The Acadiana Advocate 06-13-2025

Pharmacy bill killed on last day of session

Governor says he will call legislators back over issue

BY ALYSE PFEIL and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writers

With just an hour left in the regular session, the Louisiana Senate on Thursday killed a controversial bill that would have barred companies from owning both pharmacy ben-

efits managers and pharmacies.

That decision defied Gov Jeff Landry, who said he would call the Legislature back in for a special session to address the issue.

“Yes we will have a special to lower prescription drugs for our citizens.

It’s that important!” Landry said in a statement through a spokesperson.

INSIDE

ä Legislature approves $51 billion budget on final day of session. Page 5A

ä Attorney general investigating CVS over mass text messages lobbying against pharmacy legislation. Page 7A

ä Landry names new head of Department of Transportation and Development. Page 1B

ä Compromise reached on measure for cleaning up old drilling sites. Page 1B

It was not clear when Landry might issue that call.

Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said senators had con-

cerns about the rapid pace at which House Bill 358 was being considered it only emerged from a conference committee with the language addressing PBMs on Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s a legislative process for a reason,” Henry said. “That amendment did not have one ounce of public testimony through the process.” Henry pointed out that the bill would not have taken effect until 2027 anyway, had it passed, which meant the Legislature could simply vote on the bill next year

“I don’t know why you would call a special session for a bill that doesn’t

ä See PHARMACY, page 4A

Ex-wildlife official pleads not guilty in federal court

Montoucet indicted in kickback scheme involving contract

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Jack Montoucet, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, made his first appearance Thursday in federal court in Lafayette after being indicted in May in a kickback scheme involving a statewide department contract.

Appearing before federal Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst, Montoucet, 77, pleaded not guilty to five charges contained in the indictment. If convicted, he could face time in prison and up to $1 million in fines.

Montoucet was released Thursday on a $15,000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport, restrict his travel to the United States and turn in any weapons he owns.

The former state legislator was appointed to head the department by former Gov John Bel Edwards in January 2017. Montoucet resigned abruptly in April 2023 a day after The TimesPicayune | The Advocate identified him as the high-ranking department official implicated in the scheme.

A federal grand jury in Lafayette indicted Montoucet in May on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Whitehurst said if convicted he could face:

Federal investigation targets Lafayette Parish jail workers

Contractor’s employees in country without documentation

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

A federal investigation is underway after at least five people working at the Lafayette Parish jail were found to be in the country without proper documentation. It appears that the individuals were employed by Stumpf Wa-

terproofing, which has a purchase order dated June 2 with Lafayette Consolidated Government to do emergency waterproofing repairs at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, Jamie Boudreaux, LCG chief communications officer said Thursday

According to the company’s website, Stumpf Waterproofing is based in Holden and was established in 2015 by David Stumpf, a third-generation waterproofer The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The parish government is required by law to provide a jail facility, which the Sheriff’s Office operates.

“It is LCG’s procedure, as part of our General Vendor Terms & Conditions, that vendors agree to ascertain and comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations,” Boudreaux wrote, “and are responsible for their own actions and agents At no time did LCG provide or contract directly with workers of Stumpf Waterproofing.” A news release from Chris

Cormier, of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, said routine background checks on workers at the jail revealed several people hired by the contractor appeared to be in the country without proper legal documentation. Homeland Security Investigations, Cormier wrote, was contacted to confirm the workers’ legal status. HSI determined further investigation is appropriate, he wrote. HSI detained five people they determined were in the United States without legal documentation. Background checks are routine-

ly conducted on anyone entering the jail, Cormier wrote. This is the first recorded instance to occur at LPCC, he said.

The detentions come amid a national debate over recent immigration tactics that have included sweeps at Home Depots and raids on car washes and construction sites. The recent raids culminated in protests in California and President Donald Trump’s deployment of the military in response to the protests. The Lafayette Parish investigation is ongoing.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Jack Montoucet, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, leaves the federal courthouse in Lafayette on Thursday.

ä See PLEADS, page 5A

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, waves as Rep Michael Echols, R-Monroe, thanks Miller for his work on House Bill 264 during the final minutes of the 2025 legislative session on Thursday.

At least 4 dead in San Antonio after heavy rains

SANANTONIO Heavy rains in San Antonio rapidly flooded roads, swept away submerged cars and sent some people scrambling up trees to escape fast-rising waters Thursday while firefighters made dozens of rescues across the nation’s seventh-largest city

At least four people died and two were still missing, authorities said. The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where authorities found over a dozen vehicles in the water Photos and video showed smashed and overturned vehicles submerged in a creek.

Some of the people rescued in that area said they were swept off an interstate access road by “sudden fast rising water,” San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said in an email. He said floodwaters swept vehicles into a creek and carried them downstream.

Crews were bringing in search dogs Thursday afternoon to help find missing people, Arrington said. By afternoon, crews could be seen pulling heavily damaged vehicles out of the creek.

Calls for water rescues began before sunrise, officials said. Two women and two men were found dead, according to police Chief William McManus, who did not have their ages.

“There were several people that were caught in that water that had climbed up into trees and we did do a couple of rescues out of trees and some rescues out of vehicles,” said fire department spokesperson Woody Woodward.

Texas governor deploys

5K Nat’l. Guard troops

AUSTIN, Texas Texas Gov Greg Abbott said Thursday he has ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, to help local law enforcement manage protests against President Donald Trump and the ongoing federal immigration raids.

Abbott’s announcement did not detail where the troops were sent, but some were seen at a protest Wednesday night in downtown San Antonio near the Alamo. That protest drew hundreds of demonstrators but did not erupt into violence. More protests are planned on Saturday in San Antonio and across Texas in cities such as Houston, Austin and Dallas as part of the national “No Kings” movement.

Protests earlier this week in Austin and Dallas led to brief clashes with police who used chemical irritants to disperse the crowds. About a dozen were arrested. The Republican Texas governor’s move stands in sharp contrast to California Gov Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who has publicly clashed with Trump over his decision to deploy National Guard and Marine personnel in Los Angeles.

Nigerian leader denies one-party plan

ABUJA, Nigeria Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday denied that there were plans to turn Africa’s largest democracy into a one-party state, pushing back against claims that he’s using state mechanisms to convince high-profile opposition politicians to defect to the governing party

Several governors and federal lawmakers have left opposition parties in recent months to join Nigeria’s All Progressives Congress party Abdullahi Ganduje, the governing party’s chairman, has also said there was “nothing wrong” with Nigeria becoming a one-party state, angering many in a region threatened with shrinking democratic space.

In his Democracy Day address to federal lawmakers, Tinubu said that he would be “the last person” to advocate for Nigeria to drop its multiparty structure and adopt a one-party system.

“At no time in the past, nor any instance in the present, and at no future juncture shall I view the notion of a one-party state as good for Nigeria,” he said Dozens of youths meanwhile, staged protests in the nation’s economic hub of Lagos, where they accused the government of bad governance and profiting off state resources at the expense of millions of citizens.

Air India crash kills 241 aboard

BY AJIT SOLANKI and RAJESH ROY Associated Press

AHMEDABAD, India

An Air India plane bound for London crashed in a residential area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board, the airline said. One passenger who was thrown from the plane survived.

An unknown number of people on the ground were killed in the crash, including medical students in a college hostel when the plane hit the building and burst into flames, said Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer in the northwestern city

“Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” she said.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that he met the sole survivor at the hospital. A doctor said he had examined the survivor, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press. “But he seems to be out of danger.”

Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion.

Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water Charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were

scattered around the site Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured.

A video on social media showed the jet slowly descending as if it were landing. As soon as it disappeared from view behind rows of houses, a giant fireball filled the sky The AP was able to verify the video by matching up the flight path of the plane from the runway with the crash site and the nearby residential area.

At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached was lodged near the top of one of the buildings.

In a social media post, Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words” and said “my thoughts are with everyone affected.”

Sambit Patra, a lawmaker from Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said Gujarat’s former chief minister, Vijay Rupani, was among the dead.

Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, said at least five students from the medical college were killed on the ground and 50 others were injured. Singh said some of them were in critical condition and many people are “feared buried in the debris.”

Air India confirmed in a statement posted on X that 229 passengers and 12 crew members were killed in the crash. The only survivor was a British national of Indian origin. The flight bound for London Gatwick Airport had 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian aboard.

“Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones,” the airline said.

Iran announces new nuclear enrichment site after censure

BY STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN, JON GAMBRELL and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

VIENNA Iran said it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility, ratcheting up tensions with the U.N on Thursday immediately after its atomic watchdog agency censured Iran for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said in a joint statement.

The censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency its first in 20 years over Iranian noncompliance, could set in motion an effort to restore sanctions on Iran later this year

U.S. President Donald Trump had previously warned that Israel or America could launch airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiators failed to reach a deal on Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

A sixth round of Iran-U.S. talks is scheduled to begin Sunday in Oman, and as tensions simmer some American government staffers deemed nonessen-

tial have begun leaving the Gulf region.

Trump said Thursday he is still urging Iran to negotiate a deal, but that he is concerned a “massive conflict” could occur in the Middle East if it does not.

“I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter about a potential Israeli attack.

“Look, it’s very simple, not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump offered guarded optimism that a conflict could still be avoided, and said he’s urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from taking action for the time being. He later took to social media to emphasize

Hegseth: Pentagon has contingency plans to invade Greenland

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force if necessary but refused to answer repeated questions at a hotly combative congressional hearing Thursday about his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations.

Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee repeatedly got into heated exchanges with Hegseth, with some of the toughest lines of questioning coming from military veterans as many demanded yes or no answers and he tried to avoid direct responses about his actions as Pentagon chief.

In one back-and-forth, Hegseth did provide an eyebrow-raising answer Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., asked whether the Pentagon has developed plans to take Greenland or Panama by force if necessary

“Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any contingency,” Hegseth said several times. It is not unusual for the Pentagon to draw up contingency plans for conflicts that have not arisen, but his handling of the questions prompted a Republican lawmaker to step in a few minutes later

“It is not your testimony today that there are plans at the Pentagon for taking by force or invading Greenland, correct?” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. As Hegseth started to repeat his answer about contingency plans, Turner added emphatically “I sure as hell hope that is not your testimony.”

“We look forward to working with Greenland to ensure that it is secured from any potential threats,” Hegseth responded.

Time and again, lawmakers pressed Hegseth to answer questions he has avoided for months, including during the two previous days of hearings on Capitol

Hill. And frustration boiled over

“You’re an embarrassment to this country You’re unfit to lead,” Rep. Salud Carbajal snapped, the California Democrat’s voice rising. “You should just get the hell out.”

GOP lawmakers on several occasions apologized to Hegseth for the Democrats’ sharp remarks, saying he should not be subject to such “flagrant disrespect.” Hegseth said he was “happy to take the arrows” to make tough calls and do what’s best.

Questions emerge

Hegseth’s use of two Signal chats to discuss details of the U.S. plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen with other U.S. leaders as well as members of his family prompted dizzying exchanges with lawmakers. Hegseth was pressed multiple times over whether or not he shared classified information and if he should face accountability if he did.

Hegseth argued that the classification markings of any information about those military operations could not be discussed with lawmakers. That became a quick trap, as Hegseth has asserted that nothing he posted — on strike times and munitions dropped in March was classified. His questioner, Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Marine veteran, jumped on the disparity

“You can very well disclose whether or not it was classified,” Moulton said. “What’s not classified is that it was an incredible, successful mission,” Hegseth responded. A Pentagon watchdog report on his Signal use is expected soon. Moulton asked Hegseth whether he would hold himself accountable if the inspector general finds that he placed classified information on Signal, a commercially available app. Hegseth would not directly say, only noting that he serves “at the pleasure of the president.”

that his “entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran.”

“As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think it would blow it,” Trump said in his comments to reporters.

Trump said he felt it was necessary for his administration on Wednesday to direct a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their families from some U.S. diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.

Nineteen countries on the IAEA’s board of governors voted for the resolution to censure Iran, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closeddoors vote.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AJIT SOLANKI

The tail of an airplane is seen stuck in a building at the site of an airplane crash in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Thursday.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

PROVIDED PHOTO By IRANIAN PRESIDENCy OFFICE President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, listens to Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear achievements in Tehran, Iran, on April 9.

BY KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

WASHINGTON The House

narrowly voted Thursday to cut about $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress as President Donald Trump’sadministration looks to follow through on work done by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

The package targets foreign aid programs and the Corporation forPublic Broadcasting, which provides money for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service as well as thousands of public radioand television stations around the country.The vote was 214-212.

Republicans are characterizing the spending as wasteful and unnecessary, butDemocrats say therescissions are hurting the United States’ standing in the world and will leadto needless deaths.

“Cruelty is the point,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the proposed spendingcuts.

The Trump administration is employing atool rarely used in recentyears that allows the president to transmit arequest to Congress to cancelpreviously appropriated funds. That triggers a45-day clock in which the funds are frozen pendingcongressionalaction. If Congress fails to act within that period,thenthe spending stands.

“Under Presi de nt Trump’sleadership, your taxpayer dollars are no longer being wasted,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, RBenton, said after the vote. “Instead, they are being directed toward priorities that truly benefit the American people.”

The benefit for the administrationofaformal rescissions request is that passage requiresonlya simple majority in the 100-member Senate instead of the 60 votesusually requiredto get spending bills through that chamber.Soifthey stay largely united, Republicans will be able to pass the measure without any Democratic votes.

SenateMajorityLeader John Thune,R-S.D., said theSenate would likely not takethe bill up until July and after it has dealt with Trump’sbig taxand immigrationbill. He also saidit’s possible theSenate could tweak the bill.

The administration is likening the first rescissions package to atest case and says more could be on the way if Congress goes along Republicans, sensitive to concerns thatTrump’s sweeping tax andimmigration bill would increase future federal deficits,are anxious to demonstrate spendingdiscipline, thoughthe cuts in the package amount to just asliver of thespendingapproved by Congress each year.They are betting the cuts prove popular with constituentswho alignwith Trump’s“America first” ideology as wellasthose who view NPR and PBS as having aliberal bias.

Four Republicans voted against themeasure

Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,NicoleMalliotakis of New York and Mike Turner of Ohio. No Democrats voted for the measure.

The bill looked like it was in danger ofgoing down, but twolawmakers —Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and NickLaLotaofNew York changedtheirvotes to yes, allowing it to advance to the Senate

Useoftroopstohelpwithraids facestest

BY KRYSTAFAURIA, OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and JOHNSEEWER

Associated Press

LOSANGELES Homeland SecuritySecretary KristiNoem promised Thursday to move forwardwith the Trump administration’simmigration crackdown in Los Angeles despite the waves of unrest that have followed, saying agents have thousands of targets.

“This is only going to continue until we have peace on thestreetsofLos Angeles,” she said during anews conference that was interrupted by shouting from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla,aCalifornia Democrat whowas forcibly removed from the event

Noem spoke hours before President DonaldTrump’s use of troopstohelpcarry out immigration raids faced its biggest challengeyet when afederal judge began weighing arequest from California Gov.Gavin Newsom to put an emergency stop to theprac-

tice.

Newsomhas warned that the military interventionis partofa broader effortby Trumptooverturn norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy.Healso said thatsending National Guard troops on the raids has further inflamed tensions in Los Angeles, where large and sometimes volatile protests have brokenout sincethe crackdown begannearlya week ago.

So far, theprotestshave been centered mostly in downtown L.A. near City Halland afederal detention center wheresome immigrantsare being held. Much of thesprawling city hasbeen spared from the protests.

The Trumpadministration on Wednesday called Newsom’slawsuit a“crasspolitical stunt endangering American lives.”

The hearing Thursday in SanFrancisco opened with SeniorU.S.District Court Judge Charles R. Breyerask-

ing attorneys whether Trump followed thelaw when he calledinthe National Guard

“We’re talking about the president exercising his authority,and thepresident is of course, limited in that authority,” Breyer said. “That’s the difference between aconstitutional governmentand King George.”

Thejudgeadded: “This country was foundedinresponse to amonarch, and the constitution is adocument of limitations. I’mtrying to figure out where the lines are drawn.”

Demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., with protests emerging in more thana dozenmajor cities. On Wednesday,police in Seattle used pepper spray to clear outprotesters, andofficers in Denver used smoke and pepper balls to control a crowd.

Police in riot gear —many on horseback —charged at a groupofprotesters Wednesday night in L.A. just before

the start of the second night of thecity’s downtown curfew. Theofficers struck some demonstrators with wooden rods andlater firedcrowdcontrol projectiles. After the curfew went into effect, a handfulofarrests were made before thearea cleared out.

