Louisiana schools are bracing for potentially painful cuts, including to after-school programs and teacher training, after the Trump administration said this week that it is withholding nearly $7 billion in education grants.
About 22,000 Louisiana students attend summer and after-school programs funded by the grants, advocates said. The federal money, which Congress approved earlier this year, also pays for programs for summer learning, migrant students, English learners, adult literacy, arts and science education
and violence prevention in schools across the country Schools had expected to receive the money on July 1, as required by federal law which would allow them to plan and budget for the fall. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education told states in a brief memo Monday that it would not release the funds until it had reviewed the grant programs, adding that funding decisions for the upcoming school year have not yet been made.
Louisiana could lose out on more than $109 million, or about 14% of its federal K-12 education funding, if the Trump administration does not restore the grant money,
according to an estimate by the Learning Policy Institute, which conducts education research. A Louisiana Department of Education spokesperson said the agency is still reviewing the funding amounts and could not immediately confirm that figure.
The indefinite funding freeze, which comes as schools finalize spending plans and staffing for next school year, has caused confusion and left school leaders in limbo as they prepare for the possibility of big budget gaps and disruptive program cuts.
“It really caught us all off guard,”
See SCHOOLS, page 5A
Overcrowded shelter waives adoption fees
and Care Center
More
than 100 animals waiting for homes
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
Hershey, a playful Labrador retriever, along with Lucy Lou, a super snuggler, are just two of the many pets hoping to be re-homed at Lafayette’s Animal Shelter and Care Center during an empty-the-shelter event. From July 5-19, the shelter, at 410 Dugas Road, is waiving all adoption fees for cats and dogs. Each pet comes neutered, microchipped and vaccinated. Adoptions slow down during the summer months, according to shelter supervisor Shelley Delahoussaye. The shelter has more than 100 animals waiting to be adopted, from small medium and large dogs as well as cats. During the summer-
Green, the adoption, foster, rescue and volunteer supervisor
the Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center, walks Hershey on Wednesday.
time, Delahoussaye said, is when adoption is needed the most.
Although the new shelter on Dugas Road, which opened in 2021, is larger than the old one on Pont des Mouton Road, overcrowding is still a problem, said Lynn Green, adoption rescue supervisor Recently, the shelter has been taking in nearly a dozen pets per day,
Spending bill could boost La. federal funds
Oil, gas money for coastal projects may increase
BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
A measure that would increase the amount of money Louisiana receives from offshore oil and gas production has survived the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill making its way toward a final vote in Congress, potentially boosting federal funds dedicated to the state’s coastal protection and restoration plans.
While the larger bill has fueled the country’s divisions, leading to warnings over its projected ballooning of the deficit and its cuts to programs like Medicaid, the little-known change in offshore revenue disbursements marks a victory in Louisiana’s yearslong efforts on the issue.
Louisiana’s congressional delegation has led a charge to increase the state’s share of revenue collected by the federal government from offshore production. The additional money would help address a steep decline in coastal protection funds in the coming years as billions flowing to the state from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement expire.
The Trump administration’s cost-cutting and intent to shift more of the burden onto states has sounded an additional alarm for coastal Louisiana parishes, which have relied heavily on FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to either proactively prevent or respond to flooding and intensifying storms.
The provision included in the One Big Beautiful Bill changes aspects of what is known as GOMESA, or the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. The change could mean up to around $50 million per year extra for Louisiana over a decade. That amount falls far short of what is needed for Louisiana’s coastal protection and its efforts to address the state’s land loss crisis, but it is progress nonetheless. Longer term, state officials
Lynn
at
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
A trio of 6-month-old terrier-mix siblings stand at the gate of their enclosure on Wednesday at the Lafayette Animal Shelter
ä GOP leaders in the House are working to win over holdouts and pass Trump’s spending bill. Page 6A
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK Louisiana schools are bracing for potentially painful cuts after the Trump administration said this week that it is withholding nearly $7 billion in education grants.
7 missing after blast at fireworks warehouse
ESPARTO, Calif. Seven people were missing Wednesday following an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in rural Northern California that caused a massive fire that spread to farm fields and forced evacuations in the surrounding community, authorities said. Emergency crews and investigators were working with the property’s owner and monitoring the area using drones to find the individuals, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
It was not immediately clear if those missing worked at the warehouse or lived nearby People were urged to avoid the area after the Tuesday night blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a huge blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building near Esparto in Yolo County about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento
The cause of the explosion was under investigation.
The property is owned by “an active pyrotechnic license holder,” Cal Fire said in a statement Wednesday “This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.”
Object from outside our solar system tracked
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers are monitoring an object headed our way that may have wandered over from another star system.
Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency said Wednesday The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of miles away and moving toward Mars, but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists. It’s too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet, or how big and what shape it is. More observations are needed to confirm its origins. NASA said it is monitoring the situation.
Astrophysicist Josep TrigoRodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, believes it is an interstellar object based on its odd path and extreme speed cutting through the solar system. He estimates its size at roughly 25 miles across.
The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017. It was dubbed Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honor of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it. Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a comet. The second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own is 21/ Borisov, discovered in 2019 and believed to be a comet.
Flossie weakens to Cat 2 off Pacific coast
MEXICO CITY Hurricane Flossie strengthened continued to weaken as a Category 2 hurricane off Mexico’s southwestern Pacific coast with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Flossie became a powerful Category 3 hurricane late on Tuesday, but was slated to steadily weaken on Wednesday and is expected to remain offshore. While its center is forecast to remain offshore, swells as well as “life-threatening” surf and rip currents were expected in southwestern Mexico and the Baja California peninsula in the coming days.
$16M settlement planned over CBS interview
Paramount says money will go to Trump library
BY DAVID BAUDER AP media writer
NEW YORK In a case that became
a closely-watched test of whether a corporation would back its journalists and stand up to President Donald Trump, Paramount Global decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS’ storied “60 Minutes” news program.
Paramount which owns CBS, says the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library and to pay his legal fees, and it is not apologizing or expressing regret about the story The company announced the deal overnight, before a Wednesday morning shareholders meeting.
Trump’s lawyers claimed he suf-
fered “mental anguish” following the “60 Minutes” interview in October with his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, and sued for $20 billion. At issue was the broadcast’s editing. Harris was shown giving two different answers to a question about Israel by correspondent Bill Whitaker in clips aired on “60 Minutes” and “Face the Nation.” Both responses came as part of a longwinded answer that Harris gave to Whitaker Editing for brevity’s sake is commonplace in television. What was jarring was hearing different words from Harris directly after Whitaker spoke. Trump said CBS was trying to make his opponent look better; CBS said that claim had no merit in trying to get the case thrown out. Many legal experts dismissed the president’s claim
But the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation — a complication for Paramount
as it seeks administration approval of its proposed merger with Skydance Media. In Wednesday’s shareholders meeting, Paramount co-CEO
George Cheeks said companies often settle litigation to avoid high legal costs and the unpredictability of a trial Settlement allows a company to focus on its objectives “rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” Cheeks said. But it was received by Trump’s legal team with excitement. With the settlement, a spokesman said, Trump “delivers another win for the American people.”
“This settlement is a cowardly capitulation by the corporate leaders of Paramount and a fundamental betrayal of ‘60 Minutes’ and CBS News,” said Rome Hartman, who helped produce the Harris interview for the show “The story that was the subject of this lawsuit was edited by the book and in accordance with CBS News standards.” CBS journalists stood united
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs reacts Wednesday in Manhattan federal court in New york after he was convicted of prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.
Combs denied bail after mixed verdict
Rapper convicted of prostitution-related counts, not racketeering
BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK Sean “Diddy” Combs dropped to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop’s celebrated figures behind bars for life. The rapper was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses and denied bond by the judge as he awaits sentencing
The mixed result capped a sordid legal odyssey that shattered Combs’ affable “Puff Daddy” image and derailed his career as a Grammywinning artist and music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star
Combs stands convicted of two counts of a crime — transportation to engage in prostitution — that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of charges that could have put him behind bars for life.
He was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act.
The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Combs’ lawyers said that under federal sentencing guidelines he’d likely face about two years in prison. Prosecutors, citing Combs’ violence and other factors, said the guidelines would call for at least four to five years. Jailed since his September arrest, he’s already served nine months behind bars.
In a triumph for Combs, the jury of eight men and four women acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with the men.
Combs’ defense team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges.
Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked that Combs be released on bond immediately to await his sentencing, saying the acquittals had changed the calculus about whether he needed to be held.
“He’s not going to flee. He’s been given his life back,” Agnifilo said. Prosecutors opposed the release request.
Judge Arun Subramanian denied it, saying Combs — for now — hadn’t met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a “lack of danger to any person or the community.”
Combs, 55, sat stoic, hands at his lap, as he heard the bond decision.
The judge will decide Combs’ punishment and suggested Oct. 3 as a sentencing date. But first, there will be a virtual hearing Tuesday on the defense’s request for an earlier sentencing date.
Federal officials involved in the case responded to the outcome by noting that sex crimes “are all too present in many aspects of our society.”
Jurors deliberated for about 13 hours over three days before announcing their verdict It came after they said late Tuesday that they had decided on four counts but were stuck on the racketeering one. At that point the judge told them to keep deliberating and keep the partial verdict under wraps.
Combs did not testify at his trial, which featured 34 witnesses as well as video of the rapper attacking his former girlfriend Cassie, the R&B singer born Casandra Ventura.
Her lawyer Douglas Wigdor said in a statement after the verdict that “by coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice.” Later he asked the judge in a letter to deny Combs bail, saying “Ms. Ventura believes that Mr Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.”
Cassie testified for four days about her turbulent 11-year relationship with Combs, which began after she signed with his Bad Boy record label.
Cassie said Combs became obsessed with voyeuristic encounters, arranged with the help of his staff, that involved sex workers and copious amounts of baby oil. During the sex events, called “freakoffs” or “hotel nights,” Combs would order Cassie to do things with other men that she found humiliating, she testified. When things didn’t go Combs’ way he would beat her, she said.
against the deal, seemingly in the works for months. CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who both opposed a settlement, resigned this spring. In a letter to Paramount’s leadership in early May, the “60 Minutes” correspondents said they were troubled by reports that Paramount might settle the case “in a way that acknowledges some sort of wrongdoing on our part.”
The correspondents, in the letter obtained by The Associated Press, said that “if our parent company caves in to his pressure and lies, it will leave a shameful stain and undermine the First Amendment.” It was signed by Whitaker Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim and Cecilia Vega.
As part of the deal, Paramount said that “60 Minutes” will in the future promptly release full transcripts of interviews with presidential candidates.
U.S.
to hold back on weapons for Ukraine
BY LISA MASCARO and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Trump administration will hold back delivering to Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons as part of its announced pause to some arms shipments amid U.S. concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said.
The details on the weapons in some of the paused deliveries were confirmed by a U.S. official and former national security official familiar with the matter They both requested anonymity to discuss what is are being held up as the Pentagon has yet to provide details.
The pause includes some shipments of Patriot missiles, precision-guided GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds.
It is a setback for Ukraine, which has faced increasing, and more complex, air barrages from Russia and as President Donald Trump remains determined to quickly conclude a conflict that he had promised as candidate to end.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined during a briefing Wednesday to detail which weapons were being held back but said a pause to consider the health of the U.S. stockpile was necessary “I think that for a long time, four years under the Biden administration, we were giving away weapons and munitions without really thinking about how many we have,” Parnell said. He added, “And I think that this president was elected on putting this country first and defending the homeland.”
The move was a bit surprising after Trump last week at the NATO summit suggested that he remained open to sending more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, though he acknowledged it would be difficult.
“They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,” Trump said. “We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”
BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday in the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022 that terrified the campus and set off a nationwide search, which ended weeks later when he was arrested in Pennsylvania. Kohberger, who was a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University, admitted to the killings before entering a formal guilty plea in a deal with prosecutors that allows him to avoid the death penalty though the motive remains unclear He had been set to go to trial in August. The small farming community of Moscow, in the northern Idaho panhandle, had not seen a homicide in about five years when Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead at a rental home near campus on Nov 13, 2022. Autopsies showed each was stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds.
said.
Family members became increasingly emotional as Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler explained each charge to Kohberger, naming each victim individually Some cried into tissues, while other wiped tears with their hands. Kohberger remained impassive as he confirmed to the judge that he stabbed the four victims.
gan that he would not take into account public opinion when deciding whether to accept the agreement.
“This court cannot require the prosecutor to seek the death penalty, nor would it be appropriate for this court to do that,” he said. Killings seized nation’s attention
at nearby Washington State University who had just completed his first semester and was a teaching assistant in the criminology program.
Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania, where his parents lived, weeks later Thompson said investigators recovered a Q-tip from the garbage at his parents’ house to match Kohberger’s DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Online shopping records showed that Kohberger had purchased a military-style knife months earlier — as well as a sheath like the one found at the scene.
The county prosecutor said the murder weapon has not been found and revealed new details about how Kohberger tried to cover up the killings.
Kohberger bought another knife sheath to replace the one he left at the crime scene and scrubbed his apartment and office Thompson said. His car had been “pretty much disassembled” and he changed his car registration, Thompson said.
Authorities have said cellphone data and surveillance video show that Kohberger visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings, and that he traveled in the same area that night.
Kohberger’s lawyers said he was simply on a long drive by himself around the time the four were killed.
Families split on plea deal
Although the Goncalves family opposed the agreement and said they would seek to stop it, they also argued that any such deal should require Kohberger to make a full confession, detail the facts of what happened and provide the location of the murder weapon.
“We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was,” they wrote in a Facebook post.
Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, left the courthouse before Kohberger entered the courtroom. “I’m just getting out of this zoo,” he told reporters.
Kohberger first killed Mogen and Goncalves together and then ran into Kernodle, who was still awake, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said at the hearing Wednesday He then stabbed Kernodle and her boyfriend, Chapin, who was still asleep, Thompson said. There were no signs of sexual assault, he
As he pleaded guilty, some in the family section looked down and others craned to see him.
Kohberger told the judge he understood the terms of the plea deal, which stipulates he will serve four life sentences and won’t be able to appeal The judge set the official sentencing for July 23.
Hippler said as the hearing be-
The killings grabbed headlines around the world and set off a nationwide hunt, including an elaborate effort to track down a white sedan spotted on surveillance cameras. Police said they used genetic genealogy to identify Kohberger as a possible suspect and accessed cellphone data to pinpoint his movements the night of the killings. At the time, Kohberger was a criminal justice graduate student
“The defendant has studied crime,” Thompson said. “In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his Ph.D., and he had that knowledge skill set.”
Motive remains unclear
No motive has emerged for the killings, nor is it clear why the attacker spared two roommates who were in the home. There also was no indication he had a relationship with any of the victims, who all were friends and members of the university’s Greek system.
The family of Chapin one of three triplets who attended the university together — supports the deal, their spokesperson, Christina Teves, said Tuesday
Attorney Leander James read a statement from Mogen’s mother and stepfather after the guilty pleas that said they supported the agreement with the prosecutors.
“While we know there are some who do not support it, we ask that they respect our belief that this is the best outcome for the victims, their families and the state of Idaho,” the family said.
“We now embark on a new path,” they said. “We embark on a path of hope and healing.”
Websites hosting major climate reports taken down
BY SETH BORENSTEIN
AP science writer
WASHINGTON Websites that displayed legally mandated U.S. national climate assessments seem to have disappeared, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their backyards from a warming world.
Scientists said the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. Websites for the national assessments and the U.S. Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within NASA to comply with the law, but gave no further details.
Searches for the assessments on NASA websites did not turn them up. NASA did not respond to requests for information. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which coordinated the information in the assessments, did not respond to repeated inquiries.
“It’s critical for decision makers across the country to know what the science in the National Climate Assessment is. That is the most reliable and well-reviewed source of information about
climate that exists for the United States,” said University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs who coordinated the 2014 version of the report.
“It’s a sad day for the United States if it is true that the National Climate Assessment is no longer available,” Jacobs said. “This is evidence of serious tampering with the facts and with people’s access to information, and it actually may increase the risk of people being harmed by climaterelated impacts.”
