourself. Stick to the facts, promise what's doable and walk away from unpredictable situations. Pay attention to money matters. Protect yourself and your assets.

Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

TODAy'S CLUE: N EQUALS F

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG

nea CroSSwordS

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

Bobby Moore, who was captain of the Englandsoccer team that won theWorld Cup in 1966, said, “If you never concede agoal, you’re going to win more games thanyou lose.” That is certainly true in soccer, but not inbridge.Thereisanoldsayingthatruns along these lines: If you watch abeginner play in three no-trump, he wins the first eight tricksand loses the last five. In contrast, an expert loses the first four and wins the lastnine. Obviously, that is not exactlytrue, but it makes avalidpoint. How is that agood hint to thisthreeno-trump contract afterWest leads the spade queen to dummy’ssingleton king?

NoteNorth’sthree-no-trumpresponse. Without West’s intervention, it wouldbe automatic. It should be even after West’s overcall.EvenifWesthasspadesheaded by theA-Q-J-10, he is unlikely to leadthe ace. And five clubs is along wayoff.

Southstartswith five top tricks: two spades, one heart,one diamond and one club. He needs to make useofdummy’s clubs. Butdeclarer must lose at least one club trickwhatever happens. Anda good general rule in no-trump is that if you must lose atrick to establishasuit, loseitasquickly as possible, and the first round of the suit is rarely too soon.

wuzzles

Here, South should play alow club fromthe board at trick two. West wins andpersevereswithspades,butdeclarer takes that trick, plays aclubtodummy’s queen, and has nine top tricks. Also, if he reads the end position correctly, he can catch West in an endplay for an overtrick.

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD DEFIcIts: DEF-ih-sits: Deficiencies; disadvantages.

Average mark21words

Time limit 40 minutes

Can you find 28 or morewords in DEFICITS?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —KEELson

that is not with me is againstme; and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad.” Matthew12:30

McMeel Syndication

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

BRIEFS

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Disney taking full control of Hulu

Disney will pay Comcast’s NBCUniversal nearly $439 million for its stake in Hulu, taking full control of the streaming service.

The move closes out an appraisal process that’s dragged on for a few years. Disney said in November 2023 that it was acquiring a 33% stake in Hulu from Comcast for at least $8.6 billion. That amount reflected Hulu’s guaranteed floor value of $27.5 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Disney has run Hulu since 2019, when Comcast ceded its authority to Disney and effectively became a silent partner Hulu began in 2007 and quickly evolved into as a service backed by entertainment conglomerates who hoped to stave off the internet with an online platform for their own TV shows Disney joined in 2009, planning to offer shows from ABC, ESPN and the Disney Channel. A decade later, Disney gained majority control of the business when it acquired 21st Century Fox.

Disney said in a regulatory ﬁling on Monday that its appraiser arrived at a valuation below the guaranteed floor value during the initial phase of the appraisal process, while NBCUniversal’s appraiser arrived at a valuation substantially in excess of the guaranteed ﬂoor value. A third appraiser was brought in and concluded that The Walt Disney Co. will pay $438.7 million for the Hulu stake.

The transaction is anticipated to close by July 24.

MLB acquires stake in Jomboy Media

NEW YORK Major League Baseball has agreed on a strategic partnership with Jomboy Media and will acquire a stake in the company The two sides announced the deal on Tuesday Jomboy Media will be used across MLB’s digital channels. MLB will also help grow Jomboy Media’s other shows, including “Talkin’ Baseball,” “Talkin’ Yanks” and “The Warehouse Games.” According to the release, Jomboy Media set revenue and proﬁtability records last year and had more than 93 million engagements on social media. Jomboy Media was founded in 2017.

Game app accused of promoting revolution HONG KONG Hong Kong police on Tuesday accused a mobile game application of advocating armed revolution and promoting secessionist agendas, saying that those who publish it or share it with others online may risk violating national security laws.