The immigration agents conducting theraids in L.A. are “putting together amodel and ablueprint” forother communities, Noem said. She pledgedthatfederal authorities“arenotgoingaway,” even though, she said, officers have been hit with rocksand bricks and assaulted. She said people with criminal records who areinthe country illegally and violent protesters will “face consequences.”

“Just because you think you’re here as acitizen,or because you’re amember of acertain group or you’re not acitizen,itdoesn’t mean that you’re going to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country stands for,”she said.

Governorsdefend policies before GOP-ledpanel

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press

WASHINGTON As President Donald Trumpsparswith California’sgovernor over immigration enforcement, RepublicansinCongress called other Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to question themover policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Members of theHouse Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform sat in front of large, full-color posters showing men who they said were in the country without legal permission when they were arrested for crimes in Illinois, Minnesota and New York —home of the governors testifyingbefore the committee.

Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer beganthe hear-

Declassified files: RFKmet with the CIAafter a trip to theSovietUnion

BY DAVID KLEPPER and JOHN HANNA

Associated Press

WASHINGTON The CIA releasednearly 1,500 pagesof previously classified documents relating to New York Sen. RobertF.Kennedy and his 1968 assassination on Thursday,detailing the spy agency’swork to investigate his killing as well as previously unknown contacts between him and the agency Kennedy met with the CIA following a1955 tour of the Soviet Union,relayinghis observations to the spy agency as avoluntary informant,the documents show The newly available material comprises 54 documents, including memosabout the

agency’s work to investigate whether RFK’skiller had any foreign ties, as well as the response to his killing by foreignpowers. The records also included documents aboutthe assassinationsof PresidentJohnF.Kennedy andMartin Luther King Jr., as well as theattemptedassassination of Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1972

One internal CIA memo detailed how theagency unsuccessfully sought to poisonCubanleader Fidel Castro in 1960 and1961. It worked with a“high-ranking” Mafia figure in Las Vegaswho “controlledall of the ice-making machines on the Strip.”

Another internal CIA memo from December1973

reported on aconference at Georgetown University for agrouppromoting assassination conspiracy theories. One speaker was “long-winded and technical.”

“Beardsand long hair prevailed,” thememo said, areminder of the clean-shaven, crew-cutnorm forgovernment employees at thetime.

President DonaldTrump had ordered the release of documentsrelating to the assassinations of RFK, President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr More than 10,000 pages of records pertaining to RFK’s assassination werereleased in April.

The recordsreleased Thursdayalso includeddocuments about the JFK and King killings,some produced after RFK’sdeath anddealing with conspiracy theories.

ing by introducing the family of ayoung woman killed in ahit-and-run trafficcrash in Illinois, suggestingits sanctuary policies hadfacilitated the illegalpresenceofthe driver of the other vehicle.

“Sanctuary polices do not protect Americans, they protect criminal illegal aliens,” Comer said.

Republican lawmakers clashed repeatedly with the Democratic governors,often recounting descriptionsof violent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally who were not previously detained by local police. The daylong hearing turned into ayelling match at multiple moments, with committeememberstalking over thetop of each other and veering off topic in their questions.

At one point,Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of

New Mexico interjected to denounce the“theatrics.”

“Welcome everyone to the Oversight reality TV show,” Stansbury said. “I knowMr. Trump loveshimself some good TV,and today is notdisappointing.”

There’snolegal definition of asanctuary jurisdiction, but theterm generally refers to governments with policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Courts previously have upheld thelegalityofsuch laws

But Trump’sadministration has sued Colorado, Illinois, New York andseveral cities —including Chicago and Rochester, New York —asserting their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal law.

Illinois, Minnesota andNew York also wereamong 14 states andhundreds of cities and counties recentlylisted

by the Department of HomelandSecurity as “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.” The list later was removed from the department’swebsite after criticism that it errantlyincluded some local governments that support Trump’simmigration policies. As Trump steps up immigration enforcement, some Democratic-led states have intensifiedtheir resistance by strengthening state laws restricting cooperation with immigration agents. Followingclashes between crowds of protesters and immigrationagents in LosAngeles, Trumpdeployedthe NationalGuard to protect federal buildings and agents, andCaliforniaGov.Gavin Newsom accused Trump of declaring “a war” on the underpinnings of American democracy

Kennedy

take effect until 2027,” Henry said.

What thebills do

Rather than approve the governor’spreferred policy change, the Senate passed alast-minute resolution asking for astudyonthe impact of prohibiting PBM ownership of pharmacies, a practice knownas“vertical integration.”

And the Legislature passedabill that would set new rules for how those companies can operate,requiring them to pass more of their savings on prescription drugs to consumers and barring them from requiring customers to use their drugstores.

The series of political maneuvers and votes came after aferocious,last-minute lobbying battle between some ofthe country’s largest PBMs —including CVS, which sent abarrage of text messages to customers urging opposition to the bill and Landry,who publicly pressured legislators to restrict the PBM giants.

HB358 would have banned companies from owning both pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies. Supporters arguedoingso would stop big companies from pushing out independent pharmacies.

PBMs act as middlemen between pharmacies,health care plansand drug manufacturers to negotiate lower drug costs, but critics say they have too muchpower over the drug market, drive out competition and limit where people can get their prescriptions filled.

CVS, which owns both a PBM and anationwide chain of drug stores, said the bill wouldhaveforced it to close its 119 stores in Louisiana, affecting about 1million patients across the state and 22,000 patients who receive high-cost specialty drugs that smaller pharmacies couldfind difficulttohandle

“Our focus remains on serving thepeople of Louisiana: lowering drugcosts, providing access to care and helping improve health,” saidCVS spokesperson Amy Thibault after the Legislature adjourned. “Welook forward to working productively with policymakersto continuetomakeprescription drugs more affordable and accessible and promoting the value of community pharmacy.”

In the hours before the session’s6 p.m. deadline, Landry andother PBMcritics took to social mediato pressure legislators

Landry,who for days had been publicly urging the Legislature to pass the prohibition, said in apost on X hours before the end of the sessionthathecould quickly call lawmakers back into a special sessionshould they rejectthe measure.

Donald Trump Jr., the president’sson, weighed in on thepolitical battle20minutes laterwith apostonX: “Louisiana, it’stime to pass HB358 and end the charade that costs hard-working Americans so much money

whenbuying prescription drugs.”

The House on Wednesday approved the bill on an 88-4 vote. But the Senate did not bring it up fora vote Thursday

Instead, its members passed withoutopposition SenateResolution 209, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge,asking the Louisiana Department of Healthtostudy the idea of implementingthe rules sought in HB358.

TheHouse ultimately unanimously approved House Bill 264 by Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, which establishes new rules for PBMs. In additiontorequiring more money go to customers, thebillrequires them to disclose more informationtothe state.

On the House floor,Echols saidHB264 includes “stronger oversight tools,” protects consumers, enhances transparency and addresses “heinouspractices”by PBMs

“Today is agiant leap forward, and we keep our promise to you to fix these problems,” Echols said.

“We’re not done. Ithink we’re just beginning, but this opens abig door for us to go through.”

Talbot said HB264 was a sign that “thebig pharmacies are on notice now.” And he saidthe Senatemay be open in the future to banning vertical integration.

“It ain’tover,”Talbot said. Controversyatthe end

Debateover HB358 exploded in the last twodays of thesession

The bill was originally designed toallow pharmacy technicians to access pharmacy recordsand systems remotely.But onWednesday afternoon, it emerged from aconferencecommittee— where lawmakers from each chamber meetbehind closed doors to work through disagreements —toadd the provision about pharmacy and PBM ownership

CVS has blasted that process, saying the state was making amajor change to pharmacy laws at thelast minute with no public hearings

Supporters argued the restriction on PBMs would stop big corporations from having anunfair advantage that has led to the closure of independent pharmacies.

Independent pharmacies have been gettingreimbursed less and less every year“because the PBMs want to make theirown pockets fatter,” Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, sponsor of HB358, said on the House floorWednesday.

“I think it’stime that we tell PBMs youhave to choose: You’re either aPBM or you’re apharmacy in Louisiana,” Miller said.Lawmakersinfavor the change said they weren’tforcing anypharmacies to close.

ButThibaultsaid,“It’s not possibletooperate aPBM in all states butone.”

“PBMs serve employers with peopleinmultiple states. Youcan’thave a state-by-statePBM,sowe don’thaveachoice,”she said.

Arkansas passed asimilar

bill earlierthis year.CVS has filed alawsuit seeking to block it from takingeffect.

Patients react

On Thursday, asteady trickleofcustomers picked up prescriptions as usual at stores on Magazine and Prytania streets.

Aftera morning of doctors’ appointments, Cynthia Marshall,72, stoppedtopick up aprescription after seeingthe text.She hadn’t had achancetolearnmore about the bill, but said there were alternatives if the store did close.

“Wewould probably just go to Walgreens,”said Marshall, whoisretired from administrative work for a law firm.

ButthatWalgreens is small, Marshall pointed out, and she was concerned about it taking on the patient load of closed stores.

Alongwiththe textcampaign, CVS stores across Louisiana hung colorful “Save ourStore” posters at their entrances, and some locations even passed out flyers to customers.

Jordan Hefler,ofBaton Rouge,stopped at aCVS storeWednesday to return an item and said thecashier handedher a“Save our Store” flyer containing aQR code.The employee urged her to sign apetition.

Hefler was initially confused andworried about CVSstoresclosing,because she shops at them for household itemsand uses coupons. Shelooked into the issueand realized it was more “complicated”and “probablynot as immediate as it was made to sound,” she said.

Some CVS patrons said they hadnot heard of the news, and weren’ttoo worried about it

AllenHall, of Watson, uses the pharmacyatthe DenhamSprings CVS and said Thursday he had not receivedany texts from CVS or heard about possible closures.

“If they shut down,I’ll just go somewhereelse,” Hall said outside the store.

Email AlysePfeilatalyse. pfeil@theadvocate.com.

By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Senators gather around amonitortowatch as state Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, answers questions on House Bill264 during the final minutes of the 2025 legislativesession

Legislature approves $51B budget on

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

On the last day of the regular session, the Louisiana Legislature settled two major debates: A bill that would have banned companies from owning both pharmacy benefit managers and drugstores died, while lawmakers passed a measure requiring app stores to age verify users and obtain parental permission before minors download apps.

Lawmakers also resolved questions surrounding next year’s budget, giving $43.5 million to a program that helps families pay for their kids to go to private school, adding $1.2 billion in onetime spending on items such as improvements to roads and bridges and raising the rate the state pays sheriffs to house state inmates, among other decisions.

All of those measures still require Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature before becoming law

Thursday’s decisions marked the end of a twomonth session where battles around insurance often took center stage. The Legislature passed a number of measures that benefit insurance companies in the courtroom, but it also passed a bill giving the insurance commissioner more authority to reject rate increases

Lawmakers also voted to overhaul the Department of Transportation and Development, set new court deadlines for prisoners seeking to have their sentences changed and give pregnant women the right to sue providers of abortion drugs, among many other measures.

In a video end-of-session address, Landry described the session as a victory, citing changes to insurance law and the DOTD, among other items.

“In one session, we tackled some of the toughest issues that have plagued our state for decade,” he said.

App stores and PBMs

In the waning days of the legislative session, one issue took center stage: how to deal with pharmacy ben-

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n Up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release on the conspiracy charge.

n Up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and five years of supervised release on each of the three wire fraud charges.

n Up to 20 years in prison, $500,000 in fines or two times the value of the involved property and five years of supervised release on the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge.

The indictment alleges Montoucet and Dusty Guidry, of Youngsville, at

efit managers, companies meant to act as middlemen between drug companies, health care plans and pharmacies to negotiate lower drug costs.

Critics say PBMs pocket too much of the savings for themselves.

Moved by such concerns, the House on Wednesday debated whether to pass House Bill 538, which would have banned companies from owning both pharmacy benefit managers and drugstores. The chamber overwhelmingly approved the measure.

But amid heavy lobbying from Landry, who backed the measure, and CVS, which opposed it, the Senate declined to take up the bill, letting it die in the hours before the Legislature adjourned.

CVS had said such a law would have forced it to close 119 pharmacies in Louisiana and prevented Louisianans from accessing their specialty pharmacy service.

Lawmakers instead passed House Bill 264, which would bar pharmacy benefit managers from steering customers to their own pharmacies. It would also require that discounts they negotiate go to employers and consumers.

HB264 also requires pharmacy benefit managers to report more details of their activities to government regulators to ensure that they are following the law

A second issue, which had drawn attention from Google and Meta, was resolved more quietly: Lawmakers unanimously voted to pass House Bill 570, which would require app stores to age verify users. If a user is under 18, the app store must link their account to a parent account, which in turn would need to sign off on any app downloads.

The Senate amended HB570 to require all app stores to do the same, but that amendment was removed before the final vote on the bill.

Apps that were already legally required to age verify must continue to do so, said state Rep. Kim Carver, R-

the time an appointee to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, set up a scheme to give a state contract to DGL1, a company run by Lafayette businessman Leonard Franques, to provide online educational courses that sportsmen used to resolve citations from department agents. Franques provided kickbacks in exchange for special treatment in securing the contract, authorities said. At least $122,508 was held as a kickback for Montoucet, to be paid after he left office, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Montoucet, Guidry and Franques agreed that after Montoucet’s retirement from

Mandeville, the bill’s sponsor That includes social media platforms with more than 5 million users, he said. The budget

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved amendments the Senate made to the various bills that lay out state government’s budget with no drama and mostly on unanimous votes.

Total state spending for the next fiscal year comes to roughly $51 billion, said state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. Roughly half that money comes from federal funds.

Perhaps the biggest budget debate of the session was how much funding to give the LA GATOR program which will give money to families to help them pay for private school Landry pushed for $93.5 million.

Though the House originally accepted that amount, the Senate stripped out $50 million, leaving $43.5 million. Senate President Cameron Henry said that was the amount promised all along. The House accepted that amendment.

The Senate also opted to pull $1.2 billion from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, a state savings account that consists of extra corporate taxes, to fund one-time expenses. The money has been allocated for roads and bridges, economic development incentives to attract businesses, and improvements to college campuses, among other initiatives.

And under the budget plan, local jails, which house about half of state inmates, will receive three more dollars a day to do so That brings the daily rate to $29.39, according to state Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. Sheriffs had pressed the Legislature to increase that rate, saying the current payments weren’t sufficient to cover the costs.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

the department, they would hire him and pay his kickbacks as a purported “signing bonus” in order to conceal the true nature of the funds.

Franques pleaded guilty in January in federal court for his role in the scheme after being indicted in December Guidry pleaded guilty in 2023 for his role in the scheme and another involving the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette. Franques also was involved in that scheme.

Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes pleaded not guilty in October in the case involving the District Attorney’s Office.

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Speaker of the House Phillip R. DeVillier, R-Eunice, bangs the gavel, signaling the close of the 2025 legislative session on Thursday.

Google Cloud outage disrupts internet services

NEW YORK Popular online services across the globe were disrupted Thursday due to ongoing issues at Google Cloud

Tens of thousands of users of Spotify, Discord and other platforms began noticing issues with their services early in the afternoon, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages.

Outage reports for music streamer Spotify in particular peaked around 2 p.m. before dropping off, and some users began saying their access was restored.

Google’s Cloud status page said an incident with their systems affected clients in the U.S. and abroad. The company also posted that services are starting to recover after its engineers identified and began to mitigate the issue.

“We have identified the root cause and applied appropriate mitigations,” Google Cloud said. It added that there is no estimate for when the issue would be fully resolved.

Switch 2 sales hit a record within 4 days

Nintendo says it sold more than 3.5 million of its new Switch 2 gaming consoles within the first four days since its release — breaking a record for the company In a Wednesday announcement, Nintendo said that this marks the “highest global sales level” for any of its hardware it’s sold within that window of time. The Japanese gaming company officially launched the Switch 2 on June 5. Fans of the console’s eightyear-old predecessor have been clamoring for an upgrade for years. Throngs of gamers stood in long lines outside stores for the Switch 2’s release around the world last week — less than two months after a chaotic rush for preorders quickly sold out.

Nintendo is counting on the Switch 2 to boost sagging sales. In addition to a larger screen and new games, the console has added social features aimed at luring new players into online gaming.

Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026. The 3.5 million sold in the first four days includes the Nintendo Switch 2’s Mario Kart World Bundle, as well as the Switch 2’s Japaneselanguage and multi-language systems sold in Japan.

The Switch 2’s baseline price of $449.99 is significantly higher than the original Switch’s $299 price tag.

