The Times-Picayune 06-14-2025 by The Advocate

CO LL EG EW OR LD SE RIE S

TIGERTIME

Tigers fan ValBrown ofNew Orleans takes aselfiewith ‘MardiGras Mike’ during Men’sCollegeWorld Series practice at the University of Nebraska Omaha in Omaha, Neb., on Friday

LSUloves Omaha, andOmaha lovesLSU rightback

Israel intensifies strikesamid Iranian retaliation

Topgenerals, scientists killed in Iran andnuclear siteshit,officialsconfirm

BY JON GAMBRELL, JOSEF FEDERMAN and JULIA FRANKEL |Associated Press

Scott Rabalais

ä LSU’sJay Johnson is in his happy place in Omaha at CWS PAGE 1C

OMAHA, Neb.— Fora long time it was an unrealized romance,this thing that’sbeen goingonfor four decades now between LSU baseball, this cityand its crown jewel event: the College World Series. Legendary LSUcoach Skip Bertman often has spunthe tale of how he had to educate his first players aboutOmahaand whygoingthere was important. Foraprogramthat had made all of oneNCAA Tournament trip before his arrival in 1984, it was amuch-needed teaching moment. Now? Now the team andthis place seem wedded together,a perfect match like hot crawfish and cold beer, Bogart and Bacall, infield dirt and outfield grass. Though theTigers don’tplay until Saturdaynight —atitanic tussle against Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas (6 p.m., ESPN) —LSU fans were out in forceatthe ballpark Friday checkingthings out.They

were sizing up potential opponents for theTigers in case they make it to the CWS championship series for ashot atthe program’s eighth national championship. There is no “in case” for LSU fans,

of course. The back of one supporter’spurple T-shirt spoke for the LSUbaseball faithful everywhere: “Expect to win!”

ä See OMAHA, page

Gardener’s shackonLafitte Greenway demolished Mangiven apartmentnearby

BY DOUG MacCASH |Staff writer

With rain dousing the city early Friday,many New Orleanians were worried about the plight of 82-yearold gardener Fred Sipp. For years, Sipp had tended afew rows of vegetables on asmallplot of land near the running track on the Lafitte Greenway.Helived in aramshackle

hand-built shack at the back of the same small parcel. Sipp’shomestead was alandmark alongthe Greenway,anunexpected rural throwback in the middle of thecity. It wascommon to seehim there, tendinghis rows of okra,tomatoes and mustard greens, or relaxing near an open ﬁre. ButonWednesday morning, representatives of various city agencies arrived withabulldozer to

ä See SHACK, page

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’snuclear andmilitarystructure Friday,deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists —abarrage it said was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon. Iran retaliated late Friday by unleashing scores of ballistic missiles on Israel, where explosions ﬂared in the skies over Jerusalem and TelAviv and shook the buildings below In asecond round of attacks, sirens andexplosions, possibly from Israeli interceptors, could be heard booming in the sky over Jerusalem early Saturday.The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the earlier wave of missiles, to head to shelter The Iranian outlet Nour News, whichhas close links with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said awave was being launched. Associated Press journalistsinTel Aviv could see at least twoIranian missiles hit the ground, but there wasnoimmediate word of casualties.

ä See ISRAEL, page 6A

BY ANTHONY McAULEY |Staff writer

The owner of the Fair Grounds RaceCourse &Slots is in “active discussions” with state ofﬁcialstoensure that the upcoming horse racing season will proceed on schedule,a company spokesperson said Friday Churchill DownsInc., which has owned the historicracetrack for thepasttwo decades, had asked the Louisiana State Racing Commissionearlierthisweektocallanemergencymeeting so that it could relinquish its operator’s license after the companyfailed to secure apublic subsidy from state legislators. The Louisville, Kentucky-basedcompany operates its Fair Grounds slots business and 12 other off-track betting outlets undera Fair Grounds seekstoensure thereisa horse racing season Companyfailedto secure public subsidy from statelegislators

ä See RACING, page 7A

STAFF PHOTOSByHILARy SCHEINUK

LSU players arriveatthe ballpark forMen’s CollegeWorld Series practice at theUniversity of Nebraska OmahainOmaha, Neb., on Friday

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByLEO CORREA

An explosion caused by aprojectile strike illuminates the skyline in TelAviv, Israel, early Saturday.Iran retaliated against Israel’s blistering attacks on the heartofIran’s nuclearand militarystructure on Friday.

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Fred Sipp poses in aplot of land he uses to grow fruits and vegetables on the Lafitte GreenwayinNew Orleans on Thursday. The structure he built next to his garden wasremoveddue to safety concerns.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Officials: 4escape ICE detention center in N.J

Four detainees broke through a walland escaped from afederal immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey,amid reportsofdisorder breaking out there, according to aU.S. senator and the Department of Homeland Security Sen. Andy Kim, aDemocrat from New Jersey,spoke Friday outside the Delaney Hall detention center. He said he wastold detainees managed to break through an interior wall that led to an exterior one and from there were able to escape to aparking lot.

More “law enforcement partners” have been brought in to ﬁnd the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, accordingto an emailed statement attributedto asenior DHS ofﬁcial whom the department did not identify. The statement also didn’tspecify which law enforcement agencies are involved.

The development comes amid President Donald Trump’scrackdown on illegal immigrationand aday ahead of major protests against his policies planned across the country DHS identiﬁed the escapees as two Colombian men who were arrested on burglary andother counts and two Hondurans, Franklin Norberto BautistaReyes and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, who were arrested on aggravated assaultand other charges. Acourt recordssearch didnot turn up attorney information for them.

Golden toilet thieves sentenced in U.K LONDON Twoburglars who plotted the heist of a$6.4 million golden toilet, afully-functional 18-karat piece of contemporary art that was ripped from the plumbing of an English mansion, were sentenced Friday to more than two years in aBritish prison.

The satiricalcommentary on consumer culture, titled “America,”byItalian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, had only been on display foracouple days when five burglars swipeditfrom Blenheim Palace —the country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born —inSeptember 2019. The purloined potty was never recovered and was believed to have been chopped up andsold.

“Thisboldand brazen heist took no more than 51/2 minutes to complete,” Judge IanPringlesaid in Oxford Crown Court “‘America’ has never been seen again.”

James Sheen, 40, aroofer who pleaded guilty to burglary,conspiracy and transferring criminalproperty,was sentenced to four years in prison. Michael Jones, 39, who worked for Sheen and was convicted of burglary at trial, was sentenced to two years and three months.

S. Africa’sleader visits sites of deadly flooding CAPE TOWN, SouthAfrica South Africa’sleader visited the region where devastating floods have left at least 78 people dead in the country’ssoutheast as searches continued Friday for afourth day and authorities saidthey expected the death toll to rise.

President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to the town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape province, where the ﬂoods hit hardest when they began early Tuesday Ramaphosa attended abriefing by officialsfrom theNational Disaster Management Center and also visited abridge whereaschoolbus waswashed away by ﬂooding. Six students, the bus driver and anotheradult onboardwereconfirmed dead, while fourother schoolchildren were among the missing.

CORRECTION

A story published Friday on legislation relatedtothe New Orleans area’sﬂood protection agency incorrectly describeda changetoits nominatingcommittee for board seats. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’sexecutive director wouldjointhe nominating committee underthe bill rather than CPRA’s boardpresident The Times-Picayuneregrets theerror

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAMIAN DOVARGANES

Marinestakeover some security in L.A.

BY AMY TAXIN, LOLITA C. BALDOR and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press

LOSANGELES— After aweek of protests over federal immigrationraids, about 200 Marines moved into LosAngeles on Fridaytoguard afederal building in thecity while communities acrossthe country preppedfor what’s anticipated to be anationwide wave of large-scaledemonstrationsagainstPresident DonaldTrump’s policesthis weekend.

The Marine troopswith riﬂes, combat gear and walkie-talkies took over some posts from NationalGuardmemberswho weredeployed to the city after theprotests erupted last week. Those protests sparked dozens more over several days aroundthe country, withsome leading to clashes with policeand hundreds of arrests.

The Marines had notbeen seen on Los Angelescitystreets until Friday.They ﬁnishedtraining oncivil disturbance and have started to replace Guard members protectingthe federal building west of downtown, so the Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement ofﬁcers onraids,the commander in charge of 4,700troops deployed to theL.A. protests said.

The Marines moved into Los Angeles before Saturday’splanned “No Kings” demonstrations nationally against Trump’s policies, which will also happen thesame day as amilitary parade in Washington, D.C.,when troops will march and tanks will rumble through thestreets of thenation’scapital.

The Marines’arrival also came aday afterthe 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked afederal judge’s order that had directed Trump to return controlofGuard troops to California. The judge had ruledthe Guarddeployment wasillegal, violated the Tenth Amendment, whichdeﬁnesthe power between state and federal governments, and exceeded Trump’sstatutory authority. The judge did not rule on the presenceofthe Marines

Some 2,000 National Guardtroops were deployed to Los Angeles thisweek.Hun-

AirIndia black boxrecovered

BYSHONAL GANGULY,RAJESH ROY and AIJAZ HUSSAIN

Associated Press

AHMEDABAD,India The ﬂight data recorder from thecrashed Air India ﬂight was recovered Friday inwhat likely will lead to clues about the cause of theaccident that killed 241 peopleonthe plane and a numberofothersonthe ground.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck amedical college hostel when the plane came down shortlyafter takeoff on Thursday in aresidential area of the northwesterncity of Ahmedabad.

The plane’sdigital ﬂight data recorder, or blackbox, wasrecovered from arooftop nearthe crash site andIndia’sAircraft AccidentInvestigationBureau said thatit hadbegun its work with “full force.” The black box recovery marks an important step forward in the investigation, Civil Aviation Minister RamMohan Naidu said in asocialmediapost

The device will reveal information aboutthe engine andcontrol settings,in addition to what the voice recorder will show aboutthe cockpit conversations, Paul Fromme, amechanicalengineerwith the U.K.-basedInstitution of Mechanical Engineerssaidina statement.

“This should show quickly if there was alossofengine power or lift after takeoff and allowapreliminarydetermination of thelikelycausefor thecrash,” said Fromme, who heads the professional association’sAerospace Division.

Separately, the country’scivil aviation regulator ordered Air Indiatoconduct additional inspections of its Boeing 7878and 787-9Dreamliners equippedwith

dreds have providedprotection to immigration agents makingarrests. Another 2,000 Guardmemberswerenotiﬁed of deployment earlier this week.

None of the militarytroopswill be detaining anyone, Maj.Gen. Scott Sherman, thecommander of Task Force 51 whois overseeing the 4,700 combined troops, said.

“I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities,” Sherman said. “Rather, they’ll be focused on protecting federal law enforcement personnel.”

Roughly 500 National Guard members have been used to provide securityonimmigration raids after undergoing expanded instruction,legal training and rehearsalswiththe agents doingthe enforcement before theygoonthose missions.

By midafternoon Friday,morethan a dozen Marines were stationed outside the 17-story Wilshire Federal Building replacingsomemembers of theNational Guardatvarious entrances.They mostly appeared to be checkingticketsfrom membersofthe public who were there to renewtheir passports.

Thebuilding is the same place Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary KristiNoem’snews conference and handcuffed by ofﬁcersas he tried to speak up about the immigrationraids

Therewere no protesters around the building. Occasionally,apassing driver shouted from their window,registering a mix of anger and support for the military presence.

Sherman said theU.S.MarineCorps is responsible forguarding U.S.embassies overseas so they arewell-trained on how to defend afederal building.

California Gov.Gavin Newsom has calledthe troopdeployment a“serious breach of state sovereignty” and apower grabbyTrump, andhehas gone to court to stop it.The president hascited alegal provision thatallows him to mobilize federal servicememberswhen thereis“a rebellionordanger of arebellion against the authorityofthe Government of the United States.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAFIQ MAQBOOL Kalpeshbhai Patni, whose 14-year-old brother waskilled when an Air India plane crashed into aneighborhood,wails Fridayoutsidethe autopsy room at a hospitalinAhmedabad, India.

General Electric’sGEnxengines. That includeschecksofthe fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and takeoff parameters, the order said.

InvestigatorsonFridaycontinued searching the site of oneofIndia’s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister NarendraModi met with the lone surviving passenger aday after the crash.

Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, aformer crashinvestigator for both theU.S.NationalTransportationSafety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what causedthe crashassoonasnext week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape. Investigators likelyare looking at whether wingflapswereset correctly, whether the engine lost power,whether alarms were going offinside the cockpit and whether the plane’screw correctlyinputted information about thehot temperature outside andthe weight of thefueland passengers, Guzzetti said. Mistakes in thedata could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly,hesaid.

Judgeblocks Trump’selection executiveorder

BY CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press

ATLANTA— Afederal judge on Friday blocked President DonaldTrump’sattempt to overhaul elections in the U.S., siding with agroup of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional.

The Republican president’sMarch 25 executive order sought to compel ofﬁcials to require documentary proofofcitizenship for everyone registering to vote forfederal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Dayand condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to thenew ballotdeadline.

The attorneys general hadarguedthe directive “usurps theStates’ constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by ﬁat.”

TheWhite House had defended the order as “standing up forfree, fair and honest elections” andcalled proof of citizenship a“commonsense” requirement.

Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. DistrictCourt in Massachusetts said in Friday’sorder that thestates had alikelihood of success as to their legal challenges.

“The Constitution does not grant the President any speciﬁc powers over elections,” Casper wrote.

Casper also noted that, when it comes to citizenship, “there is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship.”

Casper also cited arguments made by the states that the requirements would “burden the States with signiﬁcant efforts and substantial costs” to update procedures. Messages seekingaresponse from the White House andthe Department of Justice were not immediatelyreturned. Theattorneys general for California and NewYorkpraised the ruling in statements, calling Trump’sorder unconstitutional.

Customer Service:

“Free and fair elections are thefoundation of this nation,and no president has the power to steal that right fromthe American people,” NewYork Attorney General Letitia James said. The ruling is the second legalsetback forTrump’s electionorder. Afederal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-citizenship requirement forthe federal voter registration form. The order is the culmination of Trump’slong-standing complaints about elections. After his first win in 2016, Trumpfalselyclaimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if notfor “millions of people who votedillegally.” Since 2020, Trump has made false claimsofwidespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines to explain his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He hassaidhis executive order secures elections against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigationsinthe states have shownthatit’srare and typically amistake.Casting aballot as anoncitizen is alreadyagainst the law and can result in fines and deportation if convicted. Also blocked in Friday’s ruling was part of the order thatsought to require states to excludeany mail-in or absentee ballotsreceivedafter Election Day.Currently,18 states andPuertoRico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to theNational Conference of State Legislatures. Oregon and Washington, which conduct their elections almost entirely by mail, fileda separate lawsuit over the ballot deadline, saying the executive order could disenfranchise voters in their states. When the lawsuitwas filed, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that morethan 300,000 ballots in the state arrived after Election Day in 2024.

U.S. Marines walk Fridayoutsideofafederal building in Los Angeles.

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DOTD overhaul passes throughLegislature

Bills wouldallow forquicker fixesof roads, bridges

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

For the last year,Gov.Jeff Landry and state lawmakers have been calling for fundamental change at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, demanding quicker ﬁxes to the state’sroad and bridge problems.

This week, legislators from both parties overwhelmingly approved apackageofbills intended to institute their demands. Proponents call it a major step toward reforming an agency they’ve accused of being historically unresponsive and underperforming DOTD will soon be slated to undergo asigniﬁcant reorganization through aplan laid out in House Bills528, 556 and 640, all sponsored by Rep. Ryan Bourriaque,RAbbeville.

Aspokesperson for Landry on Tuesday confirmed the governor intends to sign the measures into law

Legislative leadersand Landry this spring hadlisted overhaulingDOTD as atop priority for the legislative session.

But major change at the department has been more than ayear in the making after Landry,just monthsinto his administration, ordered his transportationchief to ﬁgure out how to reform the department.

An analysis of DOTDby consulting firm BCGstemmingfrom that order found last year that the agency would need more than $1 billionannually to achieve majorinfrastructure goals and faces major challenges related to timely project delivery and talent retention.

Now,under the reform package, anew division within the department called the OfﬁceofTransformation will be in chargemaking the agencyoperatemoreefficiently

Anda brand-newagency —completely separate from andindependent ofDOTD willbecreated and called the Ofﬁce of LouisianaHighway Construction.

Thatofﬁce will be required to plan,construct, maintain

Development.

and ﬁx any stateroads that don’tqualify for federal funding.

Thereare about4,800 miles of those smaller state routes, which include three categoriesofroadways:rural local, urban local and rural minor collector roads

“Minor collectors”gather trafﬁc from local roads and direct it to major thoroughfares. Local roads primarilyprovide direct accessto homes and businesses.

The new highway office will be runbyanexecutive director appointed by the governor and will be housed

Judge: Khalil canremainjailed

BY PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press

NEW YORK Afederal judge who barred the Trump administration from deporting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil declined Friday to order his releasefrom an immigration detention center,saying the former Columbia University student hadn’tyet proven he wasbeing held illegally The ruling is asetback for Khalil, who was detained in March. He had appeared to be close to winning his freedom after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz held that thegovernment’s initial effort to deport him on foreign policy grounds was likely unconstitutional. The judge had given the Trump administration until Friday morning to appeal an order that could have led to Khalil’srelease.

Butthe government ﬁled court papers saying it believed it could continue detainingKhalil basedonits secondary rationalefor expellinghim from theU.S. an allegation that he lied on hisgreen card application. Farbiarz, who sits in New Jersey,wrotein his Friday ruling that Khalil’slawyers hadn’tpresented enough evidence that detention on those grounds was unlawful and suggested that Khalil’s next stepcouldbe to ask for bail from an immigration judge in Louisiana.

OneofKhalil’slawyers, Amy Greer,criticized the Trump administration’s legalmaneuvering as “cruel, transparent delaytactics” meant to keep herclient away from his wife and newbornson ahead of their ﬁrst Father’sDay as afamily

“Instead of celebrating together,heislanguishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians,” she said in astatement. “It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful.”

Khalil has previously disputed thenotionthathe omitted information on his application.

Manacquitted in AI robocallscase

BY HOLLYRAMER

Associated Press

Apolitical consultant who sent artificial intelligencegenerated robocalls mimicking former President Joe Biden to New Hampshire Democrats last year was acquitted Friday of voter suppression and impersonating acandidate.

Steven Kramer,56, of New Orleans, admitted orchestrating amessagesent to thousands of voters two days before thestate’s Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to the Democratic president’sthat used his catchphrase “What abunch of malarkey” and, as prosecutors alleged, suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November. “It’simportant that you

save your votefor theNovember election,” voters were told. “Your votes make adifference in November, notthis Tuesday.”

Kramer, who would have faced decades in prison if convicted,testified thathe wanted to send awake-up call about thepotential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleansmagician $150 to createthe recording. He was getting frequent calls frompeopleusing AIincampaigns, and, worried about the lack ofregulations, made it his New Year’sresolution to take action.

Prosecutors argued the calls amounted to an attack on the integrity ofthe primary,while Kramer’sdefense tried to direct outrage at the Democratic National Committee instead. At Biden’srequest,the DNC dislodged New Hamp-

shirefrom itstraditional early spot in the 2024 nominating calendar, but later dropped itsthreat not to seat the state’snational convention delegates. Biden did not put his name on theballot or campaignthere,but won as awrite-in.

Kramer,who owns aﬁrm specializing in get-out-thevote projects,arguedthatthe primary was ameaningless strawpollunsanctionedby the DNC,and therefore the state’s voter suppressionlaw didn’t apply. Thedefense also said he didn’timpersonate a candidate becausethe message didn’tinclude Biden’s name, and Bidenwasn’ta declared candidate in the primary

Jurors apparently agreed, acquitting himof11felony voter suppression charges, eachpunishablebyupto sevenyearsinprison.

in the DivisionofAdministration, an agency that serves as the operating arm of state government. It’sunclear what the highway office’s budget will be or how many employees will work there.

The transportation department is currently responsible for more than 17,000 miles of roads

At DOTD, the agency’s organizational chart will change.

Anew OfﬁceofProjectDelivery will oversee both engineeringand projectdelivery functions thatare currently housed in separate divisions.

That ofﬁce will nowberequiredbylaw to “maximize to the fullest extent possible theprivatization of services.”

TheOffice of Transformation will alsobea newdivisionatthe department, with an official directive to “implement strategiesand initiatives designed to enhance operational efficiency.”

While it doesn’tcarry the weight of law,the Legislature also passed aresolution that formalizes several priorities related to plans for DOTD moving forward.

Under HCR45, the Office of Transformation will have to recommend improvements to project delivery, the DOTD districtoffices and bridge maintenance, amongotherthings,and report those recommendations to theLegislature by next spring.

“Many of the items highlightedaspriorities in the HCR will be the basis for agendas and discussions of theTransportation committeeinthe coming months,” Bourriaque said last week.

He also said the Ofﬁce of Transformation will work to determinewhich DOTD

functions should be shifted to the private sector Thelaw will now require DOTD to “maximizethirdparty contracts” for its maintenance of the state highway system, and there will be no limitations on the agency’s abilitytocontract with outside consultants for services. While theplanpassedby theLegislature appears to be more broad framework than detailed instruction manual, both Bourriaque, who chairs theHouse transportation committee, and Senate transportationcommittee chair Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, have signaled that more concrete plans are in the works. Connickbothlastweek and again on the Senate ﬂoor this week calledthe legislative package “just the first step in ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and that everylevel of DOTD is performing in amanner that is responsive to the people of Louisiana.” Bourriaque said his committee “looksforward to the continued collaboration with the department and key stakeholders to improve the way we address ourinfrastructure.”

Higginsseeks to drug test

BY MARKBALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON —U.S.Rep Clay Higginswants to screen his colleaguesinthe House andSenate for illegal drugs.

ALafayette Republican, Higgins filed abill that would subject members of Congress to a randomdrug test once per term.

“Elected ofﬁcials in Washington, D.C.should be subject to the same kind of random drug screenings that every blue-collar, working-

class American endures, Higgins said June 6ina statement. If amember tests positive for an illegal substance, they would be reportedto the Committee on Ethics, where subsequent action would be taken. The bill hasn’treceived aHouse committee hearing,the ﬁrst step toward avote by the full House. Higgins ha sn’t reached out to Sen Bill Cassidy,who chairs the Senate Health Education Labor &Pensions committee, whichwouldmost likely considerthe legislation should it clear the House.

“I understand that this has been introduced,” Cassidy, R-BatonRouge,saidTuesday. “It’ssomething to be debated. I’dbeopen to seeing statistics. If they say that 10% of the congressional population is impaired, then that would be something that could sway my mind.”

Apugnacious conservative, Higgins has been critical of Cassidy,including asocial media taunt that MAGA Republicans would note if Louisiana’ssenior senatordidn’tconfirm the nomination of controversial Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr

STAFF FILEPHOTO By SOPHIAGERMER

State lawmakers from both parties overwhelmingly approved apackageofbills to overhaul the Louisiana Departmentof Transportation and

demolish Sipp’sshelter and haul it away

The destruction endedan impasse between thecity and Sipp. Health and safety officials had long warned Sipp that his handmade shelterwas ahazardand had to be done away with. The octogenarianwas offered the option to move to publicsupported housing, but until then, he’d declined. Now he’s changed his mind and taken them up on their offer Standinginthe drizzling rain on Wednesday afternoon near theempty patchof ground where his home once stood, Sipp acknowledged that he’d been regularly warned that his rambling shack needed to go. “Every month,” he said, “they sent somebody out to look at my building, butIguess they didn’tlike it.”

Sipp said that ofﬁcials put notices in his mailbox, which is nailed to apost at the edge of his garden, though he couldn’timmediately find any of the documents he’d received.

ISRAEL

Continued from page1A

“Wewill not allow them to escape safely from this great crime theycommitted,” Iran’sSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in arecorded message Friday in which he vowed revenge Iran’sU.N. ambassadorsaid 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in Israeli attacks.

Israel’sparamedic services said 34 people werewounded in the barrage on the TelAviv area, including awoman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv,anAssociated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses,including one wherethe frontwas nearly entirely torn away U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, saidaU.S. ofﬁcial who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.

Israel’s ongoing airstrikes and intelligence operation and Iran’sretaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.

Israel had long threatened such astrike, and successive American administrations sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite awider conﬂict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran’sdispersed and hardened nuclear program.

But aconﬂuence of developments triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack —plus the reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump —createdthe conditions that allowed Israel to ﬁnally follow through on its threats.IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said

Sipp said he thought he was required totear down the house himself. So, in away, he wasrelieved that authorities hadshown up with the manpower and machinery to raze it and haul it away He pointedout that part of his wire mesh fence had been taken down in order to remove the dwelling, but he said it hadbeenreplaced it with orange plastic webbing. His garden was intact and he said he wasallowed to keep his possessions. Sipp said he came to New Orleans from Pascagoula in 1972 to work at the Avondale shipyard. He used to live in one of the shotgun houses alongLaﬁtteAvenuenearhis homestead. He’skept agarden on the spot since before the park was built. He’d certainly begun growingvegetables there before Katrina, according to aneighbor There was atime when no one paidmuch attention to what went on along theold railroad corridor.Long ago, Sipp said, aman wasmowing the grass along the strip. When his lawn mower broke down, Sipphelped him ﬁx it. That man, Sipp said,granted him permission to garden on thespot.

the U.S. was informed in advance of the attack.

On Thursday,Iran had been censured by the U.N.’satomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meantto prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Countriescondemn attack

Countriesinthe region condemned Israel’sattack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalationfrom both sides

The U.N. Security Councilscheduled an emergency meeting for Friday afternoon at Iran’srequest.Inaletter to the council, Iran’sForeign Minister Abbas Araghchi calledthe killing of itsofficialsand scientists “state terrorism” and afﬁrmed his country’s rightto self-defense.

Israel’smilitary said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defenses andmissile launchers near Tehran, according to two security ofﬁcialswho spoke on condition of anonymity It was not possibleto independently confirmthe officials’ claims.

Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran’s mainnuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air.Italso appeared to strike asecond, smaller nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 60 miles southeastof Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby Israel saiditstrucka nuclear research facilityinIsfahan, too, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in westernIran. Iran conﬁrmed the strike at

Fred Sipp points to where hishandmade house wasbefore it wasremovedalong the Lafitte GreenwayinNew Orleans on Thursday

AskedWednesday what he planned to do after his shelterwas gone,Sippsaid

said, andhehad accesstoa housesomewhere on Painters Street where he planned to sleep —Sipp gets around town on athoroughly rusted Huffy bicycle. Also, he said, he still had abrother and other family in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He did not mention the option of moving into an assisted living facility or publiclysupported housing. But by Friday morning, he’d comearound.

Opened in 2015, the Laﬁtte Greenway is apopular public park,built alonga former railroad corridor, from Mid-City to the Treme.

The plywood shack Fred Sipp lived in, seen here in November 2024, was removedbycity authorities for safety reasons on Wednesday.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By DOUG MacCASH

he hadoptions. Therewas anearbyporch wherehe could escape the rain, he

Isfahan.

Israelmilitary spokesman Brig. Gen. Efﬁe Defrin said theNatanz facilitywas “signiﬁcantly damaged” and that the operation was “still in the beginning.”

Natanz facility destroyed

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Councilthatthe aboveground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. He saidall theelectrical infrastructure andemergency power generators were destroyed, as well as asection of thefacility whereuranium was enriched up to 60%.

The main centrifuge facility underground didnot appeartohavebeen hit, but theloss of power could have damagedthe infrastructure there, he said.

The first waveofstrikes had given Israel “significant freedom of movement” in Iran’sskies, clearing the way for furtherattacks, according to an Israelimilitary official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack with the media.

The ofﬁcial saidIsrael is prepared for an operation thatcould last up to two weeks, but that there was no

ﬁrm timeline.

Amongthosekilled were threeofIran’stop military leaders: onewho oversaw theentirearmed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; onewho ledthe paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard’sballisticmissile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Iran confirmed all three deaths, signiﬁcant blows to its governing theocracy that will complicateeffortstoretaliate. Khamenei said other topmilitary ofﬁcials and scientists were also killed. Netanyahu saidthe attack hadbeenmonthsinthe making. In avideo statement sent to journalists Friday, he said he ordered plans for the attack last November, soon after the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon,one of Iran’sstrongest proxies. Netanyahu said the attack was planned for Aprilbut was postponed.