The announcement — the ﬁrst to publicly denounce a gaming app — indicates that authorities are widening the crackdown that has followed anti-government protests in 2019. Authorities have crushed or silenced many dissenting voices through prosecutions under the 2020 national security law imposed by Beijing and a similar, homegrown law enacted last year In a statement, police warned residents against downloading the “Reversed Front: Bonfire” application, saying those with the app installed might be seen as possessing a publication with a seditious intention. They also warned people against providing financial assistance to the application developer, including making in-app purchases. The game application was developed by ESC Taiwan, which did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment. On the application’s Facebook page, the developer posted about surging searches for the game name and a Hong Kong broadcaster’s news report about Tuesday’s development. According to the application’s introduction, players can assume the role of Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur, Taiwan or Cathaysian Rebel factions, among others, to overthrow the communist regime. They may also choose to lead the communists to defeat all enemies.

World Bank downgrades economic forecast

Citing ‘a substantial rise in trade barriers,’ the 189-country lender World Bank predicted that the U.S. economy — the world’s largest — would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marked a downgrade from the 2.3% U.S growth it had forecast for 2025 back in January.

Trade wars cited as reason, but Trump not mentioned by

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s trade wars are expected to slash economic growth this year in the United States and around the world, the World Bank forecast Tuesday

Citing “a substantial rise in trade barriers” but without mentioning Trump by name, the 189-country lender predicted that the U.S. economy — the world’s largest would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marked a downgrade from the 2.3% U.S. growth it had forecast for 2025 back in January

The bank also lopped 0.4 percentage points off its forecast for global growth this year. It now expects the world economy to expand just 2.3% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024.

In a forward to the latest version of the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill wrote that the global econo-

How

BY SHARON LURYE AP education writer

name

my has missed its chance for the “soft landing” — slowing enough to tame inﬂation without generating serious pain it appeared headed for just six months ago. “The world economy today is once more running into turbulence,” Gill wrote. “Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.”

America’s economic prospects have been clouded by Trump’s erratic and aggressive trade policies, including 10% taxes — tariffs — on imports from almost every country in the world. These levies drive up costs in the U.S. and invite retaliation from other countries.

The Chinese economy is forecast to see growth slow from 5% in 2024 to 4.5% this year and 4% next. The world’s second-largest economy has been hobbled by the tariffs that Trump has imposed on its exports, by the collapse of its real estate market and by an aging workforce.

The World Bank expects

the 20 European countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 0.7% this year, down from an already lackluster 0.9% in 2024. Trump’s tariffs are expected to hurt European exports. And the unpredictable way he rolls them out — announcing them, suspending them, coming up with new ones — has created uncertainty that discourages business investment. India is once again expected to be the world’s fastestgrowing major economy, expanding at a 6.3% clip this year But that’s down from 6.5% in 2024 and from the 6.7% the bank had forecast for 2025 in January In Japan, economic growth is expected to accelerate this year — but only from 0.2% in 2024 to a sluggish 0.7% this year, well short of the 1.2% the World Bank had forecast in January

The World Bank seeks to reduce poverty and boost living standards by providing grants and low-rate loans to poor economies. Another multinational organization that seeks to promote global prosperity the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — last week downgraded its forecast for the U.S and global economies.

U.S. stocks drift closer to record

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK U.S. stocks drifted closer to their all-time high on Tuesday as the wait continued to hear what will come of trade talks between the United States and China.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as talks between the world’s two largest economies carried into a second day The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 105 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%.

Stocks have roared higher since dropping roughly 20% below their record two months ago, when President Donald Trump shocked ﬁnancial markets with his announcement of tariffs that were so stiff that they raised worries about a possible recession. Much of the rally has been due to hopes that Trump would lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with countries around the world, and the S&P 500 is back within 1.7% of its record set in February

It’s getting to be time to see whether such hopes were warranted. The talks with China were going “really, really well,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Tuesday evening in London, where the talks were being held. The two sides worked on “all sorts of trade issues,” he said, according to a video clip posted by the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.

Both the United States and China have put many of their tariffs announced against each other on pause as talks continue.

Even though many tariffs are on hold for the moment, they’re still affecting companies and their ability to make proﬁts because of all the uncertainty they’ve created.

Designer Brands, the company behind the DSW shoe store chain, became the latest U.S. company to yank its ﬁnancial forecasts for 2025 because of “uncertainty stemming primarily from global trade policies.”

The company, which also owns Keds, Jessica Simpson and other shoe brands, reported a larger loss for the start of the year than analysts were expecting, and its revenue also fell short of forecasts. CEO Doug Howe pointed to ”persistent instability and pressure on consumer discretionary” spending, and the company’s stock tumbled 18.2%.