Long confirmed as IRS commissioner

Former U.S. Rep Billy Long of Missouri was confirmed on Thursday to lead the Internal Revenue Service, giving the beleaguered agency he once sought to abolish a permanent commissioner after months of acting leaders and massive staffing cuts that have threatened to derail next year’s tax filing season. The Senate confirmed Long on a 53-44 vote despite Democrats’ concerns about the Republican’s past work for a firm that pitched a fraud-ridden coronavirus pandemic-era tax break and about campaign contributions he received after President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as IRS commissioner

While in Congress, where he served from 2011 to 2023, Long sponsored legislation to get rid of the IRS, the agency he is now tasked with leading. A former auctioneer, Long has no background in tax administration Long will take over an IRS undergoing massive change, including layoffs and voluntary retirements of tens of thousands of workers and accusations that then-Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency mishandled sensitive taxpayer data. Unions and advocacy organizations have sued to block DOGE’s access to the information.

Wall Street ticks closer to record

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK U.S. stock indexes ticked higher on Thursday following another encouraging update on inflation across the country

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to pull back with 1.6% of its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 101 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%.

Oracle pushed upward on the market after jumping 13.3%. The tech giant delivered stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Safra Catz said it expects revenue growth “will be dramatically higher” in its upcoming fiscal year

Stocks broadly got some help from easing Treasury yields in the bond market following the latest

update on inflation. Thursday’s said inflation at the wholesale level wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected, and it followed a report on Wednesday saying something similar about the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling.

Wall Street took it as a signal that the Federal Reserve will have more leeway to cut interest rates later this year

The Federal Reserve has been hesitant to lower interest rates, and it’s been on hold this year after cutting at the end of last year, because it’s waiting to see how much President Donald Trump’s tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation While lower rates can goose the economy by encouraging businesses and households to borrow, they can also accelerate inflation.

Besides the inflation data, a

separate report on jobless claims also helped to weigh on Treasury yields. It said slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, and the total number remained at the highest level in eight months. That could be an indication of a rise in layoffs across the country

“We believe that were it not for the uncertainty caused by the tariffs, the combined information coming from the inflation and labor-market data would have compelled the Fed to have resumed cutting its policy rate by now,” according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie.

Trump’s on-and-off tariffs have raised worries about higher inflation and a possible recession, which had sent the S&P 500 roughly 20% below its record a couple months ago. But stocks have since rallied nearly all the way back on hopes that Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with other countries.

Many of Trump’s tariffs are on hold at the moment to give time for negotiations, but Trump added to the uncertainty late Wednesday when he suggested the United States could send letters to other countries at some point, “saying this is the deal. You can take it or you can leave it.”

The Fed’s next meeting on interest rates is scheduled for next week, but the nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that it will stand pat again. Traders are betting it’s likely to begin cutting in September, according to data from CME Group.

Average mortgage rate falls modestly

BY MATT OTT AP business writer

WASHINGTON The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell modestly for the second straight week but home borrowing costs remain elevated.

The long-term rate inched back to 6.84% from 6.85% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. The key barometer is the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.38% at midday Thursday down from 4.58% just a few weeks ago.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7% set in midJanuary The 30-year rate’s low point this year was in early April when it briefly dipped to 6.62%.

High mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers and reduce their purchasing power That’s helped keep the U.S. housing market in a sales slump that dates back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic.

Last year, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank to

their lowest level in nearly 30 years. Sales fell last month to the slowest pace for the month of April going back to 2009.

Rising mortgage rates have helped dampen sales during what’s traditionally the peak period of the year for home sales. Last week, mortgage applications rose for the first time in four weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage applications jumped 13% from the previous week as rising inventory lured more buy-

ers, the group said. Applications are up 20% from a year earlier

Other recent data suggests sales could continue to slow in the coming months. An index of pending U.S. home sales fell 6.3% in April from March and declined 2.5% from April last year, the National Association of Realtors reported two weeks ago.

There’s usually a month or two lag between a contract signing and when the sale is finalized, which makes pending home

sales a bellwether for future completed home sales. Economists expect mortgage rates to remain relatively stable, with forecasts calling for the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain in a range between 6% and 7% this year

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, declined to 5.97% from 5.99% last week. The average a year ago was 6.17%, Freddie Mac said.

BY THOMAS ADAMSON and KELVIN CHAN Associated Press

PARIS Will artificial intelligence save humanity — or destroy it?

Lift up the world’s poorest — or tighten the grip of a tech elite?

Jensen Huang the global chip tycoon widely predicted to become one of the world’s first trillionaires offered his answer on Wednesday: neither dystopia nor domination. AI, he said, is a tool for liberation

Wearing his signature biker jacket and mobbed by fans for selfies, the Nvidia CEO cut the figure of a tech rock star as he took the stage at VivaTech in Paris.

“AI is the greatest equalizer of people the world has ever created,” Huang said, kicking off one of Europe’s biggest technology industry fairs.

Huang’s core argument: AI can level the playing field, not tilt it.

Critics argue Nvidia’s dominance risks concentrating power in the hands of a few But Huang insists the opposite — that by slashing computing costs and expanding access, “we’re democratizing intelligence” for startups and nations alike. But beyond the sheeny optics,

Nvidia used the Paris summit to unveil a wave of infrastructure announcements across Europe, signaling a dramatic expansion of the AI chipmaker’s physical and strategic footprint on the continent.

In France, the company is deploying 18,000 of its new Blackwell chips with startup Mistral AI. In Germany, it’s building an industrial AI cloud to support manufacturers Similar rollouts are underway in Italy, Spain, Finland and the U.K., including a new AI lab in Britain. Other announcements include a partnership with AI startup Perplexity to bring sovereign AI models to European publishers and telecoms, a new cloud platform with Mistral AI, and work with BMW and Mercedes-Benz to train AI-powered robots for use in auto plants.

The announcements underscore how central AI infrastructure has become to global strategy — and how Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable chipmaker, is positioning itself as the engine behind it. As the company rolls out ever more powerful systems, critics

warn the model risks creating a new kind of “technological priesthood” — one in which only the wealthiest companies or governments can afford the compute power, energy, and elite engineering talent required to participate. That, they argue, could choke the bottom-up innovation that built the tech industry in the first place. Huang pushed back “Through the velocity of our innovation, we democratize,” he said, responding to a question. “We lower the cost of access to technology.”

As Huang put it, these factories “reason,” “plan,” and “spend a lot of time talking to” themselves, powering everything from ChatGPT to autonomous vehicles and diagnostics.

But some critics warn that without guardrails, such all-seeing, selfreinforcing systems could go the way of Skynet in “The Terminator” movie — vast intelligence engines that outpace human control.

To that, Huang offers a countermodel: layered AI governance by design. “In the future,” he said, “the AI that is doing the task is going to be surrounded by 70 or 80 other AIs that are supervising it, observing it, guarding it, ensuring that it doesn’t go off the rails.” He likened the moment to a new

industrial revolution. Just as electricity transformed the last one, Huang said, AI will power the next and that means every country needs a national intelligence infrastructure. That’s why, he explained, he’s been crisscrossing the globe meeting heads of state.

“They all want AI to be part of their infrastructure,” he said. “They want AI to be a growth manufacturing industry for them.” Europe, long praised for its leadership on digital rights, now finds itself at a crossroads. As Brussels pushes forward with world-first AI regulations, some warn that over-caution could cost the bloc its place in the global race. With the U.S. and China surging ahead and most major AI firms based elsewhere, the risk isn’t just falling behind — it’s becoming irrelevant. Huang has a different vision: sovereign AI. Not isolation, but autonomy — building national AI systems aligned with local values, independent of foreign tech giants

“The data belongs to you,” Huang said. “It belongs to your people, your country your culture, your history, your common sense.”

But fears over AI misuse remain potent — from surveillance and deepfake propaganda to job losses and algorithmic discrimination.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

2024, in Kennesaw, Ga.

La.attorneygeneral investigatingCVS texts

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana Attorney GeneralLiz Murrillsaidshe is investigating CVS after the company sent mass text messages to customers urging them to tell their legislators to oppose abillonpharmacy benefits managers.

House Bill 358,which stirred ferocious debate in the waning hours of the legislative sessionbut did not pass, would have barred companiesfrom owning both pharmacy benefits managers and drugstores.

Supporters said that would have stopped big companies from squeezing independent pharmacies out of the market and keeping too much of the savings they get on prescription drugs.

PBMs are meant to act as middlemen betweenpharmacies, health care plans and drug manufacturers to negotiate lower drug costs.

CVS, which owns both the drugstore chain and aPBM, Caremark, said the bill would have forced it to close 119 pharmacies in Louisiana. The company launched alobbying blitz on Wednesday that included amass text message campaign tellingcustomers thebill could force their drugstore to close and asking them to contact theirlegislator

The text messages infuriated many lawmakers,who accused the company of scaretactics.

In anote distributed to legislators on the floorThursday,Murrill pointed out that CVS manages the drug plans for state employees through theOffice of GroupBenefits

“My office will be investigating whetherCVS improperly appropriated to its own use the personal information of OGB members and will take legal action if it did,” the note said. “This is not

an appropriate useofpersonalinformationobtained throughastate contract.”

In anews conference Thursday afternoon, though, Murrill said her investigation was “broader than just the OGB contract.” Shesaid shewould examinewhether CVS engaged in “unfair and deceptivetrade practices by improperlyusing people’s personal information in a waythattheydid notpermit.

MurrillannouncedonX that shewas sendingCVS a cease-and-desist letter and civil investigativedemands.

Gov.Jeff Landryalso spoke out againstCVS’ lobbying action in apost on X,

“Abusing patients’sensitive informationtopush a political message is completely unethical and manipulativeand wewill notstand forit,” the post said

AmyThibault,a CVS spokesperson,issued a statement saying thecompany’scommunications with itscustomers, patientsand community members were “consistent with thelaw.”

“This bill came together yesterday with no public hearing,” Thibault said.“We believe wehave aresponsibility to inform ourcustomersofmisguidedlegislation that seekstoshuttertheir trusted pharmacy, and we acted accordingly.”

Thibault referred to the fact that the PBM legislation came through anamendment to abill that originally set rules for remote work for pharmacy technicians.

That amendmentwas proposedwhile the bill wasin aconference committee, a closed-door process where agroup of Houseand Senate members meet to hash out agreements on bills when one chamber has rejected the other’samendments.

Lawmakers on Thursday expressed consternation

at theidea that CVShad usedcustomerinformation to sendout lobbyingtexts.

StateRep.Beryl Amedée, R-Gray,saying she found it “disturbing.”

“I’mgoing to assume that somewhere in the tremendous amount of fine print that comes whenyou sign up foranythingthese days, that they have covered their potential liability here, but I still think that’soutside the boundariesofwhatcustomersexpected when they gave theirphone numberstoget prescription updates,”she said. “I’m very disappointed in CVS because themessaging that they did send out was untrue and Iconsider it propaganda.”

Lawmak ers shared screenshotsoftexts that CVS sent to constituents.

One said HB358 would “prohibit CVSSpecialty from serving youand thousands of other patients who receive specialtyprescription drugs.”

“You will lose accessto your pharmacy team, pharmacy supportive services, and you will need to be serviced by an alternatespecialtypharmacy provider, it said.

The textincluded alink for customerstosend messages to their elected officials.

“I’vebeen getting comments from my constituents and friends, and they’re terrified, and it ain’tright,”said stateRep.Michael Bayham, R-Chalmette.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill saidThursday she is

Louisiana drilling sites bill advances

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

Compromise would allow state regulators a strong hand Landry

A bill that had divided Gov Jeff Landry and Louisiana’s oil industry before a compromise was reached has received Senate approval, likely assuring the measure on cleaning up old drilling sites becomes law The heavily amended bill ap-

proved by the Senate on Wednesday would give state regulators a strong hand in determining courtordered cleanups of old oil field sites. Known as “legacy” lawsuits, the class of litigation has sought to clean long-standing contamination and leftover surface infrastructure from decades-old drilling sites across the state. But the oil industry and some

2025 LEGISLATURE

large landowner advocates have argued these suits, which number more than 600, have hindered new drilling from companies worried they could be drawn into paying for the problems of their long-gone

predecessors. The proposed changes, which had been stalled in a Senate committee under a different bill, House Bill 694, were amended into Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville. His bill received the key Senate nod Wednesday In a recent House committee hearing, Landry threw his weight behind SB244 and the then newly added legacy language, suggesting the oil and gas industry was being “hypocritical” in its opposition to the measure. At the time, however, Landry’s comments were aimed at defending changes that would have nullified long-standing oil lease language that has protected past oil drillers from having to pay for

CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS

ABOVE: Parks and Recreation’s Alena Fields presents athletes with medals during the Lafayette Police Department’s Special Olympics closing ceremony at the Robichaux Center in Lafayette on Thursday The ceremony, celebrating the athletes’ achievements, marked the end of Camp Shriver RIGHT: Hannah El-Frakhri points out a fellow camper during the closing ceremony on Thursday STAFF PHOTOS By

BRAD BOWIE

Glenn Ledet to lead state DOTD

Landry names CPRA director as secretary

Falcon project will also add 16

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

Falcon Rice Mill in Crowley has launched a $6 million renovation that will increase efficiency and add 16 jobs. The project, much of which is will launch next month, will include purchasing and installing new equipment that will improve workflow, increase energy efficiency and double its production capabilities, according to its application with Louisiana Economic Development. Falcon, makers of Cajun Country Rice, has applied for the LED’s enterprise zone program to help with the project. The improvements will help the 70-year-old mill eliminates bottlenecks in its production. Falcon mills rough rice from

clients.

and

OPINION

Problems at UNOstemfrombad oversight

The budget crisis at the University of New Orleans has been all over the news, but from the view of faculty and staff at UNO, the narrative of the crisis is far from complete While administrators, members of the Board of Regents and University of Louisiana System supervisors point to drops in enrollment as the main driver of our current crisis, we workers are more familiar with the long-term issues that have widened our budget gap. As members of the United Campus Workers union, we know that staff and faculty engage with students on adaily basis, and many have served the institution for years or decades —much longer than administrators and state board members. Our deep institutional knowledge allows us to understand the management practicesand misguided policies that landedthe University in its currentpredicament —practices that areoften overlooked in reporting about the situation at UNO.

Jena McCullin GUEST COLUMNIST

Any decrease in studentsisasymptom of the bigger problem: mismanagement by the state and higher administration.

Our university is apublic institution, overseen by public bodies charged with stewarding crucial processes like budgeting and management.

From ourperspective, the mismanagementofUNO shows howoversight from these public officers, especially those at the UL System Board of Supervisors, hasbeen woefully lacking for years.

Forexample,years of understaffing in offices such as the bursar and registrar has left students without needed guidance, hurting enrollment and revenue generation. At the sametime, administrators have prioritized less essential aspects of the university,including maintaining a Division Iathletics department. Similarly,theyengaged in exorbitant spending on external contracts that have locked the UNO communityintobad deals,

making the budget situation even worse. They refuse to hire full-time faculty to replace those who have retired and cut courses from the schedule days before each term begins, causing whiplash for students.

All this has occurred while enrollment tumbled and retention suffered from alack of staff in crucial offices —trends that for years went unaddressedbyUL System administrators charged with providing oversight.

For years, the administrative mismanagement at UNO has made the successful enrollment and retention of students nearly impossible, and the UL System Board of Supervisors hasfailed to carry out its fiduciary duty to ensure campus administrators were proper stewards of the institution.

These root causes of UNO’s difficulties are still not being adequately addressed, even in this time of crisis.

The administration’sresponse hasfocused primarily on reducing the numberofdeans, department chairs and adjunct faculty and combining colleges to bring down operating costs. These reductions in middle management

‘Debanking’isareal problem, andthe fix must come from D.C.

At the start of the session, lawmakers were considering legislation aimed at combating “debanking”— the alleged practiceoffinancial institutions cutting off banking services to individuals or businesses based on political or religious beliefs. Thankfully and with credit to our lawmakers, they are looking to federal lawmakers to address this issue It is important that we protectLouisianans against this type of financial discrimination, but as our lawmakers recognized, change needs to come from Washington, which can address the government overreach at the root of the issue. While well-intentioned,House Bill 418 by Rep. Roger Wilder III, RDenham Springs, wouldhave further increased government intervention in the financial sectorand contributed to aconfusing patchwork of state-level regulations thatwouldcause headaches for Louisiana residents and our banks. HB418 would havebeen a disaster for small businesses andcustomers alike. Make no mistake —debanking is real and needs to be addressed.President Donald Trump himself has called for asolution, but the cause is government overreach, not discriminatory big banks. While I’m glad ourLouisiana lawmakers are listening,weneed to look to Washington on debanking reformrather than muddythe waters here To put an end to unintended consequences of state activity on anational issue like debanking and ensuring access to banking services, federal policymakers must enact anational standard that codifies into lawthatbanks are prohibited from denyingservices for religious or political reasonswhile adding clarity and consistency to the regulatory process Louisiana’sown U.S. Sen. John Kennedy cosponsored theSenate’s Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act,acommon-

only overload personnel who teach and run essential functions that directly serve students.