Harvard climate scientist John Holdren, who was President Obama’s science adviser and whose office directed the assessments, said after the 2014 edition he visited governors, mayors and other local officials who told him how useful the 841-page report was. It helped them decide whether to raise roads, build seawalls and even move hospital generators from basements to roofs, he said.
“This is a government resource paid for by the taxpayer to provide the information that really is the primary source of information for any city, state or federal agency who’s trying to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate,” said Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, who has
BY REBECCA SANTANA and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press
WASHINGTON A federal judge said Wednesday that an order by President Donald Trump suspending asylum access at the southern border was unlawful, throwing into doubt one of the key pillars of the president’s plan to crack down on migration at the southern border
In an order Jan. 20, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it is over.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington said his order blocking Trump’s policy will take effect July 16, giving the Trump administration time to appeal. Moss wrote that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the president “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum” or other humanitarian protections.
The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment but an appeal is likely Moss, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, acknowledged that the gov-
been a volunteer author for several editions of the report.
Copies of past reports are still squirreled away in NOAA’s library NASA’s open science data repository includes dead links to the assessment site.
The most recent report, issued in 2023, included an interactive atlas that zoomed down to the county level. It found that climate change is affecting people’s security, health and livelihoods in every corner of the country in different ways, with minority and Native American communities often disproportionately at risk.
The 1990 Global Change Research Act requires a national climate assessment every four years and directs the president to establish an interagency United States Global Change Research Program. In the spring, the Trump administration told the volunteer authors of the next climate assessment that their services weren’t needed and ended the contract with the private firm that helps coordinate the website and report.
Additionally, NOAA’s main climate.gov website was recently forwarded to a different NOAA website. Social media and blogs at NOAA and NASA about climate impacts for the general public
were cut or eliminated.
“It’s part of a horrifying big picture,” Holdren said. “It’s just an appalling whole demolition of science infrastructure.”
The national assessments are more useful than international climate reports put out by the United Nations every seven or so years because they are more lo-
calized and more detailed, Hayhoe and Jacobs said.
The national reports are not only peer reviewed by other scientists, but examined for accuracy by the National Academy of Sciences, federal agencies, the staff and the public.
Hiding the reports would be censoring science, Jacobs said.
And it’s dangerous for the country, Hayhoe said, comparing it to steering a car on a curving road by only looking through the rearview mirror: “And now, more than ever, we need to be looking ahead to do everything it takes to make it around that curve safely It’s like our windshield’s being painted over.”
ernment faces “enormous challenges” at the southern border and an “overwhelming backlog” of asylum claims. But he returned several times in his 128-page ruling to his opinion that the president is not entitled to prohibit asylum.
The White House said Wednesday that the Border Patrol made 6,070 arrests in June, down 30% from May to set a pace for the lowest annual clip since 1966. On June 28, the Border Patrol made only 137 arrests, a sharp contrast to late 2023, when arrests topped 10,000 on the busiest days.
Arrests dropped sharply when Mexican officials increased enforcement within their own borders in December 2023 and again when then-President Joe Biden introduced severe asylum restrictions in June 2024. They plunged more after Trump became president in January, deploying thousands of troops to the border under declaration of a national emergency Trump and his allies say the asylum system has been abused. They argue that it draws people who know it will take years to adjudicate their claims in the country’s backlogged immigration courts during
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JENNy KANE
The family of Ethan Chapin, including mother Stacy Chapin and father Jim Chapin, walk to the Ada County Courthouse for Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal hearing on Wednesday in Boise, Idaho.
Kohberger
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NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the following ordinances wereadopted at aspecial meeting of the City Council of the City of Youngsville, Louisiana, held on June 26, 2025.
The following Ordinance was offered by Lindy Bolgiano and seconded by Shannon D. Bares, as amended with the most accurate expenses captured for this Fiscal Year: BUDGET AMENDMENT ORDINANCE NO.504-2025 FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGETOF REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES FOR THE CITY OFYOUNGSVILLE, LOUISIANA FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Youngsville, Louisiana, in general session convened that: SECTION 1: The governing authorityhaving received notification pursuant to LA R.S. 39:1310 pertaining to the revenue and expense of the Government of the City of Youngsville for the Fiscal Year 2024-2025, the budget adopted for the year 2024-2025 is amended as shown on Exhibit Aattached hereto.
SECTION2:The Mayor of the City of Youngsville shall have the authority to make changes within each department’soperating budget to the extent that the department’stotal budget allocation is not modified without approval by the City Council. Modifications which change adepartment’s total budget allocation must be approved by the City Council. Additionally all modifications to budgeted capital outlay must be approved by the City Council. SECTION 3: Apublic hearing was held on the 26th day of June, 2025. SECTION4:BEITFURTHER ORDAINED that this ordinance shall take effect in accordance with law The amended ordinance having been submitted to avote, the vote therein wasasfollows: YEAS: Shannon D. Bares, Lindy Bolgiano, Matt Romero, Nicholas Niland. NAYS: None. ABSTAINED: None. ABSENT:Simone B. Champagne. This amended ordinance was adopted on this 26th day of June, 2025. /s/ Nicole Guidry,City Clerk /s/ Ken Ritter,Mayor Exhibit A CITY OF YOUNGSVILLE, LOUISIANA CONSOLIDATED BUDGET YEAR ENDEDJUNE 30, 2026
BID#43-25 It is furtherunderstood andagreed that thework under this contract shall be completedwithin ThreeHundred Thirty Five (335) consecutive calendar days of thedate specified in theContract or aNoticetoProceed subjecttoreimburse‐ment to theownerofliq‐uidateddamages in the amount of ONETHOUS‐DAND DOLLARS ($1,000.00) perconsecu‐tive calendar day. Bids will be publicly opened andreadaloud at theabove stated time anddateinthe Purchas‐ingOffice Conference Room of theLafayette Parish School System Ad‐ministrative Office Build‐ing. Complete Bidding Docu‐mentsfor this projectare beingdistributed in elec‐tronic form andmay be obtained withoutcharge andwithout depositfrom
of theContractonthe formsprovidedbythe School Boardand written in accordance with Louisianalaw Bids shallbeaccepted only from contractors who arelicensedbythe LouisianaState Licensing Boardfor Contractorsfor theclassification of Commercial Construc‐tion.Nobid maybewith‐
Bolgiano,
ing the most updated projections for the new FY and further to be amended to include a3%cost of living increase for the Mayor and members of the City Council: BUDGET ORDINANCENO. 505-2025 FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THEANNUALOPERATING BUDGET OF REVENUES ANDEXPENDITURES FOR THECITYOFYOUNGSVILLE, LOUISIANAFOR FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026. BE IT ORDAINEDBYTHE CITYCOUNCILofthe City of Youngsville, Louisiana, in special session convened that: SECTION 1: The attached detailed estimateofRevenues for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026, as shown on ExhibitA attached hereto, be and the same is hereby adopted to serve as an Operation Budget of Revenues for the City of Youngsville, during the same period.
SECTION 2: The attached estimates of Expenditures for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026, as shown on ExhibitA attached hereto, be and the same is hereby adopted to serve as abudget of Expenditures for the City of Youngsville, during the same period.
SECTION 3: The adoption of this FY 2025-2026 Operating Budget of Revenues and Expenditures be and the same is hereby declared to operate as an appropriation of the amount thereinset forth within the termsofthe budget classification.
SECTION 4: The Mayor of the City of Youngsville shall have the authority to make changes within each department’soperating budget to the extent that the department’stotal budget allocation is not modified without approval by the City Council. Modifications which change adepartment’s total budget allocation must be approved by the City Council. Additionally all modifications to budgeted capital outlay must be approved by the City Council.
SECTION 5: The adoption of this ordinance also serves as approval of the fixed annual salaries &benefits as itemized for the Mayor,Chief of Police and Councilmembers and approval of the fixed annual salaries for the appointed officials of the City of Youngsville, as shown on Exhibit B attached hereto.
SECTION 6: This ordinance was introduced on June 12, 2025 and apublic hearing was held at 6:00 p.m. on the 26th day of June, 2025 prior to adoption. SECTION 7: BE FURTHERORDAINEDthat this ordinance shalltake effect immediatelyupon adoption. The amended ordinance having been submitted to avote, the vote therein was as follows: YEAS: Shannon D. Bares, Lindy Bolgiano, Matt Romero, Nicholas Niland. NAYS: None. ABSTAINED: None. ABSENT:Simone B. Champagne. Thisamended
SHELTER
Continued from page1A
Green said.
“So it’sunfortunate, but we’re still facing overcrowding,” she said. “There’sonly so many options for the abandoned pets and that’sadoption, rescue, fosterand some have to be euthanized because they are sick and been here so long.” In recent years, the Lafayette shelter has reachedno-killstatus.A shelter is considered no-kill when at least 90% of animals accepted into the shelter are saved, and euthanasia practices are focused on terminally ill and aggressive animals that can’tbeadopted Since then, the sheltershave flooded with owner surrenders, likely because owners believe their animals won’tbeeuthanized Green said it is too easy forownerstosurrender pets.
“When you take the responsibilityoftaking akitten or apuppy or adog, it’ssupposed to be forthe
BILL
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want to see the amount increased further by eliminating acap on funds distributed to Gulf states.
“The fact that we’re getting this done now is ahuge steptoward eventually eliminating that cap,” said Dustin Davidson, deputy secretary of the state’sDepartment of Energy and Natural Resources.
“Because, as we know,there are more lease sales that aregoing on in the Gulf under this administration. More people are really looking toward expanding energy production in the Gulf of America. Andsoaswestart making
lifetime of that animal, just like adoptinga child,” shesaid. “If you no longer can care forthatdog or that cat, then re-home them.”
Shelters across the country are once again at abreaking point, said Cathy Bissell, founder of Bissell Pet Foundation, anational nonprofit dedicated to ending pet homelessness that is sponsoring the shelter’sreduced adoption fees. “They are facing record intakes and limited space. Toooften, loving, healthy petsare at risk.”
Since its inception in 2016, Bissell’sEmpty theShelters initiative hashelped more than 324,000 pets find homesand is now the largest funded adoption event in thecountry,Bissell said.
By waiving the adoption fee, thehopeisthat people canspend that moneyonbeds, toysand food, Green said Visit lafayettela.gov/lascc to viewadoptable pets andlearn more. The shelter is open from 8a.m.to4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori. madison@theadvocate.com.
more progress in increasing the funds coming to thestate through GOMESA, it sets the table forus to make more progress in the future.”
Changing GOMESA hasbeen a bipartisan priority in Louisiana, pushed for years by former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, who was aprime moverinseeing the original billthrough in 2006. The state’s current, mainly Republican congressional delegation has followed suit, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, instrumentalinincluding themeasure in thebill.
Theprovision at stake is part of acomplicated formula that determines how much offshore revenue Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama receive each year.By
said,“butit’snot good.”
said Frank Jabbia, superintendent of the St. Tammany Parish school system.“This puts everydistrictina really difficult spot.”
Jabbia said his school system, which educates about 36,000 students,reliesonthe federalgrants for teacher training, after-school tutoring, family activities and services for students learning English. Now the district will likely have to postpone the trainings, tutoring and family activities, and may have to use budget money to pay severalemployees whose salaries had been covered by the grants
“It’sextremely frustrating,” he said, noting that the cuts came just as schools startedanew fiscal yearon July 1. “No one gaveusa heads up.”
In Winn Parish, Superintendent Al Simmons saidhis small rural district might not be able to fill some open positions due to thefunding pause. It also might have to findother moneytopay for critical grant-funded employees, includingliteracy coaches who help train teachers and support struggling readers. Simmons said he was scheduledtopresent the district budget for next school year at aSchool Board meeting Monday.However,that mighthave to be postponed as histeam assesses thefallout of the funding freeze.
“We’re still figuring out exactly what it means,” he
Congress approved the grant funding earlier this year in abudgetresolution that PresidentDonald Trump signed intolaw.Itis separate from the massive budget bill that the Senate narrowlypassed this week.
But in Monday’smemo, the Education Department said it would not sendstates the money duetoits ongoing review ofthe grant programs. It did not give a timelinefor thereview,only saying it needed to ensure the programs align with the Trump administration’s agenda.
“The Department remains committedtoensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’sstatutory responsibilities,” according to acopy of the memo obtained by The Times-Picayune and TheAdvocate The agencyreferredquestionstothe administration’s OfficeofManagementand Budget, which did not immediately respondtoarequest for comment. In astatement to Politico on Wednesday an OMBspokespersonsaid some schools had improperly used the grant money to support undocumented immigrants or offerLGBTQrelated courses.
“Initial findings have shown that manyofthese grant programs have been grosslymisused to subsidize aradical left-wing agenda,” thespokesperson told the news outlet.
Some Democratic lawmakersand state education officials have condemned
law,Louisiana mustuse the money for coastal projects.
It sets aside 37.5% of offshore oil andgas revenue to be shared amongthe fourGulf states, but thetotal amount is capped at $500 million per year.Louisiana receives the most of thefour, amounting to $156 million for the lastfiscal year
The change included in the currentbill liftsthe capto$650 million for the next decade. The amount of revenuedoesnot reachthe cap limit every year,but it has done so for thelast three years in row Louisiana could gain an extra $46 million peryear,or$460 million over thenextdecade, if the cap is hit each of thoseyears, according to estimates.
Stateofficials’ arguments to
members of Congress have involvedLouisiana’s role in the nation’senergy production, the importanceofrivershipping through its ports and analyses showing the money saved over the long-term through investmentincoastal protection. They also point to a1920 law that grants Western states farmore, handing over half of the revenue from onshore energy and mineral mining.
“Proactive investments in our state on coastal restoration and protection in turn helps withdisaster recovery,but also areminder that Louisiana is fueling the nation, and we deserve some of thoserevenues that come off thecoast to makesure that we can continue to fuel the nation,” said Meg Bankston, executive director
of ParishesAdvocating forCoastal Endurance, or PACE, which represents Louisiana’s20coastal parishes on the issue.
Davidson spoke of the nation’s need to protect areaslikeoil-andgashub Port Fourchonaswell as the large liquefied natural gas plants being built along the coast andthe Louisiana ports handling some 60% of the country’sgrain exports.
“It’snot just about hurricane protection,coastal restoration but it’salso about ensuring that we have sufficient navigation to get products that are produced in Midwest states out to global markets,” he said.
Email Mike Smithatmsmith@ theadvocate.com.
thefunding freeze, saying it violates the will of Congress and could reduceservices for students. ButLouisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley praised the move, saying the “temporary review” would ensure that tax dollars positively impact Louisianastudents
“I applaud President Trumpand Secretary McMahonfor theirthoughtful approach to empowering states andputting students first,” he said in astatement, referringtoU.S. Education Secretary LindaMcMahon.
Brumley’soffice did not immediately inform school districtsabout thefunding pausedescribed in Monday’smemo, and as late as Wednesday morning some superintendentswerestill trying to learn the status of thegrants.
“They’ve been talking about it on group texts,” said Mike Faulk, executive director for the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents. “They’retrying to figure out how to handle this without getting anydirection.”
Brumleysentschool districts aletter Wednesday afternoon aboutthe situation, saying his agency is working with Gov.JeffLandry, congressional staffers and federal officialstoget upto-date information on the grants.
The funding freeze has alsoalarmed groups that run after-school programs.
Manyrely on oneofthe affected grants,known as the 21stCenturyCommunity Learning Centers program, the main federal
5.1BudgetAmendment
funding stream for afterschool and summer programs. It provides about $30millionannuallytoLouisiana, which funds more than 30 programs, most of which have multiple sites, accordingtoAndrew Ganucheau, director of the Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning.
Thegrant-fundedprograms, which are basedin schools, have beenshown to boost student attendance. Even if thefunding is eventually restored, the
disruption could still delay the start of after-school programs this fall andreduce their quality,hesaid.
“The funding’sthere;it’s been approved,”Ganucheau said.“Butit’sgoing to be delayedjust because the administration wantsto do this.”