The uncertainty is moving in both directions, to be sure. A survey released Tuesday of optimism among small U.S. businesses improved a bit in May

“While the economy will continue to stumble along until the major sources of uncertainty are resolved, owners reported more positive expectations on business conditions and sales growth,” according to Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business.

On Wall Street, J.M. Smucker fell 15.6% even though its results for the latest quarter topped analysts’ expectations. Its revenue fell short of expectations, as did its forecast for proﬁt in the upcoming year

Tesla helped to make up for such losses after rising 5.7%. The electric vehicle company has been recovering since tumbling last week as Elon Musk’s relationship with Trump imploded That raised fears about possible retaliation by the U.S. government against Tesla.

recovered, according to the reports.

It was an unusual question coming from a police ofﬁcer Heather Brady was napping at home in San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon when the officer knocked on her door to ask: Had she applied to Arizona Western College?

She had not, and as the ofﬁcer suspected, somebody else had applied to Arizona community colleges in her name to scam the government into paying out ﬁnancial aid money When she checked her student loan servicer account, Brady saw the scammers hadn’t stopped there. A loan for over $9,000 had been paid out in her name — but to another person — for coursework at a California college.

“I just can’t imagine how many people this is happening to that have no idea,” Brady said.

The rise of artificial intelligence and the popularity of online classes have led to an explosion of financial aid fraud. Fake college enrollments have been surging as crime rings deploy “ghost students” — chatbots that join online classrooms and stay just long enough to collect a financial aid check.

In some cases, professors discover almost no one in their class is real. Students get locked out of the classes they need to graduate as

bots push courses over their enrollment limits. And victims of identity theft who discover loans fraudulently taken out in their names must go through months of calling colleges, the Federal Student Aid ofﬁce and loan servicers to try to get the debt erased.

On Friday, the U.S. Education Department introduced a temporary rule requiring students to show colleges a government-issued ID to prove their identity It will apply only to ﬁrst-time applicants for federal student aid for the summer term, affecting some 125,000 borrowers. The agency said it is developing more advanced screening for the fall.

“The rate of fraud through stolen identities has reached a level that imperils the federal student aid program,” the department said in its guidance to colleges

An Associated Press analysis of fraud reports obtained through a public records request shows California colleges in 2024 reported 1.2 million fraudulent applications, which resulted in 223,000 suspected fake enrollments. Other states are affected by the same problem, but with 116 community colleges, California is a particularly large target.

Criminals stole at least $11.1 million in federal, state and local ﬁnancial aid from California community colleges last year that could not be

Colleges typically receive a portion of the loans intended for tuition, with the balance going directly to students for other expenses. Community colleges are targeted in part because their lower tuition means larger percentages of grants and loans go to borrowers.

Scammers frequently use AI chatbots to carry out the fraud, targeting courses that are online and allow students to watch lectures and complete coursework on their own time.

Brittnee Nelson, of Shreveport, was bringing her daughter to day care two years ago when she received a notification that her credit score had dropped 27 points.

Loans had been taken out in her name for colleges in California and Louisiana, she discovered. She canceled one before it was paid out, but it was too late to stop a loan of over $5,000 for Delgado Community College in New Orleans. Nelson runs her own housecleaning business and didn’t go to college. She already was signed up for identity theft protection and carefully monitored her credit. Still, her debt almost went into collections before

the loan was put in forbearance. She recently got the loans taken off her record after two years of effort.

“It’s like if someone came into your house and robbed you,” she said.

The federal government’s efforts to verify borrowers’ identity could help, she said.

“If they can make these hurdles a little bit harder and have these veriﬁcations more provable, I think that’s really, really, really going to protect people in the long run,” she said.

Delgado spokesperson Barbara Waiters said responsibility for approving loans ultimately lies with federal agencies.

“This is an unfortunate and serious matter, but it is not the direct or indirect result of Delgado’s internal processes,” Waiters said.

In San Francisco, the loans taken out in Brady’s name are in a grace period, but still on the books. That has not been her only challenge. A few months ago, she was laid off from her job and decided to sign up for a class at City College San Francisco to help her career But all the classes were full.

After a few weeks, Brady ﬁnally was able to sign up for a class. The professor apologized for the delay in spots opening up: The college has been struggling with fraudulent applications.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Nelson

Trump