Recent staff layoffs and ongoing furloughs have further hamstrung the university’sdayto-dayoperations, reducing the numberofworkers available to help students gain access to financialaid, advising, study abroad and English language training for international students.

Faculty and staff have been made to pay the price for the errors and irresponsibility of past administrators and the UL System Board of Supervisors, and therehas been no accountability for their failure to uphold the fiduciary responsibilities associated with one of the University of Louisiana System’smost crucial institutions.

The University of New Orleans plays an essential role in southeast Louisiana. Our universitytrains and prepares abroad swathofthose who will become local engineers, business leaders, artists, musicians, teachers, lawyers and research professionals.

For decades, the school has maintained programs that cultivate New Orleans’ iconic music,

arts, hospitality,tourism and culture communities, even in the face of massively dwindling state investment. The students and workers at UNO deserve responsible management and accountability for the campus and system leaders who put us in this situation.

UNO’sfuture is intimately tied to New Orleans’ socio-economic success. It is too valuable to allow those who have mismanaged it to walk away without being held responsible.

The UNO and New Orleans community deserve enhanced investment by the state and sufficient oversight of their public university.Wehope that, after years of negligence, our public officials will step up to fulfill this essential duty

Roberto E. Barrios is Doris ZemurrayStoneChairofLatin Americanand Caribbean Studiesand professorof anthropology.JenaMcCullin is assistant director of data management. Both are members of theUniversity of NewOrleans Organizing Committee, United Campus Workers —Southeast, AFL-CIO.

TheU.S.mustquickly move to endUkraine war

It is very challenging at times to understand the current administration’s foreign policy.

Scott Wilfong GUEST COLUMNIST

sense piece of legislation aimed to remove “reputational risks” in the regulatory supervision of bank customers, marking the first substantial step from Washington in reeling in illicit debanking. The House of Representatives also introducedits companion version of theFIRM Act with bipartisan support, showing significant attention fromfederal leadersto solvethisissue.

Astrong federal standard, in addition to theFIRM Act, will ensure banksserve customers fairly andconsistently,allowing financial institutions to uniformly serve their clients withoutfear of regulatory persecution.

This would also hold those truly responsible for debanking accountable: overzealousfederal regulators. These unelected,holdover bureaucrats under theObama and Biden administrations were responsible for what is nowknown as Operation Choke Point, which infamously pressured banks to cut ties with legally operating businesses that were politically disfavored,including those in the crypto industry. TheTrumpadministration andCongress are hard at work scaling back the tentacles of government abuse andweneed to continue to let them lead on this effort.

Ourneighbors in Texas were consideringsimilar legislation this session to address debanking, but instead, Republican state Sen. TanParker issued aresolution pushing fora congressional solution.Louisiana also has the opportunity to lead on this issue by encouragingWashington toestablish clear,unifiedrules that bar ideologicaldiscrimination in banking, provide justification for service denials and hold rogue regulators accountable when they cross the line.

Thankyou,Louisiana lawmakers, for looking to Washington and legislation likethe FIRM Act to reel in government overreach on this issue.

Scott Willfong is abusiness owner in Baton Rouge.

Our vice president articulates ahistorically wrong isolationistapproach,yet the administration is actively involvedin trying to solve numerous international conflicts.

In addition to apotential nuclear agreement with Iran, ahistoric meeting with the newSyrian president whowas once adesignated terrorist and efforts to bring home innocenthostages still held in Gaza’stunnels, there are ongoing efforts to negotiate acease-fire andlong-term peace between Ukraine and Russia.

This thankfullydoes not seem likeisolationism.

Iamlooking forwardto spending part of my summer in Ukraine, where I help send Ukrainianyouth to U.S. summer camps.

Three years intothis effort, Ihaveseen with my own eyes howthese kids —onlydaysremoved from beinginbomb shelters —are able to just be kids again.

We will also discuss an interesting initiative to help disabled Ukrainian military men and women recover through the use of sports. And, through the help of generous donors, we are sponsoring more than 60 Ukrainian athletes’ attendanceatthe Maccabiahin Israel, the second-largest sporting event in the world with over 10,000 global Jewish athletes. It can be easy to get dispirited given the11 yearsofconflict in Ukraine, which began with Rus-

sia’s unlawful takeover of Crimea in 2014 and the brutal 2022 invasion and bombardment of the entire nation. YetIcontinue to be an optimist and am still hopeful a just and long-term peace is possible.

To achieve this, Iamhoping President Donald Trump’seyes will open to the fact that Russia —not Ukraine —isthe sole obstacle to peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is aliar who cannot be trusted and a war criminal responsible for rapes, beheadings and, worst of all, the unlawful kidnapping of nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children.

Putin refuses to stop the brutal war that he started, and feels there is no need to reverse course given America’scurrent unwillingness to take more assertive action.

Most Americans continue to support assistance to Ukraine.

It is time our president understands that America First does not mean walking away from our longtime allies and abandoning our democratic principles in order to appease abrutal autocrat.

Have we not learned from history that appeasement is always alosing proposition?

But indeed, there is a strategic pathway to get Putin to negotiate in good faith.

U.S. officials should demand that Putin immediately cometothe diplomacy table —orelse the United States will: join European allies in boost-

ing foreign aid to Ukraine, especially with munitions manufactured in the U.S.; impose additional sanctions on Russia’senergy industry; fast-track Ukraine’s entry into NATO and the European Union; put satellite defense systems over Ukraine; and support NATO providing air support to guard Ukrainian airspace.

Merely getting to adeal with Russia should not be the only goal. Rather,it must be ajust and sustainable deal, with security guarantees, so that Ukraine is not attacked yet again in the future by Russia.

Ihave seen the courage of the Ukrainian people (and the horrors of the war) with my owneyes, and it is imperative we assist Ukraine in regaining its freedom and sovereignty Some maycall the above naive and unattainable, but it is imperative that the United States, along with our European allies, stay unified, put collective pressure on Russia and bring acessation to the current conflict.

America is still greatly admired and respected by people from around the world, and it is well time we demonstrate that American values include compassion and support for acountry in great need. My belief is that peace and prosperity are still dreams worth fighting for In the words of the great basketball coach Jim Valvano, “Don’tgive up. Don’t ever give up.”

ArnieFielkowisaformer NewOrleans City Council president and former CEO of theJewish Federation of Greater NewOrleans.

COMMENTARY

ROOM FOR DEBATE ICE RAIDS

Efforts by the Trump administration to round up illegal immigrants at jobsites and courthousesnationwide have sparked protests around the country. In Los Angeles, most notably, protesters attempted to block Immigrations and Customsagents from conducting arrestsinrecentdays.Theconflict has led to anearlya week of unrest as President Donald TrumpcalledupNational Guard troops and Marinesand sent them to Los Angeles against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, whosayslocal policecan handle the protests and federal troops only enflametensions. Butthe ICEraids have also prompted alarger debate about how farlaw enforcement can go as the UnitedStatesseeks to deportimmigrants. Here are twoperspectives:

Secret police descending on SmallTown, America

GREATBARRINGTON, Mass.— Maybe they really were immigration officers, just as they claimed. Or maybe they werea ragtag vigilante group, arbitrarilysnatching brownlooking people off the street.

“It could have been like aband of the Proud Boys or something,” said Linda Shafiroff, recounting the agents who showed up outside her office in masks and tacticalgear andrefused to show IDs, warrants or even the names of any criminals they were supposedlyhunting.

spect it even to seewhat agency it was for.

“It couldhave been from Cracker Jacks,” sherecalled.

In LosAngeles standoff over ICE, Trumpisright

Throughout therioting in her city, Los Angeles Mayor KarenBass has frequently lashed outatPresident Donald Trump’sdecision to sendNational Guard and active-duty troops to protectfederal buildings and keep thepeace.

Catherine Rampell

As unrest and military troops overtake Los Angeles, terrifying scenes are also unfolding in smallercommunities around the country.They, too, are being invaded by what resemblesa secret police force, often indistinguishable from random thugs.

When the business owners repeatedly askedthe agentstoprove who they were, the agents said they didn’tneed to show identification andaccused their interlocutors of promoting lawlessness. “You want people driving drunk in here?” one of them asked, according to acellphone video. Shafiroff replied: “I don’twant people driving drunk. Ihave asked forIDs.”

The gardener was eventually put in the back of an unmarked car and driven away.Shafiroff, who described theincident as partofthe new “police state,” said she hassince heard through mutual acquaintances that theman is being detained in an immigration facility, perhaps near Boston.

Shafiroff and businesspartnerSarah Stiner own aboutique home-design and construction firm in Great Barrington, a New England town largely populated by artists, aging hippies and affluent secondhome-owners. On May 30, around 11a.m., six armedagents showed up outside the women’soffice. The agents were dressed as though they had parachuted into awar zone, rather than asmall town where the crosswalks are painted in rainbows.

The paramilitary-resembling group approachedaHispanic man who was outside the design office, picking weeds. The man did not work for Shafiroffand Stiner’sdesign firm, but rather for alocallandscaping company.(The women say their employees are all citizens or otherwise have documents proving they’reherelegally.) Neither Shafiroff nor Stiner knew the gardener’sname, but they said they had seen him aroundbefore and that he seemed friendly They were also incensed by what looked like an extralegal abductionunfolding in their parking lot.

“These guys had guns hanging all over them,” said Shafiroff, but they otherwise had no conformity to their dress. “None of them had the same lettersonthe front of their vests. Some of them didn’tevenhave letters, but it said ‘Police’across theback. …One had light-colored jeans and sneakers on, and one had on aRed Sox hat.” The agentsarrivedinunmarkedcars, some with out-of-state plates.

The women asked to see IDs or warrants, or even the names of the alleged criminals these agents were there to trackdown. They refused. One brieflyflashed abadge, Stiner recounted, butwould not let her in-

The business partners, who have receivedthreatsinthe days after the incident as aresultofcoverage by local newspapers, hadgood reason to question who these cloaked agentswere

It’seasy to buy tactical gear online. And aroundthe country,bigots and criminals have alreadybegun taking advantage of chaotic,maskedimmigration raids to further theirown ends. Civilians have impersonated ICE agents while committing robbery (Pennsylvania),kidnappings (Florida, South Carolina), sexual assault (North Carolina)and other forms of public intimidation(Washington state, California)

Some Democratic leadershave demanded that ICE agents showtheir faces and present identification when carrying out enforcement actions,sothey can at leastbe differentiated from anonymous hooligans. Republican lawmakers have fiercely opposedsuch efforts, claiming thatasking federal officials to identify themselves would putagents in “extreme danger.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump ordered the arrest of protesterssimply forwearing masks.“MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests,” he posted onsocial media on Sunday.“What do these people have to hide, and why???”

This seems like areasonable question to ask of federal law enforcement officers. America,after all, is not supposed to have asecretpolice force. And our country’shistory of roving bands of maskedmen rounding up undesirables is along, ugly one.

Email Catherine Rampell at crampell@ washpost.com. She is on X, @crampell.

“It makes me feel like our city is actually atest case,” Bass told reporters Monday,“atest case for what happens when the federal government moves in and takes theauthorityaway from thestate or away from local government.”

Of course, Bass was referring to theTrump’s administration’s decision to enforce immigration law, which set off protests and then rioting in theso-called “sanctuary city” of Los Angeles. That, Bass believes, is an example of the federal government “taking away” authorityfrom state and local governments.

The only problem is,the state and local governmentsdonot have any authority to enforce immigration law. The sole power to do that lies with the federal government.Bass can look it up. So can Gov.Gavin Newsom of California

The federal government’ssupremacy in such matters haslong beenestablished, but arelatively recentSupreme Courtcase that some might remember was Arizona v. United States. In that case, the state of Arizona —actually the Republican officials at the topofstate government —said to then-President Barack Obama: You’renot enforcing immigration law,sowewill. And Obama said: No, you won’t

The casewent to court. Obama argued that thefederal government has thesole power to enforce immigration law,including thepower nottoenforce immigration law if thepresident so chooses. It’snot your decision, Obama toldArizonaofficials. Obama won, and that was that.

Now,adozen years later,the problem at the root of the unrest in California is that state andlocal officials appear to believe they can have their own immigration law.But thelessonofArizona v. United States is that they can’tdothat. It is apretty simple story.And in this case, it means that U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is able to enforce federal immigrationlaw in Los Angeles,inCalifornia and all across the country

Bass andNewsomalso seem to think thatthe president should not be able to send the National Guard to LosAngeles when the governor has not requested it. Newsom hasjust filedsuit against President Trump over the issue. But he andthe mayor are, unfortunately for them, on the wrong side of thatquestion, too. Yes, usually when apresident sends the NationalGuard, it is at the request of astate’s governor.But notalways. In 1965, during the Civil Rights era, President Lyndon Johnson wanted to send the National Guard to Alabama to protect participants in the Selma to Montgomery march. Alabama Gov.George Wallace did notwantthat. Johnson wonthe argument because he was president of the United States. Now,Trump cansend the Guard to LosAngeles because he is president of the UnitedStates. That’slaw andhistory.But Bass and Newsom arealso on the wrong side of the politicsofimmigration. Arecent CBS News poll found that 54% of those surveyedapproved of the “Trump administration’sprogram to deport immigrants illegally in the United States.” More people also said the deportations aremaking people saferthannot,although fewerliked Trump’smethods. The big picture is that Trump has alot going forhim in the immigrationstandoff, andBassand Newsom— andtheir party —donot.“The chaos in Southern California could have been designedin alab to exploit Democratic weak spots, combining the issues of illegal immigration, crime andpublic disorder,” writes moderate Democratic analyst Ruy Teixeira.“Democrats do nothave to cheer on everyICE raid, but theyhavetobe seen to prioritize law and order and not deny the reality on the ground of violent protests.” Everyone should hope that the violenceand disordercometoanend soon in LosAngeles. But the Trump administrationwill continue to deport people, especially criminals, who areinthe United Statesunlawfully.And leaders like KarenBassand Gavin Newsom, and otherDemocratsaround the country, will continue to resist. There is more conflicttocome.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.Email him at byronyork@yorkcomm.com.

Byron York

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByDAMIAN DOVARGANES

Protesters gatherinLos Angeles to denounce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations on Tuesday

LEDET

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transportation network,” Ledet said in astatement. “Together,we will focus on delivering efficientand safe infrastructure.”

Landry’sannouncement says Ledet has worked at “nationally renowned engineering,planning and construction management

UPGRADES

Continued frompage1B

The upgrades began in December, said RobertTrahan, Falcon’ssecond-generation co-owner along with his sister,Christine.

DRILLING

Continued from page1B

cleanup, known as indemnification.

The governor called removing this indemnification language the “crux”ofthe legacy issue, though critics argued it would have been an unconstitutional change to decades of oil leases In theversion of SB244 that the Senate adopted,the “anti-indemnification” language that Landry supported was stripped out through an amendment adopted on the House floor Sunday

The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, which had said it was talking with Landry about the anti-indemnity provision, didn’timmediatelyrespond to arequest for comment.

‘Greater good’

Originally aimed at reorganizing the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Hensgens’ more than 200-page measure has been layered with multiple amendments not only tweaking the departmental changes but alsoaddressing the legacy suits, carbon capture and other issues like Baton Rouge’sgroundwater district.

Hensgens told his Senate colleagues Wednesday before they voted that his bill and its many amendments were his and state Department of Energy and Natural Resources officials’ attempts to create abalanced piece of legislation that modernized the department.

“Each group found provisions that aligned with their interests, as well as elements that presented challenges uniquetotheir perspective. Every suggestion was carefully evaluat-

firms,where he ledstrategic growth, business development, and operations efforts.”

Current DOTD Secretary Joe Donahue will become theagency’sexecutive counsel.

“Joe hasdoneanoutstanding job in one ofthe most thankless rolesin state government,” Landry said in astatement. “Louisiana’sroads andinfrastructure are in direneed

It’sunknown howthe Trump administration’stariffs willaffectthe cost of the projects, Trahan noted, but work is on schedule to be completebythe end of the year

“Westartedwiththe increasingcapacity in the packing roomaswellas

ed, thoroughly debated and, where possible, integrated into the bill, aimingtoserve Louisiana’sgreater good,” Hensgens said.

The Senate had previously approved the bill but had to concur after amendments were added in the House The secondSenatevote happenedwithoutadissenting voteor asinglequestion from thefloor State Rep. Jacob Landry, R-Erath, the sponsor of the original legacy bill, HB694, and of theamendment that took out the anti-indemnity language, saidhe wanted to streamlinecleanup and reignite lagging oil drilling.