If the money is not released,itcould forceafterschool programs at three Baton Rouge schools to close, said AngelNelson, president and CEO of Boys &Girls Clubs of Metro Loui-
siana, which runs the sites. The programs offer homework help, sports and art activitiesand dinnertoabout 500 students. They also provide affordable child care forlow-income families, whopay just $25 ayear for the service. If the grants disappear,so will those programs, Nelson said.
“Nowwe’re notgoing to be able to give kids asafe place to learn and grow,” she said. “It’sgoing to be devastating.”
STAFFPHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Akitten snuggles astuffed animal in its enclosure at the Lafayette AnimalShelter and Care Center
Shown is today’sweather.Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’slows.
BY JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain Europe’scontinuing heat wave on Wednesday helped fuel adeadlywildfire in Spain while theEuropean Union presented plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under scorching temperatures.
The blaze that broke out late on Tuesday created an enormous thick plume of ashand smokethat rose 45,000 feet into the sky, making it the largest registered by firefighters in Catalonia, anortheastern region of Spain.
Twofarmers were killedwhile apparently trying to flee in avehicle, local authorities said Wednesday Firefighterssaid that thefire spread at 17 mph at one pointasit consumed 16,000 acres mostly of grain fields.
“Wildfires today are notlike they were before,” Salvador Illa, the regional president of Catalonia, said.
“These are extremely dangerous.
From the very first moment, it was considered to be beyond the capacity of extinction. Imean that not
even withtwo or three timesthe number of firefighters, they have told me, it would have been possible to put out.”
Firefighterscredited arainstorm later on Tuesday for having “quicklychanged the situation and helped speed up getting the fire stabilized.”
Twoofthe 500 firefighters who deployed needed treatment at a local hospital for their injuries.
Some 14,000 residents were ordered to stay indoors for several hoursonTuesday night
Spain’s seas heat up
After Spain set arecord for June airtemperatures,its port authorities recorded the hottest ever water temperature readings forthe monthinthe Mediterranean and the part of theAtlantic nearest to France.
Experts say higher surface temperatures are bad for sea life and make for warmernightsonshore.
“A much warmer seaaround us contributes to the nights not cooling down, which is detrimental to people’srest,”ManuelVargas, researcher at the Oceanographic
Center of Malaga, told The Associated Press.
In Spain’ssouthern city of Malaga, the RedCross setupanairconditioned “climaterefuge” to help residents andprovidedand “assisted bathing service” to help people with reduced mobility to cool down in waters at thebeach.
Othernations
In Turkey,authorities evacuated two neighborhoods in the Aegean coastal town of Cesmeafter afire that started on an agricultural field, spread to aforestedarea, threateningsomeholiday homes in the region.
Italy’slabor ministry and union representativessigned aprotocol Wednesdayonprotecting farm, construction andother workers who labor outdoors from heat exposure.The non-binding document contains best practices, including changing work shifts to avoidpeak heat times of the day,and calls for accesstounemploymentbenefits even for seasonal farmlabor when working hours are reduced due to extreme heat.
Italian media, meanwhile, re-
Spanishwildfirekills 2asparts of Europe bake
ported twoheat-relateddeathson Sardinianbeaches. Earlier in the week,aconstructionworker died while repaving aparking lotnear Bologna.
Heat alerts were issued for 17 Italiancities Wednesday.The corresponding surge in air conditioning hasstrained the electric grid and causingperiodicblackouts, including in Florence.
France’snational weather agency kept fourdepartments under red alert on Wednesday after temperatures exceeded 104 degrees in manytowns.
In Berlin, the homeless feeling the bruntofthe 96-degreeheat sought respite at acity mission.
“If youmaybe lie down somewhere to restand go to sleep in the sun, that can lead to death from heat exposure,” said Barbara Breuer of the Berlin City Mission. Sheestimated the German capital hasbetween 8,000and 10,000 people without shelter
In Switzerland, one of the two reactors at the Beznau nuclear power plantwas shut downaspart of efforts to prevent excessive warming of the Aare River,soas
not to further burden wildlife and the overall ecosystem in already hot weather,operator Axpo said. EU plan to cutemissions
As much of Europe was scorched by torrid weather,the European Commission unveiled proposals to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 as the 27-nation bloc aimstobe fully carbon-neutral by 2050.
“Weare finally here on avery hot day,and somewould call that very timely,” Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra toldreportersin Brussels.
The proposalsinclude allowing businesses to use international carbon credits to offset their emissions. Under the plan, international carbon credits could be used —starting in 2036 and limited to 3% of benchmark 1990 EU emissions —toreach the 2040 emission reduction target.
The proposals have to be approved by all member states.
More than two-thirds of the severest heat waves in Europe registered since1950 have occurred since 2000, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
GOPleaders in Houseworktowin over holdouts on Trump’sbill
BY KEVIN FREKING,LISA MASCARO and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press
WASHINGTON— Republican leaders in the House were busy Wednesday trying to win over some final holdouts on PresidentDonald Trump’stax and spending cuts package —determined to seize momentum from ahard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring members to defy their party’sleaderand vote against it.
“The American people gave us aclear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliverwithout delay,” the top four House GOP leaderssaid Tuesday after the bill passed the Senate 51-50, thanks to Vice President JD Vance’stiebreakingvote. It’s arisky gambit, one designed to meet Trump’sdemand for a July 4finish. Republicans have struggled mightily withthe bill nearly every step of theway this year,often succeeding by only one vote. Their House majoritystands at just 220-212, leaving littleroom for defections.
Some Republicans are likely to
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise,R-Jefferson, left,walk in the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday
balkatbeing asked to rubber-stamp theSenate versionlessthan24 hours after passage. Republicans from competitive districts have bristled at theSenatebill’s cuts to Medicaid, while conservatives havelambasted the legislation as straying from their fiscal goals.
It falls to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton,and his team to convince themthat the time for negotiations is over.Theywill need assistance from Trump to close the deal,and severalconservatives went to the
White House to talkabout their concerns with the president.
“The president’s message was ‘we’re on aroll.’ He went over all thetariffs that he’sgot and the money that’saccumulated, the economy’shot, and he wants to see this,” said Rep. Ralph Norman,RS.C. In another warning sign of some HouseRepublicanresistance,a resolution setting up terms for debating Trump’sbill barely cleared the House Rules Committee on Wednesday morning. Republican Reps. Chip RoyofTexas and Ralph Norman of SouthCarolinasided with Democrats in voting against it.
Trumpcan’tafford to losemany votesfrom Republicans.Late into theafternoon, aprocedural vote was being held open for more than two hours as GOPleadership waited for lawmakers delayed coming back to Washington becauseof weather andtoconductcloseddoor negotiations with concerned members.
The bill would extendand make permanentvarious individual and business tax breaks from Trump’s firstterm, plus temporarily add
new ones he promised during the 2024 campaign, including allowing workerstodeduct tips and overtime pay,and a$6,000 deduction formost older adults. In all, the legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.
The bill also provides about $350 billion for defense and Trump’simmigrationcrackdown. Republicans partially pay foritall through less spending on Medicaid and food assistance. The Congressional Budget Office projects the bill will add about $3.3 trilliontothe federal debt over the coming decade.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said the leadership was notentertaining the possibility of making changes to the bill before the final vote.
“It’snot as easy as saying,‘Hey, Ijust wantone morechange,’ because one more change could end up being what collapses the entire thing,” Scalise said.
Democratic lawmakers, united against the bill as harmful to the country,condemned the fast-track process.
The House passed its version of the bill in May, despiteworries about spending cuts and the overall price tag.Now,it’sbeing asked to give final passage to aversion that, in many respects, exacerbates those concerns. TheSenate bill’sprojected impact on thenation’sdebt,for example,issignificantly higher Trumppraised the bill profusely in asocial media post, saying, “We can have all of thisright now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores itsoccasional ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ (You know whoyou are!), and does the right thing, whichissending this Bill to my desk.” Johnson is intent on meeting Trump’stimeline andbetting that hesitant Republicans won’tcross thepresidentbecauseofthe heavy political pricetheywould have to pay They need only look to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.,who announced his intention to vote against the legislationoverthe weekend. Soon the president wascalling foraprimary challengertothe senatorand criticizing him on social media. Tillis quickly announced he would not seek athird term
JudgeblocksDOGEcutstoAmeriCorps
ServeLouisiana programs help communitydevelopment
BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer
ABaton Rouge federal judge has orderedthe government to resume funding for one of Louisiana’slargest AmeriCorps programs, more than two months after apresidential directive dismantled the agen-
cy that helps nonprofits across thenation pay for community improvement projects
U.S. DistrictJudge John deGravelles sided with Serve Louisianain his ruling Friday,ordering an injunction that terminated thedrastic budgetcuts that have halted volunteer effortsacross thestate.
“Weare deeply grateful for the court’sruling,”LisaMoore, Serve Louisiana’sexecutive director,saidinastatement Monday. “AmeriCorps isn’tjustabout improving lives in the communities we serve —it’sabout fostering civic engagement in theAmeriCorps members themselves. We
acted quickly to challenge this termination because we believe in modeling the very civic responsibility we’ve spent thepast30years instilling in our members. These young people committedto11 months of service, and now,thanks to this decision, we can uphold our end of that agreement.”
It’s notclear howwide-reaching therecent ruling’s effects could be.The U.S. Supreme Court issued
PAWS FOR ACAUSE
ABOVE: Akitten is seen on Wednesdayatthe Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center in Lafayette. TOP: Adoption coordinator Alexis Gonzalez takes akitten out of akennel for a visitor at the Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center in Lafayette on Wednesday. LEFT: Avery Patin, 8, meetsa Pomeranian mix that was recently brought to the shelter on Wednesday.
Police:Juvenilearrestedinfatal Abbevilleshooting
CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports
Abbeville police arrested ajuvenile in connection with adeadly Sunday shooting that left one man dead. The juvenile was arrested Monday and faces one count of second-degree murder,juvenile in possession of afirearm and illegal use of aweapon, according to an AbbevillePoliceDepartment announcement. Police responded to reports of a man being shot around 11:30 p.m.
in the120 blockofSouth John Hardy Drive.Uponarrival, police found Bailey Dubois sufferingfrom agunshot wound. Dubois was taken to Abbeville General Hospital, where he later died. Duboisand the juvenile were in avehicle when an argument broke out,police said. Dubois attempted to run away when the juvenile allegedly shot him Twomen wanted in murder case in custody Both of the22-year-old Lake Charlesmen wanted in connec-
tion with second-degree murder have been arrested. Titus Tezenoturnedhimself in at theCalcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office andwas taken into custody, according to Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kayla Vincent, at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday Larry Bigelow Jr.was located in Beaumont, Texas, andtaken into custody,Vincentsaid, at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday Vincent said there was no more information available on Bigelow’sarrest At aWednesdaymorning news briefing, CalcasieuPar-
ish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory announcedthat Bigelow and Tezeno are suspects in aSunday homicideinvestigationand are wanted for second degree murder.The bond is $1.5 million for each of the suspects. Around 11 p.m. Sunday,Kalin Stevens, 23, of LakeCharles, was found dead with gunshot wounds “onthe side of the roadway” at the 6700 block of Highway90in LakeCharles After investigation, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Officeput warrants out forBigelow and Tezeno, who hadan“ongoing beef” withStevens.
aruling earlier this year that bars federal district court rulings on DOGE cases from setting national precedent. While other states saw lawsuits in the wakeofthe cuts, Serve Louisiana was the only AmeriCorps vendortofile suit in Louisiana. Serve LouisianaisaBaton Rouge nonprofit thatpartners with 18
Expect hot, humid weather forJuly Fourth
Butlittlechance of rain,forecastsays
BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
It’llbea hotand humidFourthof July in Acadiana, according to the National Weather Service. Those conditions are expected to continue through the week and weekend, with aheat index ranging from 99-102 degrees, the weather service in Lake Charles said in an update. Afternoon thunderstormsare forecast for the area Thursday.But the weather servicesaidthere’sonly a “slim chance of catching abrief coolingshower or thunderstorm”onJuly Fourth.
“A couple of afternoon thunderstorms can’t be ruledout,”the weather service said, “but most of the region will remain dry.”
Thehighest chancesofrain— about 15-20% —are between 1p.m to 6p.m. forLafayette,Crowley, New Iberia and Opelousas.
The heat index, which is what the temperature feels like to the human body,isexpected to reach about90 degrees by 9a.m.across Acadiana. It is expected to peak at about 2p.m. reaching 99 degrees in Lafayette, 102 degrees in Crowley,101 degrees in NewIberia and99degrees in Opelousas.
Randolph’s building escaped fire damage
BYELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer
Anew restaurant hasopenedonthe grounds of Nottoway Resort after a May15fire burned the 166-year-old mansion to the ground.
Randolph’sRestaurant, named after John Randolph, the sugar cane planter who commissioned the building of Nottoway in 1859, just marked itsfirst weekend in business, chef Matthew Morgan said Monday
“Wefed 60 people for our first brunchyesterday anditwas very successful,” he said. Morgan had joined Nottoway as chef just three weeks before the catastrophicblaze destroyedthe plantation home andthe Mansion Restaurant on its bottom floor
“I moved out here and facilitated a wedding forthem,then three weeks later camethe fire,” said Morgan, whopreviously managed an Alexandria hotel’srestaurant operations. The cause of the Nottoway fire
STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK
ä See AMERICORPS, page 4B ä See WEATHER, page 4B
Editor’snote:This editorial, withmodifications, has appeared in previous Fourth of July editions.
The story of how the Declaration of Independence came to be says much aboutthe ideals of the men who signed it.Wecan learnalot from them about character andcompromise, twoqualities sadly lacking in today’s political culture.
David McCullough lays outthe taleofthe Declaration’sorigins in “John Adams,” his celebrated 2001 biography of the nation’ssecond president andprominentfounding father. Adams’political rival, Thomas Jefferson,was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. Years later,Adams recalled that Jeffersonhad proposed thathe, Adams, writethe document. As Adams tells it, he deferred to Jefferson, listing his reasons: “Reason first:You areaVirginian and aVirginian ought to appear at the head of this business.Reason second: Iamobnoxious, suspected and unpopular.You arevery much otherwise. Reason third: Youcan write ten times better than Ican ” That’snot how Jefferson rememberedthe event. He simply recalled beingasked by a committee of the Founding Fathers to take up hispen.“Possibly neitheroftheir memories served, and possiblyboth were correct,” McCullough tells readers.
Adams’ account of the Declaration’s beginningsisa reminderthat America’searliest leaders weren’tmarble iconsbut ratherhumans with their own egos and foibles. Adams’story about the Declaration indulges abit of selfcongratulation —the nobleAdamsbeing asked to write the text, then magnanimously declining —but there’sauthentic generositytowardJefferson in hisremarks, too.
There is also alesson that politics is ageless: The new nation, as yet unborn,had profound differences in outlook among thestates.Notice that Virginia, the most populous,and onewith a significant number of loyalistsfor KingGeorge III, was in Adams’ thoughts. Differencesin economics and views are the stuffoflegislative maneuvering, now as then Adams and Jefferson became bitter political opponents, withJefferson defeating Adamsto become the nation’sthird president. Afteryears of estrangement, they became friendsagain in their final years, famously dyingonthe same day: July 4,1826. Jefferson died first that day, and an ailing Adams, not knowingofhis passing, was heard to utter from his deathbed,“Thomas Jefferson survives.”
If two figures so different in outlook and disposition could reconcile, then maybe thepolitical divides now frustratingour nationallife are not as wide and deep as we think they are. That reflection cannot be more relevanttoday,a couple of centurieslater,asquestions aboutfundamental rights andthe Constitution arecontentiouslydebated.
That is agreat gift Adams andJeffersonhave given us —the possibility of commonground, even when shared purpose seems hopeless. Tomorrow,wecelebratethe ideathat Jefferson does indeed survive. And Adams does,too.
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence
TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com. TO SEND USA LETTER, SCANHERE
OPINION
Some yearsago, our daughter became aStarbucks barista before graduateschool. Her nervous parents were concerned about health insurance, which sheassured us would be available as soon as shebecame afull-time employee. This never happened, as the manager kept her hoursjustbelow the threshold of qualifying for benefits.
In Louisiana, only 48% of workers are offered health insurance at work. The top national corporationswithemployees on Medicaid areWalmart and McDonald’s. Most adults on Medicaid already work somewhere. This is what Republicans are not telling you about their Medicaid “reforms” inTrump’s BigBeautiful Bill. SenateMajority Leader John Thune, R-N.D., saidthat thebest health care is ajob. What he didn’tsay is that that is true only about half thetime in our country today
Further,$800 million in cuts to Medicaid does not mean that the 16 million people who lose insurance under thebill won’tget health
Many years ago, afriend told me thatthe greatest motivator in life is fear.That sounded plausible.
Iimagine that fear will motivate youtodoalot of things. Like running into aburning house to rescue your child. Then he said that fear was also thegreatest demotivator.What?How can that be? Butthere was alot of truthinthat paradox. If you fear that going to workortothe grocery store might get you arrested or deported, Iget it that you might stay home. If you can’task someoneout on adate, afraid of rejection, you don’tcall. I get that, too. If aknock on your door scares the holy bejesus out of you, you freeze. Or run. Fear is everywhere in America today.Group Aisafraid of Group B, who is afraid of Group C. That’show we live today.The threat of war.Another pandemic. Financial collapse. Retaliation.Beingsent to prison for
care. They will still visit emergency rooms and get hospitalized—they cannot be turned awaybecause the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals to provide amedical screening examination and stabilizing treatment, regardless of their insurance statusorabilitytopay Hospitals will bear some of the staggering costs of uncompensated care —estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to be $278 million. As thenewspaper has documented, Louisiana will be among the states most affected. Rural hospitals and those that serveless advantaged populations who arealreadystruggling —will be especially hurt. What the16million will lose is outpatient coverage, where preventive care, earlydiagnosis and treatment and monitoring of chronicdiseases take place —things that prevent the need for more expensive care Allthis so thewealthiest 1% can get another big tax break?
CHARLES ZEANAH
Metairie
speaking out.Will you get fired for just doing your job?Young adults are anxious. Older adultsfear that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will disappear People who recognize the source of all this fear should do something about it. Maybe they don’tmind seeing acolleague being pushed to the floor,handcuffed and taken away just for asking questions or being shot and killed at their front door The source of this fear-motivating or demotivating is clear.Politicians, judges, journalists—many live in fear.And maybe Ishould, too, as Iwritethis letter.Will there be threats? Will there be aprice? Perhaps. ButIbelieve in America and what we’ve always stoodfor.I could go on, but wait,Ihear someone banging on my door.Gotta go.
MARC GOLDSTEIN Baton Rouge
My oldest child starts his senior year of high school in August. Idon’tknow if he and my other two teenagers will relocate or stay in Louisiana, but either way, Iwant people whoare starting or changing careers to have as many opportunities as possible forgainful employment here.
Taxcredits are along-standing way to attract industry to an area and often have bipartisan support. Why,then, wouldn’twewant to encourage companies producing renewable energy to set up shop in Louisiana? These are businesses like utility-scale solar farmsand factories that makesolar panels, wind turbine components, and batteries. Yet, alot of lawmakers do not support keeping the clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. The budget reconciliation bill, better knownasthe One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in its current form,does away with the tax credits.
Offering tax credits to these energy companies represents jobs, salaries, supported families and money spent at other businesses. Voting them down amounts to leaving money on the table that could go to Louisiana families. I’m concerned that if the incentives aren’t there at the federal level, individual states will be quick to give their own tax breaks. Right now,wehave more towns angling fornew industries than we have new industries. Iwould hope lawmakers would makethe moreentrepreneurial choice to welcomethese businesses and that they will come to Louisiana, so that my sons, daughter and their peers have moreopportunities forbright futures.
CLANCY RATLIFF Lafayette
LSU recently announced its presidential search committee. Didanyone notice anything strange about the members of that list? Of the 19, only twomembers are women. Surely,there are morethan twowomen in Louisiana with sufficient qualifications to select apresident forour flagship university LSU should do better
GEORGE HELMER Lafayette
Musk goes offagain againstagenda
Hasitreally been less than amonth since Elon Musk flew off the handle, trashed his benefactor,the president, pledged to kill the administration’stop legislative priority,and,ontop of all that, have the president impeached?It seems like years ago, butitwas actually less than 30 days. That’show quickly Musk disappeared from national politicswhen he left his position at DOGE and returnedtohis valuable work at SpaceX and Tesla, among othercompanies.
Now,though, Musk is at it again. With President Donald Trump’stop legislative priority —Trump calls it the “Big Beautiful Bill” —ina critical stage on Capitol Hill, Musk has stepped in again to threatenthe president and the Republican Party with political ruination. What agood friend! Musk’s relapse is important because of 1) who he is, 2) how muchmoney he has, and 3) the importance ofpassing thebill to Trump’sinfluence andlegacy Legislatively speaking, the Big Beautiful Bill is the embodiment of everything Trump has done as president. It would make permanent the premierlegislative achievement of his first term, the Trump tax cuts. It would fulfillthe top unfulfilled promise of the first term, the border wall. It would make good on promises made during the 2024 campaign, such as no tax on tips and greater border security.Itisone long expression of Trump’spriorities as president Forthe last five months, Trump has achieved many things by using his executive authority.Now,the “big,beautiful bill”isteed up to be Trump’sbig achievement in legislation. And his close friend Elonistryingto kill it. Starting on Mondayafternoon, Musk, who overpromised and underdelivered on his self-perceived abilities to cut government spending, began a series of posts on Xinwhichheurged, and then threatened, House Republicans who planned to vote for the bill.
At 3:08 p.m., Musk posted, “Itisobviouswith the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in aone-party country—the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for anew political party that actually caresabout the people.”
At 3:36, he posted, targeting House conservatives, “How can you call your-
self theFreedom Caucus if you votefor aDEBTSLAVERYbill withthe biggest debtceilingincreaseinhistory?”
At 4:02, he posted, “Every member of Congresswho campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately votedfor the biggestdebt increase in historyshould hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next yearifitisthe last thing Idoon this Earth.”
At 6:02, he posted, “If this insane spending bill passes, theAmerica Party will be formed thenext day.Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have aVOICE.
At 9:41,hepostedanillustration of a puppetonfire with the heading LIAR. Musk wrote, “Anyone who campaigned on thePROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to voteon theBIGGESTDEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see theirface on this posterinthe primary next year.”
The posting continued as Monday turnedinto Tuesday.At12:52 a.m., Musk posted, “Hitting the debt ceiling is the only thing that will actually force the government to cut wasteand fraud. That’swhy the debt ceiling legislation exists!”
Obviously,Trumpwould have to respond. So at 12:44 a.m., in the midst of Musk’s rant, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for president, thatI was strongly againstthe EV mandate. It is ridiculous, and was
always amajor partofmycampaign
Electric carsare fine,but not everyone should be forced to own one. Elon may get moresubsidy than anyhuman being in history,byfar,and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to closeup shopand head back home to South Africa. No morerocket launches,satellites, or electric car production, and our country would save aFORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take agood, hard, look at this?
BIGMONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Trump’spoint —recipient of massive government subsidiesdecries massive federal spending —was entirely clear Yes, Musk’sspace company does great things and performs services that the governmentneeds.But thesame cannot be said for theelectric vehicle mandate, and if thatiswhat Musk is upset about, then he hassimply run afoulofRepublican orthodoxy on Capitol Hill. Of course, Musk alsoangered Democrats during his brief stint in Washington, so it is unclear where he will go for help on that.
But thebig picture is this: At acritical moment in Donald Trump’spresidency and in the workings of the Republican Congress, Elon Musk stepped in, again, to try to kill theGOP’s top priority. He appearstobelieve that he has too much money to ignore, and that is probably true.But that doesn’tmean he will be taken seriously when he does thesame thing in the future.
Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.
Sixty years ago this summer,Congressenacted the nation-transforming Voting Rights Act.Soon, however,Congress and adeferential Supreme Court, by reverse alchemy,turned the gold of the VRA into thelead of today’sracial distribution of representation. Recently,the Supreme Court delayed, pending reargument next term, deciding acase that could reverse the VRA’s tarnishment.
On the final day of the 2024-2025 term, the court issued 404 pages of decisions, concurrences anddissents in six cases. Singularly important, however, werethe six pages of Justice Clarence Thomas’sdissent from the court’sdecision not to decidethe case concerning the patent racial gerrymandering in Louisiana’sredistricting map Thomas citesthe “intractable” conflict between the VRAasthe court has construed it as aguarantee of the rights of groups, and the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws for persons. “Intractable?” No, insoluble. Approximately one-third of Louisianans are Black. After the 2020 Census, the legislature produced acongressional map withonly one “majority-minority” district. In acomplex process of litigation, the state, accepting the court-created principle of racial proportionality,created asecond Black-majoritydistrict. The state simultaneously engaged in political gerrymandering to protect theseats of three senior Republican members of Congress. The result was unlovely The proposed 6th District resembles a250-mile-long python uncoilingfrom northwest to southeast Louisiana to “scoop up” (Thomas’startphrase) enough Black voters, and exclude enough White ones,tobeslightly more than 50% Black. Obviously, race pre-
dominated in producing this affront to the VRA’s original intent.
This is today’sjudicial morass concerningredistricting: Raceconsciousness is mandatory; race as “predominant” is forbidden. The path to this conundrum is explained in “Deconstructingthe Republic,”the invaluable 2008 book by Anthony A. Peacock of Utah State University: Theoriginal VRA was written to guarantee ballot access. Butassubsequently construed by the court and amended by Congress, it confers group rights to “effective” representation. This entitlement to aportion of political power is determined by racial calculations. The court began and Congress joined the process of conferring on afew minorities (Black, Hispanic, Native American) agroup right to elect their preferredrepresentatives, with members of the group presumptively choosingtothink as agroup rather than as individuals.
Classical liberalismholds that althoughindividuals are divided by opinionsand passions,they can be united by shared interests. The uniting is the businessofpolitics. But, Peacock says, the ideology of multiculturalism changed politics by making race and ethnicity preeminent —and inevitably divisive —legal categories. This deconstructed the nation into an archipelagoofracial and ethnic constituencies. This development was congruent with thecredo of 20th-century “behavioral”social science: People do not act freely;they behave predictably because they are conditioned by group membership. By freezing certain racial constituencies into law,the VRA, as (mis)construed and amended, now implicitly endorsesa degraded theory of representation: Elected representatives of agovernment-preferred minority should mechanically serve any desire of the cohesive group.
TheCivil Rights Act of 1964, enacted to end thecognizance of race in law,
has been bent to opposite purposes. The VotingRightsAct, enacted to eliminate acts of invidious discrimination, has been twisted to engineer racial balance in political processes by takinglegal cognizance of, and thereby encouraging, racial as opposed to citizenship identities.
Judicial decisions have held that illegal “votedilution” (a phrase not in the 1965 VRA) exists when governmentapproved minorities could not elect candidates of their “choice,” which was presumed tobedefined racially.The creation of minority-majority electoral districts, drawn to preserve or create racially homogenous enclaves, supposedly serves electoral fairness, defined as facilitating minority office-holding. The VRA becameaninstrument for turning race and ethnicity into legally determinative categories for claims to proportional allocations of political power
Doing so, today’sVRA encourages a group conflict model of American politics.And theFounders’ Constitution for freely thinking individuals becomes a Constitution for thinking-alike victims of aperpetual past.
In a2003 case concerning race-based universityadmissions, thecourt affirmed a“diversity” exception tothe laws of equal protection. An “effective representation” exception has been discovered in theVRA, although nothing in its 1965 text or legislative history authorized or required this.
The court has somewhat corrected its 2003 higher-education mistake. Next term, it should jettison mostofits misbegotten VRA jurisprudence. By affirming the equal protection clause’ssupremacy over the court’s torturous misconstruing of it,and Congress’spernicious amending of it, thecourt can restore theVRA’s golden gleam
Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.
Independence Dayissuch afavorite holiday of mine that when this nation had its bicentennial celebration in 1976, Itold my father Iwanted to live to 112 so Icould see the tricentennial. Still, there wasone Fourth of July Icouldn’t celebrate with friends or fireworks. As acub sports reporter forthis newspaper in 1986, Iwas assigned to cover the Golden Meadow Tarpon Rodeo —areally great event forparticipants, but awful forareporter (at least back then). My job involved waiting in the blazing heat, in an outside walkway at Golden Meadow Junior High School, fortired anglers to drive up with their fish in the backs of pickup trucks, eager to get the catch weighed and then moveon.
With no air conditioning, not enough coins forthe vending machines and sometimes long periods between trucks, all Icould do was sweat in the heat as Iread my book. Fortunately,itwas one of the best novels I’ve ever read, “All the King’s Men,” by Robert Penn Warren. Brilliantly written, utterly engrossing, it nonetheless was full of dark and tragic undertones of aside of politics Ihad never really experienced in person. Essentially afictionalized version of the career of (in)famous Louisiana Gov.Huey P. Long, the Penn Warren masterpiece is, alas, oft-remembered forperhaps its mostdownbeat passage: “Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.”
As much as Iwas enraptured by the novel, this washardly awelcome theme about American politics foranidealistic 22-year-old on the Fourth of July.(To say the least!)
As someone whoexpected to spend my career either working in or writing about politics, it leftmewary.Was this really what Iwas getting into?
Well, in the 39 years since then, I’ve seen far morethan Iwant to see of the rotten underside of somepolitics. Still, that’snot the full story Instead, I’ve seen plenty of validation of the idealism the Fourth of July always inspires —the idealism asserting that this American system is almost miraculously wise in conception, and that it can create the conditions for ennobling actions.
In no particular order:
I’ve seen longtimeU.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, whom Iknow well, stand on principle even when it cost him his long-desired job as U.S. Attorney General. To keep his job, all he had to do was follow President Donald Trump’s orders to kill the “Russia probe” that marred the first part of Trump’spresidency.Instead, informed in no uncertain termsbythe Justice Department’sethics office that he should recuse himself from all decisions in the case, he followed the ethics rules even as Trumpraged against him.His duty as the nation’schief lawenforcement officer was to the formal ethics rules, not to his own job security I’ve seen Republican state Sen. Ben Bagert (for whom Ibriefly had worked ayear earlier), seeing polls showing he would fall short of a U.S. Senate runoff, withdraw from his race the day before the election and endorse Democratic incumbent opponent Bennett Johnston, all to save Louisiana the nightmare of arunoff election featuring neo-Nazi David Duke. (The nightmare came ayear later in agovernor’s race, but that’sanother story.) For the greater good, Bagert honorably fell on his sword. I’ve seen Vice President Mike Pence stand tall forthe Constitution while under severe pressure to throw out duly attested electoral votes —and then, even as rioters yelled forhis execution, insist on returning that very night to finish the vote-counting procedure. Likewise, I’ve seen Rep. Liz Cheney,with whom I’ve shared twosmall-group mealsatthe vice presidential residence, willingly forfeit her career because of what her principles told her was right.
And I’ve seen “across the aisle” kindnesses: On twodifferent occasions, Democratic operatives reached out to me, long knownasaRepublican, to alert me about and support me for job openings that fit my skill sets.
These examples of honor and decency,and manymore Icould recount, are farremoved from the “stink of the didie,” or even the stench of dead fish in apickup truck.
In the last letter Thomas Jefferson ever sent to John Adams(before they both died 199 years ago tomorrow), Jefferson wrote that “all eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man These are grounds of hope. …Let the annual return of [the Fourth of July] forever refresh our recollection of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”
And all in apolitical system,atits heart, still capable of honor
Quin Hillyer canbereached at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Elon Musk posted on X, ‘If this insane spending bill passes, the America Partywill be formed the nextday.’
Quin Hillyer
George Will
Byron York
$36K
EBR parish vehicle seen at councilman’s home
Off-road vehicle is for district use, he says
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER
Staff writer
An East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member has kept a taxpayerowned, $36,000 off-road vehicle at his home, but says he broke no rules by doing so and uses it for his district. City-parish records show council member Darryl Hurst bought the 2025 Polaris Ranger Crew XP 1000 Northstar with his District 5 budget in February The money came from a new franchise fee the council imposed on Entergy in December
The council member said the vehicle is kept “for the most part, in a trailer or office” at the center in his district, though “sometimes I’ll ask somebody, ‘Hey man, let me store it here.’
But on Monday and Tuesday, the vehicle was parked in his driveway at his house in Monticello, about a 9-mile drive east of the center Several council districts have community centers which council members oversee, like Hurst’s Charles R Kelly Community Center in District 5.
Council Administrator Ashley Beck said it “is not proper” for a metro council member to keep a city-owned vehicle at a personal
WEATHER
Continued from page 1B
The weather service recommends people stay hydrated and take fre-
AMERICORPS
Continued from page 1B
different public agencies and grassroots organizations statewide, such as the Boys & Girls Club and the East Baton Rouge Parish Library The group supplies student members and senior volunteers to help with community development efforts such as mentoring children, coordinating environmental cleanup efforts and providing hurricane relief.
Serve Louisiana sued the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget, AmeriCorps and the recently created U.S Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The volunteer group filed suit May 1 in the Baton Rouge-based federal district court, asking a judge to intervene and stop the cuts that abruptly stripped grant dollars that Serve Louisiana relied upon for its work.
President Donald Trump gutted the AmeriCorps budget, slashing nearly $400 million away from the $557 million spending plan Congress had already earmarked for the federal volunteer agency The money had been appropriated for AmeriCorps to award grants to organizations that foster more than 1,000 state and local service programs nationwide. In Louisiana, DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps impacted 13 nonprofit programs that for years have depended on the agency to pay its member workers a stipend that covers their living expenses for 11 months and helps them repay student loans. Members are typically recent college graduates embedded in nonprofit groups or faith-based organizations Through the AmeriCorps programs, they work with schools, churches, food banks, homeless shelters, health clinics, youth centers and other initiatives. Serve Louisiana challenged the Trump administration’s April order that suddenly revoked the grant dollars without notice midway through the fiscal year, saying “AmeriCorps had no valid reasoned basis for terminating Serve Louisiana’s grant, rendering the action arbitrary and capricious.”
The Office of Management and Budget, an executive branch agency of the federal government, issued the rescind order in an April 24 memo that called for the immediate cancellation of about $400 million in grants and appropriations Ameri-
Hurst said “the reason why I did not move it, by the way, is because it requires an oil change right now that I need to go take and have done.”
‘It flipped over’
Last weekend, the vehicle was involved in an accident, Hurst said. He did not provide details of what occurred except that people other than him were involved.
“It flipped over,” he said. “Guess what? They were treated properly, no injuries.”
Hurst did not say who was driving or in the vehicle or whether it was insured, but added that the accident was “reported properly.”
these in every department of city-parish. All I did was replace ours.”
According to the city-parish’s fleet management, several city-parish departments have side-by-side vehicles similar to the Polaris, though most of those departments “are maintenancerelated” like buildings and grounds, said city-parish spokesperson Falon Brown on Tuesday Police reports for the two vehicles Hurst said were stolen in the past could not be immediately obtained.
‘Frivolous and unnecessary’
residence When asked why the vehicle was in his driveway, Hurst said the enclosed trailer at the District 5 community center was full. He said he does not use it at his house.
“I’m not using it for personal, I only use it for community cleanup,”
Hurst said “And because I have an event right across the street that was at Park Forest for Easter, and I drove it across the street and put in the driveway OK? That’s why.”
Hurst said the vehicle is used for “community-based events” and for his staff working at the community center
“We have acreage. we go from building to building,” Hurst said.
quent breaks if they’ll be outdoors for a prolonged period.
High heat index values can cause dangerous conditions, according to the weather service. A heat index from 90-103 degrees
Corps had already awarded. One day later, AmeriCorps officials sent Volunteer Louisiana, the state-sanctioned commission that processes and disburses the agency’s funding here, a termination notice that said the grant “no longer effectuates agency priorities.” With that, the feds cut all funding for the AmeriCorps programs across Louisiana. The same process played out in all 50 states and monthly disbursements for AmeriCorps grants were cut off nationwide.
Serve Louisiana billed itself as the largest grantee that partners with AmeriCorps in Louisiana. The group had been awarded about $700,000 in grant dollars for the current fiscal year, Moore said in an April 30 affidavit. The cuts meant Serve Louisiana could no longer pay monthly stipends to its 37 service members, who were completing 11-month assignments that saw them work full-time hours for 18 different nonprofit organizations. The members still had about three months left in their assignments but lost their health insurance and education awards as a result of the cuts.
In arguing for the injunction, plaintiff attorneys said the most devastating impact was the threat to community projects and activities because Serve Louisiana would no longer be able to provide critical support staff.
The U.S. Attorneys Of-
“They were going to pick up some weed eaters to cut some grass. It was used for what it was purchased for,” he said.
The council member would not say whether he was driving.
Hurst said his district was given two similar vehicles by city-parish departments in the past but they were both stolen He added that he bought the Polaris to replace those two previously donated vehicles.
In an email sent to a council administration staffer on Feb. 3, Hurst said only one of those vehicles was stolen.
“Unfortunately, one was stolen and the other broke and is too costly and old to invest in,” Hurst wrote.
On Tuesday, Hurst said, “They have
can cause heat stroke, heat cramps or heat exhaustion after prolonged exposure or physical activity A heat index from 103-124 degrees can cause heat cramps or heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
fice called Serve Louisiana a “subgrantee” of the state commission that distributes the grants. They argued the lawsuit was really just a contract dispute between Serve Louisiana and federal agencies, one that should’ve been settled in federal claims court. DeGravelles, an Obama appointee, rejected that notion.
“Plaintiff has not requested any damages — it has not asked for any monetary damages. It has not asked for reimbursement for the expenses that may have been incurred as a result of the termination of its AmeriCorps-funded employees, such as the costs of hiring new employees or overtime for existing employees,” the judge said in his ruling. “It has not asked for compensation for harms that may have occurred to ongoing projects as a result of a pause in activities Instead, Plaintiff has requested specific relief and only specific relief: that the court enforce the statutory mandates under which AmeriCorps operates.”
DeGravelles found that AmeriCorps reallocated funds based simply on new policy priorities, calling it “an act of agency discretion.” But he said Congress has “circumscribed agency discretion” with mandates.
Even AmeriCorps’ own policy calls for notice and a public “comment rulemaking” hearing before any significant policy shifts. He determined Serve Louisiana
Each metro council member gets about $132,000-$170,000 per year for his or her budget, depending on district size. A new fee imposed on Entergy in December generated about $3.5 million in extra funds for some city-parish departments, including council districts. That added about $100,000 to each council district. The rest of the money went to the parish criminal justice system.
Records show that Hurst used some of his district’s share of the fee to buy the Polaris from Friendly Yamaha in Baton Rouge on Feb 7.
District 12 council member Jen Racca, who co-authored the resolution to secure the Entergy funds, said an off-road vehicle purchase was “certainly not” what she had in mind for the money
Symptoms of heat exhaustion, often caused by the body’s loss of water and salt through excessive sweating, include weakness, nausea, dizziness, clammy skin and headache, according to UC Davis
is likely to succeed on the merit of it claims and ordered AmeriCorps to fund Serve Louisiana for the remainder of the fiscal year which ends Aug. 31.
“AmeriCorps may have the right to undertake different policy priorities, provided that it does so in accordance with all legal requirements such as notice and comment. However,
Health. Symptoms of heat stroke, which is very dangerous and happens when the body cannot properly cool down, include confusion or slurred speech, loss of consciousness, seizures and rapid heart rate.
if AmeriCorps chooses to terminate existing grants because they do not comply with new policy priorities, it is still required to follow both the standards set forth by the (Administrative Procedure Act) and those standards that AmeriCorps has set forth for itself.”
Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.
remains under investigation, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said Monday
The new restaurant is in a banquet hall, now called Randolph Hall, that stands on the Nottoway grounds on La. 1 in Iberville Parish and was unharmed in the blaze.
“There’s been an extreme outpouring and wanting to help” from the community, Morgan said. “I can’t even explain the outpouring of care.”
Randolph’s Restaurant serves “eclectic Louisiana favorites — flat-out Louisiana favorites, just done my way,” said Morgan. The restaurant is looking for workers to help prepare and serve those dishes, Morgan said.
“We need line cooks, prep cooks, dish washers and servers,” he said. “I need quite a handful.” Interested applicants can contact the restaurant through its Facebook page or call the restaurant at, (225) 545-2730.
The restaurant operates
BALTIMORE PROUD
SAM COHN
The Baltimore Sun (TNS)
BALTIMORE It’s only right that friends and family of Derik Queen, who’s from Baltimore, gathered last week for the NBA draft over bushels of crabs.
“We’re from Baltimore,” said David Knox, Queen’s great-uncle who sat at the head of a long table inside Parkville’s Urban Crab Shack, eagerly awaiting a lifelong dream realized for the city’s nephew By the eighth overall pick on June 25, and with each selection that followed, the room hushed knowing that NBA commissioner Adam Silver might utter the name any moment.
It’s a shame NBA insiders have the power to tip picks. But the beauty of fast-traveling information is when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the trade that would send Queen to New Orleans with the 13th overall pick minutes later, it meant the local crowd was ready, phones aimed toward the TV and tears already welling.
“Shh, shh,” they whisper-yelled Silver announced the selection at 9:40 p.m. Eastern. It was met by thunderous cheers that wobbled a few tables.
Queen’s cousin, Shanika Adams wearing a Maryland “Crab Five” T-shirt to represent the nickname of the Terrapins’ starting five last season — danced about in the middle of the room. Her Instagram Live caught every bit of the action, panning from the big screen to the family gathered behind her.
“Everybody’s excited. Baltimore’s excited,” Knox said. “He’s everybody’s nephew now He’s going to shine for us. He’s going to make us look real good.”
Team Thrill coach Edward Mazyck had the pleasure of independently coaching father and son. He wore a toothy smile while trying to articulate his feelings inside the crab house as the draft got underway “Derik’s dad was a hooper,” Mazyck Pelicans’ draft pick Queen has city full of
Queen spent draft night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn flanked by family — by blood and by basketball. His mom, Lisa Anderson; mentor, Donnell “Mookie” Dobbins; and former Terrapins director of player personnel Ricky
Harris were among the tight group in the green room. Queen arrived at this juncture having completed one stellar season at Maryland, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. The 6-foot-9, 247-pound forward became the program’s first draft selection since newly crowned NBA champion Aaron Wiggins (Oklahoma City Thunder) in 2021, and the first player drafted from the city since Bub Carrington (Washington Wizards) this time last year
“He doesn’t just want to make money playing in the NBA,” Dobbins said. “He wants to leave his mark in the NBA.”
Back in Baltimore, extended family rejoiced in Queen’s first step toward that dream.
“It’s surreal,” said Lashelle Stewart, his distant cousin “We were happy for him to stay home at Maryland and really happy for him to finish up his first year the way he did. It’s just like answering prayers. It couldn’t have happened to a better family member.”
“When Derik was young, he always had the drive. He always wanted to be in the gym. He wanted it bad,” said Darrick Oliver, who coached Queen’s late father, Erik Queen. “I think the sky’s the limit for him. He’ll get much better because he likes to put the work in.”
Trio of Dodgers, Tigers elected All-Star starters
The Associated Press
Fresh off leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA championship, Gilgeous-Alexander signed a four-year, $285 million super maximum contract extension that will kick in during the 2027-28 season. That’s $71.25 million a year In general, NBA contracts are the most lucrative, MLB contracts the longest and NFL contracts the trickiest to decipher because not all the money is guaranteed.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers makes $70 million a year from the 10-year, $700 million contract he signed before the 2024 season However, he is paid only $2 million a year because he agreed to defer the rest The remaining $68 million per year will be paid from 2034-43.
Juan Soto signed a 15-year $765 million contract with the New York Mets before the 2025 season that does not include deferments. The outfielder received a $75 million signing bonus and will be paid an annual salary of about $46 million through 2038.
Soto’s deal includes the option to opt out after the 2029 season, at which time the Mets can override his opt out by adding an additional $4 million per season to the final 10 years of his contract. That would increase his salary to $50 million per year and raise his total earnings to $805 million.
While Ohtani’s and Soto’s contracts are the most lucrative because of their length, the average annual value doesn’t match that of top NBA deals Eighteen NBA players are under contract to make $50 million or more per season, according to Spotrac.
Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics became the first player to land a deal that will pay him $70 million in a season. The five-year, $314 million extension he agreed to a year ago will max out at $71.45 million for the 2029-30 season, the last on the contract.
Tatum’s teammate Jaylen Brown signed a similar deal a year earlier, agreeing to play five years for $285.4 million, an average of $57.1 million a season. The most lucrative NFL contracts go exclusively to quarterbacks, six of whom are under contracts that guarantee $200 million or more. Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills tops the list with a $250 million guarantee from a six-year deal he signed in May Fellow passers guaranteed $200 million or more are Dak Prescott ($231 million) of Dallas, Deshaun Watson ($230 million) of Cleveland Joe Burrow ($219 million) of Cincinnati, Justin Herbert of the Chargers ($218.7 million) and Trevor Lawrence ($200 million) of Jacksonville. Next season, seven NFL players all quarterbacks — will be paid more than $50 million: Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes ($56.8 million), Detroit’s
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
Pelicans forward/center Derik Queen, left, talks to Pelicans coach Willie Green after an introductory news conference at the Pelicans’ training facility on Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK J TERRILL
Will Smith, right, of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a home run against the San Diego Padres on June 18 in Los Angeles. Smith joins
teammates Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman as All-Star starters.
G-Alexander
8p.m. Winnipeg at Calgary
3p.m.PGA: John Deere Classic Golf
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
11 a.m.Minnesota at Miami MLBN
2p.m. Houston at Colorado MLBN
7p.m. Cleveland at ChicagoCubs MLBN WOMEN’S SOCCER
11 a.m.Belgium vs.Italy FS1
2p.m.Spain vs.Portugal Fox TENNIS
3p.m.WimbledonESPN
6p.m.Los
Path clears forNo. 1Sabalenka
Four of top five women outofWimbledon
BY HOWARD FENDRICH
AP tennis writer
LONDON Aryna Sabalenka
joked that she’d love it if the upsets at Wimbledon would stop, which makes sense, given that she is ranked No. 1. She’salsothe only oneofthe five top-seeded women stillin the bracket after No. 4Jasmine Paolini, last year’srunner-up, followed No. 2Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula andNo. 5Zheng Qinwen on the way out.
Sabalenka was two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova.
In all, arecord-tying 23 seeded players —10women, 13 men were gone by the end of Day 2, equalingthe most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years.
Five more women joined them by losing Wednesday:Paolini, No. 12 Diana Shnaider,No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia,No. 22 Donna Vekic and No. 29 Leylah Fernandez.
“Of course you’regoing to know the overallpicture,”said Sabalenka, then added with a chuckle: “I hope it’snoupsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what Imean.”
She is athree-time Grand Slam champion, with all of thosetitles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open.
She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-courtFrench Open last month —drawing criticismfromsomeoverher postmatchcomments, aflap sheand Gauff set aside via social media videos last week —but hasn’t been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club.
Ayearago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder
On Wednesday, therecordbreaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures thatdropped from above 90 degrees to below 68.
ArynaSabalenka of Belarus reacts during her women’s
at WimbledoninLondon on Wednesday.
At Centre Court, the 48thranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match’s initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka.Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce.
But on thelastsuch occasion, Sabalenka came through with aforehand volleywinner she punctuatedwithayell, followed by adown-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout.
“That was atough moment,”
said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu next.
“Until that point, (my) return
wasn’tgreat enough tobreak her serve. I’m really glad. everything clicked together and Iwas able to break herback.Ikind of likefelt alittle bit better.”
That sent them to atiebreaker, andfrom 4-allthere,Sabalenka tookthe next three points, endingthe setwith apowerfulforehand return winner off a67mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrivedfor a3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that. Sabalenka compileda41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a matchthatlasteda littlemore than 11/2 hours.
Raducanu defeated 2023 Wim-
bledon championMarketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3, and Australian Openchampion MadisonKeys, who is seeded sixth, beat Olga Danilovic6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday In men’saction, two-time reigningchampion Carlos Alcaraz extended his winning streak to 20 matches witha 6-1, 6-4, 6-4victory over 733rd-ranked qualifier Oliver Tarvet, who plays for the University of San Diego, and No. 5TaylorFritz gotpastGabriel Diallo of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3 for hissecond consecutive five-set win. ButNo. 12 FrancesTiafoe joined the parade of seeds exiting, eliminated by 2022 Wimbledonsemifinalist Cam Norrie 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
Wimbledonforgoes line judges forelectroniccalls
BY HOWARD FENDRICH and KEN MAGUIRE AP sportswriters
LONDON JohnMcEnroe —he of “You cannot be serious!” callarguing fame —isquite all right with Wimbledon’slatestofmany steps into the modernera, choosing technology over the human touch to decide whether aball lands in or out.
There were no line judges at the All England Club’smatches for Monday’sstart of theoldest Grand Slam tournament, with rulings instead being made by an electronic system that uses recorded voices to announce when ashotlands astray
“In some ways, the players, and even thefans, miss thatinteraction, but at the same time if it’saccurate, Ithink it’sgreat, because then at least you know that you’re getting the right call,” said McEnroe, whowon Wimbledon three timesduring his Hall of Famecareer andis aTVanalyst at this year’sevent for ESPN and the BBC.
“My hair,” the 66-year-old McEnroe joked, “wouldn’tbe quite as white as it is now.”
The new system puts Wimbledon in line with nearly every other top-tier tennis event on all surfaces —although the French Open,playedonred clay,remains an exception, sticking with judges —and Monday’sdebut seemed to be mostly seamless,asfar as players were concerned. Indeed, Frances Tiafoe, an American seeded 12th, didn’t even notice therewere no line judges at his first-round victory
What he did notice, and chuckled about afterward, was when the chair umpire wasn’t even
paying all that much attention at one point, grabbing the phone on his stand to place acall and request that more towels be broughttothe courtonthe hottest Day 1intournament history.
“It takes him completelyout of play,” Tiafoesaidabout theoncourt official,“other than just callingthe score and calling time violations.”
No.1-ranked ArynaSabalenka liked that the All England Club’s switch to electronic line-calling eliminated the needfor her to question whether she should contesta ruling. From 2007 until last year,players were allowed to ask fora videoreplay to check whether adecisionwas correct.
“Ifyou have line umpires, you (are)always thinking, like, ‘Should Ichallengeorshouldn’t I?’ ”she said. “It’salot of doubt in your head.”
Cam Norrie was pleased that there no longerisareason to get angry about what’sperceived as awrong decision, theway McEnroe —and plenty of others through the years —used to. “Tobehonest, it’sgood.You getonwith it. There’snokind of getting mad at anyone for missinga callorsaying something or movingduring the point or something happening,”saidNorrie, a British playerwho won Monday. ”It’s pretty black-or-whitewith the calls. In, out, and youhear it.
LSU OF Curiel selected as nation’stop freshman
LSU outfielder Derek Curiel was named Wednesdaythe D1Baseball National Freshman of the Year Curiel hit ateam-high .345 with 20 doubles, two triples, seven homers, 55 RBIsand 67 runs as he helpedlead LSU win the national championship. He collected six hits, threeRBIs andthreeruns in the College World Series. Curiel hit ateam-high .571 in theTigers’ superregionalsweep of West Virginia with one double, one homer, five RBIsand six runs.
Joining Curiel on the first team was LSU right-handed pitcher Casan Evans. Evans posted a5-1 mark this season with2.05 ERA and seven saves in 19 appearances (three starts). He worked 522/3 innings,recording 19 walks, 71 strikeouts and a.228 opponent batting average.
NBA adjusts Popovich’s record, deducting 77 games
The NBA has adjusted all-time wins leader Gregg Popovich’scareer record as coach of theSan Antonio Spurs, removingthe 77 games that he missed last season andcrediting those wins andlossestonew Spurscoach Mitch Johnson Popovich’sfinal record has been reset to 1,390-824, which is where it was entering agame on Nov.2 That was the day that Popovich hada strokeatthe team’s arenaand Johnson, one of his assistant coaches, took over.Popovich missed the remainderofthe season andJohnsoncoached thefinal77games, going 32-45. The NBA and the Spurs agreed to remove those games from Popovich’srecord and credit them to Johnson, whowas named head coach whenPopovichannounced his retirement earlierthisyear
Grizzlies’ Jackson has surgeryfor turf-toe injury
Memphis GrizzliesAll-Star big man Jaren Jackson is recovering from surgery foraturf-toe injury andwill be re-evaluated in about 12 weeks.
The team announced Wednesday that Jackson’ssurgery was complete, coming aday after saying the 25-year-old would need aprocedure after hurting his right foot whileparticipating in offseason basketball activities.
Memphis said Jackson is expected to recover fully.The 6-foot-10 Jackson, afirst-round draft pick in 2018, earned his second AllStar selectionlastseason, when he averaged 22.2 points and5.6 rebounds. He washonored as the NBA’s defensive player of the year for2022-23, when he ledthe league in blocks at 3per game.
Woodland chosen as final Ryder Cup assistant captain
There’snomistake.”
Not everything is favorable in hisview,though.
The familiar scene of officials sitting or standing around the court “looks cool,” Norrie said. Plus, he noted the loss of work for some of the 275 line judges thetournament used in the past (80werebrought back as “match assistants” to help chair umpires from behind the scenes).
“The decision we’ve made there,Isuppose, is very much about the way in whichWimbledon has always balanced heritageand tradition with innovationand howwewalkthat line We’re always very conscious of that. For us, it was time to make that change,” All England ClubCEO Sally Bolton said. “It’s not amoney-saving exercise. It’s aboutevolving the tournament andmaking sure that we’re providingthe mosteffective possible line-calling.”
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino liked having what he called “a machine”involved Monday, saying: “You cannot complain against the machine.”
“When youfeellikesomeoneisjudging the ball and is probably not seeing so well, and maybenot even concentrating, it’spretty annoying,” Mannarino said. “Butthe fact thatit’sa robot calling the balls,there’snothingtocomplain about.”
He did caution that it wasn’t always easy to figureout which recorded announcements were for his win at Court 5, because it’swedgedamid other courts.
Sometimes he thought an “Out!” callatanadjacent match was for his.
“Itcan be alittle tricky with this,” Mannarino said, “but overall, Ithink it’sagood thing.”
Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland will makehis first RyderCup appearance this year, announced Wednesday as the fifth and final assistant to U.S. captain Keegan Bradley forthe matches at Bethpage Black.
Woodland joins Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Webb Simpson as U.S. assistants when the Americans try to win back the cup from Europe on Sept. 26-28. The assistants could take on extra significance this year as Bradley decides whether to be the first playing captain since 1963. Bradley won the Travelers Championship two weeks ago, giving him morewins in the last year than any American except Scottie Scheffler
Bills’ draft pickHairston accusedofsexual assault
Buffalo Bills first-rounddraft pick Maxwell Hairston wasaccused in alawsuit of sexually assaulting awoman in 2021 at the University of Kentucky
The lawsuit wasfiledTuesday in federal court in Kentucky by a woman who claims Hairstonentered her dorm room without being invited,ignored herwhenshe said she didn’twant to have sexual intercourse, forcibly removed her bottomsand sexually assaulted her
The Associated Pressdoes not name any alleged victimsofsexual assault.
After the Bills drafted him,general manager Brandon Beane said theteamhad “fullyinvestigated” asexualassault allegation from 2021 involving Hairston, who he called “an impeccable kid.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOANNA CHAN
Matteo Berrettini of Italy servestoKamil Majchrzak of Poland in their men’ssingles match at WimbledoninLondononMonday
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KIRSTy WIGGLESWORTH
singles match against Marie Bouzkovaofthe Czech Republic
John Deere shaping up as last British Open qualifier
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
Golf notes
The John Deere Classic could serve as a final qualifier for the British Open, even though the R&A no longer offers an exemption to the leading finishers at the PGA Tour stop. This qualifier would be determined by the Official World Golf Ranking next week.
The 156-man field for Royal Portrush on July 17-20 is now at 122 players with the addition of two spots from the Italian Open, two amateurs (European Amateur and Open Amateur Series), and Sergio Garcia getting the lone spot from LIV Golf.
Final regional qualifying Tuesday in the United Kingdom provided 20 spots. Five more players from the top 20 in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour will earn spots after this week’s BMW International Open in Germany. The following week, three more spots will be available in the Scottish Open
That brings the field to 150 players The other six would come from a reserve list, which is based on the Official World Golf Ranking published after this week.
Aldrich Potgieter won the Rocket Classic and moved to No. 49 in the world, making him the highestranked player not already in The Open. He is followed by Nico Echavarria, who tied for sixth in Detroit and moved to No. 51. Next on the list is Michael Kim at No. 55. Seven of the next eight players
in the world ranking not already exempt for The Open from Bud Cauley at No. 59 to Ryan Gerard at No. 71 are playing the John Deere Classic. Davis Riley is not in the John Deere field. The top 28 players in the current
FedEx Cup standings already are exempt, eight of them because they already were in the top 50 at the May 25 cutoff Seven of those 28 were eligible by reaching the Tour Championship last year, and nine others got in as past major
QUEEN
Continued from page 1C
said. “He’s not here with us anymore, but I’m sure if he was here today, he would really take pride in this moment to know that Derik has achieved the things he wanted to achieve.” Queen crossed the stage for a photo-op beside the commissioner, then joined his mom for an interview with ESPN’s Monica McNutt. She asked the 20-year-old to rank two of the greatest experiences of his young life: hitting a game-winner in the NCAA Tour-
nament and getting drafted to the NBA
“Definitely tonight,” Queen said, rubbing his hands eagerly “I might hit another game-winner, you never know. But this is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity.”
McNutt followed up with a question about what Queen can bring to the table in New Orleans, which finished last season 21-61. To that, he asserted the Pelicans are getting a “winner.”
“I feel like I’ve proved that everywhere I went,” he said. “[I’m] a person that’s ready to compete and just play whatever coach needs.”
On Queen’s special night, he wore a simple black-and-white
suit topped by a double-breasted blazer On the inside of the jacket, he had “I’m from Baltimore” printed on both sides. Silver diamonds around his wrist accented the look.
At the Urban Crab Shack, there were shirts featuring that signature tagline or “Crab Five.” As the 13th pick approached, folks already had filled up buckets of crab scraps and started to clean off their hands. This was the culmination of a life in basketball they’d watched blossom before their eyes.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Deborah Arthur, another cousin. “We from Baltimore!”
champions or from a top-10 finish at The Open last year at Royal Troon.
Golf shots
Scottie Scheffler was raving about a 3-iron he hit into a par 5 at the Travelers Championship because it came off perfectly. That led him to recall two other pure shots in recent memory, a 9-iron on the par-3 third at The Players Championship and a 6-iron on the fifth hole at the 2022 Masters.
It’s not always about the score it yields, just the pureness of the shot.
That’s why whenever Collin Morikawa thinks about one of the best shots he ever hit, it wasn’t necessarily his driver on the par-4 16th at Harding Park that stopped 7 feet away for eagle when he won the 2020 PGA Championship That was a stock drive with a great bounce. Instead, he thought back to his final hole when he won the DP World Tour Championship in 2021 to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai.
“It was on 18, par 5, front left pin,” Morikawa said last week “I’ve watched the shot many times on YouTube because I’m like, ‘How do I make it that easy?’ Front left pin, water on the left, had 4-iron I think out of the first cut and I hit it exactly where I wanted. I could miss it in the water, lose the tournament; hit it in the bunker, not make up-and-down. It was picture perfect.
All-Star Game after Baltimore’s Ron Hansen, who in 1960. Wilson’s father, Jack, was an All-Star for Pittsburgh in 2004. There will be nine first-time starters for the second time in three years. Wilson will be joined by Greene, O’Hearn, Raleigh and Torres in the AL lineup and CrowArmstrong Lindor, Smith and Tucker in the NL lineup.
Báez edged the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout 26% to 24% in the closest vote, winning the third AL outfield slot. New
The Saudi-funded LIV Golf League won’t play its first tournament on U.S. soil next year until a week before the PGA Championship. That’s according to a schedule obtained by Sports Business Journal that it said was not finalized but likely to be the final product. According to Sports Business Journal, LIV Golf would start in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 5-7, go to Adelaide, Australia, the following week and then go three straight weeks starting March 6-8 in Hong Kong, Singapore and a new stop in South Africa.
Instead of playing at Trump Doral the week before the Masters, LIV instead will go to Mexico City a week after the Masters and then have its first U.S. event listed as “D.C./Virginia” on May 8-10, the week before the PGA Championship at Aronimink outside Philadelphia.
Also new to the schedule is a LIV event in New Orleans a week after the U.S. Open.
The schedule would have a U.K. event after the British Open, and then conclude with three tournaments in Chicago, Indianapolis and Michigan. The D.C./Virginia event would be the only LIV event before a major The other three majors would have LIV events immediately after There won’t be stops in Florida for the first time. Also gone from the schedule, according to the report, is the event in the Dallas area
“And it’s rare you get to do that, but that’s why we keep practicing,” he said. ”I’m telling you, it’s inches, margins, centimeters, degrees. We’re crazy, but we love it.” LIV in 2026
CONTRACT
Continued from page 1C
Circling back to MLB, Angels outfielder Mike Trout continues to hold the largest contract value besides Ohtani and Soto. He signed a 12-year $426.5 million contract in 2019, at the time the most lucrative contract in American sports.
Trout won his third American League MVP award he’s also finished second in the voting four times — in the first year of the deal, but in the six years since has played more than 100 games only once because of injuries.
Other MLB contracts of note, in order of total value, include the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (12 years, $365 million), the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (nine years,
$360 million), the Mets’ Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million) and San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr (14 years, $340 million). Guaranteeing a player an enormous sum of money and watching him disappoint is a risk teams take regardless of the sport. Witness Watson in the NFL and Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (five years, $250 million) in the NBA.
Gilgeous-Alexander is considered a low-risk signing because of his youth, his makeup and the fact that NBA players maintain their peak performance longer than those in the NFL and MLB, where catastrophic injuries are more frequent. The NBA scoring leader is only 26. Until his extension begins in the 2027-2028 season, he’ll have to make do with $38 million next season and $40 million the year after
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Justin Adams, center brings children in for a cheer after a drill with Pelicans forward/center Derik Queen, right, during the junior training camp at the Pelicans’ training facility on Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai
shoots over Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner during the first half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 19 in Indianapolis.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE JUAREZ Javier Báez of the Detroit Tigers beat out Mike Trout for the final starting spot in the American League outfield.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ORLANDO RAMIREZ
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds third base before scoring on a double by Freddie Freeman against the San Diego Padres on June 9 in San Diego.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa, poses with the trophy after winning a playoff during the final round of the Rocket Classic at the Detroit Golf Club on Sunday in Detroit.z
Who’s playing where?
A cheat sheet on college sports realignment
By The Associated Press
The upcoming year for college sports has at least a modest sense of stability: The $2.8 billion House settlement has been approved, clearing the way for schools to share millions in revenue with their athletes, and major conferences are in Year 2 of realignment after welcoming new programs across the country
There is still a sense of urgency and uncertainty The settlement has brought new questions about compensating athletes and managing rosters, while realignment has not vanished by any means. The Pac-12 next season will be home to a number of programs from the Mountain West, moves that prompted a domino effect Football membership in the Power Four and the Group of Five over the past three decades:
ACC
1996 (9): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Virginia.
2023 (14): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
2025 (17): Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, SMU Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest.
2023 (9): Florida International, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, UTEP Western Kentucky
2024 (10): Florida International, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State Sam Houston State, UTEP, Western Kentucky
2025 (12): Delaware, FIU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, UTEP, Western Kentucky Mid-American
1996 (10): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio Toledo, Western Michigan.
2023 (12): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan.
2025 (13): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan.
2026 (12): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan. Big West/WAC/Mountain West
1996 (Big West, 6): Boise State, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Utah State.
1996 (WAC, 16): Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii New Mexico, Rice, San Diego State, San Jose State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, UNLV, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming.
2025 (MWC, 12): Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming.
2026 (MWC, 11): Air Force, UC Davis (non-football), Grand Canyon (basketball), Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP Wyoming.
Sun Belt
2001 (7, first season): Arkansas State, Idaho, UL, UL-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, North Texas.
2025 (14): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, UL, UL-Monroe, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State, Troy
2026 (13): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, UL, UL-Monroe, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Troy
Independents
1996 (11): Arkansas State, Army, Central Florida, East Carolina, UL, UL-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Navy, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, UAB.
Laura Siegemund, Germany, def. Leylah Annie Fernandez (29), Canada, 6-2, 6-3. Aryna Sabalenka (1), Belarus, def. Marie Bouzkova, Czechia, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Cristina Bucsa, Spain, def. Donna Vekic (22), Croatia, 6-1, 6-3. Amanda Anisimova (13), United States, def. Renata Zarazua, Mexico, 6-4, 6-3. Elise Mertens (24), Belgium, def. Ann Li, United States, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2. Dalma Galfi, Hungary, def. Beatriz Haddad Maia (21), Brazil, 7-6 (7), 6-1. Linda Noskova (30), Czechia, def. Eva
Houston at Colorado, 7:40 p.m. San Francisco at Arizona, 8:40 p.m. Chicago White Sox at L.A. Dodgers, 9:10 p.m. Thursday’s games Minnesota (Festa 2-2) at Miami (Pérez 0-2), 11:10 a.m Houston (Walter 1-1) at Colorado (Freeland 1-9), 2:10 p.m. Detroit (Enns 1-0) at Washington (Irvin 6-3), 5:45 p.m. Milwaukee (Quintana 6-2) at N.Y. Mets (Peterson 5-4), 6:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Soriano 5-5) at Atlanta (Elder 2-5), 6:15 p.m. Cleveland (Ortiz 4-9) at Chicago Cubs (Horton 3-2), 7:05 p.m. San Francisco (Ray 8-3) at Arizona (Pfaadt 8-5), 8:40 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Burke 4-7) at L.A. Dodgers (May 4-5), 9:10 p.m. Friday’s games Boston at Washington, 10:05 a.m. Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at N.Y. Mets, 2:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at Seattle, 3:10 p.m. Texas at San Diego, 5:40 p.m. Milwaukee at Miami, 6:10 p.m. Baltimore at Atlanta, 6:15 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Colorado, 7:10 p.m. Houston at L.A. Dodgers, 8:10 p.m. Kansas City at Arizona, 8:40 p.m. San Francisco at Athletics, 9:05 p.m. Tennis Wimbledon results At All England Lawn Tennis Club; London; Purse: $22, 897,842; Surface: Grass Men’s singles Second round Nicolas Jarry, Chile, def. Learner Tien, United States, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Cameron Norrie, Britain, def. Frances Tiafoe (12), United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Joao Fonseca, Brazil, def. Jenson Brooksby, United States, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Valentin Royer, France, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1). Karen Khachanov (17), Russia, def. Shintaro Mochizuki, Japan, 1-6, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Nuno Borges, Portugal, def. Billy Harris, Britain, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7). Andrey Rublev (14), Russia, def. Lloyd Harris, South Africa, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Carlos Alcaraz (2), Spain, def. Oliver Tarvet, Britain, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Jordan Thompson, Australia, def. Benjamin Bonzi, France, 7-5, 6-7 (2), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Kamil Majchrzak, Poland, def. Ethan Quinn, United States, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Mattia Bellucci, Italy, def. Jiri Lehecka (23), Czechia, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 7-5. Taylor Fritz (5), United States, def. Gabriel Diallo, Canada, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3. Women’s singles Second round Sonay Kartal, Britain, def. Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-2. Madison Keys (6), United States, def. Olga Danilovic, Serbia, 6-4, 6-2.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
UL wide receiver Robert Williams is brought down by Texas State cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement, right as safety Shawn Holton pursues on Oct. 7, 2023, at Cajun Field in Lafayette. Texas State, a former member of the Sun Belt Conference, has moved to the Pac-12.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT
SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai passes under pressure from Tulane linebacker Darius Hodges on Nov 17, 2022, in New Orleans. The Mustangs left the American Athletic Conference to join the ACC in 2024.
Top N.O. bartenders curate 5 refreshing summer cocktail, mocktail recipes
BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer
Savor the summer over these cocktail and mocktail recipes. They’re crafted by New Orleans bartenders, so you know they must be good.
We compiled a list of five seasonal sips, two of which are alcoholfree mocktails. Some drinks sparkle with glitter-infused maple syrup, some smell like Tajin spirit and some spritz with peach mango These refreshments are perfect for accompanying your summer projects, porch sits or dinner parties. Let’s get mixing.
Smells like
Serves
SPICE OF LIFE
Lamb burger with tzatziki sauce, memorable rosemary potatoes makes for a tasty alternative
BY LIZ FAUL Contributing writer
As the heat advisories have started rolling in, I have begun craving the cool and refreshing ingredients of Mediterranean food: tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt sauces and fresh mint.
Tzatziki, pronounced “tuh-zee-kee,” is a dip or sauce made with yogurt, cucumbers and fresh herbs.
The mixture works well as a condiment on a lamb burger served in pita bread. New tastes and ingredients
make life more interesting, so try switching things up for your next barbecue and make a Greek-style lamb burger
Even though beef is the most popular choice of meat for making a hamburger, ground lamb is gaining popularity and it’s easy to find at local grocery stores. Greek lamb burgers seasoned with spices like cumin, garlic and ginger offer new tastes and a memorable summer meal.
When we make lamb, my husband quotes the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when the bride confesses
The Death by Chocolate
BY AMY DREW THOMPSON
Sentinel (TNS)
There is almost no acceptable reason for not liking chocolate pudding. It’s smooth and creamy and cool and chocolaty It’s great out of those little lunchbox cups. (Remember the cans? The filter of my Gen X memory bank has me convinced it tasted better than today’s plastic containers.) It’s great out of the Kozy Shack tub. It’s great plain or with whipped cream or swirled into cake batter where it imparts its lusciousness into the final product.
Chocolate pudding is glorious. And, indeed, I found it simple to execute This chocolate pudding recipe is from The Pioneer Woman,
who credited its inclusion of egg yolks as a thickener (along with the more commonly employed cornstarch) with bringing ” a little bit of that French custard feel to the pudding.”
And as I whisked, I wondered if there weren’t more people out there who simply considered Jell-O and My*T*Fine “homemade,” as well. They’re not. Nor were the Duncan Hines salted caramel brownies I “made” to include in what became a “what to do with your from-scratch chocolate pudding once you’ve made it” column. I chose the pudding recipe because it was a simple one in a week when I had no time to spare.
But the Type A in me couldn’t sit with just the chocolate pudding recipe, and so this semi-
homemade Death By Chocolate trifle recipe. The original is entirely semi-homemade. I had a laugh about that.
The author Allrecipes contributor LaNita, says that this trifle is “a true favorite. Every time we have a church supper, I have to make this!”
Trifles themselves are wonderfully easy summer desserts and ridiculously flexible.
This one is hellaciously chocolaty, but you could offset that by omitting the brownies in favor of cheesecake, pound cake, coconut cake, shortbread cookies or just about anything else. Instead of toffee bars, toasted nuts would make for a wonderfully crunchy texture (and an actual smidge of nutrition).
to her aunt that her husband is a vegetarian: “What do you mean he don’t eat no meat?!? (The room goes silent.)
“Oh, that’s OK, I make lamb.”
As much as I wish lamb were a vegetable, it is most certainly a meat and best served alongside vegetables. I added garden tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and lettuce
Rosemary roasted potatoes are a perfect side dish for lamb burgers. I like to use small golden potatoes to make this dish.
ä See LAMB, page 6C
PHOTO By LIZ FAUL
ORLANDO SENTINEL PHOTO By AMy DREW THOMPSON Death by Chocolate Trifle
Nitrates in food triggermigraines
PROVIDED PHOTOS
Storyville Mai Tai
Serves 1. Recipe is by The Bower Bar
That’sright. This drink has glitter-infused maple syrup. Glittercan’tget everywhereifit’s going right down the hatch.
Not every diva has glitterinfused maple syrup in their bar cart. Fret no more. Youcan combine ateaspoon of edible glitter withaquart of maple syrup as a substitute.
Luau Lagoon (Mocktail)
Serves1.Recipe isbyThe Pool Club, Virgin Hotels New Orleans. Bringthe luau right to your housewith this Polynesianinspired mocktail. This citrusy sip is perfect for accompanying adip in the pool duringthose hot summer days. What better way to beat the heat?
1ounce SeedlipGroveN/A Spirit 2ounce grapefruit juice 1/2
orgeat 1/2
pineappleshrub Polynesian bitters
1. Combineall ingredients in a shaker
2. Shakeand strain
3. Garnish with adehydrated lime.
3.
Secret Garden (Mocktail)
Serves1.Recipe isbyThe Pool Club, Virgin Hotels New Orleans.
Thesecret is out,and you can make this simple mocktail at home. For readers with agreen thumb, some of the three garnishes (cucumber,thyme and aberry of your choice) may already be growing in your summergarden.
1ounce Seedlip Garden N/A Spirit
11/2 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce lychee juice
2ounces soda to top
1. Combine all ingredientsin ashaker
2. Shake and strain.
3. Garnish withcucumber, berry and thyme
TRIFLE
Continued from page5C
Youcould also use this for divine inspiration and make a trifle with vanilla pudding. Or butterscotch. Or banana
Imade amore traditional Fourth of July version afew years back that would be ideal for any upcoming BBQplans you might have.
Pudding is auniversal good. No matter where it comes from.
Chocolate Pudding
Recipe is from The Pioneer Woman.
2largeegg yolks
2tablespoons cornstarch
2cups whole milk, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2teaspoons chocolate extract (orvanilla extract*)
*Iused vanilla
1. In amedium bowl,whisk the egg yolks for about 60 seconds until light yellow and increased in volume, then whisk in the cornstarch and about 1/4 cup of the milk. Once smooth and incorporated, set aside.
2. Place the sugar,cocoa, salt and remaining milk in asaucepan and bring to ascald over medium-high heat, which is when the liquid is about 180-190 F. This is before the mixture comes to aboil, and in this stage youwill see little bubbles start forming on the sides of the pan.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and, whilewhisking constantly,dribble the hot cocoa into the egg cornstarch mixture very gradually.Weare tempering, so we don’tscramble the eggs.
4. Pour everythingback into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly,until the puddingcomes to afullboil. Reduce the heat to asimmer and continue whisking for acouple of minutes until the pudding is thickened.
5. Remove thepudding from theheat andstir in thechocolate or vanilla extract.Pour thepudding into abowl and press plastic wrap directlyonthe surface of the pudding so askin doesn’t form. Refrigerate for an hour or two until chilled.Serve and enjoy
Death by Chocolate Trifle
Recipe isfrom Allrecipes. Brownies:
1(16.3 ounce) package brownie mix (such as Betty Crocker)
2large eggs
1/2 cup vegetableoil
2tablespoonswater
Other:
3(1.4 ounces) bars of chocolatecovered English toffee
1(16-ounce) package frozen whipped topping,thawed
1. Follow box instructions for both browniesand chocolate pudding (if using scratch-made pudding, use provided recipe). Preheat the oven to350 F. Grease a9-by-13-inch baking pan.
2. To assemble, crumble or chunk-chop brownies in the bottom of one largeorfour small trifle bowls. Spoon pudding over top.Layer on whipped topping then sprinklecrushed toffee bars over thetop. Repeat layers in same order,ending with whipped topping.
3. Refrigerate until ready to serve, addingthe final layer of chopped toffee bar before doing so.
Hints from Heloise
Dear Heloise: Concerning theuse of molasses in oatmeal or other foods, we found that the nitrates in it can be amigraine trigger to susceptible individuals. Imade Boston Brown Bread, which we thought was very healthy (all whole grains, molasses, etc.).But my husband always got amigraine about 20 minutes after consuming it,soresearch finally revealed that it was thenitrates in the molasses (and also in cured meats)that triggered theheadaches. —MaryAnn, in Portland, Oregon Frying steak
Dear Heloise: My husband likes his steaks pan-fried, but frying makes them so tough! Anyhelp would be appreciated. —A Reader,
LAMB
Continuedfrom page 5C
Simply quarter thepotatoes anddrizzle olive oil, salt,pepper and freshly chopped rosemary and bake in theoven until golden brown.
Rosemary is aversatile herb with along history.Ancient Greek scholars used rosemary crowns during exams because it was believed to aid with learning and memory,and accordingly theherb was associated with thegoddess Mnemosyne, whose nameliterally means“memory.”
Recentresearch has found some scientific basis for these practices,asrosemary contains antioxidant bioactivity and functions to decrease inflammation —making it apotential therapeutic for Alzheimer’sdisease.
These roasted rosemarypotatoes may or may not boost your memory, but they will be amemorable part of the meal.
Liz Sullivan Faul is aregistered dietitian nutritionist who enjoys cooking and sharing meals with her friends and family
TzatzikiSauce
2cups wholemilk Greek yogurt
1largecucumber (peeled, seeded, and finelychopped)
3garlic cloves, finelychopped
1tablespoon olive oil
1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3tablespoons finelychopped fresh dill(substitute fresh mint and/or Italian parsley)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (add more if needed)
1. Many recipes for tzatziki say to strain theyogurt before makingthe sauce. But Greek yogurts are pre-strained, so Iskip the straining step. But if the yogurt is on therunny side, strain it by lininga strainerwith cheesecloth, or papertowels, andplace it over abowl in the refrigerator for an hour.Thenadd the Greek yogurt to aserving bowl
2. Peel, seed and chop one large cucumber andadd it to the yogurt. Finely chop the garlic cloves andadd it to the yogurt. Mix the cucumber and garlic into theyogurt.
3. Drizzle the olive oiland lemon juice intothe sauce, then add thefinely chopped fresh herbs like dill andmint. Acombination of fresh Italianparsley andmint aregreat substitutes for dill. Mix allingredients together.Add the salt. Then taste,and add abit more saltifneeded
4. Drizzle alittle olive oil and freshherbsoverthe topofthe tzatziki sauce beforeserving it.
By The Associated Press
Today is Thursday,July 3, the 184th day of 2024. There are 181 days left in theyear
Today’shighlight in history:
On July 3, 1863, the pivotal three-day Civil WarBattle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in amajor victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’sCharge.
Also on this date:
In 1775, Gen. George Washington took commandofthe Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1944, during WorldWar II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from theGermans.
In 1950, thefirst carrier strikes of the Korean Wartook place as theUSS Valley Forge and the HMSTriumph sentfighter planes
in Ohio First,doyou use acast-iron pan?
It’s the best for frying steak. Next, let your steak warm up alittle before frying it. Take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit for afew minutes. Blot it with apaper towel to get moisture out. (Too much moisture boils the meat.)
Then make sure your pan is veryhot when you drop the steak in and sear it on both sides, after which youcan turn the heat down to medium. Don’tovercook it,orit’llbedry andtough. When you’redonecooking the steak, let it sitona plate for afew minutes so that all the juices flowback into thecenter —Heloise
Home security
Dear Heloise: Most break-ins occur between 10 a.m. and 3p.m. through ground-level windows and doors, so makesure to check bothwindow and door locks. You
can add window bars forextra security.You can also install security cameras or motion detectors. If you can afford asecurity monitoring system,all the better If you are homewhile aburglar is trying to get in, go to aneighbor’shouse or astore nearby and call the police. Tell them there is arobbery currently in progress. Your safety should be your first priority —JanetS., in Waco,Texas
Letthere be light
Dear Heloise: Icut out apiece of waxed paper and line awindow forprivacy when Ihaven’thung up curtains or drapes yet (for example, when Imove into anew apartment or home). It allows light in, but no one can see inside. Ireally hope this helps someone in apinch. —Donna R., viaemail
Send ahinttoheloise@heloise com.
Lamb Burger in Pita
Serves 6
2pounds ground lamb (substitute beef, pork or turkey)
4garlic cloves, finelychopped
1teaspoon salt
1teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1teaspoon ground coriander
1teaspoon ground ginger
1teaspoon ground cumin
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1teaspoon ground allspice
1tablespoon Worcestershire
1tablespoon olive oil
1cup fresh lettuce greens
1sliced tomato (creole tomatoes are in season)
1red onion (thinly sliced)
1thinly sliced cucumber
1. In alarge mixing bowl, place thegroundlamb and use your hands, or alarge spoon, to blend the twopounds of ground meat together
2. In asmall bowl, addall of the dryspicesand mixtogether to form aspice blend. Pour the spice blendover the ground meat. Add theWorcestershire. Lightly mix thespices into the meatwith your hands. Be careful nottooverwork themeat.
3. Prepare abaking sheet with parchment paper.Then form 6 equal-sized hamburger patties (each patty will be about 3/4-inch thick), placing each prepared burger patty on theprepared bakingtray.Refrigerate until ready to grill.
TODAYINHISTORY
against North Korean targets.
In 1971, singerJim Morrison of The Doors diedinParis at age 27
In 1979, Dan White,convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of SanFrancisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor HarveyMilk, wassentenced to sevenyears and eight months in prison.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presided over agalaceremony in New York Harbor that saw therelighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty
In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. In 2011, Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon, beating defending championRafael Nadal.
In 2012, Andy Griffith who made homespun American Southernwisdomhis trademark as the wise sheriff in “The Andy
4. Preheat theovento350 degrees, then toast the pita pocket bread for about3 to 5minutes.
5. Just priortogrilling, brush each patty witholive oil. Grill each patty for about 5minutes per side over medium-high heat.
6. To serve: Slip the grilled lamb patties into the pita bread, add abig spoonful of theprepared tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato and sliced cucumber
RosemaryRoasted Potatoes
1pound golden potatoes (cut into quarters)
1-2tablespoons olive oil
1teaspoon salt
1teaspoon freshly grated pepper
1-2tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1. Preheat theovento425 degrees.Line abaking sheet with parchment paper.
2. On acutting board, cuteach smallgoldenpotato intofourpieces.Thentransferthe cut potatoes into alarge bowl. Drizzlethe olive oiloverthe potatoes. Then add the salt, pepper and freshly chopped rosemary to the oily potatoes. Toss the potatoes wellsothat they are coated with oiland herbs.
3. Spread the potatoes evenly on the prepared baking sheet and place them in the oven to bake until they are golden brown —or about25-35 minutes.
Griffith Show,” died at his North Carolina homeatage 86. Today’sbirthdays: Playwright Tom Stoppard is 88. Attorney Gloria Allred is 84. Actor Kurtwood Smith is 82. Country singer Johnny Leeis79. Humorist Dave Barry is 78. Actor Betty Buckley is 78. Talk showhost Montel Williams is 69. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 67. Rock musician VinceClarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure)is65. Actor Tom Cruise is 63. Actor Thomas Gibsonis63. ActorConnie Nielsen is 60. ActorYeardley Smith is 61. Actor-singerAudra McDonald is 55. Hockey Hall of Famer
Selanne is 55. WikiLeaks founder JulianAssange is 54.
PatrickWilsonis52. Former mixed martial artist Wanderlei Silva is 49. ActorOlivia Munn is 45. Formula One driverSebastian Vettel is 38. Rock singer-songwriter Elle King is 36.
Teemu
Actor
PHOTO By LIZ FAUL Lamb Burger in Pita, Tzatziki Sauceand RosemaryRoasted Potatoes
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Take nothing for granted and prepare to take care of every last detail. Youneed to getthe most mileage out of your expertise.It's timetoshine; avoid getting flustered when making amoveisnecessary LEo(July 23-Aug. 22) Go on alearning expeditionand discover how to improve yourself, your relationships or your home. Friendships and life changes will flourish. Enjoy the ride.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Impulse mixed with emotional instability will lead to mistakes and regret. Pour your time and energy into somethingproductive. Put more detail into your work.
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Do what brings youjoy.It's timetoliquidate what no longer excites you or has meaning in your life. Lightening your load will offer satisfaction, peace of mind and free time to follow your heart.
scoRPIo(oct. 24-nov. 22) Embrace life andlove, andmakeyour happiness your goal. Work to get the life you want and the person you wanttobecome. Make alist of the goals youwant to achieve, and get moving.
sAGITTARIus(nov.23-Dec.21) Make your home your haven. Stay awayfrom people who make you feel selfish or disrupt your space.Live within your means. Don'tbemanipulated by feelings of guilt or obligation.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec.22-Jan. 19) Don't let anyone make choices for you. Participate in events or activities that interest you,
and adjust money matters to ensure your financial safety and security
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb.19) Refuse to let someone take control or use manipulative tactics on you. Know your worth and stand up for what's right and best for you. Achange of attitudewill help put your life and situation back on track.
PIscEs (Feb.20-March20) Review, adjust and keep moving forward. The changes you make will stand out and make others notice. Trust and believe in your ability to get things done and lead the waytoabrighter future.
ARIEs(March 21-April19) Being apart of an organizationwill allowyou to havea say in how things unfold. Change begins with effort and gaining access to aplatform that lets you air your opinion
TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Stick to basics and offer only what you know you can deliver. Concentrate on personal growth, physical improvements and dealing with institutions that canhelp you with any necessary regulations.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Keep tabs on your expenditures. Generosity, entertainment and hefty contributions or penalties will leave you short of cash if you aren't careful. Learn as you go and do your best.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are createdfrom quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipherstands for another.
cLuE: REQuALs c
ToDAy's
CeLebrItY CIpher
better or For WorSe
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
LAGoon
bIG nAte
Sudoku
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases fromMonday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Bridge
By PHILLIPALDER
This week, we are lookingatresponder’s actionswhen he has amajor twosuiter opposite aone-no-trump opening bid. Having covered5-4 hands,now let’s move to 5-5 holdings
WelearnedonMay16thatifresponder hasaweak 5-5 in themajors, he responds twoclubs, Stayman. Then, if opener rebidstwo of amajor, responder passes;orifopener rebids twodiamonds, responder continues withtwo hearts to describe his hand.
How responder bids game-invitational andgame-forcing5-5handsisamatterof partnershipagreement.Mynormalstyle is to respond three hearts withthe gameinvitational hand (and three spades with the game-forcing one, which Iwill cover tomorrow).
Over threehearts,openernames the final contract. Here, withanexcellent fit in both majors, he jumps to four spades Then, howshould the card-play go after West leads the club ace?
First, East signals with his eight, startinganecho (high-low) with adoubleton. Then, West continues with the club king. Whatnext?
If South hasthe heartqueen, which is likely, the defenders have taken allof their side-suit tricks.Their only chance is to collect two trump tricks. West shouldcontinuewithalowclub.Thenthe spotlight falls on East. Supposeheruffs
EachWuzzle is awordriddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example:NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previous answers:
word game
InsTRucTIons:
ToDAy’s
Average
thought “Then saidJesus to his disciples,Ifany man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, andfollow me.” Matthew 16:24
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
wuzzles
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
BRIEFS
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
U.S. stocks top record as Tesla, Nike rally
NEW YORK U.S. stocks ticked higher on Wednesday to hit another all-time high.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%.
Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker’s overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier
Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers.
Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other “4000 calorie+” sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer
But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year
Del Monte seeks bankruptcy protection
Del Monte Foods, the 139-yearold company best known for its canned fruits and vegetables, is filing for bankruptcy protection as U.S. consumers increasingly bypass its products for healthier or cheaper options.
Del Monte has secured $912.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing that will allow it to operate normally as the sale progresses.
“After a thorough evaluation of all available options, we determined a court-supervised sale process is the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround and create a stronger and enduring Del Monte Foods,” CEO Greg Longstreet said in a statement.
Del Monte Foods, based in Walnut Creek, California, also owns the Contadina tomato brand, College Inn and Kitchen Basics broth brands and the Joyba bubble tea brand.
The company has seen sales growth of Joyba and broth in fiscal 2024, but not enough to offset weaker sales of Del Monte’s signature canned products.
“Consumer preferences have shifted away from preservative-laden canned food in favor of healthier alternatives,” said Sarah Foss, global head of legal and restructuring at Debtwire, a financial consultancy Trump announces trade deal with Vietnam
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam Wednesday that would allow U.S. goods to enter the country duty-free. Vietnamese exports to the United States, by contrast, would face a 20% levy On his Truth Social platform, Trump declared the pact “a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries.”
In April, Trump announced a 46% tax on Vietnamese imports — one of his so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting dozens of countries with which the United States runs trade deficits. Trump promptly suspended the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to allow for negotiations like the one with Vietnam. The pause expires Tuesday, but so far the Trump administration has reached a trade agreement with only one of those countries — the United Kingdom. (Trump has also reached a ”framework” agreement with China in a separate trade dispute.)
The United States last year ran a $122 billion trade deficit with Vietnam. That was the third-biggest U.S. trade gap — the difference between the goods and services it buys from other countries and those it sells them behind the ones with China and Mexico.
Microsoft’s largest layoff in years hits
BY MATT O’BRIEN AP technology writer
Microsoft is laying off thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years.
The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company’s Xbox video game business and other divisions.
Among those losing their jobs are 830 workers tied to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, according to a notice sent to state officials Wednesday The company won’t say the total number of layoffs except that it was about 4% of the workforce it had a year ago. Microsoft said the cuts will affect
multiple teams around the world, including its sales division, part of “organizational changes” needed to succeed in a “dynamic marketplace.”
Microsoft employed 228,000 fulltime workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual head count. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,100 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it’s unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost.
Microsoft just last month cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond headquarters, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in
the Puget Sound region in May, most of them in software engineering and product management roles, according to notices it sent to Washington state employment officials.
Microsoft’s chief financial officer Amy Hood said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
The latest layoffs, however, seemed centered on slower-growing areas of the company’s business, said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
“They’re focused more and more on AI, cloud and next-generation Microsoft and really looking to cut costs around Xbox and some of the
more legacy areas,” Ives said. “I think they overhired over the years. This is (CEO Satya) Nadella and team making sure that they’re keeping with efficiency and that’s the name of the game in Wall Street.”
The trimming of the Xbox staff follows Microsoft’s yearslong expansion of the business surrounding its gaming console, culminating in 2023 with the $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard — the California-based maker of hit franchises like Call of Duty and Candy Crush. Before that, in a bid to compete with Sony’s PlayStation, it spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Maryland-based video game publisher Bethesda Softworks.
Solar likely to get ax by new bill
BY MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press
WASHINGTON As Republicans in Congress rushed forward with a massive tax and spending cut bill, a North Carolina renewable energy executive wrote to his 190 employees with a warning: Deep cuts to clean energy tax credits were going to hurt.
“(The changes) would almost certainly include the loss of jobs on our team,” wrote Will Etheridge, CEO of Southern Energy Management in Raleigh. “I’m telling you that because you deserve transparency and the truth even if that truth is uncomfortable.”
The bill now in the House takes an ax to clean energy incentives, including killing a 30% tax credit for rooftop residential solar by the end of the year that the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act had extended into the next decade. Trump has called the clean energy tax credits in the climate law part of a “green new scam” that improperly shifts taxpayer subsidies to help the “globalist climate agenda” and energy sources like wind and solar
Businesses and analysts say the GOP-backed bill will likely reverse the sector’s growth and eliminate jobs.
“The residential solar industry is going to be absolutely creamed by this,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a business group that advocates for pro-environment policies.
Celebs demand
BY KAITLYN HUAMANI Los Angeles Times (TNS)
Jane Fonda, Cynthia Nixon, Sally Field and several other celebrities are demanding that Amazon address allegations that pregnant warehouse workers are not receiving reasonable accommodations, causing health complications and even miscarriages.
The Hollywood personalities, which include Lily Tomlin, Chelsea Handler Rosario Dawson and Pamela Adlon, signed a letter sent Thursday to Edith Cooper, the chair of Amazon’s leadership development and compensation committee.
The federal Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, which went into effect in June 2023, requires employers to grant “reasonable accommodation” to an employee’s limitations having to do with pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions. For
President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” takes aim at renewables broadly, including phasing out tax credits enjoyed by utilityscale solar and wind. But cutting the residential solar credit will happen sooner Companies have announced more than $20 billion in clean-energy investments in North Carolina in recent years. Etheridge, whose company installs solar panels and helps ensure buildings are energy efficient, was among many in the sector to lobby Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina for changes in the bill.
Tillis ultimately was one of three Republicans to vote against the measure, but in a sign of Trump’s power over legislators to pass it, Tillis said he wouldn’t seek reelection after Trump said he’d likely support a primary challenger Now Etheridge says losing the tax credit will likely mean laying off 50 to 55 of his workers. He called the elimination of residential tax credits a “bait and switch.”
“I made a decision from being an employee to taking out a loan from my grandmother to buy into my business and put my house on the line” in part because of the stability of the tax credits, he said. He said he’ll scramble now to figure out ways to diversify his business.
“If you require a money-spigot from Washington to make your business viable, it probably shouldn’t have been in business in the first place,” said Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertar-
ian think tank
Michel said he doubted many clean energy companies would go out of business, but “I think that they will be right sized for the market and that the people that are employed with them will find better jobs and more stable jobs in industries that are actually viable and don’t require billions of dollars of federal subsidies.”
Even ahead of debate over the bill, experts at E2 said in May that $14 billion in clean energy investments across the country had been postponed or canceled this year
The bill the Senate passed Tuesday removes a tax on some wind and solar projects that was proposed in a previous version and gives utility-scale projects some time to begin construction before phasing out those tax credits.
Karl Stupka, president of Raleigh-based NC Solar Now that employs about 100 people, said the Senate’s bill eased the impact on commercial projects “while destroying the residential portion of the tax credits.” Roughly 85% of his business is residential work.
“They took it away from every average American normal person and gave it to the wealthier business owners,” he said.
Stupka said if the bill becomes law companies will rush to finish as many solar jobs as they can before the credit ends. He expected to lay off half his employees, with “trickledown” job losses elsewhere.
“It would cause a pretty severe shock wave,” he said.
Amazon improve conditions for pregnant workers
warehouse workers, this means the company would have to allow pregnant workers to take additional, longer or more flexible breaks, accommodate requests for light duty or help with lifting or other manual labor and meet other reasonable requests.
The company said that it does meet reasonable requests.
However, the letter argues that Amazon is violating the law, saying several workers have shared stories about “being forced to work at a breakneck pace” while pregnant.
Some have faced “severe health complications, miscarriages, and total loss of income with no ability to access parental leave benefits as Amazon workers are either terminated or quit due to their impossible circumstances,” the letter said.
The letter was posted online on the website of Expose Amazon an organization focused on sharing sto-
ries of warehouse employees’ experiences with injuries and detailing working conditions.
Erica Smiley, the executive director of Jobs with Justice, said the organization and other groups have received nearly 150 accounts from current and former Amazon workers who faced difficult working conditions while pregnant, including having to climb ladders or do dangerous tasks even in later stages of pregnancy
“When we were starting to talk to Amazon workers, we thought the big issue was going to be wages, and the fact that the issue is actually, ‘We don’t want to die or lose our children,’ is shocking to us,” said Smiley, whose group helped to organize the letter “I thought I had lost my capacity for outrage, but this was just incredibly outrageous.” Ali Stephens, a director for the people, experience and technology
department within Amazon’s human resources team, told The Times on Tuesday that the vast majority of pregnancy-related accommodations the company receives are approved. Examples of those accommodations include additional breaks and exceptions to policies, like one that requires specific employees to be required to drive powered industrial trucks. Pregnant employees can also ask to be seated while working. If an employee identifies what they believe to be an unsafe work condition or sees that policies designed to protect employees are violated, they should report it immediately, Stephens said Warehouse workers have reportedly been requesting a meeting with Cooper, to whom the letter is addressed, and Amazon’s board of directors and vice president of safety since July 2024, according to the letter, but they’ve been unsuccessful.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALLEN G. BREED
Solar panels are installed on a home in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Wednesday.