In its first response Friday, Iranfiredmore than 100 dronesatIsrael. Israel said the droneswere beinginterceptedoutside its airspace, and it was notimmediately clear whether any got through.

Israel’smilitary saidit

The grassy strip includes alengthy bike path, playground, soccer field, exercise pavilion and groves of young cypress trees. To many,Sipp’sparcel seemed aprecious part of the space, and there was asocial media outcry over the removal of his house.

According to City Councilmember Eugene Green, whose districtincludesthe Greenway, Sipp originally rejectedthe offertomove into asafer,more comfortable circumstance. But the people at the city’sOffice of Homeless Services and

called up reservists and began stationingtroops throughout the country as it braced for furtherretaliation from Iran or Iranian proxy groups.

Trumpurged Iran on Fridaytoreach adealwiththe U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel’sattacks “will only get worse.”

“Iran must makeadeal, before there is nothing left, and save what wasonce knownasthe Iranian Empire,” he wrote.

On Wednesday,the U.S. pulled someAmerican diplomatsfrom Iraq’scapital and offered voluntary evacuations forthe families of U.S. troops in the wider Middle East. On Friday,the U.S. beganshiftingmilitaryresourcesinthe region, including ships, as Israel prepared for more retaliation, two U.S. ofﬁcials said, speaking on condition of anonymity

OfficialsinWashington had cautioned Israel against an attack earlier in the week, so as not to disrupt U.S. negotiations with Iran over itsnuclear enrichment program.Theystressed Friday that the U.S. had not been involved in the attack, and warned against any retaliation targeting U.S. interests or personnel.

Preemptive strikes

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear howclose thecountry is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning astrike. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only

“This is aclear and present danger to Israel’svery survival,”Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.” Israel is widely believed

Strategy had his best interest at heart, and “wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Green said Sipp was swayedwhenthe agency promised to place him somewhere near his garden. His newapartment is within walking distance. Green said the way Sipp was living washazardous for several reasons and that city agencies acted with compassion in resettling him. “It’sawin forthem anda win for him,” he said. Though Green saidheappreciated the outpouring of sympathy for Sipp after hisshelter wasrazed, he hopesresidents understand thatconditions there were not ideal. The shack lacked the basics, such as water, heat andpropersanitation “There aretoo many situations where people have died in tents and other makeshift shelters,” Green said. There was also the particularconcern that Sipp routinely “burned trash near his dwelling made of wood,” Green added in atext message.

“Inside thedwelling were found both apropane and oxygentank, andgasoline,” he wrote.

to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but has never acknowledged having such weapons.

Overthe past year,Israel has been targeting Iran’s airdefenses, hitting aradar system for aRussian-made airdefense battery in April 2024and surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October On Friday, Israelis rushed to supermarkets in TelAviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere to buy bottled waterand other supplies. But, otherwise, streets and parkswere mostly deserted.

Residentialareas hit

For Netanyahu, the operation distracts attention from Israel’songoing and increasinglydevastating warin Gaza, whichisnow over 20 months old. There is abroad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is amajor threat,and Israel’sopposition leader Yair Lapid, astaunch critic of Netanyahu, offered his “full support” for the mission against Iran. But if Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily life, public opinion couldshift quickly

The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollahissued astatementthat offered condolences and condemned the attack, but didnot threaten to join Iran in itsretaliation.Hezbollah’slatest war with Israel —whichkilledmuchofthe group’ssenior leadership endedwith aU.S.-brokered ceaseﬁre in November Khamenei, theIraniansupreme leader,said in astatementthat Israel “opened its wicked and bloodstained hand to acrime in our beloved country,revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers.”

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Legislature could get power over civil service

Voters to decide on constitutional amendment

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

The Louisiana Legislature could gain authority over which state employees get civil service protections after lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment this week — but voters will have the ﬁnal say during an April election.

Louisiana’s civil service system is meant to limit political patronage and retaliation and gives public-sector employees protection against being ﬁred.

But some argue those safeguards have created a sluggish, unresponsive bureaucracy that doesn’t do a good enough job serving the public.

One of those is Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, who this year prevailed in passing Senate Bill 8. Last year, he sponsored a similar measure that fell short by

just two votes

People deserve an efﬁcient government, and the amendment would give lawmakers the ﬂexibility they need to achieve that, Morris said this week.

“Other states have figured out that civil service reform helps the government function better,” he said. “We can’t do any civil service reform unless the constitution allows us to.”

Morris said there aren’t speciﬁc departments or positions he wants to change, but rather, it’s a matter of having the power to “pick and choose” moving forward.

Senate President Cameron Henry R-Metairie, said Louisiana’s civil system “doesn’t necessarily work for every department.”

Henry said he doesn’t want state government to return to an era when elected ofﬁcials took ofﬁce only to fire employees and hire their friends At the same time, he said, it shouldn’t take so long to let some employees go.

But not everyone sees it that way On the House ﬂoor, some Republi-

best interest not to (jeopardize) the racing season this year.”

Churchill is still determining which racing days it might apply for

license linked to its commitment to run a horse racing season annually from late November through the following March. The threat to pull out of the state had put this year’s season in peril and left hundreds of Fair Grounds and other horse industry workers worried about their jobs.

Churchill now appears to have backed off that threat, at least in terms of ensuring the forthcoming racing season, according to industry sources familiar with the situation.

“We are engaged in active discussions in the hopes of a favorable resolution for all stakeholders,” Tonya Abeln, a Churchill spokesperson, said via text on Friday Churchill’s chief executive, William Carstanjen, has reached a tentative agreement with Gov Jeff Landry’s administration and Louisiana racing industry ofﬁcials to proceed with the upcoming Fair Grounds season, according to an ofﬁcial with direct knowledge of the talks, but who isn’t authorized to be quoted.

The person couldn’t say what concession Churchill might still be trying to secure but added that “it was decided it was in everyone’s

OMAHA

Continued from page 1A

Charles Bond and his brother Brian were here with their 90-year-old father, Charles II, attending the College World Series for the ﬁrst time. They said the reception LSU fans got was gratifying.

“The hospitality is over the top,” Charles Bond III said. “From the airport to the Uber to the hotel to the restaurants, they all say LSU fans come whether the Tigers are here or not. It gives you goose bumps.” Charles Bond II graduated from LSU in 1960 after a stint in the military He met his wife there on a blind date outside of Tiger Stadium, where he lived in the longshuttered dorms. Friday he was a little tuckered out but all smiles as he and his sons looked for some shaded seats for the CWS opener between Arizona and Coastal Carolina.

They’d already secured tickets for the LSU-Arkansas game. Those were going for more than $200 apiece Friday on the secondary market, more than six times the asking price for tickets to Saturday’s other game between UCLA and Murray State.

“It’s a bucket list thing for him,” Brian Bond said of his dad. “He’s always wanted to go.” This year they’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of the College World Series’ arrival in Omaha. Like someone who moved here and found steady work as an agent for the Union Paciﬁc

The 2024-25 Thoroughbred season spanned 76 live racing days from Nov 22 to March 23. Fair Grounds typically runs a separate Quarter Horse meet in late summer

Gov Landry’s ofﬁce didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Commission officials declined to comment Lost revenue At issue in the dispute has been millions of dollars in revenue that Churchill Downs said it would lose after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in March that a new type of slot machine — called Historic Horse Racing, or HHR was illegal under the state’s constitution The court said the slots could only be reinstated if the company won voter approval in each parish where they operate

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Louisiana truck stop operators who had seen their video poker business suffer because of the popularity of the HHR slots, which are based on real past horse races but anonymized. The HHR machines can pay jackpots as high as $100,000, while the cap on video poker

Railroad or a claims adjuster for Mutual of Omaha, the CWS never left. In the name of the few right things about this crazy world, hopefully it never will.

It only seems like LSU has been coming here since 1950 as well, but the Tigers ﬁrst played here in 1986. This year marks their 20th appearance.

LSU’s reputation, and its legions, have grown over the years. You don’t have to see one of the banners naming the eight participants in the CWS blanketing the ballpark here to know the Tigers are in the ﬁeld again. LSU announces its presence with authority.

Murray State, this year’s Cinderella and just the fourth No. 4 seed to survive an NCAA regional and super regional all the way to Omaha, is a special story for this year’s event. But do the Racers have a giant ﬁberglass version of their mascot parked a couple of blocks away from the stadium on a ﬂatbed trailer? That would be a no. LSU loves Omaha. Omaha loves LSU and its legions of brash, big-spending fans right back. To the local folks, the best version of the CWS especially since it moved to Charles Schwab Field from now demolished Rosenblatt Stadium is when the Tigers are in the mix.

A couple of years ago when LSU won, it ﬁnally felt like the (College) World Series had arrived downtown,” said Tom Shatel, a longtime sports columnist for the Omaha World-Herald. “It took a while to get this place ﬁgured out. There were

can lawmakers warned against reopening the government workforce to political inﬂuence in a state with an infamous history of government corruption.

Rep. Joseph Stagni R-Kenner called Senate Bill 8 “harmful” and “unnecessary” and argued the creation of merit-based civil service has been among Louisiana’s greatest reforms.

“This, instead of being a step forward, will bring us back 75 years, where jobs will be given to people not based on their merit, but based on who they know or how much they gave,” he argued. “We shouldn’t be turning back the clock to those times.”

Rep. Jason DeWitt, R-Alexandria, said state employees who do regulatory or law enforcement work need protection from political pressure something he said happens more than people realize.

In an interview after the vote, DeWitt said he worked at the Department of Environmental Quality for three decades, and in the 1990s, his job was threatened over ﬁnes he

imposed on industry DeWitt voted in favor of the bill, but said he asked to be part of future discussions to ensure that state employees who do regulatory work will have protection from that kind of pressure.

The measure garnered the bare minimum number of votes needed to pass the House — and only after two Democrats joined with Republicans to achieve the 70-vote threshold and a number of Republicans broke ranks to oppose the bill.

The Senate approved the measure on a party-line vote.

How civil service works

The Louisiana Constitution sets up a state government workforce that’s divided between “classified” and “unclassified” employees. Unless specifically designated as unclassified, state employees are considered classified public servants with civil service protections.

Classified employees those meant to be shielded from political pressure can only be disciplined or ﬁred for cause, with proper doc-

is $1,000.

In the legislative session that ended Thursday, lawmakers also passed a bill that increases the number of video poker machines allowed at truck stops from 50 to 60 and at bars from three to four The bill also stipulated that the ﬁrst $22 million from the additional poker slots would be used to boost purses for horse racing at Fair Grounds and the state’s other three race tracks.

Churchill CEO Carstanjen wrote in his letter to the commission this week that the new legislation would further hurt Fair Grounds business as the truck stop poker slots would “cannibalize” its revenues. Churchill

good series, but without the LSU chants and the purple and gold beads and jerseys, it never seemed like the World Series.

“When they ﬁnally won it was like, ‘OK, everything seems right here.’ ”

Back in the early 2000s, the NCAA prodded Omaha for improvements to Rosenblatt Stadium. The unspoken implication was that if that didn’t happen the CWS might move, or at least rotate around the country, like the basketball Final Fours.

That drove Omaha to build the current ballpark in 2011 The state-of-the-art, if sterile, 24,500-seat venue replaced the quaint and beloved, but aging, Rosenblatt and cemented a contract between the city and the NCAA that runs through 2035. Despite that, Omaha is still always looking over its shoulder The question even came up Wednesday at an NCAA news conference.

“I think it would be hardpressed for another city to make this type of commitment,” said Anthony Holman, NCAA vice president for championships. “To build a facility The College World Series is our second-highest grossing (event), in terms of revenue, in attendance, of all our championships. And that doesn’t happen without it being in Omaha.”

In “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner’s character is asked whether his cornﬁeld turned ball ﬁeld is heaven. “No,” he replies. “It’s Iowa.”

Is this heaven?

No, it’s Omaha For LSU, and the other teams here, it’s pretty much the same thing.

Downs has argued that it has invested $200 million in its Louisiana operations since it bought Fair Grounds in 2004 and has paid the lion’s share of purses, taxes and wages to support the horse industry over the years. However, legislators

umentation and after a chance to respond or take corrective action. They’re also barred from supporting political candidates or parties. Unclassiﬁed employees are considered at-will and can be hired or ﬁred at any time, and they face no restrictions on political activity

The constitution lists more than a dozen categories of state employees and officials that are unclassified. Among them: elected officials, members of boards and commissions, and staff in the Legislature, Governor’s Office and Attorney General’s Office.

The State Civil Service Commission, which sets policy for the state workforce and adjudicates employment disputes, can also approve state agency requests for unclassiﬁed positions.

Should voters approve the constitutional amendment, the Legislature would be authorized to pass laws to add other employees to the unclassiﬁed service.

Email Alyse Pfeil at alyse.pfeil@ theadvocate.com.

pointed to the company’s record revenue and proﬁt last year and declined to give a public subsidy at a time when Louisiana is struggling to ﬁnd money for teachers and other public services.

Resolution?

The agreement between Churchill and the state, if ﬁnalized, will come as a relief to the 311 workers directly employed by Fair Grounds Race Course and Churchill’s other betting operations. It will also be welcomed by hundreds working in stables, as trainers and in other support areas for horse racing, industry ofﬁcials said.

“It does look like things are better than they were earlier in the week and we’re hopeful,” said a senior Fair Grounds official who wasn’t authorized to speak for the company

“There are 300-plus people that obtain their livelihoods at Fair Grounds, many of whom have not worked any-

where else in their lives,” the ofﬁcial added. “Everybody that works there wants to see Fair Grounds, a legendary institution, continue well into lives of our children and grandchildren.” City and state lawmakers had taken action this week to make it difﬁcult for Churchill to shut racing at Fair Grounds and develop the 145-acre property for some other purpose.

The City Council passed a motion Thursday by council members Helena Moreno and Joe Giarrusso that created an “interim zoning district” that would forbid Churchill or any future owner from redeveloping the track. New Orleans state Sen. Jimmy Harris, a Democratic member whose district covers Fair Grounds, also amended a bill that declared Fair Grounds a historic site that couldn’t be used for any purpose other than horse racing.

PHOTO PROVIDED By LOU HODGES JR.

Horses race at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans in 2023. The Fair Grounds owner says it’s

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Voters to decide on teacher pay raises Legislature

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

approves bills that allow for permanent increase

Louisiana voters will return to the polls to decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment that would permanently raise teacher salaries by $2,250 and support staff salaries by $1,125 under a pair of bills that received

ﬁnal passage in the Legislature on Thursday House Bill 466 by Rep. Josh Carl-

Landry ousts ﬂood agency board member

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

Gov Jeff Landry has effectively ousted an outspoken board member of the New Orleans regional ﬂood protection authority, which could leave the board unable to meet next month.

Senate President Cameron Henry wrote in a letter that the governor did not submit South Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East board member Richard Duplantier for Senate approval He will serve until the end of his term, which expires at the end of the month, according to the letter Duplantier had sought to counter controversial changes being pursued by Landry’s hand-picked board president Roy Carubba and limit his inﬂuence over the ﬂood control agency. He openly expressed his opposition to proposed legislation that good-government groups worried would have undone key components of reforms put into place after Hurricane Katrina to depoliticize and professionalize the agency

Sen. Jimmy Harris, D-New Orleans, conﬁrmed that the Governor’s Office did not submit Duplantier’s name to the Senate for approval.

“We only conﬁrm what they send to us,” Harris said. “His name wasn’t submitted.”

Duplantier stressed that, while he served on the board, the ﬂood agency identiﬁed problems with the pumps at the ends of the city’s three outfall canals. Alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, “we came to a resolution and a solution, and it’s been implemented,” he said. “We are better off today because of what we did.”

“I’m very proud of the four years I spent on the board and what we accomplished,” Duplantier said He also pushed back on Carubba’s repeated assertions that the board was not performing its duties effectively before Carubba took the helm as board president

“The idea that the organization is dysfunctional is simply inaccurate,” Duplantier said. “We’ve protected this city from major storms successfully The current board president just can’t acknowledge that.”

The Senate did conﬁrm Carubba on Thursday, as well as Michael Schnell, who works for Chalmette Refining. Schnell will replace board member Clay Cossé when he steps down at the end of June. The agency’s nominating committee, the independent body that recommends prospective board members to the governor for his approval, is scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider nominees. That committee nominated Duplantier in a letter to Landry last

son, R-Lafayette, and HB473 by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, will ask voters to approve eliminating multiple constitutionally protected education trust funds in favor of giving raises to Louisiana teachers, who make roughly $5,000 less on average than educators in other southern states and about $15,000 less than the national average, according to data from the Southern Regional Education Board. If voters approve the

amendment, teachers will receive the raises in the 2026-27 school year

The raises are slightly higher than the $2,000 and $1,000 pay bumps the bills originally proposed. The Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously approved the additional increase Thursday Both pieces of legislation now head to the governor’s desk for his signature.

“I brought this bill on behalf of

our teachers,” Carlson said in a statement. “We wanted to ensure that we did all we could to provide a permanent pay raise.”

The bills, which repackage part of a constitutional amendment championed by Gov Jeff Landry that voters shot down earlier this year, are the state’s latest effort to increase educators’ compensation. Lawmakers failed several times in recent years to increase their pay, opting instead for one-time

stipends three years in a row If signed into law the bills will turn the stipend amount teachers currently receive into a slightly larger permanent pay increase. Emerson’s bill eliminates three trust funds that funnel millions annually toward state K-12 education initiatives, including early childhood education, student testing help and efforts to improve struggling schools. Instead,

for

the

Guests, far left,

Subdivision takes shape

Habitat for Humanity sets ambitious project

BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer

Out of what was once a country club and golf course, a new subdivision on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish is beginning to take shape, with hopes of providing an affordable path to homeownership for seniors and working class residents.

Called Rising Oaks, the new neighborhood — at the former Plantation Golf & Country Club off Behrman Highway

in Terrytown — is the most ambitious project yet for Habitat for Humanity’s New Orleans affiliate and a new approach for the nearly four-decade-old nonprofit. Habitat typically builds its homes on older lots in developed neighborhoods. For this project, Habitat is building an entirely new, 154-home subdivision from scratch. After breaking ground last year, Rising Oaks is finally rising up. The streets are paved. The sewer lines are installed. And on Friday, officials gathered for a ceremonial “wall raising” of one of five homes currently under construction.

Former sheriff’s worker fired and arrested

Ex-employee accused of bringing drugs in jail

BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

Friday. BY

A former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Of-

ﬁce employee was ﬁred and arrested in connection with allegedly helping bring illegal drugs into the parish jail, Sheriff Susan Hutson said Friday

The contraband led to two nonfatal inmate overdoses last month, the Sheriff’s

Ofﬁce said. But ofﬁcials did not release what kind of drugs were smuggled.

Iyanna Carter, 24, was booked Thursday into the Orleans Parish jail on counts of introduction of a controlled substance into a correctional facility, malfeasance in ofﬁce and criminal conspiracy Her bond was set at $15,000.

Ofﬁcials say Carter conspired with inmate Henry Sims, 31, to bring drugs into the jail. Sims, who pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges on June, was rebooked on

counts of criminal conspiracy and counts of introduction of contraband in prison

His bond had not been set as of press time Friday

On May 30, two inmates were treated with multiple doses of Narcan and taken to a hospital after experiencing an overdose. They fully recovered and were returned to custody, according to ofﬁcials.

“This arrest sends a clear message: we will not tolerate anyone, inside or outside our organization, who jeopardizes the safety and security of this facility. And, we are committed to accountability at every level and to protecting both our residents and our staff,” Hutson said in a statement. Hutson has come under scrutiny for management of the jail in the weeks following a brazen inmate escape on May 16.

Carter’s arrest comes the same week as the arrest of former Sheriff’s Ofﬁce employee Darriana Burton, a reported girlfriend of Derrick Groves, one of 10 inmates who escaped the lockup. Burton was arrested and accused of aiding in the escape.

Marguerite Oestreicher, executive director of the local affiliate of the homebuilding nonproﬁt, said the goal is to provide a path to homeownership for what she calls the “missing middle.”

“Housing for families that make too much to enjoy any kind of subsidy or support, but not enough to break the cycle of renting,” she said.

Jefferson Parish 1st District council member Timothy Kerner Jr said Rising Oaks is much-needed given what he called the “economic pandemic” of rising costs and stagnant wages.

“This could really be a model, not only

JAMES FINN and JONI HESS Staff writers

A plan to bring public youth and sports programming to the University of New Orleans launched Friday in what supporters call

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

gather at

‘wall raising’

the new Habitat for Humanity neighborhood called Rising Oaks in Terrytown on

Duplantier

Dozens protest after researcher resigns

Tulane environmental official alleges censorship

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

Two days after a Tulane environmental researcher quit and said the university was censoring her work to appease elected ofﬁcials, several dozen people rallied near the campus Friday to demand that the university respect researchers’ academic freedom.

Earlier this week, Kimberly Terrell resigned from her post as director of community engagement for the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. In a letter addressed to her colleagues and circulated to the media, Terrell said that university ofﬁcials had instated a “gag order” to prevent her from speaking about her research, which frequently covers health issues related to the petrochemical industry Tulane has disputed Terrell’s allegations In a statement Friday, Tulane spokesperson Mike Strecker said the university has not “limited or hindered the clinic from pursuing its mission to promote student learning and development.”

“Tulane is fully committed to protecting academic freedom and the strong pedagogical value of law clinics,” he said.

Friday’s rally attracted about 60 people, including some Tulane professors, environmental advocates and community members who had worked with Terrell Several spoke

SUBDIVISION

Continued from page 1B

just for the West Bank, not only just for Terrytown, but for all of Jefferson Parish, all of the region,” Kerner said.

To make the project work ﬁnancially, Habitat has also had to adjust its qualiﬁcations. The nonprofit typically requires prospective homeowners to make no more than 80% of the Area Median Income, which, for a family of four in Jefferson Parish, is around $69,450.

Oestreicher said Habitat’s New Orleans afﬁliate had to get a special waiver from its international headquarters to raise the income cap to 120% of the Area Median Income, or around $104,160 for a family of four

The nonproﬁt also isn’t providing zero-interest mortgages, as it has historically done. Instead, it’s partnering with local banks for its mortgages. Oestreicher said Habitat will ensure that homeowners’ payments don’t exceed 30% of their household income Oestreicher said she couldn’t say how much the homes will ultimately cost, given that they’re currently under construction. But she estimated that they’ll range between $175,000 and $275,000. With the rising costs of property insurance, Habitat’s decades-old model of providing an affordable path to homeownership for working-class people has become harder and harder to maintain

In New Orleans, more than 100 residents who purchased their homes through Habitat were staring down possible foreclosure last

SPORTS

Continued from page 1B

will focus on education, health and workforce readiness skills, CEO Angel Nelson said.

“I am thrilled to see this new opportunity for recreation for our youth in New Orleans,” Landry said in a statement. “Investing in youth recreation strengthens communities and gives young people the space to grow, lead, and thrive.”

‘The schedule is always full’

The bulk of the state money

$1.25 million — will go to UNO facility renovations, including resurfaced tennis courts, restroom lighting, pool repairs, volleyball courts and new turf at Maestri Field. The money was secured as part of UNO’s transition to the LSU system, as the school climbs its way out of a $10 million budget crisis.

Eddie Davis, who heads Major League Baseball’s New Orleans Youth Academy through a partnership with NORD, described the need for more ﬁelds in the city.

“The schedule is always full,” he said. “This is going to take the pressure off of the Academy and also provide additional services

about the Environmental Law Clinic’s impact and urged Tulane not to interfere with its work.

“At a private university in the United States of America, scholars are being silenced so that bureaucrats can stay in the good graces of politicians,” said Anne Rolfes, director of Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental justice organization that organized the rally Terrell has claimed that university officials said her research on racial disparities in the petrochemical industry made some people feel “embarrassed and uncomfortable” and jeopardized

the university’s relationships with state ofﬁcials. After her research was covered in the press, a dean told Terrell that her “external communications” had to be preapproved, according to an email Terrell has shared.

Michelle Lacey, president of the Tulane chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said that researchers often expect challenges in getting grants or conducting scientiﬁc studies.

“What we do not expect, however is for our own institutions to turn against us when our research becomes politically unpopular,”

Lacey said. Barbara Washington co-founder and co-director of Inclusive Louisiana, said after a chemical plant opened in St. James Parish, the clinic helped residents suffering from chronic illnesses and cancer to track pollutants in the air

“We are so grateful for the scientiﬁc information that has been placed in our community, that gives us courage to stand before our council, our Planning Commission and our Legislature to tell them that we are sick,” she said, urging Tulane to stand up for the clinic’s work.

year due to sky-high insurance premiums, before an anonymous donor stepped in to help.

The homes at Rising Oaks are being built to “FORTIFIED Gold” standards. The technique helps prevent against damage from severe weather and usually leads to lower property insurance costs for homeowners. Oestreicher said preliminary insurance quotes have been “manageable.”

The homes are also being constructed on top of piles, to protect

for kids, from tournaments to more training to camps,” he added.

His program offers free baseball and softball instruction down the street from UNO at Wesley Barrow Stadium. Davis said he was asked to consult on the project during discussions with organizers about potentially recreating the program he’s led for 12 years.

A group effort

The partnership was sparked by months of criticism of the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission by prominent attorney Laura Rodrigue, a close Landry ally and advocate of various conservative causes. “I want to quickly say that this project came to life because of Ron Maestri, the very well known and beloved UNO coach. Nobody loved baseball and UNO more than Ronald Maestri This was his vision,” she said of the ﬁeld’s namesake. NORD has long faced community complaints of poor park maintenance and mismanagement Still, the proposed public-private partnership has raised questions.

Landry a Republican, has worked collaboratively with Democratic city ofﬁcials in many instances since taking ofﬁce in 2024, including on planning for Super Bowl LIX, bolstering local police with state troopers and shepherd-

the foundation from cracking from subsidence, Oestreicher said.

“It’s not just a good looking neighborhood with nice sidewalks. It’s a community built to last, for teachers, ﬁrst responders, hospitality workers, health care heroes, veterans, seniors,” said Allen Bell, the nonproﬁt’s director of strategic planning and advancement.

The subdivision will feature several amenities, including a walking trail, ﬁtness center, pocket parks and pagodas for community gath-

ing infrastructure funding to the city But this week, critics of the UNO initiative questioned why the governor hadn’t consulted New Orleans’ legislative delegation or City Council members before pursuing it.

New Orleans’ state legislative delegation, whose mostly-Democratic members are outnumbered by Republicans, voted overwhelmingly this week for the 213-page state budget that included the project funding. Yet several said they were unaware of plans for the money when they voted to approve the budget.

“It’s very odd that $2 million for the city of New Orleans appeared in the budget without anyone from the delegation knowing about it,”

State Rep. Matthew Willard, DNew Orleans and the state House Democratic Caucus chair said Friday “Usually it’s the reverse: Money we thought we’d be getting for New Orleans we later discover is no longer there.”

Landry last year vetoed millions in funding requests from New Orleans lawmakers for local nonproﬁts. At the time, he promised to work with the Legislature “before the next legislative session” to develop criteria for “the best use of our scarce state resources.”

Landry’s press secretary did not respond to a request for comment

TEACHER

Continued from page 1B

Louisiana’s teacher retirement system, which is expected to save school districts $2 billion in interest payments. Carlson’s bill mandates that school systems use the savings to give teachers raises.

The bill also requires the state to step in to subsidize the full cost of the raises for districts that do not realize enough savings to do so on their own. It will also cover the estimated $16.7 million to give raises to teachers and staff at charter schools that don’t pay into the retirement system.

The state will have to spend around $250,000 to fund the raises in the roughly seven districts that are expected to come up short in their savings, according to cost estimates for Carlson’s bill. Other districts are expected to have nearly $36 million left over after providing the raises, which the legislation says can be put toward a limited number of uses, including giving teachers additional pay bumps.

If the governor signs the bills into law, Louisiana voters will then need to approve changing the state constitution to eliminate the trust funds. Lawmakers say that vote will likely not happen until April 2026.

The state’s largest teachers union supports the raises but has expressed concerns about funding them through debt-payment savings.

Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Larry Carter told lawmakers last month that it would be better to include the pay increases in the state’s school-funding formula to prevent the money from being funneled toward different uses down the road.

Educators “cannot rely on good intentions alone,” he said, adding that “we want to get some guarantees.”

FLOOD

Continued from page 1B

year The committee is expected to send nominations to the governor for his approval. If the governor does not appoint new board members before the board’s July meeting, the ninemember body will only have four members after Duplantier departs — not enough for a quorum. The board’s next meeting is scheduled Tuesday The board did not have a quorum for its May meeting and could not approve its hurricane preparedness plan before the official start of storm season.

erings. “We want people to be able to live here and not have to own a car,” Oestreicher said. More than 200 people are in the “active query” stage to qualify to purchase a home, Oestreicher said. Two others have qualiﬁed, and are expected to move in this fall, she said.

Email Blake Paterson at bpaterson@theadvocate.com and follow him on Twitter, @blakepater

on the subject.

‘A great step’

On Friday, the project’s leaders said the effort is not intended to replace the city’s existing public recreation infrastructure.

“We believe that this recreation partnership doesn’t supplant any organization that is already there, it simply supplements the work of those organizations,” said Kim Boyle, a NOLA Coalition member and partner at Phelps Dunbar

Kyle Ruckert, Landry’s chief of staff, tossed out a ceremonial ﬁrst pitch at Maestri Field before Friday’s announcement. Rodrigue’s father, former Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizaro, who is Attorney General Liz Murrill’s criminal division chief, caught the pitch.

Council member Eugene Green, whose district encompasses UNO’s campus, said he had not been told of the plan before the announcement.

Still, he welcomed any effort to bring new recreation opportunities to New Orleans youth. He hopes the initiative will encourage more state investment and “collaboration” with New Orleans’ existing public recreation infrastructure.

Email James Finn at jﬁnn@ theadvocate.com.

Duplantier’s ouster may indicate that the governor is changing his strategy for remaking the New Orleans ﬂood control agency The governor had initially sought to eliminate the nominating committee’s role for the agency and give himself the power to directly appoint board members through legislation. That bill was substantially revised and ultimately retained the nominating committee. Instead of taking on the nominating committee directly, it appears Landry may choose to simply refuse to send the committee’s nominees to the Senate for conﬁrmation.

Shane Guidry Landry’s informal adviser on New Orleans issues, has been pushing for changes at the agency, though he holds no ofﬁcial position. He said he did not advocate for Duplantier to be removed from the board. The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Harris said he believes the governor is committed to making changes at the ﬂood control agency which has experienced some turbulence in recent months. Four board members have resigned in protest over changes pursued by Carubba and Guidry

“It has some issues,” Harris said of the agency’s board. “I think this governor has taken the position that he wants to do something different as it relates to this board, and that falls under his purview.”

LOTTERY

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025

PICK 3: 2-7-2

PICK 4: 8-0-2-6

PICK 5: 6-6-6-3-8

Unofficial noti

STAFF PHOTO By MARIE FAZIO

Anne Rolfes, director of Louisiana Bucket Brigade, speaks at a rally on Friday where supporters of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic urged President Michael Fitts to lift a ‘gag order’ from the clinic’s researchers.

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Public officials and Habitat for Humanity leaders and staff raise a wall at the ‘wall raising’ for the new Habitat for Humanity neighborhood called Rising Oaks in Terrytown on Friday.

NorthAmericanInternational Championshipsfor card game held

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

Pokémon fans from across the U.S. havedescended on NewOrleans, with nearly 6,000competitors expected to pile into theErnest N. Morial Convention Center over the weekend forthe North Atlantic International Championships.

The competition kicked off Friday morningina very New Orleans way: a second-line through the Convention Center and into the arena,where seemingly endlessrowsoftables awaited the combatants

One section of tables was dedicated to the Pokémon Trading Card Game junior division players, which includes children 12 and under. Lotsofchildren had their game face on, many with their emotional-support Pokémon plushies sitting on thetable as they strategized their moves, with proudparents watching intently and recording the memories on their phones.

In another area, master division players, those 16 and older,were engaged in mostly silent battlesas Pokémon Professors, which act as referees, roamed the area to keep awatchful eye on matches

At the backofthe arena, meanwhile, players could craft origami, take pictures with Pikachu or wander the gift shop called the Pokémon Center

Few people know the Pokémoncommunityas well as Brandon Ladner, an owner of Pandamonium Gaming inKenner.Ladner grew up in New Orleans and is excited to see the city

hostthe championships. The event will return to New Orleans next year

“NAICbeing in New Orleans hasbeen abig boost for Pokémon in general, and I’m very happy that they’re coming back nextyear,”

Ladner said.“It’s caused a surge in our growth of community.”

Ladner described his store’sorigin story as “three buddies anda dream.” Ladnerand histwo best friends opened Pandamonium Gaming in 2019 after hearing that their favorite game shop wasshutting down.

Pandamonium Gaming hasbuilt its image as atradingcard store where players can hone their skills at weekly events andtournaments. Its twice-weekly events draw adiverse group of all ages.

“We’ve got alot of people from our community here today,” Ladner said. “And the further that they go (in the competition), the more proud we are, because that’sfromthem playing at our store and growing as players.

One of those regulars is Gerald Trahan, who started playing Pokémon amonth ago, thanks to hisfriends at Pandamonium Gaming whoencouraged himto compete “It’scool having an NAIC here, because,one, it’sone of the biggest Pokémon events,and just having it here,it’snicebeing ableto just drive 15 minutes and park and show up,” Trahan said.

In addition to beingconvenient for locals, the championships draw fans fromall over.Jason Pruitt and his wife drove 16 hours

Rivals fist-bump while playing the

Orleans on Friday.

from Missouri to attend the big weekend. The couple has visited New Orleans aboutsix times, andone of thevisitswas last year’s NAIC, evident by Jason’s 2024 NAIC ball cap. It complemented his 2025 NAIC T-shirt

The two arrived at the venue at 8:10 a.m. and took pictures as theywalked down thered carpet

Pruitt’s favorite Pokémon is Lechonk, which looks like a pig, and he and his wife admired adrawing of it on the coloring wall.

“I’ve been doing Pokémon for like, twoyearsnow,and Iwas here last year in 2024 so I’m really excited to be back in New Orleans,” Pruitt said. “Wegot tickets and came on in.”

Lawsuitmay beneﬁt property developmentgroup

properties still feel COVID rules’ impact

BY LIZ SWAINE Staff writer

Alawsuit moving through the court system could provide relief to aproperty development group that claims they were impacted in 2020 by aCOVID aid package. A representative of Northwest LouisianaAssociation of Realtors said if plaintiffs win, it could lead to more lawsuits.

In March 2020, the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act wasrolledout.Itincludeda variety of economicstimuli for individuals, smalland large businesses, hospitals, and state and local governments. Included in the coronavirus aid bill was afourmonth moratorium on tenant evictions from rental housing.

The four months turned into 16. On June 6, alawsuit ﬁled in 2021 arguing that the moratorium allowedthe government to take private property for public use without just compensation won the right to proceed.Darby Development Company Inc. et al v. United States, could be worth billions to property owners

The National Association of Realtors is a“Friend of the Court” in the lawsuit. Scott Hughes,association executive for the Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors, says if the plaintiffs win, it likely will lead to even more lawsuits.

“Once the attorneys effectively win the case, then they go out, because it’saclass action, they go out and theyseek people who could have been damaged,”Hughessaid.

through relatively unscathed, it was “devastating” to others. He said he has also learned some things to prevent fallout from anyfuture rent moratoriums.

He has beefed up his rental agreement nuisance clause, which allows evictions on groundsother than nonpayment of rent. He also doesn’tdolonger-term leases anymore. He currently has 90-day leases andmonth-tomonth leases, which means people aren’tevicted, their lease is simply up.

“If someone’sa problem, we’vegot people on avery short window of time,” Wallace said.

Rhalanda Jackson of Options Realty LA LLC is areal estate broker and property manager in northwest Louisianawho was representing close to 50 properties during COVID.She says when her owners didn’tget rent, she didn’tget paid.

“It’smore incentiveto makesure thatwetry to try to help as much as we can, to eitherresolve the arrears or, unfortunately,find waysto initiate the eviction, or take back control of the property, she said.

Jackson worked with her tenants to try to findassistance.

“Wefound help with Providence House, the Catholic Charities,and then, of course, there was the emergency

rental assistance program that wasinitiated by Caddo Parish,” Jackson said. Larger parishes received some government rent assistance funds, but property owners say many tenants could not or would notqualify, andeven for those who did, it rarely equaled 100% of the rent owed.

Wallace credits local banks andrelationshipsthatcame through forproperty owners in thelurch.

“Our local banks really stood in the gap and they showed quite abit of grace, becausethat law was genuinely terrible, becauseit was alaw thatacted like you justwaved your wand and stopped time,” Wallace said.

Esponge says though the COVIDmoratorium has ended, changes that impact rental propertyowners have not

“We’re still dealing with it because nowI’ve gottowait 30 days if Ihavea federallybacked mortgageorany type of subsidy programbefore I can even ﬁleaneviction,and thenbythetimethatgetsdone andthe eviction takesplace, you’re looking at 60-90days that they’restaying there still and notpaying me rent. So it’s amess. It is amess,” Esponge said.

Email Liz Swaine at liz. swaine@theadvocate.com.

“I surveyed members statewide during that period, and Ican tell youwewere in themillions of dollars of rent loss, and Iwould be willing to bet that wenteven higher,” Esponge said. “Owners were notable tocollect rent. They couldn’tevict, and people werejust livingthere, rent free. And we had no recourse.”

During COVID, Tiffany Hyde hadtenants in about 150 rental units in Shreveport, Bossier and Stonewall. She says roughly50% of her tenants stopped payingrent. Hyde says she andher hus-

“The real thing might be, then you’ve established under law that this was awrongful taking of property.” Tammy Esponge, association executive for the Apartment Association of Louisiana and Greater New Orleans, said Louisianaproperty ownerssufferedduring themoratorium.

band are still trying to pick up the pieces.

“It’snot thatyou’reputting allofthese rents into your pocket. Itell you, redoing one air-conditioning unit on ahouse, it maytake two years before Iget that money back,” she said.

Esponge said there was little consideration that property owners still had expenses.

“Ifyou take $1 of rent and you breakdown that $1,an owner makes about 6cents on thedollar,”Esponge said. “Ifthey’re lucky,6 centson the dollar by the timethey paymortgages, insurance, maintenance costs, payroll, all those things. Some may make less than that.” Hyde agreed:“We were

kind of puttingour needs on the back burner because we had to cover the maintenance and stuff of everybody else.”

Realtor Hayden Wallace owned ahandful of rental unitswhenCOVID hit. He is thankful that hisproperty manager had agood screening process in place, which meant relativelyfew issues.

“You know,wehad some folksthatwehad to work with,” Wallace said. “They gottheir hourscut,theygot let go, whatever.And so we went ahead and worked with them, because theones that communicated it, the ones that communicated to us, we triedtoshow as much grace as we could.” He said though he made it

SUBMITTED PHOTO By TIFFANy HyDE Property owner TiffanyHyde

PROVIDED PHOTOS

PokémonTrading Card Game at the North AtlanticInternational Championships in New

The Secret Society of St. Anne Parade and the Storyville Stompers perform.

Carll,Angela

Colomb Sr., David

Lewis, James McElveen,Kenya

Muller, William

Palmer Sr., Charles Smith,Tommy EJefferson

Garden of Memories

Muller, William NewOrleans

Charbonnet

McElveen,Kenya

Lake Lawn Metairie

Carll,Angela River Parish

Hobson BrownFH

Palmer Sr., Charles St Tammany

EJ Fielding

Smith,Tommy

Obituaries

Angela Mequet Carll, a lifelong resident of New Orleans, passed away peacefully on June 7, 2025

Angela was thebeloved wife of the late Russell Dean Carll,with whom she shared 49 joyful years of marriage. In recent years, she shared her life with her devoted partner, Eddie Bankston. She was the cherished mother of Marshall Michael Carll, Christine Angela Carll (Karlie Hull), and Claudia Agnes Carll Newsham (Jeffrey), and the proud "Mamere" of Bennett Jeffrey, Eden Mequet, Nolan Russell, and Stuart William Newsham. She was the loving sister of Michael Mequet (Michele), Mary Claudia Hollier (Greg), and thelate Barbara Mequet, the devoted daughter of the late Helen Groves Mequet and Edmund Michael Mequet. Angela also leaves behind alarge extended family of cousins, nieces, nephews, and lifelong friends. Angela was agraduateof Holy Name of Jesus School, MercyAcademy, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (with adegreein English, minoring in French), andreceived her master's degree in English from the University of New Orleans. She had along and impactful career in journalismand education, working for The TimesPicayune for 31 years (1976 -2007), first writing acolumn focusing on the neighborhoods of New Orleans and later the Real Estate Marketing Editor, the Jewish Community Center Nursery School for 10 years, and The New Orleans Morning Advocate. She also worked as a Rhodes Scholar tour guide, sharing her love for New Orleans with countless visitors, until her final days. Angela was deeply dedicated to her community She served as Past President of the Broadmoor Improvement Association and was Vice President of the New Orleans Tour Guide Association and an usher at St. Louis Cathedral,her home parish, at thetime of her passing.She was activeinthe League of Women Voters and the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library. Her love for the artsand lifelonglearning shone brightly. In 2013 she published the book Where WritersWrotein NewOrleans. Angela held season tickets to the Saenger Theatre, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, the New Orleans Opera, and the New Orleans Symphony. She taught yoga through the Sharing Program and took -and taught -tap dancingatthe People Program, famously i k b i i

Home GuestBook at www

saying, "I took beginning tap dancing over and over because Iwanted to be the best in the class." Angela also nurtured decadeslongfriendshipsthrough the Aces and Spaces Bridge Club (55 years), the Mental PauseBook Club (25 years), the Entre Nous Book Club, the New Orleans Supper Club,and The 60'sBook Club, formed with friends from her Holy Name class of 1960. Alongside her late husband, she attendedClown College for over adecade in La Crosse,Wisconsinand brought laughterto others by performingas the clowns Angeland ProfessorPastinsenior homes,a testamenttoher joyful, givingnature.She and her late husband ran The Little Yellow House Bed and Breakfast for15 years, meeting hundreds of newfriendsfromaround theworld. Family always received the "familydiscount" -free- so theirextendedfamilywouldstop in New Orleans asmuch as they could.A Mass of ChristianBurial will be celebrated on Saturday, June 28 at St. LouisCathedral in JacksonSquare. Visitation willbegin at 10:00 a.m., followed by Mass at 11:00 a.m. In her honor, guests are invited to wear redher favorite color. If you wouldliketodonate to a charity in her name, you may considerThe New OrleansPublicLibrary or the arts charity of your choice. Reception following the serviceatthe home of Christine Carll and KarlieHull.

It is with profound sad‐nessthatweannouncethe passing of DavidColomb, Sr. who departed this life onJune9,2025 surrounded byloved ones.David wasa beloved husband,father, grandfather,brother,and friendwhose presence brought warmth,wisdom and strength to allwho knewhim.BorninNew Or‐leans on October12, 1952 David liveda life marked byhardwork, integrityand anunwaveringdevotionto his family.Hewas thecor‐nerstoneofhis household, alwaysleading with quiet strengthand offering un‐conditional love andsup‐port. AresidentofCoving‐ton,David wasa family man who will be lovingly rememberedbyhis de‐voted wife,PaulineMelan‐con Colomb;his twosons, David (Jenny) andScott; his five grandchildren whomheadored, Naomi, Korynn, Owen,Vivienne, and John; hisloving mother, Margaret Ulmer Colomb; hissiblings, Earl, MargaretShelton (James), Michael,Barbara Collura (Steve),Robert(Wendy); his many nieces and nephews.David waspre‐ceded in deathbyhis fa‐ther, C. Earl Colomb,Jr. He was aHolyCross Man, Class of 1970 andgradu‐atedfromLSU in 1974. He was acaptain forManresa Retreat House Group22 and attended Manresafor thirty-sevenyears.David’s character proved hiscore values. Hislovefor Christ was real,and it influenced all hislifestyle choicesand priorities. David began working at EDG, Inc. in 1984, earningthe respect and admiration of col‐leagues andcommunity members alike. He retired asa managing principalin 2012. Outsideofwork, he enjoyed cyclingand golfing withthe love of hislife, Pauline. They also enjoyed playing in couplesgolf tournaments.Hewas an avidLSU fan,makingsev‐eraltrips to Omahafor the College WorldSeriesand had planstoattendthis year. David’slegacyof kindnessand generosity willliveoninthe hearts of all thosewho knew him. “I loveyou more!” Relatives and friendsare invitedto attendfuneral services at St. PeterCatholicChurch, 125 E. 19th Ave.,Covington, LA. Visitation at church will beheldonWednesday, June 18,2025 at 10:00a.m withfuneral Mass at 12:30 p.m.Interment to follow at St. Joseph AbbeyCeme‐tery. In lieu of flowers, do‐nations maybemadein David’s memory to Man‐resaRetreat House(Con‐vent, LA), St.JosephAbbey, orthe American HeartAs‐sociation.E.J.FieldingFu‐neral Home hasbeenen‐trusted with funeral arrangements. TheColomb familyinvites youtoshare thoughts, fondest memo‐ries, andcondolences on‐line at E. J. Fielding Funeral

Lewis, JamesArthur 'BigJimmy'

JamesArthur LewisIII departed this life on June 6, 2025 at 73 years old. He was anativeofNew Orleans, LA but residedin Madison, AL.Jameswas a graduateofJoseph S. Clark High School and later became aveteran of the United StatesNavy. He retired as aUnit Operatorfrom Murphy Oil USA where we was employedfor 27 years.

Jameswas preceded in death by his parentsMary Martin Lewisand James Arthur Lewis, Jr and his son Jason Akeem Lewis. James, affectionately known as "Big Jimmy," leaves to cherish behind hiswife of 43 years, Vanessa GarciaLewis;children KyraK.Holmes, JamalHolmes (Kashiba), JamesA.Lewis IV (Tiffany) and JaredLewis (Keva). Jameswas also afather figure to his niece Cherita Gamble and nephew Rashad Nelson.His loving memory willalso be shared by sixteengrandchildren, one great-grandson, threesisters, two brothers, six sister-in-laws, four brother-in-laws, two aunts, twogodchildren and ahost of otherrelatives and friends. Services willbeheldatProfessional Funeral Services, 1449 N. Claiborne Ave,New Orleans, LA 70116 at 12 noon. Repast to immediately follow.

McElveen,Kenya Mary Lei

KenyaMaryLei McElveen wasbornonJan‐uary18, 1976 in NewOr‐leans,LAtothe late Caldin Tinyman McElveen and LulaSmith.She passed awaypeacefully at her homeinHumble, TX on Fri‐day,June 6, 2025 sur‐rounded by herfamily. Kenya developeda rela‐tionshipwithGod at a young age. Shegraduated fromWarrenEastonHigh School in 1994, Delgado Community Collegewith anAssociate of Sciencein Accountingin2000 and SouthernUniversityofNew Orleans with aBachelorof Science in Accountingin 2005. Kenyaworkedwith the HousingAuthority of New Orleansuntil Hurri‐caneKatrina in 2005, which shifted herlifetoHouston, TX. There, shebecamean accountant andworked withvarious employersbe‐forejoining Ascend Perfor‐mance Materialsinthe Oil & GasIndustry. Shewas alsoanaccomplishedau‐thor. Dedicatedtoministry, she hada strong sister‐hood of Pastor wivesand women of God. Sheserved faithfullyasa member of the WhaleChurch in Hous‐ton,TXand wasknown for her commitment andser‐vice. In recognitionofher contributions,Kenya re‐ceivedthe 2024 Presiden‐tialLifetimeAchievement Award from President Biden on Saturday,Decem‐ber 7, 2024. In addition to her parents, Kenyaisalso precededindeath by her grandparents, Jack John‐son McElveen andEmma Drayton McElveen;parents of Caldin andWillieSmith,

Sr.and Mary Freeman Smith,parents of Lula.Sur‐vivorsinclude herbrother, Shawn Joshua McElveen; nephews,Waymon, Zarian, Shaquille andDreux McElveen;great-nieces, and nephews, Mon’Yae, withwhomshe shared a special bond,Azere, Za’marjai andShai; God‐children, Ky ShanaBooker, TerrenceDeJeanand KaylenGlenn; loving,de‐voted aunt andcaretaker CorneliaSmith,who never lefther side.A Celebration service honoring thelife and legacy of thelate Kenya McElveen will be heldinthe Chapel of Char‐bonnetLabat GlapionFu‐neral Home,1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Saturday,June 14, 2025 at 930am. Visitation 9 aminthe chapel.Please signonlineguestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion,Directors (504)581 4411.

Muller,William John

WilliamJohnMuller passedawayatOchsner Medical Center in NewOr‐leans,Louisiana,May 27, 2025, at theage of 89. Billy was born on October23, 1935, in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.After graduating Ponchatoula High School in 1954, Billyenlistedinthe UnitedStatesNaval Train‐ing Center,Company 55552 in SanDiego, California for four years. Upon hisre‐turn, he worked at Shell Chemicalbeforestarting his career as alandsur‐veyor at Surveys, Incand thenco-ownerofBFM Cor‐poration, Kenner Louisiana.Heissurvived byhis wife of 26 years, CherylRybandMullerof Harahan,Louisiana DaughterPamelaMuller Hernandez,onlychild to Billy andHelen Adams Muller, andher husband Brian of PeachtreeCorners Georgia.Three grandchil‐dren, twinsBrandon Her‐nandezand wife Bridgetof Harahan,Louisiana,Mor‐gan Hernandezof Greenville, SouthCarolina and JuliaHernandez of Lawrenceville,Georgia.As wellasmanynieces, nephews,cousins,and familyfriends that he loved dearly.Hewas pre‐ceded in deathbyhis par‐ents, Mathiasand Mary HaightMuller, brother, RonaldMullerand sister, MattieLou MullerSchech. A celebrationoflifewillbe heldSaturday, June 14 at GardenofMemories, 4900 Airline Hwy.,Metairie, LA 70001. Visitation will be from9-11a.m.withser‐vices at 11 a.m. followed by graveside services.Inlieu of ﬂowers, please consider a donation to acharity of yourchoice. To offerthe familyonlinecondolences, pleasevisit www.gardeno fmemoriesmetairie.com

PalmerSr.,Charles Charles Palmer Sr passed away peacefullyon June 1, 2025 surrounded by his children and friends. FuneralService on SaturdayJune 14, 2025, at 11:00 at Beacon Light of Laplace, 625 Woodland Dr., Laplace,La70068. Rev. Reginald King Pastor Interment in Woodville, MS. Final arrangements entrusted to caring and professionalstaff at Hobson Brown Funeral Home, 134 Daisy St. Garyville,LA 70051, 985-535-2516.

TommyLee Smith, ade‐voted manoffaith,loving husband,father, grandfa‐ther, andlifelongservant tohis community and church,passedaway peacefully on June 9, 2025 atthe ageof79. Apillarof strengthand humility Tommy Smithservedfaith‐fully formanyyears as a deaconatBedicoBaptist Church,where hissteady presence, deep compas‐sion, andquiet leadership touched countless lives. His life wasdeﬁnedbyser‐vice— to God, to hisfam‐ily,and to allthose he en‐countered.Hewas pre‐ceded in deathbyhis beloved wife of 47 years, MaryLee Smith, with whomheshareda life rich inlove, laughter,and devo‐tion. He wasalsopreceded indeath by hisparents Charles C. Smithand BessieDee Matthews Smith,aswellashis sib‐lings:IrisMagum,Charles Smith,VesterSmith,and James B. Smith. Laterin life, he wasblessedwitha secondchapter of com‐panionshipthrough his marriagetoJudyAnn Smith,his loving wife of the past 10 years, who re‐mainedfaithfullybyhis sideuntil hispassing Tommy is survived by his wifeJudyAnn Smith, his children, CaroleeSmith James C. Smithand wife Rebecca Smith, Jimmie Mc‐Counand wife SusanMc‐Coun, JeffreyMcCounand wifeBellMcCoun, Greg Mc‐Counand wife KrisMc‐Coun. He also leaves be‐hinda legacy of love through hisgrandchildren: VictoriaWillieand hus‐bandCaleb Willie,Cailynn Smith,Ainsley Smith, Wyatt Smith, TatumSmith, TaylorMcCoun, Carson Mc‐Coun, Hailey McCoun, Heather McCoun, Brandt Glover,and BryceGlover–

InLovingMemoryof PerryFerranSt.Raymond April10,1957–June14,2005

as well as onegreat-grand‐son,JonathanRuckerJr. He was born in Natchez, MS and wasa resident of Madisonville, LA before movingtoGonzales, LA.He retired after many yearsas VicePresident of Opera‐tions with Sav-A-Center Food Stores,havingbuilt a longand respectedcareer inthe retail groceryindus‐try.After retirement,driven bya deep passionand a lifelongdream,hereturned toworktobegin asecond career in education. He servedfaithfullyinthe ﬁeldofeducation formany years,positivelyimpacting the livesofstudentsand colleaguesalike before eventuallyretiringonce more. Relativesand friends are invitedtoattend the FuneralService on Monday June 16, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. atE.J.FieldingFuneral Home, locatedat2260 West21st Avenue,Coving‐ton,LA. Visitation will be heldprior to theservice, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and continuinguntil thetimeof the serviceat11:00 a.m. E.J.FieldingFuneralHome has been entrustedwith funeral arrangements Pleasesignthe guestbook atwww.ejﬁeldingfh.com

Duetothe Juneteenth Holiday ouroffices will be closed June 19,2025. We will return to theofficeonFriday, June 20th EARLYDEADLINESFOR

Smith, TommyLee

Colomb Sr., David

Carll, Angela Mequet

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Meta invests in AI firm, recruits its CEO

Meta is making a $14.3 billion investment in artificial intelligence company Scale and recruiting its CEO Alexandr Wang to join a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant. The deal announced Thursday reflects a push by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to revive AI efforts at the parent company of Facebook and Instagram as it faces tough competition from rivals such as Google and OpenAI.

Meta announced what it called a “strategic partnership and investment” with Scale late Thursday Scale said the $14.3 billion investment puts its market value at over $29 billion Scale said it will remain an independent company but the agreement will “substantially expand Scale and Meta’s commercial relationship.” Meta will hold a 49% stake in the startup Shaq to pay $1.8M to settle FTX suit

Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal will pay $1.8 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to the demise of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

O’Neal and other celebrities like Tom Brady and Stephen Curry were named in the lawsuit in 2022. They had been accused of touting FTX as a reputable and trustworthy investment option via paid endorsements The proposed settlement only pertains to O’Neal.

Three years ago FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, but it ended up with billions of dollars worth of losses and had to seek bankruptcy protection. The Bahamas-based company and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, came under investigation by state and federal authorities for allegedly investing depositors’ funds in ventures without their approval. Before its failure, FTX was known to use high-proﬁle Hollywood and sports celebrities to promote its products It had the naming rights to a Formula One racing team as well as a sports arena in Miami. Its commercials featured “Seinfeld” creator Larry David, as well as Brady the former quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots, basketball players O’Neal and Curry, and tennis star Naomi Osaka. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024. A little more than a month after that, FTX said in a court ﬁling that nearly all of its customers would receive the money back that they were owed.

While the proposed settlement with O’Neal had been agreed to in April, the payment amount and other terms were disclosed in a filing with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, earlier this week.

Shares of JBS fall in debut on NYSE

Shares of Brazilian meat giant JBS fell 3.9% in as they made their debut Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Trading in New York has been a long-held goal for JBS, which was founded 72 years ago and is now one of the world’s largest meat companies. Half of its annual revenue comes from the U.S., where it has more than 72,000 employees JBS is America’s top beef producer and its second-largest producer of poultry and pork.

Minority shareholders of JBS voted last month to approve the company’s plan to list its shares both in Sao Paulo and New York, casting aside opposition from environmental groups, U.S lawmakers and others who say JBS has a record of corruption, monopolistic behavior and environmental destruction JBS said a dual listing would give it broader access to investors and more competitive interest rates, which would help it ﬁnance its growth. It has also said a U.S listing would subject it to more oversight from regulators.

Consumer sentiment rises for the year

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Consumer sentiment increased in June for the first time in six months, the latest sign that Americans’ views of the economy have improved as inﬂation has stayed tame and the Trump administration has reached a truce in its trade ﬁght with China.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, jumped 16% from 52.2 to 60.5 The large increase followed steady drops that left the preliminary number last month at the second-lowest level in the nearly 75-year history of the survey Consumer sentiment is still down 20% compared with December 2024.

“Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy

volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in a written statement. “However, consumers still perceive wide-ranging downside risks to the economy.”

Americans have largely taken a darker view of the economy’s future after President Donald Trump unleashed a wide-ranging trade war, imposing steep tariffs on China, the European Union, and dozens of other countries. Yet in April, Trump postponed a set of sweeping tariffs on about 60 nations and last month reached a temporary

truce with China, after both sides had sharply ratcheted up tariffs on each other

The Conference Board’s consumer conﬁdence index, released in late May also increased after five straight declines that were linked to anxiety over tariffs.

U.S. duties remain elevated compared with historical levels, but so far they have not worsened overall inﬂation. Prices rose just 2.4% in May compared with a year ago, up slightly from 2.3% in April. Still, most economists expect tariffs to hit harder in the coming months.

‘This impacts every American who eats’

BY AMY TAXIN and DORANY PINEDA

Associated Press

VENTURA, Calif

Large-scale immigration raids at packinghouses and ﬁelds in California are threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food, farm bureaus say Dozens of farmworkers have been arrested recently after uniformed federal agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados.

Others are skipping work as fear in immigrant communities has deepened as President Donald Trump steps up his immigration crackdown, vowing to dramatically increase arrests and sending federal agents to detain people at Home Depot parking lots and workplaces including car washes and a garment factory It also comes as Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his immigration enforcement operations. Demonstrations have since spread to other U.S. cities.

Maureen McGuire, chief executive of Ventura County’s farm bureau, said between 25% and 45% of farmworkers have stopped showing up for work since the large-scale raids began this month.

“When our workforce is afraid, ﬁelds go unharvested, packinghouses fall behind, and market supply chains, from local grocery stores to national retailers, are affected,” she said Thursday “This impacts every American who eats.”

California’s farms produce more than a third of the country’s vegetables and more than three-quarters of its fruits and nuts. While the state’s government is dominated by Democrats, there are large Republican areas that run through farm country, and many growers throughout the state have been counting on Trump to help with key agricultural issues ranging from water to trade.

Primitiva Hernandez, executive director of 805 UndocuFund, estimates at least 43 people were detained in farm ﬁelds in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since Monday The number is from both the Mexican consulate and the group’s own estimates from talking with family members of people detained, she said.

Elizabeth Strater, the United Farm Workers’ director of strategic campaigns, said her group received reports of immigration arrests on farms as far north as California’s Central Valley Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, said farmworker members reported that agents went to at least nine farms but were turned away by supervisors because they lacked a warrant.

“This is just a mass assault on a workingclass immigrant community and essentially profiling,” Zucker said. “They are not going after specific people who are really targeted. They’re just fishing.”

In response to questions about the farm arrests, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement

that the agency will follow the president’s direction and continue to seek to remove immigrants who have committed crimes.

On Thursday, Trump acknowledged growers’ concerns that his stepped-up immigration enforcement could leave them without workers they rely on to grow the country’s food. He said something would be done to address the situation, but he did not provide speciﬁcs.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he said on his social media account, adding: “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

The California Farm Bureau said it has not received reports of a widespread disruption to its workforce, but there are concerns among community members. Bryan Little, the bureau’s senior director of policy advocacy, said the group has long pressed for immigration reform to deal with long-running labor shortages.

“We recognize that some workers may feel uncertain right now, and we want to be very clear: California agriculture depends on and values its workforce,” Little said in a statement. “If federal immigration enforcement activities continue in this direction, it will become increasingly difficult to produce food, process it and get it onto grocery store shelves.”

BY STAN CHOE, DAVID MCHUGH and JIANG JUNZHE

Associated Press

NEW YORK Oil prices leaped, and stocks slumped Friday on worries that escalating violence following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets could damage the ﬂow of crude around the world, along with the global economy The S&P 500 sank 1.1% and wiped out what had been a modest gain for the week The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 769 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.3%. The strongest action was in the oil market where the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude

jumped 7.3% to $72.98. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 7% to $74.23 for a barrel. Iran is one of the world’s major producers of oil, though sanctions by Western countries have limited its sales. If a wider war erupts, it could slow the ﬂow of Iran’s oil to its customers and keep the price of crude and gasoline higher for everyone worldwide. Beyond the oil coming from Iran, analysts also pointed to the potential for disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a relatively narrow waterway off Iran’s coast. Much of the world’s oil that’s been pulled from the ground moves through it on ships. Past attacks involving Iran and

Israel have seen prices for oil spike initially, only to fall later “once it became clear that the situation was not escalating and there was no impact on oil supply,” according to Richard Joswick, head of nearterm oil at S&P Global Commodity Insights. That has Wall Street waiting to see what will come next. U.S. stock prices dropped to their lowest points for the day after Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Israel. For now, the price of oil has jumped, but it’s still lower than it was earlier this year “This is an economic shock that nobody really needs, but it is one that seems more like a shock to sentiment

than to the fundamentals of the economy,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. That in turn sent U.S. stocks to a loss that was notable in size but outside their top 15 for the year so far Companies that use a lot of fuel as part of their business and need their customers to feel conﬁdent

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAMIAN DOVARGANES

fruits

nuts.

OPINION

Afond farewell, fornow

In my early years, my grandmother demanded that Ibeonthe front porch when shesaw the first lightning bug. Thatwas tough because it was impossible to know when the first one would flash. Besides, everyone else said,“When the streetlights come on.” But in shortorder,I understood when it wastime to quit what Iwas doing. Over the past fewmonths,Ihave seen asymbolic lightning bug at my writing table telling me it’stime to stop whatI’m doing. So, this will be my last regular column.

For 20 years or so, Ihave written about people, places and events, many of them involving my life in old South Baton Rouge. I’ve writtenabout race, children and people in need, my family and matters that few columnists evenbother with I’ve written about unfairnessinsociety,people who played worthy roles in my life and interesting things in my daily travels.Many people have poured out their souls to me, believing Iwould tell the truth. Idid my best not to let them down.

Admittedly,noone will eversay Iwas apolished writer who could spin beautiful phrases,sowell done that readers could hear aviolin in the background. My skills would not challenge intellectuals Naw,that’snot me.Iamthe personwho used words like rocks to break awindow.Mywords are like the guy yelling to get your attention on the sidewalk.

My writing was intentionally irritating, like the little sharp rocks you feel while walking barefoot in the driveway.Orsometimes it was soothing and cool, like the otherside of the pillow

Many times, Iknew columns that delved into race relations and my feelingsabout the unfairness of the government would make someuncomfortable. Years ago, the responses wereawful. They are worse now

Sometimes words came with aprice, like angry letters and emails hoping harmtome. One telephone caller announced, “I’m going to kill you” in response to my column. Sadly,the person whoansweredthe phone that day was my 12-year-old son. There were deadanimals thrown on my front porchorinmydriveway early someSaturday mornings. There were acouple of dings on my mailbox. Through it all, Iloved writing columns about my loving “grandmother” who sacriﬁced everything for alittle boy she had no blood relations with.I enjoyed writing about my ﬁrst neighborhood and the neighbors who saw me as their son.

Admittedly,itmakes me feel good to get stopped at the grocery store,atsporting events or at church by friends and strangers who say, “I loved your columnlast week.” Or “Pleasekeep writing. We need what you have to say.” Even the people who say,“Hey,Iread your column, but Idon’tagreewith you mostofthe time” —those folks understandthat we should be able to disagree respectfully. Thank you.

Ihave felt greatincluding my grade school and college teachers who have played such apivotal role in providing me the building blocks that developed me into something no one sawcoming.

Special kudos to the Carver Branchlibrarian who offered the first and second grade me cookies and milk because Iwould come in so often in the summer and fall asleep reading on thefloor Ihaveabit of sadnessthat there will be groups of people and events that will never be writtenabout because Iwon’tbearound to find them.

My wife, children and grandchildren will no longersee some of our loving moments memorialized in the newspaper. And that goes for my friends, too. Iknow my heart and my mind are still married and can stillproducesentences that make people wrestle with their thoughts,get angry, sador feel like celebrating. Maybe I’ll write acolumn once in a blue moon to get something off my chest. Maybe. But, for now,I’m focused on aﬂicker,like broken glass tossed in the air,at my desk.

Yep, that’sthose darn lightning bugs telling me it’stime to stop and go home. Love y’all and see ya later!

Email Edward Pratt, aformer newspaperman,at epratt1972@yahoo.com

Little notice has been given to a provision of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” pending before Congress which would further place theTrump administration beyond the reach of the law

The bill already passed by the House contains aprovisionthat would limit the federal judiciary’s power to enforce contempt orders for violations of itsorders enjoining the administration from activity found to be unconstitutional or otherwise illegal. The provision, as written, is to be applied retroactively so all existing federal court orders already enjoining illegal activities

Recently,this was published in Letterstothe Editor: “Tort reform has never worked to lower insurance rates: The socialist arm of the Republican Party is hard at work, attempting to take away the rights of Louisiana residents with one of their devious practices —tort reform.”

Whenever someone uses theterm “socialist,” Iamalways skeptical because it’s often used to frighten conservatives. Idisagree with the premise that tort reform will not work. Why? Well, it has never been tried as away to limit costs. It is always proposed, lots of talk, but rarely enacted in away that we could see results, if enacted at all.

Is a$100 million settlement a

Someone tell mewhy we elected Reps. Steve Scalise and Mike Johnson, because it couldn’tbeto promoteLouisiana and protect Louisiana families.

Scalise did nothing and said nothingwhile President Donald Trump and Elon Musk gutted thefederal civil service and took hundreds of millionsofdollars in grant funds from Louisiana colleges,savaged farmers by takingfunds from food banks and cut stafﬁng at critical federal agencies like NOAA and

of the administration would also become unenforceable if this bill is passed. This is afull-blown effort to put theTrumpadministration beyond the reach of the lawand the courts. It’s one thing for Congress itself to overlook illegalactivities of this administration,but it’squite another thing entirely for it to actively attempt to kneecap another branch of government and prevent it from doing its job. Hopefully,our senators will insistonthe removal of this provision of the bill if it is passed in any form.

BLAKE BENNETT Metairie

better solution than $5 million? Is this what drives insurance rates so high, thepotential forsettlements that can bankruptcompanies? Do frivolous lawsuits cost so much that companies must prepare to cover potential losses? Or,are thelegal costs and payments to thosethat drive settlements higher the answer? If Iam guaranteed 50% of thesettlement, of course $100 million is abetter solution than $5 million, right?

When apersonal injury attorney writes aletter to the editor saying thesocialists are trying to push tort reform that does not work, Ibelieve we all need to be skeptical.

JOHN SFIRE

NewOrleans

FEMA, which Louisiana relies on for disaster relief. Johnson acts like Trump’spuppet while working to cut Medicaid and increase the national debt, while magically saying the bill will help thepoorest Americans by eliminating the nonexistent fraud in the federal government. Silent Steve andMagic Mike have forgotten who they were elected to represent.Throw them out in 2026.

ROBERT W. BECKER NewOrleans

I’ve lived in southeast Louisiana my whole life, andone thing is certain: Our summers are getting hotter—and more dangerous. That’swhy the Low-IncomeHome Energy AssistanceProgramhas been alifeline for my family and tens of thousands of others. It helps struggling households keep the lights on andthe A/C running when budgets arestretchedtothe limit.

That’swhy I’m alarmed by President Donald Trump’sproposaltoeliminate LIHEAP in his 2026 budgetbeing considered by Congress right now.His administrationhas already cut the staff responsible for managing emergencyutility assistance. If the programdisappears entirely, families like mine will suffer My husband is aveteran who servedproudly.Wenow live on his ﬁxedVeteransAffairs and Social Security beneﬁts. Our two sons rely on internetaccess for school,and losing power means more thanjust inconvenience it’slostfood,lostlearning and increased hardship. In winter,we can lowerthe heat.But in aLouisiana summer, airconditioning isn’toptional. It saves lives.

Here in Louisiana,over 97,000 families depend on LIHEAP They’re doing their best —keeping medical devices running, keeping childrenand elders safe andtrying to avoidthe downward spiralofshut-offs and penalty fees.

There’s nothing “efﬁcient” aboutgutting aprogram that keepsworking families safe and stable just to hand tax breaks to billionaires. LIHEAP hasmade a real difference for my family.I urge ourleaders—and our neighbors —tostand up and ﬁght for this essentialsupport before it’s toolate.

RHONDASCHAFFER Baton Rouge

Edward Pratt

CO LL EG EW OR LD SE RIE S

Omahais Johnson’s happy place

OMAHA, Neb.— Jay Johnson walked across the field on agorgeous Friday morning at UNO’s baseball field that’sUNO (Nebraska-Omaha), not UNO (New Orleans) —ashis LSU Tigers prepared fortheir final preCollege World Series practice. We said hello. He was smiling. Iwished him a good day

CO NG OF E

Curiel family’s home structurehelpedLSU freshman become hitter he is today

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

OMAHA,Neb.— Still plotted in the backyardofthe Curiel houseinWest Covina, California, is a batting cage.

The apparatus is impossible to miss. The 55-foot-long structure sits over 75 feet of turf.

Twelve feet of netting separates the roof from its ﬂoor,and thewidth of thecage —18feet

—providesplenty of room for hitters to swing away without slashing into themesh.

Eight poles drilled 31/2 feet intothe ground keep theenclosure standing.

“Thenet was super,super heavy,” LSU freshman outﬁelder Derek Curiel said, recalling theconstruction of the cage, “and my brother and mydad mainly did all the work becausethey wereolder.”

ä See LSU, page 4C

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

OAKMONT,Pa. Sam Burns avoided ameltdown that ruined hisopening round at the U.S Open andwound up withabig par save on his last holefor a5-under 65 and the 36-hole lead. Bestofall, the former LSUstandoutwas long gonebefore the real calamityarrived late Friday afternoon at Oakmont.

cause he birdied the18th to makethe cut.

Shane Lowryabsent-mindedly picked up his golf ball on the 14thgreen withoutmarking it Thriston Lawrence became the only player to reach 6-under par.Hepromptly made six bogeys and adouble bogey over his next nine holes. Thomas Detry can appreciate the suffering. He waschallenging forthe lead until threedouble bogeys in athreehole stretch.

“It’salways agood day in Omaha,” Johnson said. He smiled somemore. If LSU wins the CWS this year,itmay take a chisel to take that smile off of Johnson’sface. When legendary San Francisco coach Bill Walsh, like Johnson anative Californian, wentback to coach at Stanford after retiring from the 49ers, he described it as “mybliss.”

This is Johnson’sbliss. Coaching baseball. Coaching in the College World Series. Taking in every delicious momentinthis Nebraska burg. He hasn’tbeen here that manytimes, really.Hehasn’tallowed himself casual tripstoOmaha, instead motivating himself to gethis teamstothe College World Series before allowing himself the pleasure of enjoying college baseball’sultimate destination. He brought Arizona here in 2016 the Wildcats fell to Coastal Carolina in the ﬁnal after Coastal beat LSU in the super regional —and again in 2021. He

Burnssizzles whileothersﬁzzle at U.S. Open

Rory McIlroy threw aclub in disgust and smashed atee marker.For punishment,he gets to come back for two more rounds be-

Good Luck in Omaha!

And thenthere was Phil Mickelson,inwhat likely is his34th andfinal U.S. Open. He was just outside the top 20 until two double bogeys in his last four holes fora74tomissthe cut. The cutmight notbeofficial until Saturdaymorning. If thesecond round wasn’t brutal enough, playwas halted by bad weatherjust as Lawrencehad a4-foot putt on the last hole to finish awild round that was approaching six hours. The day ended with rain pounding the course. Scottie Scheffler,coming off three wins in his last four starts, had his sixth straight round over parinthe U.S. Open withagame

Sam Burns lines up aputt on the14thhole during the second round of theU.S.Open on FridayinOakmont, Pa ä See OPEN, page 3C

Scott Rabalais

LSU left fielder Derek Curiel

AP PHOTO By GENE J. PUSKAR

Fowles to enter women’s Hall of Fame on Saturday

Former LSU great Sylvia Fowles will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday The enshrinement ceremony, set to begin at 5:45 p.m. in Knoxville, Tennessee, will be the ﬁrst of two such events to honor Fowles this year In September, Fowles will enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside alltime greats such as Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Dwight Howard and Maya Moore.

NCAA SETTLEMENT

Road ahead comes with risk, reward and warnings

BY MAURA CAREY AP sportswriter

ORLANDO, Fla. — Two days after the approval of a groundbreaking $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, thousands of athletic directors and department personnel traveled to Orlando, Florida, for the annual National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention

The hot topic, of course, was the influx of changes both threatening and beneficial for schools across the country According to NCAA president Charlie Baker, approval of the settlement may be the biggest change in college sports history On July 1, schools that opt in to the settlement will embark on a new era of revenue sharing, changing the game both on and off the field.

Rewards

A handful of convention attendees breathed a sigh of relief on June 6 when U.S District Judge Claudia Wilken announced her decision. It’s a quick turnaround and a period of trial and error is anticipated, but Division I athletic directors welcomed the news

“The best thing is clarity,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said The best thing about July 1 is we now have clarity on the rules of engagement, what we’re allowed to do, how we can move forward. Does it solve everything? No, it doesn’t But when you have clarity, you can operate more efﬁciently and effectively.” Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart said he was relieved to get the agreement in hand.

“We’ve been trying for so long to be part of this,” Barnhart said. “Maybe, just maybe, on July 1, we’ll sort of all know where we are on this one.”

Risks

In a settlement where high-revenue sport athletes have the most to gain, Title IX has emerged as a topic to watch.

The 75-15-5-5 formula has emerged as a popular revenue-sharing formula, meaning that schools are likely to allocate 75% of revenue-share funds to football, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and the remaining 5% dispersed to other programs. If a school spent the full $20.5 million allowed this coming year that would mean a breakdown of $15.4 million for football, $3.1 million for men’s hoops and about $1 million each for women’s basketball and everyone else. Montoya Ho-Song, an attorney for Ackerman LLP who specializes in higher education issues, expects Title IX lawsuits to come, just like one ﬁled this week by eight female athletes. The area has shifted again under President Donald Trump, with guidance suggesting the federal government won’t hold schools to rigid requirements to distribute proceeds equitably between men and women.

Warnings

Attorney Mit Winter, a college sports law specialist with Kennyhertz Perry, said it is paramount that athletic departments present an organized, united front.

Since the launch of name, image and likeness compensation four years ago, Winter said, he has encountered several instances where athletic departments are giving conﬂicting statements and numbers to current and prospective athletes. That can lead to legal headaches, too.

“You need to have a plan that everyone is on board with and that everyone knows,” Winter said. “As a school, you don’t want to have a situation where ﬁve different people are talking to an athlete about how much they’re going to pay him or her I think that needs to be much more formalized The coach, assistant coaches, GM, everybody needs to be on the same page.”

St. Bonaventure men’s basketball general manager Adrian Wojnarowski and coach Mark Schmidt know exactly what their roles are — and aren’t.

“I will never talk to a player or a parent or an agent about playing time, their role,” Wojnarowski said. “During the season, if someone is disappointed in playing time and they call, the only conversation I’m having with a family member is supporting the head coach, supporting the coaching staff.”

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm,

and Florida Panthers left

Tkachuk go after the puck during the second period of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla. The Oilers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Panthers 5-4 in overtime

Slipped away

Panthers build, then squander, three-goal lead vs.

BY ALANIS THAMES AP sportswriter

SUNRISE, Fla The Florida Panthers led 3-0 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers and then watched it all go down the drain.

Matthew Tkachuk and the stars of the reigning champion Panthers smothered the Oilers in the ﬁrst period, raising the prospect of a Game 3 effort that ended with a 6-1 Panthers win. Not this time.

Edmonton responded by scoring four straight goals to take a 4-3 lead only to have the Panthers score in the ﬁnal seconds of the third period to force overtime. That set the stage for Oilers star Leon Draisaitl’s goal 11:18 into OT to give Edmonton a 5-4, series-tying victory Thursday night.

What initially looked like an easy victory that would put Florida one win away from clinching a second straight Stanley Cup championship turned into a huge collapse that has the series tied 2-2 heading back to Edmonton.

“We carried play in the first, they carried it in the second,” Tkachuk said. “Special teams were good for us in the ﬁrst, special teams were good for them in the second. I think it was tighter than a 3-0 period at the start for us. And they clearly took control of play in the second. After two (periods) it’s even, and it probably should have been. So, it doesn’t matter how you how you start, you’ve got to treat it as zeros at the start of a period.”

It has been that kind of series so far — an evenly matched, back and forth heavyweight fight between two experienced, resilient teams.

The ﬁnal has been so tight that three of four games have gone to overtime, marking just the eighth Stanley Cup Final — and fourth in the expansion era (since 1967-68) — to have three or more games require overtime.

Despite the loss, Florida coach Paul Maurice said he could appreciate the competitiveness.

“I think we focus on some-

Oilers

“Everything is dangerous all the time So there’s a mental intensity, a mental toughness I think both teams show that the game’s not going to be over until it is.”

PAUL MAURICE, Panthers coach

times the mistakes that get made by good players at times,” Maurice said, “and you miss some of the heart and soul and the intensity of it. It’s so fast. Every board battle, everything can turn into something. Everything is dangerous all the time So there’s a mental intensity, a mental toughness I think both teams show that the game’s not going to be over until it is.”

Sam Reinhart nearly saved the collapse when he scored a tying goal in the waning seconds of regulation. His score with 19.5 seconds left was the second-latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history The record was set earlier in the series by Edmonton’s Corey Perry in Game 2. Florida, which got a pair of early power-play goals from Tkachuk and an evenstrength score from Anton Lundell, had never squandered a 3-0 lead in the postseason. Entering Thursday night, teams were 37-0 when leading a Stanley Cup Final game by three or more goals in the ﬁrst period.

After building the threegoal lead, Tkachuk said he felt the Panthers weren’t connected. Reinhart felt they

were playing too passively

“I think we were watching the play develop,” Reinhart said, “as opposed to playing on our toes, and that’s obviously how they got back in the game.” Edmonton, boosted by second period goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin, became the seventh team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deﬁcit in the Stanley Cup Final to win.

The Oilers also seemed to get a boost of momentum after coach Kris Knoblauch decided to pull starting goaltender Stuart Skinner after he allowed three goals in the ﬁrst period.

The good news for the Panthers is they’ve responded well this postseason following letdowns and seem to relish the moments when the pressure is the highest. That’s what the experience of playing in their third straight Stanley Cup Final has taught the Panthers.

“The more times you go through it, the better,” Reinhart said. “It’s never going to be perfect. This time of year, we’ve been here before We’ve been through it. So it’s about recovering for Game 5.”

Fowles, a first-ballot inductee in both halls of fame, led LSU to the Final Four in all four seasons of her collegiate career She then won two titles and an MVP award across the 14 years she played in the WNBA, while also collecting four Olympic gold medals on the international stage.

Fever star Clark expected to return Saturday vs. NY

INDIANAPOLIS Caitlin Clark ended practice Friday by making a halfcourt shot and winning a little bit of lunch money in the process. And with that, the Indiana Fever star is ready to play again.

Clark — barring any unforeseen setbacks is expected to be in the lineup when the Fever play host to the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty on Saturday afternoon. She missed the last ﬁve Indiana games with a quadriceps injury Clark returned to practice this week, and her comeback game just happens to be a nationally televised one against the Liberty the reigning champs and, at 9-0, the last unbeaten team left in the league this season. New York is winning its games by an average of 19 points.

Ex-NFL star Brown facing attempted murder charge

Former NFL player Antonio Brown is facing an attempted murder charge stemming from a shooting that took place during an altercation outside an amateur boxing event in Miami, according to an arrest warrant. Brown, 36, is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier

The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators one of the bullets grazed his neck. The warrant does not list an attorney for Brown, an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in the NFL in 2021 for Tampa Bay but spent most of his 12-year career with Pittsburgh. Brown did not respond to messages sent to his social media accounts.

Saints opt to sign RB Akers after minicamp tryout

Cam Akers received a tryout with the Saints this week. Now, he’s landed a job.

The Saints announced Friday they signed the veteran running back to a one-year contract Akers, 25, is coming off a season in which he spent time with the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. He also began his career with the Los Angeles Rams, where he spent three-plus seasons.

Akers, after participating in the team’s mandatory minicamp, will compete for a roster spot and a role to back up starter Alvin Kamara. The 2020 second-round pick, who is from Clinton, Mississippi, has overcome several serious injuries throughout his carer — notably tearing his right Achilles in 2021 and his left Achilles in 2023.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATHAN DENETTE Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl celebrates after his winning goal with Evan Bouchard, right, during the first overtime period.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LyNNE SLADKy

left,

wing Matthew

UNO begins new era with Gipson at helm

BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer

Louisiana is a familiar place for new UNO baseball coach Andrew Gipson, who spent eight years in Hammond as an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana.

Gipson returns to south Louisiana in what will be his ﬁrst head coaching opportunity at the Division I level with UNO. A Oneonta, Alabama, native, Gipson most recently was the coach at his alma mater Belhaven in Jackson, Mississippi, and is coming off a Division III super regional appearance. A member of Belhaven’s coaching staff for three years after graduating, Gipson joined Southeastern’s staff in 2015 where he coached until 2022 in various roles. He returned to Belhaven in 2023 and now

will be the ninth coach at UNO after being introduced Friday at Lakefront Arena.

“(UNO) is a storied program,” Gipson said. “I coached in (the Southland), and UNO was always a dogﬁght. I know you can attract good players here We need to try and keep these guys local, but we can also recruit nationwide. You work a long time in your life to get an opportunity like this. It feels good.”

Gipson takes over a program that’s had a winning record and reached the Southland Conference Tournament in each of the past ﬁve seasons. UNO reached the SLC championship series last month under interim coach Dax Norris, ﬁnishing as runner-up to Houston Christian.

Norris took over the program after Blake Dean stepped down in January Dean had been coach since

2016.

“I was looking for someone that had head coaching experience and had a lot of assistant experience at the Division I level,” athletic

director Vince Granito said.

“It was an extra bonus if they knew our league and they knew our region. I thought (Gipson) was the perfect ﬁt for us.”

Sterlington

2025: Kynzee Anderson, Calvary Baptist

Calvary Baptist junior Kynzee Anderson had a 24-1 record, 1.26 ERA and 245 strikeouts in 145 innings in leading the Cavaliers to the Division III select state

Calvary star did it all

Miss

Softball winner Anderson excelled in circle and with bat

BY ROY LANG III Staff writer

Kynzee Anderson was a dominant force in the circle for Calvary Baptist of Shreveport during the 2025 season. Anderson posted a 24-1 record, 1.26 ERA and 245 strikeouts in 145 innings, and capped the season in the Division III select state championship game with an abbreviated no-hitter

That résumé alone would make the Georgia commitment, who can hit 68 mph on the radar gun, worthy of any

postseason honor. But there was more to make the junior the LSWA Miss Softball recipient for 2025 special.

For the ﬁrst time, Calvary Baptist coach Tiffany Wood allowed her ace to serve as a full-time hitter Consequently, Anderson described this season as “a lot more fun.” Opponents would disagree. Anderson posted a .466 batting average with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs.

“She’s proven she can do both,” Wood said Anderson is the ﬁrst Calvary Baptist athlete to capture the award.

“The confidence at the plate works into my pitching, and the conﬁdence from my pitching works into the conﬁdence at the plate,” said the 5-foot-6 Anderson, who had a 1.034 slugging percentage. Anderson also won the Louisiana Gatorade Softball Player of the Year award and the Outstanding Player designation on the Class 2A all-state softball team.

Just 10 minutes before the state championship game, Wood and her staff said they thought Anderson would be a late scratch after her ailing back ﬂared up.

“I was overwhelmed. I never thought it was going to happen (in the state title game),” Anderson said.

Said Wood: “She’s been a ﬁghter all season long.”

Motivated by a title push for late teammate Elana Franks, who died just days before the season began, Anderson not only pitched but she also didn’t allow a hit to D’Arbonne Woods.

“We did it for her,” Anderson said of Franks “I know she’s looking down at us and she’s happy and smiling.

“I was trying to do anything I could to help the team.”

LSU’s Watkins ﬁnishes 3rd in 100 at NCAA meet

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

The last 50-meter surge is Jelani Watkins’ superpower on the track. His dogged mindset is the intangible that allowed the LSU freshman to reach the men’s 100-meter ﬁnal on the third day of the NCAA outdoor track and ﬁeld championships at Hayward Field on Friday in Eugene, Oregon.

OPEN

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that didn’t look familiar He still scratched out a 71 and was seven shots behind.

“Today was, I think with the way I was hitting it, easily a day I could have been going home,” Schefﬂer said.

“And battled pretty hard to stay in there. I’m 4 over We’ll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course I don’t think by any means I’m out of the tournament.” Burns was a regular birdie machine at Oakmont, no less — playing in the morning under cloud cover and little wind, and ﬂushing his irons so well that all six of his birdies were inside 10 feet. He was at 3-under 137, one

The 20-year-old sprinter came to Eugene not just to enjoy the scenery but to speed down the rubber in search of a gold medal to match his uniform and blond dreadlocks. Watkins settled for a bronze medal as he ﬁnished the race in 10.092 seconds, only 0.001 difference from silver LSU sophomore Jaiden Reid ﬁnished sixth with a time of 10.17.

shot ahead of J.J. Spaun, who fell out of a share of the lead with a bogey on the 18th his sixth in his round of 72. Burns and Viktor Hovland (68) each have 11 subpar holes over 36 holes, the most in three U.S. Opens at Oakmont since it switched to a par 70 in 2007. Hovland is two shots behind Onlythreeplayersremained under par, the fewest in seven years at the U.S. Open. Burns can only imagine where he would be if not for a shocker of a finish Thursday, when he was one shot out of the lead and then played his last four holes in 5-over par

“I played really well yesterday other than the ﬁnishing holes. So I think today was just kind of getting mentally ready to come out and try to put a good round

The bronze medal Watkins earned should numb some of the letdown from the 4x100meter relay ﬁnal.

The LSU relay team was disqualified for having crossed its lane line during the race. Had it not been for that error, the Tigers would’ve ﬁnished third with a time of 38.56. The team consists of junior Jordan Turner, Reid, junior Myles Thomas and Watkins

together,” Burns said. “It was unfortunate, but there was too much good to focus on the little bit of bad.”

Hovland twice holed 50foot shots from off the green — a putter from the collar on No. 10 when he started his round, and chipping in for eagle on the reachable par-4 17th. He also chopped up the second hole for a double bogey But he was happy to be done.

“Deﬁnitely tired, exhausted because you’re just focusing so much on every single shot,” he said. “I’m very pleased with 2-under par, but also I know that I was 4 under at some point So it’s like very pleased, but also, ‘Man, that could have been a little bit lower.’ But we’re in a really nice spot after two days, so I’m just kind of happy.” Adam Scott, playing in his

Gipson is tasked with building a roster that’s seen several players enter the transfer portal in recent weeks, including All-Southland first baseman Bryce Calloway and right-handed pitcher Grant Edwards.

“There are local guys that are in the portal that we’re dying to keep,” Gipson said.

“We don’t have the NIL dollars that we’re fighting (against), but we’re working on getting those things at UNO I think that we’re going to continue to earn the respect with these guys and just be authentic in the conversations that we’re having with them.

“We hang our hat on player development. We’ve had a lot of guys from south Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that have believed in us, and I think we can do the same thing here (at UNO.)”

Gipson is working to build a coaching staff at UNO and talking to players in the transfer portal. He’s considering keeping some current staff members and said that ‘it’s not a rebuild’ when asked about the state of the program.

The Southland has proven to be a competitive conference in recent seasons but usually sees only one team reach an NCAA regional. Gipson said he plans to schedule in a way that gives UNO a shot at receiving an at-large bid.

“When I was at Southeastern in the only era of the Southland Conference where it was a two-bid league; we scheduled hard,” Gipson said. “We got at-large bids in 2016 and 2017. We’re certainly going to schedule in a fashion that gets us to that point.”

In the 110 hurdles ﬁnal, junior Jahiem Stern ﬁnished seventh with a time of 13.57 seconds.

The last event to conclude with an LSU athlete was the ﬁnal for the high jump. Senior Kuda Chadenga jumped 7 feet and a half-inch, tying him for eighth place.

The LSU men’s track and ﬁeld team, at press time, was in 25th place overall after accumulating 11.33 points.

96th consecutive major, had another 70 and joined Ben Grifﬁn (71) at even-par 140. Burns is among the top putters on the PGA Tour, though he did miss a 5-foot putt to win a playoff in the Canadian Open last week and threeputted the fourth playoff hole to lose. This was more about staying in position and eliminating as much stress as possible on a course that can be relentless. No putt was more important than his 20-foot par putt up the ridge on No. 9 to ﬁnish off a great round the right way He tugged his drive to the left on the tough par-4 ninth into a ditch, took a penalty drop, hit safely on the green and made the putt. “That putt was, I don’t know, 6 feet of break,” he said. “Yeah, it was a nice one to make, for sure.”

BY GUERRY SMITH Contributing writer

Tulane 6-foot-7 transfer swingman Scotty Middleton did not come close to reaching his potential in one-year stints at Ohio State and Seton Hall.

Less than a week into organized offseason workouts that started Monday, he said he has found the right ﬁt, joining holdovers Rowan Brumbaugh, Gregg Glenn and Asher Woods along with backup center Percy Daniels and rising sophomore point guard KJ Greene.

“I just love it here,” he said. “This team is hungry A lot of the returning players are hungry to win. There’s a lot of leadership and a lot of veteran guys that have been in college basketball for a long time. Coach (Ron) Hunter has been coaching for almost 40 years, so there’s a lot of experience behind that.”

Middleton, a Miami native ESPN rated the 35thbest prospect in the 2023 high school class, is one of four portal additions as Hunter tries to build on a strong ﬁnish to the season. Tulane nearly played its way its way into a winnertakes-all game for the NCAA tournament, losing by one point to Memphis in an American Athletic Conference tournament semiﬁnal.

In addition to Middleton, Tulane attracted 6-6 Georgetown transfer guard Curtis Williams (averages of 4.7 points, 15.4 minutes in 2024-25), a junior Rivals.com rated No. 73 overall coming out of high school; 6-4 sophomore Oral Roberts transfer guard JoJo Moore (10.9 points, 27.5 minutes), rated 138th by Rivals; and 7-0 senior East Tennessee State transfer center Davion Bradford (2.5 points, 10.9 minutes), whom Rivals rated 141st before a journey that included stops at Kansas State and Wake Forest.

The Wave also picked up freshman guard Robert Moore, the top prospect from South Carolina according to 247Sports The question is whether the newcomers will help Tulane overcome the loss of key contributors Kam Williams (Kentucky), Kaleb Banks (DePaul) and Mari Jordan (Radford), who entered the portal soon after the tournament. Banks was second on the team in scoring (14.7) and first in rebounding (6.7) and blocked shots. Williams, a freshman, led the Wave in 3-point shooting while averaging 9.3 points and finishing second in blocked shots. Jordan supplied energy off the bench and was a projected starter

Before Tulane (19-15, 12-6 AAC) exited the College Basketball Crown postseason tournament quickly, Brumbaugh, a first-team All-AAC pick, said the Wave would need to improve signiﬁcantly to become a legitimate NCAA Tournament contender

Middleton said he understands the urgency

“You could sense it in the ﬁrst week of workouts,” he said. “Guys enjoy being together in the gym and doing all the little things Experience means so much in college basketball now, and the veteran guys are helping us transfers settle in right way These guys are just preaching to us every day to win.”

Middleton is a Huntertype player from his height to his versatility (he said he can play all ﬁve positions).

After averaging 5.8 points and 21.0 minutes at Seton Hall and 4.4 points and 15.3 minutes as a freshman at Ohio State, he could make a similar jump as Banks, who played sparingly at Indiana before exploding last season.

“My two years I haven’t shown enough of my true game and what I can truly do,” he said. “I want to blossom and tighten up my offensive skill set and my defensive mindset. I can get better at both ends. I love to compete so this school’s the perfect place for me.”

Middleton is the embodiment of modern-day basketball, having attended three high schools and three universities over the past six years. He endured a rough ﬁnish this spring at Seton Hall which won only twice after December, but said he never lost his zest for the sport.

“I try to live day by day and just enjoy every moment because I know I’ll never get this moment back,” he said. “I try not to look too far in the future, but everybody’s goal on this team is to

STAFF PHOTO By SPENCER URQUHART

athletic director Vince Granito, right, introduces Andrew Gipson as baseball coach at a news conference Frriday

STAFF FILE PHOTOS By JILL PICKETT

championship.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

Jones’ time is now

LSU counting on steady bat from junior first baseman

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Ask coach Jay Johnson, and he’ll say that no moment excited him more this season than the one in which Jared Jones quashed his hitting slump.

On June 2, a Little Rock pitcher served him a fastball over the middle, and Jones unleashed one cathartic swing, driving a line drive over the wall in left-center

ﬁeld. The blast added two runs to the Tigers’ one-run, ninth-inning lead. It also propelled LSU past the Trojans and into the super regionals, where two wins over West Virginia set up a College World Series opener against Arkansas on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).

“With Jared, he made a decision to come back this season for this,” Johnson said Sunday, “and this opportunity ahead of us next week and to be at the front of it.”

Only one Southeastern Conference hitter has driven in more runs this season than Jones, who’s hitting .328 with 20 home runs, 70 RBIs and 15 doubles. The junior gave LSU big swings from his usual spot near the top of the order all season, but he started slumping once the Tigers began postseason play Across LSU’s two SEC Tourna-

LSU

Continued from page 1C

With his brother Donovyn already off playing junior-college baseball — eight years before Derek’s collegiate career would begin in Baton Rouge — the Curiel cage was constructed mainly to hone the skills of a baseball-obsessed Derek.

At least ﬁve days a week, for no less than two hours each day, Derek’s father, Rick, would throw batting practice to his youngest son. Their work was so frequent that they tore up the grass in the cage, prompting Rick, with the help of a friend, to implement a turf base.

“The ﬁrst two months, it was just our regular grass,” Rick said. “And it got torn up. It honestly became dirt because it had a nice yard. It was like an eyesore.”

All of those hours in the cage have led to Saturday night when LSU faces Arkansas to kick off its run at the 2025 College World Series (6 p.m., ESPN).

“We’re just so happy and blessed that he’s at LSU,” Rick said, “and I just can’t believe my son’s going to the College World Series.” Derek is a fixture in the LSU lineup. He’s spent the majority of this season as the leadoff hitter, entering Omaha with a team-best .473 on-base percentage, a 1.004 on-base plus slugging percentage and 19 doubles.

As the team leader in walks, his patience at the plate has earned LSU coach Jay Johnson’s full trust.

“He’s the engine of this offense,” Johnson said, “and how he plays inspires the team.”

Fine-tuning that engine required hours of practice and a routine Derek developed with his father in the cage. Before Rick would start throwing, Derek would begin each hitting session by taking swings off of a tee. Once Derek had practiced hitting the ball to the opposite ﬁeld and up the middle off of the tee,

College World Series At Charles Schwab Field-Omaha, Neb.

(Double elimination; x-if necessary)

Friday’s games

Game 1: Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4

Game 2: Oregon St. 4, Louisville 3

Saturday’s games

Game 3: UCLA (47-16) vs. Murray St. (44-15), 1 p.m.

Game 4: Arkansas (48-13) vs. LSU (48-15), 6 p.m.

Sunday’s games

Game 5: Arizona vs. Louisville, 1 p.m.

Game 6: Coastal Carolina vs. Oregon St., 6 p.m.

Monday’s games

Game 7: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 1 p.m.

Game 8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 6 p.m

ment games and its first three NCAA regional contests, Jones was 2 of 22 and struck out 10 times. Even with the two-hit, two-RBI outing he pieced together in the regional clincher, the junior still had gone only 4 of 27 (.148) in the postseason entering the super regional against West Virginia. Something clicked for Jones ahead of those two games. Including the last game of the regional, he’s recorded a hit in six of his last 13 at-bats, a stretch in which he notched a home run, a double and three RBIs.

It’s an important development for LSU. The center-ﬁeld wall at Charles Schwab Field, a pitcher’s ballpark, in Omaha, Nebraska, is 408 feet from home plate. Few hitters have enough power to clear that fence especially when the wind is blowing in Jones is one of the exceptions.

“The biggest thing is plate dis-

they’d progress to Rick soft tossing balls to him.

“Initially, when he was younger, I would do side ﬂips from the side, like soft toss,” Rick said.

“But as he started getting a little bit older I started doing the front ﬂips in the front with the L screen right in front of me.”

Rick would move back to 32 feet and start throwing batting practice once Derek properly had warmed up. Derek would choke up on the bat and perform one-handed swings with each hand before taking two-handed swings with a weighted bat.

“I put that 55-ounce bat in his hand,” Rick said. “We’d swing that quite a bit because once he got his game bat in his hand, I wanted it to feel super light and generate some bat speed.”

Once Derek could use his regular bat, he’d take cuts for as long as he liked. Rick put up lights for the cage by the time Derek was in high school, allowing him to come home from practice and take more swings after dinner

“I would throw hundreds of pitches every night, for sure,”

Rick said Derek’s pitcher was always his father because of his disdain for pitching machines. He’s since gotten used to hitting off the robots, but Derek always preferred seeing the ball coming out of an actual hand.

But reading spin and recognizing pitches out of the hand wasn’t something he developed overnight Rick would throw Derek curveballs, sliders, changeups, cutters, and twoseam and four-seam fastballs to keep his son on his toes.

Rick’s best pitch was his cutter

I had pretty good movement on it,” Rick said “So it was actually good for him to see that because obviously in game situations at any level, the pitcher is not trying to just throw it straight.”

Rick also would have Derek call out each pitch he’d see come out of his hands. He’d also number some

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

won the title with the Tigers in 2023 and is back this year The only other time Johnson has been here was in 2015 when he was coaching at Nevada, bringing the Wolfpack here for a May regular-season series with Creighton. Even when future big-leaguer Kris Bryant, one of his players when Johnson was an assistant at the University of San Diego, came here when he won the Dick Howser Award (a player of the year prize LSU’s Paul Skenes won in 2023) in 2013, Johnson declined the trip.

The “Earn Omaha” covenant is one that he has faithfully kept.

Why?

cipline, obviously,” Jones said

Thursday

After LSU swept West Virginia, Jones acknowledged he didn’t exercise enough patience in his plate appearances during the Baton Rouge regional. He was striking out too often, chasing too many pitches and searching for the big swing too early in his at-bats.

“The strike zone will be the same no matter the weather conditions,” Jones said. “For me, I’m going to have to do a good job controlling the zone And then just based off how the wind is playing, hard, low line drives are going to do best for me.”

Last summer, Jones could have left his name in the MLB draft He was an eligible sophomore, fresh off a year in which he hit 301, slugged .747 and cranked 28 home runs. He even hit 14 homers across the 55 games he played as a freshman on the 2023 national title team

But for Jones, something was missing. Like a return trip to Omaha. Or the chance to anchor an LSU lineup on college baseball’s largest stage. In 2023, the then-freshman took three at-bats in the College World Series.

Jones has a much larger role now, and he’s already shaken off a hitting slump just in time for the chance to star in it.

“That’s what he’s been,” Johnson said. “Three years, a lot of blood, sweat and tears in the bucket. Couldn’t be prouder of the person that he is, the leader he is. Obviously, he’s a great player

“Just very thankful that he made that decision.”

LSU left fielder Derek Curiel runs during a practice ahead of the College World Series on Thursday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb

of the baseballs to have Derek tell him whether a one, a two, a three or a four had just zipped his way

“Obviously, you’ve got to see the baseball,” Derek said “So just little things like that to help you focus a little bit more have helped me.”

Taking advantage of a hanging curverball or a cutter over the plate still requires a certain level of hand-eye coordination. For Derek, it was Donovyn who played a major role in developing that skill. With a broomstick or a plastic bat, Donovyn would have Derek swing at small, flying discs and bottle caps. They’d also play lots of pingpong, and Donovyn — despite being 8 years older never let up on his younger brother “I treated him like a teammate. I want the best for him, so I’ve always made him earn his win,” Donovyn said. “So there was a streak where he was younger and

“It’s just a special place,” Johnson said. Johnson has special reverence for the game, for Omaha and for LSU, where he’s been the coach since 2022. It is not lost on him that he is the keeper of a highly beloved ﬂame when it comes to LSU baseball. A place with the highest standards. A place where people say, “Thanks for leading the Tigers to their seventh CWS title, Jay

“Now go get No. 8.” Johnson gets it. He’s been trying to go get it relentlessly for two years now He once told a story about catching a ﬂight to visit a recruit not long after LSU won here in 2023.

“What are you doing?” someone asked Johnson at the gate.

“I’m trying to do it again,” he replied. He said getting the LSU job — the job where Skip Bertman built a dynasty with ﬁve CWS trophies and Paul Mainieri won one and came close to another — was a life-changing event. His life is devoted to baseball, to his players, to keeping LSU at a championship level.

“I know what I’m entrusted with,” he said after LSU beat West Virginia in the Baton Rouge super regional last weekend. “I give it my entire life. And I give it to these guys, and they give it back to me. It’s so fun and exciting and rewarding to see all those people so passionate and thankful for the effort that everybody in this program that everybody cares so much about be appreciated.”

Johnson’s work ethic makes an impression on the LSU players, center fielder Chris Stanfield said “The way he goes about it every day, seeing how much he cares, bleeds onto us,” Stanfield

ON DECK

WHO: LSU (48-15) vs.Arkansas (48-13)

WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday

WHERE: Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Neb

TV: ESPN

RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1 (Baton Rouge); WWL-AM, 870 (New Orleans); KLWB-FM, 103.7 (Lafayette)

RANKINGS: LSU is No. 6 overall seed; Arkansas is No. 3

PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU — LHP Kade Anderson (10-1, 3.58 ERA); Arkansas LHP Zach Root (8-5, 3.59 ERA)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: LSU announced Friday night that it will start Anderson in its College World Series opener Anderson had his weakest start of the year last Saturday in Game 1 of the super regional against West Virginia, allowing six earned runs in seven innings. Root allowed just one hit in seven innings last week against Tennessee in the super regionals.

Koki Riley

I would beat him constantly.”

Derek’s pingpong skills have translated into the LSU clubhouse.

He and senior catcher Luis Hernandez are the two best players on the team. LSU held a tournament during the middle of the season, and they met in the ﬁnal.

“Those two are playing every single day against each other for hours,” LSU sophomore outﬁelder

Jake Brown said. “It gets annoying because no one else can play They’re just taking up the table the whole time.”

Donovyn, who played two years of Independent League Baseball in the United Shore Professional Baseball League, offered many lessons to Derek about hitting and the game. He told him to be patient at the plate, emphasizing how difficult it is for pitchers to throw the ball over the dish consistently He taught him the importance of relaying the pitches he sees to his teammates in the dugout, a lesson

said Friday “We do it for him as well as the program.”

One coach in the Baton Rouge regional said no one in college baseball outworks Johnson. It’s a quality that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward naturally admires about Johnson, but also something that worries him a bit, too.

“He’s kind of a workaholic,” Woodward said. “I worry about him taking enough time off and not wearing himself out.”

True to his South Louisiana roots, Woodward is an avid hunter and ﬁsherman. Once, he coaxed Johnson to come duck hunting at his camp.

Once.

Johnson supposedly got three ducks. He’d rather see Derek Curiel get three hits, especially Saturday against Arkansas in LSU’s CWS opener (6 p.m., ESPN).

Woodward, accustomed to making big-name hires, said he knew Johnson was the guy for LSU from the start. He said Johnson was the best candidate he’s ever interviewed.

“He was prepared,” Woodward said. “He knew what he was doing. It was a mic drop interview My whole staff was there and everyone was like, ‘That’s the guy.’ It was kind of a nobrainer.”

Some LSU fans have a problem with Johnson: He’s not Bertman.

LSU probably never will get another Bertman. But it should want to hold onto Johnson for as long as it possibly can. There are more titles in his and LSU’s future.

Talk about a no-brainer For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Derek has taken to another level.

After every pitch, Derek takes one step out of the batter’s box and motions to the dugout with his hand what pitch he just saw It’s a routine that he started.

“We can kind of tell when it’s a slider from the side, but Derek likes to do it, and sometimes it does help us,” LSU senior outfielder Josh Pearson said. “It’s kind of funny to watch him tell us the pitch.” Donovyn and Rick also would relay mechanical advice to Derek, making sure that the knob of his bat was facing toward his back hip in his stance and that his swing starts from the ground up. Rick tends to watch video of Derek’s swing.

“I like Derek to be videotaped from the front and the back. We go over video a lot,” Rick said. “We slow it down so Derek and I watch it, just because sometimes when you get in a bad habit, you don’t realize you have a bad habit.

“So I’d have to show him on the video, just so he could see what’s going on. I would have Donovyn and or my wife, whoever was out there — videotape him.”

Rick still works with Derek on his swing. They don’t come together as often as they did when Derek was in high school, but they have worked a few times during the season. Rick threw to Derek on the ﬁeld at Alex Box Stadium earlier this season. When LSU was on the road at Oklahoma and Auburn, Rick found a cage to work with Derek.

“We did our work just to try to get him locked in again and get him right, Rick said, “just so he can feel comfortable with the swing.”

But it all started in that big batting cage in West Covina. The turf grass twisting underneath their feet and the persistent pinging of Derek’s bat connecting with another one of Rick’s pitches.

“We built that cage with our hands,” Derek said.

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

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Jay Johnson arrives at Charles Schwab Field for practice on Thursday in Omaha, Neb

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Fans react as LSU first baseman Jared Jones celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning of the Baton Rouge regional championship game against Little Rock on June 2 at Alex Box Stadium.

Carolinaout

Coastal Carolina keeps roll going

Chanticleers beat Arizona, push winning streak to 24 games

BY ERIC OLSON AP sportswriter

OMAHA, Neb.— Coastal Carolina broke opena tied game with three runs in the eighth inning, DominickCarbone shutdown athreat by Arizona in theninth andthe Chanticleers opened the College World Serieswith a7-4 victory Friday The Chanticleers (54-11) extended their winning streak to 24 games in their ﬁrst appearanceinOmaha since they beat Arizona in the 2016 finals. They will play Sunday against the winner of Friday night’sgame between Louisville and No. 8 nationalseed Oregon State.

“We’ve got adugout full of hungry and humble dogs,” Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall said.

Arizona (44-20), in the CWS for the ﬁrst time since 2021, will play the Louisville-Oregon State loseron Sunday

Coastal Carolina scored single runs in theﬁfthand sixth innings to forge a4-all tie with the Wildcats and took the leadinthe eighth after reliever Garrett Hicks (5-1) retired the ﬁrsttwo batters.

WellsSkyes slicedan0-2 pitch justinsidethe rightfield line for adouble and Caden Bodine was intention-

ally walked before Sebastian Alexander, whostruck outin his previous threeat-bats, singled in thego-ahead run Arizona closer Tony Pluta came on and gave up Blake Barthol’stwo-rundouble

“This is my last year of college eligibility and I’m givingiteverything I’vegot for this team,” Sykessaid. “I’ve got aton of respect for my teammates and my coaches, and Ithink the big crowds and theloud environments are helping.We’relocked in. We’reonacrazy win streak. We’rereallyconsistent

“So Ithink that’shelped everybody, not just me.”

Schnall said Sykes, theNo. 9batter whotransferred from The Citadel, wasthe right man at the right time in the eighth inning.

“He’sgot guts,”Schnall said. “He’sgreat under tensionand stress. He lives for those moments. He’s had some massive hits this postseason starting(with) the conference tournament. ButI’m reallyproud of him because he’sreally worked hard and he reallybought into the Coastal way Day 1.”

The Wildcats had runners on the corners withnoouts in the ninth. Carbonestruck out pinch-hitter Dom Rodriguez and then got Brendan Summerhill to hit into a game-endingdouble play.

“It came down tosome great two-strike hitting by them,” Wildcats coach Chip Halesaid.“Greatpitchalmost on the ground. Guy dunks it into right for adouble. Then they get jammed, hit aball intocenter for a

basehit That’swhy they have therecord they have and they’ve been able to run so manyoff.”

The Chanticleersofthe Sun BeltConference arrived with themost winsand on thelongestwinning streak ever entering aCWS.

GaryGilmore, who coached the2016 national championship team and retiredafter last season, accepted Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall’sinvitation to flywith the team to Omaha. He watched the gamefrom thestands.

Chanticleers reliever Cameron Flukey (8-1) pitched fourinnings in relief of RileyEikhoff and allowed two runs and two hitswith a walk.

Coastal Carolina ﬁnished with14hits against four pitchers. Blagen Pado, who entered the NCAATournamentbatting .225, continued his postseason tear.Hewent 2for 4and is now10of21 (.476) with three homers and eightRBIsoversix tournamentgames.

Arizona’sMason White hit his 20th homer of the season, and 49th of his career, in the fourthinning, with Alexander leaping at the left-field fenceand having theball soar just over his outstretched glove.

TheWildcats’ Owen Kramkowski, coming off his worst start of the season in an 18-2 loss at NorthCarolinain Game 1ofthe super regionals, scatteredninesingles and awalkwhile giving up threeruns in five innings. He struck out seven.

Bigoffense,big hearts fuel Murray State’srun

BY ERIC OLSON AP sportswriter

OMAHA, Neb.— Like Fresno State, Stony Brook and Oral Roberts before them, the Murray StateRacers are about to be embraced as the College World Series’ lovable underdogsbylocal fans looking to adopt ateam for the week.

Murray Statemerchandise already is selling fast among folks who aremuch morelikely to identify the southwestern Kentucky school with basketballalums Ja Morant or Popeye Jones thanthe upstart ballclub making its CWS debut. As aNo. 4regional seed, theRacers (44-15) beat No 10 nationalseedOle Miss of the Southeastern Conferenel two out of three times on itshomefield and also took down theACC’sGeorgia Tech. Then they wontwo of three at Duke in the super regionals.Upnext is their CWS opener against No. 15 UCLA (47-16) on Saturday

“A lotofpeople arecheeringfor us,but how many people actually believe in us that we can getitdone?” saidDustinMercer,the team’sleading hitter There’splentyofbelief in the clubhouse. Coach Dan Skirka andhis players say their bond is special fora team madeupofeight transfers from four-year schools, 14 from juniorcollegesand 14 other players whostarted theircareers with the Racers. The way theysee it,their small-budget program has thingsmoney can’tbuy players’ trust in each other love for each other and grittiness.

“Wedon’thave all the bells and whistles,” Skirka said. No, theydon’t. Murray Statedoled out $858,107 on baseball in the 2024 fiscal year.That’s about one-tenth of the$9millionbaseball

budgets for the SEC’sArkansas and LSU, the biggest spenders in theCWS. The Racers were just under the 11.7 scholarship limit for this season. Skirka’smost recent salarywas listedat$91,000 on the state of Kentucky’s transparency website, about 10 times less than the man who will be in theopposite dugout Saturday,UCLA’s John Savage. TheRacers rankedinthe bottom halfofDivision I home attendancethisseason, averaging 375 fans per game at 800-seat Johnny Reagan Field. Contrary to severalpublishedreports, Skirka said he does not mow the grass, though his players do shovelsnowoff the ﬁeld if necessary before early-season practices and games. The 40-year-old Skirka is straight out of central casting as the Racers’ seventhyear head coach.Hegrew up in Coldwater,Michigan, population 14,000, and played college ball about 90 minutesawayatDivision II Grand Valley State. Before he took over at Murray State, where he had been an assistantfrom200914, he had been an assistant and head coachatjunior

colleges and an assistantat Division II Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas. “Humble beginnings,” Skirka said.

Skirka’s mantra is to squeeze everything he can out of his limited resources and then add apersonal touch. Skirka said it’sabout recruiting theright people more than the right players. Alot of his team’ssuccess is the result of what hashappenedoff thefield.There were theteam dinners at Skirka’s house, bowling outings, creative conditioning drills andpresentations players give in thefallabout their lives outside baseball. “The culture, Iknow it’s cliché, but that’sthe number one thing on my mind 24/7,” Skirka said. “That’swhat these guys want. That’s what Ipromised them in the recruiting process.” The Racersswept the Missouri Valleyregular-season andtournamentchampionships and have kept rolling. They’re batting .357 and averaging 10.8 runs per game since the start of regionals. Mercer,inhis third season with the Racers since transferring fromVirginia Tech, is batting .360 for theseason and .552 with seven doubles in the NCAA Tournament.

By The Associated Press

CHICAGO Isiah KinerFalefa hit asacriﬁce ﬂy in the 10th inning to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beatthe Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Friday

ThePirates loaded the bases in the 10th on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ infield single and awalk to Henry Davis. Kiner-Falefa then drove in Adam Frazier with aflyball to left off Drew Pomeranz (2-1).

Kiner-Falefa also threw out Ian Happ when he attempted to score from first on Kyle Tucker’stwo-out double in the fifth inning Dennis Santana (2-1) got five outs for the win, and David Bednar workeda perfect 10th for his 10th save. Pirates ace Paul Skenes struck out five in five scoreless innings. He allowed four hits and walked two while throwing 95 pitches, 60 for strikes. Skenes,a former LSU standout, was matched by Cade Horton, who gave up

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By DAVID

BANKS

Pittsburgh starting pitcherPaul Skenes pitched five scoreless innings against the ChicagoCubsasthe Pirates edged the Cubs 2-1 in 10 innings.

three hits in 52/3 shutout innings for theNLCentral leaders. Each team scored in the eighth The Pirates jumpedin front when Davisscored on Oneil Cruz’schopper near themound. Reliever Brad Keller made an errant throw to theplate. TheCubs put runners on second and thirdwith one outinthe bottomhalf, and Dansby Swanson drove in Kyle Tucker when he bounced to Kiner-Falefa at shortstopfor afielder’s choice. Skenes has allowed atotal of ﬁve earnedruns in 471

3 innings over his last seven starts. But he has just one win in that stretch. Kiner-Falefa’s10th-inning

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByVASHAHUNT

MurrayState pitcher Graham Kelham, left,celebrates with catcher Will Vierlingafter a9-6 win over OleMiss on May30inOxford,Miss.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By CORy EADS

Coastal

fielder Sebastian Alexander celebratesa double in the Chanticleers’ 7-4 win overArizona at theCollegeWorld Series on Friday in Omaha, Neb

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Getyour facts straight and studythe possibilities. Aligning yourself withpeoplewho share your beliefs will help you build the momentum you require to achieve your goal.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Look in themirrorand askyourself tough questions. You may not please everyone and have to pay the price, but peace of mind will be worth itsweight in gold if youdo what's bestfor you.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Mixed emotionswill lead to questions.Review your dreams andconsider howequipped youare to fulfillthem. Don't quitbefore you give your desires achance to grow intosomething substantial

VIRGo (Aug.23-sept.22) You may relish change, but impulsive action is not the answer. Gather information andcozy up to thosewho can help you broaden your knowledge and credentials.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct.23) Take alittle "me time" and enjoy your space and loved ones.Conversations will be heated,but honesty can illuminate the bestway to move forward. Alifestyle change will tempt you.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Setoff on a learning expedition,and you'll discover something you can develop and make useful. It's time to let go of what you cannotchange and make room for people andpastimes that enhance your life.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec.21) You'reina better position than yourealize. Stick to the truth.Enforce disciplineand inge-

nuityathomeand when dealingwith outside influences.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Know what andwho youare dealingwith before engaging in conversations. Expect to hear exaggerated versions of what's happening. Pouryour timeand energy into what matters most.

AQuARIus(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You can follow your heart, but you mustbeready to deal with the consequences. Achange you make will be advantageous if executed correctly.Don't give in to anger or impulse. Choose peace over discord.

PIscEs (Feb.20-March 20) Choose aplace, group or activity that offersfreedom and peace of mind while you take a break from stressful interactions and an exhausting lifestyle. Kick back and enjoy yourself

ARIEs (March21-April 19) Listeningto otherswill help you seeyour life and current situations more clearly. Take amoment to collect your feelings. Be realistic regarding what you wantand expect.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Startheading in adirection that offerspromise and positive change. Connect withpeople fromyourpast who can help youreflect on where you come from. Sometimes, lookingback can clear the passageforward.

CelebrityCipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, pastand present. Each letter in the cipher stands foranother. toDAy's cLuE: BEQuALs y

For better or For WorSe

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

bIG nAte

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’sPuzzleAnswer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

JoshBillings,the pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw, was ahumorist who died in 1885. He said, “One halfofthe troubles in this life can be traced to saying yestoo quickly and not saying no soon enough.”

Perhapsone half of the mistakes at the bridgetable can be traced to playing too quickly and not taking enough time to think things through. That would be thecase formany players in today’sdeal. Defending against four hearts, East wins thefirst trickwith hisclubjack.Howwouldmanycontinue? What should East do?

South’s two-heart response, in asuit higher ranking than his partner’s, guaranteesatleastafive-cardsuit.(Withonly four hearts, Southwould usually make a negativedouble.)

Many defenders would win with the club jack, cash the club king, and continuewiththe club ace. What would happen? If South ruffs low, West overruffs andshifts to adiamond fordown one. If South ruffs high, he eventually loses a heart anda diamondtofalltodefeat. But aSouth who paused for afew moments at trick three would see the advantage in discarding his unavoidable diamond loser. Then thecontract would make.

Eastshould cash hisdiamond ace at trick three (or two) before continuing clubs. This defeats the contract. The defenders get twoclubs, onediamond and one heart Do not try for atrump promotion until, if possible, youhave taken allofyour side-suit tricks ©2025 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word,phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

InstRuctIons: 1. Wordsmustbeoffour or moreletters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by theaddition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,”are not allowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD stEWARD: STOO-werd: One who actively directs affairs; manager.

Averagemark 36 words Time limit50minutes Can youfind46ormore words in STEWARD?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —unDERcut

uncured

dune

tune tuner turn turned

loCKhorNs

Thank youLord! Youare so good.-- G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

dIrectIons: make a2-to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. allthe words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5thEdition. For moreinformation on tournaments and clubs, email naspa– north american sCraBBlE playersassociation: info@scrabbleplayers.org.Visit ourwebsite:www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzle inquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com. Hasbro andits logo sCraBBlE

ken ken

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

WiShinG Well

HErE is aplEasanT liTTlE gamEthat will give you

numericalpuzzledesigned to spellout your

the number of letters is 6ormore, subtract 4. if

is your keynumber. startatthe upper left-hand corner andcheck each

bers, left to right. Then readthe message the

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

PUBLIC NOTICE In accordance with the OilPollution Actof1990 (33USC 2714(c)), Spec‐trum OpCo LLC(Spec‐trum)has been named as thesourceofa dis‐charge of an undeter‐minedamount of crude oilintoa tributaryofthe Gulf of America, that oc‐curred at theGardenIs‐land BayProductionFa‐cility,WellNo. 59 in PlaqueminesParish, near Venice,Louisiana on or about26April 2025. This spill impactedthe previ‐ouslymentioned tribu‐tary,known as Garden Is‐land Bay, andasthe owneroroperatorofthe unsecuredwellhead,

CREW BOAT M/VMISSEFFIE, PRAYINGFOR EXONERA‐TION FROM OR LIMITA‐TION OF LIABILITY CIVILACTIONNO. 25-874 SECTION B(1) Notice is hereby given that theabove named Petitioner has fileda Ver‐ified Complaint, pursuant to 46 U.S.C. §§ 30501, et seq. (formallycodified as 46 U.S.C. app. §§ 181, et seq.)for exoneration from or limitation of lia‐bility forall claims for anyinjuries, damages, expenses,costs,and otherlossescaused, oc‐casioned by or occurring during an incident on the Mississippi RiveronJan‐uary 28, 2024 involving thecrewboatM/V MISS EFFIEallegedly as are‐sult of deckhand Erice Ragas'sthumbonhis left hand beingcaughtin a pinchpoint between a line fastened to theM/V MISS EFFIEand adock cleattowhich Mr.Ragas wasattempting to fasten theline, as more fullyde‐scribedinthe Verified Complaint. Allpersons having such claims must file theirre‐spective claims,aspro‐videdinRuleF,including paragraphs (4)and (5) thereof, of theSupple‐mental Rulesfor Certain Admiralty& Maritime Claims of theFederal RulesofCivil Procedure, with theClerk of this Courtatthe United States CourtHouse,500 PoydrasStreet,New Or‐leans, Louisiana, and must servea copy thereofonattorneysfor Petitioner on or before the 5thday of Septem‐ber, 2025,orbede‐faulted. If anyclaimantdesires to contesteitherthe right to exonerationfromor theright to limitation of liability, he shall file and serveonthe attorneys forPetitionerananswer to theComplaint on or before theaforesaid date unless hisclaim hasin‐cluded an answer,so designated,orbede‐faulted.

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PUBLIC NOTICE CIVILDISTRICTCOURT FORTHE PARISH OF ORLEANS STATEOFLOUISIANA NO.2024-07790 DIVISION “E” SECTION“7” SUCCESSION OF DR FRANKH.SCHALOW NOTICE OF ADMINISTRA‐TOR’S PETITION TO PAYATTOR‐NEY’SFEES ANDCOSTS NOTICE IS GIVENthat ERIC M. SCHORR, Admin‐istrator of theSUCCES‐SION OF DR.FRANK H. SCHALOW, haspetitioned this HonorableCourt for authorityto pay SES‐&

Succession between No‐vember 14, 2024, through May31, 2025, in the amount of $39,456.30. PUBLICATION: TheNew OrleansAdvocate TheLouisiana Weekly ONCE:Pursuantto LouisianaCodeofCivil Procedurearticle 3304, thePetitiontoPay Attor‐ney’sFees andCosts can be homologatedafter the expiration of seven(7) days from thedateof publicationand anyop‐position to thePetitionto PayAttorney’s Fees and Costsmustbe ﬁledprior to homologation

Isaac andAmanda Toups prepare ameat-laden feast in their open, sun-splashed kitchen.

HOME | DESIGN | GARDEN | REAL ESTATE

Chef Isaac and Amanda Toups’ Gentilly home is all about food, family and friends, with some visual drama thrown in for good design measure.Jyl Benson takes us inside on Page 12, and then the renownchef offers up some meat-centric recipes from his upcoming restaurant, just in time for Father’sDay

forsale. The St. Bernard estate includes a5,600-square-foot main house, atwo-bedroom guest house, aprivate lake as well as apool, and 30 acres,all for $1.7 million. Victor Andrews has the scoop on Page 10.

GREENTHUMB

More harm than good in your garden? PAGE 4

IN DETAIL

What’sbehind thosefront doors? PAGE 7

INSIDE STORY

Tell us aboutyour spaces

Agathering of mid-mod architecture fans. PAGE 8

Youwon’twant to miss peeking inside this week’sOne in aMillion home

And anote: The popular Backstory column is on hiatus forthe summer,but John McCusker will return in thefall with moretales of how New Orleans’ past still affects its present.

The InsideOut home and gardensection is published every Saturday by TheTimes-Picayune Questions about InsideOut should be directed to the editor

INSIDEOUT EDITOR: Karen Taylor Gist, kataylor@theadvocate.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Victor Andrews, Jyl Benson, Dan Gill, Marni Jameson

COVERDESIGN: AndreaDaniel

COVER PHOTO: John McCusker

TO BE FEATURED: Send information and photos to insideout@theadvocate. com

ONEINAMILLION

St.Bernardestatewith a lake for$1.7M.PAGE10

COVERSTORY

At home with chef Isaac and Amanda Toups. PAGE 12

AT HOMEWITHMARNI

Brighten up without breaking the bank. PAGE 17

INSIDE INFO

Home and garden happenings. PAGE 18

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS

Recent transactions in the metroarea. PAGE 19

InsideOut’smission is to give readers peeksinside themanydifferent ways that peopleinthe New Orleans area live.Weproﬁle spaces that are opulent,orjust offbeat; sophisticated or simple;functional or light-hearted; historicorbrand-spanking new. And anything in between.

Please help us by sending informationand JPEGphotos of your home, or speciﬁc spaces inside it,to insideout@theadvocate.com. We love gardensand outdoor spaces, too. And we’re waiting to hear from you.

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GREENTHUMB

Mulch should neverbe piled up in amound around the base of the trunk —a practice that has been dubbed ‘volcano mulching.’

We all want to do agood job taking care of theplantsin our landscapes Learning about the proper care aplant needs and providing it are key to successful landscape maintenance.

There are times,however, thatwemay unintentionally cause damage to landscape plantswhile trying to keep the landscape wellgroomed and provide proper care.

Save thebark, save thetree

Here’sa good example. A maintenance crew working on ahomeowner’s landscape got tooclose to thetrunk of aJapanese maple tree with astring trimmer and removed alot of bark. The treewas looking poorly and the owner asked me what to do for it.Unfortunately, the damage was done, and

girdling the tree. Mowers pushed hard or dragged around the base of young trees can be almost as damaging.

HEATISON: If youplanted petunias this spring,don’t be surprised if theybegin to look poorly this month or in July. Petunias generally do not tolerate the intense heat of summer this far south.When theylanguish, pull themupand replace them with more heat-tolerant bedding plantssuch as angelonia,blue daze,celosia,coleus,gaillardia, lantana,ornamental sweet potato,Profusion zinnia,marigold, melampodium,narrow-leaf zinnia, pentas,periwinkle,purslane, salvia,scaevola or torenia.

INTERIM CROP: Spring and early summervegetables

there was really nothing she could do to help the tree. If the damage was bad enough, the treecould even die String trimmers and other equipment used for cutting down weeds and grass can be very damaging to young trees and trees that have relatively thin bark. If theline is allowed to hit the trunk, part of the bark will be removed with each contact of the line. If youare not careful, you might even remove an entire ring of bark all the way around the trunk,

GARDEN TIPS

planted back lastMarch,like snap beans,cucumbers,squash and tomatoes,often finish up in late June or July.When you remove them,youcouldplant a green manure crop in the bed to improve the soil overthe summer Peanuts and Southernpeas make excellent green manure crops.Just as the young plants come into

The part of atree’scirculatory system that carries food, manufactured by the leaves, to the roots (which can make no food for themselves) lies just under the bark. Damage that occurs when mowers or string trimmers remove patches of bark interferes with the tree’s ability to send food to its roots. As the roots are deprived of food, they begin to starve and function poorly —and this leads to astunted, unhealthy tree. Remove acomplete ring of bark and you maycut off food to the roots altogether. The roots starve to death, leading to the death of the tree.

Many sickly trees that have been planted for afew years but don’tgrow well have been damaged in this way.Look at the base of their trunks and you will often see scars and

flower,chop them up and till them under.Then apply afew inches of mulch or alayer of cardboard to control weeds.Thegreen manure crop will decompose in the soil overthe summer and the bed will be readytoplant your fallcrops.

ONE BORN EVERYMINUTE: Remove suckers that appearat the base of crapemyrtles as soon as theyappearbycutting them off at theirpoint of origin at the trunk or evenbelow ground.Do not leaveastub or theyare more likelytoresprout.youcoulduse a sprout inhibitor (available at local nurseries or online) to helpreduce howoften youmust do this.

By SCOTT THRELKELD

Dan Gill GREEN THUMB

Celosia Intenz Classic

GREENTHUMB

BY DAN GILL

Contributing writer

My parsley is beginning to look yellowish green and is sending up flower stalks. Can I grow it through the summer or is it finished? — Susan

Although it is actually a biennial, we grow parsley as a cool-season annual herb. That means its prime growing season is October through May. Parsley is best planted in the fall. It will grow and produce over the winter and abundantly into the spring By the time we reach early to midJune, the long days trigger the plants to bloom. Flowering signals the end of production

If you like, you may harvest the remaining parsley foliage now and you can freeze or dry it for use during the summer You will likely ﬁnd the quality is already reduced due to the heat and blooming of the plant. However, do not pull the plants up now, while they are blooming. The tiny ﬂowers parsley produces when

duced. If the parsley survives the summer (parsley often succumbs to the heat and dies during the summer), it will revive in the fall, grow over the winter and spring and bloom next year

it blooms are attractive to various parasitic wasps, which can help hold down insect populations in your garden. At this point, I would wait until it has ﬁnished ﬂowering before removing the entire plant and throwing it in the compost pile.

For those of you who planted parsley in the spring, your plants will generally not bloom this year. You may leave them in the garden over the summer However, heat and insect pests take their toll — the quality goes down in summer and harvesting is greatly re-

Seems to me I had read that tomatoes will not set fruit if the night temperature is too high.What, roughly, is the temperature that above which tomatoes will not set fruit? Are some varieties more able to set fruit in higher night temperatures? — Charlie It is true that temperatures affect tomato production. As daytime highs hit the 90s and nighttime lows stay in the mid70s, tomato ﬂowers are less likely to be pollinated and will fall off without setting fruit. That’s why we plant transplants between March and mid-April — so we get a good set of fruit on the plants before the intense heat arrives. And all the green tomatoes you see on your plants discourage the plant from setting more fruit. So, we won’t see much more fruit set at this point.

At this point, then, our main tomato crop is already set and

on the tomato plants. Indeed, we are well into harvest season now (if you haven’t been picking tomatoes already, your plants are late). Now, we are mostly just waiting for the green tomatoes still on the plants to grow and ripen over the next weeks. Tomato season largely ﬁnishes in late June/ early July Cherry tomatoes, paste tomatoes and heat-tolerant varieties (Bella Rosa, Tribeca, Tribute, Floralina, Heatwave II, Florida 91, Phoenix, Solar Fire, Sunbeam, Sunchaser, Sunleaper, and Sunmaster) are better able to set fruit in high temperatures.

I am having a problem with my gladiolas.The buds, though fully formed, are turning brown and dying before fully opening. Do you know what can be wrong? — Linda I suspect gladiolus thrips. These insects attack the ﬂower buds, damaging the tissue. This causes the ﬂowers to open poorly and the petals to look burned.

Ideally, gladiolus corms should be planted starting in mid-February through midMarch in our area. This allows the plants to bloom in late

GREENTHUMB

TREES

Continued from page 4

callus growth from repeated injury done to the base of the tree.

In addition to interfering with food movement, the open wounds created by mowers and trimmers can provide entry points for disease organisms that can cause infections and decay

To prevent these problems, do not allow grass to grow close to the base of young trees for the ﬁrst three to ﬁve years after planting. And for thin barked trees like Japanese maples and crape myrtles, you must prevent damage.

Keep an area at least a foot out from the trunk grass-free — and farther out is even better. Keep the area mulched to prevent grass and weeds from growing. Any stray weeds can be killed with a quick spray of the herbicide glyphosate, if necessary (do not allow this herbicide to contact the trunk of the tree).

Not only does this protect trees from string trimmers, but keeping the area mulched and free from grass encourages faster growth on young trees. Research indicates that in some cases, trees that were mulched grew twice as fast as trees that were not The major reason is competition from the grassroots.

Tree guards placed around the lower part of the trunk of young trees can also be used to prevent this type of damage.

PHOTO

Water trees using either a soaker hose or a traditional garden hose running on a slow trickle.

Shrubs are generally planted in beds so are less at risk. But I have seen this problem occasionally when ground covers, such as Asiatic jasmine, are trimmed away from the base of shrubs with string trimmers, or when large shrubs like camellias are grown individually in lawn areas.

Whether you maintain your landscape yourself or pay someone to do it for you, don’t let this kind of needless damage happen to your trees and shrubs.

Mulching properly

Speaking of mulching around trees, it must be done properly. Mulch should never be piled up in a mound around the base of the trunk — a practice that has been dubbed “volcano mulching.”

Piling the mulch deeply around the base of the trunk exposes the trunk to dark, moist conditions. The bark was never meant to protect the tree from this kind of environment, and decay organisms can take advantage and

invade the trunk.

When mulching trees, the mulch should be spread out in a ﬂat disk 2 to 4 inches deep and pulled back slightly from the trunk. As the mulch thins out and decays, add more mulch as necessary

Killing with kindness

Overwatering and excessive fertilization are also issues for our landscape plants.

When dry weather occurs and irrigation is necessary, keep in mind that it is better to water thoroughly occasionally than to water lightly frequently Be careful not to water excessively.

During the intense heat of summer, many landscape plants are stressed and become more susceptible to disease problems like root rot. Excessive moisture in the soil, which commonly occurs when plants growing in the ground are watered too frequently, is a leading cause of root rot in mid to late summer

Fertilizing too generously is also not a good idea, but it is frequently overdone. High nutrient levels, particularly nitrogen, stimulate lush, vigorous growth that may look great, but may also be more attractive to insect pests or disease organisms.

Applying fertilizer is especially important when growing bedding plants or vegetables, which require generous nutrient availability to perform at the high levels we expect. Otherwise, be moderate in the amount of supplemental nutrients you provide.

Continued from page 5

April and May when thrips populations are much smaller By June, populations are generally high and can cause problems. If there are still enough young ﬂower spikes with no damage to

treatment, you could spray with spinosad to control the thrips.

Dan Gill is a retired consumer horticulture specialist with the LSU AgCenter. He hosts the “Garden Show” on WWL-AM Saturdays at 9 a.m. Email gardening questions to gnogardening@agcenter.lsu edu.

PROVIDED

Open interpretation to

Front doors have a lot to say, but we can only guess whether they are an accurate depiction of the folks who inside them. When styles range from spaceship modern to richly carved woodwork, are the occupants opposites, too? Are there real felines inside the light-hued door with a lionshaped knocker? Are the sharp angles and columns of one home indicative of a rigid personality inside? It’s amusing to speculate. But it’s just as much fun to marvel at how such a utilitarian item can be made to look so different.

— Karen Taylor Gist

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER

midModern love

online and in-person group celebrates architecture style entrenched in area neighborhoods

BY JYL BENSON Contributing writer

Janice Hall is a champion of midcentury modern architecture, so much so that she started a Facebook page called “Midcentury in New Orleans,” which is coming up on 3,500 members and has grown to encompass home tours, a cocktail club and a general social movement.

Hall’s posts include all things midcentury: exterior photographs, interior design, cars, art, cocktail recipes, fashion, landscape and architectural plans.

Her afﬁnity for the genre began early in life. She grew

PROVIDED PHOTOS

A home posted on the Facebook page Midcentury in New Orleans shows the geometric shape and the use of stone or brick, part of the midcentury-modern style.

up in Chicago, where the tony Lakeshore Drive is richly dotted with stunning midcentury homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Her ﬁrst job was in the Illinois Center, which famed architect Miles van der

Rohe designed.

“It was kismet,” Hall said.

Defining the style

Midcentury architecture, popular from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, focused on minimalist design, open spaces and a connection to nature.

At the humble end of the midcentury genre is the ranch house. Nine out of 10 homes built in the 1950s fall into this category The homes are characterized by an asymmetrical one-story shape, an open ﬂoor plan, a low-pitched roof with wide eaves and broad façades.

At the loftier end of the spectrum is the midcentury modern aesthetic in which the scale is more dramatic and the integration of outdoor spaces via large windows and glass walls is more pronounced.

Cantilevered balconies and decks are standard, as are geometric shapes and the use of stone and natural wood, as well

MIDMOD HOME TOUR

For fans of midcentury modern style,the Preservation Resource Center is sponsoring ahappy hour and tour of threesuchhomes.

Twoofthe homes were designed by Albert Ledner, astudent of Frank Lloyd Wright; oneofthemwas his personal dwelling. The third was the personal residence of architect T. Sellers Meric. All are within walking distance.

as custom-designed, often builtin, furniture.

Agrowing interest

Hall’sinterest in thestyle deepened while living in Palm Springs, California, where the photographer,competitive tennis player,interior designer and art buff founded an art gallery downtown with an adjunct gallery space on the ground ﬂoor of the Horizon Hotel, amidcentury modern icon designed by William F. Codyin1952 in acity celebrated for an abundance of the glamorous stye.

When life brought hertoNew Orleans, Hall did not expect to ﬁnd her favored architectural style in acityknown for shotgun houses, Creole cottages and Victorian mansions. Buta drive down the local Lakeshore Driveenlightened her.Deeper exploration and afternoon drives started to reveal scattered pockets of it.

“I became awomanona mission,” Hall said, “like something out of the ‘Blues Brothers,’ but then, Iamfrom Chicago.

“I found old ﬂyers from just after World WarIIadvertising the development of the lakefront ‘Just likeChicago!’ they read.”

Inspired, last summer Hall created the Facebook page. Spreadingthe word locally

“I thought Imight get ﬁve followers and make afew new friends,” she said. Hall would drive around, taking pictures of houses that excitedher,then post them on her page, taking care to obscure ahome’saddress. Word spreadand she was often contacted by the

INSIDESTORY

WHEN: 5p.m.to8 p.m.Wednesday WHERE: Lakewood South neighborhood of NewOrleans TICKETS: $25-$35, prcno.org/events

Midcenturymodernhomes are knowfor their open floor plans. Largewindows welcome in light and viewsofnature.

homeowners, who sometimes invited her to tour the inside of their homes.

“I started this for fun. It’sfun, social and educational. Idothis for nothing but the sheer enjoyment ofdoing it,” shesaid.

Plans include chef-driven dinnerparties with wine pairings in midcentury homes, and there is discussion of abook.

The cocktail club meets at 5:30 p.m. on the ﬁrst Tuesday

TONIVANZANDT

504-913-8665 toni@reverealtors.com

1633DUFOSSATSTREET UPTOWN

$2,395,000 Stunning3-StoryPrivate OasisJustStepsfrom St.CharlesAve!Lotsof RecentUpgrades.Gated Compoundoffersover 8,200totalsqft,including 5Beds,7.5Baths&prkgfor 6+vehichles&muchmore!

1640PALMERAVENUE UPTOWN/AUDUBON

$2,500,000

6Beds,5.5Baths, 6,751SqFt Theeleganceof classicalarchitecture combinedw/the conveniencesof moderncomforts

of themonth at Ralph’sonthe Park near New Orleans City Park. Hall workswith restaurant management to determine whichmidcentury cocktail to serve —something like a Martini, aVesper,aGibson, a TomCollins, aPink Squirrel, a Grasshopperorothers of that ilk. Participation is free, and allare welcome. Just pay your own way at thebar andjump in.

4827PrytaniaSt., NOLA70115

504-300-0700 LicensedinLouisiana

600PORTOFNEWORLEANS UNIT6F•ONERIVERPLACE/FRENCHQUARTER

$2,500,000 Elegant2Bed, 2.5Bath, 2,639SqFt. CornerUnitw/ BreathingPanoramic ViewsofIconicFrQtr. &MississippiRiver

920POEYFARRESTREETUNIT104

•YourLocal andGlobal

Largewindows and pitched roofs illustrate midcenturystyle.

ONEINAMILLION

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Wrought-iron arched front doors are the entrance to the home’s ornate foyer, complete with gilded coved ceiling The formal dining room is to the right, and the office is to the left.

ABOVE: An island with seating is lit by dual chandeliers, which complement those in the adjoining breakfast area. LEFT: The connected breakfast room sits by a bayed wall of windows overlooking the robust outdoor covered patio.

St. Bernard estate sits on 30 acres with a private lake

BY VICTOR ANDREWS Staff writer

Within 25 miles of New Orleans, an estate with a large main home, guesthouse, manicured acreage and casual opulence is waiting in St. Bernard, complete with a large pool, private lake and abundant entertaining areas.

Touches of classic architecture are woven throughout the home. There are elements of Grecian style in the columns, French Provencal touches in the woodwork, Italian embellishments in the ceilings and more European inﬂuences in coffered ceilings and stained glass.

But an underlying Southern charm blends the diverse accents into a harmonious contemporary estate with relaxed Old World elegance in a pastoral setting of more than 30 acres, just minutes from downtown New Orleans.

The package, including the three-bedroom main house with more than 5,600 square feet, a twobedroom guesthouse and all that acreage, is priced at $1.7 million.

Approaching the home, a water feature and broad walkway lead to the front porch.

A pair of arched wrought-iron front doors form the portal to the manse, leading into a hall with inlaid marble ﬂoors and gilded

vaulted ceiling.

To the left, the formal dining room is accessed through double doorways with a leaded-glass transom. The ﬂoor-length windows on the front of the home bring in natural light to the generous space, framed in architectural details including an ornate ceiling medallion.

To the right of the front hall, glass doors lead into what currently is used as an ofﬁce, a handsome space with ﬂoor-length arched windows, intricately adorned cabinets and shelves and a recessed dome ceiling. The space could also serve as a formal sitting room

The hall leads to the living room, a showplace of glass overlooking the backyard. It has access to a wet bar and the additional rooms of the home. The grand space is anchored by a large ﬁreplace with carved surround. The bar, tucked into the side wall, features arched columns, a stained-glass light and bar seating overlooking the room. The column motif is repeated opposite the bar into the casual dining area and kitchen, a continuous space that beneﬁts from a bay of glass walls overlooking the back.

The kitchen, with marble counters and an abundance of glassfront cabinets, is demarcated by an island with additional seating,

ABOVE: The spas of Europe seem to have cast their influence over the primary bath.

LEFT: Aquatic adventures await in the home’s large in-ground pool.

A circle parking pad is the entree spot for the elegant home in St. Bernard.

The home’sgreatroom is adual-sector spacewith aformal sitting area at the front featuring a largestone fireplace. Therear sector has asolariumfeeling with walls of windows overlooking the outdoors.

making it acozy spot forconversation with the chef during mealpreparation. Stainless appliances gleam in the light of the twin chandeliers that hang over the bar.Apantry has more cabinets and counters forfood prep and staging.

Past the pantry lies thehome’s great room, amajesticspace with two sectors topped by coffered ceilings. The sector to the front of the home features ﬂoorlength arched windows and a massive stone ﬁreplace, while the sector to the back evokes a tropical feel of outdoor living with wall-size windows on three sides and access to the outdoors through two doors, both to covered patio areas.

On the other side of the home, the bedrooms enjoy aseparate wing connected to public rooms by ahall with aconvenient powder room.

Twobedrooms sit at the front of the home, with access to a full bathroom at the end of the hall. The two-chambered bathroom features avanityinone section, with the tub and shower in the second.

The primary suite is awindow-ﬁlledspace with room fora seating area. The room has double walk-inclosets andfeatures double glassdoors leading to

themaincovered patio behind the home.

The bathroom conjures imagesofEuropean spas, witha trayed ceiling and large soaking tubbeneath an oversized window that is ﬂanked by niches with cabinetry and twin vanities. Astanding shower at the far end and awater closet complete the room.

The elegant ambiance continues into the outdoor spaces. Abroad tile-covered patio, grounded by alarge stone ﬁreplace, has sitting and dining areasoverlooking the lake, with its twin footbridges and island. It also looks over the large and stately pool, connected to a pavilion prime for enjoying al fresco dining or entertaining. Another side patio, off the great

Apavilion with decorative touches and avaulted ceiling makes amarvelous spot for outdoor meals or entertaining evenings.

room, greatly enhances the amount of exterior entertaining space.

Ashort stroll away,down agravel path beneath mossdraped oaks, is aguesthouse. Inside, afull kitchen opens onto the main room thatserves as dining and living space. Two bedrooms share afull bathroom.

Elsewhere on the property, stocked ﬁsh and crawﬁsh ponds provide sport and dining delights.

The homeislisted by Angela Discon, of Keller WilliamsRealty455-0100, (504) 554-8267.

One in aMillionisan occasional series featuring upscale homes forsale in the metro area.

COVER STORy

THOUGHT FOR FOOD

The Toups home

offers

dramatic visuals,

but a cozy

lifestyle

BY JYL BENSON

Contributing writer

ä Toups Meatery program grew amid pandemic to serve those experiencing food insecurity.

PAGE 16

After entering the home that Isaac and Amanda Toups share with their two daughters, Poppy, 14, and Ivy, 10, visitors pass through a hallway beneath a series of taxidermied waterfowl mounted on natural cypress blocks. Preserved in varying states of ﬂight, the immortalized birds form a feathered allée that sets the tone for the emergence of chef Isaac Toups’ open kitchen. It’s a dramatic segue into a dramatic space, designed by an unapologetically dramatic, colorful character

ä See TOUPS, page 15

The lower cabinetry and glass-fronted upper cabinets in the expansive bar area at the far end of the dining room are painted a vibrant of exotic spalted maple inlaid with black resin to resemble a river. The Toups’ enviable cookbook collection, at left, includes highly collecti French Cooking.’

Isaac Toups prepares seared lamb chops.

The mounted, taxidermied waterfowl in the hallway of the Toups’ home were gifted to the family by Poppy Tooker, host of WWNO’s ‘Louisiana Eats!’ Tooker’s late husband hunted them.

The Toups family, from left, includes Ivy, 10, Amanda and Isaac, and Poppy, 14.

ISAAC TOUPS’ FATHER’S DAY RECIPES

INSIDE

ä Caviar

Trifle

ä Seared Pork Secreto

ä Glazed Roasted Red Peppers.

ä A Study of Alliums Pages 14-15

SEARED TXULETA

Meaning “meat chop” in Basque, txuleta is a richly ﬂavored, thick-cut rib steak, usually a porterhouse or T-bone, a cornerstone of Basque gastronomy. An aged, bone-in rib-eye is a good substitute.

Serves 2-4 for a seated dinner or a crowd when laid out as part of a casual spread.

1 20-ounce txuleta or aged bone-in rib-eye

3 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons coarse, freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon avocado oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 medium lemon, cut in half

1. Season the steak with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a 12-inch cast iron pan over high heat, undisturbed, for 5 minutes.

3. Carefully add the avocado oil. It will sputter.

4. Add the steak and sear for 3 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat and allow the steak to sit in the pan for one minute more on each side.

5. Remove the steak from the pan and transfer it to a cutting board. Top the steak with butter, then squeeze each of the lemon halves over it. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving directly from the cutting board.

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER rant shade of teal favored by Amanda Toups. The dining room is punctuated by a 10-foot table ollectible tomes by Salvador Dali and a signed, first edition of Julia Child’s ‘Mastering the Art of

More recipes fit for Father’s Day

Over a recent meal at the renowned restaurant Casa Julien in DonostiaSan Sebastián, Tolosa, Spain, with their children, Poppy, 14, and Ivy, 10, Isaac and Amanda Toups were inspired to create Armada, a restaurant concept celebrating the Spanish and French culinary inﬂuences on the evo-

CAVIAR TRIFLE

Makes 4 small triﬂes

6 ounces crème fraiche, at room temperature

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 tablespoon finely minced shallots

1 hard-boiled egg, passed through a fine sieve

1 tablespoon finely minced chives

2 ounces caviar (the Toups used osetra caviar, but the plain variety of locally produced Cajun Caviar will work fine)

Zapp’s plain potato chips for serving

1 Divide half of the crème fraiche among four 4-ounce glass parfait dishes or small Mason jars.

2. Divide half of the lemon zest atop the crème fraiche.

3. Divide all of the minced shallots atop the lemon zest.

4. Divide all of the egg atop the shallots.

5. Divide the remaining crème fraiche atop the egg.

6. Divide the remaining lemon zest atop the crème fraiche.

7. Divide all of the chives atop the lemon zest.

8. Divide all of the caviar atop the chives.

Serve with Zapp’s plain potato chips.

Chef Isaac Toups prepares a luxurious trifle of crème fraiche and caviar.

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER

lution of New Orleans multicultural Creole cuisine. It is expected to open later this year at 231 Carondelet St.

On a recent afternoon, the Toups prepared items from its meat-centric menu.

The simple menu, perfect for a Father’s Day gathering, relies on

high-quality cuts of beef and pork, so select the best you can afford.

Amanda Toups recommends the moderately priced 2024 VillaViva Rose as an accompaniment.

“It complements everything we serve,” she said.

— By Jyl Benson

SEARED PORK SECRETO

Iberico Pork Secreto is a deeply ﬂavorful, richly marbled cut of pork from the Iberian pig, a Spanish breed fed primarily on a diet of acorns. The ﬂavor is impossible to mimic, but a top-notch pork chop can be substituted.

Serves 2-4 for a seated dinner or a crowd when laid out as part of a casual spread.

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarse, freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon avocado oil

1 12-ounce pork Secreto or a 1-inchthick, well-marbled boneless pork chop, the biggest one you can find

1 small lime

1. Season the pork with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a cast-iron pan over high heat, undisturbed, for 5 minutes. Carefully, add the avocado oil to the pan. It will sputter

3. Add the pork and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove the pork from the pan and transfer it to a cutting board. Allow it to rest for two minutes before squeezing the lime halves over the pork. Slice and serve directly from the cutting board.

Glazed Roasted Red Peppers

Serves 6 for a seated dinner or a crowd when laid out as part of a casual spread.

3 large bell peppers, roasted and peeled, seeds discarded

2 tablespoons aged sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons dry sherry wine

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon coarse, freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons crushed Marcona almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut the roasted peppers into quarters and add them to a baking pan. Toss the peppers with the sherry vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, sherry wine, salt and pepper.

3. Roast peppers for 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining oil and the crushed almonds.

TOUPS

Continued from page 12

“I designed this with my friends at Huey Brown Kitchens in Metairie to be a stage for Isaac,” said Amanda Toups. “That, and a place to party. We love a party! I wanted people to walk in and say, ‘This is an amazing kitchen!’”

Partners in both life and business, the Toupses’ lives revolve around food, family and entertaining. Together, they have operated Toups Meatery in Mid-City, where Isaac Toups is executive chef, since 2012. Repeatedly recognized by the James Beard Foundation as one of the nation’s foremost chefs, he was also a popular competitor on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and published a cookbook, “Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking” (2018, Little Brown).

The couple plans to open a new restaurant, Armada, in the CBD in the fall.

The Toupses bought a ranch house on the Gentilly property in 2014. In 2021, they tore it down to build their

island of dolomite (or Panda marble), a carbonite mineral of calcium and magnesium with variations ranging from the purest of crystalline white to the darkest of black The waterfall island has the stone extending to the ﬂoor on either end.

“I wanted real drama, real visual impact,” said Amanda Toups. “When we started this, Jerusalem Stone (of Metairie) couldn’t give the stone away. No one had ever heard of it, but since we ﬁlmed some TikToks in here and they posted them on their Instagram, they can’t keep it in stock.”

Dolomite is quarried from the Dolomite Mountains in the Italian Alps.

A STUDY OF ALLIUMS

Warm leeks served with a sauce and garnished with pickled red onion.

The pickled red onions must be made the day before.

Serves 4 for a seated dinner or a crowd when laid out as part of a casual spread.

For the pickled red onion

1 large red onion, julienned

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon white mustard seeds

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Add the onions to a bowl or a large glass jar

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, wine, mustard seeds and salt. Bring to a boil.

3. Pour the liquid over the onions. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

For the leeks

3 large leeks, halved and cleaned, white and light green portions retained, dark, tough portions discarded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon avocado oil

½ cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Preheat a high broiler.

2. Add the leeks to a baking dish. Season with salt and drizzle with avocado oil. Broil on high heat until charred, about 5 minutes.

For the sauce

1 tablespoon avocado oil

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon aged sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

current 3,800-square-foot home. Like the rest of the house, the kitchen features black and white in various materials and ﬁnishes. The space was designed with on-camera work for both television and social media in mind, so the room’s water sources are located outside of the main “frame.”

The focal point is a 12-foot seated

Behind Isaac Toups’ island workspace are a bank of custom matteblack wooden cabinets by Huey Brown Kitchens and custom appliances by Bluestar, including a 48-inch dual-fuel range and a separate pair of dual-fuel ovens, one an armoire style, the other with a single door. A backsplash of dolomite extends from the dolomite counters to meet the underlit cabinets. A steer’s head is mounted on the downdraft over the stove.

3. Add the chicken stock and the butter Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. ä See TOUPS, page 16

1. Add the avocado oil to a medium saute pan set over medium. Add the shallots and sauté until the shallots start to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, vinegar and sugar, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.

Assembly

Serve the warm leeks with sauce and garnish with 2 tablespoons of pickled red onion. Serve alone or with seared meat.

Bailey Basil Toups mans the catthemed staircase.

The olive wood and resin table behind the sofa was made in Turkey The armoire/entertainment center was gifted to the couple by Isaac Toups’ father. It came from South Korea. The console under the television was made by an artist Amanda Toups found on Etsy.

TOUPS

Continued from page 15

The ﬂoors throughout the home’s entertainment spaces are of easy-care engineered wood in a whitewashed ﬁnish laid out in a herringbone pattern.

“We like the European feel they impart,” said Amanda Toups.

The living and dining rooms are punctuated with bursts of primary colors. Focal points in the vault-ceiling living room include key pieces of Isaac Toups’ guitar collection, a console that Amanda Toups, a native of the New Orleans area, commissioned from an artist on Etsy, and a massive fourbay armoire/entertainment center given to Isaac Toups’ father, a dentist in the chef’s native Rayne, by a patient in exchange for, presumably, extensive dental work.

“She was a South Korean bride,” Amanda Toups said. “It was part of her dowry.”

The ebonized wood of the furnishing is heavily inlaid with mother of pearl in patterns of ﬁligree as well as symbols of good fortune. Additional pieces of furniture from the same suite are scattered throughout the house.

“When my parents downsized, they offered all of it to us,” said Isaac Toups. “We were thrilled. We love it.”

The lower cabinetry and glass-fronted upper cabinets in the expansive bar area at the far end of the dining room are painted a vibrant shade of teal favored by Amanda

Toups. The counters are of Uba Tuba granite with a leathered ﬁnish. A Sonic nugget ice maker has a place of honor under the bar’s counter, which is stocked with Isaac Toups’ collection of exotic whiskey.

The dining room is punctuated by a 10-foot table of exotic spalted maple inlaid with black resin to resemble a river. It was designed and built by Kenny Watson, the bar manager at Toups Meatery. The table is accompanied by a collection of unmatched red chairs, some painted, others of red Lucite. A vinyl rug resembling the Union Jack covers the ﬂoor under the table.

“It reminds me of the punk rock thing I had going on in the 1990s when I was growing up,” said Amanda Toups.

Toups Meatery at the forefront of feeding needy kids

It was in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic that Isaac and Amanda Toups established their Family Meal program to keep their management team intact and to support their staff and families when their restaurant, Toups Meatery, was shuttered. The program quickly grew to serve others in the restaurant industry who were experiencing food insecurity Lines of people seeking assistance wrapped around the restaurant’s Mid-City block.

Within a month, World Central Kitchen, a not-for-proﬁt organization that provides

food relief, joined the Toupses in their efforts. Together, they prepared and distributed over 100,000 meals in New Orleans over seven months. In August 2021, the program kicked in following Hurricane Ida, when lines for aid wrapped around the block once again.

The program evolved into a 501c(3) in February 2024 when the Toups learned that New Orleans-area children in need would be without essential meals during the 2024 summer break.

“We set a goal to provide 60,000 meals over the summer in Orleans Parish, where 1 in 3 kids faces hunger,” said Amanda Toups. “We ended up surpassing 70,500 in meals. We are steadfast in our commitment to continue our summer meal program, disaster relief, holiday meal distribution and community outreach in food deserts.”

Toups Fest, beneﬁting the Toups Family Meal Program, will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 22 at The Broadside, 600 N. Broad St. The event will feature live music by Grammy-winning Cajun band The Lost Bayou Ramblers with Midriff opening, food and drink, and an auction. The suggested donation is $40. Visit toupsfamilymeal.com.

— By Jyl Benson

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER

Toups Meatery restaurant organizes a massive community feeding program, an effort it launched during the COVID pandemic.

Isaac Toups’ guitars are left out on display and serve as works of art.

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER

Isaac and Amanda Toups visit with friends and family in their kitchen at home.

An open shelfisagreat look butnot always practical

EDITOR’S NOTE: Remember Marni? Of course you do. She recently retired from writing the weekly column that ran in these pages but still contributes the occasional missive. This is one of them.

Iknow it’stempting. Yousee those clean, uncluttered open shelves in stylish kitchens, with their matching ceramic dishes, beautifully staged glassware, lots of negative space, and you think, “Why not? If my kitchen had open shelving, my belongings would look great, too! Plus, everything would be so easy to reach.”

Uhh, think again. Kitchen cabinets come withdoorsfor a reason. That reason is that not everything we own is pretty.In fact, most everything we own, especially in the kitchen, looks like arummage sale.

But, you say,those model homes, those Instagram kitchens, they sure look nice. Yes, they do. And they’re staged. I, too, would like to believe I could live within the conﬁnes of aminimal aesthetic, but let’s be honest. Unless you’re atrue

minimalist, don’tcook andlive alone, presspausebefore you choose open shelvesoverupper cabinets.

“Open shelving gives the feelingofanairyspace with a minimalistvibe,” saidkitchen design expert Jessica Evans, of PriceYourJob.co.uk, asitethat helpsthose acrossthe pond ﬁnd cost estimates for home improvements.“Having shelves rather than cabinets allows you to personalizeyourspace anddisplay yourpretty dishes, glassware, artwork,plants or knickknacks.”

However,she offers this hefty caution: “Before you

ditch your upper cabinets, make sure you have enough lower cabinetry, drawers and pantry space to containand conceal the cookware, pots and pans, small appliances,food, equipmentand utensils that youdon’t necessarily wanton display.”

In other words,makesure all the stuff youreally needand use hasahome, and think of the open shelving as practical decor.Also, think abouthow youwork in your kitchen. You don’twant to endupwith an Instagram-worthy kitchen that is impractical to cook in.

When weighing theprosand

consofopen shelves vs. wall cabinets, here’swhat else to consider:

YOUR STYLE: Not allkitchens can pulloff the open-shelving look, which is especially at home in rustic, farmhouse, industrial andminimalistkitchens. Open shelves don’twork well in more formal, modern andtraditional kitchens.

In smallkitchens, where upperwall cabinets can closea space in,open shelving can add afeelingofspaciousness and let in more natural light, Evans said.

ATTENTIONTODETAIL: Open shelvingisprobably notyour

best look if your dishesare a hodgepodge.Ifyou want the open look,you’llneed to invest in coordinateddishware and display-worthy food storage containers. Acceptthatyou will have to be neat andorganized or reveal yourself forthe closet slobyou are.

STORAGE SPACE: While having open shelvesinstead of upper cabinets can forceyou to reduceclutter(aplus), youwill also have less storage space (a possible minus). Cabinets letyou store more, closethe door andforgetabout the mess inside.

THE ACCESS: On the plus side, open shelveslet youspotitems easily andreach in andgrab what youwantwithout hassling with adoor.However, because shelvesare open to the elements, you’ll need to spend more time cleaning dust and greaseoff the shelvesand dishware thanyou would if items were behind doors.

THE COST: Shelving is less than half the priceofcabinetry,so it will save youmoney on your kitchen. If youcan discipline yourself to keep the shelves tidy,organized, clean andattractive,you will come out ahead costwise.Because shelv-

PROVIDED PHOTO By DREAMSTIME

Open shelving in kitchens is apopular look on Instagram but maynot fitthe wayyou live.

Marni

Jameson AT HOME

ä See OPEN, page 18

OPEN

Continued frompage17

ing is also easier to install, you may save more by installing it yourself.

REAL LIFE: Speaking of discipline, if you have open shelves, you’ll have to commit to culling the clutter.In many homes, including mine, more kitchenware tends to come in than go out. We get souvenir mugs. We buy more pretty dishes, and eventually, adisplay that looked clean and well curated on day one becomes acrowded jumble. If the pantrygets too full, those spacious open shelves are suddenly storing cornﬂakes, glass cleaner and dogfood.

WEIGHT LIMIT: Because of how they’re mounted, wall cabinets

can bear moreweightthan open shelves,whichcan bow if overloaded. That is notonly unattractive, but alsounsafe. THECOMPROMISE: If you still want thepractical ease, ready access, and airy lookofopen shelves but don’twanttocommit to keeping them looking like ashowcase, put open shelves in awalk-in pantryor utility room, or maybe install just one featureshelf, so you can embrace thelook without the pressure.

Marni Jameson isthe awardwinning authorofseven booksincluding Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow,What to Do With Everything YouOwn to Leave the Legacy YouWant, and Downsizingthe Family Home. Youmay reachher at marni@marnijameson.com.

Parade of Homes tours16residences

The Home Builders AssociationofGreater New Orleans once again opens residences throughout themetroareafor twoweekends of tours, showcasing contemporarydwellings from avariety of builders

Starting June 21-22 and 2829, the parade will feature 16 homes, including theSt. Jude Dream Home, that can be toured in person or virtually in July

Homes areinNew Orleans, Metairie, Kenner,Marrero, Belle Chasse and Waggaman. For information, visit hbano. org.

Meetingsset to examine CityParkplan

The public will have achance to get alook at the proposal for City Park’surbangreenspace at twomeetings on June 25 at the Pavilion of theTwo Sisters, 3Victory Ave.

The event, dubbed “TasteTesting The Gumbo,” will be at noon and 6:30 p.m.

INSIDEINFO

PROVIDED PHOTO

Community engagement meetings on June 25 will allow the public to view the proposed planfor the future of City Park.

Chill out at Longue Vue Sno-ball Social

Longue VueHouse and Gardens in New Orleans is hosting its annual Sno-ballSocial from 3p.m.to5 p.m. June26. Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls will dole out the icy delicacies on a ﬁrst-come, ﬁrst served basis.

June 28 at theNew OrleansJazz Museuminthe OldU.S.Mint, 400 Esplanade Ave., or on Zoom.

“Researching Your New OrleansProperty”will feature Robert J. Cangelosi Jr., an adjunctlecturer at Tulane University’s School of Architecture.

Cost is $35, $25 formembers, foreitherin-person or Zoom.

Visitfriendsofthecabildo.org.

HNOC to host antiques forum

“Light andDistraction:Material CultureofSouthern Amusement”will be thetheme Aug. 8-10 forthe annualAntiques ForumatThe HistoricNew OrleansCollection.Board games, thecircus, pleasure gardens, horse racing andmore will be examined.

Plus experts andenthusiasts includingTara Gleason Chicirda,ofthe ColonialWilliamsburg Foundation;Claudia Pfeiffer, of theNational Sporting Library & Museum; and Allison Robinson, of The New-York Historical Society,will be present.

Participantswill get to reviewthe plan by zone to conﬁrmitreﬂects community interests and fosters best outcomes the park.

RSVPsare requested. For information and afull summary of the plan, visit neworleanscitypark.org.

Admission to thegarden, 7 BambooRoad, will be free and staff gardeners will be on-hand to discuss variousﬂora sprouting in seasonal shades. Visit longuevue.com.

Property research seminar June 28

Aseminar on learning about the history of apiece of propertywill be sponsored by the Friends of the Cabildo at 10 a.m.

Registration is open fora single dayorfor the full forum, plus add-on activities. Sessions start at $60. Visithnoc.org.

Volunteer projects abound at City Park

Avariety of cleanup days and initiativesare on tap at City Park to improveand maintain theextensive urbangreen space. Those coming up include: n Litter Cleanup Krewe: 9a.m. Tuesday,Thursday.Volunteer Center,1031 Harrison Ave.

n Horticulture Projects: 9a.m. Wednesday.Volunteer Center

n Big LakeNative PlantTrailRestoration Project: 9a.m. Friday. Big LakeNative Trailnear 7FriedrichsAve.

n Urban Forest SupportInitiative: 9a.m. June 21. Volunteer Center,1031 Harrison Ave. Register forthe programs andﬁnd outmore aboutwhat to bring at friendsofcitypark. volunteerhub.com.

Have ahome and garden event coming up? Send it to events@theadvocate.com.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

EAST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FORMAY 30 TO JUNE 6

HARAHAN

S. CLEARVIEW PARKWAY 832

UNIT 512: Judith Manuel to Allison T. Clark, $165,000

W. SHANNON LANE 285: Matthew J. Monnerjahn Sr. to Yu Q. G. Moy, $135,000.

JEFFERSON

AUDUBON TRACE 305: Benjamin D. Jennings to Linda Francis, $256,000.

CLAIBORNE COURT316: Bertucci

Property DevelopmentLLC to Sarah E. Lecompte, $320,000.

COOLIDGE ST.200: RavindraR. Reddy to CHolm,$245,000.

DAVIS BLVD.48: C. Tramel to LindsayHodge, $287,000.

HACKBERRYDRIVE 4716: Megan G. Cortez to ChristopherF.Matise, $258,000.

LURLINE DRIVE 1101: Veronica M. J. MolleretoJordanAnderson, $310,000.

MONTICELLOAVE.500: John S. LabureJr. to Donna Sacknoff, $180,000.

SUNDORN ST.2814 UNIT 4: Gary H. NurkintoMorgana R. Nurkin, donation, no value stated.

TUCKER AVE. 544: La Bmmg 2024 LLCtoKatie Sidora, $330,000 KENNER

AVANT GARDE CIRCLE81, UNIT 81: Emily A. Bel to Rahsonnica D. Hollingsworth,$150,000.

VOURAYDRIVE 600, UNIT C: SumaxLLC to Wafa Mousa, $153,000.

CALIFORNIA AVE. 4321: Fatima R. JavedtoSumaraM.Jawad, $278,500.

CANNES PLACE 3306: NewResidential Mortgage Loan Trust 2019 Rpl3 to Edith Herlache, $285,000.

CHATEAUBLVD. 4125,UNIT A: Patricia Robbins to BushraQureshi, $165,000.

CHATEAUROTHCHILD DRIVE 54: Zenaida Denuna to Judith Calamia, $630,000.

CHATEAUST. MICHEL DRIVE 104: Sharon N. Becker to Denise M. Dufour, $1,760,000.

DAWSON ST.2617-19: TwoThousand Six Hundred Seventeen Nineteen Dawson LLCtoMelissa Mejia, $220,000.

DUKE DRIVE 100: Daja Realty LLC to Melanie M. R. Rivera,$230,000.

GEORGIA AVE. 2007: Theresa Gutierrez to Ariane &Associates Inc., $107,500.

GRANKLAKEBLVD. 3204: Deborah Eddlestone to Robert W. Murphy, $60,000.

GUM BAYOULANE 236: Shanti N. Arunachalam to Christina K. Aguilar, $603,000.

HANSON PLACE 317-319: Skc Properties LLCtoPadmanabha Swami, $110,000.

IOWA AVE. 2321: Donna B. Hamann to Kenneth R. Trahan Sr., donation, no valuestated.

MINNESOTA AVE. 1104: Addie E. MayorgatoLillian Caballero, $205,000.

MONTE CARLODRIVE 28: Jonathan D. M. Fernandez to Jasmine Bibbins, $500,000.

ROOSEVELTBLVD. 2916: Imelda K. RichardtoTam H. Bui, $433,000.

SEAR DRIVE 2729: Jean B. Thibodeaux to Celeste A. Primo, $625,000.

TAFFY DRIVE 2444: Constance S. Fuchs to Lisbeth C. Sanchez, $260,000.

TAVEL DRIVE 972: TheodoreE. Knight to FaisalRehman, $375,000.

TAYLOR ST.1102: Mark A. Gradwohl to Ryan C.Michaelis, $180,000.

W. LOUISIANA STATEDRIVE 3416: A. Espinoza to Wildredo J. M. Matos, $240,000.

WILLIAMS BLVD.3220: Blaine Leblanc to Ykb Properties LLC, $425,000.

METAIRIE

ACADEMY DRIVE 5024: FiveThou-

Orleans Parish transfers weren’t available at press time to be published this week in The Times-Picayune. 138N.CortezSt. NewOrleans,LA70119

sand Twenty Four AcademyDrive LLCtoAnita D. Craig,$299,000.

ARIS AVE. 1033: Yinghua Jiang to DanqiJiang,donation, no value stated.

BAUVAIS ST.3605: Francesca M. L. Schomaker to StefanyCrespo, $320,000.

BELLE DRIVE 5108: Maxine G. MarxtoHunter L. R. Fossier, $377,000.

BROCKENBRAUGHCOURT636: Double H. Productions LLCto Wyatt Candies, $596,500.

BUNKER HILL DRIVE 3720-3722: Angela L. SeithertoJessica Y. Dubon,$220,000.

BURKEDRIVE 4901: Herbert E. Aucoin to KevinM.M.Turcios, $200,000.

CANBERRA COURT25: Lori Barber to Twenty FiveCanberra CourtLLC,$24,000.

CANBERRA COURT4: Bertucci Investment Group LLCtoOmkar Solutions LLC, $120,000.

CARDINAL AVE. 1017: One Thousand Seventeen Cardinal Avenue LLCtoScott Mercier, $210,000.

DIVISION ST.4083: EstateVenture LLCtoBenita Jones, $146,999.

EISENHOWER AVE. 2009: Nicole Williamson to Candyce Mehler, $318,000.

GRUNER ROAD 242: AvdLLC to Sophia E. Serpas, $749,000.

HESPER AVE. 1148: Greater Southern Real Estate DevelopmentLLC to ClaireA.Daniel, $935,000.

HOMER ST.1810: AmyA.Smith to ShannonB.Nunez, $834,000.

HOMESTEAD AVE. 336: Edwin H. Lawson Jr. to Eugene M. Ducote Jr., $650,000.

ä See EAST, page 20

Continued frompage19

HOUMA BLVD.3805,UNITB, BUILDING 1: Proveaux LLCto Carolyn E. Stephenson, $115,000.

JOLIET ST.3729: Donald J. Hayes to TrudiH.Isaacson,$350,000.

KAWANEE AVE. 5600: John J. Vollenweider Sr. to Amanda G. Brocato, $305,900.

KENT AVE. 2305: Emma C. Boudreaux to Amanda M. Thevenot, $268,000.

LAKE AVE. CONDO1091161: David H. Willis Jr. to Zenit LLC, $82,000.

LENORA ST.4317: Lydia R. Cruz to Vanessa R. Centeno, $217,500.

LIVINGSTON PLACEEAST324: Michelle R. MeliettoStephen

REALESTATETRANSFERS

Woodill, $1,100,000.

MARTIN BEHRMAN AVE. 881: Omp LLCtoJessica Vasterling, $205,000

MARYLAND AVE. 309: Martha N. A. LeyvatoMileydiGuillen, donation, no value stated.

MELODYDRIVE 1225: Rae M. Pascal to Ruth Miria, $575,000.

MELODYDRIVE 1425: Joshua P. Rilette to William J. SmithII, $700,000.

MERCURYAVE. 1117: Keith E. Young to Jourdan M. Froeba, $220,000.

METAIRIE HEIGHTS AVE. 3536: Matthew A. Lanasa to Evan Keller, $470,000.

METAIRIE LAWN DRIVE 2601, UNIT 14, BUILDING 119: MargaretGilberttoKay E. Mcallister, $250,000.

METAIRIE ROAD 2904-06: Donna

Spencer to Spencer Company LLC, $300,000.

MICHIGAN AVE. 3113: Margaret B. Summers to Evlyn Z. Roldan, $290,000.

N. BENGAL ROAD 2400: LaurieBentley to Hadi Zeitoun, $265,500.

N. UPLAND AVE. 1116: Tommy R. GuidroztoJoan Falgoust, $305,000.

NEYREY DRIVE 2120-22: Leslie M. F. Jones to Afandeina 2. LLC, $302,000.

N. HOWARD AVE. 1021: Christine M. FerrotoCarlos Chavez, $175,000.

N. WOODLAWN AVE. 716-718: Thompson R. CoxtoWoodlawn AveLLC,$299,000.

PAPWORTH AVE. 1408: Claire K. Obrien to Marianna R. Hart, $415,000.

WEST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FORMAY 30 TO JUNE 6

AVONDALE

CHERRYGROVE DRIVE 3621: Dsld LLCtoRaven A. Price,$265,350.

JUDICIARYDRIVE 332: Rac Development LLCtoKisha H. Raiford, $215,000.

LANDSDOWNE DRIVE 4116: Dsld LLCtoArthur Bourges, $293,180.

LANDSDOWNE DRIVE 4127: Dsld LLCtoPamelaJefferson, $280,770.

BRIDGE CITY

RIVER ROAD 4213: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. to Ashton

PIER AVE. 1356: Alyssa H. Walter to Christine W. Joubert, $575,000.

RIDGELAKE DRIVE 2609: GayR Manzella to RidgelakeEnterprise LLC, $1,125,000.

RIDGEWAY DRIVE 3508: Crucial Leasing Inc. to Lizette T. Clark, $310,000.

ROSAAVE. 125: Bancroft Property Investments LLCtoAshley W. Ohlmansiek, $2,199,000.

RUE ST.ANN 213: Katherine R. Patrick to Susan S. Baldwin, $825,000.

SENACDRIVE 5040: Celeste A. Primo to TaylorV.Hesse, $396,000.

SIGUR AVE. 1402: WB Development&Holdings LLCtoGiang T. Nguyen, $419,000.

STELLA ST.210: RachaelG.Tullis to Lucky CharmVenturesLLC, $1,715,000.

W. LIVINGSTON PLACE 133:

A. Smith, $34,001.

GRANDISLE

CENTRAL AVE. 186W: Judith L. Burleigh to Mary G. Spano, $40,000.

DEE LANE 126: Marla Moreau to John Theriot Jr., $275,000.

E. CENTRAL AVE. 234: Nancy Douglas to Four H. Rentals LLC, $800,000.

GRAPELANE 124: Boudreaux Real Estate LLCtoK&DInvestment Properties LLC,$200,000.

LA. 11736: Ronald J. Haydel II to Four H. Rentals LLC, $177,500.

LA. 13098: CrosbyInternational Enterprises LLCtoDlh ManagementLLC,$265,000.

MAGNOLIA LANE 116: Martine G. BrucetoCorinne Generes, $80,000.

Jeanette A. Lariviere to RobertJ. Blanton Jr., $1,035,000.

W. WILLIAM DAVID PARKWAY 424: DanielJ.WeimerIII to Walter H. Wright,$437,500.

YALE ST.4401 UNIT D: Wayne M. EnglishtoLea Leone,$146,000.

RIVERRIDGE

JOEL AVE. 10053: Jeanette D. Cespedes to Rachel C. Beer, $475,000.

PARK RIDGE DRIVE 420: Natalie M. Phipps to Dmitriy Shpak, $316,700.

THIRD ST.9243: Stephanie Subervielle to Patricia K. Mollere, $350,000.

W. HENFER AVE. 164: Victor P. BonuratoMelissa Henry, $230,000.

MINNICH LANE 163: FrankJ. Besson Sr. to FrankJ.BessonJr., donation, no value stated.

OAKLANE238: GrandIsle TreasureLLC to Jess J. Martinolich, $60,000.

OAKLANE193: Jan Charpentier to JamieMaxwell, $175,000.

GRETNA

E. BUTTERFLYCIRCLE 441: Linda Amari to Dahab Properties LLC, $55,000.

GLENBROOK DRIVE 2973: Michael A. Ward to KayleeMouser, $185,000.

ROSE DRIVE 2713: Claudel Damis to Kerline D. Beaubrun, donation, no value stated.

RUE ST.MICHAEL754: HcldLLC to Hexiang Jia, $404,500.

SUGARPINEDRIVE 233: Patrick S. BoxtoClovins Joseph, $269,900.

VIRGIL ST.916: Gennerrio Scott to Gennerrio Scott, $350,000.

WRIGHTAVE.733: Therron Victor to Angelica Collazo, donation, no value stated.

HARVEY

DEER RUN LANE3873: Alyssa Hinds to Arnold C. Portillo, $227,000.

FIFTH AVE. 713: Denine B. Genin to RoyceA.Goodson, $80,000.

JACQUELINEST. 67: Georgia H. Mayﬁeld to Pine Pots LLC, $102,000.

LAKE SALVADOR DRIVE 1616: Jacob BrenttoMariah H. Hutchinson, $395,000.

OLIVE AVE. 536: Matthew P. Goudeau to Mark R. Sentner, $235,000.

Continued from page 20

PAILET AVE. 620: Amanda B. Gregory to Dante Degruise, $150,000.

SHANNON DRIVE 3817: Heaven Charles to Dione Smith, $239,000.

SIENNA DRIVE 3048: Devsar Properties LLC to Pine Pots LLC, $94,500.

SQUIREWOOD DRIVE EAST 1841: Melissa Pennino to Keturah R. Robinson, $477,000.

MARRERO

ARTESA DRIVE 950: Simone Blazine to Tri M. Nguyen, $310,000.

AVE. A 1411: B & M Property Investors LLC to Devin L. Addison, $54,000.

AVE. A 740: Linda L. Barnes to Lexie J. Guilbeau, $184,500.

AVE. F 1409: Donald M. Tullier Jr. to Richard M. Breaux, $340,000.

AVE. F 542-544: Sarah C. Duffourc to Sarah C. Duffourc, $200,000.

ST. TAMMANy

n TRANSFERS FROM MAY 20-23

ABITA SPRINGS

ABITA SPRINGS ANNEX: St. Tammany Parish to Fisher’s Cabinets and Flooring Inc., $13,500.

ALOHA COURT 407: Gary R. Brown and Dawn H. Brown to Lauren Guidry and Trey Autin, $254,898.

NEAR ABITA SPRINGS, PORTION OF GROUND: Elizabeth B. Barkerding, Sarah Baldwin Davies and Mary Baldwin Barkerding to Maria G. Vazquez, $15,000.

NEAR ABITA SPRINGS, PORTION OF GROUND: Mary M. Perino to Janice Perino Glas, $30,000.

VINEYARDS SUBDIVISION, PHASE 3, LOT 35: Peyton Oaks Gallup to Peyton Burkenstock and Rebecca Burkenstock, $269,900.

COVINGTON

BARRINGTON DRIVE 1207: DSLD Homes LLC to Bernard Weiser and Eileen S. Weiser, $392,560.

BATELEUR WAY 425: Reid W. Mahne to David A. Betancur and Gabriella R. Catalanotto, $277,500.

BETH DRIVE 6: Succession of Dolly M. Joiner to Fiat Flips LLC, $180,000.

BUCK DRIVE 2336: Nickolas Popich and Rami A. LeBlanc Popich to Luis Joseph R. Hofschneider and Lilly S. Hofschneider, $298,000.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

BARATARIA BLVD. 1320: Marilyn W. Simon to Jasper T. Simon III, donation, no value stated.

BARATARIA BLVD. 3430: New Orleans Airboat Tours LLC to New Orleans Airboat Tours LLC, $450,000.

BAYOU COOK DRIVE 2709: Stacey Armand to Vinh Homes LLC Aden, $230,000.

BERTUCCI AVE. 621: Darlene B. Pertuit to Darlene B. Pertuit, $95,000.

CADDY DRIVE 2333: Levu Properties LLC to Thao T. T. B. Lebouef, $225,000.

CHESTNUT ST. 4044: Kathryn O. Montgomery to Leglue 4044 Chestnut LLC, $93,000.

COHEN ST. 1040: Cassandra A. S. Chopin to Taisha M. Hunter, $123,000.

CORNELL DRIVE 3013: Maria Martinez to Ranetha Hyde, $201,900.

DOLORES DRIVE 2709: Robart E. B. Chancey to Sarah Schlette, $220,000.

FRANCIS ST. 661: Betty Borello to Tanner P. Usey, $80,500.

CITY OF NEW COVINGTON, LOTS 4, 5, SQUARE 1910: Cynthia F. Fayard to G. M. Homes LLC, $47,500.

COTTAGE GREEN LANE 238: Russell A. Wahl and April D. Wahl to Jennifer S. Covelli, $250,000.

DERBES DRIVE 18249: Kevin L. Wimer to Bryce Daigle, $348,000.

DIVISION OF NEW COVINGTON SUBDIVISION, LOT 4, SQUARE 2908: Alfred L. Mansion III, Anthony Mansion and Demond M. Mansion to West 30’s Redemption Co. Inc., $15,000.

E. U.S. 190 SERVICE ROAD 4407,

LONG BRANCH DRIVE 2717: Adam G. Martinez to Melissa C. Pennino, $317,000.

MICHAEL ST. 556: Stacey Cone to Kellen A. Santos, $163,600.

NIAGARA DRIVE 5532: Carrington Mortgage Services LLC to Linda Tran, $170,000.

OKLAHOMA DRIVE 2513: Athene Dehart to Salem LLC Zaina, $100,000.

ORLEANS WAY 5276: Adair Holdings LLC to Nelson R. A. Rodriguez, $105,000.

PLAZA DRIVE 1676: Maria T. Torres to Kerenn Caceres, $199,000.

SEA SHORE DRIVE 2680: Iris Campion to Paula Jefferson, $311,000.

SIEGLINDE COURT 2817: Cortes Properties LLC to Cesia S. L. Aguilar, $224,000.

SUWANEE DRIVE 2128: Nyx Investments LLC to Ashley D. Carcamo, $239,000.

TERRYTOWN

ADONIS WAY 231: Elegant Houses LLC to Nedal Ahmad, $300,000.

CAROL SUE AVE. 1824: Mary K. C. Reynolds to Maurelis M. Mendez, $305,000.

HOLMES BLVD. 247: Horton Inc. Gulf Coast D. R. to Menyi Pineda, $290,000.

WAGGAMAN

BLOSSOM COURT 369: James P. Walters to Daquana L. Williams, $180,000.

DAFFODIL LANE 5: Elizabeth Herberg to Five Daffodil Lane LLC, $100,000.

DANDELION DRIVE 942: Coast Builders LLC to Cindy D. Milla, $319,900.

FOUR OCLOCK LANE 129: Arcip Evolution LLC to Courtney Pellegrin, $192,500.

W. PRISCILLA LANE 9: Coast Builders LLC to Tiwana Mccray, $469,900.

WESTWEGO

AVE. C 716: Mavis Tassin to Chris Tassin, donation, no value stated. AVE. H 866: Rena Adams to Keven Gros, $80,000.

FOURTH ST. 1496: Quick Start Grill Inc. to Inﬁnite CS Group LLC, $352,000.

JULIA DRIVE 113: Properties Unlimited LLC to Scarlin Rosario, $255,000.

KLEIN ST. 442: Adair Holdings LLC to Angela B. V Alvarez, $50,500.

LAUREL OAK LANE 9559: Jacqueline McClleland to Semeko F. Cox, $375,000.

PAT DRIVE 552: Joseph A. Dantin to Taha Construction & Development LLC, $50,500.

PRAIRIE VIEW COURT 133: Monica P. Batiste to Diana V Castaneda, $145,000.

UNIT B: Carimi Properties LLC to Beadan LLC, $2,280,000.

ESTELLE COURT 3101: DSLD Homes LLC to James D. Miller III and Hannah Miller, $387,535.

GRATITUDE DRIVE 107: Succession of Joseph H. Lang Jr. to Eleanor E. G. Pellegrin, $26,675.

HELENBERG SUBDIVISION, PORTION OF GROUND: MKMHB LLC and KM Stoessell-Seifert Living Trust to Three Dogs Run LLC, donation, no value stated.

ä See TAMMANY, page 22

7300 LAKESHOREUNIT4

Over 2600SF of exquisite spacewithtremendous viewsofthe City, Lakefront andmarinafromthree balconies.3 bedrooms /3full bathroomsand onehalfbath. Coveredparking for3vehicles! Generous room sizesand custom decoratorfinishes throughout. Largegreat room leadstobalcony overlookingthe waterway leadingto Lake Pontchartrain. Beautifulprimary suitew/its ownbalcony andlarge walk in closet.Third floor bedroom/den withits ownfullbath. Cathedral ceilings. Lighthouse Harbor condos features newroofingand other recent improvements.Dining, shopping, bike andwalking trailsand Lake Pontchartrainare stepsaway.

Continued frompage21

HOLLYDRIVE19: CharlesL. Burnett to Shirley Wash-Burnett, donation, no valuestated.

LISMORE LANE 320: BoltinProperties LLCtoAustin C. Sigsworth and Alexandria M. Vicari, $253,000.

N. CORNICHE DU LAC598: Casey J. Forshag LLCtoMartin A. Scoggins and DonnaS.Scoggins, $900,000. N. FLORIDAST. 760: West 30’s Redemption Co. Inc. to Charlene Page, $110,820.

N. HOSMER ST.1521: George S. Cleland, Gregory C. Cleland and others to Velvet Pines Developers LLC, $50,000.

OAKLAWN DRIVE 8: MarkA Lamereand PatriciaB.Lamereto Alexander B. Stallardand Marissa L. Stallard, $765,000.

ROBINDALE SUBDIVISION, PHASE 2, LOT1,SQUARE 7: Steadfast Development LLCtoJenkinsHomes LLC, $60,000.

TOWNOFNEW COVINGTON, LOTS 3, 4, SQUARE 1208: Adam J. Daix to Mark A. Lamereand PatriciaB. Lamere, $335,000.

W. SEVENTH AVE. 503: JMA Builders LLCtoKristen Martin, $447,000.

FOLSOM

HOLLIDAY ROAD 83537: SherryW. Normand to LukeG.Normand, donation, no value stated.

LAKE HILLS VILLAGE SUBDIVISION, PHASE 1, LOT11: R4 Holdings LLCtoLakeHills Subdivision LLC, $100.

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTION OF GROUND: Deanna Sumrall Glass, David T. Glass, Anna GlassHuval

REALESTATETRANSFERS

andBarry W. Glass to Todd D. Glass, donation, no value stated.

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTIONOF GROUND: Colleen Baker to NormanC.Miller IV,donation, no value stated.

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTIONOF GROUND: SuccessionofBarney L. CoretoRegina B. Core, $235,000.

ROLLINHILLSESTATES,LOT 4, SQUARE A: Daniel G. Boudreau, Steven G. Boudreau,Heather T. Barker Allen and Heath B. Barker to Justin M. Adolph, $55,000.

LACOMBE

BALEHI ROAD 28616: Andrea D. Trumbach to Sarah E. Perkins, $180,000.

BERRYTODD ROAD 29393: Mark L. Milacek to Beau RandallMoreau, $230,000.

SHADYPINE ROAD,PORTION OF GROUND: Paul J. VonBodungen to Bountiful Journey LLC, $11,679.

STAG DRIVE 62135: Nationstar Mortgage LLCtoFederal National Mortgage Association, $126,397.

TRANQUILITY ROAD 60017: Ernesto Abdo and Ramona M. Abdo to Luis M. Gomez, $7,400.

MADISONVILLE

BEDICO CREEK SUBDIVISION, PHASE 2, LOT759: Garywayne K. Lylesand AmyP.Lyles to Paul E. Mauer and Lisa D. Mauer, $488,000.

BLACK JACK OAKDRIVE 303: Tara N. Smith to John N. Rhodes and Ayshe T. Rhodes, $505,000 LA. 21, 2.00 ACRES: Succession of Daniel A. Veith and Jeanne W. Veith to LeonardV.Jones, $12,000.

NEARMADISONVILLE, PORTION OF GROUND: Dove Park Church of God to Daniel T. Voelkel, $60,000.

OAKHOLLOW DRIVE 321: Benjamin C. Barnett Jr.toAngela R. Mortillaro, $365,000.

PERIWINKLE COURT1516: Christopher A. Davis and Kristen J. Davis to Reid W. Mahne and Ashley S. Mahne, $534,000.

PINEST. 306: PKJ Properties LLCto S&C RealtyLLC,$500,000.

SPIKE DRIVE 71620: DSLD Homes LLCtoMatthew Rendall, $234,910.

SPIKE DRIVE 71741: DSLD Homes LLCtoCullenBivonaand Emily Gandy, $230,170.

TROPHY LANE 12110: DSLD Homes LLCtoM&W Homes LLC, $205,130

MANDEVILLE

BEAUCHENE DRIVE 587, UNIT 248: BC587 Rental Unit LLCtoRobert L. Dillardand FrancesM.Dillard, $415,000.

BLUEWATER DRIVE 1217: William Matthewsand Lilliann Matthews Living TrusttoHarold C. Nilsen and Eileen S. Nilsen,$629,000.

DEERFIELD SUBDIVISION, PHASE4, LOT67: Ross M. Goodlett and LaurenW.Goodlett to Mark D. Penny and Christina C. Penny, $170,000.

DUPARD ST.1511, 1611: Julia M. David to William M. David, donation,novalue stated.

ENDOR LOOP 4105: GMI Construction Inc. to Winifred K. Steinand WilliamE.Clement,$549,000.

FOREST PARK ESTATES,LOTS3,66: Marla R. Garvey to HG Holdings LLC, $725,000.

FOYST. 816: Ann O. Strain to Owen M. Strain, donation, no value stated.

HAMPTON COURTCONDOMINIUM, UNIT 289 S3111: LairdFamily TrusttoMarian LaGrangeDaniel, $274,000.

LAFITTE ST.319: BurkePartners LLC319 to Laﬁtte LLC, $345,000.

LAUREL OAKDRIVE505: Succession of Michael Jarvis to Richard E. Wagner and LauraD.Sarpy, $225,000.

MCGRAIN ST.2041: Margaret S. Collins to TameraL.Collins, donation,novalue stated.

NEAR MANDEVILLE, LOTS 38, 47, 48, 54, SQUARE 270-A: Iris A. Cooper to Maria F. Huhn, donation, no value stated.

OLVEY ROAD 2113: Cody P. Mayeuxand Caitlin B. Mayeux to Cory J. Ronan, $345,000.

TETE LOURS 640, UNIT 19: Laurie M. Hicks to MaryB.Jones, $355,000.

TOWNOFMANDEVILLE,LOT 23A, SQUARE 87: Emily E. ByrdChacheretoJohn F. Wood andBrenna B. Wood, $585,000.

WILLOW OAKLANE 713: Kerry S. Angers to Jeffery Reboul and Katherine Reboul, $193,250.

PEARLRIVER

NEAR PEARL RIVER, LOTA5: Marcotte Investments LLCtoDarrin P. Bach, $345,000.

TOWNOFPEARL RIVER, PORTION OF GROUND: Paul E. Frierson and AmyL.Frierson to Joseph A. Miller, $55,000.

SLIDELL

ALTONANNEX SUBDIVISION, LOTS 7, 8, 11, 12, SQUARE 76: Latasha R. King and HerbertA.PichonJr. to Tony J. George-Stanley and Chelsea Stanley,$16,000.

BLUE RIDGEDRIVE 56157: Succession of Otis Vincent RamkeJr. to Ryan D. Jonesand Amber M. Jones, $240,000.

CAMPANA LANE 34303: DSLD Homes LLCtoDavid J. Freese and AshleeFreese, $277,135.

CARLILSE COURT130: Michael J. Gambrell and Laine F. Gambrell to

Evan A. Rullman,$325,000.

CENTENNIALPARK SUBDIVISION, LOT4,SQUARE 12: Kenneth W. Pommier to Kelvin M. Lyons, $14,000.

CHARLARD COURT62417: DSLD HomesLLC to Braeden A. McCutchanand Emily H. BirdMcCutchan, $260,445.

CHARLESAVE. 61040: Latoya A. Barnes to JazminRivera, $150,000. CLIPPER DRIVE 1233: Succession of RobertW.Allen to Vincent C. Lundy andCathyA.Lundy, $399,000.

DELTA RIDGE AVE. 6680: D. R. Horton Inc. Gulf Coast to Kierston St. James andRon Bannister Jr., $379,900.

DRIFTWOOD CIRCLE 104: CarringtonMortgage Services LLCto Steven Griggs,$159,900.

E. LAKESHORE VILLAGE DRIVE 439: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to AveryG.Anderson, $234,900.

HONEYWOOD DRIVE 101: J. Sayer Minas to Jeffrey A. Centola and Melissa R. Webb, $251,500. LA. 433 53191: Melissa M. Bouvier to Streven BourgeoisSr., $200,000. LAKE CALCASIEUCOURT202: Randy C. Tillis andTabitha Tillis to GasparLociceroIII and Barbara EhrhardtLocicero, $92,500.

MARPLE LANE 2029: Paul J. DuPlessis to Paul J. DuPlessis revocabletrust, $275,000, donation.

MOONRAKER DRIVE 201: Succession of Randall D. Yeager to RobertS.Fischer,$242,500.

NORTHWOOD VILLAGE SUBDIVISION, PHASE 6, LOT8: Succession of Jennifer E. Hemphill to Celprop LLC, $125,000.

OZONEWOODS SUBDIVISION, LOT 2A, SQUARE 24: Succession of Michael J. Loftusand RobertM Prattini to James E. Frosch,Wanda C. Frosch andRegina Frosch Kellum,$155,000.

PERRET DRIVE 103: Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.to Nasser A. Barakat, $405,003. S. BUCKINGHAM DRIVE 105: HaroldJ.Newman III andCatherine A. Wood Newman to Elisabeth Reviere, $290,000.

S. MAGNOLIA ST.1237: Daryl W. Treadway to Joey C. McLeodJr., $200,000. W. LAKE DRIVE 409: Tonesha N. WalkerstoDeyonka T. Williams andCynthia D. Nicks, $295,000.

SUN/BUSH

LA. 21, PORTION OF GROUND: Sylvia A. Christian Jourdan to Norman V. Ryan Sr. and Jeanne L. Ryan, $400,000.

LA. 40 29566: Rosalind G. Holden to SandraA.Grantham, $100,000.

STEIN ROAD 29000: DonaldR. SheppardtoNicholas G. Primes, $420,000.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday,June 14, the 165th day of 2025. There are 200 days left in theyear. This is Flag Day.

Todayinhistory:

On June 14, 1940, German troops entered Paris during World WarII; the same day, the Nazis transported their ﬁrst prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration campin German-occupiedPoland. Also on this date:

In 1775, the Continental Army,forerunner of the United States Army,was created by the Second Continental Congress.

In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the ﬁrst “stars and stripes” Americanﬂag.

In 1846,agroup of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the breakaway state of the California Republic, declaring independence from Mexico.

In 1919, British aviators John Alcock and ArthurWhitten Brown embarked on the ﬁrst nonstop ﬂight across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette,ruled 6-3thatpublic school students could notbe forced to salute the ﬂag of the United States or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1954, President DwightD. Eisenhower signed abill adding the phrase “underGod” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agencyordered aban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT,totake effect at year’send.

In 1982,Argentine forces surrenderedtoBritish troops on the disputed FalklandIslands.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced his nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2005,Michelle Wie, 15, became the ﬁrst female player to qualifyfor an adult male U.S. Golf Association championship,tying forﬁrstplace in a36-hole U.S. AmateurPublic Links sectional qualifying tournament.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the courtoath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist,right, Aug. 10, 1993, as she is swornin onto the SupremeCourt. She wasnominated to the courtby President Bill Clinton on June 14, 1993.

In 2017, ﬁre ripped through the24-story Grenfell Tower residential building in West London, killing72 people. In 2018, aJusticeDepartment watchdog report on the FBI’s handling of theHillary Clinton email probe criticized theFBI and its former director,James Comey,but did not ﬁnd evidencethatpolitical bias tainted theinvestigation.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor Marla Gibbs is 94. President Donald Trump is 79. Olympic speed skating gold medalist Eric Heiden is 67. Jazz musician Marcus Milleris66. Singer Boy George is 64. Tennis Hall of Famer Stefﬁ Grafis56. Classical pianist Lang Langis 43. Actor J.R. Martinez is 42. Actor Lucy Haleis36. Actor Daryl Sabara is 33. Rapper Gunna is 32.

Regretting aravinggoodtime

Dear Annie: Lastyear,Imarried thenicest guy I’ve ever met. I’m 40 and wish I’d met him sooner,but better late than never.

On our monthlong honeymoon in Europe, we attended amusic festival. During the festival, my husband and Isaw some other women in pasties, and in amoment of ﬂirting, Idid something totally out of character and bought somepasties myself and aglittery thong.

Ispent thenext day dancing and partying in this revealing attire with my husband. I thinkeveryone needs to have one wild moment in their life, and Ihad lots of fun.

After we got home, Ifound out the festival had hired a photographer totake pictures for their social media accounts.

There Iwas in three photos online wearing only the glitterythong and pasties over my breasts, dancing on a ministagethey set up in the crowd.

The pictures are untagged, so no one would connect them to me anyway,and my friends all think Ilook hot and that it isn’tabig deal.

Iown my own business, so I don’tneed to worry about em-

ployment,and fornow,only my friends know.Even so, I’m too embarrassed to tell my husband.

Should Iconfess to him that I’m in these pictures that will exist forever? Should Itry to get thephotos removed somehow? Should Ieven feel embarrassed?

When Ireally think about it,it’sprobably no big deal, but when the feelings of embarrassmentkickin, Idon’t know what to do! —Festival Flashback

Dear Festival Flashback: Honesty is the best policy,especially in marriage, and this isn’tso much aconfession to your husband as it is simply sharing with him what you found. He was right there with you, participating in the event, too, even if there are no pictures of him to proveit.

You’re in afortunate position that the pictures don’taffect your job or personal life. Still, if contacting the festival or social media account is easy enough, it’sworth asking if thephotos can be taken down; you may care morelater on and wish you had done so sooner.Don’tlet this happy,carefree, innocent momentinthe past become somethingyou beat yourself up for now

Dear Annie: My wife and I were recently invited to a friend’sson’scollege graduation celebration at abar 11/2

hours from our home. When we arrived and ordered our ﬁrst drink, we weretold all food and drinks were on individual tabs.

Shouldn’tthe host have mentioned that in the invitation? Is it appropriate to ask about costs like this before RSVPing? My friend could easily have afforded to pick up the check forthe gathering. I’mcertainly glad Ihad the money to cover what we ordered. —Perplexed About the Etiquette

Dear Perplexed: Yes, the host should’ve madethat clear in the invitation. If the party had been at their homeinstead, no one would expect to pay for food or drinks, so it’sreasonable to think the samewould be true of adifferent venue, especially one you traveled hours to get to. If the hosts weren’tprepared to foot the bill, they should’ve been upfront about it. In the future, there’snothing wrong with asking for moredetails when an invite is vague and especially at public venues again. “Will food and drinks be provided?” is acompletely fair question to ask ahead of time, and it lets you makeafully informed decision before committing to anything.

Send your questions for Annie Lanetodearannie@ creators.com.