Rep. Landry said the changes would prevent“big pockets” from continuing longfights in court and create certainty for landowners in addressing their cleanup problems

In hearings this spring, some landowners,however, aired worries thechanges would diminish their rights underpreexisting lease contracts, also potentiallyanunconstitutional change.

One prominentplaintiff’s attorney,whose firm has handled many of thelegacy suit,s promised only hours afterthe new rulescleared theSenateWednesday that thenew law,ifsigned by the governor,wouldface court challenges.

Thelawyer,Victor Marcello, said the oil industryhas been after this change for years and now will have the court fightthat they’ve been seeking.

“It’sridiculous, butthey’ve wanted to convince acourt that it’sconstitutional, which we’ll have to see what happens,” Marcello said.

‘Readthiswhole bill?’

Hensgens said various lawyers have offered opinions on the constitutionality

of reform,and Joe worked everyday to move DOTD forward despite thechallenges.”

Landrynamed Donahue secretary in January2024 and in May that year orderedhim to craft aplanto reformand rehabilitate the beleaguered transportation department. That led to an agency review by aprivate firm, aformal improvement plan,and ultimately a packageofbills the Legis-

storage space forsupplies and packaged product,” he said. “The mill is the last piece of thepuzzle, andwe are excited aboutthis project.”

LED’senterprise zone programoffersa one-time tax credit for each net new job created and either atax re-

of that change. Bolstering the bill’sconstitutionality, Hensgens argued, is language delaying implementation until Sept.1,2027, for new cases of oilfielddamage.

The language also keeps theold procedure in place for preexisting cases and giveslandowners with old damage who haven’tsued yet 26 months to bring their caseunderthe oldrules.

Underthe newproposed rules, once acourt establishes that an operator is on the hook for cleanup, the state DepartmentofEnergy andNatural Resources must determine the most feasible plan and use cleanup standards alreadybuilt intostate law,thoughitcan consider exceptions sought by landowners.

Currently, the various sidespresent their plans in court for ajury to determine.Often plaintiffs pursue cleanup abovethese state standards because,they argue,their contractsimplicitly require this higher level. Those leases mostly predatethe adoption of the state cleanup standards.

Under the changes,however,the sides would presenttheir cleanupplantothe department. Once the department decides,the court must acceptthe planunless oneside can prove by “clear and convincing evidence,”a higher burden of proof, that another planisappropriate.

In an effort to contain other costs, the bill would set non-remediation damages, after economic losses, to 300% of the fair market value of oil field properties before theywere damaged, Hensgens said.

The bill would alsolimit attorneys’ fees and costs that

lature passed this week to overhaul DOTD. Eric Dauphine will take on adeputy secretary position at DOTD. Dauphine is currently adistrict administrator based in Lafayette at one of nine regionaloffices.He has worked at DOTD for 26 years, including various engineering roles.

Email AlysePfeilatalyse. pfeil@theadvocate.com.

bate on purchasesofqualifying itemsora refundable investment tax credit on the total investment. To qualify companiesmust hire at least five people withhalf meeting certain criteria.

Email Adam Daigle at adaigle@theadvocate.com.

defendants who are found liable would have to pay plaintiffs andwould letdefendantsnot found liable to be entitled to attorneys’ fees from plaintiffs.

As SB244 matriculated through the finaldays, legislatorsand advocates tracking the bill complainedthat too many different matters werebeing improperly added and thatthe changes were coming toolate in the process for transparent debate.

Oneexchangeabout the legacy changesbetween Reps.Jacob Landry and MatthewWillard, D-New Orleans, on the House floor Sunday highlighted these concerns.

“You read this whole bill?” Willard asked his House colleague.“Yeah,Idid,” Rep. Landry responded.

“Two hundredsomething pages? Youread the whole bill?” Willard pressed.

“Uh, yep. Not thewhole bill, but the part that Idid,” Rep. Landry clarified.

“OK, thank you,” Willard

DOWNTOWN

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eventwill be similar to a trade show with afocus on workshops andbrewing demonstrations.

Generaladmission is $10 and parking is free. Tickets are online and at Lafayette Rêve Coffeelocations.

‘NoKings’protest

Groups of decorated cars will tour areas of Lafayette on Saturday to bring awareness to the“No Kings” rally and then march in downtown.

Drivers will meet at 8:30 a.m.todecorate their cars with aclownnose and a“No Kings Day” placard then depart fora one-hour ride beginning at 9a.m.on prescribed routes and ending at arally at Lee Avenue and Jefferson Street. The event is part of anationwide seriesofprotests that will happen Saturday against President Donald Trump.

Detailed instructions and routes will be distributed upon arrival at CajunField

Forthose meeting downtown at the intersection of LeeAvenue andJefferson Street, the walk begins at 10 a.m. through noon.

June Artwalk

Enjoy an evening strollingthrough Downtown La-

fayette and get immersed in the creative side of the community Downtown Lafayette’s ArtWalk will take place from 5p.m. to 9p.m., where museums, independent galleries, studiosand craft stores participate in amonthly showcase. Each museum,gallery or studio hosts their event, featuring localartists andperformers. The event is free to attend. Followthe ArtWalk Lafayette Facebook page to stay informed. LafayettePride Parade At 6p.m.,the LGBTQ+ community and supporters will hold acelebratory parade Saturday along Jefferson Street. Leading the wayis Mr.2025 Pride Acadiana Jabari Eubanks and Miss 2025 Pride Acadiana Jazlyn Monae whowill also be alongsideGrandMarshal Martini Bear To be apartofthe parade, sign up at acadianaqueercollective.org/parade Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

Diversified CWSfield allays fears of atakeover

BY ERIC OLSON AP sportswriter

OMAHA, Neb Six conferences andanindependent will be representedatthe College World Series, and none of the teamswere among the final eight in Omahaa year ago. In 2024, the SEC and ACC had fourteams apiece in the CWS, and all the talkwas that college baseball would forevermorebe dominated by the schools in those conferences that invest the most in the sport in scholarships, NIL and, startingsoon,direct paymentstoplayers.

Someone forgot to tell that to Murray State, among others

The CWS opens Friday with the SunBelt Conference’sCoastal Carolina (53-11) playing the Big 12’sArizona (44-19)ina rematch of the 2016 finals won by the Chanticleers. No. 8nationalseed Oregon State (47-14-1), an independent until the Pac-12 ramps up again in 2026-27, meets theACC’sLouisville (40-22) in the second game.

Saturday’sgamesmatch theBig Ten’s UCLA (47-16) against MissouriValleyConference upstart Murray State (44-15), and an all-SEC battle between No. 3Arkansas (4813) and No. 6LSU (48-15)

Chanticleers coach Kevin Schnall was Gary Gilmore’sassistant in 2016, and he said he neverbelieved apower conference takeover in baseball was inevitable. His team’s23-gamewinning streak isthe longest in history by ateam entering aCWS

“Why has Coastal been so successful for 25 years? Well, Gary Gilmore was able to teach us how to assemblearoster,”Schnall said. “It’snot about putting togetherjust the best players. Youhavetoput together the best team. Sometimes money doesn’t always buy that.”

The money is about to getbigger. The

ä See CWS, page 4C

FLAME ON SPORTS

Pitchers

throwing heat no longer an anomalyin

collegebaseball

OMAHA, Neb.— When Ronnie Rantz was pitching for LSU back in the early 1990s, he remembers the electricity that would spark through the dugout when his teammates saw the other team had apitcher who could throw 95 miles per hour

“Everyone would be on the top step or turn and pay attention, like in those old E.F.Hutton commercials,” said Rantz,who pitched for LSU’s1991 and 1993 College World Series champions The aura, then as perhaps now,was always more than thereality,hesaid.

“Guys didn’tjust consistently do that,” said Rantz, who owns the Baton Rouge Rougarou minor-league baseball team and is CEO/president of the Louisiana SportsHall of Fame Foundation. “There were guys who would touch 95 mph but were living at 90-91. Now

they’re throwing94, 95, 97. They’re livingat95.”

Flamethrowingpitchers whoconsistently can hit 100 or even 101 or 102 mphonthe radar gun have proliferated throughout college baseball in the last couple of years, to the point where it seemsthey’re capturing the imagination of fans even morethan the guys whocan blast tape-measure homeruns.

Yes, it dazzles the mind to see LSU’sJared Jones belt a452-foot homer to center field to beat Tennessee, like he didearlier this season. But it also got the crowd buzzing to see Chase Shores throw three consecutive pitches of 100, 100 and101 mphtoblow away aWest Virginia batter during last week’sNCAA super regional

Olavetrade rumors catchflak from Saints

BYMATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

If Chris Olave bothered to search his name on socialmedia this offseason, the New Orleans Saints wide receiverwould not have had to dig hard tofind it mentioned in atrade rumor. Practically anytimeOlave wasbrought up, some NFL team —oratleast its fans —salivatedoverthe idea of acquiring the 24-year-old. It seemed not to matter thatthe Saints had no interest in dealingarguably their best player.Why let that pesky fact get in the way of Olave photoshopped in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey? Olave not only heardthe buzz but he also laughed about it.

here forever,sothis is where Iwant to be.”

“Man, it’sall rumors, man,” Olave said. “You see in theNBA, some of the top players be in trade rumors. Everybody be in trade rumors during theoffseason. Ilove it here, man. Ilovethe front office. Ilove my coaches. I’m excited to be here, and Iwant to be

As Olavefinishedhis sentence, it was pointed out to him that in the NBA, those players are actually traded sometimes. It is much rarertosee NFL dealscome together,particularlyinvolving aplayerof Olave’scaliber.Whentheydohappen, the reasons typically come downtoaclub hitting the reset buttonorwanting to avoid paying astar.Think of lastyear’s Marshon

Scott Rabalais

RABALAIS, page 4C

AP FILE PHOTOByBEN MCKEOWN Louisville’sEddie King runs to firstbase during agame on April 11 in Raleigh, N.C.

AP PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT Saints wide receiverChrisOlave runs drills during minicamp on Wednesday. LSUpitcher ChaseShores

STAFFFILE PHOTOBy MICHAEL JOHNSON

12:25

7p.m.

1p.m. CWS:Arizona vs.Coast.CarolinaESPN

6p.m. CWS: Louisville vs.Oregon St. ESPN MEN’S COLLEGE TRACKAND FIELD

7p.m.NCAA Out.Champ.—Day2ESPN2

BROADCASTHIGHLIGHTS

GOLF

noon U.S.

p.m. N.y.yankees at Boston MLBN

6:05 p.m. L.A.Angels at Baltimore APPLE TV+ 8:40 p.m. San DiegoatArizona APPLE TV+ 9p.m. San Fran. at L.A. Dodgers MLBN

9:30 p.m.MLS: San Jose at Portland FS1 WOMEN’S SOCCER

9p.m.Orlando at BayFCPrimeVideo TENNIS

4a.m.ATP QuarterfinalsTennis WNBA

6:30 p.m. Chicago atAtlanta ION 9p.m.Dallas at LasVegasION

UL adds NAIA transfer Hernandez

Versatileinfielder hasshown ability to hitwithpower

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL baseball’sadditions from the transfer portal are now up to three with the signing of infielder Rigoberto Hernandez fromNAIA William Carey in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hernandez, aswitchhitterwith power,has experience at shortstop, second base and third base defensively “I thinkhe’sgot popbecause he’sstrong and can hit,” Cajuns coach MattDeggssaid. “Defensively,he can play allthree positions and he’sgooddefensively at all three.”

Hernandez batted .363 this past seasonfor William Carey,which went 38-14 overall and24-6in league play.The Panama native hit 13 home runs and had 57 RBIs to go with 12 doubles and three triples. The 5-foot-10,180-pounderhad a.466 on-base and a.658 slugging

Acadiana Cane Cutters infielder Rigoberto Hernandez will join the UL Ragin’Cajuns in the fall.

percentage and stole 18 bases in 24 attempts. Hernandez, who has oneyear of eligibility remaining, will likely feel at home becausehe’sa childhoodfriendofreturning UL catcher Jose Torres. Like Torres, he’s getting anextra year of eligibilitybecause of beingata junior

college in his career path. UL fanscan check outHernandez, who plays with the Acadiana CaneCutters, this summer at Fabacher Field. Hernandez joins Oklahoma State transfer Donovan LaSalle, who preppedatBarbe, andleft-handed pitcherTylerPapenbrock,who se-

lected UL over Notre Dame. The 6-2, 195-pound Papenbrock has a95-mph fastball and almost 300innings of collegeexperience out of NAIA Huntington University in Indiana. Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

Madernamed Gatorade soccer player of year

Advocate staff report

The special seasonfor Teurlings Catholic soccer star Charlie Mader got better Thursday after he was named as the Gatorade Louisiana boys soccer player of the year

The 6-foot-1,175-pound senior forward led the Rebels to a23-1 record and Division II statechampionship.

Mader scored 34 goals and totaled 19 assists,scoring eight goals and dishingout seven assistsin five postseason games. He recorded eight game-winning goals and had seven assists on game-winners, giving him goal-involvement in 15 of the team’s23wins.

Mader holds the school record for single-season goals with 42, which he accomplished as ajunior.Atwo-time state offensive playerofthe year,hegraduated as atwo-time first-teamall-state selection Mader was also recognized as theAcadiana Advocate’sAll-Met-

ro Most Valuable Player

“Charlie Mader is the most dominating physical and techni-

SAINTS

from page1C

Lattimore trade between the Saints and the Washington Commanders, or the Steelers’ acquisition of wide receiver DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks this offseason.

The Saints aren’tthere with Olave.Sure, certain fanbases might have seen Derek Carr’s retirement as an excuse for New Orleans to cut bait with Olave, but the Saints were much more concerned with getting the wide receiver back in the fold after his last season was cut shortbecause of aconcussion.

The bigger question now is whether acontract extensionis in store.

New Orleans picked up Olave’s fifth-year option in April, locking him in for aprojected$15.5million in 2026. But Olave is eligible for an extension, and the NFL has seen teams reach deals with fourth-year players entering similar situations.

“I wouldn’tworry too much about that,” Saints coachKellen Moore said, referring to the trade rumors involving Olave. “Wefeel really,really good about Chris. He’shad an excellent offseason, he’shad an excellent career so far, and he’sgoingtohave an excellent future.”

There may be legitimate reasons for the Saints to waitonan extension. For one, there’sOlave’s concussion history.The 2022 firstrounderhas hadfive documented concussions since2020,includ-

ing two last year.Olave said he was cleared by specialists in December and that he’snot worried abouthis future, but the reality is his history may warrant awaitand-see approach At the same time, Olavehas been averyproductive player when available —and those guys tend to getpaid. He has the fourthmost receiving yardsofhis draft class, even after missing 12 games in three seasons.And he began his career with back-to-back 1,000yard campaigns. If the Saints are interestedin securing Olave’sfuture, getting adeal done thisoffseason likely would benefit them in thelong runto avoid lettingother deals set themarket. In Olave’s draft class, Atlanta’sDrake London, the Jets’ GarrettWilsonand Dallas’ George Pickens are among the other wide-

outs in line for anew contract. Fromthe 2021 draft, seven players who were drafted in the first round received extensions before or during their fourthseason That list includesthree wide receivers: Philadelphia’sDeVonta Smith (three years, $75 million), Miami’sJaylen Waddle (three years, $84.8 million) andBaltimore’sRashod Bateman (two years, $12.9 million)

Ayear before that,only four first-rounders received an extension underthe same criteria —but that list notably includesSaints guardCesar Ruiz. In Ruiz’scase, New Orleans declined his fifthyear option andinstead signed him to afour-year,$44 million extension.

Complicating matters, the wide receivermarket hasexploded over the lasttwo offseasons

Mets RHP Senga to IL with ahamstring strain Mets right-handerKodai Senga, the major-league ERA leader,will be placed on the injured list after suffering aright hamstring strain in Thursday’s4-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

“He’sgoing to get an MRI tomorrow,we’llsee the severityof it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But he’sgoing to be on (the) IL here. So we’ve just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.” Senga allowed just two runners in the first 51/3 innings before racing to cover first on CJ Abrams’ grounder to Pete Alonso.

According to Mendoza,Senga said he felt his hamstring grab one stride before he made aleaping grab of Alonso’shigh throw

Brewerspitcher Civale says he stillwants to start MilwaukeeBrewers right-hander Aaron Civale is moving to a bullpen role for the first time in his seven-year career His next move could be outof Milwaukee entirely One day after the Brewers announced they were shifting him to the bullpen to make room for flame-throwing prospect Jacob Misiorowski in the rotation, Civale said he wants to continue starting, even if that meansgetting traded.

