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La.publicradio,TVstationsseekhelp

Aidsoughtafter ‘devastating’funding cuts

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

Five minutes into anationalnews program airing Friday afternoon on KEDM, apublic radio station in Monroe, afamiliar voice spokeup.

“Federal funding for public radio was just eliminated by an act of Congress,” Jay Curtis, thestation’s general manager, told listeners as part of arequest for support.“But one thing will always be true: You have the power to make abig differenceright now.”

Public radio and television sta-

tions across the U.S. were grappling withnews of dramaticcuts in funding onFriday after Congress passed theso-called rescission package thatslashes $9 billion from ahost of federal programs.

On airand by email, stations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other Louisiana cities quickly turned to listeners and donors, notifying them of thecuts and asking them for help.

Filling the gap will be difﬁcult, if not impossible, station leaders said. The bill claws back $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Pub-

lic Broadcasting, whichinturn funds NPR, PBS andmember stationsacross thecountry Republicans have argued that taxpayermoneyshould notbe spent on public mediawhen, accordingtoSen.JohnKennedy,RMadisonville, “Americans can ﬁnd the same content —inmany cases, better content —online for free.”

Butstation leaders say that especially in rural areas, public media is arare sourcefor high-quality news and information, essential

ä See STATIONS, page 4A

Lafayette nativeDustinPoirier wavestothe crowdFridayinthe Smoothie KingCenter in NewOrleans at theweigh-in for Saturday’sUFC 318 mixed martial arts event. Poirierwill face offagainst MaxHolloway for the BMF belt, asymbolic title that is awarded to UFC fightersfor their toughness. Poirier plans to retire after the bout and returnhome to Lafayette, ending a16-year career as aprofessional mixed martial artist.

ä More UFCcoverageinSports, 1C

$28million in after-school

BY PATRICK WALL, MARIEFAZIO and ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writers

Louisiana is set to receive nearly $28 million for after-school programs that had been held up by President Donald Trump’sadministration, easing fears that schools would have to cut services for students next monthwhenthey return from summer break. Schools and nonproﬁtslike the Boys &Girls Club rely on the money to run summer and afterschool programs that serve an estimated 30,000 Louisiana students, advocates said.Itispart of $1.3 billion for after-school programs that theU.S.Department of Educa-

tionisexpected to release to states in thecoming days, following a weekslong delay while the Trump administrationreviewed whether theprogramsalignwith thepresident’s priorities. But nearly $5 billionineducation grants that schools hadexpected to receive on July 1remains frozen.The federal money,which

Congress approved earlier this year,pays forteacher training and programs for migrant students, Englishlearners, adult literacy, arts andscience education and violence prevention in schools across thecountry Advocates andeducators have decried the funding delay,saying it upended plans forthe coming

BouieJr. appointed chancellor

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

Southern University at New Orleans Chancellor James Ammons is stepping down after sixyears at the helm of New Orleans’ only public historically Black university,officials said Friday. He will be replaced by state Sen. Joseph Bouie Jr

The So ut he rn University system BoardofSupervisors appointed Bouie, D-New Orleans, to serve as the New Orleans campus chancellorattheir meetingFriday. Bouie, who was elected to the state Legislature in 2019, is aretired social work professor who previously served as SUNO chancellor. He’lltake over as chancellor on Aug. 1. Bouie said in atext messageFriday thathewill give up his Senate seat to focus on hisnew role. He added that he hopestoboostSUNO’senrollment, whichhas stagnated since the pandemic, push the university to expand weekend and night class and online offerings, and bolster support forstudents, such as mentorships. The board approved athree-year contract with Bouieand an annual salary of $275,000. He’ll also receive ahousing and vehicleallowance, and theopportunitytoearn additional incentive pay if he can increase

ä See SUNO, page 4A

school year andcould disrupt critical services, including after-school programs that provide asafe space for students and child care for working parents. Thisweek, 10 Republican senators —though none from Louisiana —wrote a letter urging the administration to

ä See GRANTS, page 5A

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN MCCUSKER

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Bob Pavlovich,who hosts the ‘All Things Considered’ and ‘Louisiana Considered’ shows at WWNO, prepares forashowonthe campus of the University of NewOrleans on Friday.

Ammons

Bouie

Report: Naval Academy

will replace leader

BALTIMORE The U.S. Naval Academy will replace its ﬁrst female superintendent, according to reporting from USNI News, the Naval Institute’s news site.

Vice Adm. Yvette Davids was conﬁrmed to lead the academy in January 2024. She will be renominated for a third star and go on to serve the chief of naval operations staff. USNI reports that Lt. Gen Michael Borgschulte will be nominated to succeed Davids.

If he is conﬁrmed by the Senate, Borgschulte will be the ﬁrst Marine general to serve as the academy’s superintendent.

Davids’ Navy career began aboard the combat stores ship USS San Jose during Operation Desert Storm.

She took the helm of the USS Curts, becoming the ﬁrst woman of Hispanic descent to command a Navy warship and leading the guided missile frigate in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom

The Naval Academy was the last of the five service academies to have a woman nominated as leader In June, Joanna Nunan stepped down from her role at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where she was the ﬁrst female superintendent.

Police: 4 dead in crash involving bus, stolen car

SAN ANTONIO A speeding stolen car smashed into a bus on an interstate in San Antonio on Thursday, causing a multi-vehicle crash that left four people dead and more than a dozen injured, police said.

Two people traveling on the bus were pronounced dead at the scene on Interstate 35 and two died at a hospital, police said. Another 16 people received treatment for their injuries.

Several people ﬂed the stolen Camaro without stopping to help, including at least one who was armed, police said.

The Camaro struck a trailer attached to the bus, causing the bus driver to lose control of the vehicle, which then bounced into a guardrail. A tractor-trailer then smashed into the bus, which rolled onto its side. Several people were ejected from the bus, police said.

Man with chain necklace pulled into MRI machine

WESTBURY, N.Y A man was pulled into an MRI machine in New York after he walked into the room wearing a large chain necklace, police said.

The man, 61, had entered an MRI room while a scan was underway Wednesday afternoon at Nassau Open MRI. The machine’s strong magnetic force drew him in by his metallic necklace, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

Police said the incident “resulted in a medical episode” that left the man hospitalized in critical condition MRI machines “employ a strong magnetic ﬁeld” that “exerts very powerful forces on objects of iron, some steels, and other magnetizable objects,” according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, which says the units are “strong enough to ﬂing a wheelchair across the room.”

Trump sues paper over Epstein story

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ﬁled a $10 million lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch Friday, a day after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy ﬁnancier Jeffrey Epstein

The move came shortly after the Justice Department asked a federal court on Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s sex trafficking case, as the administration tries to contain a firestorm that erupted after it previously announced it would not be releasing additional government files from the case.

Trump had promised the lawsuit after thet Journal put the spotlight on his relationship with Epstein, publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s

name and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday Trump denies writing the letter, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.”

In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump cast the lawsuit as part of his efforts to punish news outlets, including ABC and CBS, which both reached multimillion-dollar settlement deals with the president after he took them to court.

“This lawsuit is ﬁled not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, responded Friday night, “We have full conﬁdence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

The letter revealed by The Wall Street Journal was reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite

Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday album for Epstein years before the wealthy ﬁnancier was ﬁrst arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump

The letter bearing Trump’s name includes text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper Trump denied writing the letter and promised to sue. He said he spoke to both to the paper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its top editor, Emma Tucker, before the story was published and told them the letter was “fake.”

“These are not my words, not the way I talk Also, I don’t draw pictures,” the president wrote on social media.

The outlet described the contents of the letter but did not publish a photo showing it entirely or provide details on how it came to learn about it. The suit was ﬁled in

Blast at training facility in L.A. kills 3 deputies

BY ETIENNE LAURENT, ERIC TUCKER and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

Associated Press

LOSANGELES A Friday blast at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility killed three members of its arson and explosives unit, marking one of the department’s worst losses of life from a single incident, the sheriff said.

All three were veteran deputies. The department hasn’t said what they were doing at the time of the blast or what caused it.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the arson and explosives team undergoes in-depth training and responds to more than 1,000 calls a year

The deputies had served 19, 22 and 33 years in the department, Luna said.

“They have years of training,” the sheriff said at a news conference. “They are fantastic experts and, unfortunately, I lost three of them today.”

The explosion was reported about 7:30 a.m at the Biscailuz Training Facility Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida said.

Aerial footage from KABC-TV shows the explosion happened in a parking lot ﬁlled with sheriff’s patrol cars and box trucks. Three covered bodies could be seen near a truck with a ramp attached

to a side door A patrol cruiser parked nearby had its rearview mirror shattered by the blast.

Luna said it took more than four hours to render the scene safe and the deaths are being investigated by the department’s homicide detectives, with the assistance of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. No one else was injured in the explosion, he said.

An early line of investigation was looking at a possible training accident, according to a law enforcement ofﬁcial briefed on the matter who was not authorized to discuss it and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Luna said the deaths marked the department’s worst loss of life in a single incident since 1857, when four ofﬁcers were killed by gunﬁre, and noted that he couldn’t release the deputies’ names because he had yet to speak to one of the families.

“I have met with two of three families thus far Those were extremely challenging conversations,” Luna said, his voice breaking.

Arson investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department and members of the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad were also assisting the investigation at the training facility, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X.

Trump signs new stablecoin regulations

BY SEUNG MIN KIM and ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law new regulations for a type of cryptocurrency, a major milestone for an industry that has spent heavily to strengthen its legitimacy and political might

The GENIUS Act sets initial guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins, which are tied to assets like the U.S. dollar to reduce price volatility compared with other forms of cryptocurrency It passed both the House and Senate with wide bipartisan margins The new law is meant to bolster consumer confidence in the crypto industry, which has quickly become a major power player in Washington thanks to massive campaign donations and spending on lobbying Its passage comes as Trump had repeatedly pledged to make the U.S. the crypto

capital of the world.”

“For years you were mocked and dismissed and counted out,” Trump told crypto industry executives at a White House bill signing attended by about 200 people “This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and your pioneering spirit.”

The crypto industry has long complained it was unfairly targeted by former President Joe Biden’s administration and spent heavily to help Trump win last year’s election.

The president lavished praise on crypto leaders during his speech Friday, saying “nobody has gained the respect in such a short period of time.” Trump said helping the cryptocurrency industry was “good for the dollar and it’s good for the country.”

“That’s why I backed you at an early stage,” said Trump, who had previously been a skeptic of cryptocurrency before embracing it. His administration has taken several early steps to boost

the crypto industry

The president also joked that lawmakers had named the GENIUS Act after him. The acronym stands for “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins.”

A provision in the GENIUS Act bans members of Congress and their families from proﬁting off stablecoins. But that prohibition does not extend to the president and his family, even as Trump builds a crypto empire from the White House. His family holds a signiﬁcant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that launched its own stablecoin earlier this year and received an early boost from an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates. The House also passed two other bills Thursday that are meant to help the crypto industry One creates a new market structure for cryptocurrency, and the other bans the Federal Reserve from issuing a new digital currency Both measures now go to the Senate.

federal court in Miami. Earlier Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed motions in a separate federal court urging them to unseal the Epstein transcripts as well as those in the case against Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Epstein killed himself in 2019 shortly after his arrest while awaiting trial.

The Justice Department’s announcement that it would not be making public any more Epstein files enraged parts of Trump’s base in part because members of his own administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected ﬁnancier

The Justice Department said in the court ﬁlings that it will work with prosecutors in New York to make appropriate redactions of victim-related information and other personally identifying information before transcripts are released.

BY PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine Au-

thorities in Maine said Friday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder in the death of a paddleboarder who went missing on a rural pond that is a popular summer destination.

The body of Sunshine Stewart 48 of St. George, was found this month on Crawford Pond in Union, about 80 miles north of Portland. The killing shocked and scared the community, where trips to the pond and nearby campground are a summer staple.

Court documents identified the teen as Deven Young, of Frankfort, Maine. He made a brief initial court appearance on Friday in which he entered a denial to the charge. His attorney, Jeremy Pratt, declined to comment to The Associated Press via email.

A medical examiner determined Stewart’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, police said.

Authorities have not revealed a motive. Court

documents contain little detail other than stating that Young is a juvenile and “did intentionally or knowingly cause the death of another human being, namely Sunshine Stewart.” Stewart lived about 21 miles from the pond. A person reached by phone who identified herself as Stewart’s sister on Thursday declined to comment. Friends of Stewart have posted online testimonials remembering her as ﬁercely independent and always up for a challenge, including outdoor adventures and building projects.

A lifelong friend, Bethany Leach Parmley of Washington, Maine, described Stewart as “dauntless,” and the glue of a group of friends who stayed close even as life took them in different directions. Parmley said Stewart was a longtime paddleboarder who previously taught lessons in the activity

“She was just a wonderful friend, a really loyal, wonderful friend,” Parmley said. “She was just so fun and funny and you couldn’t help but have a good time around here.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ETIENNE LAURENT

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna gets a hug from Supervisor Kathryn Barger as he arrives for a news conference after three members of the department were killed in an explosion at a training facility on Friday in Los Angeles.

Venezuela releases Americans

10 exchanged for migrants U.S sent to El Salvador

BY REGINA GARCIA CANO, ERIC TUCKER and MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press

CARACAS,Venezuela Venezu-

ela released 10 jailed Americans on Friday in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, ofﬁcials said.

The complex, three-country arrangement represents a diplomatic achievement for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, helps President Donald Trump in his goal of bringing home Americans jailed abroad and lands Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a swap that he proposed months ago.

“Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement in which he thanked Bukele, a Trump ally Bukele said El Salvador had handed over all the Venezuelan nationals in its custody. Maduro described Friday as “a day of blessings and good news for Venezuela” during his address to a gathering of agriculture producers.

Venezuelans leave prison

Central to the deal are more than 250 Venezuelan migrants freed by El Salvador, which in March agreed to a $6 million payment from the Trump administration to house them in its notorious prison.

That arrangement drew immediate blowback when Trump invoked an 18th century wartime law, the Alien

Enemies Act, to quickly remove the men that his administration had accused of belonging to the violent Tren de Aragua street gang, teeing up a legal ﬁght that reached the U.S Supreme Court. The administration did not provide evidence to back up those claims.

The Venezuelans have been held in a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Conﬁnement Center, or CECOT, which was built to hold alleged gang members in Bukele’s war on the country’s gangs. Human rights groups have documented hundreds of deaths as well as cases of torture inside its walls

Lawyers have little access to those in the prison, which is heavily guarded, and information has been locked tight, other than heavily produced state propaganda videos showing tattooed men packed behind bars.

In April, in a heated exchange of diplomatic letters with Venezuela, Bukele proposed exchanging the Venezuelans for the same number of what he called “political prisoners” held by Maduro. It provoked a harsh response from Venezuelan authorities, who called his comments “cynical” and referred to Bukele as a “neofascist.”

Americans are innocent

The State Department ofﬁce responsible for negotiating the release of American detainees posted a photo Friday evening of the newly released prisoners smiling for the camera inside an airplane bringing them home, some clutching an unfurled American ﬂag.

Among those released was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, whose family says he was kidnapped in January by Venezuelan border guards from inside Colombia, where he was vacationing.

“We cannot wait to see him

in person and help him recover from the ordeal,” his sister Sophie Hunter said.

Venezuelan authorities detained nearly a dozen U.S. citizens in the second half of 2024 and linked them to alleged plots to destabilize the country

“We have prayed for this day for almost a year My brother is an innocent man who was used as a political pawn by the Maduro regime,” said a statement from Christian Casteneda, whose brother Wilbert, a Navy SEAL, was arrested in his Caracas hotel room last year

Global Reach, a nonproﬁt organization that had advocated for his release and that of several other Americans, said Venezuelan ofﬁcials initially and falsely accused him of being involved in a coup but backed off that claim.

Swap gives Maduro boost

The release of the Venezuelans, meanwhile, is an invaluable win for Maduro as he presses his efforts to assert himself as president despite credible evidence that he lost reelection last year

Long accused of human rights abuses, Maduro for months has used the migrants’ detention in El Salvador to ﬂip the script on the U.S. government, forcing even some of his strongest political opponents to agree with his condemnation of the migrants’ treatment.

Just a week ago, the U.S. State Department reiterated its policy of shunning Maduro government ofﬁcials and recognizing only the National Assembly elected in 2015 as the legitimate government of the country Signed by Rubio, the cable said U.S. ofﬁcials are free to meet and have discussions with National Assembly members “but cannot engage with Maduro regime representatives unless cleared by the

Department

of State.”

Crackdown on dissent

The Americans were among dozens of people, including activists, opposition members and union leaders, that Venezuela’s government took into custody in its brutal campaign to crack down on dissent in the 11 months since Maduro claimed to win reelection.

Besides the U.S., several other Western nations also do not recognize Maduro’s claim to victory They instead point to tally sheets collected by the opposition coalition showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won the July 2024 election by a more than a two-to-one margin.

The dispute over results prompted immediate protests, and the government responded by detaining more than 2,000 people, mostly poor young men. González fled into exile in Spain to avoid arrest.

Hegseth talks of detention centers in Indiana, N.J.

BY DAVID KLEPPER and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says bases in Indiana and New Jersey can house detained immigrants without affecting military readiness — a step toward potentially detaining thousands of people on bases on U.S. soil.

Hegseth notified members of Congress from both states this week of the proposal to temporarily house detained immigrants at Camp Atterbury in Indiana, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey

President Donald Trump has moved to aggressively detain and deport people in the country illegally, a push that has swept up large numbers of immigrants, including many with no prior criminal records, and forced federal authorities to ﬁnd places to house them.

Hegseth said the presence of the detainees would not negatively affect the bases’ operations or training. Ofﬁcials have not said when detainees could begin arriving at the facilities or if other military bases are under consideration.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said there are about 60,000 beds currently available for detained immigrants and the goal is to expand to 100,000.

“We’re looking for any available bed space we can get that meets the detention standards we’re accustomed to,” Homan said Friday “The faster we get the beds, the more people we can take off the street.” Democratic lawmakers from both states and

civil rights advocates condemned the idea of housing immigrants at the bases, questioning the impact on military resources and the justification for so many detentions.

“Using our country’s military to detain and hold undocumented immigrants jeopardizes military preparedness and paves the way for (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in every New Jersey community,” New Jersey’s Democratic delegation said in a statement.

Rep. Andre Carson, DInd., said his questions about detainee conditions have gone unanswered by the Trump administration. He cited concerns raised about conditions at other facilities and said, “The fact that ICE has detained so many individuals that they now need to expand detention space in Indiana is disturbing.”

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said in a statement that housing immigrants in military facilities sets a dangerous precedent “and is contrary to the values embedded in our Constitution.”

During Trump’s first administration, he authorized the use of military bases to detain immigrant children, including Army installations at Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas. In 2014, President Barack Obama temporarily relied on military bases to detain immigrant children while ramping up privately operated family detention centers to hold many of the tens of thousands of Central American families who crossed the border

BY NICK WADHAMS and RYAN CHUA

(TNS)

Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON The top U.S intelligence official declassified an email trove purporting to expose a Democratic conspiracy to cast doubt on Donald Trump’s 2016 election win. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the 114 pages of heavily redacted emails reveal that former President Barack Obama’s national security Cabinet faked and manipulated intelligence behind the assessment that Russia wanted Trump to win the election. In a news release, Gabbard said the information “clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government.” She called for an investigation and prosecution of those involved, “no matter how powerful,” and said on X that the documents would be turned over to the

Department of Justice. Gabbard’s claim stands in contrast to the ﬁndings of a bipartisan Senate investigation that ended in 2020 and the conclusion of a Central Intelligence Agency review released earlier this month. That review faulted some aspects of a 2017 assessment on Russian interference but stood by the conclusion that Moscow wanted Trump to win in 2016.

“The unanimous, bipartisan conclusion was that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump,” Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement after Gabbard released the emails.

Among other senators on the committee who signed off on the report was Marco Rubio, now Trump’s secretary of state and acting national security adviser, who said at the time the investigation found “irrefutable evidence of Russian med-

dling.”

Gabbard’s move hearkens back to a claim from the early days of Trump’s ﬁrst presidency — and one he has repeated many times since then — that the assessment Russia wanted him to win was a conspiracy by Democrats to bring him down.

The release includes copies of two versions of an intelligence community assessment a draft dated Sept 12, 2016, saying that “foreign adversaries do not have and will probably not obtain” the ability to hack election systems, and another dated Jan. 5, 2017, concluding that “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an inﬂuence campaign in the summer of 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.” The January report never concluded that Russia tried to hack election infrastructure — instead ﬁnding that Russia tried to undermine faith in democracy, attack Hillary Clinton and show a preference for Trump.

PHOTO PROVIDED By EL SALVADOR’S PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE

Men who El Salvador’s government identify as Venezuelans who the U.S. government detained and flew to El Salvador months ago are shown boarding a Venezuelan plane bound for Venezuela as soldiers stand by Friday at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador

during hurricanes and otheremergencies. Paul Maassen, general manager of WWNO in New Orleansand WRKF in Baton Rouge, thestate’s two largest public radio stations, said that in targetingnationalnews organizations like NationalPublic Radio, lawmakers are hurtinglocal stations that are generally popular

WWNO in New Orleans will lose $220,000ayear in federal funds, and WRKF in Baton Rouge will loseabout $150,000. That’sabout 8% of those stations’ annual budgets.

“If you have abeef with anational programmer,that’sﬁne, but that should be handled differently,” Maassen said by phone.

In an email Friday to listeners, WWNO said thatthe loss offederal funding willmeanpausing or scaling back planstoupdate backup generators and to expand the signal of sister stationKTLNto reach more listeners in the bayou parishes, among other things. The cuts will impactstations across the country,incommunities largeand small, that do “tremendous good,” Maassen said. In smaller, rural places,the cuts couldcause them to “severely curtailwhat they do —orevenclose.”

In Monroe, the loss is “devastating,but it is notthe end,” said Curtis, thestation’sgeneral manager since 2012. Unlike stations in bigger markets, who can turn to deeppocketed donors, KEDM has acoverageareaofjust 320,000, “and a whole lot of that is corn ﬁeld and cottonfields and big, wide open spaceswithjust afew people living in them.”

KEDM expects to lose more than aﬁfth of the station’sannual revenue, or about $145,000.The station employs just ahandful of people yet puts out local news and music programming, including,”The Boot,” which highlights Louisiana artist and southern musical traditions, including blues, souland zydeco. The stationpays NPR to air national programs. On

SUNO

Continued from page1A

full-time enrollment by 10% in thecoming years, according to the contract.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your voteofconﬁdence andthis opportunity afforded me,” Bouie, who earned his undergraduate degree from SUNO, told the board Friday

“The legacy of this institution is critical to not only this region, but to the nation.”

SUNO enrolled nearly 2,500 students lastfall, about 400 more than the previous year.Inspring 2005, SUNO’s enrollment peaked at more than 3,700 students.

Ammons, who will step down from his post at the end of this month, will stay on as atenured professorinthe College of Arts and Sciences with a$160,000 salary.He said Friday that the role will allow him to spend more time with his family and “helpdevelop the next generation of civic-minded leadersand contribute to the university’s mission in ascholarly and strategic capacity.”

Appointed as interim SUNO chancellorin2019,

acall Friday,localstationslearned that NPR would offer adiscount on such programs, but thedetails are still to be settled. Since airing its calls fordonations, thestationhas heard from new listeners and thosewho had long lettheir membership lapse. But fundraisingisexpensive, Curtis said.Because of Gov.Jeff Landry’shiring freeze, the university-afﬁliated station can’tﬁll a position responsible forbusiness sponsorships. Like other public stations, it can’tand won’tturn to commercials.

Public radioand television

“This cut is ahistorical moment,” said Robin Cooper,president and CEO of WYES, the public television station serving theNew Orleansarea. That stationwill lose morethan $800,000 in federal funding, or 13% of its budget.

The cuts will also affect national services tomember stations, such as the satellite system used to feed and receive programming, and shared expenses like music copyrights.

“The trueimpact of this will not

be known for weeks or months, Cooper said Friday WYES broadcasts both national PBSprograms andproduces its own, local programs, someofwhich aredistributed beyond Louisiana “Weare reevaluating anything and everything,” Cooper said.

The station counts 18 staffmembers, Cooper said. “We’ve run a very leanoperation,”she said. “We’re understaffedasitis.” So stafﬁng changes, which are “a likelihood,” she said, will “be felt very deeply.”

After walking herdog Friday

morning, Christy Wood heard WWNO’splea.

Wood is the gallery director and co-owner of Lemieux Galleriesin NewOrleans, which supportsthe station as an underwriter.She was also aPBS kid who,growing up in Massachusetts, watched “Sesame Street” and “Mr.Rogers.” So she wasdisappointed to learn that the federal government, which is increasing itsspending on agencies such as Immigrations andCustoms Enforcement, would no longer fund public broadcasting.

Ammons was tapped for the permanent position in 2021. He previously served as executivevice president of the Southern University system and executivevice chancellor of Southern University in Baton Rouge, and held leadership rolesatHBCUs in Floridaand NorthCarolina before that.

When Ammons took over as interim chancellor,SUNO was in crisis after years of lowenrollment and state budgetcuts.The Southern Association of Colleges and SchoolsCommission on Colleges, SUNO’saccrediting agency,put the universityon atwo-year probation in 2019. After making budget cuts, including staff furloughs and suspendingathletic programs, theuniversity was awarded a10-year accreditation in 2021.

At theboard meetingFriday,Ammons counted among his accomplishments the creation of high-demand degree programs like nursing, cybersecurity, data science andeducation;opening the SUNOMuseum of Art; and bringing back eveningand weekendclasses.Henoted that SUNO revived its athletic programs, which were cut amid ﬁnancial struggles.

“Wehave afﬁrmed SUNO as avital cultural andintellectual anchor in the city of NewOrleans,” he said He added that, after many discussions withhis family, he decidedto“stepaside as chancellor andempower new leadership to carry this universityforward.”

Ammons congratulated Bouie on his appointment and thanked him for supportingSUNOfromthe state Legislature.

“Ifnoone else came,Sen. Bouie was going to come to theaid of SUNO,” Ammons said. “Under his leadership, SUNO’s upward trajectory is undeniable.”

Southern University board member Domoine D. Rutledge thanked Ammons for taking the helm at a“very critical time in the institution.”

“This institution is thebetterbecauseofthe leadership you provided,” he said.

Bouiepreviously served as chancellor of SUNO for about two years until the board dismissed him in 2002 amidallegationsof“financial irregularities, gender discrimination and sexually explicit emails,” according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education, an online publi-

cation.Atthe time, Bouie contended that he was dismissedinretaliation for ﬁring thewife of aU.S. con-

gressman. Bouie said in atextmessageFridaythatthe accusations against him were

“bogus, vetted by the appropriate authorities and proven to be unfounded and nonexistent.”

benefits endwithretirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock,leading people to put off or even go without care

Simply put— without dentalinsurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

That’sright. As good as Medicare is, it wasnever meanttocovereverything. Thatmeans if you wantprotection,you need to purchase individual insurance.

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones.

The best waytopreventlarge dental bills is preventivecare. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkups twice ayear.

Previousdentalwork canwearout

Even if you’ve hadquality dental work in the past, you shouldn’t takeyourdental health forgranted. In fact,yourodds of having adental problem onlygoupas you age.2

Treatment is

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Marcia Kavanaugh, left, gets readytomoderate adiscussionon‘Informed Sources’ on Friday at the WyES studio.Host Errol Laborde, back left, gets help with his mic from CalvinBarrett, as guests MikePerlstein, far right, Stephanie Riegel, and LBJ,backright, chat before taping. Major cuts in federal funding will likely affect future programming.

Runlasted38years at TigerStadium

Staff report

LSU public address announcer

Dan Borné is retiring as the announcer for the Tigers’ football and men’sbasketball games, the university announced Friday

Borné’sdecision ends his run of 38 years of calling LSU football games at Tiger Stadium and 36 yearsasthe voice of men’sbasketball games inside the PeteMaravich Assembly Center “I would like to thank LSU and our fans for so many seasons of fond memories,” Borné said in a

GRANTS

Continued from page1A

release the congressionally approved money On Friday,advocates cheered the news that the after-school grants were being restored while calling for the rest of the money to alsobereleased.

“The uncertaintyofthat remaining$4.9 billion and whether or not it’sgoing to come is already forcing districts to make reallytough decisions,”saidTara Thomas,government affairs manager at AASA, thenational school superintendents association. “Nomatter what is cut, it’sstudents who are going to have to bear the consequences.”

Sighsofrelief

The money expected to be released next week is for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, also known as Title IV-B. It’sthe main federal funding source for afterschool programs, which provide studentswith free meals, academic support and asafe space to socialize after class.

At FirstLine Schools in New Orleans, about athird of studentsattend afterschool programs, said CEO Sabrina Pence. The students arefed “supper” before buckling down for45 minutes of tutoring and 45 minutes of enrichment activities, such as band, sports and coding.

FirstLine, which runs four charter schools in the city, reliesonabout $1.2 million in annual federal grantsto fund the program. It was awelcome relief that the grants will come through and the schools won’thave to scale backthe program, Pence said Friday

But FirstLine is still waiting for about $300,000in grants for teacher training and English learners that remains frozen. Because schools havealready finalized their budgets and hired staffs, the organization plans to increase its deﬁcit to cover the loss of any grants this school year

“It’slike aroller coaster,” Pence said.“Iunderstand they’re trying to make cuts, but future planning is extremely important for

statement. “It’sbeen agreat honor and Ideeply appreciate it. I’m 79 years old and it’s time to retire and return the microphone.I’ll be spending more time with our family and we’ll always bleed purple andgold!”

LSU football won threenational titlesand six SEC championships during his time asthe public address announcer atTiger Stadium. Borné, whotook aleave of absence before the 2024 football season, coined the phrase, “chance of rain— never!”before thestart of football games. He also got the

crowd excited headed intothe fourth quarter by stating, “The sun hasfound itshome in thewestern sky. It is nowSaturday nightin Death Valley!”

Handling the public address announcing duties in Borné’sstead last season was Bill Franques, the longtimein-gamestadium announcer at Alex Box Stadium for LSUbaseball. BeforeFranques taking over the reigns last season, Tiger Stadium has only had two full-time PA announcers since 1955. Longtime WAFB weather forecaster Sid Crocker held therole for 30 years until1985. Bornéstepped into the position thenext season.

schools.”

In Jefferson Parish, Louisiana’slargest school district, SchoolBoard member Derrick Shepherd said he wasrelievedFriday to learn that the afterschool funding wouldcome through. The grants pay forACT prepand makeup courses for high school students, along with traditional after-school programs, he said. Still, he added thatthe district is waiting to learn whetherthe moneywill come “withany stringsattached.”

“Our after-school programs are so important,” he said, “not justtothe school, but to thewhole community.”

Without the federal money,some school districts andnonproﬁtgroups were expectingtoscale back their after-school programs this fall, said Andrew Ganucheau, director of the Louisiana Centerfor Afterschool Learning.

“It really was looking like by Labor Day many of the programs were going to have to shut down oronly have enough funding to run one site,” he said.

The restoration of the grants, he added, is “great news for Louisianaand the working families that rely on these programs.”

The administration’sreviewofthe after-school grantshas been completed,

asenior official told The Associated PressonFriday.The person declined to

be identiﬁedsotheycould share progress fromthe review

That fundingwillbereleased to states, the ofﬁcial said. The rest of the withheld grants, close to $5 billion, continuestobereviewed forbias.

On Monday,more than 20 statesfiled alawsuit challenging the funding freeze, including the money for English language instruction, teacher development and adult literacythat remainsonhold. Thelawsuit, led by California, argued withholding the money was unconstitutional, and many low-income families would lose access to critical afterschool care if the grants were not released.

TedBeasley,aspokespersonfor the Louisiana Department of Education, said the agency supports the Trump administration’s ongoing review of federal education funds.

“We’re pleased by today’s allocation,” he said in astatement Friday,“andwillcontinue to encourage school systems to takeameasured approach as they begin the school year.”

Associated Presswriter Annie Ma contributed to this report.

Ongoingreview

TheTrump administration has provided schools with little explanation for the funding delay

Butinstatements to the media, the WhiteHouse’s Office of Management and Budgetsaidsomeof the grant money had been “grosslymisusedtosubsidize aradical leftwing agenda.” The ofﬁce cited instances when it said schools had used someofthe money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion.

In their letter thisweek to the ofﬁce’sdirector,Russell Vought,the Republican senatorssaid they “share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,”but that they do not believe the after-school grants are used for that purpose.

“These funds go to supportprograms that enjoy long-standing,bipartisan support,” they wrote.

LSU FILEPHOTO By STEVE FRANZ

LSU public addressannouncer Dan Borné is retiring after more than three decades as the announcer for the Tigers’ football and men’s basketball games

STAFF FILE PHOTOByLESLIE WESTBROOK

JennySchneider,supervisor of kindergarten through second-grade literacy in Rapides Parish, works with kindergarten student Kyrei Johnson as partofa summer reading program on June 16 at J.B. Nachman ElementarySchool in Alexandria.

U.S. envoy says Syria, Israel agree to ceasefire

BY GHAITH ALSAYED and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press

MAZRAA, Syria

U.S. envoy to Syria

Tom Barrack said early Saturday that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in ﬁghting between Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes and armed groups from the Druze minority.

The announcement came as renewed clashes continued between Druze groups and Bedouin clans in Syria’s southern Sweida province, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced in a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Government forces had withdrawn from Sweida following a separate ceasefire agreed upon with Druze groups on Wednesday after Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government ﬁghters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus Israel said it was acting to defend the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority there, often serving in the Israeli military Barrack said in a statement posted on social platform X that the new ceaseﬁre between Israel and Syria was supported Turkey, Jordan and other neighboring countries and called for “Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors.”

He did not share any details on the agreement.

Hours earlier Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa had announced that the government would send a “specialized force to break up clashes and resolve the conﬂict on the ground” in Sweida. Officials had negotiated with Druze factions on an agreement to re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian ofﬁcials who spoke earlier Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly They said an agreement was reached, but later said the deployment was delayed, without giving an explanation.

The United Nations has been unable to bring in much-needed humanitarian and medical aid because of ongoing clashes.

A complex conflict

Clashes began Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze. Israel later in the week launched airstrikes against Syrian forces in defense of the Druze.

The fighting killed hundreds of people over four days, with allegations that government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military A truce mediated by the U.S.,

Turkey and Arab countries was announced Wednesday Under the accord, Druze factions and clerics were to maintain the internal security in Sweida as government forces pulled out, al-Sharaa said

Thursday

Renewed fighting

By late Thursday clashes were ﬂaring again between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province. State media reported Druze militias carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a new wave of displacement.

The governor of neighboring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families had been displaced to the area from Sweida as a result of “attacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups.”

The volunteer group Syrian Civil Defense said Friday that the head of its center in Sweida city had been kidnapped by gunmen two days earlier while on his way to evacuate a U.N. team.

The ofﬁcial, Hamza al-Amarin,

was driving a van with the insignia of the organization, known as the White Helmets, when he was stopped by militants, the statement said. A person who answered his phone on Thursday said he was safe, it added, but they have been unable to reach him.

Tens of thousands displaced

The United Nations’ migration agency said Friday that nearly 80,000 people had been displaced altogether since clashes started on Sunday

It also noted that essential services, including water and electricity, have collapsed in Sweida, telecommunications systems are widely disrupted, and health facilities in Sweida and Daraa are under severe strain. Meanwhile “there are severe disruptions to supply routes, with insecurity and road closures blocking aid deliveries,” Adam Abdelmoula, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Friday

The World Health Organization

was able to send trauma care supplies to Daraa province, but Sweida remains inaccessible, he said.

“Once conditions allow, we are planning to send a mission to assess needs and provide critical aid, in full coordination with authorities,” Abdelmoula said.

Problems that ‘have no reason’

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

While predominantly Druze, Sweida is also home to Bedouin tribes who are Sunni Muslim and have periodically clashed with the Druze over the years. The latest escalation began with members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida setting up a checkpoint and attacking and robbing a Druze man, which triggered tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed groups in southern Syria, said there is “no speciﬁc reason” for the historic tensions between the groups.

“All of Syria is full of social problems that have no reason,” he said. In this case, however, “The state exploited the latest problem to try to change the situation in Sweida, and this only increased the scope of it,” he said.

Calls for unity

In Israel, members of the Druze community had called for intervention to protect the Druze in Syria. But elsewhere in the region, Druze leaders have rejected Israeli intervention.

The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Lebanon, Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna, said Friday at a gathering of Druze ofﬁcials in Beirut that sectarian clashes in Syria “give an excuse for Israeli intervention and for blowing up the situation in the region.”

“We do not accept to request protection from Israel, which we believe is harmful to our history and identity,” he said.

Brazil’s Bolsonaro ordered to wear electronic ankle monitor

BY GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, authorities said on Friday, in a move he described as “a supreme humiliation.”

The development came as federal police conducted searches at his home and his party’s headquarters in Brasília, in compliance with a Supreme Court order The order prohibits Bolsonaro from leaving the house at night, communicate with foreign ambassadors and diplomats or approach embassies. The former president is also barred from using social media or contacting other individuals under investigation by the Supreme Court, including his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker who currently lives in the United States and is known for his

close ties to U.S President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court accused of leading an alleged attempt to stage a coup to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“It is a supreme humiliation,” Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia after putting on the ankle monitoring. “I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that.”

On Thursday, Trump wrote to Bolsonaro describing his ally’s treatment by the Brazilian legal system as terrible and unjust. “This trial should end immediately!,” the U.S President said, adding that he “strongly voiced” his disapproval through his tariff policy

On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced visa

restrictions on Brazilian judicial ofﬁcials.

“President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans.

“I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members effective immediately,” Rubio said.

The Supreme Court’s restrictions on Bolsonaro are part of a second investigation against Eduardo for alleg-

edly working with U.S. authorities to impose sanctions against Brazilian ofﬁcials. Moraes, who is also the rapporteur of the case, said that the former president and his son’s recent actions were “blatant confessions of criminal conduct,” such as coercion during legal proceedings, obstruction of investigations and attacks on national sovereignty “Alexandre de Moraes doubled down,” Eduardo said on X, mentioning the order to the Supreme Court justice ahead of the criminal cases against his father His elder brother, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, said on X: “Prohibiting a father from speaking to his own son is the greatest symbol of the hatred that has consumed Alexandre de Moraes.”

Live aerial footage from local broadcasters showed federal police vehicles outside Bolsonaro’s residence

in Brasília.

Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante, the leader of Bolsonaro’s party in the lower house, told The Associated Press that officers also searched Bolsonaro’s office at the party’s headquarters. He described the operation as “another chapter in the persecution of conservatives and right-wing figures” in Brazil.

A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a report to the Supreme Court that the “evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law.”

Bolsonaro has described the trial on X as a “witch hunt,” echoing a term used by Trump when he came to his South American ally’s defense last week. Last week, Trump imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro’s trial. The U.S. president has hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. Trump compared the Brazilian’s situation to his own. On Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump repeated the claim that the trial is a “witch hunt.” A source at Brazil’s Supreme Court said some justices have already made it clear among themselves that U.S tariffs will have no effect on Bolsonaro’s trial, which is expected to resume between August and September The staffer spoke under condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly

By The Associated Press

BERLIN Arachnophobes

beware: Customs officials on Monday released photos from a seizure of roughly 1,500 young tarantulas found inside plastic containers that had been hidden in chocolate spongecake boxes shipped to an airport in western Germany Customs ofﬁcials found the shipment at Cologne Bonn airport in a package that had arrived from Vietnam, tipped off by a “noticeable smell” that didn’t

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GHAITH ALSAyED

Bedouin fighters stand in front a burned shop at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias Friday in southern Syria.

Man pleads guilty to role in Burrow burglary

Pawn shop owner acted as fence for stolen goods

BY PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press

NEW YORK A Manhattan

pawn shop owner pleaded guilty Friday to serving as a fence for luxury items stolen from wealthy residences across the country, including a brazen burglary at the home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow while he was playing an away game last year

Dimitriy Nezhinskiy admitted to knowingly purchasing stolen watches, jewelry and other high-end goods in order to re-sell them in his pawn shop. But he maintained that he did not know they had been taken from people’s homes until after his arrest.

“I am very sorry for my actions,” the 44-year-old New Jersey resident said in Brooklyn federal court.

“Most of my business was completely legitimate, and it was a good business.”

Nezhinskiy pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to receive stolen property He faces a maximum sentence of ﬁve years in federal prison as well as restitution of about $2.5 million and forfeiture of more than $2.5 million He’ll be sentenced at a later date.

“This defendant ran a black-market pipeline, buying stolen luxury goods from organized theft crews that targeted homes and businesses,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement “It was a deliberate operation that helped professional burglars prey on innocent people.”

Nezhinskiy, who was born in the nation of Georgia but has legal status in the U.S., could also face deportation, U.S. District Court Judge William Kuntz noted Juan Villar, a New York resident who ran the pawn shop with Nezhinskiy, plead-

Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, Luka Doncic of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Mike Conley Jr of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The investigation spanned several states and led to at least six arrests.

Nezhinskiy and Villar weren’t charged in connection with speciﬁc robberies, but prosecutors said phone records link Nezhinskiy to one of the men charged with ransacking Burrow’s house.

bedroom window and the home ransacked The person called her mother, who notiﬁed authorities, and was later revealed to be Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Olivia Ponton, not Burrow’s previous girlfriend.

“I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one,” Burrow said afterward. “Way more is out there than I would want out there and that I care to

ed guilty to the same charge last month and will be sentenced in December

Prosecutors said the shop in Manhattan’s famed Diamond District fenced stolen goods for international burglary crews that targeted homes of prominent athletes around the country

They say Nezhinskiy and Villar had been purchasing items from various crews

and re-selling them from 2020 until the FBI raided the storefront and arrested them in February.

The crews, many consisting of foreign nationals from South America, mostly hit homes while athletes were out of town, including while playing in road games, prosecutors have said. Targets also included the homes of NFL quarterback Patrick

Prosecutors also say a large amount of suspected stolen property was found at the two men’s business and at storage units in New Jersey belonging to Nezhinskiy, including luxury handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork and power tools commonly used for burglaries and opening safes.

The break-in at Burrow’s home happened on Dec. 9, 2024 while the Bengals were playing in Dallas. Police said a person arrived at the Anderson Township home to find a shattered

Police said they apprehended those burglars the following month after ﬁnding them in an

with

Louisiana State

shirt and a Cincinnati Bengals hat believed to be

from Burrow’s

Burrow played college

at LSU. Police also found photos the robbers took of themselves flashing some of the other spoils — jewelry, watches, designer luggage and glasses. One even wore necklaces with pendants showing “JB9” and the number 9 — Burrow’s jersey number

Minnesota lawmaker convicted of felony burglary

Senator broke into estranged stepmother’s home

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

A Minnesota state senator was convicted of burglary Friday for breaking into her estranged stepmother’s home, allegedly in search of her father’s ashes and other mementos.

The jury found Nicole Mitchell, 51, guilty of ﬁrstdegree burglary and possession of burglary tools. Mitchell displayed little emotion as the verdicts were read.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy was quick to issue a statement saying that Mitchell has told her colleagues that she planned to resign if convicted, “and I expect her to follow through on that pledge.”

The Democrat from the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury has maintained her innocence and refused to resign since her arrest in the

2023 at the age of 72. He had been married to Mitchell’s stepmother, Carol Mitchell, for nearly 40 years.

The jury saw bodycam video of Mitchell telling police repeatedly after her arrest that she broke into the home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her father, including some of his ashes, photos and a ﬂannel shirt.

she wanted some of her father’s items than to have her competency questioned.

early hours of April 22, 2024, at her stepmother’s home in the northwestern Minnesota city of Detroit Lakes. Mitchell insisted in her testimony that she went there purely to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. And she said she initially lied when she told police repeatedly the night of her arrest that she went there in search of her late father’s ashes and other items of sentimental value She testiﬁed that she didn’t want to further upset her stepmother by expressing concern about her wellbeing Mitchell’s father died in

The ﬁrst-term senator was dressed in all-black, including a black hat, and had a flashlight covered with a black sock when she was arrested. The video showed her telling police, “Clearly, I’m not good at this,” and “I know I did something bad.”

But Mitchell testified Thursday that despite what she told police, she didn’t really intend to take anything. She said she had become increasingly concerned about her stepmother’s worsening memory problems and paranoia, and wanted to check on her well-being. She testiﬁed her stepmother was afraid of being put in a nursing home. Mitchell said she thought her stepmom would be less upset to hear

Long sworn in as IRS commissioner

BY MELISSA GOLDIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Former Missouri congressman Billy Long was ceremonially sworn in as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on Friday in the Oval Office, taking over a beleaguered agency that he once sought to abolish and that has since been beset with steep stafﬁng cuts and leadership turnover Long won confirmation in a 53-44 Senate vote last month despite concerns from Democrats about his

connection to a tax credit scheme and campaign contributions he received after then President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for the top IRS job in December Long’s commissionership comes after months of acting leaders and massive stafﬁng cuts that have threatened to derail next year’s tax ﬁling season Tens of thousands of workers have voluntarily retired or been laid off as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy through the Department of

Government Efﬁciency

“In my ﬁrst 90 days I plan to ask you, my employee partners, to help me develop a new culture here,” Long wrote in a message to IRS employees. “I’m big on culture, and I’m anxious to develop one that makes your lives and the taxpayers’ lives better.”

While in Congress, where he served from 2011 to 2023, the Republican sponsored legislation to get rid of the IRS. A former auctioneer and real estate broker, Long has no background in tax administration.

Iowa AG to end lawsuit against a sheriff

BY HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa Iowa’s attorney general on Friday said she will withdraw her lawsuit accusing a sheriff of discouraging compliance with federal immigration law, ending a monthslong public dispute between the two Republicans.

Attorney General Brenna Bird sued Winneshiek County Dan Marx in March over his Facebook post saying his department doesn’t always need to detain people at the request of federal immigration authorities. Bird sued even though Marx deleted the post and an investigation from her ofﬁce showed that Marx fully complied with each of the nearly two dozen requests he had received from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold someone suspected of immigration violations. Marx had declined to post a conciliatory message the

attorney general’s ofﬁce had scripted. Bird alleged the original post violated state law by impeding and discouraging cooperation with federal immigration officers. The lawsuit jeopardized state funding to the county

As President Donald Trump took ofﬁce and initiated his campaign of mass deportations, Marx told constituents on Feb. 4 that he shares some of their “mistrust and many of your concerns with the legitimacy of how these federal agents conduct business” and that requests to hold individuals without a court order are “violations” of constitutional rights At the same time, there was a legislative push in states across the country to support Trump’s immigration efforts and curtail “sanctuary cities” that generally limit cooperation with immigration authorities. The Trump administration had also begun taking legal action against

governments that have adopted policies inhibiting ICE arrests and deportations.

Marx said in a statement Friday that he met with Bird in person and explained it was “never my intent to discourage immigration enforcement.” Marx also thanked his constituents for their patience and “outpouring of support through this situation,” he said.

Bird said Friday she intended to dismiss the case because the county has “now fully complied.”

Marx’s February post echoed critiques of what are known as ICE “detainer” requests that ask local or state law enforcement agencies to hold individuals until they can be taken into custody by federal authorities. Marx said those requests often clash with the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which bars against unreasonable searches and seizures of individuals without a warrant based on probable cause.

The former broadcast meteorologist and now-retired Air National Guard ofﬁcer was charged with one count of first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum of six months in jail but requires proof of intent to commit a crime inside, and one count of possession of burglary tools, a lesser felony without a mandatory minimum.

Mitchell testiﬁed that she had long had a good relationship with Carol Mitchell, but that their ﬁnal break came in a series of increasingly acrimonious text messages about a month before the break-in.

In the texts, which were

shown to the jury, her stepmother refused to reschedule the interment of her father’s ashes from a Tuesday, during a busy stretch of the legislative session, to another date. Her stepmother did, however, send her a ﬁshing bobber at some point containing a small amount of his ashes as a memento, she acknowledged.

Defense attorney Bruce Ringstrom Jr told the jury in his closing argument that Mitchell did not steal anything and did not intend to He conceded that she used poor judgment. He said everybody has told “white lies,” and that Mitchell’s goal was to avoid aggravating her stepmother’s distrust even further Under such difficult circumstances, Ringstrom

argued, “Nicole’s white lies make perfect sense.” Carol Mitchell struggled with her memory when she took the stand for the prosecution, and was unable to recall names and key details about the night of the breakin. But she said she felt violated.

Mitchell’s rejection of calls for her resignation after her arrest frayed relations between Democrats and Republicans in the narrowly divided state Senate. Democrats hold only a one-seat majority in the Senate, so they needed her vote. They said she deserved to have the legal process play out and declined to expel her or ask her to step down. But they excluded her from caucus meetings and took her off her committees.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CAROLyN KASTER

Cincinnati Bengals and former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow catches a ball during football practice May 13 in Cincinnati.

POOL PHOTO By ANNA PAIGE Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell is seen during her felony burglary trial Friday at Becker County District Court in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

NewOrleans Forecast

WWL-TV,Your Local Weather Experts

Agency laying off thousandsof employees

BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research anddevelopment arm and reducing agencystaffbythousands of employees.

The agency’sOffice of Research and Development has long providedthe scientific underpinnings for EPA’smission to protect the environment and human

BY LAUREN HARVEY Los Angeles Times (TNS)

health. TheEPA said in May it would shift its scientific expertise and research efforts to programofﬁces that focuson majorissues like air and water

Zeldin

Theagency said Friday it is creating anew Office of AppliedScience andEnvironmental Solutions that will allow it to focus on research and science “more than ever before.” Once fully implemented, the changes will save the EPAnearly $750 million, ofﬁcials said

EPAAdministrator Lee Zeldin said in astatement that thechanges announced Friday would ensure the agency “isbetter equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment, while Powering the Great American Comeback.”

TheEPA also said it is beginning the process to eliminatethousands of jobs, following aSupreme Court ruling last week that cleared theway for President Donald Trump’splans to downsize thefederal workforce, despitewarnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees

ingthe MorononNBC who ruined theoncegreat TonightShow,” referringtoJimmy Fallon.

LOSANGELES President Donald Trump is celebrating the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s“The LateShow” on CBS —and calling for even more late-nighthosts to be axed.

“I absolutely love that Colbert got ﬁred. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump wrote Friday morning on Truth Social. “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.Has even less talent than Colbert!”

He addedthatGregGutfeld,who hasalate-nightshowand co-hosts “The Five” on Fox News,“is better than all of them combined,includ-

Although “Late Night” is thetopratedlate-nightbroadcast show “Gutfeld!” draws abiggeraudience. Colbert, 61,has hostedthe show fora decade and shared the news of its cancellation Thursdaynight, noting thathewas made aware of thedecision only the nightbefore.

“The Late Show” will end in May

“It’snot just theend of our show, but it’sthe end of ‘TheLate Show’ on CBS,” Colbert said. “I’m not being replaced. Thisisall just going away.”

CBS said the decision was “purely financial.”The cancellation

BY BOBTHOMAS Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and ’60s whose hits included “Pretty Little Baby” and “Who’s SorryNow?” —the latter would serve as an ironic title for apersonallife ﬁlled with heartbreak and tragedy— hasdied at age 87. Radio DJ Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow,alongtime friend, told The Associated Press thatshe died Wednesday at ahospitalinFlorida. Morrow did not cite aspeciﬁc cause of death, butFrancis had posted on social media earlier this month that

she had been hospitalized with “extreme pain.” Francis hadgained renewed attentioninrecentmonthsafter “Pretty Little Baby” becameasensation on TikTok “I’m flabbergasted andexcited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of ‘Pretty Little Baby’ is making all over theworld,” she said in avideo on TikTok, which she had joined in response to the song’sunexpected revival. “Tothink thata song Irecorded 63 years agoiscaptivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelmingfor me.” Francis was atop performer of thepre-Beatlesera, rarely outofthe

EPAeliminatesresearchand developmentarm

will be out of their jobs

Total stafﬁngatEPA will go down to 12,448, areduction of morethan 3,700 employees,ornearly 23%, from staffing levels in January when Trumptook ofﬁce, the agency said.

“This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewardsofyour hard-earned tax dollars, Zeldin said, using agovernment term for mass firings. The research and developmentoffice “is theheart and brain of the EPA,”said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of GovernmentEmployees Council 238, which representsthou-

sands of EPAemployees.

“Without it, we don’thave the meanstoassess impacts upon humanhealth andthe environment,” Chensaid. “Its destruction will devastate public healthinour country.”

The research office EPA’smainscience arm —currently has 1,540 positions, excluding special government employees andpublic health officers, accordingtoagencydocumentsreviewedbyDemocratic staffonthe House Committee on Science, Space andTechnology earlier this year.Asmany as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologistsand otherscientists could be laid off, the documents indicated. In addition to the reduction in force the agency also is offering the third round of deferred resignations for eligibleemployees,including research office staff, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. The application period is open until July 25. The EPA’sannouncement comes twoweeks after the agency put on administrative leave139 employees who signed a“declaration of dissent” with agency policies under the Trump administration. The agency accusedthe employees of “unlawfully undermining” Trump’sagenda.

Trumpgloatsafter cancellation of Colbert’s‘Late Show’

comes after Colbert criticized the network’sparentcompany, Paramount Global, for settling alawsuit ﬁledbyTrump last year over theediting of a“60 Minutes” interview withKamala Harris. Colbert called the $16 millionsettlement a“big fat bribe” Monday night, noting that Paramount is awaiting federal approval for its $8 billion merger withSkydance Media. Both branchesofthe Writers Guild called on New York Attorney General LetitiaJames to investigateParamount. Fellow late-night hosts have since criticized the show’s cancellation.

“Love you Stephen. F*** you and

all your Sheldons CBS,” Kimmel wrote in an Instagram story

“I’m just as shocked as everyone. Stephen is oneofthe sharpest, funniest hoststoeverdoit. Ireally thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come,” Jimmy Fallon posted in an Instagram story

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., suggestedthat the move was politically motivated.

“CBS canceled Colbert’sshow just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump —adeal that looks like bribery,” she wrote Thursday night on X. “America deserves to know if hisshow wascanceled for

political reasons.”

Trump had called for Colbert’s termination in September

“I brieﬂy watchedaninterview of Stephen Colbert on highly government subsidized PBS,and found it fascinating foronly one reason Why would they be wasting time and the public’smoney on this complete and total loser?” he wrote on TruthSocial.“He is notfunny, which he gets paid fartoo much to be, he is not wise, he is VERYBORING, andhis show is dying from a complete lack of viewers.

“CBS should terminatehis contract and pick almost anyone, right offthe street, whowoulddobetter and forFAR LESS MONEY.”

Connie Francis, whosehit songsincluded‘Pretty Little Baby,’ dies

chartsfrom 1957-64. Abletoappeal to both young people andadults, she had morethanadozen Top20hits, startingwith “Who’s Sorry Now?”and including theNo. 1songs “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” and“The Heart HasaMindofIts Own.” The dark-haired singer was just 17 when she signed acontract with MGM Records following appearances on several TV variety shows. Her earliest recordings attracted little attention, butthenshe released her version of “Who’sSorry Now?” an old balladbyTed Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby It, too, had littlesuccessinitially until Dick Clark playeditonhis

“American Bandstand” showin 1958. Clark featured her repeatedly on “American Bandstand,”and she said in lateryearsthatwithout his support, she would have abandoned her music career Francis followed with suchteen hitsas“Stupid Cupid,” “Everybody’s Somebody’sFool”and “Lipstick on Your Collar.” Concetta Rosemarie Franconero was born on Dec.12, 1937, in Newark,New Jersey.Atage 9she began appearing on television programs, including “Arthur Godfrey’sTalent Scouts” and “The Perry Como Show.” It wasGodfrey whosuggested she shorten her last name.

AP FILE PHOTO Dick Clark, host of ‘American Bandstand,’left, appears with Connie Francis during taping of the showDec. 9, 1980, in Los Angeles

Weekend inmate transports resumed

Hutson to appeal contempt judgment

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce will take “extreme measures” this weekend to bring Orleans Justice Center arrestees to Magistrate Court, as Sheriff Susan Hutson faces a contempt of court judgment for failing to provide weekend transports in the past, OPSO spokesperson Gary Scheets said Friday Hutson still plans to appeal an order by Criminal District Chief Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier to the state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, Scheets said.

Tensions simmer among Harahan officials

Budget concerns spark infighting in government

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

Tensions in the Harahan city government reached a boiling point Thursday night as the council and police chief lambasted the administration for poor communication and lack of transparency as they face a lawsuit over an allegedly forged building permit. Harahan City Council members accused the city ﬁnance team of intentionally concealing monetary information from them and considered placing a hiring freeze on Mayor Tim Baudier after his administration failed to provide them with numbers on actual spending compared with the budget for each department before the monthly meeting The council had intended to conduct a midyear budget review to determine if any amendments were needed.

Police Chief Edward Lepre joined the criticisms, saying the city incorrectly told him that the Police Department was over budget in a public records request and has yet to share an accurate budget with him. “We don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

“The way they do procedures with this budget is horrible,” council member Paul Johnston told Baudier “It’s ridiculous. Sometimes I think y’all do this just to confuse us Since I’ve been (with) this administration, and I’m not saying it’s your fault, I’ve never had so many problems with this budget.”

The council also requested the city’s regulatory department leader provide monthly reports at future meetings in response to turmoil in Harahan’s code enforcement ofﬁce.

Finance director Todd Tournillon told the council that the numbers were not yet available because his team was busy compiling the 2024 audit for the state Legislative Auditor’s Ofﬁce and updating its financial records through the end of the June. He said ﬁnancial information would be ready by the next meeting

Baudier attributed his ofﬁce’s issues to turnover and vacancies in his administration, as well as “small-town growing pains” as the city seeks economic development opportunities and state and federal funding for capital projects.

He and his staff are now rectifying those mistakes, he said Life happens,” Baudier said.

“For some odd reason, this has been more of a challenging year than the other six I have been

After a nearly two-hour hearing Wednesday in which FlemingsDavillier was joined by six other judges, the court found Hutson in “willful neglect and violation of her duty as Sheriff” and “willful disobedience” for declining to follow a June 18 order that demanded she resume transporting defendants to their ﬁrst appearances in Magistrate Court effective July 12. During the hearing, which featured frequent interruptions and shouting, judges questioned

whether Hutson had abandoned some of the office’s most basic duties.

The transportation of defendants to their first appearances was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and later reinstated only on weekdays. Hutson did not comply last weekend. She now faces up to six months imprisonment or a ﬁne up to $500, with her sentencing set for Aug. 4.

The face-off comes as Hutson confronts a ﬁeld of challengers to her reelection bid, which took a

hit with the mass escape in May of 10 detainees, nine of whom have been recaptured.

It follows numerous requests from the court, including four in writing over the past two years, asking Hutson to restore weekend and holiday transports to court, Flemings-Davillier wrote in her order

She added that the court “was led to believe that the OPSO was working on a plan to comply, but

WALL OF FAME

The Rev. Patrick J. Williams, rector of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, hangs the newly delivered official portrait of Pope Leo XIV in the cathedral vestibule Friday. Pope Leo XIV is not only the first American pontiff, but also the first Creole pope, with New Orleans African American ancestry through his maternal grandparents. Jari C. Honora, family historian with The Historic New Orleans Collection, confirmed the pope’s Creole roots just hours after the papal announcement. Once the official portrait was printed, the Vatican shipped thousands of copies to dioceses for distribution around the world.

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Jefferson Parish jurors on

Tuesday reached a verdict in a West Bank murder trial involving a known “trap house” with a deadly history of double shootings, according to authorities.

Curtis Thomas III, 33, was found guilty of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and being a convicted felon with a weapon fol-

guilty in West Bank murder

lowing a two-day trial, according to court records.

Thomas was charged in the death of 50-year-old Charles McGehee Sr., accused of shooting him and another man when he opened ﬁre inside a house in the 600 block of Emile Avenue near Westwego on the night of Feb. 13, 2022.

The dilapidated, single-story brick home — known in the neighborhood as a place used by dealers to sell drugs, according to authorities — became a crime scene again a year later when Thomas’ father, Curtis Thomas Jr., 51, and the home’s owner, Linda Turner, 68, were shot and

killed there by another alleged dealer

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators have said Turner allowed the illicit activity at her residence, and Curtis Thomas Jr., known as “Big Curt,” was one of the dealers who worked out of her home.

On the night in 2022 when McGehee was killed, “Big Curt,” Curtis Thomas III, known as “Little Curt,” and Turner were all at the house, according to court records. McGehee arrived a little after 9 p.m., around the same time as a 30-year-old man who was there to buy marijuana, according to authorities.

The only light in the living room that night was a light bulb in a fixture that had been attached to a counter and precariously plugged into an outlet with an extension cord, authorities said. The slightest touch to the cord would turn off the light.

The 30-year-old man and Curtis Thomas Jr told investigators the light went out and gunfire erupted inside the living room, according to authorities.

When the bulb turned back on, McGehee had been shot in the abdomen, the 30-year-old had been shot in the arm and “Little

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

An appeals court this week upheld the firing of the city’s chief electrical inspector after finding he improperly issued occupancy certiﬁcates for his own properties in 2016 and 2017. Nha Do appealed his termination to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal after a hearing officer

recommended he keep his job, saying that Do had been falsely accused of several offenses by his boss, the city’s Safety and Permits director The Civil Service Commission, however, refused that recommendation, concluding in a split vote that Do had violated a city policy that forbids employees from processing applications and transactions on their own properties. The 4th Circuit affirmed the commission’s decision on Monday Other allegations that made up the bulk of the justification for Do’s termination which the hearing officer dis-

missed as false, inaccurate or unsupported by evidence — were not addressed by the commission and appellate court.

Termination appeals like Do’s start with a hearing before a city-appointed officer who weighs arguments from both sides as well as witness testimony and other evidence. The Civil Service Commission considers the hearing officer’s written opinion before making its own decision, which can be appealed to the 4th Circuit. Do’s lawyer, Bob Ellis, said his client will ask the appeals court for a rehearing. Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s

administration declined to comment.

Do admitted he issued certiﬁcates on his own properties, but he claimed these were strictly administrative tasks to finalize renovation projects, and he did not participate in approving permits or inspections before that.

Do also said the department’s practice at the time allowed him to issue the certificates, and termination was too harsh a penalty The Civil Service Commission, followed by the appellate

FIRING, page 3B

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Southern University expels OmegaPsi Phifromcampus

Fraternity involved in hazing death investigation

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

TheOmega Psi Phi fraternity has been expelled from Southern University’scampus after the school’sDivisionofStudent Affairs found thefratresponsible forthe hazing death of Caleb Wilson.

While the announcement was made Friday,the expulsion has been in effect since April 24,a spokesperson for Southern said Beta Sigma, thechapterof Omega Psi PhionSouthern’s campus,will nowlose recognition as astudent organization,be denied all rights and privileges that come with recognition, and mustremove all identifiable markers from campus.

This stripping of fraternity images includes the fraternity’splot andwould entailthe removal of benches, trees, monuments and anyother identifying items.

The move comes nearly five months after the death of 20-yearold Southern mechanical engineering student Caleb Wilson, whocollapsed in aBaton Rouge warehouse after being punched repeatedly in the chest duringan Omega Psi Phi ritual.

Wilson’sdeath was originally shrouded in mystery,withfraternity brothers ﬁrst reporting he had been hit in the chest while playing basketball at alocal park. They delivered Wilsontothe hospital in nothing but apairofsocks and sweatpants.

As details emerged, Baton Rouge Police arrested three frat brothers considered as leaders

HUTSON

Continued from page1B

in ritual thatresulted in Wilson’s death

CalebMcCray,24, KyleThurman, 25,and Isaiah Smith, 29, were each arrested on acount of criminal hazing for orchestrating theritual, which involved making pledges change clothes and line up to receive fourpunchesinthe chest from their frat brothers.

Each of the three allegedly punchedpledges duringthe ritual, using apair of black boxing gloves police recoveredfromthe warehouse.

For allegedly delivering the four punches to Wilson,leading to hiscollapseand seizure, McCray wasalso arrested on acount of manslaughter

Smith was also the dean of pledges for Southern’sOmega Psi Phi chapter at the timeof the ritual and wasresponsible for planningrecruitment events

Smith’sfather, Todd Smith, also was leasing the WoodcrestDrive warehouse where the hazing took place forhis business, California Hardwood Floors.

The criminal hazing charge was added to Louisiana state law as part of theMax Gruver Act. In thewakethe LSUfreshman’salcohol poisoningdeath, the fraternity he waspledging, Phi Delta Theta, was removed from LSU’s campus by their national parent organization

At Southern, board chairTony Clayton,who alsoisthe district attorney for Louisiana’s18thJudicial District, has said he plans to implement changestothe university’s bylawsthatwould permanently take the Greek recruitment processout of the hands of undergraduates. Adults in the graduatechaptersoffraternities andsororities would decidehow students enter thechapters.

Wilson’sdeath again reminded

in Baton Rouge.

parents in Baton Rouge and beyond thathazingasapractice is old, deadly andhard to combat. Members of his familypaidto have advertisements run on a billboard in New Orleansasthe cityhosted anational gathering of Omega PsiPhi members, with messages like “Caleb wasfailed Completely. In the most unthink-

to no avail.” Since the pandemic, Magistrate Courtproceedings on weekends and holidays have been conducted via Zoom. Hutson has argued that staffing the courthouse on those days would strain her understaffed department’sbudgetand manpower beyond just thosetrips. She estimates it wouldcost $357,000 and require atleast12deputiesfor courtroom security, building security,a temporary holding area and transportation OPSO has struggled to recruit and retaindeputies even as the jail’spopulation swells.At1,445 people as of July 8, the jail’spopulation has blown pastaCityCouncil-imposedlimit of 1,250 set in 2019.

able,irreversible way”displayed just blocks from wherethe convention was being hosted. Ceremonies forWilson’sdeath at both Southern Universityand Pilgrim BaptistChurch in Kennerdrewhundreds of mourners, and included asecond-line send off from Southern’sHuman Jukebox marching band. Wil-

son wasatrumpet player in the band.

Wilson’sfather,Corey Wilson, wasaJefferson Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁcedeputy forover35years

At the memorial on Southern’s campus,hetold hisson’s classmates“Iwanttothank youall for the love you gave my son…this was Caleb’slife.”

In astatement, Scheets said the agency scrambled to meet the court’s order by recruiting volunteer deputies to work overtime; assigning extra shiftsto those already working 50hour weeks; reassessing deployments; and revising the budget to account for a largerdeﬁcit.

“There will be afull complement of deputies to transport individuals and secure allentrances of the Criminal Court building,” Scheetssaid. JohnSimerman contributedtothis report.

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets

STAFFFILE PHOTOByHILARy SCHEINUK Students walk past signagefor the OmegaPsi Phifraternity on Feb.27onthe campus of SouthernUniversity

JPSO probes deathof Kenner man

Victim found woundedon Metairie street

BY MICHELLEHUNTER Staff writer

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce is investigating thedeath of aKenner man foundlying wounded on aMetairie street

Friday morning.

The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office identified thevictim as 22-year-old Shawn Morgan

The Sheriff’s Ofﬁce dispatched deputies to the intersection of Brockenbraugh Court and Claudius Street afterreceiving acall about 6a.m.reporting an unresponsive man, according to Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesperson forthe Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

They arrived and found Morgan on the groundwith “visible injuries,” Veal said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have no suspect information and no additional detailsfor release, Veal said

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Homicide Section at (504) 3645300 or Crimestoppersat(504) 822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877903-7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify andcan earn a$2,500 reward forinformation that leads to an indictment

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com

HARAHAN

Continued from page1B

here.

Baudier is currently servinghis secondterm over the 9,200-person, two-and-a-halfsquare-milesuburban town nestled within the curvature of the Mississippi River.

‘Noanswers’

The council said the lack of transparency on city finances hasimpededtheir abilitytodo their jobsfor years.

“It’sbeen twoand ahalf years, anditseems like everytime Isit on this benchand we talkabout budgets and money,there’sno answersuntil the last minute,” said council member Michael Ricks. “How are you supposed to do your job?”

Council member Jason Asbill proposed the hiring freeze in a floor resolution as asymbolic measure to signal their unease with thelack of information, as resolutionsare not law

Still, Baudier and Johnston, aformer mayor,protested the measure, arguing it was an encroachment on his executive powers.

“I don’tdisagree with you,”Asbill said. “But at the same time, themayor does direct theemployees.And for all Iknow, the

GUILTY

Continued from page1B

Curt” Thomas washolding agun, according to authorities.

McGehee was taken to ahospital where he waspronounced dead. Curtis Thomas Jr.drove the other victim to West Jefferson Medical Center to get treatment.

CurtisThomas III was taken into custody outside of the residence.Hewas arrested with astolengun linked to theshootingsbyballistictesting, authorities said.

Jurors foundhim guiltyascharged Tues-

mayor has directed employees not to turn over the budgetary informationtokeepusinthe dark.”

“Oh, come on, bro,” Baudier replied as he banged hisgavel. “Comeon, dude.”

Following discussion, the councilunanimously voteddown the freeze after Asbill said “the point hasbeenmade”regarding theﬁnance issues.

The council set aspecial meetingfor abudget reviewat6 p.m. Sept. 4.

Code enforcement

Another source of headache for Harahanhas been its regulatory department,taskedwith permitting, licensing andcode enforcement.

Thedepartmenthas lacked a chief building ofﬁcial, in charge of inspectionsand codeenforcement, for most of the year,which some sayhas caused permit violationsand improper inspections to fall through thecracks.

“The city is going to crap,” Johnston saidataJune 26 meeting. “The regulatory department is horrible. We’ve got so much going on in the city that’s not good.”

Real estate investorCarol Logreco, who owns severalapartment buildings on HickoryAvenue,ﬁled alawsuit against the city last month forapproving a building permit for aproposed ofﬁce and storage building adjacent

day after about four hours of deliberation, according to court records.

Homicide detectives returned to Turner’shome on Jan. 17, 2023, when she and “Big Curt” Thomas were fatally shot there.

The gunman was Gerald Barker,37, another dealer who often stayed at Turner’shouse and also sold drugs from the residence, authorities said.

The motive was envy, according to detectives Barker confessed that he was jealousof Curtis Thomas Jr.and the amount of money the latter was making selling narcotics.

Tensions in Harahan city government reached aboiling point Thursday night as the council and policechief lambasted the administration for poor communication and lack of transparency as theyfacealawsuit over an allegedly forged building permit.

to herproperty that she says is rife withordinance violations.

The lawsuit says the permit application containsaforged signature forcity plan examiner Kevin Johnson, and that it was never approved by the City Council as required, among other issues.

The councilsaidThursday it could not comment on pending litigation.

The property owner and codefendant, AnthonySequiera, said Friday he went through the proper channels to get his permit and did not know he needed coun-

When Thomas arrived that night, Barker inexplicably pulled out agun and shot them both, accordingto authorities.

Barker wasfound guilty Dec. 4ontwo counts of second-degree murder,obstruction of justice, drug and gun charges. He was sentenced to life in prison

CurtisThomas III nowfaces that same punishment,the mandatory sentence for a murder conviction in Louisiana. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@ theadvocate.com.

FIRING

Continued from page1B

cil approval. He said the city is at fault if his permit application contained violations at the time of approval, including apossible forged signature.

The building and zoning departmentissued Sequiera astop work order on July 7, and the council is scheduledtohear the permit application at its Aug. 21 meeting.

Baudierhired anew chief building ofﬁcial in the past month to ﬁll the vacancy,inspector Christopher Marino Jr

Email Lara Nicholsonat lnicholson@theadvocate.com.

court, rejected thosearguments and pointed to apattern of violations of citypolicy,which “has always prohibited closing outpermits on property in whichanemployee has an interest,” 4thCircuit Judge Rosemary Ledet wrote.

Thepermittingdirector, Tammie Jackson, accused Do in atermination letter of half adozen violations related to self-dealing and refusing to cooperate with theOffice of Inspector General. The OIG allegation was dropped before the appeal hearing. Jackson also claimed

in Do’stermination letter that he admitted to owning astake in his brother’s contracting company,which Do hiredtowork on his properties. Do adamantly denied ever making that admission, andcitylawyers failedtoproduceany evidence of the ownership stake.

Thehearing ofﬁcer,Jay Ginsberg, said thecity failed to show that Do deliberately violated city policy and found no cause for hisfiring. TheCivil Service commissioner voting against the termination, Andy Monteverde, said in his dissent the city’s evidence was“surprisingly weak.”

Email BenMyers at bmyers@theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

Bairnsfather,David Cognevich,Phillip Eves,David

Houston, Maurice

Russell,Tia

Stockmann, William EJefferson

Garden of Memories

Russell,Tia NewOrleans

Boyd Family

Eves,David West Bank

Robinson FH

Cognevich,Phillip

West Leitz-Eagan

Bairnsfather,David Obituaries

Bairnsfather, David Kenneth

DavidKenneth Bairnsfa‐ther, August 13,1961 -June 28, 2025. DavidKenneth Bairnsfather, alifelongres‐ident of Gretna,was called hometobewithGod on June28, 2025, at theageof 63. He wasbornonAugust 13, 1961, to ElizabethWe‐stonOrgeron andWilbert Bairnsfather. Davidwas lovinglyraisedbyElizabeth and hisstepfather, Ronald Patrick Orgeron, Sr., with whomheshareda special and meaningful bond.He was thebeloved husband ofLorna Arabie Bairnsfa‐ther, hislovingcompanion of38years anddevoted wifeof33years.They shareda life full of love, laughter, andloyalty no matterwhatlifebrought their way. Davidwas the devoted father of Keely Bairnsfather, Korey Dufrene,Jr.,and thelate Jamie Bairnsfather.Loving grandfather of Alyssa Bairnsfather, Gabriella Dufrene,and KaiBairnsfa‐ther. Hisgrandchildren werethe lightofhis life, and he livedfor thejoy theybrought him. He was the belovedbrother of Charley Bairnsfather,Vic‐tor Bairnsfather,and Ronald(Patrick) Orgeron, Jr..David shared aspecial bondwithhis UncleVictor Weston, who,along with manyother loving aunts, uncles, cousins, andex‐tendedfamilymembers willmisshis calmingpres‐enceand generous heart. David wasprecededin death by hischerished grandmother,MarionLess‐ley (“Meme”),and hisgod‐mother, Ruthie Dulcich. Throughouthis career David worked with dedica‐tionand pride. He served asa District Managerfor bothPepsi andLance,Inc., and also worked forhis fa‐ther’scompany,Baron Construction. Hisstrong workethic earned thead‐mirationofeveryonewho had theprivilege of work‐ing alongsidehim.David was averykindand gentle man.Hewas endlessly supportive, carrieda quiet strength, andremained deeply devotedtohis fam‐ily.Hewas atrueSaints fan who lovedgamedays, especiallybeing in the Domecheeringon his team. He enjoyedspending timeonthe golfcourse and nevermisseda chance tocelebrate anyoccasion withfriends andfamily. His loveand presence will be rememberedalways. To knowDavid wastoknow gentleness, goodness, and grace.Hewas deeply spiri‐tualand carriedhimself witha faith that anchored him throughall seasonsof life. Aboveall,hewas a familyman rooted in ser‐vice, andloyal beyond measure.A privatecele‐bration of hislifewillbe heldonSunday, July 20, from12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information, pleasecontact PatOrgeron at504-382-3615. Aprivate burialceremonywillfollow onMonday, July 21, at Westlawn Cemetery,lo‐

catedat1225 WhitneyAve., Gretna, Louisiana70056

Cognevich, PhillipSimon

PhillipSimon Cognevich, August13, 1968 -July10, 2025. Phillip Simon Cognevichwas 56 years old.Hewas alongtimeres‐ident of Plaquemines Parish. Phillippassedaway peacefullyinhis home sur‐rounded by hisfamily. Phillip wasbornonAugust 13, 1968. He waspreceded indeath by hisparents, MaryWarnerCognevich and FelixAnthony Cognevich,Sr.Phillip leaves behindthe mother of his children, Ashley Rose Peo‐ples. He wasa loving fa‐thertohis threegirls, Chloe Cognevich(Aaron) Kalie Cognevich(Bailey) and Karleigh (Cylan.He survivedbyhis siblingFelix (Sophia) Cognevich, Robert Cognevich, Michael Cognevich, andMary (Allen) Cognevich(Hess) Phillip is also survived by his nieces Kaylaand Kris‐ten Cognevichand ﬁve morenieces, twonephews and 5great nephews. Thoughhemay no longer physicallybeherewithus, his spirit livesonthrough the countless liveshehas touched.His commitment tohelping others;family, friends,orstrangers.He loved hiskidsverymuch. Hedidn'twanttoleave Thursday,July10, 2025. His lifewas complete.Wewill misshim.Serviceswillbe privately held.Final arrangementsentrusted to RobinsonFamilyFuneral Home, 9611 LA-23, Belle Chasse,LA70037

Eves,David Anthony

DavidAnthony Eves passedawayonJune29, 2025, at theage of 64 years old.David AnthonyEvesis survivedbyhis partner, Yolanda Johnson, her daughterMelunicaTre‐paigner,siblings; Judy Eves-Jackson(Kenneth Jackson Sr.) HarryR.Eves, Jr. (AngeleEves- deceased) Elizabeth Eves-Keller (AbrahamKeller, Jr.).Also survivedbya host of nieces, nephews, otherrel‐ativesand friends. Pre‐ceded in deathbyhis par‐ents, Mrs. JoyceEvesand Harry R.EvesSr. Family and friendsare invitedto attendthe Celebrationof LifeService on Wednesday, July23, 2025, for11:00 a.m. atThe Boyd Family Funeral Home, 5001 Chef Menteur Hwy., NewOrleans,LA 70126. Visitation will begin at10:00 a.m. ChaplinDuane Gidney, ofﬁciating. Inter‐mentisprivate.Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditi onbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear BrooksBoyd and DonavinD.Boyd Own‐ers/Funeral Directors.

Houston,Maurice Lavern 'Poppa'

Born on June 27, 1952, in Natchez,Mississippi, Maurice was thebeloved son of thelate Lavern Houstonand Willie Lee Houston. He was adevoted father to hischerished daughter, Shondell Marion Houston, and aloving brothertoIvan Houston Sr. (Barbara), Terrance HoustonSr. (Myra), Lagean HoustonSr. (Clarissa), Xavaol Houston, and DeeantasHoustonSr. (Ava); as well as his dear sisters,MariettaHouston (Alan), Yulandia Houston, and Latashia Borden (Carey). He was preceded in death by his parents, Lavern and Willie Lee Houston; his grandparents LucilleSchneider, Wynder Houston, Janie Houston Robert Howard Sr.,Lizzie Chase; and hisnephew, Ivan HoustonJr. Afuneralserviceinhis honorwas heldonJune 28, 2025, at Professional Funeral Services, located at 1449 N. Claiborne Avenue,New Orleans, Louisiana. The servicewas officiated by Rev. Willie D. Breaux Sr Maurice willbedeeply missed by allwho knew and lovedhim.

TiaPosseno Russell, 64, ofRiver Ridge, Louisiana, passedawaypeacefullyat her home on Sunday,July 13, 2025, surrounded by her lovingfamilyafter along and courageous battle withcancer. Tiafaced every challengewithre‐markablestrength, unwa‐veringdetermination,and grace.Eveninthe most dif‐ﬁcult moments, shenever losther positive spirit.She was born on August 24 1960, to BeverlyDeshotel and Glauco Joseph Pos‐seno. Tiawas reunitedin heavenwithher beloved husband,Wayne Jude Rus‐sellSr. Shewas aloving and devotedmom to Wayne (Emily)Russell Jr and Jennifer (Raphael)Ro‐driguez,and sheadored being “Nona”toher pre‐cious grandchildren—Lila, Margot,Graham, Declan Julien, andCarson. She was also preceded in death by herbrother,Paul Posseno.Tia leaves behind her siblings Mark (Sharon) Posseno,DeeAnne (David) Jewell, andAmy (Andy) Booth, alongwithher cousinCarlea, who was morelikea sister andbest friend. Sheisalsosurvived byher belovedniecesand nephews:Davey and Christina Jewell; Mark Jr., Sarah,and Hannah Pos‐seno; andAnnieBooth. Tia dedicated much of herlife toserving others.She workedtirelesslyfor many years as alegislative assis‐tantfor StateRepresenta‐tiveShirley Bowler and Senator Kirk Talbot.She was amemberofthe Re‐publicanWomen’s Club of Jefferson Parish andnever misseda chance to cele‐brate MardiGras, espe‐cially whenitmeant riding ina parade.Those who knewTia will remember how shewas always ready for agood time on the backporch with friends, a cocktailinhand, and plentyofstories to share. She hada passionfor cro‐cheting beautifulbaby blanketsfor familyand friends’new bundlesofjoy Tia’s kindness, laughter, and generosity touched everyoneshe met. The memoriesshe leaves be‐hindwillstayinour hearts forever.The familywould liketothank HeartofHos‐picefor theircompassion‐ate care during Tia’s ﬁnal journey,especiallyher nurses, Kelly andBecky Familyand friendsare in‐vited to gather andcele‐brate herlifeonMonday, July21, 2025 at Garden of MemoriesFuneralHome, 4900 AirlineDrive in Metairie, LA.Visitationwill begin at 9:00 am with afu‐neralservice at 12:00 noon

followed by burial in Car‐rollton Cemetery in New Orleans.Inlieuof ﬂowers, contributions in TiaRus‐sell’smemorymay be madetoMDAndersonCan‐cer Center,P.O.Box 4486, Houston,TX77210-4486 or www.MDAnderson.org/ Gifts. Online condolences may be offeredatwww.gar denofmemoriesmetairie com.

Stockmann, William Thomas 'Buddy'

William Thomas Stockmann, affectionately known as Buddy, passed away peacefullyonJuly 5, 2025 at Ochsner Hospital. BornonJuly 14, 1957, Buddywas raised in Lakeview. He attended Beauregard Junior High, BenFranklin Highand received aBachelor's degree fromthe University of New Orleans. Though he livedmostof his life withoutclose family,Buddywas never alone. He was adevoted son until theend of his parents' livesand afiercely loyal friend to thosefortunate enough to be in his circle. He was always kind,considerate and politetoeveryonehemet.Hewould strike up aconversation with anyone, anywhere and at any time. Hisknowledge of his hometown and hisability to remember people,placesand names was unsurpassed. Buddywas aman of quiet strength,one who would show up before youasked, listen longer than most, and tell youthe truth whether youwanted to hear it or not.Hewas a companion in hardshipand acelebrant in joyous times.

Buddywas preceded in death by his mother and father, Homerand Johnette Stockmann and hisbrother Mitch Stockmann. Though Buddy left no immediate family his legacy livesoninthe memories and stories shared by his dearest friends, theones he chose, and who chose him back, fiercely and forever.

On behalf of Buddy, I wouldliketoexpress gratitude forall of thedoctors and nurses that treated Buddyinthe time he spent in OchsnerICU. As perhis wish, there will be no formal service, buthis friends plan to gather soonfor remembrance- aCelebration of Life Gathering- atime to raise aglass, tellthe truth and remember aman who meant theworld to those who were luckyenoughto knowhim.

Rest in peace Bud Man, youmattered more than youcouldeverknow.

The CelebrationofLife willbeheldonFriday, September 5thfrom 4:00 pm till at #30 Tern Street NewOrleans, La 70124. Please joinusina moment to remember Buddy and to visitwithold friends. Email chrisb@Cembell.comfor moreinformation.

In LovingMemory of MauriceLavernHouston Also known as "Poppa June 27, 1952- June6, 2025 MauriceLavern Houston, affectionately known as "Poppa," passed awayonJune 6, 2025, at UniversityMedical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the ageof72.

Russell,Tia Posseno

BRIEFS FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Wall Street closes record-breaking week

NEW YORK Wall Street closed its third winning week in the last four with a quiet ﬁnish on Friday. The S&P 500 edged down by a whisper, less than 0.1%, after setting its all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to add its own record.

The heaviest weight on the market was Netﬂix, which fell 5.1% despite reporting a stronger-than-expected profit. Analysts said it wasn’t a surprise given the stock had already soared 43% for the year so far coming into the day, six times more than the gain for the S&P 500.

Stronger-than-expected proﬁt reports for the spring did help several stocks rally Charles Schwab climbed 2.9%, Regions Financial jumped 6.1% and Comerica added 4.6%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report suggested U.S. consumers may be feeling less fearful about coming inﬂation. They’re bracing for inﬂation of 4.4% in the year ahead, down from last month’s projection of 5%, according to preliminary results from a University of Michigan survey

Astronomer board probes kiss-cam scandal

Astronomer, the company whose CEO, Andy Byron, is believed to be the embarrassed man spotted at a Coldplay concert in an intimate embrace with an employee, slammed a “fake” statement circulating on social media and issued their own saying it was investigating the matter On Thursday, Astronomer told TMZ that a supposed apology shared on X was “not a real statement” from the company CEO. The hoax message, which was attributed online to Byron acknowledged the incident and included apologies to his wife, children and employees.

Astronomer later on Friday put out a legitimate statement on LinkedIn and X announcing that the company’s board of directors “has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”

This comes after a viral video taken during a Coldplay concert in Boston captured a man who resembles Byron hugged up with a woman many online sleuths identified as Astronomer’s HR boss Kristin Cabot Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern discuss merger

OMAHA, Neb Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are in merger talks to create the largest railroad in North America that would connect the East and West Coasts.

The merger discussions began during the first quarter of this year according to a person familiar with the talks who isn’t authorized to discuss them publicly It would combine the largest and smallest of the country’s six major freight railroads. Both railroads declined to comment. Within the industry there is widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved by the Surface Transportation Board even though those regulators approved the deal that created CPKC railroad two years ago with the Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad. That merger combined the two smallest major railroads in North America and left only six major freight railroads But it was the first major rail merger approved in more than two decades. The bar for railroad mergers in the U.S was raised substantially at the start of the century after a disastrous combination of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific in 1996 that snarled rail traffic for an extended period, followed by the 1999 split of Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX, which created backups in the East.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Chevron gets go-ahead for $53B Hess deal

Acquisition includes access to major oil find

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press

HOUSTON Chevron has scored a critical ruling in Paris that has given it the go-ahead for a $53 billion acquisition of Hess and access to one of the biggest oil ﬁnds of the decade.

Chevron said Friday that it completed its acquisition of Hess shortly after the ruling from the

International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Exxon had challenged Chevron’s bid for Hess, one of three companies with access to the massive Stabroek Block oil ﬁeld off the coast of Guyana.

“We disagree with the ICC panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process,” Exxon Mobil said in a statement on Friday

Guyana is a country of 791,000 people that is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest offshore oil producer placing it ahead of Qatar, the United States, Mexico and Norway It has become a major producer in recent years.

Oil giants Exxon Mobil, China’s CNOOC, and Hess squared off in a heated competition for highly lucrative oil ﬁelds in northern South America.

With Chevron getting the green light on Friday it is now one of the major players in the Stabroek.

“We are proud of everyone at Hess for building one of the industry’s best growth portfolios including Guyana, the world’s largest oil discovery in the last 10 years, and the Bakken shale, where we are a leading oil and gas producer,” former Hess CEO John Hess said in a statement. “The strategic combination of Chevron and Hess cre-

ates a premier energy company positioned for the future.” Chevron also said that on Thursday the Federal Trade Commission lifted its earlier restriction, clearing the way for John Hess to join its board of directors, subject to board approval.

Chevron announced its deal for Hess in October 2023, less than two weeks after Exxon Mobil said that it would acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for about $60 billion. Chevron said at the time that the acquisition of Hess would add a major oil ﬁeld in Guyana as well as shale properties in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota.

Beef prices soar in the U.S.

Ground beef up 12% from a year ago

BY JOSH FUNK Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb Anyone firing up the grill

this summer already knows hamburger patties and steaks are expensive, but the latest numbers show prices have climbed to record highs.

And experts say consumers shouldn’t expect much relief soon either

The average price of a pound of ground beef rose to $6.12 in June up nearly 12% from a year ago, according to U.S. government data. The average price of all uncooked beef steaks rose 8% to $11.49 per pound.

But this is not a recent phenomenon. Beef prices have been steadily rising over the past 20 years because the supply of cattle remains tight while beef remains popular

In fact, the U.S. cattle herd has been steadily shrinking for decades. As of Jan. 1, the U.S. had 86.7 million cattle and calves, down 8% from the most recent peak in 2019 That is the lowest number of cattle since 1951, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Many factors including drought and cattle prices have contributed to that decline. And now the emergence of a pesky parasite in Mexico and the prospect of widespread tariffs may further reduce supply and raise prices

Here’s a look at what’s causing the price of beef to rise.

Smaller herd

The American beef industry has gotten better at breeding larger animals, so ranchers can provide the same amount of beef with fewer cattle, said David Anderson, a livestock economist at Texas A&M.

Then in 2020, a three-year drought began that dried out pastures and raised the cost of feed for cattle, according to the American Farm Bureau Drought has continued to be a problem across the West since then, and the price of feed has put more pressure on ranchers who already operate on slim proﬁt margins.

In response, many farmers slaughtered more female cattle than usual, which helped beef supplies in the short term but lowered the size of future herds. Lower cattle supplies have raised prices.

In recent years cattle prices have soared, so that now animals are selling for thousands of dollars apiece. Recent prices show cattle selling for more than $230 per hundredweight, or hundred pounds.

Those higher prices give ranchers more incentive to sell cows now to capture proﬁts instead of hanging onto them for breeding given that prices in the years ahead may decrease, Anderson said.

“For them, the balance is, ‘Do I sell that animal now and take this record high check?’ Or

‘do I keep her to realize her returns over her productive life when she’s having calves?’” Anderson said. “And so it’s this balancing act, and so far the side that’s been winning is to sell her and get the check.”

Disease dilemma

The emergence of a ﬂesh-eating pest in cattle herds in Mexico has put extra pressure on supply because ofﬁcials cut off all imports of cattle from south of the border last year Some 4% of the cattle the U.S feeds to slaughter for beef comes from Mexico.

The pest is the New World screwworm fly, and female flies lay eggs in wounds on warmblooded animals. The larvae that hatch are unusual among flies for feeding on live flesh and fluids instead of dead material. American officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its flesh-eating maggots could cause large economic losses as they did decades ago before the U.S. eradicated the pest.

Agricultural economist Bernt Nelson, with the Farm Bureau, said the loss of that many cattle is putting additional pressure on supply that is helping drive prices higher

Tariff trouble

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have yet to have a major impact on beef prices, but they could be another factor that drives prices higher because the U.S. imports more than 4 million pounds of beef every year

Much of what is imported is lean beef trimmings that meatpackers mix with fattier beef produced in the U.S. to produce the varieties of ground beef that domestic consumers want. Much of that lean beef comes from Australia and New Zealand that have only seen a 10% tariff, but some of it comes from Brazil, where Trump has threatened tariffs as high as 50%.

If the tariffs remain in place long-term, meat processors will have to pay higher prices on imported lean beef. It wouldn’t be easy for U.S. producers to replace because the country’s system is geared toward producing fattier beef known for marbled steaks.

Prices will likely stay high

It’s the height of grilling season and demand in the U.S. for beef remains strong, which Kansas State agricultural economist Glynn Tonsor said will help keep prices higher

If prices remain this high, shoppers will likely start to buy more hamburger meat and fewer steaks, but that doesn’t appear to be happening broadly yet — and people also don’t seem to be buying chicken or pork instead of beef. Nelson said that recently the drought has eased — allowing pasture conditions to improve and grain prices are down thanks to the drop in export demand for corn because of the tariffs Those factors, combined with the high cattle prices might persuade more ranchers to keep their cows and breed them to expand the size of their herds.

Even if ranchers decided to raise more cattle to help replace those imports, it would take at least two years to breed and raise them And it wouldn’t be clear if that is happening until later this fall when ranchers typically make those decisions.

“We’ve still got a lot of barriers in the way to grow this herd,” Nelson said. Just consider that a young farmer who wants to add 25 bred heifers to his herd has to be prepared to spend more than $100,000 at auction at a time when borrowing costs remain high.

There is typically a seasonal decline in beef prices as grilling season slows down into the fall, but those price declines are likely to be modest

Dairy official talks immigration agricultural impact

Land O’Lakes CEO sees need for change

BY BROOKS JOHNSON

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS)

As Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford sees it, one will break ﬁrst: gridlock on U.S. immigration policy or the nation’s food system. How President Donald Trump’s crackdown is affecting agriculture and thus the economy overall is at the forefront for Ford, chair of the immigration committee for Business Roundtable. That CEO organization lobbies on behalf of the nation’s businesses, meaning Ford’s voice on the issue carries more

weight than other execs’.

“For a dairy producer, if they lose their staff, I mean, that’s a black swan event. There’s not much you can do,” Ford said. “As we look at challenges with immigration, with labor, especially on the dairy side, they don’t have options. There is no year-round visa. And that is stressful.” Nationwide, more than half of all farmworkers are foreigners, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Different operations have different needs, meaning some growers make do just ﬁne while others are hurting for help. Dairy falls into the latter category The National Milk Producers Federation said the country’s uncer-

tainty about agricultural labor and immigration “continues to harm workers and their families, farm employers, rural communities and national food security.”

Milking cows doesn’t happen only at certain times of year, which makes seasonal temporary visas feasible for other farming unworkable. And in most cases, automation is too expensive or unwieldy to consider So ensuring a predictable ﬂow of labor alongside strong border security — is imperative for Ford’s coop, best known for its butter, cream and cheese. As she talks with the more than 3,000 dairy producers, farmers and smaller cooperatives who own Arden Hills, Minnesota-

based Land O’Lakes, immigration remains a hot topic.

“That is the primary discussion point in our conversations,” she said. “It’s not as if producers haven’t been out trying to hire Americans. Americans don’t want these jobs.”

What’s more, she said, animal agriculture requires a technical knowhow that means “not just anybody can take these jobs.”

Nearly 80% of the U.S. milk supply comes from producers that employ immigrant labor according to a Texas A&M survey Having yearround farmworker visas or a similar solution to import labor for yearround farm operations would make a meaningful difference, Ford said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

price for beef is displayed at a grocery store in Mount Prospect, Ill., on Thursday

OPINION

ANOTHERVIEW

MeasuringTrump’s political health

Just like doctors measureblood pressure and heart rate to assess your physical health, pollstersmeasure approvalratings of presidents toassess their political health.

This week marks the six-month anniversary ofDonaldTrump’ssecondpresidency. It’s a good time for acheck-up. Overall, howisTrump doing?

Ron Faucheux

Six recent nationalpolls give him an average approvalratingof46%.

While that’s notsogreat, forTrump it’s enoughtoholdtogether hispartisan base and secure his capacity to govern. Trump’ssixth-month ratinginthis term is much betterthanitwas in his ﬁrst term, 46% vs. 38%, based on Galluppollﬁndings.

The latest Harvard-Harris poll shows thepresident’s current approval rating is 85%among Republicans, 36% among independents and 15% among Democrats

Note the enormous 70-point gapdividing partisans. Trump’srating is 52% with Whites,29% with Blacks, 39% with Hispanics and 46% with AsianAmericans. He does better with men(52%) than women (41%).

The Economist/YouGov survey ﬁnds that only 36% of votersbelieve the president is honestand trustworthy,but aclear majority (55%) believe he’sa strong leader.It’sstill unclear the fulleffect the Jeffrey Epsteinscandal couldhaveonTrump’sratings

In any case,Trump continues to have ahardbaseof voterswho support himoneverything.Inaddition, he attracts voters who havepersonaldoubts about his behavior andtemperament,but who fervidlyprefer his policies over those of Democrats. This is hissupport formula, and it’s why hedoes better in elections than in popularity polls

How does Trump compare to other presidents?

Lookingatsix-month mileposts in ﬁrstterms, Trump’s46% approval rating is apoint above Bill Clinton’sand four points below Joe Biden’s.Other presidents —Ronald Reagan, GeorgeH.W.Bush, George W. Bush and BarackObama —weredoing10 to 20 points better than Trump at thispointintheir presidencies.

To be fair,weshouldalso look at the six-month milepost in second terms, since Trump is now servingasecond term, even though it’snot consecutive Based on this comparison, Trump’sapprovalratingis twopointsbetterGeorgeW.Bush’sand thesameas Obama’s.However,Trumpis12pointsshort ofClinton’sstanding and 17 pointsbelow Reagan’s How is Trump doingonpolicy?

His two best issues are immigration (50% approve) and “returning America to its values”(50% approve), according to the Harvard-Harris poll. His twoworst issues aretariffs and inﬂation (each42% approve). Falling in between are the economy,foreignaffairs and administering the government.

According to Harvard-Harris, 60% of votersoppose Trump’splans to move FEMA activitiestothe states and60% also oppose his tariffsonChinese goods. Theseissuesposesubstantialpolitical risks to Republicans

Themostimportant issue for all voters is inﬂation. Thesecond mostimportant is immigrationfor Republicans, civil rights for Democrats and health care for independents.

How popular are Trump’stop appointees?

According to the Economist/YouGov poll, Vice PresidentJDVance is rated 41% favorable and 52% unfavorable. Thirteen percent ofvoterswho cast ballots forTrumpdon’tlike Vance.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, caught in the middle of the Epstein tumult, posts afavorable rating of only 25% and amuch higher unfavorable rating of 46%,for awide 21-point gap.Only one cabinet member tested hasanet positive rating,and that’sRobert F. Kennedy Jr.Based on the Harvard-Harris poll, the secretary of health andhuman services’sratingis43% favorable and 38% unfavorable (+5). Secretary of StateMarco Rubio’sratingis32% favorable, 34% unfavorable (-2) and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’sis26% favorable, 30% unfavorable (-4). How is Trump’sparty doing?

The Harvard-Harris poll shows 48%ofvoters approveofthe Republican Party.That’seight points better than theDemocratic Party’s40% rating. So what do all these numbers mean?

Donald Trump’spopularity has remained remarkably stable, despite the controversies.In2016,he won46.1% of the popular vote; in 2020, he won 46.8%; andnow,his job rating averages46%. Last year,he reached ahigh point, whenhereceived 49.8%inthe election. While he doesn’thave to worry about reelection, Trump still has to worry about the effectsofhis popularity on passing an agenda and next year’smidterm elections. That’swhy it’susefultohave acheck-up.

RonFaucheux is anonpartisan political analyst, pollsterand writer basedinLouisiana.

Cal Thomas promotes warfromhis chair

Every week, Iopen theOpinion section of this paper,and Iam blown away by two things:the enormity of Cal Thomas’ forehead and the sheer stupidityofhis opinions.Throwing around the idea of murdering the elected leader of a sovereign nation may seem normal to awarped and twisted warhawk, but to most people who have been around more than 20 years, “regime change in the Middle East” means nothing morethan death, wasted taxpayer money and national shame.

Are there enough Iranians prepared to standagainst the power and weapons of the ayatollahs? Is this some joke? If Cal Thomas wants to change the head of state of Iran, Irecommend he head down to therecruiting ofﬁce andjoin theArmy.When we areinevitably dragged into another war halfway across the world, hopefully he will ﬁnd theopportunity to do whathe has wanted do all of his miserable career: kill people.

PETERCHOL Baton Rouge

BigBeautiful Bill forces us to pick aside

The Opinion pages of theJuly 1edition had two opinion pieces presenting opposing views on the future of Louisiana under theprovisions of the “BigBeautiful Bill.”

Rep.SteveScalise praised the bill as crucial to getting our state back on track while promoting, in hiswords, “another golden age of American recovery.”

The other piece was co-authored by Greg Feirnand Pete November,CEOsofLCMC and Ochsner Health, along with several others state leadersinthe healthcare and hospital industry They wrote of thehorrendous

damage Medicaid cuts will do to theirservices to Louisiana citizens and those in need. They stated, “We face the largest cut to health care in our state’shistory.” Who do we choosetothink is givingusvalid information: apolitician who stands with President Donald Trump no matter what he asks or medical professionals, who are concerned about the real daily needs of Louisianacitizens? Iknow where Istand, anditiswith the honestprofessionals notthe lying politician.

LOUIS ARCENEAUX NewOrleans

Here’s

the waytosave horseracing in Louisiana

Regarding racing at Fair Grounds andLouisiana in general,the oneway to help thesituation is to not have tracks running an overlapping racing schedule. Why is Deltarunning races thesame months as the FairGrounds? It’s just stupid. Based on seniority,the FairGrounds should runinDecember,January, February andMarch.Evangeline then takes April, May, June. LouisianaDowns takes Julyand August, followedbyDelta running September, October andNovember.There can be afew days overlap,but the sameamount of racing days can be squeezed intoevery track’s schedule Thatmakes Louisiana-bred horses only having onetrack open to racing at atime,leadingtobigger ﬁelds of 10-12 horses perrace which leadstoalarger handle by every track. That, of course, leadstohigher purses. It’s awin-win situation. We need theLegislature to pass abill to put each track in their “window” as soon as possible.Believe me, this will work,but sincethe tracks will not voluntarily do this,probably thegovernor needs to ask former Fair Grounds owner Louie Roussel III about this ideal solution. Maybe he can personally get involved.

BOBBY BRETTEL River Ridge

Whyschools need to make studentpasswords more secure

I’m astudent who wantstotalk about something important —school passwords. At my school, the passwords they give students are super easy to guess. Alot of the time it’sjust somethinglike the ﬁrst three letters of amonth and the last four numbers of their school username, and that’s not safe at all.

Itried to showhow weak the system was by demonstrating it, and Iended up gettingintrouble. Iwasn’ttrying to hack anything or do something bad. Ijust wanted toprovethat if Icould ﬁgure out someone’spassword in a few tries,then someone with worse intentions could do the samething. Ithink schools need to do abetter

job at keeping students’ accounts secure. We use those accounts foreverything now —grades, assignments and even personal stuff.It’snot fair to blamestudents when the real problem is the school not taking cybersecurity seriously

FRANCESCO MORA Mandeville

SAINTS PREVIEW

EX TERIOR OFF ENSI VE LINE

BIG INVESTMENTS

By GERALD HERBERT

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

A year ago, it seemed like the New Orleans Saints were in dire straits at offensive tackle.

But now? They might be positioned well in that area — as long as a couple of things work in their favor.

Taliese Fuaga is coming off a strong rookie season during which he played an unfamiliar position at left tackle. Rather than keeping him there, New Orleans is poised to shift Fuaga to the right side — the position he played his entire career at Oregon State — to make room for No. 9 overall pick Kelvin Banks at left tackle.

This is not set in stone, of course, but the Saints rolled with it all the way through their summer program and seem content to let it play out this way.

Best case

This is kind of obvious, isn’t it? The Saints have devoted top-15 picks in consecutive years to offensive tackles, and

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Media members pick LSU fourth in SEC

LB Weeks only Tiger to make first team

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

The LSU Tigers are among the prime contenders

The

In addition, seven LSU players earned a total of eight preseason All-SEC ﬁrst-, second- or third-team honors.

Voting concluded Thursday on the ﬁnal day of SEC media days in Atlanta.

Texas was picked to ﬁnish ﬁrst in the SEC regular-season standings and win the SEC Championship Game. LSU got the fourthmost overall points with 2,668 and fourthmost votes to win the championship game with 20.

The Tigers ranked behind Texas, Georgia and Alabama and just ahead of South Carolina in both polls. With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024, the conference did away with divisions and will follow the same format this year The top two teams in the ﬁnal standings will meet Dec. 6 in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

if both of them hit it means the Saints could be on their way to having one of the NFL’s premier offensive tackle tandems. They’re a long way from that at the moment Banks has yet to play a down, and he wasn’t viewed as a slam-dunk offensive tackle prospect (some preferred him at guard). Fuaga enjoyed a solid rookie season, but he’s switching positions and has to prove he wasn’t a product of a friendly scheme.

Still, the Saints are making the right type of gamble at this position. Each of the eight highest-paid tackles in the NFL were selected in the first round, almost all of them in the top-15 picks. Only two Associated Press All-Pro tackles in the last five seasons were drafted outside of the first round — David Bakhtiari and Jordan Mailata. Taking a first-round tackle is no guarantee of success, but if you’re going to find a good one, that is more often than not where they come from. Since Fuaga already has

page 5C

BY ANDREW VALENTI Contributing writer

Saints first-round draft pick Kelvin Banks runs through drills during the team’s rookie minicamp on May 10. AP FILE PHOTO

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU linebacker Whit Weeks reacts after a stop against Oklahoma in the second quarter of their game on Nov. 30 at Tiger Stadium.

Guardians P Ortiz’s leave extended to Aug. 31

Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz will remain on non-disciplinary leave through Aug. 31 while he is the subject of a Major League Baseball gambling investigation.

Ortiz’s paid leave began on July 3 and was supposed to end on Friday before MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to extend it.

The investigation is related to in-game prop bets on two pitches thrown by Ortiz that received higher activity than usual during his starts at Seattle on June 15 and his recent outing against St. Louis on June 27.

The 26-year-old Ortiz is in his ﬁrst season with Cleveland after he was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh last December

The right-hander is 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 16 starts this season.

Injuries take toll on Team Clark

BY ALYCE BROWN AP sportswriter

INDIANAPOLIS Caitlin Clark is out but most of the WNBA’s best are in for the league’s All-Star Game

The Indiana Fever’s injured superstar won’t be able to play Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when the team she drafted, Team Clark, faces Team Collier, picked by opposing captain Napheesa Collier

The events started Friday night with a 3-point contest, headlined by event record-holder Sabrina Ionescu, and skills challenge. Clark also had been scheduled to compete in the 3-point contest.

Here are a few things to note heading into the busy weekend.

Injuries bog down Team Clark

Clark, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, will be sitting out after suffering a groin injury in the Fever’s game against the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday

As the player who received the most fan votes and the captain of Team Clark, Clark said she is “looking forward to helping (coach Sandy Brondello) coach our team to a win” in Thursday’s announcement of her withdrawal.

“I will give the coaching hat to her as much as she wants, to be quite honest,” Brondello said. “You’ve seen it with the Fever, she’s been very active on the sideline when she wasn’t playing.” Phoenix’s Satou Sabally, a fellow starter on Team Clark, will also be sidelined.

She announced Wednesday that she will be sitting out this weekend with an injured ankle.

A’ja Wilson, a third Team Clark starter, said Friday afternoon that it’s still to be determined if she will play in Saturday’s game, after suffering a wrist injury against the New York Liberty last week

The absence of two members of Team Clark led the league to ap-

point two replacements for the All-Star Game, bringing Washington’s Brittney Sykes and Atlanta’s Brionna Jones onto the roster Thursday afternoon.

The Fever’s Lexie Hull will be replacing Clark in the 3-point contest.

Rookies on the roster

It’s a young All-Star Game this year, with rookies Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen making up the largest rookie contingent at the game since 2011.

Citron and Iriafen are on Team Clark, and Bueckers is a starter for Team Collier

“It’s amazing,” Citron said. “This rookie class is really talented, and I’m just happy that I’m one of the ones here. It’s really cool.”

Before the recent three-year string of rookie starters Aliyah Boston in 2023, Clark in 2024 and now Bueckers — only seven rookies had ever been selected as AllStar starters in the game’s 26-year history

A fun format

This year’s All-Star format is different from last year’s, when the U.S women’s Olympic team played against Team WNBA. This time, each team is headed up by a captain (Clark and Collier) who drafted players from a pool of selected All-Stars.

It’s a return to a more traditional format after the 2024 Olympic year shook things up.

“It’s a little more loose, has that fun element to it,” Team Collier coach Cheryl Reeve said of this year’s game. “It’s obviously very player centric, and you just want to have fun and enjoy the experience. It’s for the fans, so it’s a fun year.”

Clark’s impact remains despite absence

BY MICHAEL MAROT AP sportswriter

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark

bounced a ball, joined a team huddle and gave one of her All-Star teammate’s shots a playful thumbs down before gingerly lobbing her own half-court heave Friday. It may be the most demanding action anyone sees from Clark this weekend.

Indianapolis’ big midseason weekend wasn’t supposed to play out this way, with Clark patrolling the sidelines instead of impressing her home fans with more nifty passes or trademark logo 3-pointers. But as she sits this one out because of yet another injury, Clark remains the center of attention.

From the 30-story, larger-thanlife image covering Indianapolis’ JW Marriott Hotel to the wraps around the city’s maze of skywalks, last season’s Rookie of the Year seems every bit as in demand — maybe even more — as All-Star teammates with the Indiana Fever, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, or anyone else in town.

“Oh, yeah. I am going to be there,” Clark told “Good Morning America” on Friday, referring to Saturday night’s game. “I am going to be there, active on the sideline.

I’m going to cheer these two on.” Clark did not speak during Fri-

day’s scheduled interviews with reporters.

For a league that has seen ticket sales and television ratings soar since Clark’s arrival last season, her absence comes at the worst possible moment. Indianapolis was selected as the All-Star host last summer, and Clark was set to make her debut in the 3-point contest in her adopted hometown.

The contest may have featured the strongest ﬁeld ever the last two contest winners, Sabrina Ionescu of New York, Alisha Gray of Atlanta, former NCAA Division I scoring champ Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles and Washington rookie Sonia Citron — if Clark was in it

Instead, Fever guard Lexie Hull will replace Clark in Friday’s contest.

“I think Lexie deserves it,” Mitchell said. “I think that C.C. is dope for making sure that happened or the WNBA, for that matter, I don’t know, and I think for the Fever it’s just a good way to represent us and have someone the that this city loves.”

Of course, everyone wanted to see Clark, who remains quite active off the court.

In addition to the morning interview and a midday practice with the team she “drafted,” the coach she acquired in a trade and the

team that bears her name, Clark was scheduled to appear on Sue Bird’s podcast, WNBA Live and with two sports brands — Nike and Wilson — before returning for Friday night’s festivities.

It’s also a good bet Clark’s schedule includes some injury treatment time.

Ionescu’s advice: Take full advantage of the unexpected opportunities.

“I went through something similar in my career,” Ionescu said.

“My ﬁrst year, I didn’t play due to injury and then second year, I had like three to four soft tissue injuries. You look back and it’s a blessing in disguise because you’re able to learn and grow and understand it’s all part of your journey, continue to ﬁgure out what you need in a pro career.”

Clark won’t have much down time Saturday, either

There’s a morning shootaround, a 15-minute interview session with reporters and then she’ll have to navigate the newly constructed stage inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse before testing her coaching skills. And that may not be all.

“Obviously, unfortunate about Caitlin, but she’s going to still have a great impact on this team,” said Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. “I will give the coaching hat to her as much as she wants, to be quite

honest. We’re going to play around with it a little bit. It’ll be fun.”

Clark never missed a game in college or her ﬁrst pro season because of injury but already has missed 10 this season with three muscle injuries.

Boston and Mitchell have seen how their teammate has responded in all 10 and expect nothing different this time, a contest that doesn’t count in the standings.

“Caitlin will still be Caitlin, trust me guys,” Mitchell said, drawing laughter “She’s going to be in a coaching uniform, like you’ll deﬁnitely see the competitive nature. But I think for her, her body deserves what it deserves from a break standpoint. I think this weekend will still be about what her and other individuals have brought to our league.”

So while the league’s biggest stars compete on the court, Clark will return to her role as promoter It’s a role she must embrace if she hopes to play Tuesday when the regular season resumes with a home game against the defending champion Liberty — even if it’s a disappointment for the women’s basketball fans.

“I am feeling good,” Clark told GMA. “Obviously, a lot of this cheers me up. It’s fun to see everybody out here having such a good time.”

Marlins’ Norby sidelined after left wrist surgery

Miami Marlins third baseman Connor Norby will be sidelined for several weeks after having surgery on his wrist. The procedure on Wednesday was to repair a broken hamate bone in his left wrist and was done by hand specialist Dr Don Sheridan in Phoenix, the team said Friday The recovery timeline is six to eight weeks.

The Marlins acquired Norby from Baltimore last summer in a trade that also landed ﬁrst-time AllStar Kyle Stowers in Miami.

While Norby’s tenure with the Marlins started strong, his performance had been uneven this year with a .241 average and .289 on-base percentage, six home runs and 26 RBI in 72 games. He was sidelined the ﬁrst two months of the season with an oblique injury

Chargers wide receiver

Williams retires at age 30

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams has retired from the NFL at age 30.

Williams signed a $6 million, oneyear deal in mid-March to return to the Chargers for his second stint with the team. On Monday, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list with an undisclosed injury and two days later called it quits.

Williams played eight seasons in the NFL, including stints with both the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.

The Chargers drafted Williams in the ﬁrst round with the seventh overall pick in 2017.

He had 330 career receptions, 5,104 receiving yards and 32 touchdown receptions over his eight-year career

Raiders defensive tackle Wilkins placed on PUP list

The Las Vegas Raiders placed defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on the physically unable to perform list Friday Wilkins suffered a season-ending injury in Week 5 last season. Then, he experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken foot causing him to miss all of organized team activities and minicamp. Wilkins will miss at least the beginning of training camp, which opens Wednesday Because he was placed on the PUP list before practices began, the Raiders can activate Wilkins at any time during camp once medically cleared.

Wilkins, 29, was the Raiders’ marquee free-agent signing last year, agreeing to a four-year, $110 million contract with $82.75 million guaranteed.

NFL Players Association leader Howell resigns Lloyd Howell has resigned as executive director of the NFL Players Association, citing distractions his leadership has caused in recent weeks. Howell has come under scrutiny since ESPN reported he has maintained a part-time consulting job with Carlyle Group, a private equity ﬁrm that holds league approval to seek minority ownership in NFL franchises. That followed a revelation where the NFLPA and league had a conﬁdentiality agreement to keep quiet an arbitrator’s ruling about possible collusion by owners over quarterback salaries. The latest issue revealed two player representatives, who voted for Howell, were unaware he was sued in

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

Fever guard Caitlin Clark watches as players warm up before a game between the New york Liberty

york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AARON LAVINSKy

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier scores on a jump shot against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

BRITISH OPEN

Scheffler rises to top

No. 1 player in world shoots 64 for one-shot lead

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Scot-

tie Schefﬂer had no idea what was coming his way Friday in the British Open. He warmed up in a shortsleeved shirt. The umbrella was out when he walked off the ﬁrst green.

For the thousands at Royal Portrush watching him, they knew exactly what to expect from the world’s No. 1 player, and Schefﬂer delivered another relentless performance Three straight birdies to close the gap. Two more at the end to take the lead.

Schefﬂer had a 15-foot putt that was one turn away from dropping for a ﬁnal birdie. He happily settled for a 7-under 64, his lowest round in a major, to take a one-shot lead over former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England

It was his lowest round in a major, yes, but there was a normalcy about it, too. Scheffler has been doing this for three years now and there is little left to say Even when Sky Sports showed a list of his key statistics — driving accuracy down, greens in regulation great — that elicited little more than a shrug.

The statistics led to a shrug.

“Overall, I’m hitting the ball solid,” Schefﬂer said. “The tournament is only halfway done. I got off to a good start.”

Schefﬂer made eight birdies on another wild afternoon of weather, putting him at 10-under 132 as he chases the third leg of the career Grand Slam.

Fitzpatrick was equally dynamic when he began the back nine with four straight birdies, only to miss a 5-foot par putt on the 14th to slow his momentum, and a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that was mildly irritating. He shot 66.

“I felt like every facet of my game was on today and I felt like I really played solid,” Fitzpatrick said. “To take advantage of the opportunities I had out there was obviously really positive ”

Brian Harman got the best of the weather — surprising sunshine — and took dead aim in his hunt for another claret jug. Harman played bogey-free for a 65 that left him only two shots behind, along with Li Haotong of China, who had a 67. Everyone else was ﬁve shots behind or more.

That includes Rory McIlroy, who went around Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland with plenty of cheers but only a few roars. McIlroy had a 69 but lost a lot of ground because of Schefﬂer, Fitzpatrick and Harman.

McIlroy started the second round just three shots behind. He goes into the weekend seven shots behind the top-ranked player in the world.

“I’ve been somewhat close to my best over the ﬁrst two days in little bits here and there,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all ﬁring over the weekend to make a run.” Fitzpatrick was at his lowest

DeChambeau surges to make cut; other big names not so lucky

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sports writer

PORTRUSH,Northern Ireland Bryson DeChambeau left the windswept links at Royal Portrush somewhat bashed up after a tough first round of the British Open and said to himself: “I want to go home.”

The American woke up Friday with a different mindset.

“I said, ‘You know what, I can’t give up,’ ” said DeChambeau, who has a popular YouTube channel and is one of the biggest draws in golf. “My dad always told me never to give up, just got to keep going, and that’s what I did today.”

Rebounding from an opening 7-over 78, DeChambeau shot 6-under 65 in the second round — tied for the second-lowest round of the day — and made the weekend in Northern Ireland.

point just four months ago when he changed his caddie and coach and began pulling himself up And now he takes that into the weekend against Schefﬂer

“He’s going to have the expectation to go out and dominate. He’s an exceptional player. He’s world No 1, and we’re seeing Tiger-like stuff,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, obviously, I hope I’m going to have some more home support than him, but it’s an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year.”

Schefﬂer spent 20 minutes after his round going over video with Shane Lowry over Lowry’s ball moving a fraction in the rough on No. 12, which led to a two-shot penalty Lowry wasn’t sure he caused his ball to move, but he said he would rather take the penalty to avoid even the slightest suspicion

His attention turned to Schefﬂer when someone suggested he had been on the fringes of contention before the penalty

“Eight shots behind Scottie Scheffler isn’t in the fringes of contention the way he’s playing,”

Lowry said Scheffler was sharp from the start. He hit eight of the 14 fairways compared with three in the opening round though his misses never left him too badly out of position. But he is seeing the breaks on smoother Portrush greens, and he looks conﬁdent as ever

None of his eight birdies were closer than 7 feet. Five of them were in the 10-foot range and then he threw in a 35-foot birdie on the sixth. His lone bogey came on a drive into deep grass on the 11th that kept him from reaching the green. Harman was called the “Butcher of Hoylake” when he won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the Georgia native’s love for hunting. Now it’s about his

golf, and it was superb. Harman played bogey-free, only once having to stress for par as Royal Portrush allowed for some good scoring in surprisingly good weather in the morning.

“They’re very different golf courses, but the golf is similar,” Harman said. “You’ve got to be able to ﬂight your golf ball. You’ve got to know how far everything’s going. Then you can’t get frustrated. You’re going to end up in funny spots where it doesn’t seem fair, and you just have to kind of outlast that stuff.”

The group at 5-under 137 included Harris English (70), Harman’s former teammate at Georgia; Tyrrell Hatton of England (69) and Chris Gotterup (65), who wasn’t even planning to be at Royal Portrush until winning the Scottish Open last week.

Also still around is Bryson DeChambeau, who made a 13-shot improvement from the ﬁrst round with a 65. Still, he was 11 shots behind. McIlroy wasn’t at his best in the opening round and was pleased to be only three behind. Now he has a real mountain to climb. But at least he’s still playing, unlike in 2019 at Royal Portrush when he shot 79 and then had a terriﬁc rally only to miss the cut by one shot.

“I didn’t have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I’m very excited for that,” McIlroy said. “I feel like my game’s deﬁnitely good enough to make a run.”

That was before Schefﬂer began to run away from so many except a small collection of challengers. But this is links golf. And this is the Emerald Isle, where the weather seems to have a mind of its own.

Still, Schefﬂer has gone 10 tournaments without ﬁnishing out of the top 10 and would appear to present a challenge every bit as daunting as Royal Portrush.

Lowry deals with penalty for slightest ball movement

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Shane Lowry was hopeful of making a few birdies to inch a little closer to Scottie Scheffler in the British Open. And then he learned about the potential of a two-shot penalty, and it became a pressure-filled finish to make the cut.

Lowry was penalized two shots when his ball moved a fraction of an inch — the label on his golf ball is seen to dip ever so slightly while he was taking a practice swing next to the ball in the rainsoaked rough on the par-5 12th at Royal Portrush. That turned his 70 into a 1-over 72. He goes into weekend 10 shots behind the No. 1 player in the world at Royal Portrush, where Lowry won the claret jug in 2019.

He said the R&A informed him of the potential penalty on the 15th hole — Lowry was at 1 under, and

the 36-hole cut was looking to be at 1-over par

“I told them I definitely was looking down towards the ball as I was taking that practice swing, and I didn’t see it move,” Lowry said. “But I had to take the penalty because I’m still not sure, to be honest, whether it was or not — but I had to take the penalty because I can’t have my name talked about or tossed around like that, and I just get on with it.

“It’s obviously very disappointing. Look, I’ll just have to dust myself off and get out there tomorrow and give it a go.” There is an exception for when a violation could be seen with the naked eye, without having to rely on video that zooms in. Lowry told them while he didn’t see it move, he was looking down in the direction of the ball. Assuming there might be a penalty, Lowry made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 15th and closed with

three pars. With the penalty, he was at even-par 142.

Lowry said he felt the R&A ofﬁcials had their minds made up that he caused the ball to move under the rules and that it would be a two-shot penalty

“They only had one camera angle, which was zoomed in at the ball. They had none of me actually full length, which we were looking for and needed,” he said. “If the ball moved and I caused it to move and it moved, it’s a two-shot penalty The last thing I want to do is sit there and argue and not take the penalty and then get slaughtered all over social media tonight for being a cheat.” Lowry and Schefﬂer, who played together met with the ofﬁcials for about 20 minutes after the round to review the video.

“It was a very tough spot for Shane to be put in,” Schefﬂer said.

“He handled it really well. It’s, obviously, very frustrating.”

The two-time U.S. Open champion didn’t even feel he played that much better than on Thursday The putts just dropped this time.

“There wasn’t much different,” he said. “That’s why links golf is the way links golf is.”

DeChambeau made the cut on the number at 1 over Eleven strokes adrift of leader Scottie Schefﬂer, he has little hope of lifting the claret jug for the ﬁrst time.

Other high-proﬁle players have no hope at all.

Brooks Koepka, another LIV Golf star in search of points to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team, was headed home after a round of 74 that left him 7 over The five-time major champion missed the cut at three of the four majors this year, finishing 12th in the other at the U.S. Open. Cameron Smith, the 2022 British Open winner at St. Andrews and another LIV player, failed to make the weekend at a fifth straight major after rounds of 72 and 78. It’s three straight missed cuts at majors for Patrick Cantlay who shot 73-72.

The highest-ranked player to leave Royal Portrush early was

No. 6 Collin Morikawa (75-74), the 2021 champion from Royal St. George’s.

Padraig Harrington, a twotime British Open champion from Ireland, was given the honor of hitting the first tee shot at this British Open and was given warm ovations everywhere he went on the Dunluce Lunks. He won’t be getting anymore after a 76 left him at 9 over Xander Schauffele shot 69 and made the cut for the 15th straight major, the longest active streak in men’s golf. Yet, at 2-under par, his chances of winning the claret jug in backto-back years are slim.

Former No. 1 Dustin Johnson kept a career streak going of never missing the cut at all four majors in the same year — but only just. Johnson teed off at No. 18 on the number at 1-over par He hit the ﬂagstick with his second shot, and the ball settled a foot away from cup for a birdie and a 69.

Three players in their 50s will play on the weekend: Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson and 1997 champion Justin Leonard. For Leonard, it is his ﬁrst cut since 2013 — the year Mickelson won the claret jug at Muirﬁeld.

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Friday At Dunluce Links Portrush, United Kingdom Purse: $17 million Yardage: 7,381; Par: 71 Second Round

S. Schefﬂer, United States 68-64—132 -10

Matt Fitzpatrick, England 67-66—133 -9

B. Harman, United States 69-65—134 8

Hao-Tong Li, China 67-67—134 -8

Harris English, United States 67-70—137 5

C. Gotterup, United States 72-65—137 5 Tyrrell Hatton, England 68-69—137 -5

Rasmus Hojgaard, Denmark 69-68—137 5 Robert Macintyre, Scotland 71-66—137 5 Tony Finau, United States 70-68—138 -4 Nicolai Hojgaard, Denmark 69-69—138 4

K. Bradley, United States 72-67—139 -3 Sam Burns, United States 70-69—139 3

R. McIlroy, Northern Ireland 70-69—139 3

Jordan L. Smith, England 71-68—139 -3 Lee Westwood, England 69-70—139 3

Ludvig Aberg, Sweden 73-67—140 2

C. Bezuidenht, South Africa 67-73—140 -2

Harry Hall, England 73-67—140 2

R. Johnston, United States 74-66—140 -2

Matthew Jordan, England 68-72—140 -2

Oliver Lindell, Finland 72-68—140 2

Kristoffer Reitan, Norway 72-68—140 -2

Justin Rose, England 69-71—140 2

X. Schauffele, United States 71-69—140 2

A. Bhatia, United States 73-68—141 -1

Tommy Fleetwood, England 73-68—141 1 Rickie Fowler, United States 69-72—141 1 Lucas Glover, United States 69-72—141 -1

Jason Kokrak, United States 71-70—141 1 Marc Leishman, Australia 73-68—141 -1 Aaron Rai, England 69-72—141 -1

J. Thomas, United States 72-69—141 1 Daniel Berger, United States 72-70—142 E

D. Burmester, South Africa 71-71—142 E W. Clark, United States 76-66—142 E

R. Henley, United States 72-70—142 E Viktor Hovland, Norway 73-69—142 E Sungjae Im, South Korea 71-71—142 E

D. Johnson, United States 73-69—142 E Riki Kawamoto, Japan 72-70—142 E Romain Langasque, France 71-71—142 E Shane Lowry, Ireland 70-72—142 E P. Mickelson, United States 70-72—142 E Jon Rahm, Spain 70-72—142 E Antoine Rozner, France 72-70—142 E J.J. Spaun, United States 73-69—142 E Jordan Spieth, United States 73-69—142 E Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela 72-70—142 E Matt Wallace, England 73-69—142 E Corey Conners, Canada 74-69—143 +1

B. DeChambu, United States 78-65—143 +1 Thomas Detry, Belgium 72-71—143 +1 Sergio Garcia, Spain 70-73—143 +1 Takumi Kanaya, Japan 71-72—143 +1 Nathan Kimsey, England 71-72—143 +1

T. Lawrence, South Africa 73-70—143 +1 J. Leonard, United States 70-73—143 +1 Hideki Matsuyama, Japan 74-69—143 +1

McNealy, United States 69-74—143 +1 Francesco Molinari, Italy 72-71—143 +1

Novak, United States 71-72—143 +1

Skov Olesen, Denmark 67-76—143 +1

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER

Scottie Scheffler of the United States hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the second round of the British Open on Friday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

AP PHOTO By PETER MORRISON

Bryson DeChambeau of the United States plays off the first tee during the second round of the British Open on Friday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. DeChambeau made the cut on the number

Spain eliminates host country Switzerland from Women’s Euro

BY GRAHAM DUNBAR

AP sportswriter

BERN, Switzerland Spain ended Switzerland’s dreamy midsummer run through its home Women’s European Championship in a 2-0 win in the quarterﬁnals on Friday despite missing two penalty kicks.

Swiss resistance was broken by the world champion’s two goals in a five-minute spell midway through the second half.

Athenea Del Castillo slotted in a shot from Aitana Bonmatí’s flicked assist in the 66th, just four minutes after coming off the bench, and Clàudia Pina curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 71st.

Spain will play France or Germany in the semiﬁnals on Wednesday in Zurich.

“These players are making history,” Spain coach Montse Tomé said. Her team sang on the field in its celebratory team photo after reaching the semifinals for the ﬁrst time in 28 years

Spain has a tournament-leading 16 goals yet could not score from the spot.

Mariona Caldentey skewed her penalty kick badly wide in the ninth minute, and Alexia Putellas’ shot was saved by Livia Peng in

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

their 2026 ﬁrst-round pick to select the 6-foot-9 big man from the University of Maryland.

“When you identify a player that you think can be one of the foundations here, you go and get him,” Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said on draft night. “That’s what we did. We targeted Queen. We thought he

the 88th

Switzerland’s spirited young team gave its noisy home fans hope of a stunning upset, even more so after Caldentey’s bad miss was greeted by a grateful roar in the sold-out Wankdorf Stadium.

“We had some luck but the world champions Spain were too good for us today,” Switzerland coach Pia Sundhage said.

Spain also struck the posts of Switzerland’s goal three times, including in back-to-back chances in a frantic scramble at a corner in the 60th.

“It was a very hard-fought victory,” Tomé said. “We expected a game like the one we had, we had to be patient.”

Switzerland defender Noelle Maritz was sent off in stoppage time for a foul as the last defender Spain defender Laia Aleixandri is suspended for the semiﬁnals after her second yellow card of the tournament, for a ﬁrst-half foul on Iman Beney

The quality of penalty kicks taken in these quarterﬁnals has been shockingly bad.

Spain’s Caldentey joined Norway captain Ada Hegerberg in placing her spot kick low and wide. Hegerberg’s miss came when Norway trailed 1-0 in a 2-1

could be a heckuva addition here, and we were really aggressive about going to get Queen in this draft.”

Queen, whose college career included a buzzer beater to take down Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament, was pleased to see the Pelicans make a bold move to grab him with the 13th pick.

“It shows how much they wanted me and how much they believe in me,” Queen said on draft night.

“I’m just ready to show them they got their money’s worth and ready to put on for the Pelicans.”

loss to Italy on Wednesday

With Caldentey off the field, Putellas struck Spain’s second penalty hard though at a good height for Swiss goalkeeper Livia Peng to dive to the left and push away

Just five of 14 penalties were scored on Thursday in the shootout between England and Sweden.

England won the shootout despite four saves by Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk.

Sweden struck a post and sent two over the crossbar, including Falk’s kick that would have won the game.

“I don’t know what happens in other teams” Tomé said, adding “we practiced penalties.”

Bonmatí won the player of the game award three weeks after she was hospitalized in Madrid with viral meningitis.

“I was far from family and many people helped me. I’m grateful for that,” Bonmatí said in translated comments.

In the Ballon d’Or holder’s second start at Euro 2025, she unlocked the Swiss defense with the clever backheel pass to create the chance for Athenea Del Castillo to open the scoring. She also ended Switzerland midﬁelder Géraldine Reuteler’s run of being named best player in three straight games.

Now the Pelicans may have to wait.

Queen will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks. That timetable means Queen will be reevaluated around Oct. 10, which is about three weeks before the start of the season. Queen recorded a double-double in all three Summer League games in which he played. His best outing was the game he got injured when he scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss to the Blazers. He also had three assists and two blocked shots.

BY RONALD BLUM AP sportswriter

Clint Dempsey says success on the ﬁeld during friendlies over the next year would help the U.S. ﬁll seats with pro-American fans at the World Cup next year a turnaround from pro-opponent crowds at this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino and current players took note that spectators were overwhelmingly rooting for Guatemala in St. Louis and Mexico in Houston.

“We were outnumbered in the games that mattered in terms of the semifinal and then final. There were more fans for the opposing team. So it’s up to the national team players to put a product on the field that makes people want to go spend their hard-earned money,” Dempsey said Thursday during an interview with The Associated Press. “I think with everybody being back and having that fight and kind of mixing that together with the quality, I think that will give people motivation to go out there and support this team.”

The Americans have 10 friendlies on FIFA international ﬁxture dates, two each in September, October, November, March and June, before opening the World Cup at Inglewood, California, on June 12 They play at Seattle seven days later then close the group stage at Inglewood on June 25.

“I want to see a team that is playing in an exciting style, whether it’s defending well, building out of the back, getting forward, creating chances, getting goals,” Dempsey said. “I just want to see the ﬁght and the grit that we saw in the Gold Cup, just with more quality That’s what I’m looking forward to, that team that gets you believing again that they can go and win games against top competition.”

Dempsey, tied with Landon Donovan for the American record of 57 international goals, is an analyst for CBS soccer coverage and the Men In Blazers Media Network, and he worked for Fox at the 2022 World Cup. He currently is involved in a promotion for the health care company Abbott in which 11 players will be selected to train at Real Madrid with club coaches and with input from Abbott scientists and the club’s medical staff.

Now 42, Dempsey played for U.S. teams that were eliminated in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup, reached the round of 16 in 2010 and ‘14, and failed to qualify

In three games in Las Vegas, he averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He shot 43.8% from the ﬂoor Turnovers were a big issue as he averaged 5.7 turnovers in the three games, including eight against Portland. Queen’s injury is the latest for an organization that has three other players who also are rehabbing from surgeries. Trey Murphy (shoulder), Herb Jones (shoulder) and Dejounte Murray (Achilles) all are recovering after suffering injuries in a season that saw the Pelicans ﬁnish 21-61.

for the 2018 tournament. He says the rebuild for 2022, when the Americans again reached the round of 16, was positive with the new energy but came at the cost of veteran expertise. Defender DeAndre Yedlin was the only holdover from 2014.

After winning the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021, 2023 and 2024, the Americans were eliminated in the group stage of the 2024 Copa America, causing the U.S Soccer Federation to replace Gregg Berhalter with Pochettino, and lost in the semiﬁnals of this year’s Nations League and the ﬁnal of this year’s Gold Cup.

“There wasn’t that big mix of a lot of older players kind of passing down lessons that they learned over the years,” Dempsey said “And sometimes it’s one of those situations where you need someone to shake things up, right? You don’t know if it’s egos. You don’t know what is the reason for why things don’t work out. So I think after Copa America after Nations League, there deﬁnitely needed to be some things shook up.

“And I think the more that people kind of look over their shoulder a little bit, their spots are not guaranteed, you have a culture that through training you can ﬁght your way into getting into that starting lineup, I think people can get behind that and believe in that.”

Dempsey and wife Bethany have six children that keep them busy, daughters Elyse (16), Fiﬁ (12) and Maevy (2), and sons Jackson (14) and Clay (10) and Linc (4).

Jackson plays for Charlotte’s academy Dempsey doesn’t coach, and while he never expected to remain in soccer as a broadcaster he’s pleased with his new roles. At the World Cup, the U.S. will be seeded as one of the three cohosts. That means the Americans won’t have a top 10 opponent in their group and if they ﬁnish ﬁrst could avoid a strong nation in the new round of 32.

“If you are looking on numbers and looking on paper,” Dempsey said, “you have a chance to do something special and hopefully they take advantage of it. I think we need all the best players fit, playing week in, week out. I’m excited to see what they do with mixing a little bit more quality into this ﬁghting and gritty kind of culture that you’ve seen throughout the Gold Cup.”

If Queen isn’t ready for the start of the season, it makes the Pelicans thinner on the inside The four remaining healthy big men are Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic, Kevon Looney and Hunter Dickinson. Looney, signed in free agency after 10 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, is the most experienced player among that foursome Dickinson, an undrafted rookie out of Kansas, is on a twoway contract.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@theadvocate.com.

The former interim UFC lightweight champion owns 15 wins by knockout and eight by submission, with 13 first-round finishes. “The Diamond” holds wins against Conor McGregor twice, and his two most recent victories are against Benoit Saint-Denis and Michael Chandler Poirier’s last fight in New Orleans was at UFC Fight Night in 2015 when he defeated Yancy Medeiros This will be the third meeting between Poirier and Holloway with Poirier winning the ﬁrst two meetings — once in 2012 and again in 2019.

“The only thing I can take from the previous two fights is his output and his durability,” Poirier said. “We’re different fighters every time. This is a trilogy that has spanned 13 years. We were kids at the beginning, more mature and technical fighters the second one This time, it’s going to be who we are in this day and age, and we’re going to see who’s better.” New Orleans native and rapper Lil Wayne will walk out with Poirier for his final match on Saturday Poirier has said he plans to raise his daughter

HOW TO WATCH

To watch the 9 p.m. UFC 318 main card, you must subscribe to ESPN+ streaming service and then purchase the pay-per-view for $79.99. The preliminary fights will air on ESPN starting at 7 p.m. The early preliminary fights will air on ESPN2 at 5 p.m

middleweight Brendan Allen (24-7) will take on No. 10 Marvin Vettori of Italy (19-8-1). The 29-year-old has dropped back-to-back fights for the ﬁrst time in his career coming into Saturday’s tilt.

“I’m just trying to stay positive and focus on myself and get back to where I was when I was winning all those fights,” Allen said at media availability on Wednesday “Laziness, complacency, comfort zone. There’s none of that this time.” Allen still lives on the northshore with his family and has been commuting back and forth from New Orleans throughout the week. Carli Judice (4-2), who also is fighting out of Lafayette, will collide with Nicolle Caliari in a women’s flyweight matchup.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN MCCUSKER

UFC BMF champion Max Holloway, left, faces off with Lafayette native Dustin Poirier during the UFC 318 weighin on Friday at the Smoothie King Center Poirier and Holloway are set to ﬁght on Saturday.

Dempsey

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO

Spain’s Athenea Del Castillo celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Switzerland during the Women’s Euro at Stadion Wankdorf in Bern, Switzerland, on Friday

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ELAINE THOMPSON

Ichiro reﬂects on early days ahead of HOF induction

BY JANIE MCCAULEY

AP baseball writer

When Ichiro Suzuki landed in Seattle and became an instant star in 2001, captivating a city and helping his new team win an ALrecord 116 games, he acclimated to his new life in practically no time largely because he had already been around the club during spring training a couple of years before.

As Suzuki looks back decades later on those early days in a Mariners uniform, now a Hall of Famer and 51 years old, the speedy leadoff hitter is beyond grateful for the bonds then between Seattle and his previous club in Japan, the Orix Blue Wave.

“That whole relationship before even coming over to Seattle in 2001, it was already there, that relationship was set,” Suzuki said Friday, speaking through interpreter Allen Turner on a call organized by the Hall of Fame. “In 2001 when I came I didn’t feel like this was the ﬁrst time being in America playing baseball because I had that experience and I had that connection with the Mariners. So it was a great start to coming to Seattle. And obviously having the 2001 season, being able to play in front of the great fans here and having that

Continued from page 1C

Linebacker Whit Weeks was LSU’s only All-SEC ﬁrst-team selection. As a sophomore, Weeks tied for second in the SEC with 125 total tackles.

Six Tigers were picked on the All-SEC second team, led by fifthyear quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, the league’s top returner in passing yards (4,052) and touchdowns (29). Running back Caden Durham, wide receiver Aaron Anderson, linebacker Harold Perkins and wide receiver Barion Brown were also honored. Brown, a transfer from Kentucky, was selected as a return specialist Another LSU wide receiver, Zavion Thomas, was picked as the second-team all-purpose player and the third-team return specialist Durham was LSU’s top rusher in 2024 with 753 yards and six TDs on 140 carries. Anderson was the Tigers’ top receiver with 61 catches for 884 yards and five scores Perkins played in only four games with 17 tackles before a seasonending ACL tear in September LSU coach Brian Kelly said at media days that Perkins and Weeks, who broke his fibula in December in the Texas Bowl, are expected to be full go when the Tigers open preseason camp later this month. Texas quarterback and New Orleans native Arch Manning was the All-SEC third-team pick at quarterback. LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina was the first-team quarterback selection. LSU hosts South Carolina on Oct. 11 in Tiger Stadium but does not play Texas in the regular season. Since the SEC Championship Game was begun in 1992, the

has gone

great of a season, that really kind of started the great career here in Seattle.”

He would go on to win AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors playing for Lou Piniella during that emotional season — when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were cause for a subdued celebration of the AL West title barely more than a week later making the Mariners’ $13 million-plus payment to Orix for the rights to Ichiro an investment for the ages.

Suzuki cherishes baseball history so much to this day that he has taken previous trips to Cooperstown New York, to honor the players who made a difference long before he left his lasting mark across the globe.

Now it’s his turn to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, his time to make a speech about a brilliant baseball career that brought him from Japan to the big leagues and far beyond. Suzuki will be side by side with pitchers Billy Wagner and CC Sabathia to be honored at the July 27 induction ceremony Suzuki considers it a responsibility to continue spreading the word on baseball over the years.

“Baseball is human beings playing against human beings, and to have the passion and the energy that is created by that is something that I really hope is still

part of the game,” he said. “That’s what I really value and it is very important to me that baseball continues to be a game that has the human element to it, with all the emotions and everything that comes along with having humans play this game.”

Suzuki wound up with 3,089 hits over a remarkable 19-year majorleague career, including 14 total seasons with Seattle. There were separate three-year stints with the New York Yankees and Miami before he spent his ﬁnal two seasons back in the familiar Paciﬁc Northwest on the Mariners. Three different times he played all 162 games, in 2005 and 2010 for Seattle, then in 2012 between the Mariners and Yankees.

The left-handed hitter will long be remembered for his meticulous attention to every detail, from that iconic batting stance featuring a deep knee bend to loosen up and then a stretch to fully extend his right arm before making a slight tug at his sleeve with the left hand.

He’s embracing being a mentor now — for anybody who asks, that is. He isn’t one to offer unsolicited advice.

“Anybody has an opportunity to ask me,” he said. “If I can be of any help to the players, that’s why I’m here.”

Team

– Caleb Banks, Florida

– Tim Keenan, Alabama

– LT Overton, Alabama

– R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma

– Deontae Lawson, Alabama

– Harold Perkins, LSU

– Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss

Malik Muhammad, Texas

– Domani Jackson, Alabama

– Will Lee, Texas A&M

– Jalon Kilgore, South Carolina Third Team

– Tyreak Sapp, Florida

Aaron Anderson, LSU

Ryan Wingo, Texas

Oscar Delp Georgia

Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M

Trey Zuhn, Texas A&M

Jaeden Roberts, Alabama

Fernando Carmona, Arkansas

Parker Brailsford, Alabama

Team

Arch Manning, Texas

Nate Frazier, Georgia

Jam Miller, Alabama

Eric Singleton, Auburn

Kevin Coleman, Missouri

Jack Endries, Texas

Earnest Greene, Georgia

Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M

Xavier Chaplin Auburn

Trevor Goosby, Texas

Connor Lew Auburn

Keldric Faulk Auburn

Dylan Stewart, South Carolina

Colin Simmons, Texas

Christian Miller, Georgia

Anthony Hill, Texas

Whit Weeks, LSU

CJ Allen, Georgia

KJ Bolden Georgia

Michael Taaffe Texas

Daylen Everette, Georgia

Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

Phillies profess intent to keep star Schwarber

BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA Kyle Schwarber’s deep shots — from Philadelphia to the All-Star Game — often end up going, going, gone.

The Phillies aren’t ready to say goodbye to their star slugger quite yet as Schwarber’s four-year, $79 million contract expires at the end of the season.

Fresh off winning All-Star Game MVP honors after he hit three homers in the game’s first-ever swing-off Schwarber’s status for 2026 — when Philadelphia will host the game remained a pressing need for the Phillies.

“We love him. We want to keep him,” Phillies manager partner John Middleton said ahead of Friday’s series-opening game against the Los Angeles Angels.

In the All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday night, he homered on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the ﬁnal one, to give the National League a 4-3, swing-off win after a 6-6 tie through nine innings.

Schwarber entered the second half of the season with 30 homers and 69 RBIs for the NL Eastleading Philadelphia. He promptly cracked his 31st on his ﬁrst swing after the break Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

Schwarber led the NL with 46 homers in his ﬁrst season with the Phillies and followed with 47 in 2023 and 38 a year ago. Often hitting from the leadoff spot until this

season, Schwarber drove in 104 runs each of the last two seasons.

“We need no motivation whatsoever when it comes to Kyle Schwarber,” Middleton said. “He’s great. We thought he was great when we signed him years ago. We thought he was great consistently through the years. There’s nothing Kyle does that surprises us No matter how great he is, we expect that from Kyle. He’s a great person in the dugout. He’s a great person in the clubhouse.”

The 32-year-old Schwarber should command well beyond the $79 million he signed for ahead of the 2022 season. Schwarber won a World Series with the Cubs in 2016. He also played in Washington and Boston, but he has seemed to ﬁnd a home in Philadelphia where his mammoth homers — dubbed Schwarbombs — have made him arguably the most popular Phillies star

Schwarber said during the AllStar break that he wanted to keep the focus on helping the Phillies win their ﬁrst World Series since 2008.

“We had conversations in the spring and obviously they didn’t progress,” he said. “We just kind of tabled them aside and wanted to focus on the season. Obviously, there’s interest on my side. I know there’s going to be interest on their side there coming up at the end of the year We’re going to see where that takes us. If that’s us striking up a deal, that’s us striking up a deal.”

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

shown that he can offer competent play at a minimum, Banks is the key

Boo Carter, Tennessee

Bray Hubbard, Alabama

Isaac Smith, Mississippi State

Brett Thorson, Georgia

Peyton Woodring, Georgia

Beau Gardner, Georgia

Peyton Woodring, Georgia

Zachariah Branch, Georgia

Team

– Jack Bouwmeester, Texas

– Trey Smack, Florida

– Lucas Carneiro, Ole Miss

– Rocco Underwood, Florida

– Trey Smack, Florida

– Barion Brown, LSU AP – Zavion Thomas,

It’d be foolish to expect Banks to play at a top-10 level immediately, but if he can offer something similar to what Fuaga gave New Orleans last year roughly top-20 play at left tackle — that would be reason to celebrate. It would mean the Saints drafted a foundational player at a premium position.

That becomes especially meaningful if Fuaga’s transition to the right side brings more out of him. He enjoyed one of the best seasons by a rookie tackle last year while playing a new position. On the right side, he will be back where he played at Oregon State, and it’s reasonable to expect a jump in his play

Good offensive line play — and, specifically good tackle play can be a tone-setter for an NFL offense. If the Saints can get the best versions out of Banks and Fuaga this year, their chances of successfully implementing what Kellen Moore wants to do on offense will go way up.

Worst case

While it is true the top half of the ﬁrst round is generally where the better offensive tackles are found, that doesn’t mean top-15 picks don’t bust. It’s less common, but it does happen.

If Banks doesn’t pan out — either as a tackle or guard — it would be a nightmare scenario for an organization that is already lacking in young and cheap impact talent. New Orleans needs Banks to hit for a lot of reasons related to its on-ﬁeld product, but it also needs a win from a premi-

um pick after a run of middling draft success.

There’s also some risk of Fuaga taking a step back in 2025, and not just because he’s switching positions. New Orleans minimized its offensive line’s shortcomings last season by combining their heavy zone running scheme with a steady diet of play-action passes and bootlegs — stuff that will not be as prevalent under Moore. The Saints also had Derek Carr, who played a bigger role than he got credit for in minimizing the rush.

There’s a chance that Fuaga is a better ﬁt for former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme than he is for Moore’s, and that it shows in his play Even if both Fuaga and Banks play well, depth is a concern. The Saints don’t have a lot of experience behind their presumptive starting tackles. Landon Young has played a lot of football in New Orleans, but he is best used as a stopgap solution at a lot of spots. Offseason signee Josh Ball hasn’t played since 2022, and no other true tackle on the roster has played a snap in the NFL.

Prediction in 10 words or less Banks struggles early but closes strong in rookie season.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki hits a home run in the first inning of a game against the Cleveland Indians on April 18, 2012 in Seattle.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF CHIU Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber reacts after striking out against the San Francisco Giants during the third inning of their game on July 7 in San Francisco.

SCOREBOARD

10. Felix Gall, Austria, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 25:22. Also 21. Sepp Kuss, United States,Team Visma Lease aBike, 26:18. 48. Neilson Powless, United States, EF Education-EasyPost, 27:50 54. William Barta, United States,Movistar Team, 28:06. Overall Standings 1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAETeam Emirates-XRG, 45:45:51. 2. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘Lease aBike, 45:49:58. 3. RemcoEvenepoel, Belgium, Soudal QuickStep, 45:53:15. 4. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, RedBull BORA —hansgrohe, 45:53:21. 5. Oscar Onley,Great Britain, PicnicPostNL 45:54:02. 6. Kevin Vauquelin, France, Arkea-B&B Hotels, 45:54:06. 7. PrimozRoglic, Slovenia, RedBull—BORA —hansgrohe, 45:54:41. 8. Tobias Johannessen, Norway, Uno-X Mobility,45:56:27. 9. Felix Gall, Austria, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 45:57:34. 10. Matteo Jorgenson, United States,Team Visma ‘Lease aBike, 46:00:06 Team Standings 1. Team Visma ‘Lease aBike, 137:47:08 2. UAETeam Emirates XRG, 138:05:29 3. Arkea-B&BHotels, 138:17:06 4. DecathalonAG2R La MondialeTeam, 138:24:04. 5. RedBull —Bora— Hansgrohe, 138:24:21. 6. Groupama-FDJ, 138:56:57. 7. Movistar Team, 139:00:13. 8. Ineos Grenadiers, 139:07:43 9. XDS AstanaTeam, 139:11:12 10. Total Energies, 139:16:05. Tennis

WorldTour Swiss Open Results Thursday At Roy Emerson Arena Gstaad, Switzerland Purse: €596,035 Surface: Redclay GSTAAD,SWITZERLAND ResultsThursday from Swiss Open at RoyEmerson Arena (seedings in parentheses): Men’s Singles Round of 16 FranciscoComesana (7), Argentina, def. Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain, 6-1,6-4. Arthur Cazaux, France, def. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (4), Argentina, 6-3, 4-6,6-4. Alexander Bublik (2), Kazakhstan, def. Alexander Shevchenko,Russia, 6-2, 6-3 Jerome Kym, Switzerland, def. Francesco Passaro, Italy,7-6 (3), 7-6 (3). Men’s Doubles Quarterﬁnals Albano Olivetti, France, and Hendrik Jebens (3), Germany, def. Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo, Ecuador, 7-5, 6-3 N. VijaySundarPrashanth and Arjun Kadhe, India, def. Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner (2), Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Lucas Miedler, Austria, and Francisco Cabral (1), Portugal, def. Jean-Julien Rojer and MatweMiddelkoop, Netherlands,7-6 (8), 7-6 (2). Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker, Switzerland, def. Robin Haase, Netherlands, and Constantin Frantzen (4), Germany, 7-6(4) 6-3.

Friday, July18 Pittsburgh at DetroitCityFC, 6p.m. Indy at North Carolina, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July19 HartfordatRhode Island FC,3 p.m. Oakland at Loudoun, 6p.m. Miami at Charleston, 6:30 p.m. Colorado at Birmingham, 7p.m. TulsaatLouisville,7 p.m. Las Vegas at Orange County,9

BOXSCORES

Slovenia, UAETeam Emirates-XRG, 23:00. 2. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘Lease aBike, 23:36. 3. PrimozRoglic,Slovenia, RedBull—BORA —hansgrohe, 24:20. 4. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, RedBull BORA —hansgrohe, 24:56

5. LukePlap, Australia, Team JaycoAlula/ AUS, 24:58.

6. Matteo Jorgenson, UnitedStates, Team Visma ‘Lease aBike, 25:03.

7. Oscar Onley,Great Britain, Picnic PostNL, 25:06 8. Adam Yates, Great Britian, UAETeam Emirates-XRG, 25:15. 9. LennyMartinez, France, Bahrain Victorious/BRN,25:21.

MajorLeague Baseball MLB —Suspended Colorado minor league LHP EricVeras 56 gamesafter testing positivefor Boldenone, aperformanceenhancing substance in violation of the Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for Minor League Players Assigned Outside of the United States and Canada. American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES —Agreed to terms with RHP Corbin Martinonamajor league contract. Agreed to terms with CIke Irish on aminor league contract. Sent CChadwick Tromp to Delmarva(CRL) on arehab assignment. Sent RHP Zach Eﬂin to FCLOrioles on arehab assignment. BOSTON RED SOX—Agreed to terms with CRonaldo Hernandez to aminor league contract. CLEVELAND GUARDIANS —Recalled RHP Nic Enright from Columbus (IL). KANSAS CITY ROYALS —Sent 2B Michael Massey to NW Arkansas (TL) on arehab assignment. Activated 2B Adam Frazier. RecalledRHP Andrew Hoffman from Omaha (IL). MINNESOTA TWINS —Sent 2B LukeKeaschall to St. Paul (IL) on arehab assignment. TAMPABAY RAYS —Sent OF JonnyDeLuca to Durham (IL) on arehab assignment. Reinstated 2B Brandon Lowe from the reserve list. Optioned 1B Curtis Mead to Durham. National League ATLANTABRAVES —Activated RHPDane Dunning. COLORADO ROCKIES —Reinstated SS Ezequiel Tovarfromthe 10-dayIL. NEW YORK METS —Reinstated LHP Brooks Raley from the 60-dayIL. Sent RHP Jose Butto to Syracuse(IL) on arehab assignment. Designated LHP RichardLovelady for assignment. PITTSBURGH

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATHANDENETTE Joey Loperfido of the

inning of agame on FridayinToronto.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Participate in something thatconcerns and motivates you. Be part of the solution andhelp eliminate the problemsthat irkyou. Push forpositive change and ahealthier lifestyle.

LEO (July 23-Aug.22) Sharing your thoughts and feelings can help you alleviate tension and foster healthier relationships. Make plans to travel and visit people you enjoy spending time with.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Protect yourself against illness and injury. Rely on intelligence and charm to defuse potential conflicts. Prioritize having fun, being active and nurturing your emotional well-being.

LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) Go on alearning spree. Stop ignoring what needs updatingorreplacing, and start living according to your needs. Choose equality, not dominance, in relationships.

scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) The tension between what youwant to do and what others expect of you will cause distress. Strive to strike abalance between pleasingothersand prioritizing your own needs.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Talks will lead to encounters and new beginnings. Love will play aroleinyour choices, and spending more time working toward a common goal with someone special will be beneficial.

cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan.19) Home improvement projects can often turn out betterthananticipatedandenhanceyour lifestyle. An opportunity to expand your

circleoffriendswillleadtosomeonewho intrigues you.

AQuARIus (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Achange will be uplifting. Home improvementsthat enhancecomfort andconveniencewill help yourelax,enjoy andappreciate whatyou have.Love and romance are in the stars.

PIscEs(Feb.20-March 20) Dotheresearch, take the initiative and start something that pumps you up and brings you joy. Social interaction and engaging in activities you love will lead to friendships with people who share your enthusiasm.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Keep as many options open as possible. Scrutinize what's unfolding around you. Look for more affordable ways to achieve what you want. Keep an open mind, make suggestions and prepare to implement positive change.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Put your emotions aside when dealing with shared expenses or joint ventures. Do what's right, notwhatyou think someone else wants you to do. Take nothing and no one for granted.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Follow your instinctsanduseyourvoicetobringpositivechangeathomeandwork.Showyour diversity,andyou'llcapturetheattention of someonewilling to help you further your goals.

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, pastand present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

TODAy's cLuE: JEQuALsO

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers The object is to place thenumbers1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe same number only once. The difficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Tryon Edwards, a19th-century theologian, said, “The secret of agood memoryisattention, and attention to asubject depends upon our interest in it. We rarelyforgetthat whichhas madeadeep impression on our minds.”

That is so often true. However, bridge fascinates many people who do not have agood memory for what has happened at the table. They also do not remember when to break the “golden rules” of the game. Which dictum should Westbreak on this deal?

South is in three no-trump.Westleads the club king. South holds up his ace until the third round. What happens next? North made aweak jumpovercall, showing areasonable six-carddiamond suit and 5-10 high-card points.South, knowing North would not have afourcardmajor,bid what he hopedhecould make. It is normalfor declarer to playa diamond to dummy’s nine at trickfour. Here, that works nicely.East wins and shifts to aspade, but South takes his ace and collects one spade, two hearts, five diamonds and one club.

Instead,Westmust ignore “second hand low” andplay his king on the first round of diamonds.Thendeclareris doomed. If he plays low from the dummy,West cashes his clubs.IfSouth wins with dummy’s ace, he gets just two diamond winners.

Note that even if East has the spade king and West the diamond king, those finessesgive South only eight tricks: threespades, two hearts, two diamonds and one club. Watch out forthis second-hand-high opportunity when dummy has no side entry.

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

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIOns: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the additionof“s,” suchas“bats” or “dies,” are notallowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may notbeused. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

TODAy’s WORD nOTIcEs: NO-tih-sez: Warnings or announcements.

Average mark 30 words

Time limit 50 minutes

Can you find 43 or more words in NOTICES?

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

ScrabbleGramS

dIrectIons: make a2-to 7-letter word fromthe lettersineach row. add pointsof each word, using scoring directionsat right.Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks”used as any letter havenopoint value.all the words are in theOfficial sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition. Formore information on tournaments and clubs, email naspa –northamericansCraBBlE playersassociation: info@scrabbleplayers.org.Visit ourwebsite:www.scrabbleplayers.org.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

ken ken

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

WiShinG Well

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

Anyone knowingthe whereabouts of Bryant Hull, DottieO’Connor, CandiceO’Connor, RobinO’Connor, Lawrence O’Connor, Rippoll, O’Connor, CharlesO’Connorand JamesD.Wells,pleasecontact Attorney MichaelJ Hall at 504-3835294 or mjhall@mjhalllaw.com. 150706-July 19-21, 3t $133

150469-July 19-21, 3t $85

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tiffsThomas Tuan Nguyen &LienThi Nguyen were lawfully stoppeddue to trafﬁcin the4900 blockofBeltline Road whenDefendant TimothyCook

con‐trol of hisvehicle slammedintoDefendant Ochoawithsuchforce

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collisionresultedin injuries anddamages to Plaintiffs.Ifthiscitation is notservedwithin ninety days after the date of itsissuance, it shallbereturnedun‐served.The ofﬁcerexe‐cuting this processshall promptly executethe same accordingtolaw andmakedue return as

OF EMERGENCY CLOSING DUE TO POSSIBLE DAN‐GERS ASSOCIATED WITH THEWEATHER ADVISORY ANDINCLEMENT WEATHERCURRENTLY IN PLACEFOR THEPARISH OF ORLEANS. THECLERK OF CIVILDISTRICT COURT’SOFFICE WILL CLOSE THECIVIL DIVI‐SION ANDTHE LAND RECORDSDIVISION (MORTGAGEAND CON‐VEYANCE) ON THURSDAY JULY 17, 2025. THECLOS‐INGWAS DONE PUR‐SUANTTOLA-R.S. 1:55 ANDWAS AUTHORIZED IN WRITINGBYAPPROPRI‐ATECOURT ORDER. PUR‐SUANTTOTHISSTATUTE ANDFOR THEPURPOSE OF FILING PLEADINGS ANDOTHER DOCUMENTS IN THIS OFFICE,A LEGAL HOLIDAYEXISTED DUR‐INGTHE PERIOD OF CLO‐SURE.THE ORDERIS AVAILABLEATTHE CLERK OF COURT’SOFFICE,421

HOME | DESIGN | GARDEN | REAL ESTATE

Seasonsfor celebrating

Mix an elegantly renovated 1860s Greek Revival mansion with vivid, high-end modernfurniture and accessories, and what do you get? The home of Meredith Smith, aCarnival marching krewe member who’sfound her spiritual home hereand celebrates the city’sdichotomy. Jyl Benson takes us inside on Page 12.

oldasthe South. But where do youstart to make that porch as aesthetically pleasingasyourinterior?

DesignerLouis Aubert offers a wealth of advice on Page8

Karen Taylor Gist

Summer is the time for sittingonthe porch and sipping tea. It’sa custom as

While you’reenjoying the outdoors, takealook at your garden. How’sitfaring in the heat? If you needreplacement plants, Dan Gill recommends gingers, which don’tjust take the heat, but thriveinit. SeePage4for more details.

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

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

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Victor Andrews, Louis J.Aubert, Jyl Benson, Dan Gill

COVERDESIGN: AndreaDaniel

COVER PHOTO: Jeff Strout

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

GREENTHUMB

Addalittle ginger to your landscape. PAGE 4 IN DETAIL

Anew perspective on steps. PAGE 7

HOMEWORKWITHLOUIS Inviting porches and patios. PAGE 8

ONEINAMILLION

BaySt. Louis house with a view.PAGE10

InsideOut’smission is to give readers peeksinside themanydifferent ways that peopleinthe New Orleans area live.Weproﬁle spaces that are opulent,orjust offbeat; sophisticated or simple;functional or lighthearted;historicorbrand-spanking new. Andanything in between. Please help us by sending information andJPEGphotos of your home, or speciﬁc spaces inside it,toinsideout@theadvocate.com. We love gardens andoutdoor spaces, too. And we’re waiting to hear from you.

COVERSTORY

Avivid, maximalist condo. PAGE 12

INSIDE INFO

Home and garden happenings. PAGE 15

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS Recent transactions in the metroarea. PAGE 16

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St.Charles Avenue,7 M-N• Garden District

GREENTHUMB

Heat-lovinggingers come in an arrayofshapesand sizes

mers.

Months of hot, humid weather make our summer achallenge for many plants in our gardens. A wonderful group of plants called gingersthrive in the heat, however,and delight us with bold foliage and attractive ﬂowers.

Native to tropical or semitropical regions, gingers ﬂourish in the heat, rain and humidity of Louisiana sum-

After the severe freezes of last January,you may be leery of adding tropical plants to your landscape.Despitetheir tropicalorigins, many gingers are cold hardy here and make excellent, permanent additions to thelandscape.

Gingers produce thick, ﬂeshy stemsthatgrowatorjust belowthe soil.With agood, thickmulchofleaves or pine straw,these rhizomes areeasily protected duringthe winter If the shoots growing from the rhizomes are killed by hard

freezes,the rhizomes will resprout and send up new shoots in thespring.

Midsummer is an excellent time to addtropical plantslike gingerstothe landscape. They establish in the garden very nicely despitethe torrid heat of July

An advantage of planting gingersnow is that they will have moretime to settle in before their ﬁrst winter in theground. Awell-established ginger is moreresilient during winter freezes than onemore recently planted.

The plants we call gingersinclude many genera with many different sizes, growthhabits and ﬂower shapes.

FILE PHOTOS

Gingers likethe evergreen Butterflyginger(Hedychium), clockwise fromtop left,blooming Shell ginger lilies, JewelofThailand ginger, spiral ginger,peacock ginger and ‘Red Tower’ ginger are a wonderful group of plants that thriveinthe heat.

Low-growinggingers, like Kaempferia pulchraand smaller species of Curcuma or Globba, makegreat ground covers or clumps at the front of shady borders. Medium-sized gingers 3to6feet tall include species of Curcuma, Hedychium and Costus, while theshell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet)grows 10 to 12 feet tall. Larger gingers are excellent choices for accents, screens or at the back of aborder.

Gardeners who are working with shady areas will ﬁnd agold mineofshade-tolerant plants among the gingers. In their natural habitats, mostgingers grow under thecanopies of

trees in ﬁltered light, although somegrow in the open at the edge of water and in sunnier conditions.

Most gingers will do best where they receive direct sun for about two to four hours a day,and should not be planted in hot, sunny,dry locations.

GARDEN TIPS

BLACKBERRYTLC: Blackberry canes that produced fruitthisyear shouldbeprunedbackto the ground.The vigorous newcanesthat grow this summerwill producenext year’scrop.Theyshould notbeheavily pruned, although theymay be tip pruned to control their length.

ALONG DRINK: Water deeply and thoroughly as needed during long,late-summer dryspells. Soaker hoses are an excellentway to water flowerbeds and vegetable gardens. Keeping the foliage dryhelps keep fungaldiseases from attacking.

SEARCHINGTHE WEB: Fine, silverywebbing

Gingers thrive in moist, fertile soils rich in organic matter When planting gingers into

ä See GINGERS, page 6

appearing on the bark of area trees and large shrubs is completely harmless.The webbing is produced by tinyscavenging insects called bark lice or psocids.There is no need to apply insecticides. If the webbing bothers you, sweep it offwith abroom or remove it withastrong spray of water.

SLIME TIME: With rainierweather, slimemolds will begin to showuponlawns. Look forbluish gray to black patches afew inchestoafoot or more in diametergrowingonthe grass blades. Although theylook alarming, theyare completely harmlessand will not hurtthe grass.

Dan Gill GREEN THUMB

GREENTHUMB

Awful-smelling starﬁshplant agreat conversation starter

BY DANGILL Contributing writer

Garden advice

Ihaveaplant that Igrew fromacutting afriend gave me. It produces a beautiful flower that looks likealarge, slightlyhairystarfish. Unfortunately,the flower smells likerotten meat and attracts flies. Istill love it. Can you tell me what it is? —Robin

The plant you have is aninteresting succulent called starﬁshﬂower (Stapelia gigantea), which is native to southern Africa. Easy to grow in asunny window or outsideduring the warm season in part sun, the only real concern is to avoid over-watering.

Allow the soil to dry between waterings to prevent stem rot. With good care, stapeliasare reliable bloomers, and what aflower.Unlike manygarden flowers that are pollinatedby bees and butterflies, the stapelias are pollinated by flies.

While bees and butterflies may be lured in with bright petals and sweet fragrances, flies have different tastes all together.The stapeliaflower is

The giant starfish plant (Stapelia Gigantica) is also commonlycalled thecarrion flower because it smells like rotting flesh to attract the flies thatpollinate it

designedtolookand smell like rotten meat, promising everything aﬂy wouldlove. Not only is the fetid smell effective, but the colorofthe ﬂowers always includessomevariation on the theme of dark red, brown and purple usually in marbled patterns and sometimes streaked with cream to resemble fatty meat.

It’sagreat plantand areal conversationpiecewhen in bloom.

Do you know whyour tomato plants are pretty much all plant with veryfew tomatoes? The plants are 5feet tall. Thanks much. —Randy

Youmay have planted them toolate. In south Louisiana,you should plant tomatoes around mid- to late-March through mid-April. Our main tomato crop is setprimarily from ﬂowersproduced in April and May when weather conditions are mild and favorable for fruit set.

Harvest usually begins around mid- to late-May,and June is generally when the major crop comes in. So, your tomatoes should be ﬁnishing up at this time, not sitting there withjusta few fruit on them. Many people are already pulling up their tomatoplantsas theyhave ﬁnished producing. Ihaveanongoing discussion with my wife regarding fresh-grown cucumbers and store-bought cucumbers. Ithink it’s better to pick homegrown cucumbers when they are about pickle-sized. My wife thinks it’sbetter to let them grow to the size that produce departments grow them (twice the size of apickle). Can you tell us the facts regarding the harvesting of cucumbers? —Charles

Knowing the proper time to harvest homegrown vegetables is one of themost important parts of home vegetable gardening. When it comes to harvesting cucumbers, how large the cucumber should be when you harvest it depends entirely on the type and variety of cucumber you aregrowing. Cucumber varieties that are grown for gherkins are har-

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vested at about 2inches long. Pickling cucumber varieties are generally harvested about 4inches long. (Think of whole dill pickles in ajar.)

Slicing cucumbers we use in salads maybeharvested anywhere from 6to12inches, depending on variety.So, the size whenyou harvest your

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FILE PHOTO By JEFF STROUT

GREENTHUMB

GINGERS

Continuedfrom page4

thelandscape, choose alocation with appropriatelight and generously amend the soilwith compost or composted manure.

A2-to4-inch layer dug into theupper 8inches of soilwould be ﬁne. The addition of fertilizer will also help createthe nutrient-rich conditions in which gingers thrive. Sprinkle ageneral-purpose fertilizer following label directions over the area and incorporate it along with the organic matter intothe bed before planting.

Under favorable growing conditions, many gingersgrow vigorously and form clumps that should be periodically dug and divided. This keeps gingers from spreading intoareas where they are not wanted and preventsthe clumps from gettingtoo large.

This is best done in late March or early April, although manygardeners successfully divide gingers through thesummer.Depending on how fastthe plant grows and the amount of space allotted to it,dividing and replanting is generally done every two or three years.

Gingers suchascurcuma, globba and kaempferia are completely dormant in the winter.Their foliage turnsyellow and brown in thefall, and the plantsshould be cut back at that time. Mark thespot where they are growing lest you forget and accidentally dig into them. They will sprout again in thespring and bloom during

the summer.Keep them well mulched over the winter.

Other gingers are evergreen. Most gingers in this group, such as butterﬂy ginger (Hedychium)and spiral ginger (Costus), bloom on new shoots that grow in spring and summer.

Once individual shoots have bloomed, they may be cut back to theground as they will not bloom again. These gingers may be cut back to the ground if frozen back in winter much as you would cannas.

Shell ginger is also evergreen, but it blooms only on the previous year’sgrowth. Stalks that grew thesummerbefore should not be cut back unless killed by winter freezes. Once individual shoots have bloomed, they may be cut back to the ground as they will not bloom again.

The variegated shell ginger is shorter-growing than the standard species, reaching 4to 6feet. The green foliage with brilliant yellow streaks is truly eye-catching and has made this one of the most popular gingers

low,bitter and the seeds are developed. Big, fat, yellowing cucumbersmean youleft them on the vine toolong.

cucumbersisguided by the variety and use. The variety description will tell you the size at which they should be harvested.

That said, we harvestcucumbers in the immature stage, not when theyare ripe.When theyare ripe,theyturn yel-

On theotherhand, you really cannot harvestacucumber tooyoung. Young, small cucumbersofany variety are delicious. So, if someone wants to harvest cucumbers smaller thanrecommendedfor avariety,that is thegardener’s prerogative. But you sacriﬁce pounds of harvest by harvest-

Despite theirtropicalorigins, manygingers are cold hardy here and makeexcellent, permanent additions to the landscape.

today.

People often wonder about the edibility of garden gingers, as several types of gingers are used to ﬂavor foods. Do not consumeornamental gingers, however

Youcan grow commonedible ginger,Zingiber ofﬁcinale, the same way we grow other types. The rhizomes have the ﬂavor we are looking for when arecipe calls for ginger.Rhizomes purchased at the supermarket as fresh ginger can be planted just below the soil surface of a shady,well-prepared bed and will grow here.

To see an outstanding collection of gingers, pay avisit to the New Orleans Botanical Garden in City Park.

Youcan also view images and ﬁnd more detailed information on particular gingers on the internet, along with mail order sources. And be sure to check out nurseries, which are beginning to carry more different types of gingers.

ing cucumbers small. Harvesting at the recommended size, based on the variety,maintains quality while maximizing pounds produced.

Dan Gill is aretired consumer horticulture specialist with the LSUAgCenter.Hehosts the “Garden Show” on WWLAM Saturdays at 9a.m. Emailgardening questions to gnogardening@agcenter.lsu. edu.

STAFFFILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE Edible ginger, Zingiber officinale, is easy to grow here, too.

&

coming Up

Sometimes we need a trained eye to offer a different perspective on things we view everyday without really seeing. Here, photographer John McCusker shows us the elegant geometry and textural complexity that transform typical house steps into works of art.

— Karen Taylor Gist

Louis Aubert

whileSit a

Make your patioor porchthe perfectspot foroutdoor living

With summer comesstiﬂing heat and humidity,but also arriving is the desire to spend more time outdoors.

Our thoughts turn to porches, patios and decks and to how they should be furnished.Lazy afternoons with iced tea on the front porch are acherished summer memory,asare backyard barbecues, crawﬁsh boils and pool parties. But where do we begin?

Much like furnishing the interior of your home, begin by taking inventory Is there an existing porchorpatio,or will construction consume part of the season?Who will use this space? How and when will it be used?

While morning sunshine may be welcome, direct afternoonsun can be deadly.Ifthere is aneedtocontrolthe glorious rays, considerthe additionof awnings or shades or thatold reliable, the patio umbrella.

Furniture should be chosen to support activities: Seating, lounging and dining should be considered.

Starting in thefront

Let’sﬁrst consider the front porch. There are few things moreall American than the porch swing or rocking chairs. Add afew pottedplants forcolor and small tables to hold cold drinks, and you’re done.

Of course, you can further embellish

HOMEWORKWITHLOUIS

Likehouses, porches can exude elegance. This Queen Anne home shows arichcolor scheme.

the porchwitharug and cushions for additional color and patternorconsider painting arug on the ﬂoor.Multicolored

stripeswould look great and could repeat colorsfound in thosecushions. This is an easy DIY project requiring deck enamel, painter’stapeand alittle patience.

Youmight also consider the option of astripe-painted porch ceiling. Or play withthe triedand true blue-painted porchceiling by painting it amidnight blue in place of the usual sky blue. NOTE: Blue ceilings do not prevent mud daubers from nesting on your ceiling. Mud daubersare toosmart to mistake ablue ceiling for the sky.The sky-paintedceiling was popularizedin ancient Rome. Rediscovered during the excavations of Pompeii in 1748, the idea became fashionable across Europe, thencame to America by way of Great Britain. The clouds were lost along the way,and we are left with the tradition of the blue porch ceiling. Isn’tthat more interesting thanjust tryingtofool mud daubers?

Thebackporch

More privatethan thefront porchand often screened, the back porch is often morefully furnished. This may include lamps and artwork, awall-mountedTV and perhaps thesuper popular outdoor kitchen (we’ll probably discuss those

in afuture column).

Alargeoak tree offers shade from the sun on thisupstairs front porch.

STAFFFILE

PHOTOSBy CHRIS GRANGER

Privacy can be had with the addition of aslat wall, louvered panels or curtains to offer abreak between you and your neighbor.More than likely,this will also be appreciated by that neighbor.

Thepatio

In most parts of the country,“patio” refers to agrade-level surface of concrete, stone or brick located at the rear of the house and thus shielded from the street. The patio has avery,very long history in New Orleans; we tend to picture astone or brick surface surrounded by high walls and other buildings. It’ssuper private from the street and embellished with lush plantings.

The classic French Quarter patio of brick and stone surfaces, olive jars, full tropical plantings or boxwood-edged parterres has served as inspiration for patios both here and afar.With the addition of furniture, you’ve added another room in which to entertain.

Historic patios often contain cast-iron furniture.

Simpler iron designs of aclassical nature cameinto fashion in the 20th century,sometimes embellished with grape leaves with clusters of grapes.

HOMEWORKWITHLOUIS

through decorations, so why should this not extend onto porches, patios and gardens? Express yourself, and have a great summer!

By the midcentury, simple frames supporting seats and backs of diamond iron mesh dominated the market. Cushion free, these dry quickly following a summer shower and have remained popular

Mother Nature’s color scheme

With iron furniture comes the opportunity to add color. Think of inspiration from the garden. Imagine a garden with a white-painted dining table and chairs surrounded by greenery, with only white blossoms that reﬂect moonlight; with the addition of candlelight it would be magical.

Or consider painting the furniture a robin’s-egg blue as is often featured in European gardens. Blue has a soothing affect in the garden and complements the color of almost any ﬂower High performance fabrics such as Sunbrella are available in many solid colors and stripes. Picture Palm Beach-inspired, dusty-pinkpainted furniture with classic black and white striped cushions.

I once worked with a large

courtyard where old red brick had gone to die As beautiful as it was, it was everywhere! The high walls, raised planting beds and all ﬂat surfaces were of old, red brick. Even the base of a long-gone cistern, recycled as a koi pond with a splashing urn in the center, was red brick.

The homeowners offset it with a colorful pottery collection in shades of yellow, red and green and sun-yellow cush-

ions on teak furniture.

Final touches

Don’t neglect art and accessories.

The pandemic resulted in that very New Orleans creation, the porch ﬂoat. Float ﬂowers are enjoyed year round both indoors and out Flags and banners, whirligigs and wind chimes add both movement and sound.

Other iconic outdoor decorations range from St. Anthony statues to ﬂamingos. A ﬂock has been spotted on the street that bears its name in Lake Vista, while Gentilly appears to hold the record number of colorful gazing balls held aloft atop the heads of cast concrete statues.

And we cannot forget to mention blue-and-white painted Virgin Marys that reside with-

in grottoes covered in trailing red roses.

Yes, given the opportunity, we love to express ourselves

Louis J. Aubert is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers and an avid preservationist. Some of his most visible New Orleans projects include making interior color selections for Gallier Hall, Trinity Episcopal Church and the Louisiana Supreme Court Royal Street Courthouse, and both interior and exterior selections for St. Stephen’s Basilica. Contact him at mrcolour@aol.com.

This screened-in back porch feels like an extension of the living area.

FILE PHOTOS By JEFF STROUT

A slatted wall creates privacy for this cozy patio

ONEINAMILLION

Bay St. Louis home with four bedrooms is

a great getaway for under $2 million

BY VICTOR ANDREWS Staff writer

The Mississippi Gulf Coast has long been a favored getaway spot for New Orleanians, boasting a beach ambience in proximity to the city.

Properties along the waterways of Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Waveland and Long Beach offer a tropical-tinged escape in just about an hour’s drive, with plenty of choices for those seeking a watery place to relocate, whether for the occasional weekend, the season or permanently

With expansive views of the bay and the Jourdan River, the home at 1532 N. Beach Blvd. in Bay St. Louis has four bedrooms and four full baths and is packed with style and amenities. The almost 4,000-squarefoot dwelling is located on a quarter of an acre lot and is priced at $1.973 million.

A blend of contemporary style and vintage Southern sensibilities, the home rises on pillars over a generous amount of parking, with stairs leading to the broad front porch spanning the width of the home.

French doors lead into the grand space containing living and dining areas. It stretches the length of the home, with the kitchen opening from the space to the right. The trio of spaces create a vast area for living and entertaining.

The living area is grounded with a fireplace flanked by custom cabinetry with shelves, balanced with rich wood floors and tall ceilings. At the back, the dining area features twin French doors that open onto a

A rope porch swing is a top spot to enjoy the view.

screened back porch.

The spacious kitchen, glistening with marble counters and an array of chef-grade stainless appliances, features a breakfast area and an island with seating in the center The butler’s pantry off the kitchen features a separate ice maker and beverage refrigerator, a prelude to the 750-bottle, climate-controlled cedar wine room behind it.

Farther back, a laundry room and extra space for storage are conveniently at hand.

On the opposite side of the living space, an ofﬁce and half bath hold prime positions on the front of the house, with views of the bay and river, plus custom cabinets and storage.

The ofﬁce opens into the primary suite via double doors.

The light-ﬁlled sleeping chamber is a relaxing private spot that opens onto a short hall leading to the primary bath.

Light, textures and bright walls set the tone for a spa-like experience, complete with an oval soaking tub, glass-front walk-in shower, double vanities with a makeup station, a sepa-

A pair of French doors are the entry to the home and provide a stellar backdrop for the main living area. A fireplace in the great room adds ambiance and yearround comfort.

ABOVE: A mix of Southern vernacular and contemporary style, the home on Bay St. Louis is perfect for a weekend retreat, family vacation home or permanent residence. It’s about an hour’s drive from New Orleans. LEFT: The home’s pier stretches out into the bay and has a 10,000-pound boat lift.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Panoramic views of Bay St. Louis and the Jourdan River can be enjoyed from the front porch.

ONEINAMILLION

rate water closet and access to the boutique-style walk-in closet.

Up the stairs, located by the kitchen, are three additional bedrooms, all en suite. The rooms take advantage ofthe dormers and have window seats fashioned for enjoying the natural light.

At the center of the space is a linear sitting room with shelving, an open space for family fun or weekend guests to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the surroundingarea. Window seats bracket the room under large openings.

Outdoor spaces at thehome are part of the package. The main floor screened porch off the dining area includesa fireplace for all-weatherenjoyment, plus abuilt-in grill. On the ground floor,aback porch overlooksthe built-in pool. Convenient louvered dividers allow the breezes to pass through while providing privacytothe expansive area under the main floors.

For the mariners, a 10,000-pound boat lift is located on the home’spier

The home also has acargolift to the main living ﬂoor, asprinkler system and parking with an electric gate access.

The home is listed by Regan Kane, of John McDonald Realty,(228) 467-5500.

One in aMillionisan occasional series featuring upscale homesfor sale in the

area.

metro

An island with seating is acentral element of the kitchen, which includesabreakfast areaand is home to the stairstothe upper three bedroom suites.

A750-bottle cedar wineroom is climate controlled

The primarybath is aspa-influenced oasis in the home, with aboutique-stylewalk-in closet at the far end.

Aviewofthe

OWNER PUTS HER

IMPRINT VIVID

ON AN ELEGANT HISTORIC SPACE

BY JYL BENSON Contributing writer

It was 2023 when a condominium on Coliseum Street caught the eye of Meredith Smith. Located in the front of a stately ﬁve-bay Greek Revival center hall mansion with a gallery overlooking the leafy street, “I knew right away it was mine.”

five-bay

Built just before the Civil War in 1860 in a neighborhood that Americans solidly occupied, the mansion witnessed

the war, then served as home to two of the city’s mayors: Walker Flower, who served from 18961900, and Chep Morrison, who served from 1946-61, earning the property the moniker “The Mayor’s Mansion.”

After Morrison’s time as mayor, the home, located just steps from Coliseum Square Park, stayed with his family Morrison served as the U.S. ambassador to the Organization

ä See VIVID, page 14

The living area’s floor-to-ceiling

velvet draperies

a cheetah print teal velvet sofa is from Article, the rug is from Banana Manor, lamps

PHOTOS By JEFF STROUT

ABOVE: Meredith Smith models her love of color in a brilliantly hued silk ensemble fabricated of Liberty of London fabric by The Fold of London.

TOP: A

Greek Revival center hall mansion, with a gallery overlooking the leafy street, holds three elegant condominiums.

int were custom-made by New Orleans seamstress Leslie Walters. They frame the double-hung windows Smith throws open to the front porch to handle her frequent guests. The mps are from The Left Bank, and the end tables are from Merchant House.

By JEFF STROUT

VIVID

Continued from page 12

of American States from 1961 to 1963. It was Morrison’s son Toni Morrison, who decided to convert the building into three elegant condominiums in 1981 after years of decay

“We had looked at several places that were just all wrong on some level,” Smith said of her explorations with her Realtor and friend, Chris Smith. “I told him I didn’t want a condo, but I wanted architectural signiﬁcance and lots of light. He showed me this place on a whim.”

Meredith Smith, head of sustainability for ED&F Man Commodities Group, had found her place in New Orleans in 1999, coming from Florida to attend Tulane University to study chemical engineering. “I just fell in love with New Orleans,” she said. “The costume culture. The people, and there’s a party every day.”

Although she left the

Much of Smith’s colorful barware is vintage, including a set of Tom Collins glasses from her grandmother Smith acquired most of the flowers and foliage shown in an act of what she jokingly calls ‘urban deforestation’ during a walk in her neighborhood.

Crescent City for two years to work in management in Lexington, Kentucky, she did

Smith’s diminutive kitchen works just fine for turning out hors d’oeuvres and Champagne at a moment’s notice. The iconic local artwork over the cabinets is by Simon Hardeveld. The painting over the window is by Cheryl Anne Grace of New Orleans.

so only with the contractual understanding that she would return to New Orleans for the ﬁrst and second weekends of Carnival, as well as the week between, and on Mardi Gras. “I would travel with my wigs, never checking them,” said the longtime dance captain of

the Pussyfooters who is now also a member of the Krewe of Dolly

“When a headhunter contacted me about a job with ED&F Man in New Orleans, I knew it was time to go,” Smith said. “If you have a party here, everyone shows

up in theme. When I was living in Kentucky, I would have a cocktail party, and people would show up in whatever they had worn to the ofﬁce, while I was wearing a ballgown and a fascinator. It just

ä See VIVID, page 15

A miniature pink Frigidaire refrigerator filled with Champagne stands at the ready for impromptu gatherings. The collection of ‘Okra Bits’ prints by Cora Nimitz was found at the shop at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The chairs, covered in Spring Hollyhocks fabric from House of Hackney, were picked up at The Left Bank.

PHOTOS

INSIDEINFO

Orleans assessment rolls open

Property tax rolls for Orleans Parish for 2026 are open through Aug. 15, and online appeals will be open Tuesday through Aug. 20.

Assessor Erroll Williams said the rolls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the following locations:

n City Hall, 1300 Perdido St., fourth ﬂoor

n Algiers Courthouse, 225 Morgan St., ﬁrst ﬂoor

n Lakeview Christian Center, 5885 Fleur De Lis Drive, second ﬂoor

Notices of assessment change have been mailed to property owners and updated values are online at nolaassessor.com.

Schedule appointments to meet with the appraisal staff to discuss assessments online or in-person at nolaassessor.com or (504) 754-8811. All appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

VIVID

Continued from page 14

wasn’t the place for me

“This past Mardi Gras, we had a dance off between the Pussyfooters and the Cherry Bombs in the Winn-Dixie parking lot because the Muses parade was delayed. I have never had so much fun. This is the right place for me.”

To enter Smith’s home is to leave a dull world behind: It is a glorious, screaming shoutout to the gods of maximalism.

Smith’s bright bird of a space pushes a welcome sensory overload from the custom Cheetah velvet draperies that ﬂow from the 14-foot ceiling to the gleaming wood ﬂoor in the living room to the vibrant pink refrigerator in the dining room.

Situated between a pair of slipper chairs upholstered in the House of Hackney’s

Notarial Archives to open in July, August

What to know more about the history of a property?

The clerk of Civil District Court in New Orleans will offer summer tours of the Notarial Archives Research Center, where the answers to those questions may reside.

Clerk Chelsey Napoleon will open the archives at 1340 Poydras St., Suite 260, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday Future opening dates include Aug. 7 and 26.

As both a Pussyfooter and a member of the Krewe of Dolly, Smith’s extensive collection of wigs sees plenty of action.

voluptuous Spring Hollyhocks pattern, the fridge is stocked with bottles of Champagne to service the built-in bar that serves Smith’s many gatherings. On display are

For information, email civilclerkresearchctr@orleanscdc. com or call (504) 407-0106.

HNOC to host antiques forum

The weekendlong celebration of history and aesthetics returns to The Historic New Orleans Collection with its annual Antiques Forum.

“Light and Distraction: Material Culture of Southern Amusement” will be the theme Aug. 8-10. Board games, the circus, pleasure gardens, horse racing and more will be examined.

A lineup of experts and enthusiasts includes Tara Gleason Chicirda, of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Claudia Pfeiffer, of the National Sporting Library & Museum; and Allison Robinson, of The NewYork Historical Society.

Registration is open for a single day or for the full forum, plus add-on activities. Sessions start at $60. Visit hnoc.org.

Bonsai classes teach art form with brews

Horticulture will be what’s on tap at 2 p.m. Saturday at Oak Street Brewery, 8201 Oak St., for Bonsai Bar, which aims to introduce the ancient Asian art of gardening while attendees enjoy a beer at a local brewery

Dwarf umbrella (Schefﬂera arboricola) will be the planting.

Events are also planned at Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois St. at 6 p.m. Wednesday; and Abita Brewing Co., 21084 La. 36, Covington, at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Instructors will lead participants in lessons on the core concepts to pot, prune and design a bonsai tree.

Cost starts at $85. For information, visit bonsaibar.com.

Volunteer projects abound at City Park

A variety of cleanup days

collections of ﬁne glassware in a variety of colors and patterns.

An abundance of natural light throughout the 18,000-square-foot space provides a healthy environment for a collection of thriving tropical plants.

A small but well-appointed kitchen, featuring white marble counters and a backsplash that seamlessly ﬂows up to meet the cabinets, overlooks a courtyard below.

A tight, narrow, anxietyinducing spiral staircase — cordoned off by clear Lucite panels, lest a guest should unwittingly take a tumble — leads to the home’s private quarters. The walls here are 8 feet, the spaces co-opted from the mansion’s basement to form two bedrooms and two baths.

Smith has repurposed the guest room as a costume closet. A wall of wigs and wine storage occupies space under the staircase. Half of the

and initiatives are on tap at City Park to improve and maintain the extensive urban green space. Those coming up during the week of July 19 include:

n Urban Forest Support Initiative: 9 a.m. Saturday Volunteer Center, 1031 Harrison Ave.

n Pelican Greenhouse Summer Volunteer Series: 8 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday. 2 Celebration Drive

n Litter Cleanup Krewe: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday. Volunteer Center, 1031 Harrison Ave.

n Couturie Forest Trail Team Zoom Info Session: 9 a.m. Thursday and July 26.

n Big Lake Native Plant Trail Restoration Project: 9 a.m. Friday. Big Lake Native Trail near 7 Friedrichs Ave. Register for the programs and ﬁnd out more about what to bring at friendsofcitypark. volunteerhub.com.

Have a home and garden event coming up? Send it to events@theadvocate.com.

garage, accessible from the basement, has been converted into a craft area, “where I try

The floor-toceiling velvet draperies in a cheetah print were custommade by New Orleans seamstress Leslie Walters. The chaise lounge is an original by Charles & Ray Eames.

to keep the sequins contained. This is a glitter-free household,” Smith said.

FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL DEMOCKER

A volunteer pots a rose at the Pelican Greenhouse in City Park.

NEW ORLEANS

TRANSFERS ISSUED JULY 8-12

DISTRICT 1

ANNUNCIATION ST. 1662:

$183,000, Revolving Doors Inc. to Brian William Sharon.

BARONNE ST. 1512: $626,000, 1512 Baronne LLC to Shlomo Yitshak.

CAMP ST. 1510: $730,000, Gustavo A. Duque and Matilde Alberny to Carleton S Voos and Paul A. Mohor.

CLEVELAND AVE. 2914: no value stated, Sun Realty 5 LLC to Joyce M. Varghese.

EUTERPE ST. 1430: $1,125,000, Cecile Richards Trust and Kirk Adams to Stacey Lyn Sorrow

GIROD ST. 412-14-16-20-22-2426, NOTRE DAME ST. 425, UNIT 200, 433-37: $875,000, Amy Jones Bicknell and John Eric Bicknell to Dana Demarco Brasuell and Todd S. Brasuell.

MARGARET PLACE 1115, UNIT

201: $260,000, Abdel Rahman Jamal Hamideh to Clinton Charlot Jr. and Ellen Charlot.

S. ALEXANDER ST. 301-03: $115,000, Gwendolyn A. Bordenave to PJD Houses LLC.

S. ALEXANDER ST. 635: $397,000, Devin A. Lowell and Lauren Paige Noel to Cheryl Lynn Carstens.

S. GENOIS ST. 715-717, TULANE AVE. 3600-04-06: $560,000, 3604 Tulane Ave. LLC, 701 S. Genois St. LLC and 715 S. Genois St. Holding LLC to Iris Motel LLC.

TCHOUPITOULAS ST. 315, UNIT 408: $200,000, Steamboats Trumpet Properties LLC to Hotel De Leau Vive Owners Association Inc.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

DISTRICT 2

BELL ST. 3342: $659,000, Edward S. Fleming Jr. and Sherry Lynn Tipton Fleming to David Victor Olivier and Sarah Todd Olivier.

BIENVILLE ST. 4736: $329,500, Stefan Bourgeois to Mary McDade Casteel and Trenton Mynatt.

CANAL ST. 1201: $192,000, Sandpiper Management Services Inc. to Jacqueline Peppers Badgett and Jeffrey Badgett

CHARTRES ST. 1204: $234,000, Robert Vincent Sorukas to Dylan Rhodes.

COLBERT ST. 6826: $600,000, Nancy Beaty Tatarski to Jason Dale Wood and Lauren Stakenborghs Wood.

DECATUR ST. 1140: $875,000, Patrick T. Knudsen to Lyndsi Loumakis.

ESPLANADE AVE. 3020: $1,260,000, David Victor Olivier and Sarah Todd Olivier to Saige Lauren

ACK-Orleans LLC to Daniel Lund IV and Julieanne Natal Lund.

ST. PETER ST. 2741: $250,000, Christian Andrew Loving to Joshua Anthony Lewis.

ST. PETER ST. 633: $441,000, James W. Hill III and Robin Essenpries Hill to Evamarie Manieri and Louis Flees.

THIRD ST. 3511-13: $80,000, Dorothy Haynes, Marguerite Haynes Davis and Matthew Haynes to Abundant Life Investments LLC.

VICKSBURG ST. 5843: $530,000, Bridget Dehon Morris to Chris Amacker and Christy Fellows Amacker.

WILSON DRIVE 809-811: $395,000, Lucy Ann Trebotich to Iris Hunt Schwank and Michael Schwank.

DISTRICT 3

Pilgrim.

GEN. DIAZ ST. 5950: $423,046, Christopher A. Spring to Annunciation Capital LLC.

GOV. NICHOLLS ST. 729: $740,000, Thomas N. Reagan to Ariane Montgomery Livaudais.

GOV. NICHOLLS ST. 821: $100 and other valuable consideration, Dechomai Asset Trust to Naoma Donnelley Duncan.

LOUIS XIV ST. 6935: $549,000, Shawn Mark Campo to Matthew Colligan and Tess Rizzuto Colligan.

NEW BASIN WAY 6: $900,000, Michael E. Cahn III to Yanxu Zhang and Yunli Zhang.

N. RENDON ST. 800, UNIT 203: $315,000, Rendon Partners LLC to Patrick Knudsen.

ONYX ST. 7331: $1,389,000, Burk Property Investments LLC to Belinda Luu Sharma and Bharat Sharma.

ORLEANS AVE. 6980: $420,000,

ALABO ST. 1918: donation, no value stated, Mary F. Thomas to Walter A. Carter.

ALVAR ST. 820: $750,000, Succession of Carol Lynn Bixler to Scott Hamilton Doughty 2024 revocable trust and Wylie Ohara Doughty 2012 revocable trust.

BACCICH ST. 5717: $209,900, FIM Partners LLC to Jacob A. Evans.

BURGUNDY ST. 4708-10: $435,000, Samuel McNamara Bowler to Lillian N. Martin.

CAMPUS BLVD. 5645: $328,000, HIZZ Home Builders LLC to James Fitzgerald McNeal.

CHARTRES ST. 2707: $200,000, John Michael Rhymes to Christopher James Ray.

CHEF MENTEUR HIGHWAY 21639: $65,000, Beryl Blanchard Larsen to Soto & Shaffer Investments LLC.

CHEF MENTEUR SERVICE ROAD 20757: $22,000, Juli Wegener

Blackwell and Robert Lee Blackwell to Craig P. Thibodeaux and Shawn P. Horaist.

CLOVER ST. 2724: $275,000, Crystal Moyer Daspit and Douglas C. Daspit to Ahamal Joseph Blake.

CRESCENT DRIVE 1353: $290,000, Louis X. Washington Jr. and Tracie L. Washington to Leo Lous Seago III and Shannon Hill Seago.

CROWDER BLVD. 4736: $157,000, Maryam Washington White and Perry Rufﬁn to Chanita Rogers.

DAUPHINE ST. 4731-4733: $300,000, Alicia Fisher Ault to Anne C. Hill Munger and Michael P. Munger.

DEMONTLUZIN ST. 4427: $205,000, Adam John Rutka and Kristin Marie Cusanza to Angela Williams.

DESAIX BLVD. 3419: $160,000, Illya Tietzel and Nicole Brodley Tietzel to Family First Enterprise LLC.

DESOTO ST. 2639: $661,000, Daftary Trust and Scheherezade Isabel Daftary to Aaron Bloom and Kareem Fakhoury

DUELS ST. 1927: $110,000, Rochart LLC to S&J Property Investments LLC.

ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE. 4800:

$55,000, Nicholas A. Lamonte and Terri Parker Lamonte to Carleen Foster Lee.

ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE. 4959:

$315,000, Jamal J. Brown and Monique Elwood Brown to Dianne T Alexander.

FELICIANA ST. 1708: $172,000, Nicole Marie Pigott to Devarian Menyweather.

JONQUIL ST. 2646-2648: $100,000, Lester Martin Harvey to Cryptostate LLC.

LAFAYE ST. 4462: $371,000, Flora P. Williams Lyon and John M. Lyon to Carla Cheri Waterﬁeld and Timothy Martin Waterﬁeld.

LAFON DRIVE 4741: $199,000, Bethany Smith McKissick and Winston McKissick to Christopher McConnell and Robin Daniels.

LIZARDI ST. 1919: $11,750, KMV LLC to Mes Enfants Properties LLC.

LOURDES ST. 13700: donation, no value stated, Thu Phung to Trong Lousteau Nguyen.

MANDEVILLE ST. 514: $875,000, Jacques George Rodrigue and Mallory Paige Chastant Rodrigue to Jacob Veith and Veronica Fierke Veith.

MANDEVILLE ST. 826: $740,000, Shane Fugler to Muir Residential Investments LLC.

MCRAVEN COURT 12920: $200,000, Reginald Kory Miller to Carol Ann Ward Dickerson and Marcus C. Dickerson Jr.

METROPOLITAN DRIVE 4514: $185,000, Natasha N. LeFlore

and RobertMichael Odoms to Ana Miriam Esquilin Gonzalez Roberto and VictorM.Ilarraza Roberto.

N. BROAD ST.1565: $275,000, Holly Anderson Wolf andJeffreyNorman Wolf to Brad Topper.

N. BROAD 2179: $95,000, Karon Scott and Shann ButlerScott to Sivad 7Trust and Tyrone Teako Davis.

N. DUPRE ST.1739: $499,900, Carrie CravenPasternak and Stephen Pasternak to RichardHenry VonKeyserling.

N. ROMAN ST.3126: donation, no value stated, Geriel Lawson to GML Holding LLC.

PAINTERS ST.2726: $20,000, Angelamia Bachemin to Imagination Farm L3C.

PAUGER ST.3924: $300,000, Irvin B. Jackson to 3924 PaugerSt. LLC.

PORTST. 1440: $250,000, Victory One LLCtoBababi Ofunniyin Fadahunsi.

PRATT DRIVE5139: $292,000, Jennifer McGee Lindsley to Brody Hayand Mary Simmons.

PRENTISS AVE. 1413: $285,000, Nicholas A. Anzalone andSydney A. Thompson Anzalone to Patrick Taylor Smith.

RAYAVE. 4905-07: $180,000, Emelda McKey Keys and Thomas Eugene Keys Jr. to Eric Aguilar and Melissa Gracia.

RAYMOND JOSEPH DRIVE 4705: $112,500, Rose A. Madisonto Keldar Business Ventures LLC.

SAIL ST.7845, 7849, 7851, STAR ST.7813, SUN ST.7801, 7809, 7856:

REALESTATETRANSFERS

no value stated, Ann Kohlbatz Franklin to ADEY LLC.

ST.BERNARDAVE. 6411: $535,000, Andrea El Nems Szalai andImre Stephen Szalai to Errol Bailey and Errolyn Lang Bailey Summers.

SANDALWOOD ST.4818: $170,000, Kelli Larkins Jones andMarcus Gregory Jonesto Erica Roberts.

URQUHARTST. 5406-08: $90,000, SuccessionofYvonne Edwards Johnson to Hall1 Estate LLC.

W. CAVELIER DRIVE 7761: $95,000, 1st Choice Commercial &Residential Environmental Services LLCtoVerona Claudell Mitchell.

WINTHROP ST.2430: $40,000, Deella Lewis Foster to Capital AllianceLLC

DISTRICT 4

CHESTNUTST. 3220-22: $649,000, Katherine AnnThomasson Talbot and MichaelJ.Talbot to JacobB.Hill andStephanie Okeefe Hill.

CHIPPEWA ST.2906: $775,000, 2600 GeneralPershing LLCto Nisha Kate andVasant Paul V. Kate.

DANNEEL ST.2833-35: $460,000, Jericho Road Episcopal Housing InitiativeInc. toJason C. Gremillion.

EIGHTH ST.1319-1321: $1,350,000, Martha OnealLeggett to Melissa Binder Adams and Timothy Lovell Rhodes Adams.

FIRST ST.1926-28-30: $85,000, Dryades Young Men’s Christian Association to1424 OCH LLC.

FOURTH ST.1933-1935: $79,000,

Frank Louis Daggs Jr. to PiedmontProperties LLC.

JACKSON AVE. 1002: $305,000, William Samuel Lothridge to Julia E. Batchelder.

JACKSON AVE. 1932: $34,000, G Bennett 3Investments LLCto Alex Stanwood Jr.

LAUREL ST.2316-2318: $600,000, Dain Marlais to Francis A. O’Brien and KimberlyLynn O’Brien.

NINTH ST.1113: $1,150,000, Alvin Adam Baumer III to TMLJ Property LLC.

ST.THOMAS ST.2712-2714: $579,000, Harold EdwardStrickland to James Andrew Sibert and MandyFolse Sibert.

SECOND ST.936-936 1/2: $499,999, Darsey Walker Williams and KristinPetry McCalliontoJamie Bushong.

SIXTH ST.1230, 1234: $100 and other good and valuable consideration,MaryKeith Barton West and Steven W. West to Kelly Geary Gillin and Patrick B. Gillin.

S. MIRO ST.2606-2608: $310,000, Gx3Property LLCtoAntoine J. Washington.

S. SARATOGA ST.2814: $45,000, Jericho Road Episcopal Housing InitiativeInc. to Gustavo Adolfo RomeroJr. and Katherine Swartout Romero.

DISTRICT 5

BACCHUSDRIVE 3410: donation, no value stated, Carol HarrisBrown Byes to Stacey Byes Byarse.

CONSTANCE ST.3605-07: $592,000,

Christie Diane KimballMong to Katherine Barry Wells Gressett and TimothyEdwardGressett.

DANBURYDRIVE 2756: $365,000, Christian Sauce to Duho Uhmer Abdi and Nejat Tahir.

DELARONDEST. 405-07: $1,170,400, Edwin F. Moise Jr. and Hillery McCloskey Moise to DMPG Nola LLC.

DELARONDEST. 1026: $508,900, Catherine T. Desmarais to KevinJustus Colemanand Mary Chance Coleman.

FAIRFAXPLACE 205: $300,000, Hummel ConstructionLLC to Kelsey Duffey and Robert Duffey

FLANDERS ST.1640: $180,000, De-

dria Lamothe to ChandraWright.

ODEON ST.1226: $16,000, Barker Investors to Four-K Investment Properties LLC.

OLIVIERST. 612: $385,000, Kristen Preau Mooreand William MasonMooretoPatriceLeblanc Schoenradt andEdwardL. Schoenradt.

RUE DELPHINE 3540: $160,000, Marilyn McNulty Lawson to FannyArturoLantigua Torres.

THAYERST. 529: $552,000, Algiers Nola LLCtoChristina LeeJostes andChristopher M. Jostes. TITAST. 1616: $20,000, Furnell Tra-

See ORLEANS, page 18

coveted2nd hole of theEnglish Turn Golf Course,thisexceptional residence offers serene waterviews andstunningsunsets thatwill take your breath away.Stepintothe traditionalyet sophisticatedlivingspaces, wheresolid wood floors andsoaring ceilingscreateaninvitingatmosphere filled with naturallight.The heartofthe home is acustom-designedItalian Poliform contemporary kitchen, amasterpiece of both functionality andtechnical excellence.The luxuriousfirst-floor primary suiteoffersa tranquil retreat, featuringbeautiful travertine flooring andcustomdraperies.Copper guttersand downspouts furtherenhance thehome’stimelessappeal.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

ORLEANS

Continued from page 17

vis Gabriel to Tamara N. Robinson.

WAGNER ST. 806: $33,000, David Do Nguyen and Sunnie Yan Wai Wong Nguyen to Leonard Family Investments LLC.

WILLOW DRIVE 10101: $445,000, Mindie June Doucet Kairdolf and Paul W. Kairdolf Jr. to Benjamin Vearl Belcher and Megan Lynn Moody Belcher.

DISTRICT 6

AMELIA ST. 2921-23: $10 and other valuable consideration, A Squared Real Estate Development LLC to AKT Investment Properties LLC.

AUDUBON BLVD. 285: $375,000,

Ruth Maginnis Blum to Eddie Dejean Jr. and Elli F. Dejean.

AUDUBON ST. 303: $1,150,000, Carla Waterﬁeld and Timothy Waterﬁeld to Laura E. McMaster Bidot and Samuel S. Bidot.

BROADWAY ST. 371: $1,335,000, Christopher P. Dupont and Leslie Wald Dupont to Laura Richardson Brecheen and Roger Brecheen.

CALHOUN ST. 3020: $100, Amanda Howard Lowe and George O. Lowe to Administrators of The Tulane Educational Fund.

CARONDELET ST. 3611: $1,720,000, Alison J. Diboll to Carol Albritton Biedenham and Carol Albritton Edmonds.

EVERETT PLACE 4: $100, Narinder Gupta Retirement LLC to 13 Rosedown Court LLC.

GEN. PERSHING ST. 2109: $1,187,500, Dustin Michael Thorn-

NEWORLEANS

Announcing TheRendonCondominiums. GrandLivinginEsplanade Ridge-Now available forpurchase! An architectural jeweltwo blockstoBayou St John. Completely restoredin2019, this c. 1906 BeauxArtsschoolbuildingwas convertedtoa variety of26one andtwo bedroom residenceswithonsiteparking andapool. Units oﬀer thoughtfully designedliving spaces,soaring ceilings, oversizedwindows, reclaimed hardwood ﬂoors,and modern kitchens andbaths.Located in theheart of Mid-City, nearthe Fair Grounds, BayouStJohn, EsplanadeAve. Restaurantsand City Park. Ownapiece of NewOrleans

hill to Kristen Graff and Steve Chyzyk.

GEN. PERSHING ST. 4435-37: $136,540, Carrington Mortgage Services LLC to Norma G. Thompson and Richard Thompson and Norma G. Thompson revocable trust.

MAGAZINE ST. 5219: $270,000, Emily Hendricks Buras to Cynthia Distene Baker.

NAPOLEON AVE. 2435: $639,000, Marengo Investments LLC to Sherry Mark Murphy LLC.

PENISTON ST. 816: $845,000, Elyse Staci August and Kenneth Scott Keltz to Daniel Kehoe.

PERRIER ST. 6048: $100, Curt Freudenberger to Horace Lamar McKay Jr. and Nancy Pelleteri McKay.

PRYTANIA ST. 3804: $1,730,000, Christopher White and Nicole White to Barbara A. Kelley and Jerry Bradley Kelley Jr.

ST. CHARLES AVE. 5800: $100, Succession of Denise Rachal Hannan, Diana L. Rachal and William F. Rachal to Erin Sauzer Hymel and Jean Paul Hymel.

SONIAT ST. 2137-2139: $185,000, Christopher R. Borsodi to Edward Allen Sherman and Kim Ashley

EAST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FOR JULY 4-11

HARAHAN

BAILEY ST. 4241: Gail M. Y. Roux to Timothy P. Collins, $160,000.

FRANKLIN AVE. 929: Linda Gauthier to Cannon Family LLC, $210,000.

Sherman.

S. SARATOGA ST. 3301-3303: $475,000, 2600 General Pershing LLC to Sydney M. Larsen.

DISTRICT 7

20TH ST. 415: $474,000, Christopher Michael Welcker and Emily Ann Schroer Welcker to Katherine Vanlandingham Perrier and Travis R. Perrier.

BELLAIRE DRIVE 5601: $1,150,000, Lauren Eng and Matthew Eng to Alexandria Durant Toepfer and Jeremy Toepfer.

BURDETTE ST. 710: $100, Pelican Family LLC to 728-30 Seventh Street LLC.

COLAPISSA ST. 8307: $89,000, Investnu LLC to Piedmont Properties LLC.

COLAPISSA ST. 8311: $89,000, Investnu LLC to Piedmont Properties LLC.

FERN ST. 1939; SPRUCE ST. 7828: $309,000, Dillon Heath Butvin to Franck P. Gauthier and Shannon Kilby Gauthier.

HICKORY ST. 8231: $355,055, Adam Thomas Milton to Mieka Jasmine Smart.

JEANNETTE ST. 8314: $295,000, Kelly Ann Pavoni to Cecil A. Zeri-

HUNTLY LANE 8335: Cynthia Galiano to Penny Fischer, $212,000.

OK AVE. 57: Anne P. Guthrie to Mathew Martinez, $364,000. WEST AVE. 342: Christephany LLC to James Haywood, $405,000.

JEFFERSON

JEFFERSON ST. 535: Katie Lauziere to Mak LLC Paisley, $70,000.

ngue II and Demie C. Zeringue.

LEONIDAS ST. 3315-3317-21-23-27:

$559,000, Basin St. Properties LLC to JPW Investments LLC.

LOWERLINE ST. 3328: $30,000, A1 Property Investors LLC to Anthony Vo.

MARYLAND DRIVE 103: $471,612, Laura Cunningham Rivas to Peter Rivas.

NERON PLACE 62-64: $745,000, Gerlie Higdon Weinstein to Alicia Sander Hoﬂer Krafft and Geoffrey Arthur Krafft.

PONTCHARTRAIN BLVD. 6150, 6156: donation, no value stated, William T. Stockmann to Christopher P. Brupbacher Children’s Trust.

PONTCHARTRAIN BLVD. 6338: $670,000, Thu Thi Le to Laura Leggette Guelfo and Patrick Guelfo.

PONTCHARTRAIN BLVD. 6944: $589,000, Timothy R. Lamarque to Brady Mills and Sarah Wolters Ross.

S. CLAIBORNE AVE. 8424: $203,000, Whitney Dabney Jr. to Xiaoling Zhang Adams.

SPRUCE ST. 8608: $250,000, Ariane Montgomery Livaudais to Larry G. Sanchez.

JULIUS AVE. 508: Helena Shear to Jefferson Park Owner LLC, $65,000.

JULIUS AVE. 508: Helena Shear to Jefferson Park Owner LLC, $73,000.

KENNER

ALABAMA AVE. 4104 UNIT 13: Frances P. Gautreaux to David P. Gambino, donation, no value stated.

CHATEAU BLVD. 3293: Shah Holding Company LLC to Jennette A. V Canela, $220,000.

CHATEAU ROTHCHILD DRIVE 83: Sarah A. Almiahi to Muaath A. Hammad, $520,000.

CLAY ST. 1709: Angela Landry to Jenni A. Wilkinson, $235,000.

CORWIN ST. 9012: Omar A. Alas to Rocio Y. Armenta, $178,000.

FAIRWAY ST. 1101: Sherry K. Sabolyk to Donna B. Cutress, $235,000.

HANS AVE. 3371, UNIT A: Mehbub Mohammad to Shaista M. Nadeem, donation, no value stated.

MAYFIELD ST. 1508: Sheena Q. Alexander to Felicia Beasley, donation, no value stated.

ä See EAST, page 19

REALESTATETRANSFERS

EAST

Continued frompage18

PELLERIN DRIVE 417: David J. Stromeyer to Latoya Hebert, $287,000.

RONSON DRIVE 672: Donald R. Malter Jr. to BarbaraG.Pena, $210,000.

TOBY LANE5201: Rhonda Rojas to PaigeDeblanc, $500,000.

VINTAGE DRIVE 608: Shannon Q. P. Picquet to Shannon Q. P. Picquet, $133,976.

WILLIAM &MARYPLACE 110: Juan A. Martinez to Mills Commercial Capital LLC, $124,800

METAIRIE

26TH ST.8821: Joseph G. Nettles to LevelUpEnterprises, $130,000.

BEVERLYGARDEN DRIVE1029: KarenKrause to Elyse Simmons, $460,000.

BEVERLYGARDEN DRIVE523: Maria Rivet to William C. Allen, $280,000.

CAMMIE AVE. 1924: Paige A. T. Milburn to Cheryl M. Schwab, $335,000.

CONDOR ST.4824: Earl L. Mckay Jr. to Jeanne M. M. Binder,donation, no value stated.

DAVID DRIVE 1017: Inmer Carbajal to Yong &Jinlan Properties LLC, $210,000.

EDENBORN AVE. 2012: GenevieveR.Lusco to Ls Realty LLC, $230,000.

FLANDERS DRIVE 1005: Earl L. Mckay Jr. to Jeanne M. M. Binder, donation, no value stated

FOLSE DRIVE 4504: Bernadette W.

WEST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FORJULY4-11

AVONDALE

CARMEN DRIVE 140: Khuyen V. Nguyen to Thien Nguyen,donation, no value stated.

LANDSDOWNE DRIVE 4108: Dsld LLCtoJustinHarris, $268,065.

RETREATDRIVE 3709: Dsld LLCto DeirdreDoucette, $279,630.

GRANDISLE

ADMIRAL CRAIK DRIVE 411: Cajun On BayouLLC to Leslie Tammariello, $65,000.

CEMETERYLANE0: Neal R. Isaacs Jr. to Dyana L. Saylors, $90,000. ä See WEST, page 20

Smith to Quinlivan Homes LLC, $400,000

GLENDALE ST.7017: Teresa Hufnagel to Mayelin IRemedios, $220,000.

HESPERAVE. 845: Albert R. OconnortoSusan O. Hirschmann, $125,000.

HURON ST.1312: Cristen E. Conwell to Ian Fogarty,$305,000.

LAKEWOOD DRIVE 4516: Keith J. Kraft to Kolt M. Kraft, $50,000.

LAKEWOOD DRIVE 4516: Royal B. Kraft Jr. to Kolt M. Kraft, $50,000.

LORAINE ST.6020: Zachary D. Lamkin to Ross Britz, $233,250.

MELODYDRIVE 340: Neves Properties II LLCtoDardel Properties LLC, $430,000.

METAIRIE LAWN DRIVE 2521, UNIT 12, BUILDING 109: Dolroes Y. M. Schexnayder to RaymondShaw, $130,000.

N. HULLEN ST.3739: Stephen L. Ingram Sr. to Larry H. Deblieux, $565,848.

N. LABARRE ROAD 2917: Michael A. Sugar toGailP.Picnot, $499,000

N. WOODLAWN AVE. 1709: Brian M. Einolf toPatricia Ramirez, $255,000.

NINTH ST.300 1B: Tb &FLLC to Juan Hernandez, $122,000.

N. LABARRE ROAD 3536: Cynthia J. J. Dogan toGreat Southern Real Estate DevelopmentLLC, $260,000

NURSERYAVE. 306: Eneida L. Younis to Three Hundred Six Nursery LLC, $232,500.

NURSERYAVE. 417: Maddie K. Hamilton to Brenna J. Nance, $650,000.

PARK DRIVE SOUTH 4721: Naf

Cash LLCtoCody Morris, $345,100.

PHOSPHOR AVE. 520: Julie A. Civello to John R. Mcgraw,$500,000.

PURDUE DRIVE 4800: DevonBank to BushraK.Alam,$274,000.

PURDUE DRIVE 4800: Tarun K. Mukherjee to Devon Bank, $274,000.

RIDGELAKE DRIVE 3501: Basin Properties LLCJohntoBasin Properties LLCJohn, $810,000.

ROSE ST.505: Lauren T. Lopresto to Christopher P. Deblanc, $404,000.

SCHOUEST ST.6301: TedC. Mcneel Jr. to JustinS.Anderson, $300,000.

SMITH DRIVE 1109: Kelly M. SmithtoSchmidt Home Builders LLCDaniel, $240,000.

TRANSCONTINENTAL DRIVE 2804: Ivana M. Paredes to BrandyMartinez, $245,000.

WALDO ST.244: Sean P. Anderson to Mario R. M. Ramos, $225,000.

W. MAPLE RIDGE DRIVE 214: Cdb Perdido LLCtoMartin Buras, $330,000.

WESTGATE ST.8840: Sidney A. Gaudet IV to Noah Borries, $232,000.

WOODS DRIVE 1900: Donise S. Carroll to Nancy Ducote, $375,000.

RIVERRIDGE

CELESTE AVE. 632: Christin M. Z. Garson to GlennI Garson, donation, no value stated.

IDLEWOOD PLACE 16: Erin Schulz to LisaM.Hebert, $638,000.

WALTER ROAD 262: Sue E. A. Mcleod to Jeffrey R. Hymel, $475,000.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

WEST

Continued frompage19

PARK LANE 133: Alisha J. Hebert to Cheramie Brothers Investments LLC, $5,000.

SANDYPOINT DRIVE 25: Queen Bess BayLLC to Fritzcarlton Gulf Services LLC, $149,512.

GRETNA

BEHRMAN HIGHWAY 888: Dung N. Vo to Xuan D. Tran,$240,000.

CREAGAN AVE. 67: JoseN.Ortiz to Rhina Vasquez, $160,000.

CREAGAN AVE. 67: Shelby Neff to Jose N. Ortiz, $130,000.

CREGAN AVE. 111: RoyC.Bayhi Jr. to Nicholas Guthrie, $195,000.

HERO DRIVE 3329: Frank J. Thiel to LauraT.Thiel, $125,000.

HOLYOKE PLACE 836: Three Cg LLCtoBennett Blaylock, $284,000.

LAPALCO BLVD.554-558: Rave Investments LLCtoBff Holdings LLC, $690,000.

LOUISE COURT245: Green Homes RemLLC to Kacey R. Gallope, $240,000.

MARLENE DRIVE 849: Toni F. MassontoS.Vinet,$300,000.

NILE ST.2329: HubertT.Conis III to Ehab M. Mohamed, $190,000.

THOMAS ST.1509: HazelM. Tauzin to John M. II Breaud, $150,000

WILLOWBROOK DRIVE 621: RobertC.AucoinJr. to Gayle A. Lopez,donation, $160,000.

HARVEY

PRICEDRIVE 1000: Roy Shackelford to Julia K. IAshcraft,

SHERRYL.OWEN CRS, GRI, SFR, ABR 228-760-2815 •228-822-9870 OWENSHERRYL@AOL.COM

2208 18TH ST,SUITE B, GULFPORT,MS39501 WWW.OWENANDCO.COM

7527 OAKENSHIELDLANE

$2,800,000

5Beds/ 5.5Baths /8,058 sq ft Absolutely stunning newhomeon7acres Interiorisexquisitelyand professionally designed.Pool, pool house, home theatre, twoponds,and massiveworkshop. Will sell furnishedorunfurnished!

4Beds/ 3Baths/ 4,109sqft Builtinthe 1940sand fullyrenovated in 2007.Halfacrelot with unobstructed gulfviews.Beautiful wrap around porch. Largeprimarysuite with privatebath andwalk-in closet

2Beds/ 2Baths /1,312 sq ft Beachfront bungalow located just steps from thegulf. Panoramicwater views! Fortiﬁed Gold Construction,elevator, and workshop.Perfect full-timeresidence, vacationhome, or investment property

$150,000.

SANDYLANE 3705: Ronnie Smith to Latrice Alexander, donation, no value stated.

STALL DRIVE 2120: MichaelW. Wright to Young Properties LLC L., $80,000.

STALL DRIVE 2128: Minnie M. Prince to Amar Alhelo, $175,500.

TIMBERLANE ESTATES DRIVE 1855: One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty FiveTimberland Estates LLCtoHin N. Ngai, $40,594.

LAFITTE

BETTY MAE ST.5067: Mae LLC Betty to PenPals Laﬁtte LLC, $295,000.

MARRERO

ALLOAVE. 512: Dominic A. Gauthier to WajDesign &Build LLC, $8,500.

ALLOAVE. 639: Christopher D. Cruse to Tajuanda Montreuil, $160,000.

ARTESADRIVE 1271: Thanh Nguyen to Chantel R. Hooker, $389,000.

BARATARIA BLVD.2848: Aridenne E. DegreetoSam &Yaz LLC, $105,000.

BONNIE ANN DRIVE 2101: Lena Breckwoldt to TiaraBroome, $170,000.

BUCCOLA AVE. 1656: T&TInvestmentProperties LLCtoBich P. Nguyen, $113,500.

CLAREMONT PLACE2: Carter Investments Nola LLCtoDacarink LLC, $250,000.

KARENDRIVE 5128: John N. Cramer to John Lewis Jr., donation, no value stated.

LONG BRANCH DRIVE2541: DanielC.Anglin to Connor Decatur,$234,000.

MAHARRYDRIVE 2072: Beep Beep Investment Property LLCtoJose A. R. Mendoza, $135,000.

OAKLEAF DRIVE 2736: Tammy Giardina to Marcomb Investments LLCB., $148,000.

PAGE ST.5229: Christie PoussardtoSidney A. Mills, $169,000.

SAND BARLANE 2652: Kelsie N. Croom to HeatherWedding, $279,000.

TERRYTOWN

E. MARLIN COURT676: Leroy J. GautreauxtoHenry O. L. Reyes, $242,433.

FAIRLAWN DRIVE 517: Kathryn M. Ward to Miriam E. A. Ortega, $130,000. N. MARLIN COURT545: Surtanti Anderson to DanaM Brumﬁeld,$235,000.

WAGGAMAN

RICHELLE ST.42: Tina B. Knight to Reanna N. Ranatza, $214,000.

WESTWEGO

11TH ST.623: Jamie M. Gautreaux to Cesar S. Hernandez, $95,000.

FOUR O’CLOCK LANE 112: MichaelDewhirst to Carol A. S. Darby,$134,500.

OTTO ST.127: Affordable Housing of Nola LLCtoChristopher M. Scott, $215,000.

ST.TAMMANy

n TRANSFERS FORJUNE23-27 ABITASPRINGS

BOSSIERCITY SUBDIVISION,LOT 1A, SQUARE 48: Ollie J. Pouncey Sr. and Rose M. PounceytoWest Egg LA LLC, $25,000.

BUNKER STREET,LOT 3: Thomas W. Jacob and MarieG.Jacob to Bradley D. Levine,$8,000.

GURTNER DRIVE 72272: Kathryn M. Carambat Hellbach to William Smith &Emily Smith Trust, $98,000.

LONG BRANCH DRIVE 23523: Taylor R. Waguespack and Leah B. Waguespack to Matthew Deveer and Lindsey A. Suravitch Deveer, $129,000.

NEAR ABITASPRINGS,PORTION OF GROUND: Beverly Nichols to Roundrock Realty LLC, $57,500.

PAILETFIRST SUBDIVISION,LOT 30A, SQUARE 9: Frank B. Wood Jr. Interests LLC, DebraG.Garrett Levis,succession of John D. Ponder,JoAnn L. Ponder and others to Sylvia S. Barnes, $15,000.

RUE CHARDONNAY201: CRP HomesLLC to Ranjan Poudel and CarleyFurlan Poudel,donation, no value stated.

SNEAD DRIVE 27064: Alex L. Trager and Jennifer M. Taylor Trager to Logan Ahlborn and Shelby Ahlborn, $294,000.

COVINGTON

ABITARIDGE SUBDIVISION, PHASE 3B, LOT8: Abita River Park LLCtoDarling Design HomesInc.,$100,000.

ALEX ROAD 79309: Kara M. O’Connell and Ryan J. O’Connell to Mark W. O’Connell, donation, no value stated.

ALPINE DRIVE 20035: Justin D. Jernigan and Kristen M. Dressel Jernigan to ColbyA.Desselles, $373,000.

BEAU ARBRE COURT 171: Darlene L. Mitchelland KarenS.Mitchell to Paul Willman and Monica Willman, $345,000.

BEGONIA DRIVE 68: Chad B. VanAsselbergtoEdwardJ.Castaing Jr., $415,000.

Locatedwithinwalkingdistance to theheart of Downtown BaySt. Louis,thistwo-story duplexoffersthe perfect blendofcoastal charmand investment potential. With two identicalunits, each featuring 2bedrooms, 1.5bathrooms,a screened-inpatio,and aprivate one-cargarage, this property is an excellentopportunity foravacationrental, longterminvestment, or owneroccupancywithrentalincome!

CRYSTALDRIVE 76217: Christian L. Legoria to Ryan Westcott and Belle Roussel Westcott, $170,000.

CUSACHSDRIVE 18293: John C. Strickler III to Nathalie C. Croix, donation, no value stated.

CYPRESS POINTDRIVE 4216: Raleigh BrunetBuilder LLCto Joshua P. Brunetand Mary C. Brunet, $515,000.

DELTA LANE 1101: TimothyM. Calamari and Donna K.Calamari to Jared Dryer and StephanieB. Dryer, $831,650.

DIVISION OF NEW COVINGTON SUBDIVISION, LOT3,SQUARE 509: Carolyn Burns-Pedersen, MargaretBurns Sacco and SweetOlive Trust to Kenner PlumbingSupply Inc., $64,000.

DIVISION OF NEWCOVINGTON SUBDIVISION, PORTION OF GROUND: CatherineRileyLiving Trust to John J. Fielding Jr., donation, no value stated.

E. 10TH AVE. 718: Alan A. Zaunbrecher and Susan L. Zaunbrecher to LeeA.Andry andMalcolm E. Andry Jr., $255,000.

E. 10TH AVE. 724: ShirleyR.Simpson to Malcolm E. Andry Jr. and LeeA.Andry,$295,000.

E. U.S. 190 SERVICE ROAD 2501: Gordon R. Johnson to RichardM. Jeansonne, $300,000.

ECHO ST.70381: Errica E. Jones to Kodiak Partners LLC, $100 and all other good and valuable consideration.

ECHO ST.70381: Kodiak Partners LLCtoKeyly Y. Tale, $100 and other good and valuable consideraton.

EMERALD FOREST BLVD.350, PHASE 2, UNIT 30105, PARKING SPACE162: Succession of Pamela I. Payne to Joshua D. Carruth, $144,000.

EMERALDFOREST BLVD.350, UNIT 17103: Kathleen H. Tanner to KatherineA.Grosche, $140,000.

FERN ST.21221: Habitat for Humanity to Rebecca Gundry, $100,000.

FLOWER ESTATES,LOT 187: Hannah Frosch to Aaron Abadie and Mary Abadie, $290,000.

GARDEN WALK SUBDIVISION, PHASE 3, LOT37: Garden Walk LLCtoYvonX.Dorchiesand Marie C. Pirlet Dorchies revocable trust, $592,107.

HOLLYLANE 22: KarenL.LaCorte, William St. John LaCorteII, Jennifer LaCorte Marsiglia and Catherine L. Teen to Christoher P. Coyne and Sophia J. Coyne, $90,000.

LA. 25 75412: Finisher LLCtoTwin Enterprises LLC, $1,149,000. LA. 437 76181: Succession of Herbert L. Coakley Jr. to Adelyn Bailey,$160,000

LA BRANCHE PLACE 433,437, ARLINGTONAVE.337,341: Terra Bella Group LLCto110 Builders LLC, $427,000.

LA BRANCHE PLACE 481: Terra Bella Group LLCtoHighland Homes Inc., $107,500.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

MONGA DRIVE, LOT227: Better HomesLLC to WayneM.Guy, $40,000.

NEAR COVINGTON, LOT2: Paul S. Willman andMonica L. Willman to Stanley L. Sabrioand Diane B. Sabrio, $340,000.

NEAR COVINGTON, PORTION OF GROUND: Succession of Henryetta R. Waguespack, Richard S. Waguespack Jr., Anne A. Waguespack Berteau and otherstoAVC InvestmentsLLC, $640,000.

OCHSNERBLVD. 1431, BUILDING E, SUITEA: Anastasio Investment Properties LLCtoB&E Covington LLC, $721,000.

PALM PLAZA SUBDIVISION, LOT 19A, SQUARE 15: 74317 Theta Avenue LLCtoDemetrice Magee and April Holder, $230,000.

PALM PLAZA SUBDIVISION, LOT 9A, SQUARE 4: Melanie R. Hotop and John H.Hotop to RichardW. Sambola, $33,500.

PARMA CIRCLE 12333: Brandon M. Ansardi to Nicholas J. Hughes and CaitlinB.Cole,$240,000.

PINEY WOODS COURT68264: Alan A. LeBlanc toElouise A. Chiasson, donation,novalue stated.

RANDOLPH COURT370: Centanni Construction Co. Inc. to Thomas G. Naquin andRoxann B. Naquin, $808,443

RUE COURTNEY 716: Kerry L. Paape to Novie Titus, $485,000.

S. VERMONT ST.103: Richard Properties LLP to LeBert Investments LLC, $600,000.

S. VERMONT ST.704: Hampshire HouseLLC to Joshua C. Hyde, $589,000.

ST.WILLIAMS ST.121: Garry W. Aliff and Karla A. Aliff to Adam R. Plaucheand Jordan A. Plauche, $300,000.

TERRACE LAKEDRIVE 661: Mary E. HayesBabin to Paul A. Doroux and KarinA.Douroux, $291,000.

TIGER AVE. 480: Barbara C. Marino to TriC.Nguyenand Anh P. Chau, $100,000.

TURF DRIVE 74313: CarrieG.Cooper to Sydney Ricalde and Blake Ricalde, $275,000.

U.S. 190 11353: Kelly Russell to Ramon J. Urbina III and Kelli L. Urbina, $112,500.

VICTORIA DRIVE 75412: DSLD Homes LLCtoGabrielle Hauck and Logan Ingram, $279,915.

VICTORIA DRIVE 75421: DSLD Homes LLCtoChristian Robicheaux, $257,755.

VICTORIA DRIVE 75476: DSLD Homes LLCtoDarrin K. Jones, $274,130.

W. 23RD AVE. 705: Frederick W. Dantagnan Vand Sophia Millet Dantagnan to Jeffrey Pierce and Janet A. Pierce, $450,000.

W. 26TH AVE. 303: Tyler H. Amedee to Chase Damareand Alli B. Damare, $385,000.

W. SIXTH AVENUE, LOT6: Centre Estates LLCtoHeirloom Home Building Co.LLC,$60,000.

ZACHERYCOURT1416: DSLD Homes LLCtoVincent Moreno and Lizeth Moreno,$370,460.

ZACHERYCOURT1420: DSLD Homes LLCtoCeth Levine and Cortney Levine, $393,595.

FOLSOM

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTION OF GROUND: Cirino Bonner to Ellen Bonner,donation, no value stated.

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTION OF GROUND: Nena F. Jarrell to Robert D. Jarrell, donation, no value stated.

REDBUD COURT13421: Stephen A. Bridges and Cheryl L. Bridges to William A. Collins III andFlorence L. Collins,$612,500.

LACOMBE

AUTUMN HAVEN SUBDIVISION, LOT41: AnthonyJ.Maand Amanda R. Ma to Harry J. PeneguyJr.,$292,500.

E. SPRUCE STREET,LOT 17, SQUARE 21: D&AHamauei LLCto Cherland LLC, $4,000.

SNOWST. 62031: Angela L. Perrin to Brenda L. Steudlein, donation, no value stated.

TAGALONG ROAD 27155: Jonathan Koeppel to David J. Dragon and JoyceDragon, $207,000.

MADISONVILLE

BELLE POINT DRIVE 400: Yamil Ivan Aviles-Sanchez andYahaira

Hernandez-Bonilla to Edward Morgenthalerand Paula Morgenthaler, $515,000.

COUSHATTACIRCLE 117: Mary Snyder to Cynthia C. Pike, $315,000.

GAINESWAY DRIVE 426: Cynthia G. Mauterer,Donald C. Mauterer Jr. and others to Christopher S. Romero and Dana W. Romero, $320,000.

HESTERST. 39: Kyle J. Costanza to Brookﬁeld Enterprises LLC, $175,000.

OAKHOLLOW DRIVE 320: Michelle A. Samuel to Good Samaritan Homes&BuildersLLC, $107,500.

RUE CHARLOTTE DRIVE 395: L&H HomesLLC to BrianneB.Wilson, $800,000.

ä See TAMMANY, page 22

Continued frompage21

SPIKE DRIVE 71636: DSLD Homes LLCtoBrian M. Campbell and Sarah E. Campbell, $233,980.

SPIKE DRIVE 71692: DSLD Homes LLCtoBrookeA.Hughes, $215,830.

MANDEVILLE

CARRIAGE LANE ESTATES, PHASE

2, LOT26: Kevin T. Bennett and Jennifer F. BennetttoSean W. Bennett, donation, no value stated.

CITY OF MANDEVILLE, PORTION OF GROUND: Eric M. Bohto Lisbeth Riehlmann, donation,no value stated.

CYPRESS POND ROAD,PORTION OF GROUND: Renee Z. Williams and Kelly S. Williams to Drake M. Bergensand ElizaJ.Bergens, $155,000.

KINGSWOOD SUBDIVISION, LOT 6: McHugh Land Holding LLCto Jenkins Homes LLC, $100,000

KINGSWOOD SUBDIVISION, LOTS 11, 17: McHugh Land Holding LLCtoIntegrity Builders Inc., $195,000.

MARINA BLVD.374: Succession of David A. Podesta to JamesR. Bland Sr., $484,000.

MENUET ST.70287: Succession of David L. Braselman to Malachi Even, $259,000.

MONROE ST.3845: Traci F. Hensen to Rene L. PocheSr. and Angel N. Poche, $376,902.

PARKVIEW BLVD.104: Amanda C. Paxton to TimothyGagliano and KarenD.Gagliano, $129,000.

RIDGEWOOD CIRCLE 245: Su-

REALESTATETRANSFERS

kanyaRomyanon to Mitchell Paul Garon, $270,000.

SCARLET OAKLANE 1067: Thomas J. Orgeron and Michelle M. Orgeron to Travis Ward and Amanda Ward,$630,000.

SCARLET OAKLANE 1187: Emilio J. Baca andMichelle M. Ramos Baca toJohnB.Reis III and Amanda E.Maduell Reis, $490,000.

TETE LOURS DRIVE 640, NO.24, UNIT 215: Lauren B. Caffery to Traci M. Hansen, $250,000.

THIRD ST.2208: AnthonyBologna and Melissa Bologna to An Nguyen andLinhNguyen, $60,000.

WINCHESTERCIRCLE 364: Renee Z. Kenneyand Kelly S. Williams to Kevin J. Zaykoski and Megan T. Zaykoski, $750,000.

PEARLRIVER

BERKSHIRE DRIVE 1012: Gary M. Cavallo Sr. and KM Real Estate InvestmentGroup LLCtoHoward B. LaPrade III, $297,500.

MICHELLE DRIVE 38095: H&S Holdings LLCtoMonahan Family Properties LLC, $1,048,000.

TAYLOR FARMS ROAD 64301: DSLD HomesLLC to Anthony Zou and Rongrong Jin,$304,460.

SIXTHWARD

NEAR SIXTH WARD,PORTION OF GROUND: JaneL.Triola to Gary V. Triola, donation,novalue stated.

NEAR SIXTH WARD,PORTION OF GROUND: Bradley Pierson and Allison G. PiersontoTerrell R. Bunn and Heather A. Bunn, $22,000.

TIDE WIND DRIVE 3323: D. R. HortonInc.-Gulf CoasttoAnthony T. Nguyen andCaitlin M. Alvarez, $317,900.

SLIDELL

AMANDADRIVE 215: Kelly S. McGehee to Adonis P. Rose, $265,000.

BRITTANY LANE 203: Howard V. Gros III and Charlene B. Gros to Marcia Heine,$135,000.

BROADMOOR DRIVE 1532: Brandon Sulik to MurielD.Budzeyko, $228,809.

BYPASS BREEZE DRIVE 5333: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf CoasttoClera M. Davis, $293,900.

BYPASS BREEZE DRIVE 5345: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf CoasttoTien C. Nguyen and Dung Thuy Kim Nguyen, $284,900.

CAMELLIA DRIVE 2986: Kelly D. PassmoretoPaul Baker and PamelaBaker, $135,000.

CAPELLA COURT62721: DSLD Homes LLCtoMaureen DeAngelis, $264,860.

CARA MAE ST.40407: D. R. Horton Inc. to Alexis G. Masson, $269,795.

CARA MAE ST.40427: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf CoasttoRoger J. Wood, $267,900.

CHUBASCO LANE 206: MaryM Hymel to 206 Chubasco LLC, $200,000.

COIN DU LESTIN DRIVE 230: Luis A. Rivera, LindaR.Roberts and others to Eric P. Jenkins and Tracy C. Jenkins, $229,700.

E. LAKESHORE VILLAGE DRIVE

413: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf coast to Isabella D. Giambrone, $228,000.

E. LAKESHORE VILLAGE DRIVE

427: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to CoreyM.Parker and Sherri L. Johnson Parker, $229,900.

E. LAKESHORE VILLAGE DRIVE 459: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast

to BrooksM.Albert andOlivia S. Albert, $229,900.

E. REDBUD DRIVE 438: Yvette Norman to Roshain Mitchelland Alyssa Vanlew Mitchell, $323,000.

E. U.S. 190 41229: AlmitraW.Love to Anderson DevelopmentsLLC, $110,000.

EVERGREEN DRIVE 440: MerrieL. LeBlanc to BrittneyA.Licciardi, $220,000.

GRANDE ISLE COURT288: Annabeth N. Briggs to ShawndrikaM Holden, $234,200.

GRANDVIEW PLACE3117: Gene D. LeBouefSr. to Catherine Freise, donation, no value stated.

HARBOR COVE DRIVE 16: Sherra G. Montzand Eric J. Montz to Donald G. Michler Jr. and Jamie P. Michler, $135,000.

HAYES ROAD 40775: Southern Carpentry LLCtoBrett J. Robinson and Leah G. Robinson, $228,000.

HOLMES DRIVE 301: Frank K. Oakes and Theresa V. Oakes to Stephen J. Growden, $225,000.

INDIANA AVE. 174: Kayla L. Fayard to MarkA.Joachim, $234,900.

JOHNNY F. SMITH MEMORIAL BUSINESS PARK SUBDIVISION, LOTS 24, 25: Maverick ManagementGroup LLCtoCitation Logistics LLC, $380,000.

KENSINGTONBLVD. 420: Alan L. Brockhaus and Erin C. Brockhaus to Stephen M. Fulton, $305,000.

KILGORE COURT143: Travis C. Ward and Amanda S. Ward to Alan L. Brockhaus andErin C. Brockhaus, $539,500.

MARAIS RIVER DRIVE 4543: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Phillp Gray,$269,900.

MILLER ROAD 39131: Mary M. PaigetoMeelyn L. Martinez

Corea, $345,000.

OLIVE DRIVE 471: Patricia J. Pittman and Jennifer P. Leato Christian Wingrave,$27,778.

PANTHER DRIVE 575: Christopher Chapman to Letita J. Rohwer, $220,000.

PARKWAY DRIVE 204: Cheryl J. BickertonLouviere to CuzzolaMeather Living Trust, $117,500.

PEARL ACRES SUBDIVISION,LOT 5E,SQUARE 18: Evan Petruska to DanielJimenezJr. and Julie A. Jimenez, $40,000.

PONTCHARTRAIN DRIVE 3675, 3685, 3695: La SaisonProperties LLCtoGarden SpotPlaza, $360,000.

PONTCHARTRAIN DRIVE 4799: Jahda A. Muhammad to LaneR. Bertheaud, $8,700.

RIVERCREST SUBDIVISION,LOT 149: Five Star Agency LLCtoKyle M. Hart, $204,000.

RIVIERA DRIVE 3756: MartinA Smith Jr. Children’sTrusttoThe CNT revocable trust, $106,200.

ROE DRIVE 60819: D. R. Horton Inc.-GulfCoasttoMagdalena M. Hudowski, $267,000.

ROSE MEADOWLOOP 1113: Centanni Construction Co. Inc. to Thomas G. Naquin and Roxann B. Naquin, $190,000.

ROSEMEADE DRIVE 1924: Thomas A. Gaines and TammyBourgeois GainestoBridgetBrown, $343,000.

S. QUEENS DRIVE 214: Jaime P. LegertoEric Simmons,$167,500.

SEAGULL CIRCLE 3831: D. R. HortonInc. Gulf CoasttoAdrianne N. Bell, $199,900.

SLEEPYHOLLOW LANE12: RMTP TrustSeries2021 to Secretary of Veterans Affairs, $120,000.

STEELEROAD307: NAF CashLLC to FloydW.Stone,$263,900.

STERLING OAKS SUBDIVISION, PHASE 1B, LOT94: Lisa E. Barto to Conor Williams and Megan Williams,$315,000.

SUNSETDRIVE 1465: IbrahimR. Elghorayebyand Brandi G. Elghoravyeby to Emily Hutchinson, $150,000.

VINEST. 213: Travis White, Lindsey J. White and Garry M. White to D’AndreL.Porter and Aliscia S. Porter,$225,000.

SUN/BUSH

MORNINGDOVEDRIVE 26271: Douglas W. Casserleigh Sr. and Deirdre M. Casserleigh to Manuel R. Broussardand BarbaraAnn BrocatoBroussard, $420,000. NEAR BUSH, PORTION OF GROUND: Clarence A. LeetoMichael S. Cunyand Ross M. Cuny, $50,000.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday,July 19, the 200th day of 2025. There are 165 days left in the year

TodayinHistory

On July 19, 1848, the ﬁrst “Convention to discuss the social, civil and religious condition and rights of Woman” convened at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. Also on this date:

In 1812, during the Warof 1812, the First Battle of Sackets Harbor in Lake Ontario resulted in an American victory as U.S. naval forces repelled a British attack.

In 1969, Apollo11and its astronauts,Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin andMichael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

In 1975, the Apolloand Soyuz space capsulesthatwere linked in orbit for two days separated.

In 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting thegames because of Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

In 1989, 111 people were killed when United Airlines Flight 232, aDC-10 that sustained the uncontained failure of its tail engine and the loss of hydraulicsystems, crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City,Iowa; 185 people survived.

In 1990, baseball’sall-timehits leaderPete Rose was sentenced in Cincinnati to ﬁve months in prison for tax evasion.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced apolicy allowing gay soldiers to serve in the military under acompromise dubbed “don’task, don’ttell, don’tpursue.”

In 2006, prosecutorsreported that Chicago police beat, kicked, shocked or otherwise tortured scores of Black suspects from the 1970s to the early 1990s to try to extract confessions from them.

In 2013, in arare andpublic reﬂectiononrace, President Barack Obama called on the nation to do some soulsearching over the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his shooter,George Zimmerman, saying the slain Black teenager “could have been me 35 years ago.”

In 2018, aduck boatpacked with tourists capsized and sankinhigh winds on a lake in the tourist town of Branson, Missouri, killing 17 people.

In 2021,Paul Allard Hodgkins, aFlorida manwho breachedthe U.S. Senate chamber on Jan.6,2021, carryingaTrump campaign ﬂag, received an eight-month prison term in the ﬁrst resolutionofa felony case arisingfrom theU.S. Capitol insurrection. (In 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentencesorvowedto dismiss the cases of all 1,500plus people charged with crimes in the riot.)

In 2022,Britainshattered its record for the highest temperature everregistered amid aheat wavethat seared swathes of Europe.

Today’sBirthdays: Civil rights activist and educator Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball’sJackie Robinson, is 103. Blues singermusician Little Freddie King is 85. Rock musician Brian May(Queen) is 78. Actor Campbell Scott is 64. Actor Anthony Edwards is 63. ActorBenedict Cumberbatch is 49. TVchef Marcela Valladolid is 47. Actor Trai Byers (TV:“Empire”) is 42. King

Celebratingthe ex forFather’sDay gettingold

DearAnnie: My husband and I ﬁnalized our divorce in April afternearly ayear of separation. I’mata loss as to what to do now when it comes to my ex’sbirthday and Father’s Day.Weshare an 8-year-old son who is severely autistic,so when it comes to holidays and whatnot,everything is my doing with only alittle assistance from our boy

In the past, Ialways made sure to mark these occasions. But for context,I initiated the divorce because Ifelt like a marriedbut single mom and couldn’ttake it anymore, feeling like Ihad two“kids.”

On my recent birthday,myex took our son on aweekend trip. Iasked if they could stop and pick me up something at one of my favoriteshops while they were out of town. Instead, Igot something that clearly came from agas station, likely on the way home. Last year,I got gray hand towels. ForMother’sDay, Ireceived nothing except the card our son made at school.

If Isay anything about my disappointment, Iknow I’ll just be told these gifts are what our son picked out, which is probably only half-true at best.After this past Mother’sDay,I did tell my ex thatifheexpected recognition from us on Father’sDay, it must go both ways. Igot a

meek apology from him, butI’m not hopeful of anyreal change. Iwant to do somethingfor him, but Ialso don’t want to keep rewarding hisbehavior and feeling like the only onetrying. Any advice on how Ishould handle these events now and in the future as we adjust to our new normal? —Tired of DoingItAll DearTired: It sounds likeyou’ve carried the bulk of theload for your family for along time, so your resentment makes perfect sense. The fact that youstill want to showyourexgrace and respect, mostlyfor your son’s sake, speaks volumes aboutthe kind of mother you are.

Now thathe’snolonger your husband, you’re notobligated to keep showing up in thesame ways you always have.Whenit

comes to giftslike these, it really is thethought that counts. Helpingyourson pickout or make acard forhis dadismore than enough andaheartfeltway to support your son’s relationship withhis father without overextending yourself.

As foryourex, it’s time to adjust your expectations. He’s shown you repeatedly, both duringyour marriage andnow in divorce, wherehis priorities lie —it’slargelywhatled youto leavehim. From here on out, focusonwhat you can control.It’s alosing battletodwell on what youhopehe’lleventually do or wishhe’d done allalong.

Send your questions forAnnie Lane to dearannie@creators. com.