“We’re exploring opportunities formetoget back into arotation,” Civale said Thursday Misiorowski’sarrival gave Milwaukee asurplus of starting pitchers. Civale (1-2, 4.91 ERA) was theodd man outwhenthe Brewers opted to go with Misiorowski FreddyPeralta (5-4,2.69),José Quintana (4-1, 2.66), Quinn Priester (4-2, 3.65) and Chad Patrick (36, 3.25).

cal talent we have faced in my 20 years as acoach,” Beau Chene coach Chad Vidrine said. “He can outpace you, out-physical you, outtechnical you, outsmart youand outplay you. His size and physical traits make him such adangerous opponent every time he takes the field.”

The Gatorade Player of the Year celebrates thenation’sbesthigh school athletesfor their success on thefield,inthe classroom and in the community

Mader has volunteered locally withFootNet Food Bank, an organization that seeks to reduce hungerinthe Acadiana area.Healso donated his time as ayouth soccer coach

Mader,who is now eligible to winthe national Gatoradeplayer of theyear award, has maintained aweighted3.41 grade-point averageinthe classroom.Hewill attend UL in the fall.

New contracts for Justin Jefferson (fouryears, $140 million), CeeDee Lamb (fouryears, $136 million)and Brandon Aiyuk (four years, $120 million) reset the market. Thenthis offseason, Ja’Marr Chase (four years, $161 million) became the league’shighest-paid receiver,while Metcalf (four years, $132 million) cracked into thetop five at his position.

Eight receivers, in all, have a contract that carries an annual average value (AAV) of at least $30 million per year.Another 13 have an AAVofmore than $20 million. Among those, the mostcomparabledeal for Olave might be the four-year,$115 milliondeal signed by TeeHiggins —the 26-year-old whostill received nearly $28.8 millionannuallyfromthe Cincinnati Bengals despite missing 10 games over thelast twoseasons. The Saints alsomustdetermine whether Olave is aplayer their new coachingstaffwants to build around. On that front, the wide receiveralreadyhas impressed. Moorehas ravedabout Olave’s football intelligence, recalling a pre-draft meeting he had in which Olave accurately drew up plays taught to himhours earlier

Butuntil adealisdone, trade speculation —nomatter how unfounded —likely will continue.

Buteven that’sacompliment in its own way

“People want good players, and so they’re always chasing to find waystoget good players on their team,” Moore said. “And we feel like we’ve got agood one in him.”

Email MatthewParasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com

Bengalsrookie defender leaves minicamp early Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Shemar Stewart’shold-in escalated to aholdout on Thursday as he did not attend the final day of the team’smandatory minicamp. Stewart has expressed concern over language in the contract that the Bengals have presented him and hasn’tsigned his rookie deal yet. He had been participating in meetings and off-field activities withthe team butwas just aspectatoratpractices.OnThursday, he went astep further and left the team facility before the end of the summer program.

“He wasn’there today,sowejust focus on the guyswho arehere,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. The Bengals selected Stewart with the 17th overall pick in the draft.

Judge denies Vols hoops playerZeigler a5th season

Afederal judge on Thursday deniedTennesseepoint guard Zakai Zeigler’srequest for apreliminary injunction allowing him to play a fifthseason of Division Ibasketball in five years.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzerlistened to argumentsin ahearing June 6inKnoxville and entered her denial Thursday morning. She wrote that Zeigler failed to demonstrate he wouldsucceedon his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing afifth season of Division Ibasketball is aviolation under the Sherman Act.

Thetwo-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year asked for an injunction when he sued the NCAA on May 20 over itsrules limitinghim to four seasonsina five-year windowasan unlawful restraint of trade.

Six-hole stretchpowers Leeto first-round lead

BELMONT,MICH. Mi Hyang Lee of SouthKorea played asix-hole stretch in 6under and shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic. Grace Kim of Australia wasa shotback,ayear after losing to Lilia Vu in aplayoff that also included 2015 championLexiThompson Fellow Australian Karis Davidson, AkieIwai of Japanand Sofia Garcia of Paraguay were two strokes behind at 66 in the final event before themajor KPMG Women’sPGA Championship next week in Texas. Playing in themorning on the tree-lined course, Lee birdied Nos. 5-8, parred the ninth and eagled the 10th after surprising herself by reaching thegreen in two on the par-5 hole.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

FILE PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

FILEPHOTO By ROBINMAy

Teurlings Catholic’sCharlie Mader,left, was honored as the Gatorade Soccer Playerof theyear in Louisiana.

CWSTEAM CAPSULES

COASTALCAROLINA(53-11)

Coach:Kevin Schnall (53-11 at Coastal Carolina and overall).

Road to Omaha:Won Conway regional: beat Fairfield 10-2, beat East Carolina 18-7, beat East Carolina 1-0.WonAuburn super regional: beat Auburn 7-6 in 10 innings, beat Auburn 4-1.

2025 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0

Last CWS appearance:2016. All-time recordinCWS:6-2 in one appearance (won national title in 2016).

Batters:CCaden Bodine (.329, 5HRs, 41 RBIs), 1B ColbyThorndyke(.301, 4, 40), 2B BlakeBarthol (.274, 12, 50), SS Ty Dooley(.292, 6, 36), 3B Walker Mitchell (.292, 4, 45), LF Sebastian Alexander (.328, 10, 53), CF Wells Sykes (.293, 3, 36), RF Blagen Pado (.273, 8, 30), DH Ty Barrango (.247, 2, 19).

Pitchers:RHP Cameron Flukey (7-1, 3.35 ERA), RHP Jacob Morrison (11-0, 2.11), RHP RileyEikhoff (6-2, 2.90), LHP Hayden Johnson (4-0, 3.43), RHP Ryan Lynch(2-1, 0.59, 8saves), RHP MatthewPotok (4-1, 2.55),LHP Dominick Carbone (6-0, 2.61), RHP Darin Horn(5-1, 2.96), RHP LukeJones (4-2, 3.51), RHP Scott Doran (1-0, 4.15). MLB alumni:Mickey Brantley,Tommy La Stella, Kirt Manwaring,Taylor Motter,Dave Sappelt, ZachRemillard, Luis Lopez.

Shorthop:Chanticleers have the nation’slongest active winning streak at 23 games. Since the NCAA Tournament went to its current format in 1999, no team has entered the CWS with so many consecutivewins.

ARIZONA(44-19)

Coach:Chip Hale (152-93 in 4years at Arizona and overall) Road to Omaha:Won Eugene regional: beat Cal Poly 3-2, beat Utah Valley14-4, beat Cal Poly 14-0.WonChapel Hill super regional: lost to North Carolina 18-2, beat North Carolina 10-8, beat North Carolina 4-3.

2025 record vs. CWS teams: 0-1

Last CWS appearance:2021. All-time recordinCWS:4332 in 18 appearances (won national titles in 1976, 1980, 1986, 2012).

Batters:C Adonys Guzman (.318, 8HRs, 42 RBIs), 1B Tommy Splaine (.290, 5, 25), 2B Garen Caulfield (.262, 8, 43), SS Mason White (.332, 19, 72), 3B Maddox Mihalakis (.278, 5, 35), LF Easton Breyfogle (.248, 5, 31) or TJ Adams (.167, 0, 7), CF Aaron Walton (.320, 14, 49), RF Brendan Summerhill (.358, 4, 34), DH AndrewCain (.245, 6, 22).

Pitchers:RHP Owen Kramkowski (9-6, 5.48 ERA), RHP Raul Garayzar (2-0, 2.81), RHP Smith Bailey(3-3, 4.01), RHP Tony Pluta (3-0, 1.26, 14 saves), RHP Garrett Hicks (50, 5.61), RHP Julian Tonghini (4-2, 4.26),RHP CaseyHintz (7-4, 5.53),RHP Michael Hilker Jr.(2-1, 6.45), RHP Hunter Alberini (1-0, 3.48), RHP MatthewMartinez (3-0, 4.42), RHP Collin McKinney (0-2, 3.98),LHP Eric Orloff (10, 5.14).

MLB alumni:KennyLofton, J.T. Snow,Tony Clark, Ron Hassey, Scott Erickson, Dan Meyer, TrevorHoffman, Nick Hundley, JackHowell, CaseyCandaele, TerryFrancona, GilHeredia, Hank Leiber,Craig Lefferts, Joe Magrane, Mark Melancon. Shorthop:The Wildcats are back in Omaha for the first time since going 0-2 in the 2021 CWS under current LSU coach JayJohnson.

LOUISVILLE (40-22)

Coach:Dan McDonnell (791357-1 in 19 yearsatLouisville and overall). Road to Omaha:Won Nashville regional:beatEast Tennessee State8-3,beat Vanderbilt 3-2, beatWright State6-0.WonLouisville super regional:beatMiami 8-1, lost 9-6toMiami, beatMiami 3-2. 2025 record vs. CWS teams: 1-0. Last CWSappearance:2019. All-time record in CWS:4-10 in 5appearances. Batters:CMatt Klein (.327, 5 HRs, 30 RBIs), 1B Tague Davis (.286, 18, 50), 2B Kamau Neighbors(.250, 0, 16),SS Alex Alicea (.310, 1, 24),3B Jake Munroe (.345, 12, 58), LF Zion Rose (.315,12, 63) or Eddie King (.362,17, 60), CF Lucas Moore(.353, 5, 48), RF Garret Pike(.294,4, 39) or King,DHRoseorPike.

Pitchers:RHP Patrick Forbes (4-2, 4.36 ERA), RHP Tucker Biven(3-0, 4.19),LHP Ethan Eberle (6-2, 4.34),RHP Brennyn Cutts (3-1,4.89),LHP Justin West (2-2,6.12), LHP Wyatt Danilowicz(0-1, 2.25), RHP JackBrown (5-5,6.69), LHPTyStarke(1-0, 8.50),RHP Jake Schweitzer (4-2,2.15). MLB alumni:AdamDuvall,Will Smith,AdamEngel, Nick Solak, ChadGreen, Sean Green,Reid Detmers,Tyler Fitzgerald,Kyle Funkhouser,Matt Koch. Shorthop:Cardinals are 5-1 in the NCAA Tournamentafter entering regionalscoming off losses in six of sevengames. OREGON ST.(47-14-1)

Coach:Mitch Canham(223101-1 in 6yearsatOregon State and overall).

Road to Omaha:Won Corvallis regional:losttoSaint Mary’s 6-4, beat TCU7-2, beatSaint Mary’s20-3,beatSouthern California14-1, beatSouthern Cal9-0.WonCorvallis super regional:beatFlorida State 5-4in10innings,lostto Florida State3-1,beatFlorida State14-10. 2025record vs. CWS teams: 1-0. Last CWSappearance:2018. All-time record in CWS:2112 in 7appearances (won national titles in 2006, 2007, 2018).

Batters:C WilsonWeber (.333,12HRs, 57 RBIs), 1B JacobKrieg (.251, 13, 35), 2B AJ Singer (.309, 3, 39),SS Aiva Arquette (.354, 18, 65), 3B TrentCaraway(.270,12, 47),LFGavin Turley (.346, 19, 66), CF CanonReeder (.303, 8, 35),RFEastonTalt (.265, 7, 35) or CarsonMcEntire (.263, 4, 10), DH Tyce Peterson(.282, 5, 19).

Pitchers:RHP DaxWhitney (6-3, 3.66 ERA), LHP Ethan Kleinschmit (8-4, 3.54), RHP James DeCremer (3-0,5.34), LHPNelsonKeljo (3-2,3.74), RHP AJ Hutcheson(3-0, 4.00), RHP KellanOakes (4-0,3.60), RHPLaif Palmer (2-0,2.12), RHP WyattQueen (3-1,3.35), RHPEricSegura(8-2, 4.76), RHPZach Kmatz (2-0,4.21). MLBalumni:JacobyEllsbury, Michael Conforto, Darwin Barney,Bob Forsch,Steven Kwan,AdleyRutschman, KenForsch,Trevor Larnach, Matthew Boyd, Drew Rasmussen Shorthop:The Beavers surpassed100 homeruns forthe second consecutive season.The103 arethe second-most in program history, trailingthe 2024club’s 118.

MURRAY STATE(44-15)

Coach:Dan Skirka (209-150 in 7seasons at Murray State and overall).

Road to Omaha: WonOxford regional: beat Ole Miss9-6, beat GeorgiaTech 13-11,lost to Ole Miss 19-8, beatOle Miss 12-11.WonDurham

super regional:lost to Duke 7-4, beat Duke19-9, beat Duke5-4. 2025 record against CWS teams:0-0.

LastCWS appearance:None. All-timerecordinCWS:0-0.

Batters:C Will Vierling (.316, 10 HRs,52RBIs), 1B Luke Mistone (.340, 4, 53), 2B Dom Decker (.361, 0, 48), SS Conner Cunningham (.257, 7, 38), 3B Carson Garner(.281, 17, 59), LF Dan Tauken (.257, 11, 76), CF Jonathan Hogart (.339, 22, 65), RF Dustin Mercer (.356, 0, 39), DH Nico Bermeo (.305, 1, 7).

Pitchers:RHP NicSchutte (84, 4.85 ERA),RHP Isaac Silva (9-2, 5.09), RHP Kane Elmy (6-2, 4.45), RHP ReeseOakley (3-0, 5.64), LHP DylanZentko (4-1, 4.38), RHP Graham Kelham (4-1, 4.40, 9saves), RHP Jacob Hustedde (2-0, 5.09), LHP Ethan Lyke (2-1, 4.64), RHP Jack Wajda (2-3, 5.56).

MLB alumni:JackPerconte, Kirk Rueter,Pat Jarvis Shorthop:Onlythe fourth No. 4regional seed to reach the CWS,joining FresnoState (2008 national champion), StonyBrook (2012) and Oral Roberts (2023).

UCLA (47-16)

Coach:John Savage (723479-2 in 21 seasons at UCLA; 811-563-3 in 24 seasons overall).

Road to Omaha:Won Los Angeles regional:beat Fresno State 19-4, beat Arizona State 11-5, beat UC Irvine 8-5.Won Los Angeles super regional: beat UTSA 5-2, beat UTSA 7-0. 2025 record vs. CWS teams: 0-1.

LastCWS appearance:2013. All-timerecordinCWS:9-9 in 5appearances (won 2013 national title).

Batters:CCashel Dugger (.276, 3HRs, 25 RBIs), 1B Mulivai Levu (.319, 12, 85), 2B Phoenix Call (.258, 3, 31), SS Roch Cholowsky(.367, 23, 73), 3B Roman Martin(.320, 9, 58), LF Dean West (.315, 4, 40), CF PaytonBrennan (.304, 6, 39), RF AJ Salgado (.313, 12, 52), DH BlakeBalsz (.246, 1, 24).

Pitchers:RHP Michael Barnett (12-1, 4.09), RHP Landon Stump(6-1, 4.54), RHP Wylan Moss (2-1, 2.47), RHP Jack O’Connor (3-0, 1.80), RHP August Souza (0-0, 5.40), RHP Easton Hawk (1-1, 4.84), LHP Chris Grothues(4-1, 4.94), RHP Cal Randall (2-1, 3.09), LHP Ian May(7-3, 5.00).

MLB alumni:ChrisChambliss, Todd Zeile, Jeff Conine, Bobby Grich,Chase Utley, EricKarros, Brandon Crawford,TroyGlaus, Jackie Robinson.

Shorthop:Bruinswere BigTen regular-season co-champions in their first season in the league.

LSU(48-15)

Coach:Jay Johnson (185-77 in 4seasonsatLSU; 502-249 in 13 seasons overall).

Road to Omaha: WonBaton Rougeregional:beat Little Rock 7-0, beat DallasBaptist 12-0, lost to LittleRock10-4, beat LittleRock10-6.Won Baton Rougesuperregional: beat West Virginia 16-9, beat West Virginia 12-5. 2025 record vs. CWS teams: 2-1.

LastCWS appearance:2023. All-timerecordinCWS:4629 in 19 appearances (won national titles in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2023).

Batters:CLuisHernandez (.272, 9HRs, 30 RBIs), 1B Jared Jones (.328, 20, 70), 2B Daniel Dickinson (.312, 12, 48), SS StevenMilam(.290, 11, 55), 3B Michael Braswell (.201, 2, 17) or TannerReaves (.266, 3, 12), LF Derek Curiel (.347, 7, 52), CF Chris

Stanfield (.309, 1, 28), RF Josh Pearson (.297, 7, 32) or Jake Brown (.315, 8, 44), DH Ethan Frey(.340, 13, 49).

Pitchers:LHP KadeAnderson (10-1, 3.58 ERA),RHP AnthonyEyanson (11-2, 2.74), RHP Jaden Noot (2-1, 4.26), LHP DJ Primeaux (0-0, 3.86), RHP WilliamSchmidt (7-0, 4.73), RHP Mavrick Rizy (0-0, 4.74), LHP Cooper Williams (0-1, 1.83), RHP Chase Shores (5-3, 5.24), RHP Casan Evans (4-1, 1.90), RHP ZacCowan (3-3, 3.09), LHP Conner Ware (4-1, 5.48).

MLB alumni:Joe Adcock, DJ LeMahieu,Aaron Hill, AlbertBelle,Todd Walker,Ben McDonald,Alex Bregman, Brad Hawpe, Ryan Theriot, Russ Springer,Kevin Gausman, Jason Vargas,Warren Morris, AustinNola, Paul Byrd,Aaron Nola, Mark Guthrie, Paul Skenes, DylanCrews.

Shorthop:Tigers went 2-1 this season against Arkansas, their opening opponent.

ARKANSAS

(48-13)

Coach:DaveVan Horn (931-470 in 23 seasons at Arkansas; 1,516-710 in 38 seasons overall).

Road to Omaha:Won Fayetteville regional: beat North Dakota State 6-2, beat Creighton 12-1, beat Creighton 8-3.WonFayetteville super regional: beat Tennessee 4-3, beat Tennessee 11-4. 2025 record vs. CWS teams: 1-2.

LastCWS appearance:2022. All-timerecordinCWS:1822 in 11 appearances. Batters:CRyder Helfrick (.320, 14 HRs,36RBIs),1B ReeseRobinett (.276, 2, 12), 2B Cam Kozeal (.346, 15, 62), SS Wehiwa Aloy (.348, 20,64), 3B Brent Iredale (.289, 14, 56), LF Charles Davalan(.355, 14, 59), CF Justin Thomas (.278, 9, 35), RF Logan Maxwell (.360, 13, 35), DH KuhioAloy(.330, 13, 70).

Pitchers:LHP Zach Root (8-5, 3.59 ERA),RHP Aiden Jimenez (4-1, 3.66), RHP GageWood (3-1, 5.02), RHP BenBybee (3-0, 4.38), RHP Steele Eaves(1-0, 1.86), LHP Colin Fisher (3-0, 4.62), RHP GabeGaeckle (4-2, 4.76), LHP Parker Coil (3-0, 1.27), LHP Landon Beidelschies (4-0, 4.92), RHP Will McEntire (1-0, 2.59), RHP DylanCarter (6-0, 2.18).

MLB alumni:Kevin McReynolds, Eric Hinske, Jeff King,AndrewBenintendi,Les Lancaster,Tom Pagnozzi,Ryne Stanek, BlakeParker,Drew Smyly,Cliff Lee, DallasKeuchel, Colin Poche, Jalen Beeks, RobertPerson,Tim Lollar. Shorthop:The No. 3 Razorbacks are the highest remaining national seed.

EricOlsen,APsportswriter

Most CWSchampionships

12 USC (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970-74, 1978, 1998)

7—LSU (1991, 1993, 1996-97, 2000, 2009, 2023)

6— Texas(1949-50, 1975, 1983, 2002, 2005)

5— Arizona State (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1981)

4— Arizona (1976, 1980, 1986, 2012),Cal State Fullerton(1979, 1984, 1995, 2004),Miami (Fla.) (1982, 1985, 1999, 2001)

3— Minnesota (1956, 1960, 1964) Oregon State (2006-07, 2018) 2— Vanderbilt (2014, 2019),South Carolina(2010-11),Stanford(198788),Oklahoma (1951, 1994),Michigan (1953, 1962) and California (1947, 1957) Pro basketball

NBAFinals

(Best-of-7;x-ifnecessary) Indiana 2, Oklahoma City 1 Thursday, June 5: Indiana 111, Oklahoma City 110 Sunday’s game: Okla.City 123, Indiana 107 Wednesday’s game: Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 Friday’s game: Oklahoma City at Indiana, 7:30 p.m. Monday: Indiana at Oklahoma City 7:30 p.m. x-Thursday, June 19: Oklahoma City at Indiana, TBA x-Sunday, June 22: Indiana at Oklahoma City,TBA Indiana 116, Okla. City 107 Late Wednesday OKLAHOMA CITY (107) Dort 4-80-0 12, Jal.Williams 9-18 7-11 26, Holmgren 6-15 8-920, Gilgeous-Alexander9-205-6 24, Wallace 3-51-2 7, Jay.Williams 0-00-0 0, Hartenstein 2-30-0 4, K.Williams 0-10-0 0, Caruso 2-5 2-2 8, Joe 2-20-0 6, Wiggins 0-2 0-00 Totals37-79 23-30 107. INDIANA (116) Nesmith 3-50-0 7, Siakam 8-14 5-6 21, Turner3-112-2 9, Haliburton 9-17 0-022, Nembhard3-5 1-28 Toppin4-8 0-08,Bryant 0-00-0 0, Mathurin 9-12 7-827, McConnell 3-8 4-410, Sheppard2-5 0-04.Totals 44-85 19-22 116. Oklahoma City 32 28 29 18 —107 Indiana 24 40 20 32 —116 3-PointGoals—Oklahoma City 10-22 (Dort 4-5, Caruso 2-2, Joe 2-2, Jal.Williams 1-2, GilgeousAlexander1-3,K.Williams 0-1, Wallace 0-1, Holmgren0-6), Indiana 9-27 (Haliburton 4-8, Mathurin2-3, Nembhard1-2,Nesmith1-2,Turner 1-4, McConnell 0-1, Sheppard0-2 Siakam 0-2, Toppin0-3). Fouled Out —Oklahoma City None, Indiana 1 (Nesmith). Rebounds —Oklahoma City 42 (Holmgren 10),Indiana 36 (Haliburton 9).Assists— Oklahoma City 16 (Caruso, Gilgeous-Alexander4), Indiana 24 (Haliburton 11).Total Fouls—Oklahoma City 20, Indiana 24. A— 17,274 (20,000) WNBAglance

Sam Houston baseball, softball well-represented in Class 5A all-state

Written for the LSWA State champions from Sam Houston claimed two of the top honors for baseball and softball on the Class 5A all-state teams selected by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Pitcher Kaitlyn Mire was voted Outstanding Player on the softball squad after leading Sam Houston to its Division I nonselect title.

Chad Hebert was selected as baseball Coach of the Year after leading the Broncos to a Division I nonselect title.

Live Oak’s Sawyer Pruitt

was selected as the Outstanding Player on the baseball squad, while Benton’s Kelsey Baker of Division I nonselect quarterfinalist

Benton was picked as the Coach of the Year for softball Mire, a sophomore, pitched all but two-thirds of an inning during a 30-2 season that included a 28game winning streak for Sam Houston. She pitched a three-hitter in the state finals against Dutchtown. She had a 1.63 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 180 innings. With Hebert as coach, Sam Houston went 37-8 and

won a baseball state championship for the first time since 2001. It is the second title in school history Pruitt a UL signee, led Live Oak to a No. 1 playoff seed and a runner-up finish to Sam Houston. The District 5-5A MVP finished 9-2 with a 1.17 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched. Benton’s Baker became interim coach just before the season began and led her school to its first 20-win season since 2017 on the way to a No 2 playoff seed and the quarterfinals of the Division I nonselect playoffs.

RABALAIS

at Alex Box Stadium.

Pitchers have hit triple digits in the major leagues for a long time. Nolan Ryan was doing it 50 years ago with the California Angels, but he was the overwhelming exception.

Now, teams in the College World Series that have blazing fast-ballers like Shores are the rule, not the exception.

Kailyn Mire, Sam Houston

Smith Northshore; Austyn Taylor, Pineville; Abel Thetford, Parkway; Brody Trosclair, Thibodaux; Bryce Wilson, Chalmette; Zach Wilburn, Byrd

of the Year: Kelsey Baker, Benton Honorable mention Brianna Benecke, Haughton; Addalyn Burch, Pineville; Sarah Grace Buckels, Alexandria; Caroline Butscher, Fontainebleau; Briley Byrnes, Pineville; Lilly Cooper, Sr. Evangel; Braylee Decoteau, St. Amant; McKenzie Creel, East Ascension; Dylan Defee, Benton; Emersyn Disotell, Benton; Kate Degruise, Central Lafourche; Addison Dickerson, Thibodaux; Anna Doll, Northshore; Mallory Edwards, Pineville; Lanie Eschette, Central Lafourche; Mia Graefenstein, Mandeville; Dakota Howard, Parkway; Mia Impastato, Chapelle; Brazzi Jacob, Hahnville; Jolie Lozano, Destrehan; Ella Kay, Barbe; Ella Hendrick Captain Shreve; Charlie Kyle, Sulphur; Briley Lovell, Southside; Bailey Mackles, Slidell; Rheagan Montgomery, Ouachita; Addison Martinez, Thibodaux; Charlee Prothro, Haughton; Ashley Promes, Benton; Brooke Rabalais, St. Amant; Morgan Robinson, Natchitoches Central; Ella Sanchez, Northshore; Caroline Sciro, West Monroe; Cassidy Sicuro, Pineville; Addy Stein, Chapelle; Kyla Stout, West Monroe; Emily Thibodeaux, Acadiana; Hayden Traub, Mount Carmel; Megan Wicker, Covington; Harlee Ursy, Walker; Catelyn Yeager, Covington

CWS

Continued from page 1C

House v. NCAA settlement will mandate roster limits, likely 34 in baseball, and allow schools to award as many scholarships as there are roster spots. Most programs are not expected to max out scholarships in baseball, but many will at least double the longstanding limit of 11.7

Division I Baseball Committee chair Jay Artigues, athletic director at Southeastern Louisiana, said highperforming mid-majors aren’t necessarily at a disadvantage because of how they tend to build their rosters. The outlook for them is not doom and gloom, he said.

“The Arkansases, the LSUs and the Georgias of the world, they’re going to have the premier 18-, 19-year-olds in the country, no question about it,” Artigues said. “They can’t get old because their 18- and 19-year-olds are signing (pro contracts) after that third year Now where a midmajor can compete against them is having a good 22- or 23-year-old. You put a good 22-, 23-year-old against a really good 18-year-old, it evens the field.

“I think the mid-majors that are having success are all older You look at what Southern Miss did this year, they’re a fourth-, fifth-year team. That’s why they’re kicking the crap out of some P4 teams.” Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said he thought at least one more ACC team would join his in Omaha, but he can’t help but be happy for Murray State to make it considering he played second base on the Citadel’s 1990 CWS team. It was his greatest baseball experience, he said, and as far as he’s concerned the more players who can experience the CWS, the better American Baseball Coaches Association executive director Craig Keilitz said the diversity of this year’s CWS field is good for the sport.

“I’m probably surprised as a lot of people as this pro-

Oregon State outfielder Easton Talt bunts for a base hit against Saint Mary’s during a regional game on May 30 in Corvallis, Ore.

Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall walks onto the field during a game against Ohio State on Feb 22 in Jacksonville, Fla.

liferation of money has followed its way down, to say it might not be possible,” he said. “But I think it’s absolutely remarkable. I think it’s going to be interesting. I think it’s going to be highly watched and followed. I don’t think we could have scripted it any better.

MLB prospects Four MLB.com projected first-round picks in the Major League Baseball amateur draft will play in Omaha: LSU left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson (1), Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette (3), Arizona outfielder Brendan Summerhill (16) and Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (23)

“The Arkansases, the LSUs and the Georgias of the world, they’re going to have the premier 18-, 19-year-olds in the country, no question about it. Now where a mid-major can compete against them is having a good 22- or 23-yearold. You put a good 22-, 23-year-old against a really good 18-year-old, it evens the field.”

JAy ARTIGUES D1 baseball committee chair

75 years in Omaha

The CWS is celebrating its 75th anniversary in Omaha, which landed what then was a lightly attended tournament in 1950 partly because city leaders promised to cover any cost overruns. The CWS blossomed in the 1980s with the start of ESPN’s national coverage and moved from a dilapidated Rosenblatt Stadium to the 24,000-seat Charles Schwab Field in 2011. “Omaha” long has been a rallying cry for teams hoping to play for the national championship.

The city and NCAA have a contract that keeps the event in Omaha at least through 2035.

“Technology has taken over,” Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said. “Twentyfive years ago, you could count on your hand how many guys hit 100.

“I think pitchers are throwing harder These kids are chasing velo. We have several guys who throw really hard. Patrick Forbes who will start game one (for Louisville) throws hard. But we have an obligation to teach these kids how to pitch.”

You might think there’s no way college hitters can catch up with a 99, 100 mph fastball blazing across the plate. But

there are hits to be had, in large part because of the technology McDonnell spoke of — reams of data at the fingertips of the top programs such as LSU and Saturday’s CWS opponent, Arkansas (6 p.m., ESPN).

“On the hitter’s side, they’re better trained,” Rantz said. “The pitching machines, analytics, simulators. You can say, ‘Rantz is pitching a 2-2 count to a right-handed batter’ and overlay one video after another You have the data that says he throws a fastball 73% of the time or a slider 23% of the time.”

Perhaps the biggest exception to the power pitch-

er rule in Omaha this year is the biggest Cinderella in the field. Murray State, a No. 4 seed that came out of the Ole Miss regional and toppled Duke in a road super regional, doesn’t have a Shores. Its liveliest arm belongs to bullpen ace Graham Kelham, who Murray State coach Dan Skirka said tops out at a still rapid, if increasingly quaint-sounding, 94 mph.

Playing on the level the Racers do in the mid-major Missouri Valley Conference, Murray State doesn’t even try to pull in the flamethrowers. Skirka said Murray State’s emphasis is on quality over speed. “You’ve still got to throw strikes,” Skirka said. “So in recruiting, we like to get kids who are strike throwers. We feel we can develop them after that, develop another one or two pitches.” It never hurts, of course, if one or two of those pitches go really fast.

For

AP PHOTO By MARK yLEN

TheyoungDylan

Looking at thelife of the iconic singer-songwriter in England during his 1965 tour,his last as an acoustic artist, “Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back”also features some ofhis most famous songs. Catch the film at 2p.m. Sundayatthe Manship Theatre.$11.50. manshiptheatre.org

THE ADVOCATE.COM

Life from the road

TommyPrine’s time from gift shop sales clerk to touring performer

BY JOHN WIRT

Contributing writer

Tommy Prine’supcoming two nights of headlining at the Red Dragon Listening Room coincide with the music venue’sfinal month of regular operation.

Owners Chris and Liz Maxwell announced their retirement in February Prine, the singing, songwriting son of the late John Prine, previously performed at the Red Dragon with his band. He’ll play solo there June19-20,presenting intimate performances of the kind that made the Red Dragon, which opened in 2002, anationally known destination for singer-songwriters.

PROVIDED PHOTO By WHIZZBANG BOOKING AND MANAGEMENT

Tommy Prine, 29, becamea professional musician after his father John Prine’sCOVID-19related death in 2020.

“I love it,” Prine said of the unconventional Red Dragon, a100seat venue where the seating includes couches andthe stage is decorated with guitars. “We had areally goodtime whenI brought theband through last time, but Idolove playingsolo. Ifeel like I’m playing for people in aroom rather than playingat acrowd.” Prine, 29, became aprofessional musician after his father’sCOVID-19-related death in 2020.

ä See PRINE, page 6C

TOMMY PRINE/ BARRYHEBERT

7p.m.Thursday

TOMMY PRINE/ STEVE JUDICE

8p.m. Friday, June 20 l Red Dragon Listening Room, 2401 Florida St. l $50 l facebook. com/reddragonlisteningroom and tommyprine.com

Friday, June13, 2025 5Cn

Abrielle Decuir,left, is Ado Annie and Jonathan Thomas is Will in Sullivan Theater’s production of ‘Oklahoma!’

ROYAL ROCKERS

BY JOHN WIRT Contributing writer

Next yearisthe 50thanniversary of Heart’s debut album.

In the decades since “Dreamboat Annie” introduced the PacificNorthwest band led by sisters Ann and NancyWilson, Heartsurvivedband and family drama, serious illness, thepublic’s changing musical taste and the male-dominated music businessofthe 1970s and beyond. Heart brings its“RoyalFlush”tourto the Raising Cane’sRiverCenter Arena on Wednesday, the eveoflead singer Ann Wilson’s75th birthday

ä See HEART, page 6C

HEART

7p.m.Wednesday l Raising Cane’s RiverCenterArena, 275 S. RiverRoad, Baton Rouge l $30-$128 l raisingcanes rivercenter.com and heart-music.com

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Friday-Sunday; Thursday-Sunday, June 19-22; Friday, June 27, and Sunday, June 29 l Sullivan Theater 8849 Sullivan Road, Central l Sundaymatinees,2:30 p.m.; all otherperformances, 7:30 p.m. l $35 l sullivantheater.com

Oklahomaisayear away from becoming an official state in the Wild West, cowboys are at odds with farmers,and an intense love triangle is brewing on thehorizon as the wind comes sweeping down theplain. But amidthese conflicts, the curtain will rise on abeautiful morning when Sullivan Theater opens “Oklahoma!” on Friday That’sthe premise of the first song —“Oh Whata Beautiful Morning” —inthis classic musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. It’ssung

See 'OKLAHOMA!', page 6C

PROVIDED PHOTOByCRISS CAIN

FRIDAY DAVID HERNY: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

MARLON G.: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

JASON MATTE: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

JOHN STOUTE: Café Sydnie Mae, Breaux Bridge, 6 p.m.

THE LAST MANGOS: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

AUDREY BROUSSARD: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

CARTER SIMONEAUX: Jim Deggy’s Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

KIP SONNIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

ANDY SMITH: Agave Downtown, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

JAMBALAYA TRIO: Randol’s Cajun Restaurant, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH

ROCKIN BOOGIE: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 7 p.m.

JUST US JAZZ: Whiskey &

‘OKLAHOMA!’

Continued from page 5C

by a cowboy named Curly McLain, played by Thomas Jackson, who sees only love on the horizon as he anticipates a meetup with farm girl Laurey Williams, played by Callie Ancelet.

This is also the beginning of inevitable conflict, which eventually places Laurey on the arm of brooding farmhand Jud Fry, played by Matthew Walker, thereby putting her in a tailspin as to whom she should choose as a husband.

That’s when the 15-minute cowboy ballet will happen, pointing Laurey to the right decision. And what will be her decision? Well, a visit to Sullivan Theater will solve that mystery In the meantime, Taylor Wingate, the show’s director,

Continued from page 5C

“That’s going to be a gig for Ann’s birthday this year,” Nancy Wilson said. “There’s going to be some extra fun afoot that evening.”

Heart has many hits to fill the two sets it’s performing on tour The band’s catalog includes two No. 1 hits, nine Top 10 songs and a total of 29 Billboard Hot 100 singles. Heart’s album sales have reached 35 million.

Creating music and performing it are sides of the same coin for the guitarbrandishing Nancy Wilson.

“When you can be a musician, it’s a gift, a beautiful expression, a conversation to have with yourself,” she said. “And playing on stage is magical, powerful stuff that happens on the spot, in real life.”

PRINE

Continued from page 5C

“I’d been a writer and guitar player my whole life, but for a long time, it was just for me,” he said.

Prine performed songs for friends during his high school years, but he didn’t play one of his original songs for his parents — one of whom was among the world’s great songwriters until some years later

“They were excited when I showed them some songs and told them I was writing all the time,” he remembered. “My dad encouraged me, but my parents were never like, you need to do one thing or another.”

Prine’s famous father sometimes offered songwriting advice.

“It was kind of cryptic, usually a metaphor that I couldn’t decipher until recently,” Tommy Prine recalled.

Writing remained a fulfilling but private pursuit for

SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA

Vine, Lafayette, 8 p.m. THE HOLIDAY PLAYGIRLS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m. THE BAND WACK: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

NIK-L BEER: Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

LIL NATE: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 10 p.m.

SATURDAY

DONNY BROUSSARD BAND: Fred’s, Mamou, 8 a.m.

STEP RIDEAU & ZYDECO

OUTLAWS: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8 a.m.

CAJUN ZYDECO BREAKFAST — KEVIN NAQUIN: Naq’s-nDuson, Duson, 8:30 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park Lafayette, 9 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m. THE MOJOES DANCING BAND: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC JAM: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

ZYDECO CAPITAL JAM: St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, Opelousas, 1 p.m.

BALFA TOUJOURS: Bayou

is staging a cast of 24 in nine performances in Sullivan Theater’s biggest production to date.

“I think they wanted to sort of test themselves here at the Sullivan and see that can they put on this large of a production,” Wingate said.

“This is the biggest choreographed show that they have put on yet, so it was really, I think, to test the limits of the space.”

“Oklahoma!” premiered on Broadway in 1943. Its story is based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play, “Green Grow the Lilacs,” which is set in farm territory outside the town of Claremore in Indian territory

The story revolves around romance on the rugged terrain, not only within the aforementioned love triangle but also between a cowboy named Will Fry and his flirtatious fiancée Ado Annie.

However, the crown jewel

But unwelcomed stuff happens on stage, too. Last year at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival — Heart’s debut at the world-famous event — Wilson met musical turbulence as she played the intro to one of the band’s signature hits, “Crazy On You.”

“Something with the guitar strings was amiss,” she recalled. “I tried to correct it and play at the same time. I thought, ‘Oh, great We’re at the Jazz Festival and I look like a novice up here.’ But people were, like, ‘Wow It’s not prerecorded! She made a mistake! She’s really playing!’ They were rooting for me.”

Heart’s Jazz Fest appearance at the Fair Grounds Race Course joined the band’s list of especially memorable gigs at landmarks such as Royal Albert Hall, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Radio City Music Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

the younger Prine for many years.

“I found it healing and a good use of my time,” he said. “But when my father passed, it started pouring out of me. It poured out of me enough to make a full album.”

Prine was working at the Country Music Hall of Fame gift shop when he tentatively let it be known he was available for gigs.

“Word got around in the listening rooms and the clubs,” he said. “It snowballed into what we’ve got going on now I never had to stop I’m super grateful for it.”

Two of Prine’s friends — singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly and Grammy-winning recording engineer Gena Johnson co-produced his album debut, 2023’s “This Far South.”

“They heard the songs that I was working on and were, like, ‘Hey, buddy You should give this a shot.’ All those things tied together and resulted in where I am now So much has happened. I’ve

Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 4 p.m.

SHARONA: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

PAUL TASSIN: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BURRIS: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

CASEY COURVILLE: Jim

Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

PRIDE ACADIANA PARADE: Downtown Lafayette, 6 p.m.

DOYLE TAUZIN AND JACOB

LANE: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

TROUBADOUR: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

THE CAST: Agave Downtown, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

STRAIGHT WHISKEY: Agave, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tap Room, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

CEDRIC WATSON & BIJOU

CREOLE: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

DYLAN AUCOIN & THE JUDICE

RAMBLERS: La Poussiere, Breaux Bridge, 8 p.m.

KALEB OLIVIER BAND: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

STREET SIDE JAZZ BAND: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette,

of this show isn’t so much found in its characters but in the 15-minute dance break, which wordlessly maps out scenarios of Laurey’s love life.

The dance plays out as she sleeps, with part of the story depicting what would happen in her life if she marries Curly, and what would unfold if she weds Jud.

The dream also foreshadows some things to come.

“I won’t go into that, because that would be giving too much away,” choreographer Hope Carline said. “But Laurey wakes up from her dream, and she knows the right decision to make.”

Was the decision really that hard for Laurey to make? Well, Ancelet points out that her character is highly independent.

The year, after all, is 1806, a time when society readily dismissed the notion of independent women.

“She’s also super strong-

“It was particularly sweet to play at the Jazz Fest,” Wilson said. “Ann, in particular, loves New Orleans and all things Deep South, swampy and Cajun. We love the ambience and the romance of Baton Rouge and New Orleans and that whole part of the world.”

Heart has another New Orleans connection. In 2013, the Wilsons released their duet with Aaron Neville of Charles Brown’s rhythmand-blues classic “Please Come Home for Christmas.”

“It was an honor to be in the same room with Aaron,” Wilson said. “We love, love him and his voice. And the stuff he did with Daniel Lanois was amazing (the made-in-New Orleans Neville Brothers album ‘Yellow Moon’).”

Before the studio collaboration with Neville, the Wilsons also recorded their remake of his 1967 hit,

changed so much and had so many experiences.”

Prine’s Red Dragon performances will feature songs from ‘This Far South’ and newer compositions.

“I love the new songs,” he said. “They’re in the direction of ‘This Far South,’ but with more maturity and purpose and clarity ‘This Far South’ is biographical, in a way, because it’s about experiences in my life. These new songs are not so much about experiences as about how those experiences changed me.”

Prine’s transition from gift shop sales clerk to touring singer-songwriter has been a revelatory journey

“I figured out who I am over the past five years, just by hitting the road and playing music,” he said. “It introduced me to some of the best people I’ve ever met I’ve had opportunities that I dreamed of when I was a kid. The decision to write my thoughts and feelings and share them, along with traveling, has opened up the world for me.”

Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

8 p.m. THE HOLIDAY PLAYGIRLS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

TET DUR: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 8 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE CLUB NIGHTS — DJ

TRASHY: The Ruins Lounge, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

CRYRS: Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

ORY VEILLON: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 10 p.m.

SUNDAY

TECHE FAMILY ROOTS FESTIVAL: St. Martinville, 8 a.m.

ADELINE AND CATHRYN: Café Sydnie Mae, Breaux Bridge, 10:30 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

GLENN ZERINGUE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LE BAL DU DIMANCHE – AMIS

DU TECHE: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

WAYNE TOUPS: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

JUNIOR LACROSSE: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

CHUBBY CARRIER: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 5 p.m.

AUDREY: Charley G’s Seafood

willed, and she works on the farm with her Aunt Eller and Jud,” Ancelet said. “She’s such a romantic at heart, which I really love about her She’s such a dreamer, and I think her biggest internal struggle throughout the show is the struggle between her dream and reality She lost her parents, and reality with Curly terrifies her, because things can be taken away from you when they become real.”

Then again, Curly sometimes exacerbates the situation by letting his ego get in the way

“I think Curly has a lot of charm in a lot of different ways,” Jackson said. “I think that he’s a pretty selfaware person, though he does get wrapped up in his own emotions. He’s someone that’s used to getting what he wants, though not in any kind of malicious way He has an upbeat attitude, and he’s head over heels for

“Tell It Like It Is.” The 1980 single became Heart’s highest charting song up to that time.

Neville is among the 1960s stars who inspired the Wilsons.

“Our older sister, Lynn, had a big box of singles that we played,” Nancy Wilson said. “ ‘Tell It Like It Is,’ Jackie Wilson’s ‘Say You Will,’ stuff like that. So, Aaron Neville is part of the real roots of rock that we come from.”

Breaking out of Vancouver British Columbia and Seattle, Washington, Heart leapt to rock stardom in 1976. Although the early ’80s saw some years off the charts the band topped its ’70s success with a hot streak of pop hits in mid- to late-’80s. Unlike Heart’s inhouse composed ’70s recordings, the Wilsons’ comeback was aided by such hitmaking tunesmiths as Diane

LUKE HUVAL BAND: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

MONDAY PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

DAVE TRAINER: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY

JAZZ TRIO: PAUL TAUSSIN, RICHARD BOURK, ALASTAIR

WHITE: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.

DAVE TRAINER: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

NIKKI NEEDHAM: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

GRAMPA: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tap Room, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m. OPEN JAM! ANDREW VO’S

Laurey But I think the issue that we run into with Curly is when he doesn’t get that instant gratification and get exactly what he wants.”

As for Jud, he bears the ominous burden of being the story’s villain. Yet he’s not really a villain as much as a guy who’s had some bad breaks in life.

And while the story plays out, expect to hear such Broadway classics as “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” Jackson’s and Ancelet’s favorite song from the production.

Of course, as Curly, Jackson also likes “Oh What a Beautiful Morning,” just as Walker’s favorite is his character’s solo, “Lonely Room.”

But all agree that the title song, “Oklahoma,” is fun for everyone in the cast.

Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate. com.

Warren and Bernie Taupin (Elton John’s lyricist).

“We’ve had a couple of different life spans,” Wilson said. “The average rock band disappears after five years, but we doggedly put on the costumes and worked with the outside writers, what everybody was doing in the ’80s to survive.”

More Heart- and Heart-related projects are happening — documentary films, Ann and Nancy Wilson’s music projects apart from Heart and the management company founded by Nancy Wilson. The younger Wilson sister’s Roadcase Management specializes in young talent.

“Music is our life,” she said. “I feel so grateful to have done art and music my whole life Helping the next generation is the least I can do.”

Email John Wirt at j_wirt@ msn.com.

FAREWELL JAM!: Gloria’s Bar & Grill, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY JUNETEENTH LYRICAL EX-

PRESSIONS: Heymann Park Recreation Center, Lafayette, 5:30 p.m.

ZEBULON’S DREAM: Shadowson-the-Teche, New Iberia, 5:30 p.m.

DUELING PIANO NIGHT: Naq’sn-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

JACK WOODSON: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LAYLA: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

THE TROUBADOUR: Agave, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

DYLAN AUCOIN: Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, June 13, the 164th day of 2025. There are 201 days left in the year Today in history: On June 13, 1971, The New York Times began publishing excerpts of the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret study of America’s involvement in Vietnam since 1945, that had been leaked to the paper by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg. Also on this date: In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal suspects had to be informed of their constitutional rights to remain silent and consult with an attorney In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to become the first nonWhite justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2022, the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was told that Donald Trump’s closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of the insurrection, but the defeated president was becoming “detached from reality” and clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power Today’s birthdays: Actor Malcolm McDowell is 82. Former U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon is 81. Actor Stellan Skarsgård is 74. Actor Richard Thomas is 74. Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Weaver is 74. Actor-comedian Tim Allen is 71. Actor Ally Sheedy is 63. Sportscaster Hannah Storm is 63.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Review the possibilities and move forward one step at atime.Enjoy each momentasitcomes. It's time to breathe, smell the flowers and be grateful for what you have.

CANCER(June 21-July 22) Keep the momentum growing. The moment you slow down or give someone the chance to step in and take charge,you'll have regrets. Opportunity requiresaction if you wish to be aforerunner in your field.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Be careful: Too much, too soon will be costly.Put a halt on your plans untilyou have all your ducks in arow. Precision, timing and execution are essentialtofulfilling your destiny. Don't rely on others or take shortcuts.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Ashift in how you handle financial and medical affairs is necessary. Get out intothe mainstream and discover what'smeaningful to themasses. Knowing what's necessaryand what'sfruitless will save you time.

LIBRA(Sept. 23-Oct. 23) First and foremost, be honest with yourself. Keep your situation in perspective. Refuse to let laziness or self-pityset in when your creativity, charm andconfidence will carry much more weight.

SCORPIO (Oct.24-Nov. 22) Do youwant to bulldoze your way forward or gain

support incrementally? Think big, but fine-tune your game plan to fit your budget, time andskills.Makesure you have adequate support lined up.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Look for something that movesyou.Walk away from annoyances while seeking out people who are interested in your pursuits. Taking on toomuch or notcommunicating will threaten your home life.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Get out, venture into the mainstream andget abetter viewoftrends. Attend conferences, networking functionsand exhibitswhere youcan share your thoughts andskills.Romance is favored

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.19) Deal with your emotions before they get you in trouble.Applying pressure will make you look bad. Take an approach that offers insight andassistance to others.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Uncertainty will hold youback.Approach someone who can offer afinancial perspective regarding your plans, and you'll gain insight into how much your plansmight cost. Time is on your side

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

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

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Bridge

BY PHILLIPALDER

Ludwig Miesvan der Rohewas an architect who worked first in Germany, thenintheUnitedStates.Hesaid,“Architecturestartswhenyoucarefullyputtwo bricks together.” One guesses that plans might have beendrawnfirst.However,abridgecontract will have more chance of success if declarer has two ways to get home and is able to try them both —asinthis deal. South is in six spades. West leads the club queen: four, eight (encouraging, showingthe king), ace. What are declarer’stwo primary chances to bring home 12 tricks?

Southhas two potential losers: one diamond and one club. He startswith only 11 top tricks: seven spades, one heart, two diamonds and one club. A12thwinnercan be established if either the diamondfinesseisworkingortheheartsare dividing 4-3.

Since thefinesse, if it loses, would be instantly fatal (thedefenderswould cash aclub trick), it should be triedsecond if it is needed.

Declarer must play on hearts immediately. He cashes his heart ace, leads amiddlespade to dummy’s 10 (happy to see both opponentsfollowsuit), ruffs aheart high, plays amiddle spade to dummy’s jack,and ruffs another heart high. Whenthe suit breaks 4-3, South leadsthe spade three to dummy’s four, ruffs another heart, plays adiamond to theace, and discards adiamond or aclub on the heart jack. If hearts break 5-2or6-1,Southwould draw trumps and run trumps, planning to rely on thediamond finesse (but also havingared-suitshow-upsqueezeifEast has the long hearts).

©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIOns:

tODAY’s WORD unDERcut: UN-der-kut: To cutawaythe underpart.

Average mark 27 words

Time

YEstERDAY’s

or more wordsinUNDERCUT?

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

wuzzles

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles