The Times-Picayune 07-20-2025 by The Advocate

Solitude afterthe storm

As former Times-Picayune journalist copeswithend-stage cirrhosis, he findspeace near theMaryland waterfalls he lovedasa teen

BY KEITH SPERA | Staff writer

Shirtless and soaking,Chris Roseclears the waterfall’scascade and wipes hiseyes, unabletostiﬂe a smile.

He is happy,and he is home.

He lives alone here in Swallow Falls State Park, a wooded enclaveofsoaring hemlocks, prehistoric-lookingrhododendrons and rocky creeksinthe mountains of western Maryland. Comefall, he’ll pack uphis wellworn tentand camper for his annual southern migration to an even more remote national forest in Mississippi. These days,solitude suits him. In the immediate aftermath of HurricaneKatrina, Rose’scolumn in The TimesPicayune gave voice tothe grief, frustration, anger and absurdity of abattered New Orleans. He ﬁled front-line dispatches from broken streetsand his own frayed psyche, eventually collecting those dispatches in the best-selling book “1 Dead in Attic.”

Even as he shouldered the burden of acity’scollective trauma —thousands of readers reached out to him —he was bedeviled by alcohol,depression, anxiety and an addiction toprescription painkillers. He left the paper in 2009, then bounced around to

other local media outlets. He hosted aFrench Quarter walking tour. He waited tables. And he drank—a lot

In 2021, following multiple hospitalizations and a near-fatal crisis in aKenner motel, he was diagnosed with end-stage cirrhosis. He’dnearly succeeded in drinking himselftodeath. Faced with mortality,hedisappeared. He sayshe quit booze, quit writing and retreated to theMaryland woods and waterfalls that ﬁrst enchanted him as ateenager In Katrina terms, he stripped his life down to the studs He’snot sure how much he’sinclined to rebuild.

Residentsreact to alleged scheme involving four lawmen

BYJOSEPH CRANNEY |Staff writer

OAKDALE— Ann Odom,73, has lived her whole life in this small city at the ankle of Louisiana’s boot. And for the past threedecades,she’s owned aﬂea market and gift shop about 10 minutesnorth in tiny Glenmora. On Thursday,aday after policechiefs in Oakdale and Glenmora were indicted on fraud charges, along with Oakdale’s city marshaland the police chiefinaneventinier nearby hamlet, ForestHill, Odom stood in her store and tried making sense of it. One thought came to mind.

“Money is the root of all evil,” she said. The arrests of four elected local lawmen, following ayearlong federalinvestigation, stood out even in apart of western Louisiana that hasseen its share of disgraced ofﬁcials. The 62-count indictment unsealedlast week includesallegations of fakedpolicereports,fraudulent visasfor foreign nationals and tens of thousands of dollars in alleged bribes. It portrays Rapides and Allen parishes as an epicenter of immigration fraud on awide scale. According to prosecutors, each of those four lawmen was pliedwithstacksofcashbythe owner of alocal fast-food franchise and two convenience stores. Then, hundreds of people received visas based on phony police reports that portrayed them as crime victims or witnesses who were helping authorities.

See ARRESTS, page 11A

‘There is no wronganswer’ for congresswoman,consultantsays

What is Julia Letlow’snext move? That’sthe burningquestion nowinLouisiana politics. Within the next 60 or so days, the U.S. representative hastochooseamong three tantalizing options: Does she run forreelection,challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy or seek to become president of LSU? Well-likedbyRepublicanswho either love or loathePresident Donald Trump, Letlow,44, is personable and positive, much more likely to praise someonethantear them down.

She is serving her second full term in the House in adistrict that extends from Monroe through Livingston Parish and the Florida Parishes into Baton

ä See LETLOW, page 10A

STAFF PHOTOSByCHRIS GRANGER

Acandelabralights up thenight for former Times-Picayune writer Chris Rose at his campsite inside SwallowFalls State Park in Maryland on June 25.

Letlow

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam, killing 34

HA LONG BAY, Vietnam A boat carrying tourists capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon during a sightseeing excursion, killing 34 people, state media reported. Eight others remain missing.

The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members — all of them Vietnamese — during the tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors, according to the reports.

Rescue workers saved 11 people and recovered the dead near the site of the capsizing, VNExpress newspaper said. Authorities had earlier reported that 12 people had been rescued, but later revised the ﬁgure to 11. The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said. A 14-year-old boy was among the survivors, and he was rescued four hours after being trapped in the overturned hull.

The newspaper said that most of the passengers were tourists, including about 20 children, from Hanoi, the country’s capital.

10th person dies after Massachusetts fire

FALL RIVER, Mass. — A tenth per-

son has died after a fire that tore through an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts last weekend, ofﬁcials conﬁrmed on Saturday Brenda Cropper, 66, died at a hospital Friday, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III. She had been in critical condition all week, he said. Because of a miscommunication, her death for a time this week had been announced prematurely, officials have said.

The fire, which erupted Sunday evening, left some residents hanging out windows of the three-story facility screaming for help.

The cause remains under investigation, but the district attorney’s office says it does not appear suspicious Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon says the blaze started in a room on the second ﬂoor At least 30 people were hurt as thick smoke and ﬂames trapped residents inside. Records and accounts from staff raise concerns about conditions at Gabriel House before the blaze.

U.S. imposes limits on Mexican flights

The Trump administration imposed new restrictions Saturday on ﬂights from Mexico and threatened to end a long-standing partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico in response to limits the Mexican government placed on passenger and cargo ﬂights into Mexico City several years ago.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Mexico’s actions to force airlines to move out of the main Benito Juarez International Airport to the newer Felipe Angeles International Airport more than 30 miles away violated a trade agreement between the two countries and gave domestic airlines an unfair advantage. Mexico is the top foreign destination for Americans with more than 40 million passengers

ﬂying there last year

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg deliberately allowed Mexico to break our bilateral aviation agreement,” Duffy said of the previous administration

“That ends today Let these actions serve as a warning to any country who thinks it can take advantage of the U.S., our carriers, and our market. America First means ﬁghting for the fundamental principle of fairness.

All Mexican passenger, cargo and charter airlines will now be required to submit their schedules to the Transportation Department and seek government approval of their flights until Duffy is satisﬁed with the way Mexico is treating U.S. airlines. It’s not immediately clear how Duffy’s actions might affect the broader trade war with Mexico and negotiations over tariffs A spokesperson for Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum didn’t reply immediately to a request for a comment, and she didn’t mention the restrictions at an event Saturday

Israeli troops kill 32, Gaza officials say

Palestinians were trying to reach U.S.

group’s food distribution sites

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip

Israeli troops opened fire Saturday toward crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs run by a U.S.- and Israelibacked group in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people, according to witnesses and hospital ofﬁcials.

The shootings occurred near hubs operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which launched operations in May The U.S. and Israel seek to replace the traditional U.N.-led aid distribution system in Gaza, asserting that Hamas militants siphon off supplies.

The U.N. denies the allegation.

While GHF says it has distributed millions of meals to hungry Palestinians, local health ofﬁcials and witnesses say Israeli army fire has killed hundreds of people as they try to reach the hubs. GHF’s four sites are in militarycontrolled zones.

Israel’s army, which isn’t at the sites but secures them from a distance, said Saturday that it ﬁred warning shots near Gaza’s south-

ernmost city of Rafah, after a group of suspects approached troops and ignored calls to keep their distance. It said the incident occurred overnight when the distribution site was closed.

GHF said that there were no incidents at or near its sites and added, “we have repeatedly warned aid seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours.”

Most of Saturday’s deaths occurred as Palestinians massed about 2 miles from a GHF aid distribution center near the southern city of Khan Younis.

Mahmoud Mokeimar said

that he was walking with masses of people, mostly young men, toward the hub. Troops ﬁred warning shots, and then opened ﬁre.

“The occupation opened ﬁre at us indiscriminately,” he said. He said that he saw at least three motionless bodies on the ground and many wounded people ﬂeeing.

Akram Aker, another witness, said that troops ﬁred machine guns mounted on tanks and drones between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

“They encircled us and started firing directly at us,” Aker said. He said he saw many casualties on the ground.

Sanaa al-Jaberi said that there was shooting after the site opened as people seeking aid broke into a run.

“Is this food or death? Why? They don’t talk with us, they only shoot us,” she said, and showed off her empty bag.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said that it received 25 bodies. Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of meters or yards north of another GHF hub in Rafah, the hospital said.

Dr Mohamed Saker, the head of Nasser’s nursing department, said that it received 70 wounded people.

He told The Associated Press that most people were shot in the head and chest.

“The situation is difﬁcult and tragic,” he said, adding that the facility lacks medical supplies Some of the wounded, including a child, were treated on the floor One boy stood patiently, holding up a blood bag for someone on a stretcher Meanwhile, Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service in northern Gaza, said that two people were killed in Gaza City when an airstrike hit a tent in a camp sheltering displaced families.

In central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said that 12 people were killed in an airstrike including police official Omar Aqel. Two children, including an infant, and ﬁve women — all relatives of Aqel — were among the dead.

Al-Awda Hospital said that it also received two people killed by an Israeli strike on a group of people in Bureij, and that another strike on a group of people along Salah El Din street in central Gaza killed a child. Another strike on a house in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan killed at least four people, according to the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service. A strike on a cart in Tal al-Hawa in northern Gaza killed another four people, the service said.

Car strikes crowd outside L.A. venue, injuring 30

Bystanders attack driver, who was shot

BY DAMIAN DOVARGANES Associated Press

LOS ANGELES A vehicle

rammed into a crowd of people waiting to enter a performance venue along a busy boulevard in Los Angeles early Saturday, injuring 30 people and leading bystanders to attack the driver authorities said.

The driver was later found to have been shot, according to police, who were searching for a suspected gunman who fled the scene along Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood.

It was not immediately clear if the driver was shot before or after the crash or why he drove into the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAMIAN DOVARGANES

A vehicle sits on the sidewalk Saturday after ramming into a crowd of people waiting to enter a nightclub along a busy boulevard in Los Angeles, injuring 30 people.

crowd, a police spokesperson said.

Twenty-three victims were taken to hospitals and trauma centers, according to police. Seven were in critical condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement Fire Capt. Adam VanGerpen said a line of people

— mostly female — were waiting to enter Vermont Hollywood when they were struck by a Nissan Versa that also hit a food vending cart and valet stand. “This was a very chaotic scene,” said VanGerpen, a public information ofﬁcer People inside came out to help victims in the minutes

before emergency crews arrived, he said.

The driver, whose gunshot wound was found by paramedics, was also taken to a hospital. Police did not identify him or disclose his condition.

The person suspected of shooting him was described as a man in a blue jersey with a silver revolver

“This is under police investigation,” VanGerpen said.

“This will be a large investigation with the LAPD.”

Vermont Hollywood was hosting a reggae-hip hop event from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to its online calendar There was no immediate

response to a phone message left with the business.

A fight broke out outside the venue beforehand, according to Maria Medrano, who with her husband was there selling hot dogs. Shortly afterward, she said, the car hit the people, and the couple narrowly escaped when it crushed their stand.

“The car stopped once it hit the hot dog stand, it got stuck there,” Medrano told The Associated Press from the hospital. “If not, I wouldn’t be here to tell” the story After the crash she heard what sounded like gunshots.

“Everyone started running,” Medrano said.

By The Associated Press

Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine overnight into Saturday with hundreds of drones, killing at least one person, part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than 3-year-old war Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X that Russia fired over 300 drones, along with more than 30 cruise missiles.

One person died in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, which was hit with more than 20 drones and a missile, Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov wrote on Telegram, while five people were rescued when a ﬁre broke out in a residential high-rise building According to Zelenskyy, six other people were wounded in the attack on Odesa, including a child, and critical infrastructure was damaged in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.

The Ukrainian president also thanked international leaders “who understand how important it is to promptly implement our agreements” aimed at boosting Ukraine’s defense capabilities, including joint weapons production, drone manufacturing and the supply of air defense systems.

are likely to escalate. On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 13 drones were shot down as they approached the Russian capital. In other developments, Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Russia on Saturday of deporting Ukrainian citizens into Georgia and leaving them stranded without proper identiﬁcation. Russia pounds Ukraine with over 300 drones, killing 1

Russia has been intensifying its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. It now often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEHAD ALSHRAFI

PHOTO PROVIDED By UKRAINIAN EMERGENCy SERVICE A residential building burns Saturday

attack in Odesa, Ukraine.

Trumpchisels away at powerofcompliant Congress

BY LISA MASCARO AP congressional correspondent

WASHINGTON “Mr.President, this is the gavelused to enact the ‘big, beautiful bill,’”House Speaker Mike Johnson said at aWhite House signing ceremony on the Fourth of July “I want you to haveit,” he said.

Handing over the gavel delighted President Donald Trump who, seated behind a desk outdoors, immediately tested it out with afew quick thumps.

The moment left amemorable mark on ahistoric day.The gesture reflected atraditional nod of honor, from one leader to another,a milestone of the Republican Party’spriority legislation becoming law.But the imagery also underscored asymbolic transfer of political power,from Capitol Hill to the White House as acompliant Congress is ceding more and more of its prerogative to the presidency.

Since Trump’sreturn to the White House in January,and particularly in the past few weeks, Republicans in control of the House and Senate have shown an unusual willingness to give thepresident of theirparty what he wants, regardless of the potential risktothemselves, their constituents and Congress itself.

Republicans raced to put the big package of tax breaks and spending cuts on Trump’sdesk by hisIndependence Daydeadline.

Senators had quickly conﬁrmed almost all of Trump’s outsider Cabinet nominees

despite grave reservations overRobert F. KennedyJr. as health secretary,Pete Hegseth as the Pentagon chief and others. House Republicans pursued Trump’s interest in investigating his perceivedfoes, including investigating Democratic President Joe Biden’suse of the autopen But at thesame time, Congress hit the brakes on one of its own priorities, legislation imposing steep sanctionsonRussia over its war on Ukraine, after Trump announced he was allowing President Vladimir Putin an additional 50 days to negotiate apeace deal, dashing hopes for aswifter endto theconﬂict.

This past week, Congress was tested anew,delivering on Trump’srequestto rescind some $9 billion that lawmakers had approved but that theadministration wanted to eliminate,includingmoney for public broadcastingand overseasaid.It was arare presidential request, achallenge to thelegislativebranch’spower of thepurse, that has not been usedindecades.

“We’relawmakers. We should be legislating,”said a deﬁant Sen. Lisa Murkowksi,R-Alaska,asshe refused to support the White House’s demand to rescindmoney forNationalPublic Radio and others.

“What we’re getting now is adirectionfrom the White Houseand being told,‘This is the priority. We want you to executeonit. We’ll be back with youwithanother round,’”she said. “I don’tacceptthat.”

Tech CEOresigns aftercontroversy over Coldplay concertvideo

BY ALEX VEIGA AP business writer

Atech company CEOhas resigned after controversy over avideo captured on the big screen at aColdplay concert. Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Astronomer Inc.,according to astatement posted on LinkedIn by the companySaturday

“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to setthe standard in both conduct and accountability,andrecently,thatstandard was not met,” the company said in its post on LinkedIn.

The move comes aday after the company saidthat Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched aformal investigation into the incident, which went viral.

Ashort video clipfrom Coldplay’sconcert Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, showed aman and awoman

When they sawthemselves on the big screen, her jaw dropped, her hands flew to her face and shespun away fromthe camera.Heducked outofthe frame,asdid she.

LeadsingerChris Martin had asked the cameras to scan thecrowd for his“Jumbotron Song,” when he sings afew lines aboutthe people the cameralands on.

“Either they’rehaving an affair or they’rejustvery shy,”hejoked.

Internet sleuths identiﬁed the manasthe chiefexecutive officer of aU.S.-based companyand the womanas its chief people ofﬁcer.

Pete DeJoy,Astronomer’s co-founder and chief product ofﬁcer,has been tapped as interim CEO while the company conducts asearch forByron’ssuccessor

It’s easy to miss, but most concert venues have signs informing the audiencethat they could be ﬁlmed during theevent. Look forthem on the walls whenyou arrive and aroundthe barareas or toilets. It’scommon practice

Congress, the branch of government the Founding Fathers placed firstinthe Constitution, is at afamiliarcrossroads. During the ﬁrst Trump administration, Republicans frightened by Trump’sangry tweets of disapprovalwould keep their criticisms private.

Those who did speak up Liz Cheney of Wyoming in theHouse and Mitt Romney of Utah in the Senate, among others —are gone from Capitol Hill.

One former GOP senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, who announced in 2017 during Trump’sfirst term that he would notseek reelection thenext year,isimploring Republicans to ﬁnd abetter way “The fever still hasn’tbro-

ken,” he wroterecently in The New York Times. “In today’s Republican Party, voting your conscience is essentially disqualifying.”

But this time, the halls of Congress are ﬁlled with manyRepublicans who came of political age with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movementand owe their ascenttothe president himself. Manyare emulating his brand and style as they shape their own.

Anew generation of GOP leaders, Johnsoninthe House and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have pulled closer toTrump.They are utilizing the power of the presidency in wayslarge and small —tobroker deals, encourage wayward lawmakers to fall in line, even

to set schedules.

Johnson, R-Benton, has openly pined for what he calls a“normal Congress.”

Butshortofthat, thespeaker reliesonTrump to help stay on track.WhenRepublicans hit an impasse on cryptocurrency legislation, aTrumppriority,itwas the president who met with holdouts in the Oval Ofﬁce late Tuesday night as Johnson called in by phone.

The result is aperceptible imbalance of power as the executive exerts greater authoritywhile the legislative branch dims. The judicial branchhas been left to do the heavy lift of checks and balances withthe courts processing hundreds of lawsuits over the administration’sactions.

“The genius of ourConstitution is the separation of power,” said Democratic Rep. NancyPelosiofCalifornia, theformerspeaker,in an interviewonSiriusXM’s “Mornings with Zerlina.”

“That the Republicans in Congress would be so ignoring of the institution that they represent, and that have just melted the power of theincredibly shrinking speakership” and Senate leadership positions, “to do allofthese things,tocater to the executive branch,” she said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., enduredTrump’scriticism over his opposition to the tax and spending cuts bill. Thesenatorraisedconcerns aboutsteep cuts to hospitals, but thepresident threatened to campaign against him. Tillis announced he would not seek reelection in 2026. Sen. Susan Collins, RMaine, voted against that bill andthe rescissions packagedespite Trump’sthreat to campaign against any dissenters.

One Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, appearstobepressing on unphased. He recently proposedlegislationtoforce the administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein ﬁles, something the president hadbeen reluctant to do.

“Nowhere in theConstitution does it say that if the president wants something, youmustdoit,”saidSen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in aSenate speech. “Wedon’t have to do this. We don’t havetooperate under the assumption that this man is uniquely so powerful.”

Family sues Atlantaoverhomelesscampdeath

BY CHARLOTTE KRAMON Associated Press/ Reportfor America

ATLANTA The family of ahomeless man who died after abulldozer crushed his tentduring an encampment sweepsuedthe city of Atlanta on Friday over his death,calling it “tragic and preventable.”

The lawsuit filed by Cornelius Taylor’ssister and son alleges that city employees failedtolook to see if there was anyone inside the tents in the encampment before using a bulldozer to clear it. Taylor,46, was inside one of thetents and was crushed by thetruck when his tent was ﬂattened, the lawsuit says.

Cityofﬁcials hadcalled for the clearing of the encampmentinpreparation for the Martin Luther King Jr.holiday.The encampment was blocks away from Ebenezer BaptistChurch, where King hadpreached. An autopsy report later revealed Taylor’spelvic bone had been broken and that he suffered damage to organs and internal bleeding.

heavyequipment.That’s obviouslywrong,” attorney Harold Spence said. “Nobody looked inside thetent, and if someone wholooked inside had taken 10 seconds to do so,thistragedy could

have been averted. And if youdon’t know what’sinside, you don’tcrush it.”

The lawsuit ﬁledinFulton County State Court asks for ajurytrial andseeks unspeciﬁeddamages,aswell

as repayment formedical expenses, funeral costs andlegal fees.Itwas ﬁled against thecityand seven unnamed city employees, including the driver of the bulldozer

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

PresidentDonald Trumpholdsa gavelonJuly4 after he signed hisbill of tax breaksand spending cuts at the White House in Washington while surrounded by members of Congress.

Syria urges Bedouin tribes to commit to ceasefire

BY SALLY ABOU ALJOUD and OMAR ALBAM Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria Syria’s interim President Ahmad alSharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes Saturday to “fully commit” to a ceaseﬁre aimed at ending clashes with Druze-linked militias that left hundreds dead and threatened to unravel the country’s postwar transition.

Despite the call, clashes continued in the southern province of Sweida.

Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed ﬁghting that erupted Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence also drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached.

The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceaseﬁre early Saturday Al-Sharaa made no direct reference to the agreement in his speech, but said “American and Arab mediations stepped in” to restore calm.

Addressing the Bedouins al-Sharaa said they “cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country’s affairs and restoring security.” He also said: “We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceaseﬁre and comply with the state’s orders.”

Meanwhile, a prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, who opposes the current government and has distanced himself from the two ceaseﬁres an-

In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed “armed groups from Sweida” for reigniting the conflict by “launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.” He also said Israeli intervention “pushed the country into a dangerous phase.” Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government ﬁghters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus, saying it was in support of the Druze who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, often serving in the Israeli military Reports had surfaced of Syrian government-affiliated fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning homes over the four-day violence.

nounced on Tuesday and Wednesday, said that an agreement brokered under the sponsorship of guarantor states contained several measures aimed at de-escalating tensions in Sweida. They include the deployment of checkpoints outside the province’s administrative borders to contain clashes and prevent inﬁltration, a 48-hour ban on entry by any party into border villages, and safe, guaranteed passage for remaining mem-

Congo, Rwanda-backed rebels

Parties sign declaration of principles

BY CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal — Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels on Saturday signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end decadeslong ﬁghting and commit to a comprehensive peace agreement that

would include the restoration of state authorities in key eastern cities controlled by the insurgents. Congo and the M23 rebels committed to “building trust” through various measures, including an exchange of prisoners and detainees as well as restoring state authority in all parts of the country, including rebel-held areas, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaiﬁ, Qatar’s minister of state, said at a brieﬁng.

It was not immediately clear if the declaration involves M23’s withdrawal from cities it controls, as the two parties seemed to interpret the agreement differently Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 leader, said on X that the declaration is “not a question of withdrawal but of mechanisms for empowering the state, enabling it to assume its prerogatives and obligations.” M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka

bers of the Bedouin tribes still inside the province. Sharaa reiterated that Sweida “remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric,” vowing to protect all minorities in Syria.

He also thanked the United States for its “significant role in affirming its support for Syria during these difficult times,” as well as Arab countries and Turkey, which

mediated Wednesday’s truce.

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.

The U.N. estimates more than 87,000 people have been displaced in Sweida province since July 12 due

to heavy shelling, sniper ﬁre and abductions.

Entire communities have ﬂed on foot, with many now crammed into overcrowded schools, churches and public buildings under dire conditions, the U.N. Ofﬁce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. Infrastructure damage has cut electricity, water and telecommunications in much of the area, it said. The main hospital in Sweida was operating at just 15% capacity due to staff shortages and a lack of fuel. The security situation is also endangering humanitarian workers. The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, reported that one of its emergency team leaders went missing on July 16 while responding to a call for help from a U.N. team, OCHA said.

Meanwhile, Jordan, Syria, and the U.S. agreed on a set of practical steps to bolster the ceaseﬁre, including the deployment of Syrian security forces and the release of detainees from all sides, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday The announcement came after a meeting between Barrack, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi.

told The Associated Press in a telephone call: “We are in Goma with the population and we are not going to get out.”

However, Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the declaration takes into account “the nonnegotiable withdrawal” of the rebels, followed by the deployment of government forces and institutions.

Backed by neighboring Rwanda, the M23 is the most

prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo’s mineralrich east. With 7 million people displaced in Congo, the U.N. has called the conﬂict in eastern Congo “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.”

Saturday’s signing is the ﬁrst direct commitment by both sides since the rebels seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance early this year A ﬁ-

nal peace deal is to be signed no later than Aug. 18, and it “shall align with the Peace Agreement between Congo and Rwanda,” facilitated by the U.S. in June, according to a copy of the declaration seen by AP M23 had been pushing for the release of its members held by Congo’s military, many of them facing the death sentence. Congo had requested the withdrawal of the rebels from seized territories.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GHAITH ALSAyED

Bedouin fighters from various provinces gather Saturday at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, before heading to the southern province of Sweida to join clashes between Bedouin clans and Druze militias.

“When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces. But don’t pity us. We’re gonna make it. We’re resilient. After all, we’ve been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That’s got to count for something.” CHRIS ROSE,“Who We Are,” Sept. 6, 2005

SOLITUDE

Continued from page 1A

“These have been the best three-and-a-half years of my life,” he says of his time in the wilderness. “Unequivocally.”

The quiet and clarity have allowed him to reﬂect on his many highs and lows.

“I’ve sown a lot of beautiful chaos,” he says. “And a lot of it not so beautiful.”

Owls, bears, snakes

An unseasonably warm afternoon in late June ﬁnds a sweaty Chris Rose clipping roadside wildﬂowers near the entrance to Swallow Falls State Park.

The lines on his face are deep, but he otherwise presents as a relatively healthy and energetic 65-year-old.

Pot gummies, legal in Maryland, help take the edge off his anxiety. “If I had known about that 30 years ago,” he says “I wouldn’t be dying of cirrhosis.”

He still smokes cigarettes, a habit he acquired as an extra in Oliver Stone’s New Orleans-shot “JFK.”

Of all his addictions, “the hardest to kick has been news,” he says. “When you spend 35 years in the news business, it’s really hard.”

He is Swallow Falls’ “camp host,” a volunteer position that allows him to stay for months in exchange for cleaning campsites, answering visitors’ questions and otherwise making himself useful. He sees his primary duty as “protecting wildlife and trees from the depredations of my fellow human beings.” He’s also a “craftsman with a rake.”

Swallow Falls has 65 campsites; his has electricity His red and white camper, which he pulls behind his Toyota 4Runner to and from Mississippi contains a dorm-sized refrigerator and a microwave. He lives “like a pioneer — a pioneer with a vacuum cleaner and a French press.”

He usually sleeps in a weathered 12-by-14-foot White Duck tent furnished with an inﬂatable mattress a lamp, a bookshelf and a ﬂea market end table.

Owls swoop overhead. Not long ago, he and a bear startled one another He keeps his campsite tidy, in part, so snakes stay away “This life is not easy, but it’s simple,” he says. “I have everything I need, and I don’t need anything I don’t have.”

He visits New Orleans in the winter while based at Clear Springs Campground inside Mississippi’s Homochitto National Forest. But he doubts he’ll ever live in a city again.

“I don’t function particularly well on concrete anymore. I always have a smile on my face when I’m driving back to the woods.”

A fateful spring break in N.O

His current circumstances are the opposite of his privileged upbringing three hours east of the park in Chevy Chase, Maryland. His father, Dr John C. Rose, pioneered diagnostic cardiology techniques and was dean of Georgetown University’s School of Medicine. His mother Dorothy was a graduate of Georgetown’s nursing school. They were married 65 years and raised ﬁve children.

Christopher he hated being teased as “Christopher Robin” as a boy — attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit institution in suburban Washington, D.C., that was founded in 1789 and counts Supreme Court justices and the current Federal Reserve chair as alumni Rose smoked joints on the school’s nine-hole golf course between classes. As a University of Wisconsin journalism major in 1980, he and a buddy road tripped to Texas for spring break. A storm chased them to Florida, then New Orleans. The duo’s one night stand involved Bourbon Street, booze, jazz and, as Rose later wrote,

“these beautiful Scandinavian girls.”

After graduating, he landed a job in The Washington Post mailroom A baseball player, he pitched an idea for a ﬁrst-person narrative about trying out for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The story scored him his ﬁrst Post byline. In 1984, he took a job as a crime reporter in The TimesPicayune’s West Bank Bureau. He eventually transitioned to writing features and columns for the Living section

He was often a character in his own stories. He infamously wrote that Kentwood native Britney Spears “put the ‘ho’ in Tangipahoa.”

He was all-in, all the time, the way naturalized New Orleanians often are, fully immersed in second-lines, Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras alongside his wife, Kelly, and their three children.

Katrina changed everything. Finding fame

The week before the storm, Rose covered a “naked sushi party” where raw ﬁsh was plucked off a model’s body He also interviewed actress Lucy Lawless at the West End restaurant Bruning’s.

Days later, Bruning’s was in the lake and Rose’s days as a celebrity stalker were done. He rode shotgun as the city clawed its way back. For returning residents and far-ﬂung exiles, he was essential, emotional reading.

A self-published collection of

his post-Katrina columns sold 65,000 copies. Simon & Schuster took notice and, in 2007, released an expanded edition of “1 Dead in Attic” that became a New York Times bestseller

A Pulitzer Prize ﬁnalist, Rose spent hours autographing books everywhere from the Esplanade Mall to Tipitina’s. He was a rock star columnist, experiencing the “great karmic payback” of being hounded in public just like he once hounded celebrities.

“It drove my kids crazy, because we couldn’t eat anywhere. Those were great years. I’m lucky I got to have a couple dreams come true.

“I’ve had a great life when I haven’t been getting run over by buses.”

Dark days and nights

One particularly hard hit was opiates. Rose’s addiction, coupled with depression, anxiety and an alcoholic bent that predated the storm, made for dark days and nights. Much damage was done to himself and others.

In 2007, the newspaper sent him to rehab following an intervention. His marriage ended.

In January 2008, the Columbia Journalism Review published a proﬁle titled “The Redemption of Chris Rose.” In the CJR’s estimation, Rose was, “like his city and his newspaper, a survivor.”

His redemption story proved premature. He and his columns grew angrier After he was arrested, the paper sent him to rehab a second time.

In 2009, Rose accepted a buyout offer and left The Times-Picayune.

“The paper treated me great during my good years and the rough ones,” he says.

As a freelancer, he never found professional or personal stability

He taped Fox 8 commentaries and hosted a radio show on WHIV and a short-lived “New Orleans noir” podcast. He authored a 2012 Mardi Gras episode of the HBO series “Treme” and wrote for Gambit, Rouse’s trade publication and New Orleans Magazine. He sold his artwork in Pirates Alley and art markets.

His drinking accelerated after an especially bad breakup circa 2014. Gatorade mixed with vodka

was a favorite fake-out.

The Columbia Journalism Review checked in on him again in March 2015. The title this time?

“The irredeemable Chris Rose.” He drifted from Uptown to the French Quarter to Mid-City to a small Esplanade Avenue apartment near City Park.

During the pandemic, he lived with jewelry designer Janelle Glass in Lacombe. That’s where the Secret Service paid him a visit following an ill-advised Facebook post.

When his relationship with Glass ended, he slept in his car or on his buddy A.J. McAlear’s couch. By then, he was drinking every morning to stave off sickness.

“It was kind of a blurry summer,” he says. “I’ve had to consult with them to ﬁnd out where I was at certain times.”

A breaking point

He and his older brother Richard had fantasized about living on an island. In April 2021, Rose decided to scout out Puerto Rico. He checked into the Red Roof Inn in Kenner the night before his early morning ﬂight. He started hallucinating.

“Not only visual and aural, but tactile,” he recalled. “I was holding things in my hand that weren’t there. I had ﬁngers reaching through the bed.”

An ambulance collected him. His liver, kidneys, pancreas and spleen were failing. Doctors said he probably would have died on the plane to Puerto Rico.

He was hospitalized at least twice more that summer, surrounded by COVID patients. After being discharged, he’d go back to drinking.

Richard Rose ﬁnally got his younger brother out of New Orleans and into a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. That’s

Chris Rose shows off his ‘I Used to Be Famous’ T-shirt, which he received as a gift, at his campsite in Maryland.

STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER

Former Times-Picayune writer Chris Rose rests after picking wildflowers on June 25.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By ELIOT KAMENITZ

Chris

in 2006.

“We’re a porch full of people who don’t know who’s playing in the World Series and don’t know what movies opened this week and don’t know how many died in Iraq today. We are consumed. We would probably bore you to tears. But it is good therapy and we laugh more than we cry, and that’s a start, that’s a good thing, that’s a sign of winning this war.”

CHRIS ROSE,“The Elephant Men,” Oct. 25, 2005

where Chris ﬁrst heard “cirrhosis” preceded by “end-stage.” His scarred liver could no longer repair itself. The average lifespan of an end-stage cirrhosis patient, he learned, is two years. He spent three months at the Maryland home of a college roommate, Gary Zinkgraf, convalescing and recovering from ascites, a cirrhosis-triggered buildup of ﬂuid in the belly and legs: “I looked like I was 14 months pregnant with twins.” Considering his options, Rose realized that “after living in New Orleans for 35 years, if there was anything left that I had not done yet, I probably shouldn’t do it.”

He had little in the way of possessions. He’d burned most of his photos and awards but preserved his baseball gear and a printout of thousands of old emails from readers.

He wanted to be outdoors and useful with whatever time he had left. He remembered meeting the camp host while visiting Swallow Falls in the early 2000s with his kids. Maybe he could do that. He found a park along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay in need of a host. When the Swallow Falls position opened up, he took it

He had ﬁrst slipped behind the park’s Muddy Creek Falls as a 16-year-old Georgetown Prep student. The air beyond the white-noise curtain of water felt charged.

“It changed my life,” Rose says.

“You come out the other side that’s my Jesus right there. I’ve been chasing waterfalls ever since.”

If Muddy Creek Falls gave him a charge at the start of his life’s journey, maybe it would do the same near the end.

One infection away

In the early evening darkness, Rose kindles a ﬁre with newsprint. He’s grilling steak, sweet potatoes and corn for visitors.

A master of campﬁre cuisine, he’s armed with four different s’mores recipes.

He lights ﬁve candles in a small candelabra on his tented picnic table as the forest comes alive with the sounds of night.

He checks that his steak isn’t too rare. An infection from undercooked meat could be fatal, given his compromised liver And because he’s unable to sniff out spoiled food he lost his sense of smell years ago — he automatically throws away anything past

its expiration date.

“How do I die? I drink, or I get an infection,” he says. “If I ever get in a situation where my liver has to work overtime, it won’t. The next time I get sick, I won’t be coming out of the hospital.”

He’s an organ donor but can’t imagine his will be of much use: “Maybe somebody can use my corneas.”

Whatever’s left will be donated to science “so nobody’s got to deal with me.”

Solitude sits well

Figuring he had two years left, he budgeted and spent accordingly He gave nice gifts. He took trips to Hawaii and a music festival in Sweden. He got tattoos related to Hawaii, Smokey Bear and a blue rose.

He long ago squandered his 401(k) retirement savings on pills. His dire ﬁnancial situation helped motivate him to shake his opiate addiction in 2011, during his third rehab.

Now he depends on Social Security, Medicare and rent-free living in parks.

Twenty years later, Katrina has largely faded from his consciousness. “1 Dead in Attic” is not among the titles in his tent. Katrina is “certainly one of the building blocks” of his current existence. “But by the time I left New Orleans, I don’t think it was really a part of me anymore. (In Maryland) I don’t have people to remind me.”

A former co-worker visits once a year with a fresh supply of books. Certain women, Rose discovered, consider bunking with a damaged writer in the woods romantic.

But mostly he is alone with his cellphone silenced. He talks to animals and sometimes trees.

“I was a very social creature. I never had anything against people, but I’ve learned that I can do

real ﬁne without them.”

As he reads — 80-plus biographies of prominent Americans so far plus many classics — or listens to the radio by a campﬁre, he is “the most contented (guy) you’ll see in a long time. I am terminally cheerful and profoundly untroubled.

“I’ll take long walks and look around and realize I don’t really know where I am. But as long as there’s still a trail, I can go back that way.”

A return to writing?

There are trails he’d like to retrace.

His three kids, the youngest of whom recently graduated from college, witnessed the worst of his drinking years. They’re now estranged; Rose has had little contact with them since the start of the pandemic.

He hopes to reconcile. Young families at Swallow Falls remind him of his kids: “I can’t see Lunchables without thinking about them.”

He has taken tentative steps down another dormant path. He bought a laptop in November and has dictated notes into his phone, writing “a lot of words that aren’t any good. Some sentences, but no paragraphs. No coherence.”

He’s considered writing a dad memoir, an addiction memoir, an addicted dad memoir or even an “addicted dad with a terminal disease who moved into the woods” memoir But, he says, “I just can’t ﬁnd anything to hang it on.”

With so much time alone, he thought he’d write and paint proliﬁcally “I’d have my paint and brushes and go, ‘I don’t really feel like it.’ It’s been the same thing with writing. I just haven’t felt like it.

“I know I’ve got a great story to tell. I don’t know if I know how to write anymore. When I do sit down, it doesn’t come very easy.” Meanwhile, there are campsites to clean, campﬁres to build and waterfalls to chase.

Long past midnight in the woods of western Maryland, the ﬁve candles Rose lit have nearly burned down. But they’re still able to give off a little more light. Maybe Chris Rose can, too.

“This cat’s on his ninth life,” he says. “And it’s a good one.”

“Out in a Kenner neighborhood … many of the houses are gutted. But the FEMA trailers parked in the front yards are decorated with twinkling white lights instead. It is both the saddest and most beautiful thing you ever saw.” CHRIS ROSE,“Lights in the City,” Dec 11, 2005

STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER

Chris Rose said he loves the cold water and clear air he finds around the large waterfall at Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland

Chris Rose serves as ‘camp host’ at Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland. It is a volunteer position that allows him to stay for months in exchange for cleaning campsites, answering visitors’ questions and otherwise making himself useful.

Chris Rose lights a candle in the tent where he sleeps at Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland.

Surrogates speakout aboutcoupleunder investigation

BY JAIMIE DING and HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press

LOSANGELES Awoman who almost served as asurrogate for aSouthern California couple now under investigation by authorities said she backed out afterthe couple asked her if any of her friends would like to carry a child for them too.

Therequest as well as conﬂicting information she was getting left the woman, Esperanza,unnerved and she decided not to sign a surrogacy contractwith Silvia Zhang, who offered her $60,000. Esperanza spoke to The AssociatedPress onthe condition that her lastname not be used because she has not shared her surrogacy experience publicly Zhang, 38, and her husband, Guojun Xuan, 65, are now the target of an investigation by localand federal authorities after theirinfant childwas taken to the hospital with atraumatic head injury in May.Authoritieshave since taken 21 children from thecouple’s custody, many of whom were born by surrogate, said Lt. Kollin Cieadlo of the Arcadia PoliceDepartment, near Los Angeles.

Surrogacy is an agreement between parties fora woman to become pregnant, typically through an embryo transfer,and deliver ababy for the intended person or couple to raise.

The children range in age from 2months to 13 years, with most between 1and 3. Esperanza is one of at least eight women who say they were aggressively pursued by the couple to serve as surrogates. The women, many of whom were ﬁrst-time sur-

rogates,say theyweregiven misleading or incomplete informationabout thecouple’s family situationand intentions. Some,like Esperanza, did not move forwardwith carrying achild for thecouple. Another who did, Kayla Elliott, is nowtryingtoget custody of ababy shebirthed in Marchfor the couple. Arcadia policesay the FBI is involved in the investigation over whether the couple misled surrogates around the country.The FBI has not confirmed its investigation.Elliott saidshe was interviewed by the FBI at the end of May Elliott worked through a businesscalled Mark Surrogacy, according to the contractshe signed and shared with the AP.California state records show acompany called Mark Surrogacy Investments LLC registered at thecompany’s Arcadia home until this June. Elliot’s contract listed an El Monte address for thecompany.An AP reporter visited that location Thursdayand did not ﬁnd anyone who recognized the names of the couple or Mark Surrogacy Zhang did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment. Lawyers for Mark Surrogacy did not respond to emailsseeking comment,nor dida fertility clinic involved in theembryo transfer In social media posts, other women who say they served as surrogates for Zhang and Xuan outlined suspiciousactions including the couple not fulﬁlling payment obligations and weren’tpresent for thechildren’s births. Many women contacted by theAP did not respond orsaid they would only speak aftersecuringanattorney

Bangladesh’s Islamist partyprojectsforce with rallyinDhaka

BY JULHAS ALAM Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party rallied in the capital on Saturdayto show their strength before an election expected next year,asthe South Asian nation stands at acrossroads after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus said that the next election would be held in April. But his administration didn’t rule out apossibility of polls in February,which has been stronglydemanded by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies.

Jamaat-e-Islami, which had sided with Pakistan during Bangladesh’swar of independencein1971, had said that it would mobilize 1 million people on Saturday While Hasina wasinpower from 2009 until she was top-

pledinstudent-led protests last year and ﬂed to India, top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were either executed or jailed on charges of crimes against humanity andother serious crimes in 1971. In late March 1971, Pakistan’smilitary hadlaunched aviolentcrackdown on the city ofDhaka, whichwas then part of East Pakistan, to quellarisingnationalist movement seeking independence for what is today known asBangladesh.

ThepartyonSaturday placed aseven-point demand on the Yunus-led administrationtoensure afree, fair and peaceful election;justice for allmasskillings; essential reforms andthe proclamation andimplementation of a charter involvinglast year’s mass uprising. It also wants the introduction of aproportional representation system in the election.

Thousands of supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami had spent thenight on theDhaka University campus before the rally.OnSaturdaymorning

Zhang and Xuan were arrested in Mayafter ahospital reported that their 2-monthold infant had atraumatic head injury,the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby,according to Arcadia police. Arcadiapolicedid notﬁle charges at the time, in order to ﬁnish afull investigation, Cieadlo said, and detectives were looking into possible child abuse charges and anticipated presenting acase in afew weeks

The couple toldpolice that they“wanted alarge family” and produced what appeared to be legitimatebirth certiﬁcates, including some from outside California, that list Zhang as the mother of the children, Cieadlo said. Xuan was listedasthe father on at leastsome of the birth certiﬁcates,Cieadlo said. Esperanza’s dealings with Zhang began in 2023. She hadpostedinaFacebook

group for people interested in surrogacy and received a message from Zhang.

Zhang said she and her partner alreadyhad an 8-year-old daughter in China but werehaving fertilityissues. Zhang said she was working with asurrogate who was already pregnant but that she wanted “twins,” so she waspursuing asecond surrogate.But Esperanza said things started to feel amiss after Zhangaskedif she hadany friends who also wanted to be surrogates.

“She said thatshe’sa realtorinArcadia and that’show she has alot of money and was able to afford alot of surrogates at thetime,” Esperanza said.

Esperanza backed out of the surrogacy after the lawyer for the couple abruptly hung up on her while discussing thecontract. She said the documentsaidthe couple would implant two embryos

Thousands of supporters of Bangladesh’slargest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, attend arally SaturdayinDhaka, Bangladesh, in ashowofstrength ahead of elections expected nextyear

they continued to stream toward SuhrawardyUdyan ahistorical site where the Pakistaniarmyhad surrendered to ajoint force of India andBangladesh on Dec. 16, 1971, ending the ninemonth war

“Weare here for anew Bangladesh, where Islam would be the guiding principle of governance, where good and honest people will rule the country,and there will be no corruption,”Iqbal Hossain, 40, toldThe Associated Press. “Wewill sacriﬁce our lives, if necessary, for this cause.”

Many young supporters in their 20s and 30s were also present “UnderJamaat-e-Islami,

this country willhaveno discrimination. All people will have their rights. Becausewefollow the path of the holy book, Quran,” said Mohidul Morsalin Sayem, a20-year-old student.“If allthe Islamistparties join hands soon, nobody will be able to take power from us.”

The party’schief, Shaﬁqur Rahman,said that the struggle in 2024 was to eliminate “fascism”from thecountry, but this time there will be another ﬁght against corruption and extortion. Rahman, 66, fainted twice as he addressed his supporters, but quickly returned to continue to speak surrounded by other leaders on the stage.

instead of one and the section requiring background information on the couple was cutout. Thecouple became angry when she decided not to move forward.

Esperanza showed text messages to the AP that showed Zhangoffering $3,000 more if she agreed to keep going, and another $2,000 bonus after afetal heartbeat is detected.

Elliott gave birth to ababy girl in March. She chose to be asurrogate because she “really wantedtogive somebody afamily.”

The Texaswoman began theprocess whenMarkSurrogacy reached outtoher directly on Facebook. She signed acontract listing Xuan and Zhang as the intended parents. The contract said Elliott would receive $65,000 in aseriesofpayments by the end of her 16th gestational week Elliott becamewary when

early in the pregnancy she flew to California to meet the couple and only Xuan showedup. As theprocess went on, Elliotthad almostno direct contact with the Xuan and Zhang, which is uncommoninsurrogacy.Mostof themessaging was through texts andemails withrepresentatives from the agency, whodiscouraged her from reaching out to Zhang.

“The agency was always like, ‘Oh, they’re very busy people,’”she said.

When she learned that the couple had at least two other surrogates having babies for them,she was told by the agency “they just want abig family.”

Elliott ﬂewtoCalifornia for the embryo transfer,which was done at Western Fertility Institute in Los Angeles. The clinic declined to comment on the investigation.

Neitherparentwerethere for Elliott’slabor or delivery, and only Zhang showed up afew hours after the baby wasborn.The woman “didn’t seem very connected with thechild shekind of barely looked at her,” Elliott said. After handing Elliott $2,000 in cash and giving three of herfamilymembersinthe room $200 each,the woman left with the baby girl. Now,Elliott wants custody of the girl andsaysshe just hopes all the babies are safe. When the news first broke aboutthe couple,she confronted Zhang on the phone and over text. In text messages Elliott showed to the AP,Zhang wrote: “All thebabiesreally important in our life.” Golden reported from Seattle. AP journalist Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.

NTSB head says AirIndia crashreporting ‘premature’

BY ALLYSON VERSPRILLE Bloomberg News (TNS)

WASHINGTON The head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it’stoo soon to draw conclusions about what caused the deadly crash of an Air India jetlinerfollowing reports that the captain of the plane likely moved switches that controlthe flowoffuel to the engines.

“Investigations of this magnitude take time,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Friday in apost to socialmedia platform X. She called recent media reports “premature and speculative,” without providing any specifics on what exactly she was referring to. Investigators, led by India’s AircraftAccident Investigation Bureau with the assistance of the NTSB, have been piecing together evidence to determinewhat caused AirIndia Flight 171 to crashonJune12, killing 260 people.AAIBand Air India Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Campbell Wilson have also urged the public not to drawconclusions while the probe is ongoing.

It can takea year sometimes longer —for authorities to release aﬁnal report laying outthe probable causeofanaccident and recommendations for avoiding future tragedies. Apreliminary report released by the AAIBfound twofuelcontrol switches on the Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner were moved to a“cutoff”position immediately afterthe aircraft lifted off,starvingthe engines of fuel.While themovewas reversed about10seconds later,itwas too late to avert the crash.

Acockpit voice recording fromthe aircraft revealed that one pilot —since identified by Bloomberg and other outlets as First Ofﬁcer Clive Kunder —asked theother,Capt. Sumeet Sabharwal,why he moved the switches, to which the latter replied he didn’t. How and why the switches cametobeturned off are the key lines of inquiry for investigators. Ofﬁcials are probing whetheritcould be the result of humanaction —deliberate or inadvertent —orafailure of the plane’s systems.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByJAE C. HONG

The home of Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan is seen WednesdayinArcadia, Calif., where a number of children were removedfrom the couple’shomeafter achild abuse allegation in May, according to Arcadia police.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Rouge,includingCentral, St George and LSU’scampus. She has easily won three races to the House, running the ﬁrst time after her husband Luke had won theseat in December 2020 and then died three weeks later from COVID-19. Before that, Letlow served as asenior administrator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and was aﬁnalist to be the university’spresident

“There is no wrong answer for Julia Letlow because there’snodead end in her politicalfuture,” saidMaryPatricia Wray,alobbyist and politicalconsultant in Baton Rouge. “She could run for reelection andgainseniority in the House. She could run for the Senate and have agood chance of winning. Or she couldreturn to her comfort zone and go back into academia. She is acommodity in all three of those long-term choices.”

For now,Letlow is not tipping her hand on what she might do. She did not respond to arequest for an interview for this article. In a statement, shesaid shewas “grateful for the outpouring of encouragement andsupport” and added, “I remain committed to working with President Trump, Speaker (Mike) Johnson, and Majority Leader (Steve) Scalise to continue delivering results for Louisiana and the nation.”

Runningfor Senate?

Several political insiders say she has discussedwith them thepossibility of running against Cassidy,afellow Republican who is running hard for athird term.

The key question is whether Trump would endorse Letlowtopunish Cassidy for votingtobar Trumpfrom holdingoffice again under an impeachment articlethat accused him of “inciting violence against the government of the United States” with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack

on theU.S.Capitol. Of the 30 lawmakers, politicalconsultantsand donors contacted for this story, most predicted that Trump willeitherpublicly or privately endorse Letlow and that will prodher to enter theSenate race.

Several people said that Gov. Jeff Landry, whois closely aligned with Trump, has told them that he wants hertorun against Cassidy Landry appeared as the “special guest” at afundraiser for her in Lafayette on June30, with checksearmarked for the“Letlow Victory Fund.”

The Governor’sOfﬁcedeclined to comment.

Cassidy already is facing two major Republican opponentswho want Trump’s support: Treasurer John Flemingand state Sen.Blake Miguez, of New Iberia.

ButsomeRepublicans don’tthink Trump will risk losing Cassidy as areliable vote in theSenate by endorsingLetlow,Flemingor Miguez, giventhe narrow Republican margin there. Andothers say that Trump operates by hisown setof rules, so no one can be sure whathe’ll do.

Most peopleinterviewed agreed thatLetlowwould run forthe Senate only if she hasTrump’sblessing, which they say wouldopenaspigot of campaigncash for her For now,Cassidyhas a big head start. He has$8.7 million in campaign cash, is known statewide and has madeaseries of moves aimed at endearing himself to Trump and conservative voters.OnWednesday,Cassidy’steamhighlightedthat Trump signedabill sponsored by the senator that aims to help law enforcement officials combatthe scourgeoffentanyl.Cassidystood directly behind Trump’sleft shoulder during the White House ceremony “Anyone can enter this race, but it won’tchange the outcome —Senator Cassidy will win,” campaignspokesperson Ashley Bosch said in astatement. “He’sa solid conservative standing shoul-

der-to-shoulder withPresident Trump —working to secure our southern border, unleash American energy, andchampionthe America First agenda. Senator Cassidy is protectingour values and delivering real results for Louisiana.” PresidentofLSU?

But because Letlow hasa doctorate from theUniversityofSouth Florida and a background in academia, some people believe that she wants to become president of LSU, aposition that opened when WilliamTate in Mayannounced his departure for Rutgers University.The president’s job wouldcomewith housing and asigniﬁcant payboost for Letlow She has already moved to BatonRouge withher two smallchildren and has put herhouse outsideofRayville, in Richland Parish, on themarket for $775,000, online records show Letlow hastodecideher next move soon because of the new congressional electionschedule that requires candidates to qualify for the House or Senateinmid-Januaryfor theApril18closed partyprimary Meanwhile, ScottBallard who chairsthe LSU presidentialsearch committee, said thecommittee will step up its efforts in August and is aimingtochoose Tate’s successor by year end.

Lee Mallett, the committee’svice chair,has publicly supported McNeese State President Wade Rousse as Tate’sreplacement.

Mallettintroduced Rousse to LSUhealth care ofﬁcials at areception at the Governor’sMansion on June 2. Stay in hercurrent job?

Amid theuncertaintyover what shewill do next,Letlow’ssurest bet is to seek a thirdfull term in theHouse. She cruised toreelection in Novemberwith 63% of the vote and is poised to hold that Republican-majority seat for years. The biggest potential barrier is theU.S.Supreme

Court, whichsaidinJune that it will rehear in its next term acase thatseeks to overturn the current map forLouisiana’ssix congressional districts. If the court does rejectthe existing boundaries, Louisiana might end up witha newmap that gives Letlow avirtually unwinnableBlack-majority district

“Ifshe forgoes theSenate race, she’slooking at possibly losing her own congressional race,”said ScottWilfong, aRepublican political consultant.

No matter howthe court rules, the current map will almostcertainly remainin place for next year’selections, said Michael Li,a redistricting expert at the BrennanCenter for Justice in New York and aTulane Law School graduate. That’s because anycourt ruling will be toolatetoaffect the 2026 elections, he said.

TheTrump factor

Political circlesare rife with speculation whether Letlow will challenge Cassidy

Some political insiders say that Trump has alreadymet privately with Letlow and offered his support. Others insist thatthat hasn’thappened.

One thing is certain: She hasn’tpublicly ruled out the possible race.

Another thing is certain:Trump hasrepeatedly shown he holds tremendous animus toward any Republican who voted to impeach him or convict him, taking great delight in the retirementordefeat of those who did.

Of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of theJan. 6attack, only threeremain in ofﬁce: Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine;Sen.LisaMurkowski, of Alaska; and Cassidy

After that vote, Trump regularly belittled Cassidy, calling him “Wacky Bill” and other schoolyard names.

Cassidy has done everything he can this year to get back in Trump’sgood graces.

He voted to confirm the president’scontroversial Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.assecretary of health.Cassidy,despite his strong support forvaccines, has not joined critics who have blasted recent moves by Kennedy thathavesowed doubt about the beneﬁts of vaccines.

Earlier this month, Cassidy voted for Trump’sOne Big Beautiful Bill, ameasure that extends thepresident’sexpiring tax cuts and partially pays for them by cutting Medicaid, the federal program that provides health care to the poor.The bill passed51-50, so Cassidy’ssupport was crucial.

Cassidy’sstaffsends out newsreleases each time he gets invited to theWhite House.

“Cassidy &Trump Continue to Work Togetherto Deliver Major Wins for Louisiana,” read the Cassidy campaign’snews releaseon the fentanyl bill signing.

At least for now,Cassidy hasthe financialbacking of suchmajor Republican donors as business ownersBoysieBollinger,Eddie Risponeand Richard Lipsey

“There’snoreason Iwould change my supportfor Bill Cassidy,”Lipseysaid.“I think he’s done an excellent job. Iwould hope there would be no confrontation betweenJulia andBill. I think our president is smart enough to put that aside (the conviction vote).”

Bollingerdoesn’tbelieve Letlow will runfor Cassidy’sSenate seat because he doesn’tthink Trumpwill support one of Cassidy’sopponents.

“Itmakes sensefor Trump to stay out, as much as he hates Cassidy forthe impeachmentvote,” Bollinger said. “He got RFK (conﬁrmed). If Trump opposed him,Cassidy has no incentive to support the Trump agenda. Trumpknowsthat.”

Republicans holdaslim 53-47 advantage in the Senate. Murkowski, Collins, Sen. ThomTillis of North

Carolina, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentuckyhave shown awillingness to vote against Trump.

Letlow’s priorities

During hercampaigns, Letlow has said her priorities are getting more federal money for herdistrict, including dollars to ﬁx roads, bridgesand sewer systems, makingsurefarmers receive the aid they need from the government andexpanding broadband internet service in rural areas. Along withall other Republicans in Louisiana’scongressional delegation, she voted forthe One Big Beautiful Bill. Letlow,during her 41/2 years in the House, has voted with the conservative Heritage Foundation 75% of the time, compared with 89% for the average House Republican.She has a100% voting record with National Right to Life, aleading antiabortion group.

Letlow hasbeenbuilding anetwork of donors across Louisiana and has $2.1 million in the bank, the latest campaign financereport shows. She raised money at fundraisers hostedby lobbyist Paul Rainwater at hishome in Baton Rouge in March (with special guest Attorney General Liz Murrill), by business owner Phyllis Taylor in Metairie in May (with Scalise as the special guest) and by Lee Mallett at his ranch in Jefferson Davis Parish in May Cardealer SteveTayloris hosting an event forLetlow at his Monroe home on July 25.

“The sky’sthe

Allfour lawmen pleaded notguiltyonThursdayin federal court in Alexandria. The indictment ripped through this three-town stretch of U.S. 165, where residentsgrappledwith the sight of their current or former top municipal law ofﬁcers being led away in handcuffs.

One of the indicted lawmen, Forest Hill Chief Glynn Dixon, submitted hisresignation to the state on Friday.The job statusof the other three —Oakdale PoliceChief Chad Doyle, Marshal Michael Slaney and former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea wasapparently unchanged

The lead federalprosecutor said he hoped the news of the alleged immigration fraud would travel farther —tothe desk of his boss, President Donald Trump.

“Itcertainly is in line with his priorities,” said Alexander VanHook, acting U.S. Attorney of theWestern District of Louisiana Federal auth orities haven’treleased much information about who exactly received the forged visas. Charging documents state, “The majority of the Aliens were non-Louisiana residents.” Prosecutors said most were from India, but it’snot clear where they were living.

Aspokesperson forthe office declined Friday to elaborate beyond the indictment.

Chandrakant “La La” Patel, the businessman accused of orchestrating the alleged visa fraud scheme, was mostly amystery to many locals. Several said he was mainly knownfor running the Subway on Dr George B. Mowad Highway,named for alate Oakdale mayor

One customer of the Subway said in an interview that Patel often fed homeless people or donated cookiestothe local high school,oratsports games. Allen Parish Sheriff Douglas Hebert said Patel has no local criminal record. The indictment claims the scheme went back years, but the fraud charges focus on alleged fake reports andapplications for Uvisas from 2024 Alawyerfor Doyledeclined to comment, and a lawyer for Slaneydidn’t returnamessageseeking comment. Lawyers forDixon andOnisheadid not return messages seeking comment. An attorney representingPatel,who hasn’tbeen arraigned in the federal case, didn’t return messagesseeking comment.

Additional charges

The Uvisa program, created in 2000, was designed

sands,” and Patel in turn paidthe police chiefs, the July 2indictment alleges. Prosecutors allege that Patel and the men used the moneytobuy twopickup trucks, two campsites on BundickLake, an RV,a 2025 LandRover,aToyota sport vanand othervehicles.

Patel’sreach extendsfurther,according to state ofﬁcials. Aday afterDoyle’s arrest,Louisiana StatePolice arrested hiswife, Alison Doyle, who worked in the Mayor’sOfﬁce. She is accused of rigging the bidding process so Patel could acquire two city-owned properties.

Patel paid $56,200 for two properties in quit-claim deeds from thecity,both on Oct. 15, 2024, parish land records show,right around the time prosecutors allege the bribes-for-visa scheme was reaching its heights.

Law enforcement officialssaidthe scheme involved“severalcentral Louisiana parishes,” suggesting awider reach, and that itcoulddatetoas early as 2015. It’sunclearif other public ofﬁcials were involved.

Attorney GeneralLiz Murrill said she expects her ofﬁce will lodge additional state chargesagainst the accused Talk of thet

dale,manyofwhomgossiped while scrolling news feeds for updates.

Areporter at thedaiquiri baraskedhowsuch alarge immigration scheme could happen in Trump country. Apatron triedtoanswer it simply “It’sall about that here,” he said, rubbing together twoindex fingersand his thumb.

More than one local wondered aloud: Would there be more to come? In Oakdale, some weren’tsurprised at the notion that their local ofﬁcials were on the take, given arecent string of corruption scandals.

Oakdale is known mostly for itshuge federal complex of twoprisons and a prison camp off Whatley Road, if notits dominant high school girls basketball team, the Lady Warriors. It sits in themiddle of Allen Parish, among the most rural and conservative areas of Louisiana, far from urbancenters or debates over sanctuary cities.

About 80% in the parish voted for Trump in 2024. Thearea also helped reelect U.S.Rep.MikeJohn-

son, the House speaker Hebert, the parish sheriff, has afederal contract to house U.S.Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainees at the parish jail in Oberlin. He said it “absolutely” bothered him that his fellow lawmen stood accused of letting illegal immigrants slip through. Whenasked if he was surprisedthatthe misconduct came from Oakdale,he said he had “no comment on that.”

Othercorruption

In recent years, the city hasfaced other corruption scandals

“It’severywhere yougo,” said SarahWest, whoowns agift shop on South10th

Street in downtownOakdale.“But it’sbad here. Really,really bad.” West, 57, said she’s grown weary of the badheadlines.

Aformer Oakdale police chiefand oneofhis ofﬁcers were indicted in 2019 on malfeasance charges, including allegations that the chiefsprung hisown son from jail andthatanother inmate was used to mow lawns andworkatacamp

The chiefwas laterconvicted on acharge of misrepresentation during booking, records fromthe District Attorney’sOfﬁce show

A2022 state audit found that Oakdale’slongtime city clerk, who died in 2021, overpaid herself nearly $770,000 over seven years.

To some, Doyle seemed different, though he had his ownhistory: When he wascity ward marshalin 2011, Doyle wasarrested on chargesthathesiphoned an undisclosedamount of public money andpocketed wage garnishments that were intended for creditors, according to news reports.

He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor that was expunged, according to Hebert, the sheriff.

Aformer fellow Oakdale policeofficer andchildhood friend of Doyle’s, who declined to give his name, said, “I honestly thought we wouldn’thave stuff like that once (he)became chief.”

“But …” he added, trailingoff mid-sentenceashe stoodbehind ashop counter

Invisiblecrime

Doyle andSlaneyran against each other for city marshal in 2017. Slaney won, but Doyle soon became

Oakdale’spolice chief, winning election in 2020, state electionrecords show.

Nowthey’re co-defendants, each accused of acceptingbribesfrom Patel in exchange fordrafting phony armed robbery complaints, which visa seekers could thenuse to apply for Uvisas.

In Forest Hill, Mayor Elizabeth Jeter said in astatementWednesday that she was “deeply saddened” over theindictmentofpolice chief Dixon. “Forest Hill is astrong, close-knit communityand we understandhow difﬁcult this news is for our residents.”

The documents forgedon behalf of noncitizens added up to an invisible crime wave, the federal indictmentalleges. In reality, armedrobbery wasvirtually nonexistent in Oakdale, according to city crimedata reported to the state in 2022 and2023.

Locallaw enforcement in RapidesParish said they’ve never had any real problems with anynoncitizens, eitherway DistrictAttorneyPhillip Terrell said the areas policed by the indicted chiefs aren’texactly hotbeds for crime. He saidhe’d alert defense attorneys about anycases handledbythe indictedpoliceleaders.

“Off the top of my head, I’m not awareofany felony cases thatwehaveout of Forest Hill or Glenmora,” Terrell said.

“There’snot much activity there,otherthan, apparently,the fraudulent activity.”

Staff writerAshleyWhite contributed to this report.

Multi-disciplinary collaborationisthe heartbeatofthe Lakeview Hospital cardiovascular care team

Stevie Cavalier Licciardi| stevie.licciardi@theadvocate.com This articleisbrought to youbyLCMCHealth.

Lub dub, lubdub,lub dub—These arethe lyrics of a healthyheart,and this soundismusic to theears of thosewho work in cardiovascular healthcare Thegoalofthe cardiovascular team at LCMC Health’s Lakeview Hospital is to send theirpatients home as soon as possible with arestoredheart However, sometimesthe verseleading to this chorus canbefraught with layeredcardiovascularproblems in need of innovative solutions. Thephysiciansand staff whoworkinLakeviewHospital’s cardiology department deeply understandthe most creativeanswers emerge from collaboration, and theculture of communicationacrosstheir team has become thehallmarkofthe department’ssuccess.

allonthe same page,” said ShelleyDavis,the wife of JerryDavis.“They coordinatedeverything. We even gottosee Dr.Salam andDr. Breaux on thesameday when they were evaluating Jerryfor surgery, which savedusextra tripsand alot of stress.”

When Davisunderwent surgery, thediseased valvewas replaced,the aneurysm wasrepaired andhis left atrial appendage(LAA),asmall sacin themusclewallofthe left atrium of theheart,was removedasa preventive measure. Within days Daviswas home againrecovering

“Bythe next morning, he wassitting up in achair andlookedgreat,”Shelley Davissaid. “His colorwas so much better than Iexpected— it waslikeseeing him come back to life.”

“The reason Lakeview Hospital is knownfor greatcardiac care is becausewehaveateamof specializeddoctors,” said Dr.SergioBarrios,an interventional cardiologist at Lakeview Hospital “Wehavecardiac electrophysiologistswho specializeininthe electrical system of theheart.Wehave interventional cardiologistswho specialize in coronary artery disease. We have heartvalve specialists whoinstall devices on thevalvesofthe heart, and we have acardiac surgeonwho canexecute complex surgeries. As ateamweworktogetherand communicate with oneanother so that we canﬁnd thebest approach for thepatient.”

ForJerry Davis, whorecentlyunderwent openheartsurgery in March2025, this coordinated approach to cardiaccaresaved hislife. Davis grew up with aheart murmur,acondition where theheart’s ventricles do notoperate properly when pumpingblood.Asmall whooshingsound in the heartbeatisindicativeofthisissue andcan be detected when listeningtothe heartwitha stethoscope. Lubwhoosh, lubwhoosh, lubwhoosh. Whilemurmurs arenot ideal, it is notalways imperative they areaddressed immediately. Often, they aresimplymonitored over time.However,when Davis’smurmurreached aconcerningintensity,he wasreferredtoDr. Barriosfor furtherconsultation.

Dr.Barrios orderedanechocardiogram, andthe resultsilluminated that Daviswas sufferingfroma bicuspid aortic valvewithsevereleaﬂetcalciﬁcation.Uponfurther testing, it wasalsorevealedthat Davis’sascending aortawas aneurysmal,creating additional complications.Dr. Barriosexpanded theconversationtothe cardiovascular team at Lakeview Hospital,and afterrunning through thepossibilities of performing minimallyinvasive procedures,suchasTranscatheter Aortic Valve Replacement(TAVR), it wasdiscerned that openheartsurgery wasthe optimalchoice, at whichtime Dr.JohnBreaux, thethoracicand cardiacsurgeon at Lakeview Hospital,becameinvolved.

“Westarted with Dr.Barrios then went to Dr Salamand Dr.Breaux at Lakeview —and they were

“Weapproachtreating patients as ateam,”said Dr.Breaux. “Our EmergencyRoomand ourCardiac CatheterizationLaboratoryare very in-syncwith oneanother.The OperatingRoomstaff areready to respondwithin 20 minutesofnotice, andour IntensiveCareUnit(ICU) receives patients after surgery. They work miracles there, andweget the patients home andbacktotheir life.”

ThecardiovascularunitatLakeviewHospital blends ahighlevel of expertise, born throughtheir physicians’decadesofindustry experience,withthe latest techniques andmedical technology to benefit therange of patients whocomethrough. Whileopen-heartsurgery is sometimesthe necessary option,lessinvasiveproceduressuch as TAVR andthe “Watchman”,a procedurethat implants aparachute-likedeviceintothe LAAto reduce theriskofblood clotscausedbyatrialfibrillation,have becomego-to methodsofrepairing cardiacproblems. Otherproceduresgrowing in popularity at Lakeview Hospital arethe installation of dual-chamber leadless pacemakers,which areplacedinsidethe heartand have no need for wire leads, as well as pulmonarythrombectomies, a procedurewhere acatheterisusedtoremoveblood clotsinthe arteries leading to thelungs.Lakeview Hospital is also theonlyhospitalonthe Northshore to have performedthe mitral transcatheteredgeto-edgerepair(TEER), whichinstallsaclip-like device on theleaflets of themitralvalve to prevent thebackflow of blood.

“We’dlovefor thecommunity to know that they have an option closetohomeasopposed to having to travel far,”saidDr. Breaux.“We have aqualiﬁed, highly skilled, anddevoted team rightherein Covingtonthatcan handle casesfromSoutheast Louisianaand theMississippi Gulf Coast.” Formoreinformation on theCardiology Services at LCMC Health’s Lakeview Hospital,visit:www lcmchealth.org/lakeview-hospital/our-services/ heart-and-vascular-care/.

STAFF PHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON

Cars linethe downtownarea along East SixthAvenue in Oakdale on Thursday.

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Johnsongetsfunding clawback legislationpassed

Victorycomesamid

Epstein filesimbroglio

WASHINGTON By any measure, House Speaker MikeJohnsonhad asuccessful few weeks.

The Benton Republican herded acontrary clowder of HouseRepublicans to aseries of huge legislative wins for President Donald Trump, capped early Fridaymorning with ﬁnal passage of arescission bill that clawed back already appropriated billions for public broadcasting and foreign aid, among other expenditures

trained at LSU.

The White House refused to comment on conversations between Trumpand Johnson. But press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trumphad long contended Attorney General Pam Bondi should release any additional “credible” evidence.

Mark Ballard

The Senate had passed the amended measure at 2:30 a.m. Thursday,leaving Johnson less than 46 hours to get the legislation to Trump for his signature before theclawback expired.

Plenty of House membershad reasons to oppose the measure, from defunding public broadcasting to setting the precedent of allowing apresident to usurp Congress’sconstitutional power of thepurse.

But Johnson’sbiggest hurdle was afight between Republicans over publicly releasingfederal investigatory files on accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, afinancier who allegedly provided his prominentfriends with underage girls for sex and died in prison awaiting trial.

On July 7, Trump’sDepartment of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation released a“nothing to see here” memo. Theﬁles contained “no credibleevidence” that Epstein was murdered, he committed suicide in 2019; his client list didn’texist; and he blackmailed no one, accordingtothe Justice/FBI memo.

Those were the exact allegations Trump and many of his supporters —including FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, Patel’schief deputy —raised over the years trying to tar Democrats for not releasing the ﬁles. Now

LandrynamesLafourche

president to highway job

Gov.Jeff Landry on Wednesday announced that Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson III will serve as executive director of the Ofﬁce of Louisiana Highway Construction, the state’s brand-new transportation agency

“Archie has been adedicated publicservant for Lafourche Parish working tirelessly to answer the needs of the southeast region,” Landry said in astatement. “Weare excited to bring Archie into the administration to serve in this new role.” Under areorganization plan approved by state lawmakers and Landry last month, the new Ofﬁce of Louisiana Highway Construction is independent of the state Department of Transportation and Development. It will oversee about 4,800 miles of smaller state

in power themselves, theTrump administration didn’twant to release anything more than the memo Many in the MAGA base were enraged,and many Republicans were looking for political cover while theclock ticked down on the rescissionsbill.

“Now they are reaping what they have sown,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries,D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday Epstein had pleaded guilty andwas convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court for procuring achild for prostitution. Adecade later,federal law enforcement

roadways that don’t qualify for federal funding, including planning, construction, maintenance and repairs.

Theofﬁce is tasked with “privatizing functions as well as reimagining transportation project delivery,” Wednesday’sannouncement stated Landry said Chaisson will beworking together with DOTD Secretary GlennLedet, who recently left the top job at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

CAPITOL BUZZ staff reports

“I am confident that the days ofamore efficient transportation department are onthe horizon,” Landry said. Ledet said the appointment of Chaisson is a strong step forward for both thenew office and the state” andnoted that thetwo transportation leaders worked closely in previousroles.

“He has aproven track record of gettingthings done and has

identiﬁed 36 other underage girls, someasyoung as 14, and in 2019 charged Epstein with sex trafﬁcking minors. On Tuesday,Johnson got in the middle of the fray when he told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson the Epstein records should be released.

“I agree withthe sentiment thatweneed to put it out there,” Johnson said. “It’sa very delicate subject but we should put everything out there and let the people decide.” Johnson seemed to be joining MAGA loyalistslike Steve Bannon againstTrumponthe issue.

been areliable partner throughout,” Ledet said. “I’m conﬁdent in his leadership and look forward to collaborating with him to improve how we deliver roadway projects across Louisiana.”

In aseparate news release announcing his resignation as Lafourche Parishpresident as of Aug. 1, Chaisson said, “I am excited to start this next chapter in my life and work alongside our governor to re-imagine the way we construct and rehabilitate our roads and bridges across our great state.

Chaisson ﬁrst won election as parish president in 2019 and then again in 2023 when he ran unopposed. He is also thepresident of a group called Parishes Advocating for Coastal Endurance, or PACE. He also served as public works director for the City of Thibodaux as well as parish administrator for Lafourche Parish.

Senate advances

U.S. attorney candidate

Kurt Wall is one step away

Without mentioning anyone’s name, Trump lashed back on Truth Social calling the controversy a “scam” and a“hoax” that his “past supporters” were championing on behalf of Democrats and the news media.

On Wednesday Johnson walked back his comments, telling The Hill, aCapitol Hill politics publication, that he and Trump have always supported transparency “I’msaying the samething the president is that, Imean, you need to have all of the credible information released forthe American people to maketheir decision,”said Johnson, alawyer

from being conﬁrmed as the United States Attorney for the Middle DistrictofLouisiana, based in Baton Rouge, after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee recommended his nomination to thefull Senate Thursdaymorning. The Republican majority on thecommittee approved Wall’s nomination by President Donald Trump. Democraticmembers on the Judiciary Committee had walked out of the hearing because of acontroversy over Emil J. BoveIII, whoTrumphas nominated for alifetime appointment as ajudge on theU.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judiciary Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley,R-Iowa, overrode Democratic points of order and called for avote while Sen. Corey Booker,D-N.J., accused Republicans of not following established Senate rules. Democraticmembers, who makeupaminority of the panel, walked out.

“It’s happened before and we have to movealong,” Grassley said, addingthat asimilar inci-

Thursday morning’sWall Street Journal reported that Trumphad sent Epstein a“bawdy letter” in 2003. Trumpdenied doing so and threatened to sue the newspaper Trumphas long acknowledged that he and Epstein werefriends from the 1980s until the early 2000s.

As timewas running out on Trump’sclawback bill, Republicans on the House Rules Committee tired of being repeatedly called upon to vote downDemocratic and Republican amendments demanding release of the Epstein ﬁles. The panel needed to vet and forward the bill before a ﬂoor vote could happen.

After hours of committee foot-dragging, Johnson agreed to allow anonbinding resolution giving Bondi 30 days to “make publicly available in asearchable and downloadable format” all documents, records, communications and other evidence related to the investigation, the online political newssource Punchbowl reported at 8:39 p.m.Eastern Time Thursday At 9:07 p.m., Trumpposted on Truth Social that he asked Bondi to produce pertinent grand jury testimony,ifthe court approved. Bondi responded at 9:09 p.m.on X: “President Trump—weare ready to movethe court tomorrow (Friday) to unseal the grand jury transcripts.” The committee forwarded the legislation.

At 12:03 a.m. Friday,only two Republicans joined 211 Democrats voting against the rescission bill —216 Republicans voted to send the measure to Trumpfor his signature.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

dent once occurred when Democrats madeupthe majority on the committee.

Bove’s nomination wasforwarded with only Republican votes.

Wall’snomination was further downthe agenda and he too was approved only by Republican votes without discussion.

U.S. Sen. John N. Kennedy,RMadisonville, did not attend the hearing but had Grassley vote on his behalf Wall prosecuted violent crime, drug and white-collar cases as an assistant district attorney in Livingston Parish and before he worked in the East Baton Rouge Parish.

If the full Senate approves his conﬁrmation in avote likely to take place next week or the week after,Wall will succeed Ronald C. Gathe Jr.asthe chief federal law enforcement ofﬁcer forAscension, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee and St. Helena parishes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, leavesthe House chamber on Thursdayatthe U.S. Capitol in Washington.

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

Louisiana Chief JusticeJohn Weimer knows ﬁrsthand that regularly attending school can improve achild’sfuture

He grew up the eldest of ﬁve in asingle-parent household in Thibodeaux. As ateen whose parents didn’tﬁnish high school, he didn’tsee much use for education and often opted to skip class to ride motorcycles instead. But after along illness caused his father to lose his autoservice shop and the family struggled to make ends meet, Weimer decided it was time to take school more seriously

When ahigh school English teacher took an interest in him, Weimer began to nurture bigger aspirations for his life. With encouragement from his teacher,he enrolled at nearby Nicholls State University,then went on to attend LSUlaw school

He began hiscareer as ajudge in the 17th JudicialDistrict Court in Lafourche Parish and taught classes at NichollsState University for several years,before being elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2001. He was appointed chief justice in 2021.

Seeing how much his life changed after he prioritized school, Weimer has become an outspokenadvocate for effortsto improve student attendance. The share of Louisiana studentswho miss10% or more of school days has been on the rise, with nearly 1 in 4students qualifying as chronically absent during the 2023-24 schoolyear

During astate education board meeting in January,Weimer pointed to studies that found students who chronicallymiss school are far more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system, often at acost to

both taxpayers and communities. Reducing the number of students who regularly miss school could help, but it will take an all-handson-deck approach,hesaid. He proposed asummit where stakeholders from across Louisiana could come together to discussfactorsthat contribute to absenteeism and brainstorm potential legislation to present to theLegislature next spring. That meeting is set to take place Sept 8inAlexandria Weimer said he hopes that by convening educators and governmentofﬁcials who deal with student absenteeismand truancy

—teachers, principals, district attorneys, judges —they can come up withsolutions that will prevent studentsfrom falling off track and, potentially,landing in courtroomslike his.

“Do we do nothing and watch these numbersgrow at great expense …tosociety,” he asked during apanel discussion on student absenteeismlast month, “or do we intercede and do something?”

This interview hasbeen edited and condensed for clarity.

What agencies are responsible for combating student absenteeism?

Everybody brings something

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

When you’re comparingplans ...



 Look forcoverage with no deductibles. Some plans mayrequire you to payhundredsout of pocket before benefits are paid.

 Shop forcoveragewithnoannual maximum on cash benefits. Some planshaveannual maximums of $1,000.

fora crown.3 Unexpected bills likethis can be arealburden especially if you’re on afixed income.

Ask about the

to thetable. I’ve talked to the District Attorney’sAssociation about having moreofa role in thediscussion, because in some places (in Louisiana), the district attorney has taken charge. Some districtsreport their absentee studentsdirectly to the DA’s Ofﬁce, and they invite the parents in to chat. In someplaces, it’sthe schools taking the lead.

Every district provides services, like FINS (Families in Need of Services), and they attempt to linkfamilies to the services they need to get their children to school. Recently,I heard about astudent whowasn’tgoing to school because his shoe fell apart, and somebody with the district was able to get ahold of apair of shoes for him

Who willbeatthe state absenteeism summit in September and what will be the focus?

There will be school personnel, as well as district judges, district attorneys and public defenders. We’reinviting anybody whoplays anykind of role in truancy,from teachers, principals, ofﬁce people, to people involved in FINS We’restill working on what the discussion topics are going to be. The request we sent to judges was to let us know what they thinkthey’re doing welland what challengesthey face in their jurisdiction.The plan is to publish what certain (communities) have done that have been beneﬁcial.

We don’thave to reinvent the wheel. We’re trying to come up with best practices and have everyone meet with their superintendent, district attorney and sheriff to discuss what they can do. Because each parish is so different —assets, politics, ﬁnancial resources —things that some places are doing will be off the table for others.

What do yousee as yourrole in this state-

wide effort?

It’s to help facilitate and collaborate. I’mnot aphilosopher, I’majudge, and sometimes I’m criticized forbeing too involved in social programs. But Ithink it’s all part and parcel of what we do. There are differentpeoplewith different philosophies about how problems shouldbeaddressed,and Iprefer to take acollaborative approach. There is powerinarobe anda gavel that other peopledon’t have.There is theabilitytoget people together and try to ﬁnd solutions. That’swhatthis is allabout. Howcan schools avoidcriminalizing childrenwho are chronically absent?

The key is to get them as early in the process as you can, before it becomes chronic, before they start engaging in behavior that gets them expelled from school. That’sawhole other complicated set of circumstances that we’ll have to rely on those in education to supply someanswers for.

As courts, we’re called upon to resolve disputes, and Itell students all the time, “You don’twant me deciding your fate.”

Do youhaveamessagetoyoung people who struggle to attend school?

Iwas in the position manykids ﬁnd themselves: asingle-parent homewith very little guidance about getting an education. I learned the hard way by watching my father struggle.

Get as much education as you can. Going to school is the ﬁrst step, but if you go to be disruptive, if you go just to get adiploma, you can probably sneak out without an education.

But if you really work hard, and work with the teachers and administrators whoare there to help you, you can accomplish anything you wantinlife.

Email Elyse Carmosino at ecarmosino@theadvocate.com.

FILEPHOTO By APRIL BUFFINGTON

Louisiana Supreme CourtChief Justice John Weimer speaks Jan. 19 at theLiving FaithChristian Center in Baton Rouge.

Texas’ search for flood victims stretches into 3rd week

BY JOHN HANNA and NADIA LATHAN Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas The search for victims of deadly ﬂooding in Texas Hill Country is headed into its third week as ofﬁcials try to pin down exactly how many people remain missing and lawmakers prepare to discuss authorities’ initial response and providing better warning systems.

Flash ﬂoods killed at least 135 people in Texas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with most deaths along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.

The Hill Country is naturally prone to ﬂash ﬂooding because its dry, dirt-packed soil cannot soak up heavy rain.

The Texas Legislature is scheduled to convene Monday for a special session.

Gov Greg Abbott initially called lawmakers back to the Texas State Capitol in Austin for other reasons, but he and legislative leaders have added ﬂooding-related issues to the agenda.

The missing State officials had been saying about 160 people were unaccounted for after the ﬂooding in Kerr County alone, but they now say about 100 remain missing in Kerr and other counties.

counselors died.

mistakes.”

“The way winners talk is not to point ﬁngers,” he concluded.

Lawmakers plan to visit Abbott has designated bills dealing with early warning systems and emergency communications as priorities for the Legislature’s special session, scheduled to last 30 days.

The House and Senate have formed special committees on flooding and disaster preparedness, and they’re planning a July 31 visit to Kerrville, the seat of hardest-hit Kerr County, to hear comments from residents. The committees are scheduled to begin with a joint hearing Wednesday to consider the state’s response to the fatal floods; planning for floods; infrastructure for managing floods; and communications among first responders.

Also, they said, the missing list fluctuates as reports come into a hotline.

The floods laid waste to the Hill Country Vacation cabins, youth camps campgrounds ﬁll the riverbanks and hills of Kerr County, and Camp Mystic, a centuryold Christian summer camp for girls in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe. At least 27 of its campers and

Kerr County officials said the number of missing people decreased as victims were recovered, contact was made with people who were found safe, and some reports were found to be unsubstantiated or falsiﬁed.

Flooding expands agenda

Abbott called the special session hoping legislators would pass a measure to regulate a booming business in THC products after he vetoed a bill that would have banned them. And since the flooding, President Donald Trump has told the Republicans who control state government to redraw congressional districts to help the GOP’s chances of retaining a

Man dies after heavy chain around neck pulls him into MRI machine

By The Associated Press

WESTBURY, N.Y A man who was pulled into an MRI machine in New York after he walked into the room wearing a large weight-training chain around his neck has died, according to police and his wife, who told a local television outlet that he waved goodbye before his body went limp.

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 the metallic chain around his neck, according to a release from the Nassau County Police Department. He died Thursday afternoon, but a police officer who answered the phone at the Nassau County police

precinct where the MRI facility is located said the department had not yet been given permission to release the name Saturday Adrienne Jones-McAllister told News 12 Long Island in a recorded interview that she was undergoing an MRI on her knee when she asked the technician to get her husband, Keith McAllister, to help her get off the table. She said she called out to him

She told News 12 that the technician summoned into the room her husband, who was wearing a 20-pound chain that he uses for weight training, an object they’d had a casual conversation about during a previous visit with comments like: “Ooooooh, that’s a big chain!” When he got close to her, she said, “at that instant,

the machine switched him around, pulled him in and he hit the MRI.”

“I said: ‘Could you turn off the machine, call 911, do something, Turn this damn thing off!’” she recalled, as tears ran down her face. “He went limp in my arms.”

She said the technician helped her try to pull her husband off the machine but it was impossible.

“He waved goodbye to me and then his whole body went limp,” Jones-McAllister told the TV outlet.

Jones-McAllister told News 12 that McAllister suffered heart attacks after he was freed from the MRI machine.

A person who answered the phone at Nassau Open MRI on Long Island declined to comment Friday The phone number went unanswered on Saturday

Gene therapy maker says it won’t halt shipments despite patient deaths

BY MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Drugmaker

Sarepta Therapeutics said late Friday it won’t comply with a request from the Food and Drug Administration to halt all shipments of its gene therapy following the death of a third patient receiving one of its treatments for muscular dystrophy

The highly unusual move is a latest in a string of events that have hammered the company’s stock for weeks and recently forced it to lay off 500 employees

The company’s decision not to comply with the FDA also places future availability of its leading therapy called Elevidys, in doubt.

The FDA said in a statement Friday night that officials met with Sarepta and requested it suspend all sales but “the company refused to do so.” The agency has the authority to pull drugs from the market, but the cumbersome regulatory process can take months or even years. Instead, the agency usually makes an informal request and companies almost always comply

“We believe in access to drugs for unmet medical needs but are not afraid to take immediate action

when a serious safety signal emerges,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement.

Elevidys is the ﬁrst gene therapy approved in the U.S. for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, the fatal musclewasting disease that affects males, though it has faced scrutiny since its clearance in 2023. The one-time treatment received accelerated approval against the recommendations of some FDA scientists who doubted its effectiveness.

The FDA granted full approval last year and expanded the therapy’s use to patients 4 years and older, including those who can no longer walk. Previously it was only available for younger patients who were still walking.

Sarepta said Friday that its scientiﬁc review showed “no new or changed safety signals” for younger patients with Duchenne’s who have earlier stages of the disease. The company said it plans to keep the drug available for those patients.

“We look forward to continued discussions and sharing of information with FDA,” the company said in a statement.

Sarepta halted shipments last month of the therapy

for older boys with Duchenne’s, which gradually destroys muscle and skeletal strength, resulting in early death. The move followed the deaths of two teenage boys taking the therapy

The company also conﬁrmed a third death Friday: a 51-year-old patient who was taking an experimental gene therapy in a trial for a different form of muscular dystrophy Sarepta said it reported the death to the FDA on June 20. The FDA said Friday it placed that trial on hold.

Sarepta noted that the gene therapy involved in the incident uses “a different dose and is manufactured using a different process,” than Elevidys. All three patient deaths were linked to liver injury, a side effect noted in Sarepta’s prescribing information. Earlier this week Sarepta announced it would add a bold warning to drug and lay off a third of its employees. The company did not mention the third patient death in its news release or conference call announcing those changes, sparking pointed criticism from Wall Street analysts.

Company shares fell more than 35% Friday to close at $14.07.

U.S. House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Abbott said lawmakers would also review authorities’ handling of the flooding and consider improving warning systems for Hill Country residents. Kerr County does not have a warning system because state and local agencies missed opportunities over the past decade to finance one.

Trump and Abbott have pushed back aggressively

against questions about how well local authorities responded to forecasts of heavy rain and the first reports of flash flooding. The president called a reporter “evil” for raising such issues and said he thought “everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances.” Abbott dismissed a question about who was to blame for the deaths as “the word choice of losers” and used an analogy that began: “Every football team makes

One bill already introduced by Republican Rep. Don McLaughlin would require the state’s top public health official to set building standards for youth camps in 100-year floodplains — which FEMA defines as a high-risk area with a 1% chance of flooding in any given year During a recent news conference, Republican state Rep. Drew Darby a member of the House’s committee, said lawmakers cannot bring back flood victims or undo the flooding.

“But what we can do is learn from it,” he said.

LCTCSﬁllskey role in Louisiana’seconomicgrowth with human-centered work that connects peopleto purpose

By Amanda McElfresh|amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

andTechnical CollegeSystem.

As thestate continuestobuild astrongerand morediverseeconomy,theLouisianaCommunity andTechnicalCollegeSystem(LCTCS)isserving asapowerfulengineofprogressasitsinstitutions providehigh-qualityeducationandanincreasingly largerange of services to help residentsovercome barrierstosuccess

non-traditionalstudentswhoareworkingtowards completinganeducationwhilefacingdailyhurdles such as transportationand childcareneeds,food insecurity,languagebarriersorbalancingtheneed forfull-time work with thedesiretoimprovelife fortheir families

To providea more comprehensive framework for thosestudents, LCTCSisinthe processof implementinganew“one-door”integratedservice model. Rather than having students navigate a fragmentedsystemofservicesontheirown,LCTCS institutions areworking with otheragenciesto bringthose resourcesunder oneroofand provide guidance to help students ﬁndassistance.

“Weknowthata lotoftimes,the main barrier to students gettinga credential or adegreeisnot aboutthelearning.It’sabouttheresourcesoutside of theclassroom,” Dr.LeBoeuf said.“Thoseare therealities that many of ourstudentsdealwith.

Having thoseofficesinone location willhelpusto triage thoseneeds andget them addressed. The goal of themodel is forstudentstoexitout of one door with acredentialinhandand apathtoward long-termstability.”

Padillasaidthatwithmorethan108,000 job openings in Louisiana, LCTCSiswell-positioned to connectpeoplewiththose opportunities.

“Ata time when so many states aretryingto figureout howtoclose workforce gaps,increase participationratesandsupporteconomicgrowth, we’refortunatehereinLouisianatohaveanetwork of colleges that arebuilt to do just that.Theyhelp connectpeopletopurpose,” said OsmarPadilla AssistantSecretary forWorkforce Development at theLouisiana WorkforceCommission. So farthisyear, more than 38,000 people have completedaneducational programatanLCTCS institution, an increase of more than 3,000over theprior year.With12institutionsand 56 total locationsacrossthe state, LCTCSoffersaccess toresidents from allwalks of life,inlarge cities andrural communities. Many LCTCScredential, degree andcertificationprogramsare focusedon fivecoresectors –construction, manufacturing, transportation andlogistics,information technology andhealthcare.

“Weare in askills-ﬁrst labormarket,”Padilla said.“There’sbeenasigniﬁcantwillingnessamong alot of employerstounderstandthatpeopleare learning in differentways. LCTCShas been at the forefrontofthoseconversationswithemployersand showcasing that we cantrain reallygoodpeople andhavereallygoodoutcomeswithnew ways of validatingskills.LCTCShasproventhatfolkswho earn thosecredentials andgointothe workforce arejust as strong of an employeeaspeoplewho take atraditional pathway.

LCTCSVicePresidentofEducation Dr.Chandler LeBoeufsaidmuchofthatsuccess comes from meetingpeoplewhere they areand helping themsucceed.WhilesomeLCTCSstudentsenroll immediatelyaftergraduatinghighschool,othersare

“Wetalktoemployers everyday,and they want goodpeoplewithfoundationalskillswhoareeager tolearnmore,”hesaid.“It’sarealpositivetoseeus moving to amodel that is more person-centered andcan providethe rightresources,trainingand labormarketawareness.”

Dr.LeBoeuf said he is conﬁdent that LCTCSis well on itsway to achievingits goal of awarding at least50,000industry-basedcredentials by 2030 That goal is part of thestate’s overallmasterplan forhighereducation,which callsfor 85,000 such credentialstobeawarded

“I believeweare on target to getthere,but we want to getthere strategically,”hesaid. “We remainheavilyfocusedonindustrysectorsthatare high-wage,high-demandandalignwitheconomic development.”

LCTCSincludesBaton RougeCommunity College,BossierParishCommunityCollege,Central LouisianaTechnicalCommunityCollege,Delgado CommunityCollege,LouisianaDeltaCommunity College, Fletcher TechnicalCommunity College, NorthshoreTechnicalCommunityCollege,Northwest LouisianaTechnical CommunityCollege,Nunez CommunityCollege,River Parishes Community College,SouthLouisianaCommunityCollege,and SOWELA TechnicalCommunity College. Visit www.lctcs.edutolearn more aboutaninstitution near you.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ELI HARTMAN

Campers’ belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic’s cabins on July 7 near the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas, after a flash flood swept through the area.

This articleisbrought to youbythe LouisianaCommunity

THE GULF COAST

NewparkinFlorida expands public beachaccess,parking

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

This summer,Louisiana vacationers making their annual escape to Florida’sGulf Coast will ﬁnd anew stretch of sugar white sand and aquamarine waves —the result of amultimilliondollar effort to expand publicbeach access.

Destin’sTarpon Beach Gulf Front Park will feature 340 feet of public beach access, along with restrooms and49freeparking spaces,including ADA-accessible and low-speedvehicle spots, according to city ofﬁcials. While the beach access atTarpon is already open, additional amenities are expected to be completed before next spring, Destin mayor Bobby Wagner said in apost on Facebook The project is apart of abroader $26.5 million initiative by the City of Destin and the Okaloosa Board of

County Commissioners to reinvest tourism revenue in expanding access forboth visitors and residents, city ofﬁcials said. Theﬁrst phase of the initiative, a$9million expansion at nearby CrystalBeach,has already been completed

Thetotal cost for Tarpon Beach Gulf Front Parkwas $16.75 million Only twoyears ago, the site offered “a sliver of beach access,” according to Nick Tomecek, the public informationofﬁcer of Okaloosa County. In response, the city demolished several buildings in the area and expanded the public beachfrom5 to 340 feet.

Doug Hattaway,the land conservation directorofTrust forPublic Land —the lead agencythathelped negotiate the property purchase —described the project as a“commitment to protecting public access to nature and preserving the unique coast character” of Destin. The park’sopening comes at atime

of ongoing tensionsoverlimited shorelineaccess in Destin, where large portionsofbeachfrontare privately owned, and vendor operations contributetocrowding. Wagner has saidthe city aims to “buy andbuild morepublic beaches over thenexttwo years” while addressing vendor issues.

The project also coincideswith a shift in travel patterns, as more vacationers areturning to theMississippi andAlabama Gulf Coast, drawn by less-crowded beaches andmore affordable lodging.

“Thisisall aboutreclaiming the beaches for our residents, for our tourists,”WagnersaidatMonday’sgroundbreaking ceremony. “As we allknow, there’slimited space out there, and where there’sanissues, there’salways an opportunity.”

Email PoetWolfe at poet.wolfe @theadvocate.com.

Anglerscatch 1,000-pound tiger

BY POETWOLFE Staff writer

Hours after dropping bait into the Gulf last Thursdaymorning, anglers Trey Linder and Steve Callaway hauled in an 11-foot, 8-inch tiger shark off Pensacola’s West End Beach. They tagged the shark forNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration research,then posed with the slickskinned predator,prying open its jaws to reveal its rows of comb-shaped teeth before releasing it back into the water

The whole process, which started at 5a.m., took about 3minutes, the anglers wrote in aFacebook post,addingthat “experience is key.”

If there’sany time of year anglers are likely to catch atigershark, it’s now—summeriswhen coastal sharks come closer inland in search of warmer waters to give birth, NOAA shark biologist JohnCarlsonsaid last year

Tigersharks arethe third mostcommonly caught coastal shark in the UnitedStates, according to theFlorida Museum. In the Gulf, theyare themostcommon shark species found in both coastaland offshore waters. Thespecies cangrow up to 18 feet in length and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds, according to theFloridaFishand Wildlife Conservation Commission. Tigersharks rank just behind great whites in the number of recorded shark bites on humans worldwide.Though attacks are rare, the sharks —whose diet includes largeprey such as sea turtles can sometimes mistake people on surf or wakeboards forfood

Trump’s tariff threat pushes Brazil’s Lula’s popularity

U.S. pressure may worsen legal troubles for Bolsonaro

BY GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA and MAURICIO SAVARESE Associated Press

SAO PAULO U.S. President

Donald Trump may have thought that pressuring Brazil with higher tariffs would help his ally, the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, but the move apparently backﬁred.

Last week, Trump sent a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva threatening a 50% import tax and directly linking the decision to Bolsonaro’s trial, which he called a “witch hunt.”

“This trial should end immediately!” Trump wrote Thursday evening in a second letter this one addressed to Bolsonaro. He added that he had “strongly voiced” his disapproval through his tariff policy

Rather than backing down, Brazil’s Supreme Court escalated the case, worsening Bolsonaro’s legal troubles. On Friday morning, federal police raided Bolsonaro’s home and political office. The former president was ordered to wear an ankle monitor, banned from using social media, and hit with other restrictions.

Meanwhile, Lula — who was facing higher unpopularity, growing opposition in Congress and increasing risks to his likely reelection bid — seems to have gained politically from the situation.

Now the 79-year-old leftist Lula, in office for the third non-consecutive term of his long political career, is seeing renewed acceptance, congressional support against Trump and pleas to run one last time to defend Brazil’s sovereignty Back in the game Lula has appeared more energized in public since Trump’s announcement. At

a national students assembly Thursday, he wore a blue cap reading “Sovereign Brazil Unites Us” — a contrast to MAGA’s red cap. “A gringo will not give orders to this president,” he told the crowd, and called the tariff hike “unacceptable blackmail.”

The impact on Lula is not a ﬁrst. Trump’s actions targeting other countries have boosted ideological rivals in Canada and Australia instead of strengthening his allies at a local level.

Private pollster Atlas said Tuesday that Lula’s unpopularity had reversed course after his spat with Trump. Lula’s job approval went from at 47.3% in June to 49.7% since the tariffs battle began. The poll of more than 2,800 people was conducted July 11-13, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points The study also said 62.2% of Brazilians think the higher tariffs are unjustiﬁed while 36.8% agree with the measure.

Even Bolsonaro’s former vice president, Sen. Hamilton Mourão, criticized Trump’s move as undue interference in Brazil’s politics, though he said he agreed the trial against the far-right leader is biased against him.

Social media analytics ﬁrm Palver analyzed 20,000 mes-

sages about Trump on WhatsApp, Brazil’s most widely used communication platform, a day after Trump’s announcement. Its analysis said right-wing users dominated viral content, but spontaneous conversations leaned left, mocking Bolsonaro as submissive and defending Brazil’s sovereignty.

“Trump has put Lula back in the game,” said Thomas Traumann, an independent political consultant and former spokesman for the Brazilian presidency who only weeks ago argued that Lula had lost his front-runner status in the presidential race as he struggled to deliver on his promises on the economy.

“Trump handed it to Lula on a silver platter,” Traumann said.

Business leaders who until recently sided with Bolsonaro are having to court Lula to negotiate with Trump. Agribusiness, Brazil’s largest economic sector and a traditional right-wing stronghold, united to criticize the U.S. president’s move. Industry groups were quick to denounce the tariffs as politically motivated and lacking any commercial justiﬁcation.

National outrage

“In general, with the major exception of a more radical

As going gets tough in South Sudan, some artisans offer cheap

BY MICHAEL ATIT Associated Press

WAU, South Sudan From Rwanda to Kenya, fashioning footwear from discarded tires has long been a mark of local ingenuity

In South Sudan, however, the creative work of such artisans is now fueled by an economic crisis that has left the government on the verge of bankruptcy and many people struggling to put food on the table.

As South Sudan’s oil revenues have dwindled, the government for months has been unable to pay civil servants on time. The cash crisis affects everyone from soldiers to teachers, underscoring the range of economic hardship across the country, and many are looking for ways to keep going. Some want cheap shoes, finding them not in supermarkets but in open markets where ﬂip-ﬂops and sandals are fashioned from worn-out tires usually thrown away as rubbish.

In Wau, some 400 miles from the South Sudanese capital of Juba, shoemaker Emmanuel Achuil works under the shade of a tarpaulin in the town’s bustling main market. His hands blackened from grappling with rubber, Achuil uses a blade to carve pieces from discarded tires. Colorful straps are scattered around him like pieces of a puzzle.

Achuil, who makes five to 10 pairs a week, told the AP that in recent months he’s seen a rise in demand that he and others say is directly related to the rising cost of living here. They say footwear made from scraps of rubber has found a firm place in local markets, confirmed in the ubiquitous displays of such shoes even in open markets in Juba.

Two years ago, Achuil was getting ﬁve to seven customers a month. Now he expects up to 20 of them, he said. Achuil’s shoes can fetch up to 15,000 South Sudanese pounds a pair, or roughly $4, depending on size and quality of ﬁnishing. In addition to their affordability, the roughhewed pairs are praised for their durability

“Even when things get bad no food, no jobs — this work doesn’t fail me,” Achuil said “People always need shoes, especially cheap ones.”

Akol Majok Ring, a cattlekeeper from the state of Warrap, said he discovered these sandals in March and immediately bought a pair for himself because “they are good for cattle grazing.”

“When you’re moving with the cattle all day, these sandals are perfect,” he said.

“They’re durable and wellsuited for the job

The South Sudanese pound has been under pressure since 2023, losing much of its value against the dollar as oil exports are sporadically disrupted by civil war in neighboring Sudan.

The economy has been in decline for ﬁve consecutive years, hampered by violence stemming mostly from the political contest between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, who is currently under house arrest for alleged subversion.

Hyperinflation and widespread food insecurity affect nearly 80% of South Sudan’s 11 million people, the same number of people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

South Sudan depends on oil revenues to meet 90% of the government’s annual budget, but damage earlier this year to the oil pipeline through Sudan left South Sudanese authorities brieﬂy unable to export any crude

footwear

The government announced earlier in June that exports were due to resume after repairs to the pipeline.

Many government workers are effectively without pay, and unemployment is rampant even as the prices of basic goods skyrocket.

Leather shoes in the shops can seem a luxury in these circumstances.

“Tire soles last longer,” said Deng Akol Athuai, who has been buying from Achuil for years. “I buy one pair and it lasts me a year or more. They’re strong, especially for walking on rough roads.”

Gabriel Bataku, a 26-yearold who is unemployed in Wau, said of artisans that they “are solving real problems. They just need recognition and support.”

Achuil has been making shoes since 1996. He is not formally trained. He got his skills as a grade schooler watching older men in their workshops as they went about their business.

In those days discarded tires were much easier to ﬁnd, scavenged from garages or sourced through people throwing them away

But now, he said, “more people are doing this work, so the competition for materials is high.”

He lamented the lack of formal support, from the government and others, that has left artisans struggling to access the tools of their trade. He wants access to better equipment Despite the difﬁculties, he dreams of opening a proper workshop where he would train others. He also hopes to be able to expand his business to other towns in South Sudan.

“If I had better cutting tools, and a way to expand, I could train young people,” he said. “Many are idle here in Wau. This skill could help them survive.”

with him. After Trump’s announcement, they signed a joint statement agreeing with Lula’s promise to use the reciprocity law against the U.S.

In another change, Brazil’s Congress decided to start moving on Lula’s plan to give an income tax break to millions of poorer Brazilians. Many politicians said that such initiative was dead after Lula became the ﬁrst president in three decades to have a decree annulled by lawmakers.

Bolsonaro remains on trial

At the Supreme Court, Bolsonaro is only getting deeper into trouble as his trial continues.

scrutiny for allegedly working with U.S. authorities to impose sanctions against Brazilian ofﬁcials.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees criminal cases against Bolsonaro, said his and his son’s actions attempted to pressure the Brazilian judiciary by involving the U.S. The court’s decision cited both Trump’s letter to Lula and several social media posts by the Bolsonaros in support of sanctions against Brazilian ofﬁcials and speaking favorably about tariffs.

conservative wing, (Trump’s move) generated national outrage for violating Brazil’s sovereignty,” lawmaker Arnaldo Jardim a member of the congressional agricultural caucus, told The Associated Press.

Jardim, who pushed for the approval of a reciprocity bill that could be used by Lula if there’s no agreement until the Aug. 1 deadline, hardly sides with the president

“Even among sectors that initially thought this could benefit Bolsonaro, many had to reconsider their positions,” he said.

Top congressional leaders who recently helped nix a Lula decree to raise a transactions tax were moving toward a head-on collision

Last week, Brazil’s chief prosecutor called for a guilty verdict, accusing the former president of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law among other charges.

The defense will next likely present its case in the coming weeks, after which the panel of Supreme Court justices in the trial will vote on whether to convict or acquit him.

The former president also suffered more consequences the court’s latest restrictions on Bolsonaro, including the ankle monitor, are part of a second investigation against one of his sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker who currently lives in the United States and is known for his close ties to Trump. He has been under

“A sovereign country like Brazil will always know how to defend its democracy and sovereignty,” de Moraes said. “The judiciary will not allow any attempt to subject the functioning of the Supreme Court to the scrutiny of another state through hostile acts.”

Jair Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia, the country’s capital, that the ankle monitoring was a “supreme humiliation.”

“I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that,” the former president said.

In a statement, Eduardo Bolsonaro accused de Moraes of trying to criminalize Trump and the U.S. government.

“Since he has no power over them, he decided to make my father a hostage,” the younger Bolsonaro said of the judge.

This articleisbrought to youbythe LouisianaFarmBureauFederation. Well-attendedFarmBureau convention blends policy,family fun anda focus on thefutureof Louisianaagriculture

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

More than 1,500attendees gathered in New OrleansinlateJunefor theLouisiana Farm Bureau Federation’s103rd annual convention making it oneofthe best-attendedsessionsin theorganization’shistory. Theevent attracted adiverse crowdoffarmers,ranchers, educators, policymakers andadvocatesfromacrossthe state, allunitedbya shared commitment to ensuring Louisianaagriculture hasa viable future

“Itwas afullcrowd with alot of positive momentum andgoodinteractions,”saidLFBF PresidentRichard Fontenot. “There were alot of youthparticipating,sowewereexcited to see that.Itseems to perk everybody up when you seethe youngergenerationgetting involved.” Someofthemajorhighlightsoftheconvention included theannualawardsthatare givento farmersandgrowersfromthroughoutLouisiana This year’s recipients included: •President’s Award: VermilionParish Farm Bureau •Young Farmersand Ranchers Achievement Award: Frankieand MallorySotile, AscensionParish

•DiscussionMeetWinner: Abbygail Davis, St.Tammany Parish

•ExcellenceinAgricultureAward: Randi Toups, LafourcheParish

•YoungFarmersandRanchersOutstandingYoung Farm Woman: Courtney Gerace, St.LandryParish •Louisiana Ag in theClassroom Teacher oftheYear: KesslerLandry, MartialF.Billeaud Elementary,Broussard

In addition,EmmaLouiseDupreeofGrant Parish waschosenasthe 2025 LouisianaFarm Bureau FederationQueen Although Fontenot is alongtimeleader in LFBF,thisyear’sconventionmarkedhis ﬁrst servingaspresident.Members electedhim for anotherone-yearterm. In all, Fontenotsaidthe experience wasa bitofa whirlwind, but also a proudmomentfor him andhis family “Anytime youcan shareyourpassion and dreams with so many otherpeople, it’s agreat experience,” he said.“Therewas alot of excite-

ment andenergyfromparticipants, staff and volunteers.I’m very humbledtobere-elected as presidentand very appreciative of theopportunity to continue to serveinthisrole.” Many of themajor discussionsthroughoutthe convention centered on legislationand policy includingthe recent passageofPresidentDonald Trump’sBig BeautifulBillinCongress, which includesseveralagriculturalprovisions.Louisiana CongressmanClayHiggins addressedattendees directly,sharing insights on howthe bill will impact Louisianaproducers, especially in the face of rising costsand potentialnew tariffs. In addition,state dignitariesincluding Governor Jeff Landry andInsurance Commissioner Tim Temple,alongwithmanylegislators,spokeabout howLouisiana laws will impact theindustry.

“Wewereactivethispastlegislative session andhad some successstories to share,”Fontenot said.“Therewerea lotofgoodconversations abouthow we cankeepthingsmovingin a positive direction. Thenew federal bill means we have more relevant economic data.Wewere lookingat2012data, andeveryoneknows that everythingcosts alot more now. Ithinkwe willsee better crop insurancecomponentsfor producersand abettersafetynet.Itfeels like thereissomelight at theend of thetunnel. Onereasonthe convention hasbecome so popularisthatitisnot just aboutformalmeetings andpresentations.Withfamily-friendly events like an icecream social,talentcontest andqueen’s contest, theatmosphereblends professionalismwithwarmth, creatingspace for spontaneousand open conversationsamong agricultural stakeholdersfromacrossthe state. “Everyonerealizesthisisa good opportunity to have some solidarity andput ourvoices together,” Fontenot said.“It’s always good to seefarmers andranchers, but it’s also exciting to seepeoplefromeducation andresearchin attendance.Itreminds us that youdon’t have to be in direct production to be an advocate for agriculture. As theLFBFcontinues to shapeagricultural policy andsupport farmersand growersacross Louisiana, Fontenotsaidhehopes attendees cancarry thepositivemomentumfromthe convention into theirdaily work “Our main purposeatthe convention is not only to have funwithfamilyand friends,but to developpoliciesfor us to useindaily management with ourstaff andexecutive leadership,” Fontenotsaid. “Whenpeopleleave theevent Iwantthemtofeelliketheyare apartofthe LouisianaFarmBureaufamilyand that their voicemakes adifference.” Formoreinformation or to find your local Farm Bureau,visit www.lafarmbureau.org

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERALDO PERES

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gestures Monday upon arriving at an event on the economy at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil.

Essence hotel bookings declined

Short-term rentals were also down sharply

BY ANTHONY MCAULEY Staff writer

Hotel and short-term rental

bookings during this year’s fourday Essence Festival of Culture, held over the Fourth of July weekend, were down sharply over last year, according to industry trackers, raising broader questions about softening in the local tourism sector

N.O. libraries dip into rainy-day fund

Building issues force more closures

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

When air conditioning systems fail at New Orleans public libraries, branches either shut down entirely — often for weeks at a time or access is limited to a portion of the building.

And during heavy rain, staff sometimes places trash cans under leaky ceilings to catch the drips, but minimizing water damage to book collections and ﬂooring is particularly challenging when there are multiple leaks in a single building, library Director Emily Painton said this week.

As the New Orleans Public Library system moves through its busiest season, when kids are out of school for the summer, recurring building woes like aging roofs, mold, plumbing and AC issues have again shut down a handful of branches three just this month — threatening a vital community resource. Library ofﬁcials say the problem has grown worse, prompting them to dip into the system’s reserve fund and inject more than $10 million toward replacing the roofs and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems across ﬁve locations, Painton said.

They’ve also created a new facilities administrator position that will be charged with assessing and overseeing the 15 branches and managing construction projects.

The library system is a city agency funded almost entirely by a dedicated property tax millage. It has already pulled from its reserves $9.5 million to cover a new HVAC system, an elevator and deferred maintenance upgrades for the Main branch.

The Main branch and three others — Nix in Mid-City, Keller in Central City and the Children’s Resource Center — closed this month for plumbing, AC and other repairs continuing an annual trend of emergency closures that peak in the summertime

Jeremy Dupre, an unhoused resident, sat outside the Main Branch on a recent Wednesday While the site’s AC never “blows cold air,” he said, the branch serves as a respite from the heat and as a job search tool through the site’s computer lab.

“It’s ridiculous. They shut it down every other week, it feels like,” he said.

“Due to HVAC issues, the building cannot stay cool enough to comfortably accommodate library staff or patrons,” NOPL announced earlier this month of the downtown Main Branch. We are in touch with our vendor to mitigate the problem.” At the Algiers Regional Library,

Hotel bookings for the entire city, covering about 40,000 rooms, were down about 15% for the Friday-Sunday period, according to CoStar, an industry analytics ﬁrm.

AirDNA, a ﬁrm that tracks shortterm rental bookings, showed a similar year-over-year drop, with a decline of between 12% and 17% for each of the four nights from Thursday-Sunday Local tourism experts said it’s too soon to say whether the drop in visitors was due to factors speciﬁc to the Essence Festival which, for three decades, has brought a much-needed boost to the local economy during the slow summer season — or to broader industry headwinds.

town hotels. “It’s gotten harder to determine. But based on the visitors we had, the spending behavior is similar to past years, so I wouldn’t attribute it to macroeconomics without data.”

“I don’t have a single reason for the softness,” said Jim Cook, general manager of the Sheraton New Orleans, one of the biggest down-

David Piscola, general manager of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside the city’s largest hotel, with over 1,600 rooms — said there was a discernible decline for the Fourth of July weekend, though it was still one of the busiest of the summer “Certainly Essence was off this

year,” Piscola said. “At the Hilton, we did not see the demand nor ultimately the volume we have seen in years past. It was still a very busy weekend and a great celebration but softer than normal.” Industry officials couldn’t say if the much-talked-about organizational difficulties plaguing this year’s festival negatively impacted the visitor numbers. But they suggested that the decline was likely due, at least in part, to

STILL AT LARGE

Derrick Groves, last of 10 jail escapees, hasn’t resurfaced

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

If he’s ever recaptured, Derrick Groves awaits two life prison sentences with no shot at parole.

It’s an incentive to remain free that appears ample for Groves, who on Wednesday completed his second month in hiding as the last, and some fear most dangerous, of the 10 Orleans Parish jail detainees who ﬂed the lockup on May 16.

Authorities had little to say this week about a search that once numbered a reported 200 personnel. A va-

riety of state and federal agents are still after Groves, who turned 28 while in hiding. But the tips have slowed, ofﬁcials said, and Groves’ whereabouts remain a mystery

Louisiana State Police. He said it’s clear Groves has had help staying hidden, but “a person or persons have not been established” as suspects in that effort.

BY CATHERINE ZEILMAN Staff writer

“We continue to get tips on him from Crimestoppers and through the Marshals Service, and we’re actively looking at those,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair “Some are instate, some are outof-state. Some are ‘I saw Elvis at the gas station’ tips. Others are a little bit better We continue to investigate all of those tips.”

Fair said support for the search is coming from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations as well as

“We do believe he’s getting help from somebody, whether family or friends providing him aid, (or) giving him money while he’s on the run,” Fair said.

The reward from various agencies for information leading to Groves’ arrest is still $50,000. Darlene Cusanza, CEO of Crimestoppers GNO, did not return messages seeking comment.

A fugitive surviving off the grid for months is not so unusual, Fair said.

“Some people with survival skills will go camping, basically, for lack of better term. Head off into the

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

It was an unlikely pair There was Matthew Allen, an environmentalist who frequently opposes new residential

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson speaks to members of the media during a news conference in New Orleans on May 16 about the ten inmates who escaped from the jail.

Groves

ST. TAMMANY

INJURED

Continued from page 1B

tal for injuries sustained during the crash and was treated, then booked into the Orleans Justice Center at around 7 a.m., jail records show

The NOPD said Hunter was booked on charges related to reckless driving and hitting the ofﬁce and deputy, though booking charges were not available later Saturday because the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce website was not working.

The Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a phone call seeking information on any additional charges.

The NOPD did not provide an update on the hospitalized ofﬁcer’s condition and did not respond to a

ESSENCE

Continued from page 1B

an easing from last year’s bumper Essence event, which saw hotel and short-term rental bookings up by more than 50% on key days, as the celebration of Black music, culture and empowerment marked its 30th anniversary.

Economic headwinds

The recent hospitality data is also raising questions of whether the New Orleans market is starting to feel the effects of an expected broader economic slowdown, as well as the impact of fewer foreign visitors to the U.S. because of the federal government’s crackdown on immigration.

After pandemic-era booms, spending has cooled — especially on travel Americans are cutting back on summer vacation spending by around 25% year-over-year, according to an annual survey conducted by Ipsos for Generali Global Assistance.

Despite upbeat forecasts at the start of the year, data from U.S. federal agencies showed clear signs of trouble in the ﬁrst quarter of 2025, with fewer international arrivals especially from Canada and Europe — and weakening visitor spending due to a mix of economic and political pressures.

Though some of the bigger operators might have seen fairly steady demand, there are signs of

GROVES

Continued from page 1B

wilderness. I don’t think Groves is doing that, but if people are letting you stay at their place and you’re not coming out much ” Fair said “Ultimately, I think we’re going to catch him. We only need to get lucky once. He’s got to look over his shoulder every day of the week.”

At the local level, the New Orleans Police Department referred questions about the search to the Louisiana State Police, the lead agency, which released a statement.

“With only one fugitive still at large, the Louisiana State Police continues to work alongside our

ZONING

Continued from page 1B

Allen thanked the council for taking a “leap of faith,” saying the regulations were “probably the biggest step forward in our development practices I’ve seen in 20 years.”

“I do think it’s a terriﬁc initiative,” Schoen said, adding that it was important for business and development lawyers to recognize the need for a balanced approach to development. “At this point we’re at a no-brainer,” joked council member Arthur Laughlin, who championed the ordinance and called it “my baby.”

Residents in his district have been concerned costly flooding may be made worse by development in an area already prone to ﬂooding from both rivers and Lake Pontchartrain

But the new zoning rules have been criticized by homebuilders in the parish, who question its impact on the affordability of homes — a question the parish is asking about housing more broadly

In August, the Parish Council will decide whether to approve a second area in Laughlin’s district for less restrictive coastal resilience zoning north of U.S. 190 and south of Interstate 12. Another area between U.S. 190 and I-12 in Impastato’s district could also get that zoning by the end of this year Impastato said.

The new zoning regulations stem from a study the parish commissioned from Desire Line, a Metairiebased planning company, in response to bans on some construction south of I-12 in Laughlin and Impastato’s

request late Saturday afternoon for more information.

“Our thoughts are with the injured ofﬁcer, their loved ones, and the entire NOPD family,” Sheriff Susan Hutson said in a social media post.

“We’re thankful our deputies were able to assist and proud of the courage shown by all those who step up in moments of crisis.”

In February 2018, Louisiana State Police linked Hunter, then 17, to a 150-participant dirt bike and ATV “rideout” that shut down Interstate 10 in New Orleans on Mardi Gras after he posted about his participation on social media. Hunter and others were booked on charges including aggravated obstruction of a highway Missy Wilkinson contributed to this report.

The New Orleans Police Department investigates near Conti and Bourbon streets in the French Quarter after a hit-and-run involving a police officer and a deputy in New Orleans on Saturday

Most of the Caesars Superdome was empty 10 minutes before Lauryn Hill started her Essence Festival of Culture show at 2:31 a.m. on the night of July 4.

softness in the broader market.

Colin Sherman, an analyst at CoStar, noted that tourism economics shows a decline in consumer conﬁdence across several categories, including the prospects for employment and business confidence. That seems to have led to more budget-conscious travel.

“These shifts in consumer spending, such as increased competition from alternative accommodation like short-term rentals, may have contributed to the weaker hotel performance for this year’s Es-

local, state, and federal partners to investigate all information that may lead to the apprehension of Derrick Groves,” it read. “Our focus remains unwavering, and we will not stop until Groves is in custody.”

Recent research has found that 8% of escapees from jails or other lockups used violence against community members while on the lam, and 6% committed violence against authorities who recaptured them.

Unlike Antoine Massey, the last of the nine recaptured men to turn up, Groves has not announced his presence or declared himself the victim of injustice on social media since the group ﬂed through a hole behind a ripped-out toilet, scaled a wall and crossed Interstate 10 to freedom.

districts.

In the study, which kicked off in January 2024 and was finalized this spring, Desire Line found the lowlying area has significant flood risks from Lake Pontchartrain and rivers like Bayou Lacombe. A majority of the area was designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be in a flood zone, the study found, and about a third of the parish’s repetitive loss structures — or structures that flood more than once were concentrated in that area.

The consultants found that inadequate infrastructure and a large number of homes with slab foundations built on ﬁll were also contributing to flood risks. They recommended lowering density in some areas and requiring “more resilient housing construction.”

“You can still build a ton of houses, it’s just not at the densities that are going to create widespread ﬂooding,” said Alex Carter, founder of Desire Line.

Resilience Overlay District 1, for the areas south of U.S 190 in Impastato and Laughlin’s districts, is now in effect. The less stringent

Resilience Overlay District 2, which would also require raised homes, but place fewer restrictions on ﬁll in an area between U.S. 190 and Interstate 12, has not yet been adopted.

“It’s not entirely new,” Impastato said, saying some parts of his district already had restrictions. But he said the study helped them make more informed decisions about it.

“We want to reverse the tide, so-tospeak, on ﬂooding problems.”

“We were hoping the second resilience zone would go back to the drawing board,” said Jenny Dex-

sence event,” Sherman said.

The decline in hotel revenue was even steeper than the decline in bookings, according to CoStar data, which showed that revenue per available room RevPAR, the industry’s key gauge of health — was down more than 25% this year

The STR impact

Bram Gallagher, head of economics at AirDNA, noted that the fact that supply remained ample as demand fell off didn’t help The supply of short-term rentals was

Groves has been convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder and has pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in separate cases. He’d remained jailed locally for months awaiting his terminal sentence, after the judge recused herself and his defense lawyer received a suspension.

Darriana Burton, 28, a former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee who has been described by officials as an associate and girlfriend of Groves, was arrested for allegedly helping to plan the escape. She’s one of several people outside of the escapees who are accused as accessories. A jail plumber, Sterling Williams, has been charged with helping facilitate the jailbreak.

ter executive ofﬁcer at Northshore Homebuilders Association, which represents residential construction professionals in St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

Some homebuilders have criticized the two resilience overlay zones, saying more restrictions could raise costs for homebuyers.

“NHBA supports the goal of reducing flood risk and protecting property, but we have concerns that elements of the Coastal Resilience Land Use Study and the corresponding ordinance will result in unintended consequences, including reduced housing availability and affordability,” said Bubba Jenkins, a homebuilder and former chairman of the NHBA, in an email.

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions still,” Dexter said adding she was dissatisﬁed with how the process of approving the regulations has gone.

Laughlin and Carter, meanwhile, said they have had numerous stakeholder meetings and public discussions about the study and its recommendations.

They also argue that the concerns about affordability are misplaced Even if the upfront cost of a raised home might be higher, the savings, such as from lower insurance rates, reduced ﬂood costs and higher resale value, can make a raised home cost-effective, Carter said.

In a case study published in January 2024, researchers at Louisiana State University found that a 2,500-square-foot, single-family rental home in Metairie that was raised by 2 feet above base flood elevation had a combined net beneﬁt for the owner and renter some-

the second floor AC was out most of last summer, limiting access to the first floor Patron Sharon Shirey recalled staff’s accommodations to grab books requested from the second floor’s adult section, but it was frustrating to not have browsing access.

“I’m so sad about the deplorable conditions of our libraries because so many people, especially kids, depend on them,” she said.

little changed in New Orleans for the Essence Fest weekend this year, despite the tighter restrictions that were implemented in March 2024.

“In some other cities we have noticed that regulations don’t always cause an abrupt drop in available listings, particularly when there is some enforcement uncertainty,” he said.

On the Essence Fest Friday this year, there were 200 fewer listings than last year, at about 5,300, but more than 600 fewer bookings.

On the hotel front, there were about 5,000 fewer hotel rooms booked.

Gallagher and others expect that worse is to come for the hotel sector in the second half of this year

“We haven’t seen definitive weakness yet,” he said. “The effects from tariffs and ﬁscal policies are likely delayed until later in the year and 2026.”

Piscola at the Hilton is bracing for further weakness.

“I believe the second half of the year, including July, will prove more difﬁcult for hospitality, not just in New Orleans but nationwide,” he said. “Most major research organizations, such as Smith Travel Research and LARK, predict a much weaker second half, primarily due to macroeconomic issues beyond New Orleans.”

Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.

“We continue to support a coordinated, multiagency effort to locate and apprehend Derrick Groves, as we have with the previous 9 captures including the one led by Sheriff Susan Hutson,” the sheriff’s ofﬁce said Friday in a statement. “As we have stated before, we urge Mr Groves to surrender peacefully before he or anyone else is harmed.”

In the meantime, Attorney General Liz Murrill said she’s working on recommendations from an investigation into deﬁciencies at the jail. Murrill put her support behind a request that went before the state Bond Commission on Thursday for $15 million to go to emergency repairs and hardening” of the Orleans Parish lockup. That measure passed, an ofﬁcial with the commission said Friday

where between $14,978 and $23,658.

In a statement, Michael Vinsanau, spokesperson for parish President Mike Cooper, also noted the potential cost savings from the new zoning.

“President Cooper’s administration supports resilient and sustainable construction practices which would reduce the likelihood of ﬂood damage and improve our rating in (FEMA’s community rating system) program, which in turn, lessens ﬂood insurance costs for our homeowners.” Carter said it was necessary for the parish to take a two-pronged approach to planning.

“If you’re lowering density in this area, you have to raise density in other areas that are less prone to ﬂooding.”

Laughlin said he thought part of the concern about new zoning rules may come from a fear that it will take off across the parish, which has found itself in recent years struggling to balance growth with residents’ concerns about infrastructure. At a Parish Council meeting in the spring, council member Pat Phillips, whose district includes an area between U.S. 190 and I-12, suggested he might like a similar study done in his district.

Meanwhile, some longtime residents in Laughlin’s district, like Donna McDonald and Chief Elwin “Warhorse” Gillum, have praised the initiative.

“This is not going to stop all the ﬂooding — we realize that, but it’s a tool in the toolbox,” McDonald said. The Parish Council will have its next meeting on Aug. 7.

While the bulk of the city’s public libraries are in historic buildings — four were built over 100 years ago a handful built in 2012 are in need of the most critical repairs: New Orleans East, Robert E. Smith, Algiers Regional, Rosa Keller and Norman Mayer New Orleans officials once hailed their openings as symbols of community resilience after their predecessors were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

But the new buildings began experiencing HVAC issues at least seven years after opening, according to city budget documents. Today, the units and the building’s roofs have reached the end of their life spans, Painton said.

The library system’s decision to tap into its rainy-day fund, one typically reserved for less costly library needs, comes as the quick repairs needed to keep branches open eat at the budget. Over the past four years, New Orleans Public Libraries has spent more than $500,000 of its operating budget on repairs, according to Painton.

”These replacements are not a permanent solution in the way new system installations would be,” she said.

The move also comes as funding earmarked for the projects under the city’s capital projects budget drags on. In 2019, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration reallocated more than $26 million in bond proceeds — that had been dedicated for library, recreation, public safety and other improvements — to pay for a controversial mental health wing at the Orleans Parish jail.

But at a budget hearing last November, Painton said the city administration informed them the money wouldn’t be returned in 2025.

”For many of these library locations, we cannot go another year making small ﬁxes patching and hoping. The leaking roofs are particularly problematic, causing damage to our buildings, our carpets, our materials, mold, and to our reputation in the community,” she said then.

While the replacements are needed to keep the libraries operational, funding the projects through the reserves was a last resort for library ofﬁcials. Shannan Cvitanovic, director of the nonproﬁt Friends of New Orleans Public Library, which supports library programs and services, said it made sense for the work to go through capital projects. The city has a $2.5 billion this year for a range of longterm infrastructure and facility improvement projects, budget documents show She also noted that prior to the capital budget reallocation, the library system completed construction plans and selected a contractor Now the work will have to go back to the drawing board, she said.

”We had hopes that capital projects would cover these much-needed repairs. But we just hope that with the new administration, the procurement process to maintain the library buildings is simpliﬁed or expedited,” Cvitanovic said.

While the money will help renovate the ﬁve branches, library officials said the entire system needs attention. A ﬁrst task for the new facility administrator will be establishing a comprehensive plan for improvements.

Email Joni Hess at joni.hess@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By KEITH SPERA

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Alexander, Harold

AllJr.,John

Barzon, Marie

Bavido Sr., Robert

Brantley, Catherine

BuuckJr.,Arthur

Cognevich,Phillip

Dorgan,Thomas

Drouant,Joy

Ducote,Patsy

Eves,David

Foley, Lorraine

Grosz, Marilyn

Hom-Dufrene, Doris

Klein, Elizabeth

Long III, Jerome

Nunez,Adele

Quinet,Kevin

Raedisch,Roland

Russell, Tia

Sino, Phyllis

Songy,Rosa

Toups,June

WolvertonJr.,William EJefferson

Garden of Memories

Russell, Tia

Toups,June

Leitz-Eagan

AllJr.,John

BuuckJr.,Arthur

NewOrleans

Boyd Family

Eves,David

DW Rhodes

Barzon, Marie Greenwood

Grosz, Marilyn JacobSchoen

Bavido Sr., Robert Lake Lawn Metairie

Foley, Lorraine

Klein, Elizabeth Quinet,Kevin

Raedisch,Roland

WolvertonJr.,William Majestic

Alexander, Harold River Parish

HC Alexander

Harold JamesAlexander entered into rest on Wednesday,July2,2025. He was born on November 17 1935, to theparents of Ce‐celia Landry Joeand Clif‐fordAlexander andlived a fulllifededicated to his lovingfamilyand friends. Heisprecededindeath by his wife,Johnniestene Alexander,and he is sur‐vived by his3 sons, ClarenceDunbar, Dereck J. Alexander (Maria), Dwayne J.Alexander (Jennifer).He has 8grandchildren,Jared Derecka,Paige,DereckJr., Kandeyce, Davon, Ryan, Matthew,and 2greatgrandchildren,Cadence and Parker alongwithhis longtimefriend, Dianne Harris. Hisearly life began inthe neighboringtowns ofCeceilia, Louisiana, and BreauxBridge, Louisiana, where Harold attended GeorgeWashingtonCarver HighSchool andexcelled asanhonor studentand a memberofthe basketball team. In hisadulthood,he was unitedinmatrimony withJohnniesteneRussian after high school.Hebegan his career by brieﬂystart‐ing hisown security com‐pany. He then worked at Econo Meat Market just beforehe begana 30-year careeratKraft FoodsMan‐ufacturingCompany from 1965 anduntil retirement in 1995. Hismostmemorable careermilestone wasin the late 1980’swhenhe partnered with acolleague tostart BurkoCementasa plant managerand fore‐man which laid thecon‐crete forthe infamous DanzingerBridge. Harold was amild-mannered hardworking,and warmhearted manwho lovedhis familyand leaves alegacy ofgreatness to follow in his footsteps. Allfriends and lovedones, alongwith the ofﬁciatingpriest, are invited to attend Funeral ServicesonSaturdayJuly 26, 2025, for10:00 a.m. at St. JosephineBakhita Catholic Church,3501 N. MiroSt.,New Orleans, Louisiana 70117. Visitation willbegin from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00a.m.Interment willfollowthe funeralser‐viceatSt. Roch Cemetery No. 2, 1725 MusicSt.,New Orleans Louisiana70117 ProfessionalArrangements are entrustedtoMajestic MortuaryService (504) 5235872.

John Albert AllJr.,age 83, of Kenner,LApassed awaypeacefullyonSun‐day,July13, 2025. Born on February10, 1942, in New Orleans,Johnwas the beloved sonofthe late JohnA.All,Sr. andFlorence All Crowell. He is survived byhis loving wife of 63 years,Linda LeBlancAll; his son, John J. All(Bylli); two sisters, Mary Louise Fleetwood (Henry)and Joanne Giorgio(Alton);a grandson, Joseph A. All (Angel),two step grand‐children, CarolynNeagle and BernardDavid Mayeux, III (Mandy), ﬁve greatgrandchildren anda host ofniecesand nephews. Johnservedinthe Army NationalGuard before ded‐icating 38 yearstoAvon‐daleShipyarduntil retire‐ment. He hada passionfor animals andautomobiles, especiallyMustangs. A graveside servicewillbe heldonTuesday,July22, 2025, at 10:00 am in Jeffer‐son Memorial Gar‐dens,11316 RiverRd. in St Rose, LA.Casualattire is requested.Fondmemories and expressionsofsympa‐thy maybesharedatwww LeitzEaganFuneralHome. com.

andintelligent,and hadan unquenchablejoy.Marie willbemissedbymany. Marie wasthe belovedwife ofthe late CharlesBarzon, Jr.,daughterofthe late KelseeThomasand Mil‐dredFordThomas, mother ofCharles AnthonyBarzon (Kyoko) andCarlton Barzon (Dorie),sisterofCarolyn Thomas, NancyThomasPierre, andLinda Thomas York. Sheissurvivedby three grandchildrenand a hostofnieces, nephews, and otherrelatives and friends.She wasa lifelong residentofNew Orleans where shetaughtatMc Donough #39Elementary for over 34 years. TheBar‐zon familywishestoex‐press ourmostsincere ap‐preciationfor allthe acts oflove, encouragement, kindness, prayers, ﬂowers, cards,phone callsand hugsduringour time of be‐reavement.Interment: LakeLawnMetairieFuneral Home& Cemeteries.Fu‐neral arrangements were entrusted to theDuplain W. RhodesFuneralHome, 3933 WashingtonAvenue Pleasevisit www.rhodesf uneral.comtoshare online condolences with thefam‐ily

J. “Bobby

stone. Bobbyenjoyed music,especiallyThe Beach Boys,Elvis,The Ea‐gles, andCelineDion. His passion in retirement was driving his1957 ChevyBel Air while attendingCruisin the Coastwithhis son, Bobby J. He wasalsodedi‐cated to attendingCatholic MassatChristthe King Church,aswellaswatch‐ing dailymassvia the Catholic TV Network. Bobby wasa devotedhus‐bandof64years to his beloved survived wife MargaretLaraBavido. He isalsosurvivedbyhis chil‐drenGay AnnBavido (Missie),RobertJ.Bavido, Jr. (Theresa), Sandra J. Bavido, hisgrandchildren BrittanyAdams,KarlieB Collignon (Travis),Alexa B. Crenshaw(Jeff),TonyBar‐cia andgreat-grandchil‐drenParkerA.C.Adams DeklanL.Collignon,Ruston V.Crenshaw, andbrother RonaldD.Bavido. He was precededindeath by his fatherJohnP.Bavido, Sr his mother SadieB.Bavido, and hisbrother John P. Bavido, Jr.(Mary). Rela‐tives &friends of thefam‐ily areinvited to attend the funeralserviceson Wednesday,July23, 2025, atJacob Schoen &Son Fu‐neral Home locatedat3827 Canal Street in NewOr‐leans,LA. Visitation will begin at 9:00am followed by12:30pm mass. Father Nam will ofﬁciate& en‐tombmentwillfollowat LakeLawnAll Saints Mau‐soleum. In lieu of ﬂowers pleaseconsiderdonating inBobby’s honortoJeffer‐son Protection andAnimal WelfareServices(JPAWS) at2701 LapalcoBlvd.,Har‐vey,LA70058. Condolences may be left at www schoenfh.com.

Sino, Phyllis St Bernard

Nunez,Adele St Tammany

Audubon

Dorgan,Thomas

Ducote,Patsy

Bagnell Son

Drouant,Joy

EJ Fielding

Brantley, Catherine West Bank

Robinson FH

Cognevich,Phillip

MarieThomasBarzon was born on December 26 1946, anddepartedthis earth on July 2ndatthe age of 78. Mariewas avi‐vacious,genteel southern lady. Shealwayshad a kindword, always hada smile,and wasinterested ineverythinggoing on.She loved to talk politics and spend time with her friends.She wasa gradu‐ate of McDonogh #35high school,Dillard University and theUniversityofNew Orleans where shere‐ceivedher Master’s Degree inEducation.She read widely, hada largehomeli‐brary,and fora time in her early career worked at the mainbranchofthe New Orleans Public Library where shewould eventu‐allymeet herhusband.She loved God, herfamily, friends,music,art,acting, and herjob as ateacher in the NewOrleans Public School system.Marie loved television, ﬁlm andthe‐ater, andfor many years was an active member of the Screen Actors Guild. She wasalwaysthe best friendtoanyonewho needed afriend. Shewas a kindperson. Shewas also very smart, keenly alert

Sr.departedthis lifeatthe ageof85on Tuesday,July8,2025, at WestJefferson Hospital.He was anativeofNew Or‐leans andlived in Terry‐townfor thepast56years Hewas agraduateofHoly Cross High School then workedover20years at First NBCBankand retired asa JeffersonParish DeputyBailifffor JudgeJo Ellen Grant. He lovedfam‐ily gatherings andvaca‐tions,bowling,crawﬁsh boils,all things LSUinclud‐ing TigerFootball andTiger Baseball, andlived for watchingthe NFL, MLB, Fox News,The Five,and Yellow‐

Catherine“Tina”Brant‐ley passedawayon Wednesday,July16, 2025 She wasborninCovington LAonFebruary11, 1967 Sheissurvivedbyher hus‐

band,MarkBrantley; her child,Cal Brantley.She is alsosurvivedbyher sib‐lings,MaryB.Mizell(late David), John E. “Jeb”Brandt III (Anne), LauraB.Alberts (Lloyd) andJoanna B. Case She wasprecededindeath byparents HelenCatherine “Kay” Ross Brandt and JohnEugeneBrandt, Jr Mrs.Brantleygrewupin Covington,attending St Peter Catholic School and graduatingfromSt. Scholastica Academy. She graduated with aBache‐lor’s degree from Louisiana State University,a Master’s degreeinReading from the State University of New York- University of Albany and agraduatecertiﬁcate inSchool Librarianship fromLouisiana StateUni‐versity.Tinataughtin seven schoolsinfour statesasshe movedwith her husbandthroughout his Army career.After movingbacktoCovington she taught in Catholic schoolsand then wasa li‐brarian forFontainebleau HighSchool,Brock Elemen‐tarySchool,Alton Elemen‐tarySchool,and Abney Early Childhood Center Tinawas acaringand compassionate educator wife, mother,sister, and friend. Shedeeply valued education andgivingback tothe community, andher passion washelping others feel welcome. Herlibrary was asafe spacefor all, and shecared abouteach personindividually.She was constantly thinking about newbookstobuy and howshe couldsupport her students.Tinavolun‐teered much of hertime throughouther life.She en‐joyed supporting young soldiersand cadets and was avolunteer forArmy Community Service. She receivedthe Army Com‐mander’sAward forPublic Service fororganizingand running aFamilySupport Group during aunitde‐ployment. Most recently, Tinawas amemberof MaryQueen of Peace Church where sheserved asa EucharisticMinister and volunteered with the FamilyPromise ministry Tinawas acollector of Playbills, lovedmuseums and thearts, andwas awedbyornatecathedrals and basilicas.She traveled toseven countriesand treasured hervisit to Italy and VaticanCity. Sheal‐waysloved cats,including her childhood cat, Nosey Posey.She waspreceded indeath by hercatsLucky and Twix andissurvived byher grand-cat, Bagel. Her most cherishedthing in life wastobecalled

Alexander, Harold James

Bavido Sr., Robert J. 'Bobby'

Robert

Bavido,

Brantley,Catherine 'Tina'

Barzon,Marie Thomas

4B ✦ Sunday,July 20,2025 ✦ nola.com ✦ TheTimes-Picayune

Mom, Aunt Titi by her manyniecesand nephews, and Miss Tina by herstu‐dents.She will be missed byall whoknewand loved her.Inlieuof ﬂowers, con‐tributionsinmemoryof Mrs.Brantleymay be made toNorthshoreFoodBank www.northshorefoodbank.

org .Relatives andfriends are invitedtoattend the funeral services at E. J. FieldingFuneralHome, 2260 W21st Avenue,Cov‐ingtonLA70433 on Satur‐day,July26, 2025, at 11:00

AMwithvisitationonSat‐urday beginningat 9:00

AM. Intermentwillfollow inPinecrest Memorial Gar‐dens. E.J. Fielding Funeral Homehas been entrusted withfuneral arrangements The Brantley family invites you to sharethoughts, fondest memories,and condolences online at E. J. FieldingFuneralHome Guest Book at www.ejﬁeld ingfh.com

BuuckJr.,Arthur Gustav 'Buddy

Arthur "Buddy"Gustav Buuck,Jr.,84, of NewOr‐leans wassurrounded by familyashepassedaway peacefullyonFriday, July 11, 2025, joiningloved ones who predeceasedhim:his son,Jacob Buuck; his brother,Barry Buuck; and his parents, Leah and Arthur G. Buuck, Sr.Arthur issurvivedbyhis wife of 55 years,Alice BreunBuuck; his twodaughters,Jennifer Buuck andCindy Armond; 4 grandchildren, Sydney Annelise Buuck-Norwood, RachelLee, ShannonFlo‐rane, andJosephLund,Jr. Buuck is also survived by 5 great grandchildren, 3 great-great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, andlifelongfriends including Bobby DeLaune.The family expressesgratitude forthe deeply compassionate staff at SunriseAssisted LivingofMetairieand Pas‐sages Hospice. Agraveside service forArthurwillbe heldMonday, July 28, 2025 from10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.atSt. LouisCemetery #3, NewOrleans

Cognevich, PhillipSimon

PhillipSimon Cognevich, August13, 1968 -July10, 2025. PhillipSimon 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 Felix Anthony 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, 9611LA-23, Belle Chasse,LA70037.

Dorgan,Thomas John 'Tom'

Thomas “Tom John Dorgan em‐barked on his final journeyonJuly15, 2025, leavingbehinda legacyoflaughter, love, and alifetimeofmemories, atthe ageof83. Born on May 10,1942, Tom'slife was vibrant; full of love, service,and thesweet sound of NewOrleans music.Tom wasa man who lived hislifeasa tes‐tamenttothe powerof love, starting with his adoredbride of 59 years, Bernadette Gannon Dor‐gan.Together, they navi‐gated thewaves of life creatinga beautifulfamily. Hewas thepatriarch of a clanthatincludedhis daughters,Leslie Franck (Gary), Kellie Dorgan (Roy), and CaseyDorgan(Ray); his son, DerrickTaylor(La‐tricia);his grandchildren, JustinFaciane,Mark Mick"RuckerJr.,Megan Rehmann (Chris), Jaredd Franck, Courtney Root (Matthew), Bailey Taylor, and Alexanderand Sophia Godsey; as well as his cherished great-grandchil‐dren, Courtney,Madyson, Chloe,Peyton, Liam Cooper,Charli, Luke, Bowen,and Everly.Healso leavesbehinda host of beloved cousinsinTexas Tom wasprecededin death by hisfather, ThomasL.Dorgan; his mother, DaisyD.Holder; maternalgrandparents, Mr. andMrs.JohnTreon Holder; uncles,JCand Jim Holder; paternal grandpar‐ents, Thomas Dorgan and Stella Dorgan Barrera (Gilbert);and hisgrand‐daughter, Jacqueline Marie Rucker. Tom'slife was markedbyhis unyielding service to hiscountry as a proud Veteran of the UnitedStatesNavy, with two toursinVietnam and timespent in thePhilip‐pines andTaiwan. Upon re‐turning to hisbeloved city ofNew Orleans, he contin‐ued to serve- this time,as the youngestChief Engi‐neer forThe Stateof Louisiana at theNew Or‐leans Rivergatefor over two decades. He also workedasChief Engineer atnumerousother build‐ingsindowntownNew Or‐leans until he retiredatthe age of 77. Tom’slovefor lifeincludedhis family, his country,and agood tune His love formusic wasn't justa hobby; it wasa pas‐sionthattransitionedTom intoanonlinesensation known as “DJSwamp Tom,” spinning NewOr‐leans andswamp popclas‐sicsthathad hislisteners dancing in theirliving rooms. Tomalsoloved ani‐malsand allthingsSTEM related.Heloved New Or‐leans cuisine; it’s been saidthathedidn’teat to live, he livedtoeat.One of his most askedquestions was,“Whatwegonna eat?” Tomwas theman who couldlight up aroom withhis humor,warmth, and generous spirit.He had ajokefor everyocca‐sion, astory forevery mo‐ment, anda generous heart that neverfailedto showhis love forthose around him. Hislaughter was infectious, hissmile unforgettable,and his knack formakingevery momenta little brighter was agifttoall who knew him.TodescribeTom as loving, funny, andgener‐ous only scratchesthe sur‐faceofa manwhose life was acelebration of what itmeans to trulylive. He was asailor, an engineer, and aDJ, butmostimpor‐tantly, he wasa husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who loved hisfamily fiercely and well.Aswebid farewelltoTom,weimag‐ine himsailingoff into the sunset, Dr.Johnand Fats Dominoplaying in the background,witha smile onhis face. He hasleftus witha treasure troveof memories, andwhile he may have signed offfor the lasttime, hislegacywill continue to dancethrough the livesofthose he touched.Here'stothe man who made everyday feel likeMardi Gras!A celebra‐tionofTom’s life including MilitaryHonorswillbe heldonSaturday, July 26, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.atFoggy Waters Ma‐rina(theold BayouLiberty Marina) locatedat58047 Hwy 433inSlidell, LA.In lieuof flowers, donations can be made in Tom’s honor to the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Hospi‐tal c/othe CaregiverSup‐portProgram.Memories andcondolences maybe

expressedatwww.Aud ubonFuneralHome.com.

Drouant,Joy AnnMejia

JoyAnn Mejia Drouant peacefully departedfrom this earthly life on July 15th, 2025 surrounded by her belovedchildren. She was bornonOctober 4th, 1935, in NewOrleans, Louisianatoparents, Alfonso Mejia (deceased) and LorettaDunn Mejia (deceased). She was their second eldest childalong with siblings, oldersister, June Mary(deceased), sister, Sandra Matranga, and brother, Alfonso Mejia, Jr Joymarriedher high schoolsweetheart, Frederick L. Drouant. She was his devoted wife for 68 years before his passing in 2023. They exemplified the virtues of love,friendship and forgiveness in their many years together. Her most fulfilling roleswere that of ahomemakerand loving mother to her six children: LaurieSolomon (Ashley), Cathy Musso, TammieWhatley (Chester), Frederick Drouant, Jr. (Charise), Kelli Fenerty (Burke), and Mary Ferry (Tim). Joy is survived by her 12 adoring grandchildren: Brandy Blume, Ryan Reese, Cassie Lavigne,Craig Henderson, Jr,Marc Musso,Cody Whatley, Chad Whatley, Hailey Fenerty, Gabrielle Drouant,GarrettDrouant, Samantha Drouant,and RaeganGautreau, to whom she was lovinglyknown as "MiMi". She was agreatgrandmothertoeight great -grands withtwo more on theway.She is also survivedbyher sister-in-law, Beryl Drouant Neyrey and brother-in-law,L.J Drouant.Joy was anatural caretaker and aloyal friend.She treated everyone with kindness and livedout her Catholicfaith with steadfastness and adoration. She was alongterm resident of Metairie, LA and parishionerofSt. Ann CatholicChurch. She found purpose and joy in attending dailymorning mass. In their retirement years, Joyand Fred enjoyed square dancing and traveling thecountry in their RV. She also enjoyed cooking and madethe best potofred beans around Hosting her family for Monday night beans was a traditionfor many years. She willbedearlymissed by allwho lovedher. Her familytakes comfort in the heavenly promise of her now perfect health in the presence of herSavior. In honoring Joy's life,a private family burial willbe held at Greenlawn Cemetery. To sign theonline guestbook, please visit bagnellfuneralhome.com

PatsyJaneGiusti

holidays,and weekends withfamilyonher pontoon boat. Shelived in Slidellfor the past nearly 20 years after HurricaneKatrina de‐stroyed herlakehome. Patsy grew up going to camps in Little Woodson LakePontchartrain and spent many summer weekswithher sistersand familiesatthe Lala’s Full House camp on thelake. Patsy waspredeceased by her parents, Joseph August Giustiand EthelGiusti Areas;her husband of nearly30years,Riley DucoteJr.;her son, Paul JosephDucote; onesister, Susan Hardy; twobrothers, Joeyand RayGiusti; fatherin-law, RileyDucoteSr.; mother-in-law,RitaN Ducote; andher brother-inlaw,August“Joe” Condon Patsy's legacy continues through herlovingdaugh‐ters, Brenda Ducote Stigler (Ronnie) andDebbie DucoteHowell(José Edgar); grandchildren, RonnieStigler Jr.(Melanie) NickolasHowell, Lauren Stigler Hughes (Blaine), and Alli Howell Earhart (Caleb);and great-grand‐children, Presleyand Mi‐anna Stigler, Kyndall, Noah, and Seth Earhart, Rileyand GrahamHughes, and ChanceManno Howell. She alsoleavesbehind, to cher‐ish hermemory, twosis‐ters, JoAnnCondonand Nancy Lala (Anthony); a hostofniecesand nephews who adored their Aunt Pat” andher long‐timefriend, Judy Migliore Patsy worked as amedical receptionistfor many years before retiring in 2005. In herspare time,she loved ﬁshing, gardening, and puzzle making and was very meticulous with the care of herlawnand gardens.She enjoyedbak‐ing herfamousbrownies for everyoccasion as well asmakingher mother’s fudge recipe everyChrist‐mas to gift herfamily. Patsy will be greatly missedbyall who knew and lovedher.A private celebration of Patsy’slife willbeheldata laterdate. In lieu of ﬂowers, dona‐tions canbemadeinher memorytoSt. Jude Chil‐dren’sResearchHospital, a cause that wasclose to her heartafter receiving carethere forher precious son,Paul, in the70s. Mem‐ories andcondolences may beexpressedatwww.Aud ubonFuneralHome.com.

DavidAnthony Eves passedawayonJune 29, 2025, at theage of 64 years old.David AnthonyEvesis survivedbyhis partner, Yolanda Johnson, her daughterMelunicaTre‐paigner,siblings; Judy Eves-Jackson(Kenneth Jackson Sr.) Harry R. 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. Eves Sr.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.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors

Lorraine Freeman

Lorraine Freeman Foley, age 99, passed away July 12, 2025. Lorraine wasbornApril 3, 1926, in Galveston, Texas. Shewas thesecond of four daughters of Mr William Freeman and Elizabeth Bocage Freeman Lorraine was alifelong residentofNew Orleans. SheattendedHenryW AllenElementarySchool, Sophie B. Wright High School andIsidore Newman School. Shealso graduatedfromNewcomb Collegewitha degree in journalism.

Lorraine's greatest love wasgolf. She played at MetairieCountry Club until she was90years old.

Lorraine and herbeloved husband of 27 years, Dudley C. Foley Jr.traveled around thecountry playing golf together. She lovedto cook andentertain their friends. Shecontinued to host parties well into her 90's.

Lorraine's otherpassion wasgardening. Shewas a member of theMetairie Garden Club for years. She collectedexotichibiscus flowersand wasanactive member of theNew OrleansHibiscusSociety.

Lorraine daily collected herhibiscus blooms to wear with hermatching outfits. Lorraine also enjoyed searching for and collecting Majolica Pottery Shespent many hourson thehuntwithher adult children, Alan andMichele. Shehad agreat zest for life. Sheloved to tell jokes, share herhibiscuses, and go outtolunch with friends. Shewill be greatly missed.

Lorraine is preceded in death by first andsecond husbands, HughAllen Liles andDudley Charles Foley Jr father, William Freeman,mother, Elizabeth Bocage Freeman, and sisters, Denise Ferguson,LynnKimble, andCoral Ellis.

Lorraine is survivedby herson,Hugh Alan Liles (Lisa) and daughter, MicheleLilesBienvenu (Richard). Sheisalso survivedbyher grandchildren,David Bienvenu (Erin),HughLiles, and Syrah Liles and greatgrandson, RileyBienvenu.

Thefamilywishesto thank hernurse, Lolita Lodriguesand sitters, Laverne Floyd, DeeDee Smith, Mary Sterling, and Michelle LeBlancfor taking such goodcareofLorraine Thefamilyalso wishesto thank theOchsner Hospice andPalliative CareUnitat themain campus.

Acelebration of Lorraine's life will be held on Thursday, July 24, 2025, from 10 AM -12PMatLake LawnMetairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.New Orleans, LA.

MarilynClaireGrosz passedawayonJuly11, 2025, at herhomein Metairie, with herfamily byher side.BornAugust 28, 1942, in Monroe,North Carolina, Marilynmoved withher familytoNew Or‐leans shortlyafter theend ofWorld War2.Atthe age of16, shemet Fred Grosz ona blinddate. They mar‐riedonNovember30, 1963 Marilynstarted work in the Draftingdepartmentof South CentralBellTele‐phone Company, after graduatingfromEastJef‐fersonHighSchool in 1960 In 1965, Marilynand Fred had their ﬁrstchild,Ken‐nethWilliam Grosz. Mari‐lyn decidednot to return to workinorder to raiseher son.In1971, they hadtheir daughter, Kristen Claire Grosz.Marilynwas aloving wife, mother,grand‐mother, andgreat grand‐mother. Sheenjoyed crossstitch, readingher favorite Danielle Steelebooks,and gardening.She likedtravel‐ing with Fred to play golf and tennis andlater in life toEuropewithfriends and family. Shewillberemem‐bered forher drysense of humor andnever holding backfromtellingyou ex‐actly whatshe wasthink‐ing.Marilynissurvivedby her husband, Fred Grosz; her sonKenny Grosz(Beth) and daughter Kristen Grosz (David);her sister Karen Moore(Lee) andbrother Bruce Cook (Linda); her grandchildren Morgan Grosz (Karl),Merritt Grosz (Ben),and KennethGrosz Jr. (Kaylee);and hergreat granddaughter Noah Claire Neuenhaus.She also leavesbehindmanyother familymembers and friends who will miss her greatly.She waspreceded indeath by herparents Al‐fredBernard Cook and ClaireMurielCook andher brother-in-lawGeorge Michael GroszIII. Thefam‐ily wishes to expresstheir gratitude to Visiting Angels and CompassusHospice for thecaretheyprovided toMarilyn. Also,a very special thankyou to Re‐becca Sadler,who did manykindthingsfor Mari‐lyn,including taking her blood on aweekly basisfor her INR. Memorial gifts may be made,inlieuof ﬂowers, to theAlzheimer’s FoundationofAmerica Relatives andfriends are invited to visitGreenwood FuneralHome, 5200 Canal Blvd.,New Orleans, LA 70124, on Saturday,July26, 2025, starting at 11:00 AM A Memorial Mass will fol‐low thevisitationat1:00 PM. Theburialwillbein Greenwood Cemetery.We alsoinviteyou to share yourthoughts, fond memo‐ries, andcondolences on‐lineatwww.greenwoodfh com.Yoursharedmemo‐rieswillhelpuscelebrate Marilyn’slifeand keep her memoryalive

Ducote, of Slidell, Louisiana,passedawayon July12, 2025, at theage of 82. Born on July 11, 1943, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Patsy residedinSt. Bernard Parish formany years before buying her dream home on Lake Catherine,where she hosted numerous parties, When youneed thenews. Wherever youreadthe news

Foley,

Grosz,

Eves,David Anthony

Ducote,Patsy Jane Giusti

Hom-Dufrene, Doris L.

Doris LHom Stuckey Dufrenewas born in LaPlace, La. She lived in New Orleans, Slidell, Alabama and Florida coasts. Doris was devoutly committedtoher faith to Christ in the Catholic Church. Doris graduated Slidell High School, Slidell, La in 1959, where she excelled in music, marching band and became the Band Queen. Doris enjoyed acareerinthe retail service field. She loved to cook and was an avid swimmer and loved the beach. She is preceded in death by her parents Florence Faciane Hom and Yen Sang "Jimmy" Hom and Charles Stuckey of Alabama She is survived by her brother Jimmy LHom (Faith) of Biloxi, Ms Children Desiree M Dufrene Hernandez (Mark) of Biloxi, Ms, Daphne A Wilde (Mike) of Ariton, Al and Darlene ADufrene Peturis(Giuseppe, deceased) of Winter Haven, Fl. Grandchildren Brandon Adams (Lindsey)Jason Adams (Erika). Joseph Joey Peturis, PeterPeturis, Angelena Peturis, Stepanie Peturis, Luke Ditmore, along with great grandchildren and aloving host of nieces and nephews extended family.

Doris was laid to rest next to her parents in a celebration of her life with family in Lumberton, Ms.In lieu of flowers memorial charitabledonations may be made to the Diabetes Foundation.

Elizabeth "Beth" Boyer Klein, passed away peacefully at home July 8, 2025 surrounded by family at the age of 86. Beth was born in New Orleans, Louisiana where she attended Redemptorist High School and spent her life in deep connection to her roots, her faith, and her family. She was adevoteddaughter,sister, mother, grandmother, coworker,and friend. Awoman of deep and abiding faith, Beth was a devout Catholic where she attended mass at both St. Francis Xavier and St. Angela Merci Churches. Her faith was the foundation of her strength. Her faith reflected in alife of grace and courage. Beth never met a stranger. Her energetic personality gave her the ability to bring joy to any room she entered. She was continuouslyproud to be anative New Orleanian. She showed her native spirit by enjoying so many of the celebrations that makes New Orleans so unique. Her two favorites that she never missed was the Carnival season and St. Patrick's Day celebrated at the famed Parasols with family and friends. She always believed her "joie de vivre" came from her deep Irish roots. Professionally, Beth worked for more than 38 years as abridal consultant at Coleman E. Adler & Sons and Dillard's Corporation. Her warm personality and impeccable style helped countless brides complete their wedding registries. It brought such joy to Beth connecting and working with the young brides and grooms during aspecial time in their lives. Beth enjoyed being active in many civic organizations in the city, as well as her activeinvolvement in her neighborhood community. Beth and her longtime partner, Donald Deboisblanc,enjoyed the opportunity to travel extensively during the past years. The stories of her travels were always told with great enthusiasm and detail.

Beth enjoyed spending many summers in Sun Valley, Idaho at the home of her daughter, Liz and her late son-in-law, Rufus Brown, whom she adored. She enjoyed the friendships she built during her visits to Sun Valley. Her love of pink that earned her the nickname "Easter Bunny" among Sun Valley friends, reflecting her unique style and vivacious personality. Beth's vibrant spirit, generous heart, and

love forlifewillberemembered alwaysbythose who knew and lovedher

Thefamily wouldlike to extendheartfelt gratitude to the caregiverswho so lovingly supported and cared forBethoverthe past fouryears.Glenda Hyacinthe,ToniPittman, Rosa Matute,Jenny Terry and Sandra Fuentes.Their compassionand dedication helped make her final yearscomfortable, beautiful,and filled with dignity. Beth is precededin death by herparents,Louis James Boyer and Romelia Hazel Farran Boyer, ababy son,LouisJamesKlein. Sheissurvived by her daughter, Elizabeth Klein Brown and son,Michael George Klein (Donna) of Baton Rouge, LA and a granddaughter, Alexis Klein Ponthieux (Tanner) of Baton Rouge, LA. Sheis also survivedbyher sister, Mel Boyer Schiro (Gasper J. Schiro,deceased), and her brother,GerardJames "Jerry"Boyer (Bonnie), two nieces, Patricia Boyer O'Connor(Joey) and Jeanne BoyerOtt (Vance). Afuneral masswill be held at St. FrancisXavier CatholicChurch, 444 Metairie Road, Metairie, LA. on Thursday, July 24, 2025,at10:00am, with a private interment to follow.Inlieuofflowers,donations may be made in Beth'smemorytothe charity of your choice

Long III, Jerome James 'J.J.'

Retired Army Specialist

Jerome James Long, III. (J.J.), of ColoradoSprings, CO, formerly Plantation,FL and Metairie,LA, passed awayJune 25th.

Jerome was the proud father of Jaelyn and Brooklyn Long, of Colorado Springs,CO. He leaves behindhis motherKarin Moore of Harahan,LA, sister Brandi Long of Arlington, VA, sister Nicole Long,and significant other Enid Ruiz-Mattei of ColoradoSprings, CO. He has beenreunitedindeath withhis father,Jerome Long,Jr. and grandparents Rosemarie and Emory Moore and Shirley and JerryLong.Heissurvived by many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Jerome was born in Metairie, LA and attended schoolsinJeffersonParish before moving to Plantation, FL where he graduatedfromPlantation High School in 1994.

Aproud veteran,Jerome served in the U.S. Army from 2004 -2009 with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, CO. He served his country with honor and dedicationduring the Iraq war and received numerous commendationsincluding the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, GlobalWar on Terrorism Service Medal, IraqCampaign Medalwith Campaign Star,Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Action Badge,and Mechanic and Driver Badge.After servinginthe military,Jeromeworked as amillwright. Later, he obtainedhis Bachelor's degree in Business Administrationand Accounting from UniversityofColorado followed by aMaster Degree in Accounting from ColoradoState.Recently, he was employed at Plante Moran as aTax Staff, while preparing forthe CPA certification. WhenJerome wasn't at work,orspending time with hisdaughters and loved ones, you could find him with his"little buddy" Loki, smoking a goodcigarand tending to his plants. His neighbors enjoyed the tomatoesand peppersfromhis garden, while his coworkers relished the delicious rum cake from hisfather's recipe. Some parting words from Jerome- "you play stupid games, you win stupidprizes". Afuneral masswill be held at St. Rita's of Harahan on July 22, 2025 with visitation from 1pm2pm and Mass at 2pm. Jerome'sremains will be laid to rest with fullmilitary honors at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery on July23, 2025 at 10am. Acelebrationof

life will take place in ColoradoSprings, fordetailsvisit https://everloved.com/life -of/jerome-long/. In lieu of flowers,donations in Jerome's name can be madetoMt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, ColoradoSprings

Nunez, AdelePerez 'Tudy'

Adele“Tudy”Perez Nunezpassedawaypeace‐fully on Tuesday, July 15 2025 at theage of 89. She was thecherished wife of the late HillaryJ.“Tookie Nunez. Loving mother of ChristieNunez(Gene Car‐rau)and HillaryNunezJr. (Marilyn).Daughterofthe lateManuellaRuizPerez and MerrillPerez.Sisterof the late JoyceHenderson, Merrill “Mutt” PerezJr.,Eu‐gene“Rabbit”Perez and Cornelia“Ba Ba”Robert‐son.Proud grandmotherof Hillary “Lainey” Barthelemy(Kevin),Tessy Vaillancourt (Eric) and JodyAlfonso.Great-grand‐motherofLaurenSavoie (Evan), Alex Savoie (Austin), Parker Miller, Charlotte Barthelemy and Cooper Barthelemy.Greatgreat grandmotherof KoltenSavoie. Sheisalso survivedand fondly re‐memberedbymany nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends. Tudy was borninNew Orleans, LA and wasa longtime resi‐dentofViolet, LA.She en‐joyed alongcareer as an Ofﬁce Administratorwith the Port of St.Bernard where shededicated many years of servicebeforere‐tiring. As awoman of deep faith,Tudywas adevoted parishioner of OurLadyof Lourdes Catholic Church in Violet, where shealsoen‐joyed participatingintheir annualcarnivalballs Above all, Tudy cherished timespent with herfamily and friends. Sheespecially loved hangingout "Backof Violet" at thefortand the camps where herwarmth, laughterand generous spiritbrought everyone to‐gether. Shehad aspecial giftfor ﬁndingjoy in life’s simplemoments andfor showing kindness andcare tothose around her. Tudy willberememberedfor her unwavering loyaltyand her warmheart andthe light she broughtintoevery room.Restinpeace,dear Tudy. Youwerea wonderful example of whatitmeans totruly care forothersand you will be deeply missed byall who knew andloved you.Special thanks to the staff of Serenity Senior Residencesfor your pro‐fessional care andcom‐passion whenitmattered most. Relativesand friends are invitedtoattend avisi‐tationtobeheldatOur LadyofLourdes Catholic Church,2621 Colonial Blvd Violet, LA on Tuesday, July 22, from 11:00 am –1:00 pm, followed by aMassin Tudy’smemorybeginning at1:00pm. Shewillbelaid toeternal rest in St Bernard Memorial Gardens Cemetery. To view andsign the Family Guestbook pleasevisit www.stberna rdmemorial.com.

Kevin Quinet, born in NewOrleans on October 24, 1989, left this life on July, 16, 2025. Kevin was a graduateofSt. Martin's EpiscopalSchool, attended Rowan University, majoring in communications, and received abachelor's degree in marketing from Tulane University. Kevin beganhis career designing marketing campaigns whiledeveloping his interest and expertise in thelocal film industry as technicalassistant and frequent "extra" in NCIS NewOrleans and many other locally filmedmovies like 23 Jumpstreet and the "This is SpinalTap"sequel However,Kevin's driving passionwas animal care. He founded hisown pet care company, then honed his skills in animal training andveterinariancare, most recently at Crescent City Veterinary Clinicand

AnimalWellness and Emergency Clinic. Kevin leaves behind to cherish thememoriesof his life hisfather, Dr. Robert Quinet, mother, Mary Quinet, and brother, Dr. StephenQuinet. Kevin is also survivedbyhis sister-in-law Dr. Jill Hammersley, Kevin's adored niece, IsobelQuinet and nephew, EmileQuinet, as wellasKevin's intended wife, Lisa Laine.Also mourning thelossofKevin are hisaunts, Kay Haines, Elaine Quinet, and Marienne Quinetand uncle, James Quinet. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a CelebrationofKevin's Life on Thursday,July24, 2025. At LakeLawn Metairie Funeral Home,5100 PontchartrainBlvd.New Orleans, LA.Visitation will be held from 12 PM -1 PM with amemorial service to beginat1 PM.All of those wishing to share cherished memories of Kevinwillbe urged to share them at this time or can email them to Kevin's mother at maryquinet@yahoo.com so they can be read aloud. In lieu of flowers, Kevin's family requests that donations in his memorytothe animal rescue or veterinary science researchcharityofyour choice

Roland A. Raedisch passed away on July 13, 2025 at 92 years of age. He was born in Hamburg, Germany on August 25, 1932 and raised in Berlin, Germany during WWII. When he was threeyears old, Roland'smother passed through thechildbirthofhis younger brother.Roland was sent to live with farmers outsideof Berlinduring thewar. After thewar, Roland was reunitedwith his father and livedinBerlin until 1956. He left Germany to work in Canada and then moved to NewOrleans with afriend in 1959. NewOrleans was thebeginning of ajoyous life when he met Jeanne Vasquez at theDeutsches Haus; they marriedin1960. Roland and Jeanne had three children and have livedinMetairiesince 1965. Roland was retired fromthe Southern Pacific Railroad,was amember of Deutsches Haus and Teamster Local 270, and a St. Louis King of France Men'sClub volunteer.Heis preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Jeanne Vasquez Raedisch; son, Roy Raedisch, Sr.(Elena, surviving); parents, Karoline Badsching Raedisch and Richard Oskar Raedisch; sisters Ingrid and Annegret;and brothers, Horst,HeinzHarald, Hartmut,and HansJoachim. Roland is survivedbyhis sons, Kurt Raedisch (Karren) and Mark Raedisch (Marie); grandchildren, Gunner Raedisch, Christina Raedisch, Trevor Raedisch, Gabrielle Raedisch, Roy Raedisch, Jr., and Hannah Raedisch; great-grandchild, Kathryn Raedisch; sister, Monika; and brother,Reginald.The family wouldliketogivespecial thanks to St.Anthony Community Care Center's staff, nurses, and doctors. Therewillbea graveside service on Monday, July28, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. in All SaintsMausoleum, which is on thegroundsMetairie Cemetery, 5100 PontchartrainBlvd.New Orleans, LA 70124.

13,

loving familyafter 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” to herpre‐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,along with her 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 MemoriesFuneral Home 4900 AirlineDrive in Metairie, LA.Visitationwill begin at 9:00 am with afu‐neral serviceat12:00 noon followedbyburialinCar‐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.

PhyllisMae Sino re‐ceivedher wingsonFriday, July11, 2025. Sheispre‐ceded in deathbyher par‐ents, Jamesand Elmira Sino; siblings,JosephSino, Shirley Sino,James Sino, LionelPayne andClifford Sino. Sheischerished by hersister, HelenJames

(Huey),a host of nieces, nephews,other relatives and friends. Relativesand friends;Pastor, ofﬁcers and membersofSt. An‐drewBaptist andall other neighboring churches of Plaquemines,St. Bernard and OrleansParishes; AlumniofPhoenix High School areinvited to at‐tendthe funeral. ACele‐bration servicehonoring the life andlegacyofthe latePhyllis MaeSinowill beheldatSt. Andrew Bap‐tistChurch,2823 English TurnRoad, Braithwaite, LA onTuesday,July22, 2025 at 10am, Pastor Jaydon Green,Ofﬁciating. Inter‐mentEnglish Turn Ceme‐tery. Visitation 9aminthe church.Pleasesignonline guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Finalarrangementsen‐trusted to Charbonnet FamilyServices(504) 3021520.

Rosa passedaway peacefully on July 15, 2025 atthe ageof95. Shewas bornand raised in Vacherie, LA by herpar‐ents, OzaneJ.and Louise B. Gravois,the 12thofthir‐teen children.Rosawas the belovedwifeofthe late Russell D. Songy. Russ and Rosawerethe proudpar‐entsof3 daughters, KayS Stiles(Payne) of Metairie DeniseS.Pierce(thelate Louis)ofNewnan, GA and Carol S. Savoie (Tony) of Baton Rouge. Together, theyenjoyed 10 grandchil‐dren, JayStiles(Colleen), RussStiles(Jessica),Ryan Stiles(Stephanie),Lauren S.Cassara (Andy),Sarah S. Dusang(Kevin) Leslie S. Williams (Jess),Michelle S. Walker(Keith),CarolineS Aguilar (Zach),Matthew T. Pierce, andRachelP.Ben‐son (Caleb). Rosa is also survivedby16lovinggreat grandchildren.Mom’s pri‐ority wasraising her daughters,but shealso treasured bridge friends, St. CharlesParishArt Guild ﬁndinga Gravoispa‐triot to become aDaughter ofthe American Revolu‐tion, andinher earlier years,a member of theSt. PhilipCatholicDaughters Mom andher siblings re‐mainedendearedtoeach other throughout theiren‐tirelife. Sheisprecededin death by her6 brothers, Rene, Guy, Lester,O.J Earl and CharlesGravois;sis‐ters, Adele, Denise,Stella Rita, andMarie,blessed withmanywonderful inlaws. Sheissurvivedby JackieWaguespackofThi‐bodaux. Also survived by 2 sisters-in-law, Sr.Linda Songy andTibby S. Davis (Chester).Mom wasAunt Rosatocountless nieces and nephews, Relatives and friendsare invitedto attend afuneral Mass on Thursday,July24atSt. Charles Borromeo,13396 River Road,Destrehan, 70047. Visitation will begin

Songy, Rosa TheresaGravois

Raedisch, RolandA

Klein, Elizabeth Boyer

Sino,Phyllis Mae

See more DEATHS page

Quinet,Kevin Michael

Russell,Tia Posseno

TiaPosseno Russell, 64, ofRiver Ridge, Louisiana, passedawaypeacefullyat her home on Sunday,July

2025, surrounded by her

OUR VIEWS

Allacross La., there’s good news on crime

Twoyears after astatewide political campaign in which urban crimewas amajor issue, Louisianahas seen aremarkable turnaround.

New Orleans has witnessed asteepdrop in both murder and gunviolence, with 2025 onpace to be the safest year since 1970.After averaging 200murders per year overthe last ﬁve years, the city had logged 53 as of early July.And that’s including the tragicNew Year’smorning terror attack on Bourbon Street that took 14 revelers’ lives.

Shreveport has seen far fewerhomicides in 2025 as well, with nearly half as many asat the midpoint of last year

Baton Rouge too is seeing fewerhomicides this year,down 19% compared to the ﬁrsthalfof 2024. These drops are part of anationaltrend that has ofﬁcials and researchers encouraged, but also not exactly sure of howtodivvy up the credit. But there are thingshappening that aresurely partofthe larger puzzle.

In New Orleans, analyst Jeff Asher points to an infusion of resources from the American Rescue Planand federallaw enforcement agencies,the state, the city and nonproﬁts.

The drop in crime coincideswith —but started before —the arrival of Troop NOLA, the effective and well-received Louisiana State Police unit assigned to the city by Gov.Jeff Landry. Mayor LaToyaCantrell’sHealth Department leads a program that includes violenceinterruptionand concentratesontrauma, and nonproﬁts areon board tooffer therapy and community-based services.

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, also points to aproactive focus on violent offenders by the perennially short-staffed New Orleans PoliceDepartment Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith attributed the good news in his city to anintensive focus on getting ﬁrearms out of the wronghands

In Baton Rouge —and also in NewOrleans —policehave countered stafﬁng shortagesby ramping up partnerships with federaland state law enforcement agencies.

Other factors likely include the end of the COVIDdisruptions andthe increased use of advanced technology

We also acknowledge community-ledinitiatives like the broad-based NOLA Coalition, whichis working to build support for the NOPD andinvest in badly neededyouth services

Andwecredit Landry and Attorney General LizMurrill for crossing politicallines to offer help —aswell as local ofﬁcials who disagree with them on other issues but have put those differences aside.

None of this is to say that all is entirelywell. RapesinNew Orleans are up, and BatonRouge hasseena scourge of retail theft. Thedevastating impact of violent crimeonvictims andtheir families doesn’tdiminish simply because there arefewer of them. Crimeisoftencyclical,and can tickupagain when ofﬁcials let down theirguard So when progress happens, it’sworth applauding —and worth understanding, so thatthose in charge can be better prepared to keeppeople safe when the tide turns again.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

OPINION

ANOTHERVIEW

Anew trend: Gettheetoanunnery

“I feel thenuns have been expecting us.They knew ourlast nerve would disappear at some point.”

This quote comes from apiece in theonline publication Vice: “Gen Z Women Are BookingConvents Instead of Beach Houses This Summer.” They are not staying for life. Convents typically have “come and see” weekends for women discerning religious life. Thesearen’t those weekends.Theseoffer respitetoanoverwhelmed population in need of quiet time —and God.

“Monasteries and convents are now seeing waitlists as young women lineupfor akind of stillnessthat’s hardtocome by elsewhere,” according to thearticle. “No phones buzzing, no endless notiﬁcations, and deﬁnitely no smalltalk. Instead, many are spending theirdays tending gardens, attending prayer services,and catching up withthemselves.”

It is exhilarating to see. Thereis something hopeful happening. I’d say it is mysterious, except it makes all

thesense in the world. People aren’t happy,and they want to be Just in my New York metro area, theBirgittine sisters have an extraordinarily beautifulbed-and-breakfast type guesthouse on the Long Island Sound in Darien, Connecticut. Imade use of it when on deadline on abook on prayer,“AYear with theMystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living.” Ishould have stayed ayear,but the longest stretch for which Icould convince thesisters to put up with me was two weeks. Andwhile The Sisters of Life do not runaguesthouse in the same way the Birgittinesdo, they do have aretreat house they runfor the Knights of Columbus in nearby Stamford, with retreat weekends for womenand men throughout theyear The Birgittines,founded by the great mystic Bridget of Sweden, are known for theirhospitality.WhenI was looking for aplace to do a30-day retreat in thetraditionofSt. Ignatius of Loyola and his demandingly fruit-

ful Spiritual Exercises, they provided plenty of it. In the Franciscan town of Assisi, the sisters welcomedan American in silence. If you don’thavethe time or energy for afull-blown retreat, you could learnfromGaryJansen, in his book (muchsmaller andcheaper than mine), “The 15-Minute Prayer Solution.”OK, so your phone may be constantly blowing up. Your baby maynot sleep anynight. The bills are making youworkextra shifts. And thatmay be only the beginning of the litany of noise in your life.You can carve out 1% of your day(which, as Jansen reminds us, equals 15 minutes). Call it self-careorwhatever makes it palatable to yourself or others, but you’re talking about1%ofyour day to try to make exclusive time for God, your creator,the creator of the universe. We don’tneed aconvent waiting list to clear up in ordertoclear our heads, refresh oursouls andremind us of what really matters.

EmailKathryn Jean Lopez at klopez@nationalreview.com.

The way we express ourselves in writing today differs greatly from the formal way of writing letters in the past.We’re so usedtoﬁring off emails and texts using shorthand that some habitshave become ingrained. However,there are somehabitsthat I, for one, ﬁnd are overused and distracting to me as areader

Here are afew of these in no particular order.First is the use of ALL CAPS for emphasis. This has become common even though it is the equivalent of shouting at your reader.Noone likes to be yelled at,and if the POINT is powerful enough, the WORDS will create their own emphasis in themind of the reader Related,and equally common is the liberal use of the exclamation point to express anything from surprise to anger to general bewilderment. Imust admit Ioften fall into this habit as well in text messages, but when Isee it in letters, Itend to think, “It’sa letter!

The point is clear! Adding that punctuation does nothing foryour statement!”

Alsooverused are quotation marks madetoexpress “skepticism” about the“facts” or someone’s“expertise” on atopic. These perhaps are used like air quotes in real lifeconversation, but again, if you makeclear you are questioning an assertion in your argument, the words should obviate theneed forextraneous punctuation.

Lastly,Isee the use of acronymswith no explanation alot these days. Whilesomecommon abbreviations, like FBI, CIA or OMV,are understood by most people, you should never assume readers will understand acronyms used by aspeciﬁc industry or trade.

Of course, there is nothing incorrect about any of these habits, as they are just minor pet peeves. Writing does evolve. Butifwewrite to convey meaning, then we should do everything

we can to avoid turning off readers. Going to ourletters inbox for the week of June 26 to July 3, we received 62 letters. In the lead-up to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, it’s notsurprising that the topic wasthe subject of the largest group of letters. Nine letters took up issuesinthe bill, while an additional four letters focusedonthe effectthat Medicaid cuts will have on Louisiana. Immigration was the next most popular topic with four letters. The case of Mandonna Kashanian, the New Orleans woman detainedbyImmigration and Customs Enforcement, prompted three more letters. When there is intense interest on a single topic, we cannot publish all your letters, but we know the topic is important and try to publish as manyviews as we can.

Arnessa Garrett is Deputy Editor | OpinionPage Editor.Emailher at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.

Arnessa Garrett

Kathryn Jean Lopez

COMMENTARY

As N.O. enters itspolitical season,changeisinthe air

Atime traveler from two decades back might look at the names on the fall New Orleans ballot and feel like not muchhas changed.

There’saMorrell and aWillard —incumbent JP and state Rep. Matthew—running for the two at-large City Council seats; they’re the son and nephew,respectively of the two Cynthias who represented the council districts hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. Oliver Thomas is there too, running for mayor long after he was an at-large memberand the likely successor to Ray Nagin. Alot changed for Thomas in the interim —aguilty plea in abribery case and short stint in prison, followed by acomeback as aradio host and then on the council and now,ﬁnally,amayor’s race in which he’snolonger the clear front-runner Familiar names notwithstanding, alot’schanged in how the city elects all its politicians.

waswidelythought that thedays of electinganon-Black mayor to lead the majority AfricanAmerican city were over.Then cameMitch Landrieuand LaToya Cantrell and allbetswereoff, whichisgood news for CityCouncilmemberat-large Helena Moreno,who has led mayoral polls sofar and ﬁtsall threecategories. Rounding outthe toptier areformer JudgeArthur Hunter and a late entry,state Sen. Royce Duplessis.

Thatopenness on thepart of city’s electorateisone indicationofanaltered landscape.

Another is the deathofamodel aroundwhichcity politics was organized. That’smostapparent in DistrictB,where therewon’t be an electiononOct.11atall because nobody signed up to challenge incumbent Lesli Harris.

Twenty years ago, New Orleans had never had awoman mayoror one who was not anative, and it

Someone can be “tough on crime” and at the same time, without logical contradiction,also want to do preventive work addressing crime’s“rootcauses.”

Socialwork and prosecutorial work need not be mutually exclusive, and indeed can be complementary Especially with nonviolent youthful offenders, an ounce of prevention can be wortha whole ton of prison doors.

That’swhy it is so important that Louisiana, under oversight from the state Supreme Court, boasts programs across the state called Families In Need of Services.Even better would be if more private-sector or nonproﬁt groups stepped up to partner with the FINS groups and multiply the FINS’ good work.

This speaks well of how Harris hasperformed in her ﬁrst term, but it also highlights something else:Thatthe BOLD organization, which used to dominatepolitics in the CentralCity core of District B, didn’tﬁeldacandidate, four years afterHarrisunseated BOLDstal-

wartJay Banks. Back in the day,BOLDlaunched major candidates suchasJim Singleton, Cantrell and Thomas. And other groups thatwerepartofthe city’s“AlphabetSoup” of post-civil rights organizations did the same: The Morial family’sLIFE, former U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson’sProgressive Democrats, COUPand SOUL and more.

But Thomashas moved to DistrictE in New Orleans Eastand built anew political brand, and the daughter of one of BOLD’s early leadersKen Carter,mayoral candidateEileen Carter,ismore agadﬂy known for leading the failed effort to recall Cantrell than acontender

The other groups are either dormant or shrunkeninstature and relevance.

Onereason is that Katrina scrambled theresidential patterns that made neighborhoodbased organizations strong. A crackdown on public corruption played apart too, snaring political leaders including Thomas, Nagin and Jefferson. Political activity has moved to television and now social media and away from the

streets. These days it’shard to ﬁnd asuccessfulyounger politician who does things the old way What’s replaced it is something morefree form, shifting alliances among politicians and moreindependence amongvoters. There arestill groups to watch. Labor,criminal justice and women’sorganizations can offer meaningful support.

Individual ofﬁce holders still get involved in other campaigns; U.S. Rep.Troy Carter is helping several fellow Algiers pols run citywide, including state Rep. Delisha Boydagainst Willard and Constable Edwin Shorty forsheriff against incumbent Susan Hutson and Michelle Woodfork, the former interim police superintendent.District Attorney Jason Williams has raised money for Moreno, Woodfork and several council candidates.

Conservatives, aminority in the city, areaswing vote formayor, and have in recent years gone not withsomeone who shares their political views —none of the major candidates, all Democrats, do but theperson they think is most willing to work with them. That’sa

potential opening for someone like Hunter or Duplessis.

There’salso the barely underradar question of how manyvoters will choose acandidate based on race.

And, of course, there are matters of substance and background.

In the mayor’srace, everyone’s talking about making the city work better,which could lead voters to look forleadership on the council. Or they may decide everyone in city government is part of the problem and gravitate toward arelative outsider like Hunter or acomparatively new face such as Duplessis. Or they may remember that the last time they took achance on someone they didn’tknow wellthey got Nagin, whoended his tenure about as unpopular as Cantrell is. If one thing’sfor sure, it’sthat change is very much in the air this campaign season. Just which version of change voters will choose, at this early point, is anybody’sguess.

EmailStephanie Grace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.

director ofthat tri-parishFINS, told me that FINS will “create aservice plan that hasa list of providers” andalsowill provide mentorshipand accompany children to meetingsatschool or at courtstohelp thechildren and their families feel comfortable with plans to get thekids on the right track.

As reported by this paper’sHaley Miller,the FINS group for the parishes of West Baton Rouge Iberville and Pointe Coupee is “full of success stories.” What FINS does is take “statusoffenders” —those who engage in smallscale offenses that by deﬁnition can be committed only byminors, such as truancy —and intervene to keep them out of the court system by leading them to counseling or to other resources that can help turn their lives around.

Plenty of families lack basic necessities such as running water, electricity or access to transportation.GracieBergeron,the

Little things matter,she said: “How can you go to school if youdon’thave clean clothes or you don’thave lights or even water to brush your teeth with in themorning?” Oneofthe wonderful outfits that partner with FINS is called GUMBO, for Global United Mission Benefiting Ourselves and Others. Amultifaceted nonprofit run by disabled veteranDeborahDickerson, GUMBO provides meals for thecommunity’s needy while using kids referred by FINS as kitchen workers.

“Wegive them asafe haven andweteach them skills they need: entrepreneurship skills and services skills,” Dickerson said.

“And we also discuss alot about what they would like, and who they would like, to become.”

This is exactly the sort of public-private cooperation that turns lives around, stopping kids from steps that often lead to criminality and instead helping them onto pathstoward self-sufﬁciency andsuccess. For example, FINS playedabig role in helping the

West Baton Rouge ParishSchools cut chronic absenteeism in half, from 18.7% to 9.8%, in just one year This model of addressing root causes works elsewhere in the country,too. I’ve written before of aprogram in Mobile, Ala., called NEST Nurture children, Equip parents, Strengthen families and Transform communities —inwhich four-orﬁve-person teams of volunteers help juvenile offenders, sometimes of somewhat more serious crimes than FINS deal with, get on the right track.

“Wevery quickly learned there was very little hope for helping theyoung person unless we ad-

dress theenvironment in which they were living,” said Norman McCrummen, aconservative retired scholar andPresbyterian Minister whoco-founded NEST with Mobile County juvenile court judge Edmond G. Naman.

“A team wenttothe house where one of our mentees lived and found that there weremany thousands of roaches, no beds, one or two chairs, no electricity —so[we] quickly arranged to get electricity and within aweek the house had been fumigated and furniture had been provided.”

Professional researchers from theUniversity of South Alabama found that whereas the crime recidivism rate foryouthful of-

fenders nationally was 52% and forMobile County as awhole a whopping 66%, forsimilarly situated NEST participants it was just 26%.

And NEST director Carole Grant says that among NEST participants in anew “lifeskills” program,anastonishing 97% passed current grade-level testing in schools.

Imention NEST’sremarkable success so as to suggest that with alittle extra public money and with even greater engagement of public-private partnerships with wonderful groups such as GUMBO or other NEST-like groups that Louisianans might create, perhaps the state’sFINS groups could expand to cover not just “status offenders” but other moreserious but still nondangerous youthful miscreants.

FINS,NEST and GUMBO all show that individual attention, combined with assistance addressing root causes, can keep teens away from trouble and help them,instead, thrive.

“Research shows,” said FINS’ Bergeron, “that if children have one positive person in their life, whoissetting the standard and supporting them,ithas all the impact in the world.”

The moresupport Louisiana gives to FINS,the morekids will keep their heads above turbulent waters.

Quin Hillyer canbereached at quin.hillyer@theadvocate.com.

Boy,dopeople love this country of ours. So many people from other places like enough of what they hear and see in the UnitedStates that the number of immigrants has steadily increased in recent years.According to the American Council on Immigration,in 2023 there were about 47.8 million immigrants, roughly one in sevenpeople who live here. That’sa6.8% increase from 2018.

That’salot of people. According to Homeland Security,the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service officials, an Oakdale-based businessman worked with aLouisiananetwork of law enforcementofficials to ensure that those numbers continuetogrow with people who wantedofficialvisa statustopursue their version of the American dream. Apparently that includes buying their way in with fake police reports and bribes Afew days ago, reports surfacedthatthere were lots of law enforcement officers in Allen

Parish’sOakdale, at aSubway,the police station,the citymarshal’s home and,gulp, thepolice chief’s home.Meanwhile, federaland local ofﬁcers had converged at the Rapides Parish home of, gulp, the Forest Hill police chief. They even showed up as an unregisteredgroup of law enforcement ofﬁcers at theLouisiana Association of Police Chiefs Conference at theCrowne Plaza in Baton Rouge to arrest acouple of leaders who were supposed to be learningmore about how to protect andserve.

The yearlonginvestigation involved multiple law enforcement agencies.About 200 law enforcement ofﬁcers were apart of what happened,but we didn’t know whyuntil the next day.At aWednesday news conference, it was announced that several peoplehad been charged as apart of afederal indictment: n Oakdale businessman Chandrakant “Lala” Patel

n Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle

n Oakdale City Marshal Michael

“Freck” Slaney

n ForestHill Police Chief Glynn Dixon

n Former GlenmoraPolice Chief Tebo Onishea

On Thursday,another person was charged: Alison Doyle, wife of the Oakdale police chief.

If you missed thefake police report/visa scam developments, Patel was charged with 24 counts of mail fraud, eight countsofmoney laundering, acount of bribery and acount of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. Doyle and Dixon each got tagged withsix countsofvisa fraud, six counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. Slaney and Onishea have to deal withsix countsofvisa fraud, six countsofmail fraud and two counts of money laundering. Onishea also faces six counts of visa fraud and six countsofmail fraud.

Former Oakdale cityemployee

Alison Doyle was arrested on two counts of malfeasance in ofﬁce for conspiring with Patel to manipulatethe bidding process for a couple of city-owned properties.

As President Donald Trump aims to arrest and deport as many

immigrants as possible as fast as possible, the feds say these people were making sure somefound away to use one Uvisa requirementtoget afour-year Uvisa by claiming to be avictim of acrime that didn’thappen.

“They’re poisoning the blood of our country Notjust in South America. Not just the three or four countries that we think about” the president said when he was campaigning in New Hampshire in December 2023.

“But all over theworld they’re coming into our country —from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They’re pouring into our country.” Poisoning? No. From all over theworld? Yes. Apparentlythat includes people from India, especially those with thelast name Patel.

In theUnited States, about one in 10 people with Indian ancestryhave that surname. I’ve had anumber of Patel friends, so I know thename originates mostly in Gujarat, awestern India state, but also in Karnataka and Maharashtra. There’sageneralization that says Patels are powerful,

rich, large and in charge and particularly responsible forbusiness and community organizing —and law enforcement.

Based on the indictment, Patel wasn’tenforcing the law;hewas violating it. The indictment accuses him of operating an illegal service forcustomers seeking U visas whoweren’this neighbors and friends, but a“majority” were from outside of the state in India. Louisiana is losing population. We need morepeople to stay.We need morepeople to come. I’m allfor creative ways to encourage people to have babies, to help childrenget astrong, gradelevelorhighereducationand to help young people getcollege educations or laborskills thatallowthemtoearna living wage. I’m allfor enticing people from otherstatestocome here and to do whatwecan to attract immigrants, too.

But fake police reports, bribes and other illegal moves are not the way to do that.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

Stephanie Grace

STAFF FILE PHOTOByJAVIER GALLEGOS

Families In Need of Services staff from left, Gracie Bergeron, director; Elizabeth Engolio, supervisingjudge;and CaseyCannon, officer,stand July 10 at the group’s office in Port Allen.

Quin Hillyer

Will Sutton

NewOrleans Forecast

at 10AM, followed by ser‐vices at Noon,ofﬁciated by Rev.Harry Bugler.Alexan‐der FuneralHomeisin chargeofarrangements. In lieuof ﬂowers, contribu‐tions to Holy CrossSisters 1400 O’DaySt, Merrill, WI 54452 or DominicanHigh School, 7701 Walmsley, New Orleans, LA 70125 would be appreciated.

Toups, June D.

June D. Toupspassed awaypeacefullyonTues‐day,July15, 2025 after a longand beautifullifeat the ageof98. Shewas the beloved daughter of the lateRobertand Regina Descant andthe sister of the laterAldearLaiche, RobertDescant Jr., and Dorothy Heinz. Shewas the lovingwifeofthe late Harry Toupswithwhom she had2 daughters, Nancy Thevenot (John) and LoriGagliano(Charles) Grandmother of 5grand‐children: Daniel Gagliano, AmandaGregoire, Jessica Glenn,Jaime Zapico,and JillThevenot, and9 greatgrandchildren:Skylar, Aidan,Caleb,Addison, Madeline, Harry,Jack, John, andOwen. Funeral ServiceswillbeheldatSt. AngelaMericiCatholic Church,901 BeverlyGarden Dr. Metairie,LA70002 on Wednesday,July23, 2025 Visitationwillbegin at the churchat11:00 am with a Massofﬁciated by Fr.Beau Charbonnetstartingat 12:00 noon.Interment will followinGardenofMemo‐riesCemetery, 4900 Airline Dr. Metairie,LA70001. To order ﬂowersoroffer con‐dolences, please visit www.gardenofmemorie smetairie.com.

midweek.

Thomas

WilliamThomas Wolverton, Jr.passed away in Kenner on Tuesday,July 15, 2025atthe ageof88. Beloved husband of 35 years to the late Linda Rose Pipitone Wolverton. Loving father of Kerry Patrick Wolverton (Susan and Kathy), Courtney Allison Wolverton (Eddie and Thomas), Wendy Wolverton Cottrell (Guy), Eric Christopher Wolverton (Norma), KristenArianne Wolverton, and Michael DavidWolverton. GrandfatherofMelanie Wolverton, Patrick Wolverton, Jessica McMaster (Tony), Tammy Lagman(Chad), Timothy Jeansonne,Chloe Jeansonne, Caroline Hargis (Steven), Billy Lewis (Sandra), Wendi Lewis, Andrew Lewis, Philip Lewis (Maria), Hayley-JoLewis, and Rosalie Wolverton. Great-grandfatherofPica Melendez, Daisyand Kenzie Wolverton, William Wolverton, WillowRogers, Anthony Scaffidi (Samantha), AngelinaGallo (Garrett), Christopher Gallo Jr Logan McDaniel, Holly Hargis,Brandon and Jacob Lewis, Aiden and Adrian Lewis. Great-great grandfather to Claire Scaffidi.Brother of Barbara Wolverton Murray (Micky) and Mary "Susie" Wolverton Casanova (Kirk), and the late Darryl WayneWolverton. Sonof the late WilliamThomas Wolverton, Sr. and Mildred CaslerWolverton. William is also preceded in death by his late wife JoanT Wolvertonof15yearsand leaves behind theextended Pequetfamily. Williamwas ahumble and proud native of the 9th Ward" wherehegraduated from FrancisT NichollsHigh School.He willberemembered both in New Orleans and in New Jersey for climbing the corporate ladderfromtruck drivertoVice President of Warehousing and Distribution for the Great

A&PTea Company.Hewas an avid tennisplayerand lovedhistory and travel William was afounding member of St.Benilde CatholicChurch in Metairie,LAand an active member of St. Francis de SalesRoman Catholic Church in Vernon, NJ.One of his greatest pleasures was volunteering at the National WWII Museumin NewOrleans. William was passionate aboutmusicespeciallythe blues, the NewOrleans Saints, and theLSU Tigers.Peoplewill remember him forbringing joytotheir daywhen he asked "Where youfrom?" or "Howdoyou stay so beautiful!?" William has lovinglysaidthatthe greatest accomplishment of his life was hischildren. Many thankstothe loving and caring staff of Inspired Living of Kenner where he was affectionately known as "Mr. Bill"and "Ninth Ward", and to the Compassus Hospice Staff fortheir care during his final days Relatives and friends are invitedtoattenda funeral service on Saturday, July26, 2025, at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. NewOrleans, LA.Visitation willbeheldfrom 10 AM -12 PM witha Mass of ChristianBurial to begin at 12 PM.Inlieuofflowers, please donatetothe Alzheimer'sAssociationat www.alz.org/donate

Howtoplace an Obituary Notice

DEATHS continued from Wolverton Jr., William

Summer optimism for Pels in s ort

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

At least Joe Dumars and the NewOrleans Pelicans hope that’s thecase

The Pelicans want to leave all of the Summer League losses (ﬁve in ﬁve games),turnovers(100),rookie growing pains and injuries out there in Sin City

The Pelicans haven’twon a Summer League game in Vegas since 2023,astring of 11 straight losses. They went 0-5 for the second straight summer.They followed last summer up with the second-worst regular season in franchisehistory (21-61).

vicepresident of basketball operations gave up an unprotected 2026 ﬁrst-round pick to trade up to draft Derik Queen. That draft night trade was proof thePelicans are in win-now mode.

Walker

They don’tneed this regular season to go that way,especially after Dumars —inone of his ﬁrst major decisionsasexecutive

Scheffler appears inevitable at British Open SPORTS

BY DOUG FERGUSON

AP golf writer

PORTRUSH, NorthernIreland The question Scottie Schefﬂer was askingofhimself at the start of the week could very well be posed to those chasing him in the British Open.

What’sthe point?

Schefﬂer delivered anotherexample Saturday at Royal Portrush why he has dominated golf the last three years. He wasthe only player in the last eightgroups not to make abogey on his way to a4-under67that allowed him to open afour-shot lead as he goes for the third leg of the careerGrand Slam.

Schefﬂer has won the last 10 times hehas led after 54 holes. It’snever easy,nomatter how he makes it look. But onthis gorgeous day he was in fullcommand of his game, and nowisinprime position to winhis second major of the year He was helpedbya6-iron to 10 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh. He alsomanaged three big par saves, two on the backnine,to keep everyone at adistance.

“Talking of execution,he’sprobably the best in the business right now,” RoryMcIlroy said after a5-under 66 that broughthim to only within six shots ofScheffler Scheffler had the golf world buzzing earlier this week when he said celebrationsdon’t last but afew minutes. He loves the competition. He loves the work. But in termsof fulfillment, he often questions why hewants to win so badly whenthe thrill of winning is fleeting.

He wasat14-under 199, four shotsahead of Li Haotong of China, who delivered his own mystery by sayinghehad no idea how he recovered from the full swing yips afew yearsago to be in the ﬁnal groupofa major for theﬁrsttime.

Another shot back was Matt Fitzpatrick, who was tied with Scheffler through six holes but couldn’tstay with him when the

ä See OPEN, page

Now that SummerLeague play is over,let’stakealook at what we learned about the Pelicanswhile they were away in Vegas.

1. The curse continues. Well, at least it seems like acurse as the injury bug just keeps biting. The Pelicans, plagued by injuries all of last season, got hit with another one in Vegas. Queen underwent surgery for a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist Friday.Hesuffered theinjury in Tuesday’s gameagainst thePortland Trail Blazers.

He’ll be evaluated in 12 weeks, which is around Oct. 10. Ateam that is already thin in the middle now all of asudden is thinner 2. Herb Jones’ extension is awin. This one didn’thappen on the courts in Vegas, but it occurred while the Pelicans were out there. The team agreed to athreeyear,$68 million contract extension with its defensive stopper,locking up its best defender for theforeseeable future. This was good value for one of the NBA’s best defenders. The Pelicansare awhole lot better when Jones is playing. When he madethe ﬁrst-team NBA All-DefensiveTeam in the 2023-24

ä See WALKER, page 5C

BYLUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

DO PENNING

Abig position switch on theNew Orleans Saintsoffensive line interior could pay big dividends, but there’salsoa legitimate chance it winds up as afailed experiment

After three seasons of bad-to-average results at offensive tackle, Trevor Penning is shifting tothe inside in 2025 —a moveboth he and the Saints believe is natural and will be beneﬁcial in thelong run. Entering the ﬁnal year of his rookie contract, Penning will getanopportunity to prove whether he deserves asecond deal withthe Saints. Joining Penning on theoffensive interior are thetwo longest-tenured offensive linemen in the organization, center Erik McCoy and right guard Cesar Ruiz, both of whom are comingoff injury-plagued 2024 seasons.

BY MATTHEWPARAS Staff writer

TheNew OrleansSaints no longer have to worry aboutapotential Tyler

If Penning clicks and everyone stays healthy,the interior of the offensive line could wind up being the Saints’ greatest offensive strength this season.

Best case

Beforegetting to Penning andhis ideal outcome, thetrue best-case scenario involves McCoy staying healthy for the entire season.

McCoy has shown he can be durable, playing at least 99% of theoffensive snaps in three of his six professional seasons.But he also has battledinjuriesinthreeofhis last four campaigns, missing ﬁve games in 2021, four in 2022 and acareer-high 10 last season. Considering what the Saints areoperating with at

ä See SAINTS, page 5C

aprecedentfor theother 30 players taken in the round. Deadlines, however,spur action. And aweek before training camp,a ﬂurry of deals started to get done across the league.The SanFrancisco 49ers broke thedam when they agreed to terms with defensive lineman Alfred Collins taken three picks behind Shough at No. 43. San Francisco reportedly guaranteed 88% of Collins’ rookie contract. Saints

Shough holdout The Saints rookie quarterback agreed to sign his contract Saturday and received afully guaranteed deal, his agenttoldESPN.The deal,struck before Shough was set to reportfor training camp on Tuesday,comes after thetwo sides negotiated over the

guaranteed amount for thefourth year of the four-year contract. The deal is projected to be worth nearly $10.8million overfour years. Shough, picked 40th overall, was one of many second-rounders whohad remained unsigned deep into July.Talks were complicated by the fact that the Houston Texans andClevelandBrowns became theﬁrst teams in league history to fully guaranteethe contracts for second-round picks Jayden Higgins andCarsonSchwesinger, setting

AP PHOTO By JON SUPER

Scottie Scheffler looks atthe lie of his putt on the 12th green during the third round of the BritishOpen on Saturday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in NorthernIreland.

Logano youngest to hit 600 starts

BY DAN GELSTON AP sports writer

DOVER, Del. — Joey Logano’s ﬁrst NASCAR Cup Series start — before he would drive for heavyweight owners such as Joe Gibbs and Roger Penske — came in New Hampshire for a short-lived team called Hall of Fame racing Set to make his 600th career start, the youngest driver in NASCAR history to reach that milestone, the 35-year-old Logano has constructed a Hall of Fame career Take a look at the resume: three career NASCAR championships, a Daytona 500 victory, the youngest driver to win a Cup race, 37 career victories and seemingly tethered to the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske for as long as he can race.

“At ﬁrst glance, I said, ‘Well, it’s just starts,’ ” Logano said. “But then when you start thinking about it, to be able to be around in a sport as an athlete competing at a top level for 16-plus years and hitting 600 starts, it’s pretty incredible to have a career that long.” Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits

Shorthanded

BY DANIELLA MATAR

AP sports writer

BASEL, Switzerland Germany overcame France on penalties and reached the semiﬁnals of the Women’s European Championship despite playing almost the entire match — and extra time — with 10 players. A drama-filled match finished 1-1 on Saturday, then Germany won the shootout 6-5 thanks to the heroics of Ann-Katrin Berger, who saved two as well as dispatching her own spot kick.

Germany will face World Cup winner Spain in Zurich on Wednesday That seemed improbable after less than 13 minutes when Germany midﬁelder Kathrin Hendrich pulled the hair of France captain Griedge Mbock and was issued a straight red card.

Grace Geyoro converted the resulting penalty but Sjoeke Nüsken headed her team level just 10 minutes later Despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Germany could have taken the lead with a penalty of its own in the second half but France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin saved Nüsken’s spot kick. Nüsken scored Germany’s last spot kick in the shootout It was an incredible way for

No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He’ll top seventime NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. Consider, only three previous drivers among the 33 others in NASCAR history were in their 30s when they hit 600 starts.

Logano also has topped the massive expectations set for him when he entered the sport as a teenager hyped as NASCAR’s next great driver He entered NASCAR with the nickname “Sliced Bread,” as in, the best thing since, and navigated a slow start to his career to blossom into one of the best over the last 13 years at Team Penske.

“I grew up in front of everybody All of us change over the years as you grow up,” Logano said. “Life comes at you and you evolve and keep going with it.”

Logano qualiﬁed for his ﬁrst career Cup start on Sept. 14, 2008, at New Hampshire on car owner points because rain washed out qualifying. He started 40th and was penalized only 39 laps into the

race for taking the jack with him as he exited pit road. He ﬁnished three laps down in 32nd place in the No. 96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing, essentially on loan from Joe Gibbs Racing to get some experience. The two teams even agreed to move JGR’s Home Depot sponsorship to Hall of Fame’s car for the 18-year-old Logano’s ﬁrst race.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal making my first start,” Logano said that ﬁrst day “I was ready to go as soon as we started.” He wasn’t necessarily ready for the big time.

Logano was pegged with enormous expectations to replace Hall of Famer and three-time champion Tony Stewart in 2009 for Gibbs.

Just a teenager, the enormity of the ride combined with Gibbs’ impatience made for a brief run at JGR. Logano did win his ﬁrst race also at New Hampshire, in 2009 — but won only one more time before Gibbs cut him loose after the 2012 season. The timing worked out for Logano. Penske needed a driver and 2012

NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski urged his boss to sign the 23-year-old Logano, convinced a change of scenery could do wonders for his career Logano made the most of his Penske lifeline and is now the only active three-time champion in NASCAR and one of only 10 drivers in history to win three or more titles. Petty is the only driver to win his 600th career start, and he would make 1,184 overall in Cup — one of many NASCAR records he holds. Logano might not catch The King in total starts, but the driver who has never missed a race over his full-time career is in no rush to slow down.

“I would be an idiot to think you can be competing at the top level into your 50s,” Logano said. “What athlete has ever done that? Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever I feel as sharp as ever I’m driven as much as ever I still care. I still get emotional about things, so that shows me I care a lot. With those factors still there when the end is, I don’t know yet. I don’t know.”

Germany beats France at Women’s Euro

Germany to mark its 50th appearance at a Euros, more than any other team For the second straight match, Germany was forced to play the majority of the contest with 10 players Carlotta Wamser was sent off shortly before halftime of the 4-1 thrashing by Sweden in their ﬁnal group match. This time it happened even earlier A France free kick was headed wide but the Video Assistant Referee spotted Hendrich yanking Mbock’s ponytail.

Geyoro stepped up and, despite the resounding jeers from the wall of Germany fans behind the goal, dispatched the penalty powerfully down the middle. Germany knew that, with a player down, it had to take full advantage of its set pieces. Klara Bühl ﬂoated in a corner and Nüsken raced to the near post to meet it with a glancing header that looped into the far corner of the net. Despite the player advantage, France was struggling to impose itself. Delphine Cascarino thought she restored France’s lead just be-

Wizards buy out Smart, who plans to join Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have found a point-of-attack, defensive-mind wing defender in guard Marcus Smart, who has agreed to a buyout with the Washington Wizards and plans to sign a twoyear, $11 million deal with Los Angeles.

Smart, the 2022 defensive player of the year when he played for the Boston Celtics, will sign his deal after he clears waivers. He has a player option after the 2025-26 season, meaning he can become a free agent next summer

Smart played in only 34 games last season, splitting time between Memphis and Washington. He dealt with a ﬁnger injury on his shooting hand last season. He averaged 9.0 points, 3.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.3% from the ﬁeld.

Phillies put 3B Bohm on IL with fractured rib

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has a fractured left rib and was placed on the 10day injured list Saturday before Philadelphia’s game agains the Los Angeles Angels.

Bohm was injured a week ago when San Diego’s Yu Darvish hit him with a pitch. He sat out Sunday against the Padres before the All-Star break, then played Friday night against the Angels in the ﬁrst game back from the break.

Bohm is hitting .278 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs in 92 games this season.

Utility player Weston Wilson was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley prior to the Phillies’ game Saturday night game against the Angels to take Bohm’s spot on the roster

Usyk becomes undisputed heavyweight boxing champ

LONDON Oleksandr Usyk knocked out Daniel Dubois in the ﬁfth round and became the undisputed world heavyweight champion for a second time on Saturday The undefeated southpaw retained his WBA, WBC and WBO belts and regained the IBF belt he relinquished just over a year ago. The 38-year-old Ukrainian dropped Dubois twice in the ﬁfth — the second time with a lunging left hook. The London native looked stunned on the canvas and couldn’t beat the count.

Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) beat Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) for the second time in under two years. Last time was a ninth-round stoppage in Poland with a straight jab But the ﬁnishing shot Saturday was a nodoubter

NASCAR plans to skip 2026 Chicago Street Race

NASCAR is pressing pause on its Chicago Street Race, answering at least one major question about its schedule for next season.

NASCAR raced on a street course in downtown Chicago on the ﬁrst weekend in July each of the last three years. But it had a three-year contract with the city, leaving the future of the event in question.

fore halftime but it was ruled out for offside.

France had a second goal ruled out after the break, following a lengthy VAR review Both sets of players were waiting to kick off again when referee Tess Olofsson ruled out Geyoro’s strike for an offside in the buildup.

Germany was gifted a chance to take a remarkable lead when France defender Selma Bacha gave away a needless penalty when she tripped Jules Brand near the byline.

But France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin saved Nüsken’s spot kick in yet another failed penalty at Euro 2025.

The best save of the night and maybe even of the tournament — came from her Germany counterpart in extra time. A backward header from Germany captain Janina Minge had Berger scrambling back to scoop it off the line with an astonishing one-handed stop to spare her teammate’s blushes.

Melvine Malard sent a longrange screamer crashing off the crossbar with almost the last touch of the 120 minutes. It was then time for more Berger heroics.

Berger saved the ﬁrst penalty she faced from Amel Majri, but Les Bleues were back level when Germany’s Sara Däbritz hit the bar with her penalty

Writing to Mayor Brandon Johnson on Friday, race president Julie Giese said the plan is to explore the potential of a new event weekend with his ofﬁce and other community leaders while also working on a more efﬁcient course build and breakdown.

Giese said NASCAR is keeping its Chicago Street Race ofﬁce and plans to continue its community partnerships.

Niners continue shuffling special teams, cut Odum

The San Francisco 49ers released special teams standout George Odum on Saturday in the latest move to overhaul that unit. Odum had been placed on the non-football injury list on Friday with a knee injury and now is off the roster entirely before the ﬁrst training camp practice is scheduled for Wednesday Odum had spent the past three seasons with the Niners, leading them with 759 snaps on special teams and tied for the fourth-most special teams tackles in the NFL with 36 in that span. The Niners have made major changes on their special teams after struggling in 2024. The team has made changes at

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHTO By DERIK HAMILTON

Joey Logano drives through a turn during a NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on June 22 in Long Pond, Pa.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARTIN MEISSNER Players of Germany run to celebrate after winning the Women’s Euro 2025 quarterfinals match between France and Germany on Saturday at St Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland.

OUTDOORS

LDWF distributes 5M Fla.-strainbass

BY JOE MACALUSO

Contributing writer

Fishing has become a give-and-take activity, and that’s whatshows up this week in Louisiana outdoors.

weekend—and the activity it produces around the GrandIsleMarina weighstation andthe Otto Candies Pavilion —Louisiana’s offshore reef fishermen should have enough quota to make it through the Labor Day weekend without an interruption of the fourper-day limit and the sevendays-a-week opportunity

Newman

Tommy Tuma,the 27-year Wildlife and Fisherieswildlifebiologist,willﬁll the Ofﬁce of Wildlife’sassistant secretary position.

Hikers beware

The give comes from Wildlife and Fisheries work in producing then distributing Florida-strain largemouth bass in various stages of growth.

Notebook

The total came to 5,219,797fry,the smallest; to fingerlings about 2inches long; and, Phase II ﬁngerlings, which are usuallyaround 6inches long. One location, Lake Buhlow,received 77 adult bass.

The agency’sInland Fisheries Section teamed with the Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery and the Shreveport’sCross Lake Fish Hatchery forthis stocking effort in 56 locations across the state

Notable here is the effort on the western side of the Atchafalaya Basin where the release indicated 2,080,500 fry and 100,300 ﬁngerlings were carriedto Lake Fausse Point and Lake Dauterive. Henderson Lake received 50,300 ﬁngerlings False River got 6,000 fingerlings; Toledo Bend, 499,400 fingerlings; and, Bussey Brake, 40,100 fingerlings.

Some community lakes, like Gretna’sCity Pond, were stocked with as few as 300 ﬁngerlings.

Snappercount

ThelatestWildlifeand Fisheries report on the recreationalred snapper catch, through July 6, shows atake of 407,853 pounds. That’s45.6%ofour state’s894,955-pound annual recreational allocation With the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo coming this

Tuma has been the lead man onforming hunting seasons, bag limits, adjustments to rules and seasons on the 1.6 million acres in wildlife managementareas and working with federal agencies toestablish seasons and rules on federal lands within the state. He was also the agency’srepresentative concerning farm bill initiatives and restoration programs and howitrelated to private and public lands incentives

Newstuff

The curtainwent down on ICAST,the country’s largestﬁshingtrades show —the AmericanSportﬁshing Association’s three-day gathering in Orlando, Florida. Part of this piscatorial whirlwind is that mediaand buyers get to see, and vote on, the new stuff manufacturerswillintroduce later this year and earlynext year

There are41categories andthe BestofShow(drum roll, please) wentto the FluxJet Electric Jet Kayak —yes, the ﬁrst of its kind. Congratulationsare in store forthe Baton Rouge area folkswithBUZBE, theinnovativetackle box introduced four years ago at ICAST.

This year,the BUZBE guys had the top ﬂy ﬁshing accessory, their Colony 28T box, and the top tackle management item, their Swarm Hexslide.

Fish released in 56 locations throughout state STAFF FILEPHOTO By TRAVISSPRADLING

Voted best in saltwater reel was the Quantum Cabo CB4000 spinning reel;the saltwaterrod, the Flats Class Inshore rod; freshwater rod, the Tatula Cork Bass rod; and, freshwater reel, the Ballistic 3000 BAMQLT.

Learning more andmore Louisiana folks like to get away from the heat and hike in the hills and mountains during the summer

And that means morecontact with ticks.

The Centers for Disease Controlalready is reporting arecord-breaking spring and summerfor tick-related visits to emergency rooms —and the CDC folks tell us July stacks up to be theworst monthfor these reports since 2017.

The CDC best adviceincludes:

n Wearing long, lightcolored pantstucked into socks or boots, and longsleeved shirts to keeps ticks fromreaching the skin. This also makes them easier to see ticks before they get to your skin;

n Forfolks living in tick country,you need to create what the CDCcalls a“tick moat”byusing gravel or wood chips along property edges to discourage tick migration from wooded areas;

n Removing leaf litter, prime tick hiding spots;

n And, storing firewood on elevated surfaces to prevent tick-carrying rodents from using stacks of ﬁrewood as ashelter

n Ticks arenotorious for transmitting diseases likeLyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Heartland virus and Bourbon virus —yeah, we know somefolks with bourbon virus but not from ticks —and ticks can also leave victims with alpha-gal syndrome, which, according to the CDC “is apotentially life-threatening food allergy to red meat.”

Louisiana DepartmentofWildlife and Fisheries technicianTracyAndrews nets several Florida-strain bass fingerlings from atank at the False River public boat landing in NewRoads in a2014 file photo. In June, the LDWF released morethan 5million bass (fry, fingerlings and adult bass) in 56 locations across thestate.

No ducking

it

This imageofthe 2025-26Federal Waterfowl Stamp will be amust forduckand goose hunters for the upcoming season, whichbegins in mid-September with the nine-dayteal season. The stamp is availableatmost U.S. post offices and online fromthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

THURSDAY

ACADIANABUGS &BREWS:

6p.m Pack &Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook,Lafayette. Open to the public. Email Flip Siragusa: redﬁsh452@gmail.com. Website:www.packpaddle. com

THURSDAY-SATURDAY GRANDISLE TARPON RODEO: Grand Isle Marina &Otto Candies Pavilion, Grand Isle. Website:tarponrodeo.org.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

DUCK HUNTERS EXPO: Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City.Delta Waterfowl event. Includes Friday’s Grand Duck Hunters Banquet. Call-makers&calling championships. Website: deltawaterfowlexpo.com

SATURDAY

BAYOUBLAST/NSCAREGISTERED EVENT: CoveyRise, 58256 CoveyRise Drive, Husser. 100-target main event, 50-target Super Sport, 5-Stand &12-gauge true pair. Fees $45-475. Call Covey Rise (985) 747-0310. Website: scorechaser.com

SACK UP FORCLEAN WATER: 9a.m., Howell Park, 5509 Winbourne Ave.,Baton Rouge. RSFF/NoWakeOutﬁtters conservation, environmental &habitat enhancement days Email AlmeidaRobinson: almeidarob38@gmail.com

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

BASSMASTER KAYAKSERIES: LakeChamplain, Plattsburgh, New York. Website:bassmaster.com

ONGOING

CCASTATEWIDE TOURNAMENT &ANGLERS’ RODEO/ S.T.A.R.: Summer-long ﬁshing contest through Sept. 1. Multiplespecies categories. CCAmembership required. Website:ccalouisiana.com

HUNTING

LOTTERYDOVEHUNT DEADLINE: July27for ElbowSlough WMA. $8.50 application fee. Applications website: louisianaoutdoors.com/lot-

tery-applications. CallDavid Hayden (318) 487-5353. Email: dhayden@wlf.la.gov

LOTTERYTEAL HUNT DEADLINE: July 27 for White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area. $8.50 application fee. Applicationswebsite: louisianaoutdoors.com/lottery-applications. CallLance Ardoin (337) 536-6061. Email: lardoin@wlf. la.gov

AROUND THECORNER

JULY27—SOUTH LOUISIANA HIGHPOWER CLUB MATCH: 8:30 a.m., Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Range, St. Landry Road, Gonzales. CMP GSSM, NRAmatch rifle or service rifle, 200-yard/50-rounds match course &Prone matches. Fee$15 members, $20 nonmembers,$5juniors $25 annual club (first match free) &Civilian Marksmanship Program membership (allows purchases from CMP). Call(337) 380-8120. Email Mike Burke: SouthLaHighPower@ hotmail.com

JULY28—REDSTICK FLYFISHERS FLYTYING: 7p.m Orvis Shop, 7601 Bluebonnet Boulevard.Open to public. Handson clinic covering basics of ﬂy tying. Materials and tools provided. Website: rsff.org

JULY31-AUG. 2—BASSMASTER OPEN/DIVISION 1: St. Lawrence River, Waddington, New York. Website: bassmaster.com

AUG. 2—WOOD STORK/WADING BIRD VIEWING: 7-10 a.m., South Farm, Sherburne WildlifeManagementArea. Pondsdrained exposing feedingopportunity for storks, wadingand shorebirds.No feeexcept 18 andolder must have aWMA Access Annual or aFive-Daypermits available on Wildlife& Fisheries website: louisianaoutdoors. com

AUG. 2—FLYFISHING 101/ REDFISH: 9-11 a. m.,Orvis Shop, Bluebonnet Boulevard, Baton Rouge. Feefree. Basics of casting, rigging. No fee. Equipment furnished. All ages, but 15-and-younger mustbeaccompanied by an adult. Preregistration required. CallShop (225) 757-7286.Website: orvis.com/ batonrouge

AUG. 2—FRIENDSOFNRA/ NORTHSHORE BANQUET: 5:30 p.m American Legion Post 16, 2031 Ronald Reagan Highway, Covington. CallJeffrey Antwiller (504) 616-1140. Email: jeffreyantwiler@gmail.com

FISHING/SHRIMPING

SHRIMP: Spring inshoreseasonclosed exceptinBreton/ Chandeleur sounds.All outsidewaters remain open. OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Redsnapper, flounder; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers &wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath &Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. CLOSED SEASONS: Gray triggerfish, greater amberjack, bluefin tuna and gag, goliath &Nassau groupers in state/ federal waters. LDWF UPDATES CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/ boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, levee construction); Dobbs BayRoad &all roads on theMississippi River batture east of La. 15 (Richard Yancey WMA, flooding).

DRAWDOWNS: underway on Saline, Kepler,IattLakeBlack &Clear lakes and Wham Brakeimpoundment.Lake Bistineau drawdown set to begin July 28.

EMAIL: jmacaluso @theadvocate.com

DrainageCanals, Jefferson/ Orleans (B) 600

Eunice City Lake(B) 1,200

False River (B) 6,000 Fausse Point/Dauterive(B) 100,300, (D)2,080,500 Fullerton Lake (B)

NFL PLAYER RANKINGS

TWO CLOSE TO CALL

BY ROB MAADDI AP pro football writer

Ja’Marr Chase achieved the receiving triple crown. Justin Jefferson has rewritten receiving records in his ﬁrst ﬁve seasons.

So which superstar pass-catcher is the best wide receiver in the NFL?

It’s a tie, according to a panel of eight AP Pro Football Writers who ranked the top ﬁve players at the position, basing selections on current status entering the 2025 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through ﬁfthplace votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Chase and Jefferson, both former LSU stars, each received four ﬁrst-place votes and four seconds.

Amon-Ra St. Brown finished third, CeeDee Lamb was fourth and AJ Brown placed ﬁfth Tyreek

Hill, Garrett Wilson, Terry McLaurin and Mike Evans also received votes.

1 (tie). JA’MARR CHASE, Bengals

Chase led the league in receptions (127), yards receiving (1,708) and touchdown catches (17) last season, becoming just the sixth wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to win the receiving triple crown

He was a unanimous All-Pro selection and teamed with Tee Higgins to give quarterback Joe Burrow two dynamic playmakers.

1 (tie). JUSTIN JEFFERSON, Vikings Jefferson had 103 catches for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, also earning a unanimous All-Pro selection Jefferson is the first player in NFL history with more than 7,000 yards receiving in just ﬁve

Kittle’s all-around game earns him top tight end

BY JOSH DUBOW AP pro football writer

2. BROCK BOWERS, Raiders

seasons. He set records for most receptions by any player in their first three NFL seasons and most yards in first three four and five seasons.

3. AMON-RA ST. BROWN, Lions

Brown has three straight seasons of more than 100 receptions and more than 1,100 yards receiving. He followed an All-Pro season in 2023 with another one in 2024, ﬁnishing with 115 catches for 1,263 yards and 12 TDs. Brown received three thirdplace votes, one fourth and three ﬁfths.

4. CEEDEE LAMB, Cowboys

A four-time Pro Bowl pick and 2023 All-Pro, Lamb put up prolific numbers in his first five seasons. Lamb had 101 catches for 1,194 yards and six TDs last year, his third straight surpassing 100/1,100.

Lamb holds the Cowboys’ singleseason records for both receptions (135) and yards receiving (1,749), both set in 2023 when he also set an NFL record with three straight games of 10 receptions and 150 yards receiving. He received two third-place votes and four fourths.

5. A.J. BROWN, Eagles

Brown has become one of the league’s elite playmakers since joining Philadelphia in 2022. He had 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven TDs in 13 games last season and played a big role in the offense for the Super Bowl champions. The three-time Pro Bowl pick had more than 1,400 yards receiving in each of his ﬁrst two seasons with the Eagles. Brown got two third-place votes and three ﬁfths.

Barkley top RB after record-setting year

BY JOSH DUBOW AP pro football writer

2. DERRICK HENRY, Ravens

BY ROB MAADDI

AP pro football writer

Patrick Mahomes still stands on top among NFL quarterbacks. The threetime Super Bowl MVP was voted the NFL’s No. 1 quarterback by The Associated Press in a preseason survey This time, he had more competition for the top spot after being a unanimous choice in 2023 and 2024.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top five players at quarterback, basing selections on current status entering the 2025 season. Firstplace votes were worth 10 points. Second through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points. Mahomes, who led the Kansas City Chiefs to consecutive Super Bowl titles in the 2022-23 seasons, finished with five first-place votes in the latest poll Reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen got two, finishing second. Joe Burrow received the other first-place vote and came in third.

Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson ﬁnished fourth and Jalen Hurts, who outplayed Mahomes in Philadelphia’s dominant Super Bowl victory over Mahomes and the Chiefs, was ﬁfth. Jayden Daniels and C.J. Stroud also received votes.

1. PATRICK MAHOMES, Chiefs Mahomes had a career-low 3,928 yards passing and tied for his fewest touchdown passes with 26, but still led the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance and ﬁfth in his seven years as the starting QB. Mahomes, who turns 30 in September, has a chance to become only the fourth quarterback to win four Super Bowls. He received two second-place votes and one fourth.

2. JOSH ALLEN, Bills

Perhaps no position requires a wider range of skills to succeed in the NFL than tight ends, who are asked to thrive as receivers in the middle of the ﬁeld as well as being key parts to the run and pass games with their blocking.

While many teams divide those roles among multiple players, George Kittle’s ability to do it all for the San Francisco 49ers as one of the most efﬁcient receivers and top blockers helped him score the honor of being voted the top tight end in the league by The Associated Press.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top ﬁve players at tight end, basing selections on current status entering the 2025 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through ﬁfth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Kittle got five first-place votes and three seconds to win the voting. Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers was the only other player selected on all eight ballots and came in second with two first-place votes, five seconds and one fifth.

Kansas City’s Travis Kelce got the other ﬁrst-place vote and ﬁnished third, followed by Arizona’s Trey McBride and Baltimore’s Mark Andrews. Detroit’s Sam LaPorta and Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson also received votes.

1. GEORGE KITTLE, 49ers

Kittle is coming off one of his most productive seasons as a receiver, catching 78 passes for 1,106 yards and eight TDs for an injuryriddled San Francisco offense. He led all tight ends and ranked third overall with 2.62 yards per route run in a sign of how efficient he is as a receiver Kittle also remains one of the top blocking tight ends, helping him earn first- or secondteam All-Pro honors in five of the past seven seasons.

Bowers burst on the scene during a record-setting rookie season when his 1,194 yards receiving were the most ever by a rookie tight end and his 112 catches were the most ever by any rookie. The former Georgia star was a ﬁrstteam All-Pro and quickly established himself as perhaps the top receiving threat at the position in the NFL

3. TRAVIS KELCE, Chiefs

Kelce is one of the most productive tight ends ever with his 1,004 catches and 12,151 yards receiving ranking third all time at the position. But the six-time All-Pro showed signs of slowing after turning 35 in October. He still managed 97 catches for 823 yards, but his 8.5 yards per reception were down 4 yards from his career average entering 2024 as he had signiﬁcant drops in yards after catch and missed tackles forced.

4. TREY McBRIDE, Cardinals

McBride, a former Colorado State star, has made steady improvement since being drafted in the second round in 2022 and reached star status last season, when his 111 catches and 1,146 yards receiving trailed only Bowers among tight ends. The only thing missing for McBride, 25, was success in the red zone, where he had only two touchdown catches tied for the second-fewest ever for any player in a 100-catch season.

5. MARK ANDREWS, Ravens

Andrews has been one of the top tight ends for years, but his production has started to tail off since he was an All-Pro in 2021. After missing significant time with injuries in 2023, the former Oklahoma star had 55 catches for 673 yards and led all tight ends with 11 TD receptions last season Unfortunately for Andrews, his season might be best remembered for dropping a tying 2-point conversion pass late in a 27-25 divisional playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Saquon Barkley’s ﬁrst season in Philadelphia featured record performances on the ﬁeld, a Super Bowl title and a new contract that is the richest ever for a running back.

Barkley’s performance with the Eagles also helped him score the honor of being voted the top running back by The Associated Press.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top ﬁve players at running back, basing selections on current status entering the 2025 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Secondthrough fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Barkley got seven first-place votes and one second to win the voting easily Baltimore’s Derrick Henry was the only other player selected on all eight ballots and came in second with one first-place vote, five seconds, one third and one fifth.

Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs got the remaining two second-place votes and finished third. Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson and San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey rounded out the top ﬁve.

Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor, Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs and Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving also received votes.

1. SAQUON BARKLEY, Eagles

Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in the regular season, falling 101 short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s regular-season record because he was rested rather than playing in a meaningless Week 18 game. His 2,504 yards rushing including the playoffs broke Terrell Davis’ record of 2,476 and featured a record seven TD runs of at least 60 yards.

Barkley parlayed that into a two-year contract extension worth $41.2 million with $36 million guaranteed, which is the richest ever for a running back.

Anyone expecting Henry to drop off in his 30s was disappointed last season when a move to Baltimore helped spark a resurgence to his career Henry who turned 31 in January, rushed for 1,921 yards last season for the most for a player after turning 30, topping the 1,860 yards Tiki Barber had at age 30 in 2005. Henry has the 11th-most yards in a season and the most for a player who didn’t win a rushing title as he remains one of the best pure rushers in the game.

3. JAHMYR GIBBS, Lions

Skeptics questioned the decision by Detroit to draft Gibbs 12th overall in 2023, but he has more than delivered in his ﬁrst two seasons as a dangerous runner and receiver. After a strong rookie season, Gibbs took a big step last season when he rushed for 1,412 yards and 16 TDs to go with 517 yards receiving and four more scores. Gibbs’ 36 overall touchdowns in the regular season and playoffs are the second most ever for a player in his ﬁrst two seasons, trailing only the 37 for Hall of Famer Curtis Martin.

4. BIJAN ROBINSON, Falcons

Picked eighth overall in 2023, Robinson has quickly earned his place among the top running backs in the league thanks to his skill as a runner and receiver Robinson ranked fourth among running backs last season in yards from scrimmage (1,887), tied for sixth in touchdowns (15) and second in ﬁrst downs (102).

5. CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY, 49ers

Injuries to his Achilles tendon and knee hampered McCaffrey last season as he played only four games after winning AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2023. But when he’s healthy, there are few players more productive than McCaffrey, as evidenced by his 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 TDs in 16 games in 2023.

Allen led Buffalo to a fifth straight AFC East title and edged Jackson for the MVP award last season. But Allen and the Bills again were knocked out of the playoffs by Mahomes and the Chiefs, losing in the AFC title game.

Allen threw for 3,731 yards, 28 TDs and had six interceptions for a 101.4 passer rating. He ran for 531 yards and 12 scores, becoming the ﬁrst player in NFL history to have ﬁve consecutive seasons with at least 40 total TDs. He got three second-place votes, one third and two fourths.

3. JOE BURROW, Bengals

Burrow set career highs last season in nearly every passing category, including yards (4,918), TD passes (43) and QB rating (108.5). He earned his second AP Comeback Player of the Year award but the Bengals couldn’t overcome another slow start and missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record.

Burrow, who started 17 games last season for the ﬁrst time in his career, received a secondplace vote, two thirds and three fourths.

4. LAMAR JACKSON, Ravens Jackson is coming off his third All-Pro season and the best allaround year of his career He threw for 4,172 yards, 41 TDs and only four interceptions, and led the NFL with a 119.6 passer rating. He also ran for 915 yards and four scores. But Jackson and the Ravens fell short in the playoffs again, losing to the Bills in the divisional round. Jackson got one second-place vote, four thirds, two fourths and one ﬁfth.

5. JALEN HURTS, Eagles

The Super Bowl MVP appeared on just four of eight ballots despite leading the Eagles to their second NFC championship victory in three years. Hurts, who got one secondplace vote, one third and two fifths had 2,903 yards passing, 18 TDs and only five interceptions last season. He ran for 630 yards and 14 scores. Hurts’ seven total touchdowns are the most by a quarterback in his first two Super Bowls.

Kittle

Former LSU stars Chase, Jefferson tie for top wide receiver in vote by AP writers

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By NICK WASS

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase reaches for a pass against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov 7 in Baltimore.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ABBIE PARR

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson catches a pass for a first down against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 29 in Minneapolis.

Mahomes

Barkley

WNBA commissioner says labor deal will get done

Engelbert ‘really optimistic’ a new agreement will be reached by Oct 31

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert feels optimistic that the league and the players’ union will be able to come to a new collective bargaining agreement at some point, even if it’s after the end of the October deadline.

While the two sides are far apart right now after meeting for the ﬁrst time in person on Thursday since December with more than 40 players in attendance, Engelbert has faith that a deal will get ﬁnished

“I’m still really optimistic that we’ll get something done that would be transformational,” she said before the All-Star Game on Saturday night. “And that, next year at the All-Star (break), we’ll be talking about how great everything is. Obviously there’s a lot of hard work to be done on both sides to get there.”

Engelbert said that more meetings are planned in the future. The current CBA will expire on Oct 31 after the season is over “I have confidence we can get something done by October, but

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

quarterback this season, it would be extremely beneficial to have McCoy on the ﬁeld Not only has he played at a Pro Bowl level when he’s been on the ﬁeld (he was Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 center last season before his injury) but McCoy’s experience and leadership also would take a big burden off a young quarterback in terms of identifying pressures and calling out protections.

New Orleans undoubtedly was better when McCoy was on the ﬁeld last year in the ﬁve games he played at least 65% of the snaps, the Saints went 4-1 and scored 35 points or more three times. That’s obviously not all on him, but he plays an integral part. But McCoy is a known commodity — and, to a lesser degree, so is Ruiz. The big question mark is Penning.

He ﬂamed out at left tackle. The Saints moved him to the right side last year, where he gave them solid but not overwhelmingly good play Now the new coaching staff — a group that includes new offensive line coach Brendan Nugent — is going to give him a long look at left guard. In theory, the move makes sense At his best, Penning is an aggressive, mauling run blocker who has the strength to dominate at the point of attack. At his worst, his pass protecting technique has fallen apart when he’s asked to be in space. By moving him to guard, the Saints are accentuating his strengths and minimizing his weaknesses.

Essentially, the Saints are asking a 6-foot-7, 325-pounder to play in a phone booth, which should be beneficial. He will have to prove he can handle some of the premier defensive tackles who play in the division — such as Vita Vea of Tampa Bay

SHOUGH

Continued from page 1C

From there, deals starting flying in. Of them, Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (the 35th pick), Miami Dolphins guard Jonah Savaiinaea (No 37), New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (No. 38) and Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden (No. 39) also received fully guaranteed contracts.

Shough, for his part, said he was not worried about whether the deal would get done. The quarterback told The Times-Picayune in June that he was “super optimistic” it would get completed, and that he was waiting to see what would happen with the rest of the deals that had not been done

“I want to ﬁght for as much as we can get, but at the same time, there’s a lot of things that have yet to unfold with other guys ahead (of me),” Shough said then. With the deal now done, Shough

I’m not going to put an exact date on it,” she said. “We’ve got some room to continue negotiations if we’re close at that point.”

There’s a lot of money coming into the league over the next few years with a new 11-year media rights deal worth more than $2.2 billion, three new expansion teams

that each paid $250 million in fees and many new sponsors.

The players’ top priorities are greatly increased salaries and a revenue-sharing plan, which Engelbert understands.

“We’re going to do something transformational here because we we want the same things as

SAINTS SIGN VETERAN D-LINEMAN AHEAD OF CAMP

Days before the start of training camp, the New Orleans Saints are adding a veteran presence to their defensive line.

Free agent defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard is signing with the Saints, according to a league source.The 31-year-old Bullard started 17 games for the Minnesota Vikings last year, recording a sack and a career-high seven tackles for loss.

Bullard has some history with new Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.The Chicago Bears drafted Bullard in the third round of the 2016 draft, and Staley coached the Bears linebackers from 2017-18.

Most of Bullard’s usage has come as a rotational defensive lineman. He’s appeared in 116 games in nine seasons with the Bears,Vikings, Cardinals, Falcons and Seahawks, making 53 starts.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Bullard most likely will join a group that includes Bryan Bresee,Vernon Broughton and Jonah Williams competing for snaps as the team’s base defensive end.

Luke Johnson

Will Clapp this offseason for depth along the offensive interior Clapp can play three positions — but there’s a big gap between Clapp and McCoy McCoy affects every phase of the Saints offense, and there’s only going to be more on his plate this year with an inexperienced quarterback lining up behind him. If he deals with injuries again this year it will be difﬁcult for the Saints to navigate his loss even with the talent around him.

the players, but we want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners, their ability to have a path to profitability, as well as in to continued investment,” she said. Other areas that Engelbert discussed included: She talked about trying to ex-

WALKER

Continued from page 1C

season, the Pelicans ranked sixth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions. A shoulder injury limited Jones to just 20 games last season. If he returns to pre-injury form, it should instantly make the Pelicans better The last two NBA champions (the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder) both had two all-defensive team players on their roster The Pelicans have made sure they have at least one for years to come.

“Herb Jones exempliﬁes all the great qualities our team values with his toughness, competitiveness and commitment to getting better every day,” Dumars said.

pand the footprint of the league around the world. The league will welcome its ﬁrst team outside the U.S. next year with the addition of the Toronto Tempo. Engelbert mentioned Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa as places that could have huge interest in the WNBA.

“I think we’re really strong domestically now There’s a huge amount of possibilities, to turn these players into a global household being stars that they’ve now become here in the United States domestically,” she said.

The consistency of officiating has been a topic that players and coaches have been discussing a lot this season, and Engelbert said that the league is aware and will evaluate it.

“I realize consistency is the name of the game, and I think it’s something we definitely need to look at and evaluate,” she said.

“There’s an independent evaluation of our ofﬁcials and there are ramifications. It’s something we need to continue to work on. As our game evolves so does our ofﬁciating, so we’re on it.”

Engelbert said the league would look at possibly expanding the length of the season in the future on the backend of the season. The WNBA can’t really start any earlier because of the NCAA Tournament, but could go into early November There’s a good shot that will happen next year with the FIBA World Cup taking place in early September

“We’re looking about what’s the best footprint, what’s the best number of games,” she said.

and Derrick Brown of Carolina — but he will at least not have to do so on an island. There is a decent chance that guard is Penning’s natural position and that he ﬁnally delivers on the promise that made the Saints select him 19th overall in 2022. The physical ability has never been a question, and if the lightbulb clicks on, New Orleans may be positioned to have an above average offensive line across the board in 2025.

Worst case

If McCoy can’t stay on the ﬁeld, that could trigger a pretty rough domino effect for the offense. New Orleans signed old friend

And Penning is a gamble, even with veteran Dillon Radunz ready to take his spot if he struggles. Penning is just an idea at guard right now and even if it makes sense logically, it may not practically His technique issues may be just as pronounced inside as they were outside, and if there’s one thing that can turn an otherwise good passing play into a disaster, it’s interior pressure.

This should be an improved unit in 2025, but it’s no slam dunk. A prediction in 10 words or less Penning plays well enough to merit a modest extension.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

can focus on getting acclimated for camp and competing for the starting job. The 25-year-old is battling Spencer Rattler and Jake

3. Jeremiah Fears is a work in progress. It really didn’t matter how many games the Pelicans won in Vegas. They were going to be judged on this trip by how well their two first-round draft picks (Fears and Queen) played. We’ll start with Fears, since he was the No. 7 pick. Through the first three games, Fears played like the 18-year-old that he is while adjusting to the NBA. You could see his quickness right away The Kyrie Irving-like handles and the Russell Westbrook-like athleticism on one dunk attempt were there. But he struggled finishing at the rim. In five games, Fears was 30 of 75 from the floor (40%) and knocked down just 4 of 22 3-pointers (18.2%). But more concerning were the turnovers (25 total) and lack of assists (13). His fourth game, a loss to Oklahoma City was his best when he finished with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists. He showed enough in that outing to let you know that he can play in the league once he adjusts to the physicality of the NBA game. But if the season started tomorrow, it would be hard to insert him in the starting lineup right away A few weeks ago, I suggested the Pelicans pursue free agent Chris Paul to mentor Fears. I feel even stronger about that, especially with Dejounte Murray still rehabbing his Achilles injury 4. Queen also is a work in progress. Other than Cooper Flagg, selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks, there won’t be many players in this draft class under a larger microscope than Queen. That’s what happens when a team gives up a future first-round pick for you. Queen’s start in Vegas was a bit shaky, but he showed in his third game why Dumars invested so much in him. You don’t see many 6-foot-9 guys with his skillset. He played well in his

“I want him to start focusing on the responsibilities of being the best player here and the focal point. There are some responsibilities that come with that. Go represent your organization.”

JOE DUMARS Pelicans VP of operations on Zion Williamson

third and final game (17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks). His turnovers (17 in three games) are a concern, too. While Fears plays at 100 mph, Queen plays more like he’s driving through a speed zone. Sometimes that makes you question his motor (especially on the defensive end). But his slow pace is effective, and his shooting touch and passing ability are impressive. Unfortunately, he won’t get a chance to work on the things he needs to work on now that he has to rehab from surgery 5. Yves Missi’s shot was missing. Missi, fresh off a secondteam NBA All-Rookie season, had his struggles finishing, too. Missi shot a dismal 9 for 31 from the floor (29%) and also struggled from the freethrow line (4 for 13). He rebounded well and blocked shots (six in three games), but he will need to be better finishing. Lester Quinones, Antonio Reeves and Keion Brooks had their moments, as did second-round draft pick Micah Peavy and two-way player Trey Alexander Hunter Dickinson, signed to a twoway contract, may be able to provide some depth in the middle.

6. Team chemistry OK, we won’t make too big of a deal out of this one because it’s the norm during Summer League. After all, who turns down a chance to go hang out in Vegas? But it was refreshing to see Trey Murphy, Jose Alvarado, Murray, and newcomers Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and Kevon Looney all sitting together court side during the Pelicans’ second game against the Lakers. It’s good to see that core of players bonding before the real work starts.

7. All in on Zion Williamson. Dumars has made plenty of moves this offseason. None of them will mean a thing if Williamson doesn’t put the Pelicans on his broad shoulders. The Pelicans will be as good as Williamson makes them. He’s the most important piece to the puzzle. Dumars made it clear in May that he’s fully committed to Williamson.

“I want him to start focusing on the responsibilities of being the best player here and the focal point,” Dumars said. “There are some responsibilities that come with that. Go represent your organization.”

So to see Williamson and Dumars sitting and talking along the baseline Wednesday night was a positive sign that the two are on the same page. Seeing the two of them smiling was a positive. Especially on this winless trip where smiles were hard to come by

Email Rod Walker at

Engelbert

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy

Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever warms up before the WNBA All-Star Game while wearing a players’ union shirt on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Continued from page 1C

No. 1 player began to pull away Fitzpatrick missed a pair of short par putts and had to settle for a 71. The biggest roars belonged to McIlroy, so much that it felt as though all of Northern Ireland was behind him. There wasn’t an inch of grass or gorse to be seen beyond the wall of people lining the fairways. There were 30-yard gaps along the ropes for Schefﬂer.

McIlroy opened with three birdies in four holes. The roar that shook Royal Portrush came on the par-5 12th when McIlroy holed a 55-foot eagle putt that gave him a spark and the gallery hope — even though he still was six behind. He produced only one more birdie the rest of the way and still faces a big climb.

“I played well enough today to at least feel like I have a chance tomorrow,” McIlroy said “Yeah, it’s going to be tough to catch him tomorrow if he keeps playing the way he does. But if I can get out tomorrow and get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going you never know.” But this championship is now in the hands of Schefﬂer, who has been No. 1 in the world longer than anyone since Tiger Woods And there was nothing Saturday to in-

BRITISH OPEN

Li aims to be China’s ﬁrst major winner

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sports writer

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland Li Haotong is in contention to become the ﬁrst man from China, a country of 1.4 billion people, to win a major golf championship.

The No. 111-ranked Li will play in the final pairing at the British Open on Sunday with Scottie Schefﬂer, the world No. 1. Schefﬂer leads by four strokes on Li, who is alone in second place at Royal Portrush.

Here are some things to know about the Chinese golfer In short he’s quite a character

Li is a 29-year-old from Hunan, China. He started out caddying for his father, who played golf while also owning a car dealership in their home city. His parents now travel the world with him as he splits his time between playing on the PGA Tour and European tour

He turned pro in 2011 and ﬁrst got on the European tour in 2016.

This is Li’s 15th appearance in a major and his best ﬁnish was a tie for third at the British Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, when he shot a ﬁnal-round 63. He was six strokes behind the winner, Jordan Spieth.

In 2020, Li was the ﬁrst Chinese player to hold the lead after any

Li was involved in one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of the European tour

While playing the French Open in 2017, Li threw his club into the water out of frustration after bogeying the par-3 11th hole at Le Golf National. Moments later, his mother rolled up her shorts and waded through the muddy pond to recover it. After she grabbed it, she returned to dry land, realized it was broken — her son had snapped it and threw it back in the water

After the incident, Li played the ﬁnal seven holes at level par using a sand wedge as a putter Li once had the following in red capital letters on the back of his 60-degree wedge: “HAOTONG IS THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN CHINA.”

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sports writer

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory

McIlroy picked up the ball from the thick rough, held it out in front of him and burst out laughing.

It was one of the most bafﬂing things to have happened to him on a golf course.

Maybe one of the most frustrating, too.

McIlroy was on a third-round charge at the British Open on Saturday, making birdies and generating roars from the deep galleries that could be heard from a halfmile away in this corner of his native Northern Ireland.

What derailed him was almost a trick of the mind.

With one swish of his wedge, McIlroy not only hit his designated ball out of the rough to the right of the fairway on the 11th hole but also dug out another ball that had been buried underneath the turf, unbeknownst to him.

The second ball popped out of the ground and settled between his feet, much to McIlroy’s surprise.

“I have another golf ball,” he said with a confused smile to those around him after picking it up.

“That is the most weird, ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen,” McIlroy said later

It was just part of a roller-coaster round of 5-under 66 that McIl-

round in a major championship thanks to a bogey-free 65 in the second round of the PGA Championship. That left him two shots clear He wound up ﬁnishing 17th.

Li’s last major appearance came in 2022 when he missed the cut at the British Open at St. Andrews. Li is a four-time winner on the

European tour, most recently at the Qatar Masters in February when he holed a birdie putt from 15 feet at the last hole to secure a one-shot victory and wept in the arms of his caddie. His ﬁrst was nearly a decade earlier at the China Open in 2016, the year he joined the tour

roy described as “incredible” and an “absolute pleasure.”

Three birdies in the ﬁrst four holes. That bizarre trick shot on No. 11 that led to his only bogey A bounce-back eagle from 55 feet on No. 12 — producing, in his words, “one of the largest roars I’ve ever heard on a golf course” and a birdie on No. 15 when his approach hit the ﬂagstick and stopped dead, a foot from the pin. It was classic McIlroy But likely not enough.

At the end of a wild day on the links off the North Atlantic, McIl-

roy trimmed just one shot off his deﬁcit to leader Scottie Schefﬂer

The gap was now six shots to a guy McIlroy labeled “inevitable.”

“The only thing that I can hope for is I get off to the same start that I got off to today, get the crowd really going,” said McIlroy, who was in a four-way tie for fourth place, “and then hopefully he (Schefﬂer) might be able to hear that a couple groups back and maybe feel some pressure.”

At times, it felt like McIlroy — wearing Tiger Woods red — had the support of the whole of North-

Oh, and Li also follows an English soccer team — Sunderland. Well, kind of. He was guided down that road by an ex-caddie, who was a fan of the team from northeast England.

While no man from China has captured a major title, two women have. The ﬁrst was Shanshan Feng, who won the LPGA Championship in 2012. Ruoning Yin won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021.

ern Ireland on a gorgeous day when the locals came out in force to cheer on their favorite son. He got a throaty, rock-star reception at every tee, even pats on the back as he emerged from the trouble to the right of the fairway on No. 17.

This was Rory-mania in full swing, the latest and most thrilling chapter of a homecoming three months in the making after winning the Masters to join the career Grand Slam club.

“It’s almost a celebration of what I’ve been able to accomplish,” McIlroy said. “I want to celebrate with them, too. I’ve just really tried to embrace everything this week I’m having an incredible time. I’m really enjoying myself, and I feel like I’ve given myself half a chance now.”

Six years ago, the British Open returned to Royal Portrush for the ﬁrst time since 1951. McIlroy shot 79 on the ﬁrst day and himself out of the championship, failing to even make the weekend as he struggled to handle the expectation of a home crowd. This week, he’s welcomed the pressure.

Too bad for his many fans here that Schefﬂer is spoiling the party

A second claret jug would be amazing for McIlroy But whatever happens, it’s been a lot of fun coming home.

“It’s absolutely incredible to play in front of these fans,” McIlroy said. “I’m just so excited to get one more day to be able to experience it.”

the last four years.

McIlroy had the most bizarre moment of the championship when

“It’s never happened to me before,” McIlroy said. “It could nev-

“Scottie is it’s inevitable,” McIlroy said. “Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s become a complete player.” Fitzpatrick did his best to keep pace, but he missed a 4-foot par putt on the 13th, got a bad bounce on the 17th that led to another bogey and wound up ﬁve shots behind.

“Just didn’t make any putts. I didn’t hit it close enough,” Fitzpatrick said. “Drove it well enough, didn’t hit it close enough. Just made way less putts than Scottie.”

Scheffler will be paired in the last group with Li, who made history in 2020 at the PGA Championship when he held the 36-hole lead, becoming the first player from China to lead in a major Li didn’t make his first bogey until the 13th hole, and he dropped another shot on the 18th by driving into a pot bunker Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup, in his first appearance in the British Open, had a 68 and joined the group at 8-under 205 that included McIlroy Harris English (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (68).

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER

Scottie Schefﬂer plays off the ninth tee during the third round of the British Open on Saturday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANCISCO SECO

Li Haotong of China taps hands with members of the public as he walks to the 18th tee during the third round of the British Open golf championship on Saturday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PETER MORRISON

Li Haotong of China taps hands with members of the gallery as he walks to the 18th tee during the third round of the British Open on Saturday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland Li is in second place entering Sunday.

AP PHOTO By JON SUPER Matt Fitzpatrick looks at the lie of his putt on the 5th green during the third round of the British Open on Saturday at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

mountain ride from Pau to Superbagneres 1. Thymen Arensman, Netherlands, Ineos Grenadiers, 4:53:35. 2. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 4:54:43. 3. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:54:47. 4. Felix Gall, Austria, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 4:54:54. 5. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 4:55:00. 6. Oscar Onley, Great Britain, Picnic PostNL, 4:55:44. 7. Ben Healy Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, 4:56:21. 8. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 4:56:21. 9. Tobias Johannessen, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, 4:56:34. 10. Kevin Vauquelin, France, Arkea-B&B Hotels, 4:56:43. Also 22. Sepp Kuss, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 5:01:49. 34. Matteo Jorgenson, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 5:12:31 85. Neilson Powless, United States, EF Education-EasyPost, 5:29:19 118. William Barta, United States, Movistar Team, 5:31:09. Overall Standings 1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 50:40:28. 2. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 50:44:41. 3. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 50:48:21.

4. Oscar Onley, Great Britain, Picnic PostNL, 50:49:46. 5. Kevin Vauquelin, France, Arkea-B&B Hotels, 50:50:49

6. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 50:51:02

7. Felix Gall, Austria, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 50:52:28

8. Tobias Johannessen, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, 50:53:01. 9. Ben Healy, Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, 50:59:09 10. Carlos Rodriguez, Spain, Ineos Grenadiers, 51:03:25 Team Standings

1. Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 152:43:39

2. UAE Team Emirates XRG, 152:57:27 3. Decathalon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 153:27:07. 4. Arkea-B&B Hotels, 153:27:08

5. Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 153:29:38 6. Ineos Grenadiers, 154:13:41 7. Movistar Team, 154:20:59 8. Groupama-FDJ, 154:22:00 9. XDS Astana Team, 154:34:57 10. Team Picnic PostNL, 154:46:22 0. Tennis Hamburg European Open Results Saturday At Am Rothenbaum Rot-Weiss Tennis Club Hamburg, Germany Purse: $275,094 Surface: Red clay HAMBURG, GERMANY Results Saturday from Hamburg European Open at Am Rothenbaum Rot-Weiss Tennis Club (seedings in parentheses): Women’s Singles Semiﬁnals Anna Bondar (7), Hungary,

ALouisiana

evensong service

endsthe day with grace

When my wife and Ivisited England for aweek in 2019, we tried hard to ﬁt everything in. Each day,wewanted to see as much of the country as we could. But on acouple of evenings, we were reminded that true joy doesn’tcome from a race with the clock. The end of aday can be an occasion itself,somethingtobe embraced rather than evaded That idea is behind evensong, an end-of-day religious service with deep roots in Anglican tradition. The service typically includes choral songs andbrief prayers that invite reﬂection on the richness of the day that’spassing, the comingcalm of night. During our stay in England, my wife and Iattended evensong services at Bath Abbey and Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. We wereheartened when someone handed us a printed program at Bath Abbey that announced, “All are welcome.”

That afﬁrming message pointed to the wisdom of stillness at the end of aday as an ideal shared among many of us regardless of our faith.

Bath Abbey has had aplace of worship at its site for more than 1,000 years. ChristChurch in Oxford was founded in 1546. Sitting in the shadow of centuries as we attended evensong in these grand old places, my wife and Iwere humbled by our smallness in the vast reach of time. At its best, evensong is about turning inward, an idea underscored in the booklet we were given at Christ Church Cathedral. As we learned, there’snot as much activeparticipation from the congregation at evensong as at other services

“As the congregation, our participation is by prayerful, attentive listening,” the booklet noted.

Attentive listening is no small thing, as Ithought aboutrecently when my wife and Iwere invited to attend an evensong service in Louisiana. Our friend Catherine Harrell knew how much evensong had meant to us when we ﬁrst learned about it in England. She let us know that St. James Episcopal Churchin Baton Rouge was havingaservice one Sunday in May

The 5p.m. service began with aprocession of the choir into the sanctuary.Itwas moving to see all the singers ﬁling in, asharedwitness to the beauty of aday dimming toward twilight. While the service unfolded, the light behind the church’sstained glass

ä See AT RANDOM, page 8D

IT’S A RUFF LIFE

IBY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

t’sthe meeting of two beloved New Orleansicons. Scrim, everyone’sfavorite fugitive mutt, will star in anew children’s book to be published this fallbyformer television meteorologist Margaret Orr.

Based on apreview,“Scrim My Tail: As Told to MargaretOrr,” is bound to enthrall thesmall fry, and maybe dog-loving grown-ups too.

Orr’stake on Scrim’sepic travels through theCrescent City streets may surprise some, since it introduces awhole new motivation into the mix. Most onlookers believed that Scrim simply craved freedom and distrustedhumans, fleeing fromthe well-meaning folks who set outtocapture him andreturn him to domesticityatall cost. But in Orr’stelling, the reason for the heroic little dog’slegendary Houdini-like escapes andreckless running was that he’d been annoyedbycats. That’sright,Orr discovered that cats —the eternal enemies of all dogs —were to blame for Scrim’salienation all along.

“People didn’tknowwhatreally

BY ROBIN MILLER

writer

DatDog sandwiches.

happened,” Orr said with achuckle Tailgatesand snow dogs

Scrim’s cat aversion isn’tOrr’s only creative take on Scrim’stale. In her telling, Scrim attends Saints tailgateparties disguised in aDrew Fleas jersey, camouﬂages himself as asnow dog during last winter’s historic blizzard and sustainshimself during his long odyssey with

Orrisconfident of herconclusions,because they arebased on an absolutely credible source, Scrim himself. Orr interviewed the former canine outlaw personally —in thecontextofthe children’sbook anyway —beforepenning the tall tale. To readers, she said, it will be “obvious that we talked.”

The auburn-hairedweatherreporter said she followed Scrim’s harrowing adventures formonths, just likeeverybody else in NewOrleans. She feared forhis lifeonthe treacherousNew Orleans roads, during the cold of winter and as he faced other hazards.

She wastremendouslyrelieved when Scrim was ﬁnally captured in February and returned to the care of Michelle Cheramie, owner of Zeus’ Rescuespet adoption agency.Itwas Cheramie whooriginally acquired the abandoneddog from akill shelter before his legendary odyssey began.

Orr,who is affiliated with the popular,all-pooch Barkus Carnival parade, was attending apre-parade fundraising partyatDat Dog in

See SCRIM, page 8D

PROVIDED PHOTOFROMMARGARETORR

Former meteorologist and children’s book author Margaret Orrgets the side-eye from celebrity escapee Scrim.

ILLUSTRATION By MATT RINARD/ COURTESy OF SUSANSCHADTPRESS

DannyHeitman AT RANDOM

Tichenor

ON THE DINING SCENE

Global eventputsN.O.cocktailculture in spotlight

Talesofthe Cocktail returnsthisweek

New Orleans has beenshowing America how to drink foralong time, particularlywhen it comes to cocktails.Itdoes still

This goes beyond the veriﬁable history and legion of legends around speciﬁc cocktailsassociated with the Crescent City

Soakinginthe scene

The city’s cred as cocktail capital lives in an appreciation for ﬁne drinks, the priority given to time to savorthem and the social places ﬂourishinghere that elevate them, from luxurious lounges to everyday corner joints that take the craft seriously

“Hail New Orleans that for more than acentury has been the home of civilized drinking,” wrote Stanley Clisby Arthur all the way back in 1937 in his book “Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em.” “(T)

he ﬂowing bowl and the adept mixing of what went in it has constituted as high an art in this Creole city as the incomparable cooking for which it is famed.”

In other words, there is alongstanding cocktail culture in New Orleans.

Its history and evolution are part of the city’slandscape of taste.

That willbeframedanew for a global audience withthe annual return of Tales of the Cocktail, the drinks andhospitality industryconference based in New Orleans.

For one week (July 20-25 this year), Tales of the Cocktail is the place for people in the drinks business around the globe to network with the movers and shakers in their ﬁeld.

Based at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (921 Canal St.), which becomes ahive of tasting rooms and seminar sessions, the event also ﬁlls the city with specialevents, happy hours, guest bartender stints, brand takeovers and such, like amini version of the Super Bowl for the spirits world.

It’srun by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, anonproﬁt that makes grants to initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of people in the hospitalitysector.

It typically brings amid-summer boost to localbusinesses, which by many accountsisneeded more than ever this year

As aconference, Tales of the Cocktail is largelygeared to people in the industry.But for aﬁcionados and the morecasuallycocktail curious out there it’salso acue appreciate the richness of New Orleans cocktail culture.

Peopletravelfrom around the world to experience it; locals can partake in it, and help perpetuate it, anytime.

Acocktail quest, an outing to one of the city’sﬁne purveyors, is an absorbing way to spend ahot New Orleans day.Pick a few to tour around and suddenly you’re not just after adrink; you’re on agenuine cultural pursuit. Hey,weall have our ways of getting through thesummer Cure (4905 Freret St.) and Jewel of the South(1026 St. Louis St.) now routinely land on national and international lists of best cocktail lounges; they are places thatvisiting cocktailenthusiasts have on their itineraries like Commander’sPalaceorEmeril’s for the more food motivated. Here they are in our backyards and more accessible in the summer

TheElysianBar (2317 Burgundy St.), arestaurant with a gorgeous lounge in aconverted historic religious space (now the Hotel Peter &Paul), has been drawing high-proﬁle accolades lately too.

Butthese accolade magnets are just the tip of the ice tray, andthere’smuch more.

Loa, inside the International House Hotel (221 Camp St.), should be on any cocktail tour

TheChandelier Bar in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel (2 CanalSt.) shows the glittering peak of luxury cocktailing, and for Talesweek it will be hosting guest bartenders from around the world.

AFrenchQuarter spin

Fix your sightssolely on the French Quarter and you can toggle between cocktail destinations thatgive ataste of the contemporary in evocative, historic settings.

ConsiderCane &Table (1113 Decatur St.),asiblingtoCure with atropical orientation, and Manolito(508 Dumaine St.), a tiny tribute to classic Cuban cocktails. Both are restaurants worthy of planning your own cocktail dinner around as well. Newer but with atimelessfeel is Fives(529 St.Ann St.),the best thing to happen on Jackson Square in along time; it’swhere to sip cocktails and slurpraw oysters together.Around thecorner,Peychaud’sinThe Celestine hotel (727 Toulouse St.),which also has aCure connection, opens to ahiddencourtyard just afew doors off, but seemingly aworld away,from Bourbon Street. Indeed, these great cocktail destinations can feel like portals to their own worlds, escape hatches from the everyday grind. Go to the French 75, the train car-like lounge at Arnaud’s Restaurant (813Bienville St.) and you’re back in the Roaring Twenties.

Go to Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 (321 N. Peters St.) and you’re in alair of rumand

Polynesian fantasy,atemple of tiki from the renowned master of that niche, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry himself. Across theQuarter,Bar Tonique (820 N. Rampart St.) is where you’ll ﬁnd bartenders after their own shifts. It can feel like getting backstageaccess to New Orleans hospitality world. Agodfather andenduringPal’s Now get out of the French Quarter.One strengthofthe New Orleans cocktail cultureisthe way it shows up around town, not just in thetourist hub. Youcan pick aneighborhood and guide another leg of this cocktail romp (for theculture, remember?). Mid-Citygives aprimeexample. Chris McMillian, agodfather of the modern cocktail revival, runs Revel (133 N. Carrollton Ave.) as something between abar and an interpretive living history museum on cocktail culture (with atop-notch burger too).

Nearby is Pal’sLounge (949 N. RendonSt.), aneighborhood bar that quietly helped pioneer the whole idea of craft cocktails in New Orleans more than two decades ago. The fresh fruit, herbs and house-made syrups that are now expected from serious cocktailpractitioners were still novel to ﬁnd along the bar at Pal’snext to cansofPabst Blue Ribbon back then

Many different bartenders have come throughPal’sand plentyhave stayed for years, for career-making tenures of neighborhood hospitality, which is another mark of agreat bar.The qualityofcocktails has remained consistent as the character has deepened, and cheerstothat.

Beyondprofessional events, Tales of theCocktail offers ways for local cocktail lovers to cut in.I’ve rounded up afew at nola. com/wherenolaeats.

Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@theadvocate.com

STAFF PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

The Columns martini with pickled vegetables is servedatFives, abar on Jackson Square in the French Quarter

STAFFFILE PHOTOByIAN McNULTy

Sly Augustin, owner of Trailer Happiness in Notting Hill Gate, London, prepares martinisataFord’s Gin event during Tales of the Cocktail in 2023 in NewOrleans.

n Guardian Angels

Wings were the thing on arecent Friday evening when Project Lazarus presented itsGuardian Angel Awards Gala. The event program’scover featured a huge pair of wings ﬂankinga red door with awreath. Welcome was the message. As it has been for years, the gala took place in the JW Marriott New Orleans. Along with Doerr Furniture, the hotel was listed as atoplevel Diamond Sponsor. The next, Sapphire, noted LABO Charitable Fund, and the Emerald, adozen sponsors. Individual namesin remaining categories were Cynthia Molyneux, JerryPurcell, BarbaraLawrence, and Dr Troy Scrogginsand Frank Wilder. The celebration this year wasall about 40: the anniversary of Project Lazarus, the 40/40/40digital giving campaign, and the Big 40 Ambassadorprogram.

Letters in the program came in the form of anniversary congratulations from Archbishop Gregory M.Aymond —Project Lazarus is a ministry of the Archdiocese, and Ian Bicko, aformer volunteer and the new executive director,who commented on the four decades that Project Lazarushas served and housed individuals withHIV/ AIDS, what has ensued since the founding,and his eagerness for what lies ahead.

Twomen were honoredas Guardian Angels: Dustin Woehrmann and Lawrence HenryGobble The former’spath to ProjectLazarus was through Halloween New Orleans. He served on the board for 10 years, ﬁve of those as president. Related Dustin, “WeheldaHalloween New Orleans host party at Marigny Opera Houseand gave people tours of the (nearby) Project Lazarus grounds.Itwas agreat way to connectpeopleto the cause.” Additionally,his tourism company,Communify, not only brings LGBTQ travelersto the Crescent City,but hasalso donated services to HNO.

Lawrence came to New Orleans during the World’sFair of 1984 and felt that he “wasalways meant to be here… Iwas home.” He became involved withHNO, Project Lazarus, and was honored to join the Guardian Angel Gala Committee for the30th anniversary,for which hespearheadeda videothatfeatured the Revs.Bob Pawelland Paul Desrosiers and Franciscan Sister MarcyRomine sharing their PL remembrances.

Athird tribute, the Pawell-Desrosiers Award, honored Mark McKeown, whose involvement withPLalso started with Halloween New Orleans before service on the PL board and its chairmanship. Under his leadership, PL raised$3 million. He added, “I’ve beeninthe “Lazarus family’ in some capacity for29 years and will continue.”

In addition to Archbishop Aymond,the board of directorsofProject Lazarus cites chair DannyAkers,vice chair GarySchiro, treasurer MeganDeCuir O’Leary, secretary Jason Allen,and Archdiocesan liaison Dirk J.Wild.Dr. Falon Brown,Dr. Mark Carbon, Louis J. David, JerryO Fredieu, Sister Judy Gomila,MSC, Lisa L. Johnson, William R. Luton, Brad M. Richard, the Rev Michael Schneller, and Richard Weilbelt are board members.

Nell Nolan SOCIETY

LAZARUS LANTERN and

n AndAll That Pizzazz

The gala itself is always adraw.Beforeguestssat for theprogram and dinner, they perused theextensive auction. In the recently redecorated ballroom,where a huge screen was prominently positioned, lighting of blue and green added enhancement. The tables were centered with low vases holding red roses and whitehydrangeas. Adelicious salad was theﬁrst course. Host Mark Romig and gala cochairsJerry Fredieu and Lisa Johnson drew attention as the program commenced. Program principals included the above Sister Gomila, Danny Akers, and Ian Bicko.Saturn Return Studiosproduced the 40thanniversary video.

The awards presentations followed dinner withMark Romig, Lily Hannigan and Jason Waguespack as respective presenters for honorees Dustin, Lawrence and Mark. Rodney Thoulion thenaddressed the needs of PL and MarkRomig masterfully conducted the live auction. Six major items—a staycation, art, chef’s dinner,parade ride,and physique transformation —created big bidding.

Among those serving on the gala committee, in addition to theabove Johnson, Fredieu,Schiro, Akers, Sister Gomila, Thoulion, Luton andBicko, were Andrew Albritton, Jason Allen, Bruce Gallassero, Glenn Gray,Andrea SabillonHalstead,Jay Huffstatler,Randy Jackson, Kacie Lucas, Daniel Morvant,and JonTaylor. Most were sighted and several wereformer Guardian Angels. Noted, too, and joined by husband King,was Anne Milling,anhonoree of 1998 (along with Patrick Dunne). The ﬁrst GA award was given theyear before, 1997, to Jim Perrier In 2016, Anne received thePawell-Desrosiers Award. Concluding thebash was the music of DJ Ang, which added beat and buoyancy to an evening when care and concern were showcased.

In celebration of its 20 years, LanternLight’s annual gala, which includes dining, dancing, asilent auction, and fun prizes, honored the Conference of thePresentation Sisters, PBVM. Guests at the Alexander Room &Terrace, the sitefor the night, gave astanding ovation to Sister Vera Butler, former executive director of Lantern Light,asshe received the Nano Nagle Service Award on behalf of the Conference, the founders of Lantern Light. Programs of the nonproﬁt organization include support for theunhoused, mealsto those in need, notary services, and prescription assistance. To mention several. Similarly,volunteers and supporters gave hearty applause to LanternLight Executive Director Kenitha Grooms-Williams as she related

the importance of the gala and LL’s twodecades of community service.

ARoaring 20s theme added a sartorial ﬁllip with several attendees sporting black sequined dresses and pearl sautoirs.Asa decorative slant, replicated gold phonographs were elevated and draped in pearls to serve as centerpieces on the black table linens. As the aural attraction, the Treme Soul Collective played smooth jazz, aperfect musical backdrop forthe evening. Food from 13 generous restaurants andsupporters fed the festive ﬂock,whichalso gravitated to the silent auction and its 47 enticements. Abeautiful pair of diamond studs donated by Lee Michaelswas “won” by Gillian Eggleston, while Julia Pendergast‘s bid toppedothers for the DinnerJazz Cruise.Thenthere wasthe grand prize winner. Longtime supporter Ron Aveson won the “Roaring 20s Give Away,” afour-night Carnivalcruise for two to Cozumel, Mexico.

Mingling with the above were Claudia and GaryLevy,Valerieand Johnny VanVrancken,Sister Antonio Heaphy, PBVM, John Cutrera,Justin Kennedy, Regina and Dr TimMolony, the Rev Ed Murphy, CM, Claudia and StephenBraud, the Rev Ajani K. Gibson, Caronand Wayne Anderson, Sister MaryLou Specha, PBVM, AshleyT.Mogilles,AlexDeLarge, BelenciaBreaux,and three judges: Jay C. Zainey, June Darensburg,and D. Nicole Sheppard.

Dustin Woehrmann, Jeff Hebert, Mark Romig

PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT

Lawrence HenryGobble, Lily Hannigan, William Sparks

DannyAkers,Ian Bicko

Jason Waguespack, Mark McKeown

PHOTOSByMARy STROUT

Mark and Jane Landry, Sister Vera Butler,Ashley Mogilles

Kenitha Grooms-Williams,the Rev. Tony Rigoli

Reginaand TimMolony

Linda Haines, Gertrude Ivory, Dan McCormick

Lisa Johnson, Jerry Fredieu

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

Austin is deﬁnitely not asee-itall-in-a-weekend kind of city, but over afew days,one canget a taste of all the Texas capital has to offer

Situated in the central part of the state about 21/2 hours past Houston, Austin is within the greater Texas Hill Country.Visitors will ﬁnd hills and ﬂat stretches,dependingonthe section of the city they’re in. Unlike other “concrete” metropolises, approximately 34 million trees provide a canopy over about 31% of the city

Visit Austin reports thatthe city attracts around 30 million visitors ayear,many from its reputation as “TheLive Music Capital of the World,” and on top ofthat for its unofficial motto,“KeepAustin Weird.”

The music scene is vibrant from the blues spillingout ofthe legendary Antone’sNightclub to the rock, jazz, country and more youcan catch when PBS Austin City Limits” is filmed liveeach week at the Moody Center.The city plays host to musicians and music lovers at several festivals during the year,among them South by Southwest, the Austin Reggae Fest andthe Austin City Limits Music Festival.

And the part about Austin being weird? Well, let’sjust call it eclectically charming.

Yes, people do surround the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge daily around sunset to watch the colonyof1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats take their evening flight. Andyes, there’seven amuseum dedicated to the strange, appropriately called, Museum of the Weird. But there are also artsyattractions such as the Blanton Museumof Artand the Harry Ransom Cen-

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

By ChristopherElliott

ter— andoutdoorsyactivities like ﬂoating the San Marcos Riveron atube or swimming afew laps in theBarton Springs Pool.

When it’stime to dine, there’s barbecue, ramen,Japanese-Texas fusions, Southern, Thai, Italian, Ethiopian, pizza and, abig thing in these parts, breakfasttacos.

It’salways beensaid that when you’re visiting anew place, it’s wisetoget some inside intel from alocal.With thatsaid, formerLouisianans Maya Blitch and husband Thomas Hakim, both27, were happy to point us to the fun they’vefound sincemovingto Austin twoyears ago.

“If someone Iknew were to visit,Iwould plan aday that would start with breakfast tacos, then we would hike one of thebeautifultrails in West Lake. Iprefer theLittle Fern Trail,” Blitch said. Following the hike, sherecommends asnack andcoffee at Mozart’sCoffee Roasters. From there, thevie areunbeatable, “Often,Moz live music or ing each visit new,” shesaid. Next, she’d boarding at Lake aswim in Ba during thewarmer

KLMcharged me another$

Irecently flew from Amsterdam to Cape Town on KLM.When Iarrived at the gate, an agent took my boarding pass and reassigned my seat. During the flight,attendants interrupted me three times, askingfor my passportand ticket to confirm Iwas in the correct seat. It wasclear there wasanerror in their system

stub.I didn’t check abag and hadn’tkept my boarding pass.KLM demanded Ipay $550 to board the flight.I had no choice buttopay

Christopher Elliott

To makematters worse, the veganmeal I had preordered wasn’t available, and Iwas served ameal with meat and dairy.

When Itried to check in formyreturn flight from Cape Town to Amsterdam,KLM told me my ticket was“out of sequence.”

Theysaid Ineeded proof Iwas on the outbound flight, likeabaggagetag or ticket

Icontacted KLMcustomerservice when Igot home, explaining the situation.KLM insisted Ididn’tboard the first flight and refused to refund the $550. So Isent the airlinemydigital boarding pass, proof of an in-flight Wi-Fipurchase, and atimestamped photo of me onthe plane. Ieven escalated the matter to my credit card companyand the European Commission. But still, nothing.Can youhelpmeget my money back? —Lauren Stokowski, Utrecht, Netherlands

Ican’tbelieveKLM refused to acknowledgeyou wereonthe ﬂight after you provided so much proof. Didthey evenread what yousent them?

This is an obvious switched your bound flight to then somehow of your seat reservation. probably why dantskept interrupting asking for your Problem is,t line had you as your outbound other airlines, cels your return missthe first Youshould forced to pay you’dshown at digital boarding of you on the in Cape Town, been able tofi

STAFF PHOTOSByJUDyBERGERON

The Blanton Museum of Art, on the University of Texas’

ARTS &CULTURE

ExhibithighlightsJewishorphanage

Stereotype-defying N.O.

facility,established in 1855,was

firstofits kind in U.S.

New Orleans had the ﬁrst purpose-built Jewishorphanage in America because New Orleans had yellow fever,anindiscriminate orphan-maker

On view at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience through Jan. 25, the changing exhibit “Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans’ Home of New Orleans” travels through a near-century of history

Dave Walker

The exhibit’stimeline starts in 1855 with thefounding of an institution that deﬁed orphanage stereotypes of the day,offering much more than shelter for its residents and initially housing widows as well as “inmates,” as child residents were thencalled. Religious educationwas, of course, an important part of life there, but so was secular education: Isidore NewmanSchool was founded in the early 20th century to educate students from the home.

Newman’sinaugural enrollment counted 102 children from the home as well as 23 tuitionpaying classmates from the community Nutrition and health care were also emphasized. The home pioneered vaccinating its children against scarlet fever and diphtheria in the 1920s. There are images in theexhibit of residentsat play at asummer camp in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

“When you really think of these orphanages, you think of like maybe Annie or Oliver Twist,” said Michael Jacobs, the museum’scollections and exhibits curator. “Butreally,here it’s atotally differentidea. These children were really given some of the best possible accommodations at the time.

“They had baths, they had dining rooms, they had kitchens. They had just incredible dormitories where they focused on cleanliness and beingclean and orderly.”

The home wasn’texclusively for New Orleans kids, eventually drawing residents from throughout the South and Southwest.Enrollment peaked at 173 children in 1915.

Residents remainedan average of seven years. The home, which occupied acouple of locations (the last of which stood where the Jewish Community Center thrives today), survived the Civil War, two world wars and the Great Depression, but closed in 1946 when the Jewish Children’s Regional Service assumed nonresidential services for Jewish children and their families.

TheJewish Orphans’ Home, NewOrleans, c. 1915. The back of the imageincludes ahandscripted note, ‘Our Babies,’possiblywritten by Rabbi Leon Volmer,ofLittleRock, Ark., whoservedasthe home’ssuperintendent from1911 to 1926.

By thebook

“Most Fortunate Unfortunates” is based on abook of the same title by Marlene Trestman, which has been sold in the museum’s gift shop since its 2023 publication.Trestman was orphaned at age 11 and grew up as afoster care client of the Jewish Children’sRegional Service, successor tothe Jewish Orphans’ Home.

“Marlene Trestman did an incredible job uncovering so much information,” Jacobs said. “Before her,noone really had writtenmuch on the home. Iwould call herthe historian on the home, and without her this never would have been done.”

For her book, Trestman conducted more than 100 interviews with residents and descendants of residents. Thereishuge archival supplement to the book (and now exhibit)atmarlenetrestman. com.

“As an author,withmyco-authors outinthe world, you dream of having movies made from (your) books,which you know, that’d be wonderful,” Trestman said. “Very few have an entire museumexhibition on abook. AndI think it just speakstothe depth of the story to be toldmuch more than thestoryteller.”

Keyobjects andfeatures

n Ahandwritten registration book dating to 1855 shows the intake entries for abrother and sister.The record shows that she had “a verypleasant disposition.” Her brother,not so much.

n Annie Schneider’s scrapbook of photos saved when she was aresident in the early 20th century. “I would argue this is probably one of the most historically importantartifacts in this exhibit,” Jacobs said. “It’sanincredible look intothe daily life of these children.”

n The Museum of the SouthernJewish Experience will continue its“SitaSpell: Virtual Southern SummerSeries” at noon Thursday(July 24) witha program titled“The Secret History of Southern Jewsand Baseball.” More:msje.org

n Video displays in the exhibit present alumni proﬁles and oral history interviews. One voice there, resident Ralph Beerman, recalls the novelties of adaily shower and clean clothes. “And that was quitearevelation to me, because Ididn’tlive like that beforethattime,” he says. “And Iloved it.”

n ADinnerwithaCurator eventat 6:30 p.m.July 31 at The National WWII Museum will explorethe theme“Faith Under Fire:The Heroic Legacy of Father Joseph Laﬂeur.” More: nationalww2museum.org.

n The Ogden Museum of SouthernArt will debutthis year’s juried“Louisiana Contemporary” exhibition on Aug. 2. More: ogdenmuseum.org.

n The Ogden Museum of SouthernArt will host afreeCurated Conversation on thetheme “Art,Literatureand the Vietnamese Diaspora” at 2p.m. Saturday(July 26). The program supports theexhibit “Hoa Tay (FlowerHands).” Register to attend: ogdenmuseum.org.

n Acardboard suitcase that resident David Testa, admitted from Houston in 1920, carried when he left the home in 1934. “I think this really personalizes the story alot,” Jacobs said. “WhenIsay cardboard, Iliterally meancardboard. It is light as afeather.”

Dave Walkerfocuses on behindthe-scenes coverage of the region’s many museumshere and at www.themuseumgoer com. Email Daveatdwalkertp@ gmail.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Our staff suggests 5 summer books

Staff report

“Cult Classic”

by Sloane Crosley

Recommended by Deanna Narveson, Baton Rouge regional editor

In this book, for a month straight, the protagonist, an unmarried woman in her mid-30s, runs into each and every one of her ex-boyfriends in the same neighborhood of New York City Through the course of these meetings, she ﬁnds out that there is more going on than she thought there’s a secret society involved — and things are not quite what they seem. She also has to reckon with her own habits and choices with friends and relationships. It blends genres with elements of magical realism, thriller and rom-com. The plot was fun with the magical elements and the setting of New York City, but the way the main character was forced to confront her past and her own behaviors was really interesting to read, the kind of thing that makes you think. The twist at the end made it all even better

“James” by Percival Everett

Recommended by Mike Smith, New Orleans environmental reporter/editor

The book is a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” through the perspective of Jim but that comes nowhere close to describing the depth and brilliance of the novel. Parts of it amount to an inves-

tigation into identity and perception that reveal the layers of how we perceive ourselves and others. One section on minstrelsy was stunning. That said, it’s all done with a light touch, the story ﬂowing along like the river It’s the best new novel I’ve read in a while.

“The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough

Recommended by Scott Rabalais, The Advocate columnist and sportswriter

This story follows the pioneers of powered ﬂight and how they got from their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, to the birth of the aviation age. I love McCullough’s work, especially “Truman,” which he won a Pulitzer Prize for along with “John Adams.” This book isn’t in that category but considering the

we all know Orville and Wilbur Wright, we know little about the people around them. I loved the details on their con-

temporaries and competitors, and learning about what a supportive soul their sister Katharine was. It’s a quick read (the main text is well under 300 pages), perfect for summertime page turning by the pool or the lake.

”Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Recommended by Stephanie Riegel, New Orleans business reporter

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s “Abundance” is a thoughtful look at the regulatory, political and socioeconomic reasons that have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to move forward with major projects that would benefit society as a whole, like middle-class housing, energy efficient mass transit and new medicines.

It is so insightful, so well written and simpliﬁes through clear, concise analysis, without dumbing the subject down, so many important challenges facing our country I want to be Ezra Klein when I grow up!

“The Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi” by Shannon Chakraborty

Recommended by Rich Collins, New Orleans business reporter

This is an adventure novel about a former pirate who leaves her daughter to embark on a mission to save a teenager from a powerhungry sorcerer It’s well-written and a heavily researched historical fantasy with memorable set pieces and characters. Siraﬁ’s ex-husband — who’s also a demon — is a scene stealer

Step inside the world of African masquerade artists

BY RIEN FERTEL Contributing writer

“New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations,” New Orleans Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 264 pages.

The New Orleans Museum of Art’s “New African Masquerades” exhibition, which closes on Aug. 10, is, so far, the city’s must-see show of the year It showcases the work of four contemporary West and Central African masquerade artists, each representing a distinct culture and creative style. African masquerade ensembles are recognizably Carnivalesque, yet not aligned with Carnival as we know it. The exquisite, multifaceted ensembles at times carry an uncanny aesthetic resonance with the suits of New Orleans’ Black Masking Indians.

Though the transatlantic Carnival connections are never explicitly stated — and the exhibit is strengthened for not belaboring this kinship — it’s easy to imagine deep, cross-cultural ties among this diverse world of street parades. Fans of the exhibition will want to check out the accompanying catalog, which further illuminates the virtuosity of the four artists, who, despite working in deeply traditional mediums and often literally following in the footsteps of their fathers, bring innovative approaches to their work. In a series of essays, the exhibition’s four co-curators one artist pulls double-duty — also highlight the collaborative

nature of the show itself.

How do we redeﬁne, they ask, the complicated relationship that exists between artists and individuals who hope to capitalize on their art through scholarship, exhibition, photography and, yes, the almighty dollar? For locals interested in recent debates over the buying and selling of Carnival, especially Black Masking Indian culture, this turns out to be a question too close to home to ignore.

Take David Sanou, a secondgeneration woodcarver from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. His father, André, who passed away in 2015, sculpted masquerade headpieces and even carved a chair that Pope John Paul II used while receiving an audience of Burkinabé faithful in 1990.

The pope blessed one of André Sanou’s carving blades, which he gave to his son.

“This was my diploma,” he proudly says.

Despite running a successful woodworking atelier, David Sanou hesitated to take part in the exhibit. Burkina Faso custom dictates that masquerades are not to be sold to outsiders, cocurator Lisa Homann explains in an essay that outlines the ethical and logistic difﬁculties that arose when commissioning the woodcarver

“You should know that what we did here,” he tells her “it is not permitted; it is not allowed.”

He agrees to participate, with reservations. For his masquerade ensembles, David Sanou crafts only the wooden headpieces, leaving the thick, ﬂowing, brilliantly hued ﬁber body

suits, their strands dynamically extending in all directions during ritualistic dances, to other artisans. Adhering to tradition, however, their names are scrubbed from the record. In the exhibit, under David Sanou’s name, the museum labels read: “The maker of this body requests anonymity.”

Sheku “Goldenﬁnger” Fofanah, of Freetown, Sierra Leone, also inherited his father’s practice as a masquerade artist. Fofanah built his trade as a young teenager, taking commissions to design ensembles, colloquially called “devils.” Incorporating a wealth of materials cloth, beads, cowrie shells, gourds, wood and animal skins — he builds lavishly decorated, full-body outﬁts for several local masquerading societies.

The Sierra Leonean parades are “not unlike that of New Orleans Mardi Gras,” writes Amanda Maples, NOMA’s head curator of African art. “The crowd is thick with bodies and anticipation.” Of the 13 masquerade en-

sembles included in the exhibit, it’s Fofanah’s that most mirrors Mardi Gras Indian suits. The layered, beaded patchwork of both cultures is strikingly similar Eighty to 90% of masks made in Africa today are reproductions, Hervé Youmbi writes, leaving the continent’s art and artists “frozen in a colonial mindset.”

A Cameroonian artist who also acts as an associate curator of the exhibit, Youmbi collaborates with what he calls a “production chain” of working artisans to help realize his masquerades. He designs; they build. Sculptors, bead workers, dreadlock fabricators, costume designers: These collaborators often earn their daily living creating serial reproductions of classic African art for tourists and collectors.

His “hybrid masks,” as Youmbi calls them, “use Western ideas about authenticity of African masks against themselves.” That’s some heady theorizing easily parsed with a glance at his masquerades on display.

The very American inspirations behind “Tso Scream Mask” and “Predator Ku’ngang Mask” will be immediately evident to anyone familiar with the popular action-horror ﬁlm franchises referenced in the titles of these pieces.

Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, a third-generation artist from Calabar Nigeria makes ensembles for fellow members of the Ekpe Society, an organization based on ancestor veneration through public performance. These lovably outré masquerade pieces should be unforgettable to our local costume sensibilities.

Each of Chief Bassey Nsa’s ensembles features a thick, colorful, doughnut-shaped mane, made from stretched cloth or the fronds of the raffia palm, that encircles the wearer’s upper torso Meringue-like fluffs of ruffled cloth often sandwich the mane, making the whole ensemble look rather delectable.

Exhibit co-curator Jordan A. Fenton, who has built a close relationship with Chief Bassey Nsa after nearly two decades of ﬁeldwork research in Calabar, writes that tradition-based artists are often swept to the margins of African art history He advises researchers “to foster a sense of responsibility, of reciprocity” when seeking relationships with artists.

Three weeks remain to catch “New African Masquerades” at NOMA, after which the exhibit travels to museums in Nashville, San Antonio and St. Petersburg, before ending its run at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.

The exhibit will no doubt ﬁnd enthusiasts in each of those communities. But here in New Orleans, where our own homegrown costume culture reigns, “New African Masquerades” demonstrates that across nations and costuming cultures there are similar challenges to be addressed, familiar lessons to be learned, and, yes, maybe even a little inspiration for next Carnival season.

Rien Fertel is the author of four books, including, most recently, “Brown Pelican.”

late historian wrote “The Wright Brothers” in his early 80s shows he still had the right stuff. I liked the book because while

LOUISIANABAKES

Scones aredelightfuloneithersideofthe pond

The ﬁrst time Iate ascone, Ifound it to be dry and uninteresting, but overtime I’ve come to learn that my ﬁrst experience was an aberration.

Olivia Regard

Scones are believed to date back to the 1500sin Scotland. The word scone originates from the Scottish word “skonn,” which means “to cut, slice or break off.” Another etymology traces the word to Middle English “schoonbrot,” meaning “ﬁne cake or bread.”

These early versions were usually made with oats and fruit, or sometimes justoatmeal.

The Englishbegan making sconesinthe 18th century and added currants or raisins to the recipe. It was not until the 1840s, when the Duchess of Bedford started what would later become the tradition of afternoon tea, that the popularityofsconestook off. On this side of the pond, American bakers again tweaked the recipe and incorporated baking powder in place of yeast and added sugar to sweeten the scones. Fortunately,mymore recent experiences with sconeshavebeen delightful and presented scones as

By The Associated Press

Today is Sunday,July 20, the 201st day of 2025. There are 164 days left in the year.

TodayinHistory: On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrongand Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the ﬁrst men to walk on the moon after reaching its surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.

Also on this date:

In 1917, America’sWorld WarIdraft lottery began as SecretaryofWar Newton Baker,wearing a blindfold, reached into a glass bowl and pulled out acapsule containingthe number 258 during aceremony inside the Senate ofﬁce building.

In 1944, an attempt by a group of German ofﬁcials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with abomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader

In 1951, Jordan’sKing Abdullah Iwas assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian gunman who was shot dead on the spot by security

In 1976, America’sViking 1robot spacecraft madea successful, ﬁrst-ever landing on Mars.

In 1977, aﬂash ﬂood hit Johnstown,Pennsylvania, killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage.

In 1990, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, one of the court’smost liberal voices, announced he was stepping down.

In 1993, White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster Jr., 48, was found shot to death in apark near Washington, D.C.; it was ruled asuicide.

In 2006, the Senate voted 98-0 to renew the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act for another quarter-century

In 2007, President George W. Bushsigned an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.

In 2012, gunman James Holmes opened ﬁre inside acrowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, duringa midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. (Holmes was later convicted of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison

they should be —light and crumbly at theedges, moist on theinside.The recipe below providesa goodstarting point for experimenting with scones and presents the option to bakewith different fruit and citruscombinations. Theﬂavor combinationsare endless anda fun way to experimentinthe kitchen.

Serve warmwith salted butter,clotted cream, lemon curd or jam alongwithmorningcoffee or afternoon tea.

Fruit Scones

Serves 6 Recipe is by Olivia Regard, adapted from hermother, JuneSmith,and Southern Living

1 3 cup granulated sugar

1tablespoon grated lemonzest (or orangezest)

2cups all-purpose flour

1tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

8tablespoonsunsaltedbutter (cut into small pieces;keep colduntil ready to use)

11/2 cups fresh blueberries (or 1 cup fresh strawberries, halved or quartered if large)

1/2 cup sour cream(keep colduntil ready to use)

1/4 cup heavy cream (keep cold until ready to use),plusmore for brushing

Turbinado sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Place zest andgranulated sugar in abowl. Using

without the possibility of parole.)

In 2015, the UnitedStates and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations after more than ﬁve decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.

your ﬁngers, rub thezest into thesugar until fully incorporated and fragrant.

3. Sift together the ﬂour, baking power and salt

4. Incorporate the butter into theﬂour mixture using your ﬁngers or apastry cutter until themixture is crumbly and pea-size butter pieces remain.

5. Toss fruit intoﬂour mixture to combine.

6. In aseparatebowl, whisk together the sour cream and heavy cream.

7. Gently stir wet ingredientsinto ﬂour mixture until dough forms.

8. Place dough on alightly floured surface and flatten into acircle approximately 12 inches in diameter.Fold in half and repeat the process of flattening and folding twoor threemore timesuntil dough comes together

9. Shape the dough into a circle thatisapproximately 6 inches in diameter and 1inch thick. Cut the dough into six wedges.

10. Arrange thewedges on aparchment-lined baking sheet.Freeze uncovered for 30 minutes.

11. Beforebaking, brush thetops of each wedge with heavy cream and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar Bakefor approximately 20 minutes until golden brown and edges are crisp.

Today’sbirthdays: Former Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., is 89. Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Olivais87. ArtistJudy Chicago is 86. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 81. Singer Kim Carnes is 80. Rock musi-

cian Carlos Santana is 78. Author and commentator Thomas Friedman is 72. Rock musician PaulCook (Sex Pistols) is 69. Actor FrankWhaley is 62. Conservationistand TV personality Terri Irwin is 61. Rock

musician Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) is 59. Actor Josh Holloway (TV:“Lost”) is 56. Singer Vitamin Cis 56. Actor Sandra Oh is 54. Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg is 52. Actor Omar Epps is 52. Basketball

Hall of Famer Ray Allen is 50. Hockey Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk is 47. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is 45. Actor Percy Daggs III is 43. Actor John Francis Daley is 40. Dancer-singeractor Julianne Hough is 37.

PHOTO By OLIVIA REGARD

Fruit scones

AT RANDOM

Continued from page1D

windows slowly mellowed as the sun sank lower outside.

The program notes for theSt. James evensong heraldeditas “a poetic,deeply spiritual service rich with symbolism and mystery.”

Earlier this month, St. James

hada“bonvoyage” evensong service to wishits choir members well on theirown triptoEngland to begin abrief residencyat WorcesterCathedral

It was nice to know that some of my Louisianafriends would be experiencingevensong in England,too. Ihopeittouches them as much asittouched me.

Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM

Artist MattRinardgets his chance to hold the world-famous Scrim.

SCRIM

Continued from page1D

March where she chatted with Cheramie about Scrim’srecentreturn to the fold. Cheramieoffered Orr the opportunity to meet the international celebrity face-to-face. Orr said she visited Charmie’s home and held the once-feral mutt in her arms. He washeavier than she imagined, she said. Scrim’sshort legs made him seem smaller than he really was. Laughingly,Orr said thatScrim, who was still quite wary of mankind, looked at her “side-eyed.” It was during that visit, Orrsaid, that Cheramie told her Scrim may have performed his most incredible escape from captivity plunging from asecond-story window in her home to the concrete pathway below —because he was “bothered” by her pet cats.

As Scrim is “quoted” as saying in Orr’sbook: “Cats cannot be trusted.And Idonot recallsharing a house with acat beingapart of my adoption contract. One day Iam sound asleep dreaming of treats, when here comes that sneaky Cat! What’sapoor puptodowhen acat is about to ambush you?”

Orr wasn’tthe only one to get an audience with Scrim.Artist Matt Rinard, who helps organize the annual Barkus parade, had been invitedalong with themeteorologist to visit thesuperstar pup. Orrwas alreadyformulating aplan for achildren’sbook, and sheenlisted Rinard to produce the illustrations. There was no doubt that he was perfect for the project. TheMississippian is well-known forhis RoyalStreetgallery wherehe displays his charmingpaintings of anthropomorphizeddogs, cats and othercreaturesthatact out human foibles.

Rinard said he’dalwayswanted to produce achildren’sbook and was happy to get involved. Though, he said, he was astonishedbyhow

swiftly Orr threw herself into the project, churning out her comical account of Scrim’sadventuresin no time. “She was like adog witha bone,” Rinard said. Rinard added tongue-in-cheek details of his own to thefolkloric retellingofScrim’slife on therun. Theartist addeda purple cartoon squirreltothe proceedings,asa “guardian angel” character that “makes sure Scrim was on the right path.” He said he hopes kids searcheach panel forthe squirrel theway he used to search Highlightschildren’s magazine for hidden details. Orrcompared the squirrel to the furtive mouse in the classic “Goodnight Moon.”

Rinard also envisioned Scrim as asort of graffiti tagger,who inscribed every panel with the phrase “Scrim was here,” like a canineKilroy.Scrim even tagged aSt. Charles Avenue streetcar, like thenotorious graffitiwriter Reznor didyears ago. Taylor Swift fans will be delighted to find “Scrim was here,” spelled out in thegiant friendship bracelet on the Superdome.

Rinard saidhesprinkled his illustrations with hints of architecture andnuances of New Orleans” in order to lend the book “a kinshipwith the readers.”

Orr saidthat any proceeds she might receive from “ScrimMy Tail: As Told to Margaret Orr,” willbeneﬁt theBarkusorganization, which in turn contributes to animal shelters.

“I’m not making apenny,” Orr said. “Do we saypenny anymore? Maybe Ishouldsay,‘I’m not makinga nickel.’

“Scrim My Tail: As Told to Margaret Orr,” will sell for $20. Copies won’t be available until Oct. 21, though publisher Susan Schadt Press is accepting preorders. Orrsaidshe hopes to convince donors to buybooks for localschools.

Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.

CURIOUS

salesman,”said Michael Trotter,a retired vascular surgeon living in Houma. “He was amedical doctor,but he didn’tget his training in medical school.”

Trotteristhe foremost expert on Tichenor,having written two extensively detailed articles on the doctor’slife, bothpublished in 2010 issues of theMississippi Journal of Medicine. Tichenor is said to have perfected his antiseptic mixture while living in Liberty Mississippi, in AmiteCounty, which bordersLouisiana at East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes.

Trotterwas alsoliving in Mississippi, working in Greenville, when he wrotethe articles.His interest in Tichenor was piqued during his medical training with John Ochsner, co-founder of what is now OchsnerHealthinNew Orleans

“John was really interested in medical and surgical history,as am I,” Trotter said. “One of his favoritesubjectswas Dr.Tichenor, and he was really good friends with the president of the Tichenor Antiseptic Co. at thetime.”

In 1993, Ochsnergave Trotter his notes from aprevious presentationofTichenor’slife and work, to which Trotter returned15years later and started his own research. ALouisiana connection

Answering the second part of thequestion —about Tichenor’s connection to Louisiana —starts at the end. Tichenor is buried in Baton Rouge.

Yes, BatonRouge, wherehe’s buried in Roselawn Cemetery next to his wife, in-laws,son and daughter-in-law in afamily plot marked by alarge monument marked “Tichenor.”

To ﬁnd theanswer Trotter backs up to thebeginning.

“WhenIstarted researching Tichenor,I wanted to ﬁnd out how much of his story was true,how much was hype and how much was legend,” Trotter said. “Was he adoctor? Washeasalesman?”

Trotter says it was evident early on that Tichenor didn’tgoto medical school, but he had practical training as achemist —or what today people would think of as a pharmacist

studying during his timeofactive service and applied to take the Medical Board Appointment Examination,” Trotter writes. Passed themedical test

Tichenor apparently passed,

because he was appointed an acting assistant surgeon in the Confederate States Army, making his “doctor” title legitimate.

However,Tichenor’smain interestwas in developing an antiseptic liquid to facilitate wound healing.

He left Mississippi forRed River Landing in Pointe Coupee Parish, where, Trotter says, the good doctor ﬁrst bottled and sold his antiseptic.

tion is hometoHarrah’sCasino. However,Dr. Tichenor’sisstill bottled in New Orleans at 4200 W. Poche Court.

Tichenor was born April 17, 1837, in Ohio County in western Kentucky.Hehad harbored agreat interest in chemistry and continued studying it after leaving home.

“By1859, at age 22, he had moved to Franklin, Tennessee, and was involved in manufacturing explosive guncotton,” Trotter wrote in his ﬁrst article for the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association. “Atthe outbreak of the Civil War, the business was commissioned by theConfederate government to manufacture gunpowder.”

Ayear later,Tichenor ran aphotography business in Nashville. He served with the 22nd Tennessee Cavalry,which fought in Mississippi.

“Reportedly,hespent two years

“Today,Red River Landing is achannel mile marker in the middle of the river,” Trotter said. “There’s no more Red River Landing. If you look it up, you’ll get some GPS coordinates, and that’sit. It’sacross the river from Wilkinson County in Mississippi and near Angola, both across the river.”

In 1884, Tichenor moved his family to Baton Rouge, where he practiced medicine.

The following year, he formed apartnership with the Sherrouse Medicine Co., to manufacture Dr Tichenor’sAntiseptic.

The Sherrouse side of the business, named for business leader William John Sherrouse, of Monroe, was in charge of selling the antiseptic while Tichenorwas listedasthe manufacturing chemist.

When Tichenor opened the Dr G.H. Antiseptic Co. in NewOrleans in 1905, his story of agangrenous leg injury during the war that he treated and healed with his concoction proved to be asuccessful advertising ploy —though Trotter points out that there is no written proof of the injury

Opened on CanalStreet

Tichenor and Sherrouse opened aplant at 230 Canal St. in New Orleansin1905. Today,that loca-

Tichenor not only wasinventor of the concoction but amaster marketer.Hehired local musician Louis Blake to compose the “Dr. Tichenor’sMarch” and “Dr. Tichenor’sWaltz,” the sheet music forboth published in 1895. In the end, Tichenor really didn’t need gimmicks to sell his goods. The antiseptic sold itself. More than acentury later,itstill does —using the same ingredients as whenitstarted: 70% alcohol and 1% peppermint oil, along with inactive ingredients arnica, Saccharum carbonate and puriﬁed water

The ingredients combine to treat sore throats through gargling, sterilizing cuts, scrapes, minor wounds and, for some, it’sagreat topical for insect stings and bites.

“My son was 3or4years old when he got into ahornet’snest,” she said. “The couple next-door told us to put someDr. Tichenor’sonhis stings. It helped him so much. It’s magic —almost instant relief.” Congress, flood control

Meanwhile, Tichenor was popular in Louisiana.

“He considered running for Congress, and he hit the nail on the head with his solutions for ﬂood control,” Trotter said. “He spoke to anyone who would give him a podium, but his ideas weren’tput into place until after the ﬂood of 1927, when the Federal Flood Control Act waspassed in 1928.”

That would be ﬁve years after Tichenor’sdeath on Jan. 14, 1923. Trotter believes he’sburied in Baton Rouge because he bought the family plot in Roselawnwhile living there.

“I would say that his advocacy forﬂood control wasprobably his greatest accomplishment,” Trotter said. “He may not have had all the kinks worked out, but his solutions wereexactly right.”

Do you haveaquestionabout something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phonenumber andthe city where you live.

PROVIDED PHOTO By THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION

Dear Heloise: Why do people send ﬂowers to afuneral?

in any art store —Heloise Mulchthickness

Dear Heloise: How thick should mulch be to protect plants through the winter?

The person they’re sent to is dead and can’tappreciate their beauty.After the funeral, the ﬂowers are usually dumped on top of the grave or thrown out. Ibelieve it’s far more important to send ﬂowers while someone is aliveand can look at them or show them off to friends.

To that end, Iusually send flowers when someone in my family graduates school, when someone gets engaged, or because it’s some kind of holiday.It’s mainly to let them know I’m thinking of them. —Martha D., Southfield, Michigan Martha, it’sagreat idea to send flowerstopeople who can appreciate the thoughtful gesture. While flowers at afuneral are nice, and the familyusually enjoys them, it’salso nice to see some type of recognition for otherevents by receiving flowers or aplant. —Heloise

Evergreens

Dear Heloise: We have a large lot, several acres in fact, and at the back of our propertyare some beautiful evergreens (Christmas trees). Last Christmas, someone came onto our propertyand helped themselves to three of them. These were perfect pines that we loved. Now they’re only stumps! How can we prevent this from happening again this year?

—Carol and Kevin, in Montana

Carol and Kevin, you can spray orange, purple and yellow tempera painton the trees. It will wash off during the next rainfall, but it will also discourage poachers from stealing your trees. The pines will look odd for ashort time, butatleast you’ll have your trees. Youcan ﬁnd the paint

1773-75 N.

—Gregory F.,Greenville, North Carolina

Gregory,ﬁne, organic mulch suchassawdust can be about 2inches thick. For coarser materialsuch as straw or leaves, mostgardeners recommendabout 4inches. Abag of commercial mulch foundina hardware store or agarden shop usually needs to be at least 3inches thick. —Heloise Tung oil

Dear Heloise: What is tung oil?Wejust refinished the floors of an old Victorian home, and ahistoriantold us to refinish the floorsin tung oil. —Ava T.,inSan Francisco Ava, itisafinish for floors that manypeople use instead of polyurethane. Most oilsfor floorsare actuallya mixture of different products to help them dry faster andremaindurable.However,a good tung oil will last for alongtime between reapplications and give you adeep luster —Heloise Linseedoil

Dear Heloise: Ilovemy ﬁreplace, butafter years of use in our1934 house, the brick has actually gotten pale. Isuspect it’sbecause it’s been cleaned so oftenthat much of the colorisgone or bleached out from sunlight. Is thereany way to restore some of the color to the brick? —Angie R., Lincoln, Nebraska Angie, yes, there is. First, clean the brickand let it dry completely.Next, paint on the brick athin coat of boiled linseed oil. This should restore your brick to, or very near,its original color.It’sbest to do this in warmer weather and let the oilreallysink into the brick. —Heloise

Send ahint to heloise@ heloise.com.

CITY

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Babineaux &BabineauxHome Sale Partners Linda Babineaux504-957-8014 (c) J. Babineaux 504-813-8460 (c) At Latter &Blum-Compass Uptown-Maple Ofc,7934MapleSt. N.O.,LA70118 |504-861-7575(O) Licensed in Louisiana

Dear Annie: Ilove your column and am writing to offer adifferent point of view for thewoman whose family does not celebrateher birthday or Mother’sDay or Christmas the way she wants. She says she gives them presents, but they don’t reciprocate. Well, Ihave afriend who goes overboard in celebrating these holidays. She will spend an entire year looking for thespecial gift.At times,it’smore like 50 gifts, and, of course, myfriend feels let down at my ONE gift card.

Annie, Idon’thave the time, energy,money and, most importantly, thedesire to drive all over the state searching for the perfect gift.Ithink my friend and this dear woman should takeahint. Yes, people do give what they would want to receive. Iwould love one restaurant or Walmart or Target gift card and that’sit!

If aperson doesn’tgive you some-

thing,maybe they don’twant something.This woman should try it. They might wish her ahappy birthday or Mother’sDay.They could give her agreeting card. But that should be enough. Just because this woman decorates and does allthis other stuff doesn’tmean everyone else wants to do thesame. Iknow Idon’t. Irepeatedly tell my friend that we should stop with the gift giving. Butshe doesn’tget it, and year after year Ican tell that she is disappointed. Ireally don’twantother people to give me extra special gifts, because Idon’twant to do this for them. My suggestion is that my friend and the woman who wrote to you should saveall this hoopla they spend on other people and throw theirown party for themselves, becauseinreality,that is whatthey want. Thanks for listening to me.

Over the Top Dear Over the Top: Why notjust be comfortable with yourgiftand also be comfortable with your friend who seems to enjoy going above and

beyond? Many people express their love through giving and doing, and clearly that describes your friend. Why judge her forit? Just be secure with your gift. The quality of time you spend with her is much more important than receiving or giving large quantities of things.

Dear Annie: My husband recently got promoted to CEO of the company he works for. At ﬁrst, we were all so excited forhim.Inthe last twomonths, he has seemed to becomealmost arrogant toward us. He just complains at the dinner table about how no one can do the job as good as him.Not really sure where this arrogance came from. What do Idotohelp him slow his roll? —Married to an EgoMan Dear Married: One of my favorite quotes is: “Nearly all men can stand adversity,but if you want to test a man’s

Dear Miss Manners: Oneofthe highlightsofour trip to Paris was an opera performance at the Palais Garnier.The opera, “Medee” by Cherubini, is in excessof four hours, with two brief intermissions. We were seated in thetwo front seats of abox in the first loge with three pairs of seats behind us.Without an aisle, the box occupants must seat themselves in order from front to back to avoid climbing over one another.We needed to be seated first, and conversely, were the last to exit the box. During the first intermission, we were not able to traverse the distance to theconcessions in time to getany refreshments. At thesecond intermission, we rushed to purchase une gorgee de Champagne et un petit sandwich just in time for the “return to your seats” bell to ring. We hurried back to ourseats, carrying our treats, only to find our box mates waiting for us to take our seats so they could do likewise. Ourchoices seemed to be: A. have everyone wait while we consumed

our refreshments; B. with no waste receptacles in the vicinity,set our items down on theﬂoor to resume our seats; or C. take the itemsinwith us and ﬁnish them before the performance resumed. With no ushers or signage available forguidance, we selected option C as themost sensible. This apparently was incorrect,asalmost immediately, ayoung manfrom an adjoining box leaned over the railingtoshout at us, “This is the opera! This is not done!” What would Miss Manners suggest as the best course of action? Obviously,eating before theperformance is an option, but diningquickly in aParis restaurant is easier saidthandone.

Gentle reader: The chiefexample of rudenesshere is shouting admonishmentsatother operapatrons. Butalthough MissManners does notbelieve in starving forart, she agrees that an operahouse is nota movie theater.Even though Handel himself played forparties, you would not want to be surrounded by an audience chomping away on popcorn. However,she is notabove smuggling provisions into opera houses. Even in Paris, it is possible to buy takeout food that may be consumed

during intermission, as an alternative to the pricierfare.

DearMissManners: Is it OK to comment on aco-worker’snew hairstyle or fashion choices?For context, Iamaman andwork mostly with women. Iwould only ever share positive comments, suchas, “I like your new hairstyle”or“Ilovethat jacket.” I would never share anegative opinion, norwould Iuse my remarks as away to showromantic interest in the otherparty

Gentle reader: Thendon’t

Perhaps there will be ladieswho are charmed. And perhaps there will be ladieswho feel that they are there to work, nottohavetheir looks appraised, even favorably.Dothey comment when you get ahaircut?

Miss Manners suggests you use your charm to comment favorably when your colleagues do especially good work.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www missmanners.com; to heremail, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO64106.

‘Hamilton’ 10th anniversarytoserve as fundraiser

BY GLENN GAMBOA Associated Press

Lin-Manuel Miranda plans to use the 10th anniversary Broadway performance of hisaward-winning culturalphenomenon“Hamilton” as afundraiser for acoalition of nonproﬁts providing immigration services.

The Aug. 6performance of “Hamilton” at Broadway’sRichard Rodgers Theatre is expected to raise about $3 million for the Immigrants: We Getthe Job Done Coalition, 14 nonprofitsranging from the Hispanic Federation and National Immigration Law Center to the Haitian Bridge Alliance and the Tahirih Justice Center.The donation will come from Miranda, the Miranda Familyand Miranda Family Fund, and the “Hamilton” cast.

It seemed like aﬁtting tribute to “Hamilton” and its inspiration, Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, Miranda told The Associated Press, thoughherecognizes that Hamilton wouldn’thave called himself an immigrant.

“His narrative in ourcountry kind of mirrors that of an immigrant story,” Miranda said. “He did not grow up here. He didn’tcome from England. He came from the Caribbean, escaping harsh circumstances. And he really helped shape this country.”

Mirandadid exclusively reveal some plans for the special, inviteonly “Hamilton” anniversaryshow and the preshow reception that he will host. Fans already know the possibilities after the special “Hamilton” medley at theTonys in June. Even the audience will be “stacked,” he said,since every actor who has ever performed during the show’sBroadwayrun will be invited to be in the audience to watch the show’s current Broadway cast that night.“We’re working on something special for the curtain call andanother nice special thing after that,” Miranda said. “That’s about allI can say.”

The bulk of the invites have gone to winners selected from aPrizeo sweepstakes, where entrants donated at least $10tothe Immigrants coalition. Afew dozen VIP packages, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, will be available Thursday

Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer and creator of the award-winning Broadwaymusical ‘Hamilton,’offers a messageofgratitude after receivinga standing ovation at the end of the play’s2019 premiere heldatthe Santurce Fine Arts Center,inSan Juan, Puerto Rico.

through theHispanic Federation with proceedsalso going to thecoalition

“OneofAmerica’sgreatest exports—atleast for me growing up —was the immigration narrative,” Miranda said. “So many people I know… came to thiscountry from somewhere else seeking abetter life andthenhelped makethis country better bybeing here. And Ibelievethat’sone of thegreatest promises,one of greatest things aboutthe American experiment, and I’llcontinue to ﬁght for that andsupport organizations that are helping that cause.”

Immigrant-servingnonprofits

And the organizations that will beneﬁt fromthe donations generated by the “Hamilton” 10th anniversary,better known as #Hamilten, saythe donationsand encouragementare sorely needed now

Since thestart of his second term, PresidentDonaldTrump swiftly moved tomake good on “Mass Deportation Now!” promis-

es from his campaign. His administration has encouraged U.S. Immigrationand CustomsEnforcement to detain anddeport people quickly,even to countries where they have never been, in order to rein in illegal immigration.

Hispanic Federation President and CEO Frankie Miranda, no relation to Lin-Manuel Miranda, said he is heartened by themore than 125,000people whohave donated to the “Hamilton”fundraiser. “I think it is the beginningofwhat could be an incredible movement of philanthropy and individual donors basically saying, ‘Enoughis enough’,” he said. “Wehaveseen it alsointhe differentdemonstrationsofpeople around the country wherethey areexpressingtheir concernand theirfrustration out in the streets.”

Hispanic Federation has already lost millions in federal funding, as theTrumpadministrationcuts support for workplace developmentinitiatives and environmental justice work, Frankie Miranda

said. He has also seen somecorporations withdraw their financial supportbecause they fear reprisals from the Trumpadministration. “Weneed bold ideas like ‘Hamilton’ where everybody feels thatthey can stand behind it,” he said.

Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, another coalition member,said the donations would helpher group continue to provide community legal services to individuals, while also pursuing lawsuitslike its challenge to the Trumpexecutive order seeking to stripawaybirthright citizenship from some childrenborn in the United States.

“At this time,when so many people are afraidtospeak out and support vulnerable communities, Lin-Manuel Miranda being willing to use the‘Hamilton’ platform just shows real leadership and bravery,” Kohli said. “And I’m hoping thatmore donors will step up and support oursector.Weare the ﬁrewall between authoritarianismand

democracy.”

Kica Matos, president of the National ImmigrationLaw Center,said her nonproﬁt plans to use the donations from the coalition to support its Defending Democracy initiative, which informs immigrants of their rights and uses the law as “a bulwark against unconstitutional actionscarried out by this administration.”

Matos sees it as a“full circle” moment to use funding generated by “the story of one of our nation’s Founding Fathers who himself was an indigent immigrant, who through his owngrit, determinationand his brilliance, worked his wayup. He wassomebodywho thought deeply about this new nation’s democracy,” she added. “Whatbetter waytohonor Hamilton andtoexpress ourgratitude forthese resources?”

Line that surprisingly resonated For Lin-ManuelMiranda,the fact that people remain fascinated by “Hamilton” 10 years later also leaves him feeling grateful. And he remains surprised by the resonance of the line “Immigrants: We get the job done,” aline sharedinthe showbyHamilton and French military ofﬁcer Marquis de Lafayette at the Battle of Yorktown.

“I thought it wasnobig deal,” he said. “But from the moment it was performedonstage,the audience reaction was so joyous at just the utteranceofthatsimple fact. It’s one of the things that just heartens me and gives me hope. In these dark times, it still gets abig cheer.”

The cheering still requires the show to addextrameasuresof music to wait forthe audience to calm downbefore continuing with the song “Yorktown.” Miranda attributes it to the fact that so many Americansare only oneortwo generations away from an immigrant.

“It’sthe samereason whythat No Kings protest vastly outnumbered themilitary parade happeningon the sameday,” he said. “There are still alot of people who believe in basic decency and treating people who come here —often from really tough situations —with humanity.”

SHIPPINGNOW!

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILEPHOTO By CARLOS GIUSTI

CRUSHING IT

As itsnew glasspulverizing facility kicksintogear, aLouisiana recycling startuphas to balanceits missionand costsofgrowing operations

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

IDEAS INNOVATION &

On arecent weekdaymorning, employeesatthe newGlass Half Full recycling facilityinChalmette were dumping thousands of empty boozebottles and spaghetti sauce jars into machinery thatpulverizes them into the consistency of gravel or sand It was acacophonous process, as thesound of glass smashing into metal joined the roaring of machinerytocreate an industrial symphony Afew yardsaway,justoff the banks of Bayou Bienvenue, the birds and ﬁsh were unconcerned with the commotion. There, balanced on anarrow wooden pier20feet from theshoreline, Glass Half Full co-founder Franziska Trautmannwas working with Tulane University researcher BekMarkel to pump some of the company’sfreshly made glass sand into the bayou to build

STAFF PHOTOSByCHRISGRANGER

Crushed glassoutside Glass HalfFull in St. Bernard Parish will eventuallybe turned into sand.

aseries of 32-foot circular islands. The new land wascovered with cypress saplings and other greenery

The juxtaposition of the two scenes was jarring: heavy industry vs. nature’stranquility But, takentogether, thetwo perfectlyillustrate themissionofGlass HalfFull, a5-year-old startupthat wasfounded to divert glass from Louisiana’slandﬁlls while creating material that can help restore its shrinking coastline.

ä See GLASS, page 2E

BYBLAKE PATERSON Staff writer

Louisiana coffee roasters are raising prices as tariffs make it more expensive to import coffee beans, adding to recent challenges foralocal industrytied to theglobally traded commodity

J.M. Smucker Co., which roasts coffee for Folgers,Dunkin’ and Café Bustelo at its facilities in New Orleans and employs nearly 700workers, saidinJunethatit planned to increase pricesinresponse to the 10% tax on all imports that President Donald Trump announced in April Baton Rouge-based Community Coffee said Wednesday that the rise in prices for green coffee beans, which it roasts before selling to consumers, forced it last month to increase what it charges. And French Truck Coffee, the New

Orleans-based chainwith locations in Baton Rouge and Memphis, Tennessee, told customers on Monday it was adding atemporary 4% surchargeonall in-storecoffee-related purchases. “Wechose this approach so thatifthe tariffs are lifted in the future, we can quickly adjustor remove this charge —something we wouldn’tbeable to do withpermanent price increases,”French Truck wroteinits email to customers.

Thewell-known brands with big operations in Louisiana echoed moves by other local and national firmsinrecentmonths. Americans’ coffee habit depends almost exclusively on importedbeans. Brazil, the world’stop coffee producer,supplies about 30% of the American market, followed by Colombia at roughly 20% and Vietnam at about 10%, according

to federal data. Roasters often purchasebeans months, or even ayear,inadvance, and many rushedtostock up beforeTrump’s Apriltariffs went into effect.

Now,those stockpilesare running low and importerssay many of their customers are bracing for even higher prices if Trump’s threatsofadditional tariffs on major coffee producers like Brazil go into effect.

“We’re startingtobuy more, and nowwe’re seeing thosetariffline items,” saidPatrick Brennan, owner of Congregation Coffee, which operates aroastery on TchoupitoulasStreet and acafe on theWest Bank.

“I’ve been holding off on alot of price increases just to seewhat actually endsuphappening,”

ä See COFFEE, page 2E

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Lauren Fink,ofCherry RoastCoffee in Gretna, said she held offon raising prices on bags of roasted beans,but it became clear costs weren’t goingtosubside. ‘Nobodylikes

ABOVE: Glass Half Full recently opened aprocessing facility on Paris Road in Chalmette. This machine is able to sortand process glass back into sand and also for use in newglassproducts. BELOW: Franziska Trautmann, co-founder and CEOofGlass Half Full, and Max Steitz stand on top of apile of glass that will be recycled into newglass productsatthe Glass Half Full facility on Paris Road in St. Bernard Parish.

glass will eventually be turned into sand at the

month. In early

GLASS

was awarded contracts

manufacturing customer in Oklahoma.

Continued from page 1E

Founded by Trautmann and Max Steitz when they were still seniors at Tulane University, the company is celebrating several milestones this summer

Its $5 million recycling facility, which opened in May, reached full production capacity last month. In early July, it was awarded contracts from Jefferson Parish to operate two recycling collection centers. And, last week, it delivered its ﬁrst order of “cullet” — glass chunks used to make new containers to a manufacturing customer in Oklahoma. At the same time, the recycler’s operations have spread into neighboring states.

These advances into the roughly $4 billion U.S. container glass recycling market shows how far Glass Half Full has come since 2020, when Trautmann, Steitz and another Tulane senior plugged in a small machine — big enough to grind one wine bottle at a time — and made their own glass sand in the backyard of Zeta Psi fraternity house on Broadway Avenue. But while Glass Half Full is crushing it, it’s still spending more than it’s making, underscoring the constant challenge mission-driven businesses face. Trautmann, Steitz and their supporters hope the venture can traverse the daunting “valley of death” that startups face as they strive for proﬁtability before running out of capital.

Glass bottles have markings and symbols indicating where they were made. Max Steitz, co-founder and chief operating officer, said he’s seen glass bottles make the full circle: from creation, to recycling, and back to creation in the making of another product, then back again to him.

Expanding footprint

pay for pickups. Residential clients pay $20 per month; commercial rates are based on volume.

To make these pickups, the company has assembled a fleet of a half-dozen trucks and drivers, who visit homes, bars, restaurants, hotels, ofﬁces and even schools.

“At Sacred Heart, one of our drop-off locations you’ll see 10-year-old girls dropping off their parents’ empty wine bottles,” Trautmann said.

Collection fees and contracts make up the bulk of Glass Half Full’s revenue, but they aren’t enough to cover the cost of the growing operation. That’s why the new cullet business and other potential income streams in Louisiana and elsewhere are essential.

Day-Glo T-shirts, safety vests and hard hats received a truckload of material.

After four years of bootstrapping, the startup raised over $2 million and borrowed the rest to build the facility in the same parish where Trautmann and Steitz won a pitch competition in 2021. (They won another one two years later.)

Saints owner Gayle Benson led a group of Louisiana investors in the project. New Market Tax Credits helped sweeten the deal.

Glass Half Full leases the 3-acre Chalmette property, a former landﬁll, from the Meraux Foundation.

middle of the last century in favor of single-use plastic and aluminum containers. Then, for decades after reuse went out of fashion, glass recycling remained commonplace: containers would be collected, pulverized and used to make more. But the recent rise of singlestream recycling — everything in one bin means glass is getting left behind. That’s because when recycling trucks smash cardboard, paper, plastic and glass together, the glass breaks and contaminates the rest of the material, so many cities stopped accepting it.

Last year, Glass Half Full rented a 20,000-square-foot facility for glass storage and processing in Birmingham, Alabama, where it makes residential pickups.

Construction company RNGD built the new 10,000-square-foot metal building, where a glass processing line made from mostly refurbished equipment creates two products: glass sand and cullet.

“It’s the right distance away,” Trautmann said. “It’s also a sustainable-leaning city, and it doesn’t have glass recycling.”

“We’re hippies forced to be entrepreneurs. But we want to be able to keep recycling and restoring the coast without having to rely on donations and grants, so we had to build a system to do it.”

FRANZISKA TRAUTMANN, co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full

“We’re hippies forced to be entrepreneurs,” Trautmann said. “But we want to be able to keep recycling and restoring the coast without having to rely on donations and grants, so we had to build a system to do it.”

COFFEE

Continued from page 1E

Brennan said. “But we’re hitting the point soon, you know, where we’re going to have to make a decision.”

Lauren Fink, owner of Cherry Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee roastery with cafes in both Gretna and New Orleans, said she was hopeful that trade negotiations would ultimately spare coffee beans. She held off on raising prices on bags of roasted beans until May, when it became clear that the rising costs to run her business weren’t going to subside.

“Nobody likes to see prices increase, but we’re also a business,” Fink said. “It’s unfortunate we can’t eat that.” Brazil tariff threats

Trump administration officials have argued that tariffs will ultimately result in better trade deals and bring industries like manufacturing back to the U.S.

Thus far only a handful of trade deals have been reached Earlier this month, Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian

Since its frat house origins, Glass Half Full has grown dramatically in size, scope and reputation — earning social media buzz and international attention along the way Today, it runs the new Chalmette facility and a collection center in the Upper 9th Ward. It has about 25 employees.

The company gets paid to operate three drop-off locations in the French Quarter and two in Jefferson Parish. For free, it runs another 15 or so drop-off spots, mostly in New Orleans plus one in Baton Rouge.

A key part of Glass Half Full’s business is the thousands of customers across the Gulf Coast who

There are plans to do the same in the Florida Panhandle.

Glass Half Full now accepts cardboard, plastic and other forms of recycling at some drop-off locations and delivers the material to recycling partners. But at a time when roughly 70% of container glass ends up in U.S. landﬁlls, that highly recyclable material is still the focus.

Smashing glass

To visit Glass Half Full’s new processing facility is to quickly become accustomed to the feel of glass dust everywhere, including in the fabric of ofﬁce chairs and on tabletops.

On a recent weekday, Trautmann, Steitz and a visitor were dusting themselves off while workers in

goods beginning Aug. 1, citing the country’s treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing charges of trying to overturn an election loss.

“You cannot understate the effect that it will have on coffee,” said Drew Cambre, sustainability manager at International Coffee Corp., a green coffee importer

based in Metairie. “It will be unfeasible for most coffee companies to purchase Brazilian coffee if the 50% tariff is charged.”

“Chances are people won’t seen increases in price at the register for a month or two because it takes time for a coffee to get on a boat at its country of origin and make the voyage,” Cambre said.

“We start with a mountain of glass,” Trautmann said. “As it’s loaded into the hopper, we have a picker pulling out anything that would really mess up our machines. We get some really weird stuff, like crawﬁsh shells and dirty diapers.”

High-tech sorters, imported from Europe, use lenses and air jets to divide the glass by color and to remove contaminants like ceramic, stone and porcelain, which won’t melt in a furnace.

“It’s analyzing thousands of particles a second,” Steitz said. “It has 490 compressed air nozzles on it shooting precise bursts at pieces of glass. It’s pure genius.”

In a corner of the building, the company’s ﬁrst little grinding machine sits as a reminder of how far the business has come.

70% of glass goes to landfills Decades ago, many bottles in the U.S. were collected, sanitized and reﬁlled. That still happens in many other countries.

But the U.S. moved away from bottle reuse at a large scale in the

Coffee is the largest containerized import commodity at the Port of New Orleans, amounting to about 16,000 containers a year

Around 42% of those imports come from Brazil, said Kimberly Curth, a spokesperson for Port NOLA. Coffee imports have been slowing in recent months, Curth said, noting that ports elsewhere are experiencing similar drops.

Even before tariffs, coffee prices have been at historic highs, primarily due to weather conditions in Brazil and Vietnam that affected the crop in those countries.

Clarke Cadzow, owner of Highland Coffees in Baton Rouge, which has yet to raise its prices, said in an email that “tariff concerns just add another layer of stress and anxiety to coffee importers, roasters, and retailers in the US as we try to keep our prices low but ﬁgure out what we need to charge to cover our costs.”

Only a fraction of the coffee offered at Highland comes from Brazil. Still, Cadzow said it is “popular among customers,” and if the cost of Brazilian coffee goes up considerably, it will cause demand for beans from other regions to spike, raising prices. Higher prices could push more

In a recent report, the Glass Recycling Foundation, a pro-recycling nonprofit, said that despite glass containers being endlessly and completely recyclable, only about 33% are recycled in the U.S., with over 9 million tons of glass ending up in landﬁlls annually

But glass recycling is not nonexistent.

There are 49 U.S. container glass manufacturing plants employing about 18,000 people, and there are about 60 recycled glass processing facilities, although none in Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi. This is the market gap that Glass Half Full hopes to fill, and it’s counting on additional expansion and its new Oklahoma customer to ﬁre things up.

Trautmann and Steitz hope to send cullet by rail — 100 tons at a time — to generate income that will help offset more environmental projects with Tulane, the National Science Foundation and other partners.

While she manages that and other projects, Trautmann will spend as much time as possible on the new land her company helped create. Said Trautmann: “We’re going to turn this ghost swamp into a thriving wetland again.”

Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

customers to try and roast their coffee at home, Cambre said. Catherine Mansell, director of products and programs at Current Crop Roasting Shop on Magazine Street, a “retail store focused on at-home, do-it-yourself coffee education,” said they’ve seen an uptick in recent months in customers interested in home roasting as a way to save money

The shop has around 75 different beans from all over the world, and roasting stations that allow customers to roast beans themselves. Green coffee typically is around half the price of roasted coffee.

“It gives you a chance to play around with different roast levels and play around with regions or countries that you haven’t had before to really ﬁnd your perfect cup of coffee,” Mansell said. Still, the shop isn’t immune to market changes.

Mansell said they used to be able to purchase coffee beans on 12-month contracts. Now, the furthest out they can buy is three months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Email Blake Paterson at bpaterson@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER

Recycled

Glass Half Full facility in St Bernard Parish The $5 million recycling facility, which opened in May, reached full production capacity last

July it

from Jefferson Parish to operate two recycling collection centers.And last week it delivered its first order of ‘cullet’ — glass chunks used to make new containers — to a

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Moss Lelko, lead roaster at Cherry Roast Coffee, sorts coffee beans from Mexico Lelko said the coffee purveyor has been using more Mexican beans in its blends due to the higher tariffs on coffee from central and south American countries.

TALKING BUSINESS

ASK THE EXPERTS

Is regional cooperation key to attracting companies?

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

For the past 30 years, William H. “Bill” Hines, managing partner at Jones Walker, has been as much a fixture in regional business and civic circles as in the legal community

Q&A WITH BILL HINES

The 69-year-old New Orleans native was founding board chair of Greater New Orleans Inc. and chaired the boards of the MetroVision Economic Development Partnership The Idea Village, the Downtown Development District and the Louisiana Committee of 100 For Economic Development

And he helped lead the effort to secure an NBA franchise for New Orleans, bringing the Hornets, now the Pelicans, to the state.

During those years, Hines was also busy growing Jones Walker into one of the 145 largest law ﬁrms in the U.S.

When first elected managing partner in 2006, Jones Walker had 200 attorneys in six offices Today, it has more than 350 in 17 offices across nine states and the District of Columbia. Clients include large corporations, banks and financial institutions, emerging enterprises, family-owned businesses, professional sports teams, and state and local governments. It also has a new equine law practice and is growing a national artificial intelligence practice.

Earlier this month, Hines was reelected managing partner for a ﬁfth consecutive ﬁve-year term, which begins in January

In this week’s Talking Business, Hines discusses the importance of regional cooperation and why he believes the business community has to do more to build bridges.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity

Why is civic engagement so important to you?

When I left for college in the mid-1970s, New Orleans was blowing and going. When I came back after law school in 1982, we had the collapse of the oil industry, which caused all sorts of problems for real estate, coupled with tax changes and other things that were all related and bad for New Orleans. It was a perfect storm. And it culminated in the 1990s, when we had the most violent year on record. People lament some of the recent challenges we’ve faced with the pandemic, the economy They need to remember, it was really bad in the 1990s. So you got involved. We sort of hit rock bottom and it

motivated business, civic and political leaders to come together, people in their 30s and 40s at the time, Republicans and Democrats, men and women, Black and White We got the Hornets to come here. We renegotiated the Saints deal. We put together a regional package to save Avondale (for several more years). We got the amusement tax off of our live musicians. We formed the Idea Village with Tim Williamson in 2002. We created GNO Inc. to address regional economic development in 2004 We did a lot of meaningful things that have continued to pay off today No question there was a flourishing in those years and also after Hurricane Ka-

trina, when new investment came into the city But today it seems we have back slid.

We have plenty of service providers but fewer large companies and even fewer smaller companies. You see smaller companies still headquartered here but their private equity ownership will be out of state.

So what do we need to do to address some of these problems?

We need leadership and regional cooperation. I would like to see this area reform the council of governments. It was a regional council with the mayor of New Orleans, Jefferson Parish president, at-large council members from each, plus the mayors of the ﬁve other parishes in the metro area. They all got together regularly to work on common problems. We need people to roll up their sleeves, think up projects and get them done. The silo thing doesn’t work.

Agreed. But, where is the business community? Where are the leaders that, when I was a young reporter, were a force to be reckoned with?

I think there is a younger generation that is engaged, but they need a group of elders that are connected and can help them pick projects to go after A lot of it is about just showing people how to do deals.

It’s harder now, though. The biggest difference between the early 2000s and now is social media and 24-hour cable news. It has caused so much polarization How often do you see Democratic and Republican ofﬁcials working together? Occasionally at a ribbon cutting, but it happens a lot less than it used to. I hope after this mayor’s election, we can sit down and break some bread.

What does New Orleans need in a new mayor?

We need someone who cares about business, who wants to build relationships with business. We are at the stage now that if someone could take care of

streets, drainage, crime and garbage pickup, that would go a long way with the business community and that would help attract new business and retain existing ones. Jones Walker created its own economic development consulting firm about two years ago. What was the thinking there? It’s called Avident Advisors and it’s headed by Tommy Kurtz, a New Orleanian and economic

for

PROVIDED PHOTO

Jones Walker managing partner Bill Hines, elected to his fifth consecutive five-year term earlier this month, said he would like to see a return to more regional efforts to address common problems.

When theprice isn’tlisted, ask

Idislike unexpected expenses. If an item doesn’t have aprice, Iwill make sureto ﬁnd out what it is But, honestly,sometimes it’sawkward to ask.

“No price listed,” shesaid. “It was a$55 cocktail.”

Fool’s Take: Undervalued, growing

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEy

Recently,I was eating lunchwith a friend. Iwas going to surprise her and pay for hermeal Iasked theserver aboutthe daily specials and decided to order a branzino dish. My friend likedit as well and mentioned she might order it, too. The server,however,never disclosed the price. So, of course, I asked. She looked through her notes. It was $38. Without aword, Iwentback to the menu, scanning foracheaper option. My friend followed my lead.

“Thank you, Lord,” Ithought to myself.

We didn’tdiscuss the change in our lunch choice. Iwould have still paid for my friend’smeal, but I was so relieved.Ihadn’tbudgeted to spend nearly $100 on lunch, including tax and tip. That lunch came to mind after I read acomment adiner sent to my paper’sfood critic, TomSietsema, during his weekly online chat. This person was celebrating herhusband’sbirthday with two others. They ordered the branzino special, which was meant to be sharedby two people.

“Tosay we were stunned when we received the bill,whichcontained a$155 charge for the branzino, would be an understatement,” she wrote. “Wethought it was amistake; it wasn’t. Shame on us for not asking the marketprice for ﬁsh that evening.”

Icompletely agree withher following points: “Hoping this serves as areminder to customers to always ask the market price, but also the responsibilityofrestaurants to make diners aware of prices not on the menu, particularly when they are so wildly out of the norm.”

Aco-worker shared asimilar experience. She was visiting South Beach in Miami and ordereda drink at brunch.

Istartedtothink: Why do people make purchases withoutfully understanding the costs?

Embarrassment: Haveyou been in a boutique,perhaps on vacation at a swank resort,where thereare no prices onthe tags? Youmight recallthis adage:“If youhave to ask, youcan’t afford it.”Whether in an expensive shoporupscale restaurants, surrounded by seemingly afﬂuent patrons, the last thing you want to do is appear out of place by inquiring about the cost.

Concernabout being seen as too cheap: This feeling can be surprisingly strong. It makespeople hesitant to inquire about the cost of an item, particularly when they suspect it maybebeyond their ﬁnancial reach

But it is prudent to ask, even if you get odd looks. Once,while we were diningataMichelin-star restaurant, the sommelier suggestedsome wines to pair with our meal. After hearing theprices,we decidedtostickwith water.The sommelier glared at us the entire evening.

Sometimes asurprise charge is notyour fault because, intentionally or unintentionally,it’snot disclosed.

Another co-worker said that whenshe ordereda pastadish at a D.C.restaurant,the waiter asked whether she wanted“shavedtrufﬂeswith that.”

She assumed it was free, like Parmesan cheese. In fact,the shavings cost $35, which was more than the price of the pastaentree.

Peer pressure: Twowords can strikeﬁnancialfear in potential guests: destinationwedding. A close friendorrelative is getting married. It’sthe couple’s“big day,”you arerepeatedly told. The expectationisthatyou shouldn’t “put aprice on your presence.” So youRSVP “yes,” trying to put out of your mind the full costofattendance

Or,you areout witha group, andnobody is asking what things cost. Youdon’twanttobethe sole spendingspoiler,soyou stay silent.

Anxiety about money:Perhaps your family neverdiscussed money,or yougrewupina household where conversations about ﬁnances al-

ways ended in arguments. Your ﬁnancial back story can make you hesitant to check prices because it makes you anxious.

FOMO: Social media, especially platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, have amplified “FOMO,” or the fear of missing out.There is aconstant stream of posts withpeople boasting about their designer outfits, luxury cars and gourmet dining. Youfigure fun means not worrying about aprice tag. Youspend first and worry about the costlater

Do you see your behavior in this list?

Alot of personal ﬁnance starts withcontrolling your feelings

Here’swhy you should always ask about price beforeapurchase, even if it makes you uncomfortable: You’re living paycheck to paycheck: An unexpected cost can upend your budget, especially withthe latest inﬂation ﬁgures showing arise in consumer prices.Itisfar less embarrassing to inquire about aprice beforehand thantoface abill you can’tcomfortably pay

“Ask what the market price is, followed by ‘Oh, OK,I’ll have the burger,please,’”one of my followerswrote on Threads

Youhaveother financial priorities: When Istart to feel embarrassed that people might think I’m being too cheap, Ireplace thosethoughts withalist of my ﬁnancial goals. Knowing how much an item costs allows you to makeaconscious choice about how and when to spend.

Youwill have moresavings and less stress: Iamalways urging people to live their financial truth. Can you afford a$155 fishspecial when you have outstanding credit carddebt and/or an insufficient emergency fund?

Make it ahabit to ask: “What is all this going to cost, including any add-ons?” Never assume anything is free.

“I don’twant to be surprised when Ireceive the check, so I don’tcarewhat they think if Iask the price,” one Instagram follower wrote.“I’m paying for it.”

That’sexactly right

Email Michelle Singletaryat michelle.singletary@washpost. com.

Thisarticle is brought to youbythe Louisiana CommercialFisheriesCoalition LLC.

Along Louisiana’scoast, ﬁshing is morethan ajob,it’saway of life.Atthe heart of this tradition aretwo U.S.-owned and operated companies,Westbank Fishing and Ocean Harvesters, whichtogether powerone of the most sustainable ﬁsheriesinthe world and help keep jobs,innovation, and investment righthereinAmerica.

Local Companies with Deep Roots Westbank Fishing, based inEmpire,LA (Plaquemines Parish), has operatedin southern Louisiana fordecades.Itdelivers its catchtothe Daybrook Fisheries plant and supports hundredsoflocal jobs while focusing on safety,efficiency,and environmental stewardship

Founded in 2017, Ocean Harvestersoperates out of Abbeville, LA (Vermilion Parish) and provides ﬁshing services exclusively to OmegaProtein. Ocean Harvestershas invested heavily in sustainability,safety, and professional training.

Both Westbank Fishing and Ocean Harvestersoperate MARAD-compliant ﬂeets,meaning their vessels areU.S built U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed in accordance with the U.S. Maritime Administration’s standards.This designationreﬂects astrong commitmenttonational maritime security

and domestic workforce development. This complianceisn’tjust alabel—it ensures these vessels areavailable fornationaldefense sealift if needed and keeps maritimejobsin the U.S.

American Jobs,American Values Westbank and OceanHarvesterssupport over 800 direct jobs and more than1,200 indirect jobs across32Louisiana parishes From deckhands and welderstomechanics, dockworkers, andtruck drivers, thesecareers offer wagesand beneﬁts thatsupportfamilies and sustain entirecommunities

Most of theseroles don’trequirea college degree but provide rare opportunities for upward mobilityinrural Louisiana.The income earned circulatesthrough local economies—not outsourcedoverseas—ata time when manyindustries areautomating or offshoring.

Thesecompanies don’tjust create jobs— theyuphold American values of hardwork, communityinvestment, and local accountability.

Economic Impact: Fueling Communities, Feeding the World

The Gulf menhaden ﬁsherygenerates more

than $419 million in annual economic output, contributing $60 million in wagesand beneﬁts and$25 million in stateand local tax revenue.

Motley Fool

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has been pummeled in 2025, creating a rare buying opportunity forinvestors willing to look past short-term headwinds. The company recently traded at alow forward-looking price-to-earnings ratio of 7— versus about23for the S&P 500. This suggests investors have apessimistic view of the company Its dividend recently yielded afat 5.4%. While the payout ratio of 91% (the percentage of earnings being paid out in dividends) is steep, the pharma titan has successfully navigated similar pressures before.

To be fair,the company does face challenges. Wall Street expects 2026 revenue to decline by nearly 7%, driven by mounting pricing pressures, geopolitical upheaval and slowing growth in key franchises. Longer term,the company also faces signiﬁcant patent expirations forsome of its blockbuster drugs. Meanwhile, the company was recentlystung by astring of clinical trial failures. While management insists these failures don’taffect core growth opportunities forthose drugs, themarket remains skeptical.

But Bristol Myers Squibb’s aggressive acquisition strategy has built adiversified pipeline extending wellbeyond its existing blockbusters. The company is making progress paying downdebt from prior deals, improving financial flexibility so it can makemore value-creating acquisitions. Consider taking acloser look.

Fool’s School:Consider dividend ETFs

Toomany people chase highﬂying growth stocks without realizing that steady and solid dividend-paying stocks can perform better over the long run. Consider this: Astudy

by Ned Davis Research summarized by Hartford Funds found that between 1973 and 2024, companies that grew or initiated dividend payments delivered annualized returns of 10.2% versus 4.3% for nondividend stocks and 7.65% foranequal-weight S&P 500 index. The dividend payers were less volatile than their counterparts, too. Asimple and effective way to invest in dividend-paying stocks is via dividend-focused exchange-traded funds. ETFs are funds that trade like stocks, making it easy to buy or sell them within brokerage accounts. Here are ahandful of dividend ETFs that you might want to look into: SPDR PortfolioS&P 500 High Dividend ETF(SPYD): This ETF recently yielded 4.5% and delivered an average annual gain of 14.3% over the past ﬁve years (admittedly, aperiod with above-average gains forthe stock market). It tracks the S&P 500 High Dividend Index of 80 high-yielding companies within the S&P 500 index.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): This ETF recently yielded 4% and averaged an annual gain of 13.7% over the past ﬁve years. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, which focuses on high-yielding U.S. stocks that are fundamentally strong and have paid dividends consistently Vanguard HighDividend Yield ETF(VYM): This ETF recently yielded 2.9% and averaged an annual gain of 14.7% over the past ﬁve years. It tracks the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index, which includes hundreds of stocks with above-average dividend yields.

Fidelity HighDividend ETF(FDVV): This ETF recently yielded 3% and had an average annual gain of 18.1% over the past ﬁve years. It mostly holds stocks from the Fidelity High Dividend Index, aportfolio of large- and midcap U.S. stocks that are expected to keep paying and increasing their dividends.

Alittle digging online will turn up additional promising dividend-focused ETFs.

Proudly American: HowTwo Louisiana Companies Anchor U.S. Leadership in the Gulf Menhaden Fishery

In 2024alone, the industry procured over $62 million in goods andservices from Louisiana-basedbusinesses—a powerful economic engine forwelders, fuel suppliers, electricians,and other small businesses acrossthe state

Beyond the local economy, menhaden is vital to national andglobal food systems.These small, nutrient-rich ﬁsh areprocessedinto omega-3 oils,protein-richfeeds,and other essentialingredients used in:

•Pet food

•Aquaculture and livestock feed

•Nutritional supplements

Major U.S. companies such as Nestlé Purina Petcare, BlueBuffalo (General Mills), Mars,Purina Animal Care,and Cargill rely on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery for high-quality,domestically sourced inputs Withoutthis supply,theywouldbeforced to importfromoverseas, increasing costsand weakening U.S. supply chainresilience. Defending aDomestic Resource As pressure mountstorestrict accessto working waters,Westbank Fishing and Ocean Harvestersare on the frontlines defending America’sabilitytoharvest its own renewable resources sustainably The menhaden fisheryiscertified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)—

the global gold standardfor fisheries sustainability—and is one of onlytwo Gulffisheries to hold this distinction. The companies thatoperate it areproving daily thatresponsible management, jobcreation, and environmentalprotectioncan coexist. Their leadership also helps protect domestic supplychains.Menhaden is afoundational input foreverything from livestock feed to crawfishbait to nutritional oilsupplements Keeping this fishery in American hands is vital forbothfoodsecurityand economic security.

AProud Future for American Fishing

In Louisiana,ﬁshing is more thana business—it’sa birthright. Westbank Fishing and Ocean Harvestersare helpingtoensure thatthis legacy continues forthe next generationofAmerican ﬁshermen.

By investing in people, staying rooted in local communities,and leading with sustainability, theyare proving whatU.S.leadership in global seafood can—and should—look like. In an uncertain world, Louisiana’smenhaden ﬁshery remains astory of American pride, ruralstrength, and long-term success— thanksinlarge part to the commitmentof thesetwo homegrowncompanies

La. satellite company, Army partner on research

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Covington-based Globalstar is partnering with the U.S Army on research that could position the upstart satellite company to play a larger role in the nation’s nearly $1 trillion defense industry

In an announcement Tuesday, Globalstar said the Army will research the ability of its satellites to support covert surveillance, drone operations, location targeting, logistics tracking and other missions.

The technology under development focuses on lightweight communications devices that require little power to operate and are hard to detect. They are engineered to operate in austere and remote environments, where traditional communications infrastructure is limited, undesirable or unavailable.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Paul Jacobs is CEO of Globalstar, based in Covington, which has announced a partnership with the Army to research its satellite capabilities.

announced it had inked an agreement with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX — its third since 2022 — for a 2026 launch that will put nine more of its low earth satellites into orbit. A separate launch, previously announced, planned for later this year will launch eight satellites.

“The launch services agreement with SpaceX represents another important milestone as we continue to execute on our construction and launch plan,” Jacobs said.

signiﬁcant move that signiﬁcantly boosted its relevance in the tech, communications and private space industries.

ton in a stroke of good luck for local economic developers.

Next week, T-Mobile will unveil its own T-Satellite emergency phone service in partnership with the Musk-owned Starlink, a development that prompted at least one industry watcher to describe Globalstar as being in a “satellite war” with Musk’s competing service.

Since the early 2000s, Globalstar has operated low-orbit satellites that power a network of communication and monitoring devices used by hikers, ﬁrst responders, offshore energy workers, ranchers and others living or doing business in remote areas.

Globalstar began in the 1990s as a joint project between semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm and defense contractor Loral, but high costs and consumers’ lukewarm response to satellite phones sent the company into bankruptcy In 2004, Denver-based private equity ﬁrm Thermo Capital Partners purchased Globalstar’s assets and, later moved the headquarters to Louisiana The idea for the relocation came from Thermo’s managing partner, Jay Monroe, who saw an opportunity to lower operating costs and take advantage of Louisiana’s digital interactive media incentives and tax credits.

New Orleans

Allison Marrero has joined Cypress Planning Group as vice president of business development and operations.

Marrero has more than 26 years of experience in the hospitality industry She held a variety of roles within the Hyatt brand including sales manager, director of sales and global sales director.

Marrero most recently worked for the Savannah College of Art and Design and the American Society of Interior Designers.

She earned a bachelor’s in business administration and management from Baylor University

Maj. Dwayne and Maj. Marion Durham are the new leaders of The Salvation Army in New Orleans The couple have 28 years of experience as Salvation Army ofﬁcers.

The announcement is the second in as many weeks for Globalstar, which operates low earth orbit satellites that provide communication and monitoring capabilities in remote areas.

Earlier this month, the company

“This collaboration reflects our growing engagement with defense and federal partners,” Globalstar CEO Paul E. Jacobs said in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to bring our decades of satellite expertise and emerging terrestrial innovation to support the Army’s evaluation of next-generation satellite capabilities.”

The markets reacted positively to Globalstar’s two announcements. Its stock closed higher on nine out of the 10 trading days in July to reach a new six-month high. In February the company moved from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq and executed a reverse split to boost per-share prices.

Satellite war?

Globalstar’s announcements come amid a race among private companies for space superiority

In 2022, the company signed a deal to provide emergency communications services for Apple’s iPhones, a

The Apple partnership in 2022 was a game-changer

After its initial $450 million investment to launch the service, Apple last year announced an additional $1.5 billion commitment to Globalstar for expansion.

That change in fortune came more than a decade after the company moved from California to Coving-

Monroe, a Tulane University graduate who met and married a New Orleanian, has split time between Colorado and Louisiana for decades. In March, Globalstar said it had about 400 employees worldwide, including 160 or so in Louisiana.

Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

They have served in Maryland, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas.

In their new roles, the Durhams will be responsible for all programs and social services in addition to supervising disaster relief, social services, Angel Tree and Christmas campaigns. The couple will also serving as pastors to the local Salvation Army congregation.

David Favret has been hired by Compass Inc. as the new regional vice president for Louisiana and Mississippi.

Favret has more than two decades of residential real estate experience, including extensive leadership experience with Latter & Blum

Baton Rouge

Brad Johnson and James Houtman have been hired by Bally’s Corp. to lead food and beverage services at their Baton Rouge casinos.

Johnson manages all restaurants, bars and catering at The Queen Baton Rouge.

Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry He has held jobs from server to leading front- and back-ofhouse operations for national and local restaurants.

Houtman oversees preparations for the opening of restaurants and lounges at Bally’s Baton Rouge casino entertainment complex, which is slated to open later this

year He also manages food and beverage operations for the newly opened Bally’s Baton Rouge Hotel.

Houtman has more than 25 years of experience working in casual and fine dining, university and hotel dining services and quick-service franchise restaurant ownership and management.

Lawson Nguyen has joined Breazeale Sachse & Wilson Nguyen focuses on commercial litigation. He earned a bachelor’s from LSU and a law degree from the University of Houston.

Jared Watkins has been hired by Currency Bank as chief financial officer Watkins previously served as chief financial officer for a local community bank. He earned a bachelor’s in ac-

counting and a bachelor’s in the entertainment industries, both from the University of Southern Mississippi. Watkins is a graduate of the LSU Graduate School of Banking.

Heather Roemer has been promoted by b1Bank to executive vice president and chief administrative ofﬁcer Roemer has been with b1Bank for 16 years, most recently serving as chief of staff. She has been president of the b1Bank Foundation since 2020. She earned a bachelor’s from LSU. Roemer is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University, where she served as class president.

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YOUNG INSPIRATION

Louisiana child inspired ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode and advocates in Congress

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Denver Coleman is 2 years old, but she’s already inspired an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and helped blaze a trail for other children and families, a feat she accomplished before she was even born Kenyatta Breaux Coleman, Denver’s mom, is a human resource professional at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge. Coleman has a passion for patient and family advocacy

Three years ago, Coleman could not have predicted that the patient and family she was advocating for would be her own.

At 35, Coleman was pregnant with her fourth child. With a high-risk OB-GYN, everything was going to plan. Leading up to her 28-week appointment, Coleman started to experience intense itching on her legs.

“That was a red flag for

PHOTO PROVIDED By ANDREW LEDERMAN AT BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

me,” Coleman said. “As a mother of three kids, and now I’m expecting my fourth, I just felt like something was off.”

The doctors saw her that day When her lab tests came back, Coleman learned that she had intrahepatic cholesta-

sis of pregnancy — a condition that affects the liver To monitor her progress, Coleman’s doctor recommended weekly ultrasounds.

Two weeks later, her first weekly ultrasound of little Denver revealed a large malformation on her brain as

well as a mildly large heart Coleman met with other specialists who suggested Denver could have a vein of Galen malformation when multiple arteries in the brain connect directly with a large central vein, instead of connecting with capillaries.

This causes a rush of highpressure blood into the vein that causes it to enlarge like a balloon and the rapid blood return to the heart can lead to pulmonary hypertension, brain injury and congestive heart failure — often immediately after birth, sometimes leading to death.

“That information was all provided to us in one visit,” Coleman said. “We were also told that because Denver’s malformation was so large in size, there was a concern that it could possibly compromise her brain tissue.”

In the family’s research,

IV therapy gains popularity

Doctors, regulators preach caution with services

BY TOM MURPHY AP health writer

IV therapy clinics are springing up around the country, touting quick ways to recover from a hangover or a hard workout. But doctors and regulators preach caution.

The services have been on a growth spurt since the COVID-19 pandemic, offering drips that promise to boost energy, gird immune systems or relieve joint pain. This is done from bags of intravenous ﬂuids normally seen hanging next to hospital beds.

Customers must be willing to fork over as much as couple of hundred dollars for each session — in some cases for a mixture of vitamins and supplements that would be considerably cheaper in pill form.

Proponents say this approach helps customers hydrate faster and absorb more of a vitamin or supplement than they would by swallowing pills.

But Dr Sam Torbati, co-chair of emergency medicine at CedarsSinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says the therapy mostly helps people create “expensive urine,” with the body clearing what it doesn’t use.

How many IV clinics are there?

They’re hard to count, partly because some businesses just provide IV therapy while others offer it as part of a medical spa.

The practice grew popular during COVID-19, when access to doctors became limited and people grew more concerned about their immune system health, according to the American IV Association, an industry group.

Regulators in Ohio are following the trend closely in their state, which now has around 200 clinics. These businesses were largely unheard of there before the pandemic, said Cameron McNamee, a spokesperson for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy

What should customers know about IV therapy clinics?

Doctors say there are some good questions to pose before any treatment starts.

Customers should ask the person starting the IV how long they have been doing their job and what sort of training they have, Torbati said. They also should know what’s in the IV drip. For instance, “Wonder Juice” treatment offered by the Restore Hyper Wellness franchise combines six vitamins and supplements that are available, in oral form, on the pharmacy store shelves.

Knowing all the ingredients comes in handy if someone has an allergic reaction.

Also ask where the company gets its drugs, if any are used. The answer should be a licensed pharmaceutical wholesaler, McNamee said.

ä See CHILD, page 3X ä See THERAPY, page 2X

PHOTO PROVIDED By KENyATTA COLEMAN

Denver Coleman, 2, advocates for rare diseases on Family Advocacy Day in front of of the office of U.S Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, in Washington, D.C.

Denver Coleman is surrounded by her parents and part of her extensive care team.

HEALTH MAKER

Specialist advocates for children in hospitals

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Hospitals can be overwhelming for adults and for children. A child life specialist’s job is to advocate for patients, families and children.

Olivia Bourgeois was born in Cutoff and graduated with an undergraduate degree from Nicholls University in childhood development.

”I’m a bayou girl all the way,” Bourgeois said.

After months of volunteering at various childhood development experiences, Bourgeois ended up at the Southeastern Child Life Specialist master’s program.

Training as a child life specialist involves volunteer hours, often completed through a hospital child life program (hours can also be done at medical camps or normative play experiences), a 600-hour internship in a child life program and observation or shadow hours of an acting child life specialist. Child life specialists are certiﬁed through the Association of Child Life Professionals and must recertify every ﬁve years. Child life specialists can also specialize or be delegated to one part of the hospital. Bourgeois works in the pediatric emergency

department at Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans.

What does a child life specialist do?

Our days consists of meeting families, patients and their children to provide support and coping.

Our role could be making the hospital a more normal and comfortable environment, which we can do through normative play in our playrooms with toys — or it’s understanding what this child’s immediate health care needs are.

We try to approach them

in a way that they can better understand what’s going on to them, or around them, and provide coping support.

Because I’m meeting lots of people, I have to build trust and rapport very quickly with these families and get a little insight into what their child is like.

Then, we come up with a care plan. Doctors will decide treatments or tests that need to be run but, where I come in, is advocating for the patient and the child’s needs.

For example, after getting to know the child, I’ll

tell the doctor, “I think they could beneﬁt from maybe a medicine that helps them stay calm.”

Sometimes I work with nurses saying, “Hey, I know we have to do this blood work, but I think this child could beneﬁt from sitting on their parent’s lap.”

Our work in the hospital is ﬂuid — it’s back and forth. We’re a member of the interdisciplinary team for a reason.

How do you build trust with patients? Where do you start? Well, everyone is different, and we learn a lot in school about temperament and child attachment. Sometimes we need to speak to a child, almost through a parent. We just get on their level. We make ourselves low We always ﬁnd ourselves seated, or sometimes I’ll even crouch down on the side of the bed. I want it to feel less like this medical ﬁgure walking in. I want to feel like a friend, and I talk to them as such.

I try my best to phrase things to where I’m also learning from them. I may know that we’ve got this list of tests coming up, but I’m still going to ask them, “What did the doctor say to you?” or “Have you done this before?” and “How was that last experience?”

I want to make sure they have the opportunity to tell

me what’s going on in their lives — not me telling them what’s going on. I also bring in something that makes it comfortable for children, like coloring stickers, a blanket. Those are simple things easy things to make hard conversations more comfortable. Is there something, or an experience, that motivates you to continue your work as a child life specialist?

The process of becoming a child life specialist can feel very daunting and can overtake your brain for several years. It’s highly competitive to try and get some of these experiences. I was fortunate enough to do some of my volunteering at Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans. I went from cleaning toys to observing specialists to actually being a child life specialist here.

One day, I was with a child I had built some rapport with. She was a chronic kiddo. We were giggling and laughing and talking about hard stuff. This was my ﬁrst year of working, and it was a stressful day We were talking about big things that are sometimes sad.

That day, sitting in the room I used to clean toys in as a volunteer, I realized that this experience was why I did this. This is what took an extra four or ﬁve years of school and driving,

commuting and ﬁnancial burdens to be able to make this impact. Every time I got to see that child, throughout her many admissions, we were able to smile and giggle and continue talking about the hard stuff. We also have conversations with siblings about their sibling about to pass. We use our development background to approach conversations around bereavement and death to siblings a little more on their level, and based on their understanding. I had one mom after an evening with some tough conversations, I reintroduced myself when I entered the room — as I always do because I am the evening person and sometimes families get confused when I’m there during the day That mom, she turned and she said, “Oh, Miss Olivia, we’ll never forget you.” That was a moment where I felt like I could cry It shows that even in the hard days, we as child life specialists, have moments where we can tell that all we’re doing is trying to leave families with something positive and lasting in their lives.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney @theadvocate.com.

Dopamine menus: Give your brain some space

Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)

Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter in the brain involved in mood, attention, reward and motivation.

ROCHESTER, Minn. You likely are accustomed to encountering a range of menus in daily life, but there is one that may be new to you: a dopamine menu. Dr Robert Wilfahrt, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic and an expert in attention-deﬁcit/ hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, explains “A dopamine menu is a rebranding of what psychologists or health care professionals previously called behavioral activation — ways to get yourself to do what’s best for you, instead of what you feel like doing in the moment,” Dr. Wilfahrt says. In this case, the best route to getting that tough task done is to step away from it for a minute, do something else that feeds you energy and then dive back into the task. The purpose? To stimulate dopamine — a hormone and neurotransmitter in the brain involved in mood, attention, reward and motivation. It’s also known as the “feel-good hormone.” Dopamine comes in many forms reaching for your phone to doomscroll social media

THERAPY

Continued from page 1X

Otherwise, the drug could be counterfeit or substandard Ohio regulators have suspended the licenses of businesses that purchased drugs on Facebook. Customers also should make sure the clinic is in decent shape when they visit

“If the office isn’t clean, then the IV room’s probably not clean either,” McNamee said.

Why are regulators concerned?

They don’t like that a nurse or a paramedic often helps a customer decide on an IV therapy and then delivers the treatment. Rules can vary, but many state regulators say a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner should be involved. The clinics often run on standing orders which are issued by a doctor with the idea that they give the nurse or paramedic permission to treat patients according to certain protocols.

Hospital emergency rooms regularly operate on the same kind of orders, according to Dr Chris Seitz, an emergency physician and chairman of the American

IV Association’s scientific advisory board

“Many nurses saw patients before I ever could get to them in the emergency department and initiated care like IV ﬂuids,” he said Is there too much patient involvement?

Regulators also worry about the role customers play in picking their own treatments.

“A patient cannot enter a doctor’s office or hospital and demand an IV any more than a patient can direct his or her own appendectomy,” Kentucky ofﬁcials said in a March statement. But Seitz says there should be a partnership between any care provider and the patient, with the provider helping the patient make the right decision

“Patients have a requirement and a need to be the CEO of their own health,” he said.

Patient choice feeds another worry: the mixing of ingredients for speciﬁc treatments, a practice known as compounding South Carolina regulators said in a 2023 statement that this should result from a valid care provider order, “not from a patient-driven menu akin to a fast-food res-

taurant.”

However, proponents say the addition of vitamins or drugs to an IV treatment should not be confused with mixing prescription drugs in a lab.

“It’s just pretty simple low-hanging fruit in terms of clinical complexity,” said Jeff Cohen, a co-founder of the American IV Association.

What’s the big picture?

IV therapy clinics do provide some care. They can help cancer patients or pregnant women stay hydrated Some treatments offer relief from migraine pain.

But many drips require the creation of a sterile, soluble vitamin or supplement that is safe to put into someone’s veins. That’s more expensive to make than a vitamin that may cost a few cents a pill, Torbati said.

Customers will need to determine whether the added expense is worth it.

“Usually within eight hours, all that expensive therapy (is) peed out,” he said. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

is an easy and convenient way to get a bit of a lift, but that’s not the only option. What other accessible activities can bring you joy and a happy brain break?

Examples of healthy “dopamenu” activities include:

n Going for a brief walk n Jamming out to your favorite song n Making a cup of tea n Petting your dog or cat n Lighting a candle n Reaching out to a friend or family member

“The idea is to break up what you’re doing,” says Dr Wilfahrt. And if the selected menu item is purposeful, you can feel a sense of reward for small progresses. When are dopamine menus most useful? If we’re not necessarily enthusiastic about the task we’ve been assigned, we struggle to maintain attention or interest. We then risk not meeting the expectation or obligation. We feel bad about it, get ﬂooded with remorse and have an even tougher time completing the task

due to that sense of anxiety

“It can become a vicious cycle,” says Dr Wilfahrt. “It can be easy to become avoidant when we’re in these sort of doom loops.” So how can you stop this cycle? Brainstorm Make a mental or physical list of things you can do to get recentered.

Dr Wilfahrt says the more recently rebranded concept tends to be targeted to people with ADHD, but anyone would beneﬁt:

“It’s not a bad idea for anybody to know how to best manage energy Sitting still to labor over one idea isn’t healthy for anyone.” And while activities on your dopamine menu are meant to be enjoyable, don’t forget to go back to the hard task. A journey to the dopamine menu is meant to provide a burst of enthusiasm, not to be something that sucks you in. Consider setting a timer — perhaps for an unusual interval like 13 minutes and 17 seconds. Enjoy the boost and get back to the (real) to-do list.

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and reexamining tried and true methods on ways to live well.

Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you.

Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

JACOBSON

PHOTO PROVIDED By OCHSNER HEALTH

Olivia Bourgeois, back row, third from the left, and the child life specialist team at Ochsner Health work to make the hospital a comfortable place for families and kids.

DREAMSTIME/TNS FILE PHOTO By MARy KATHERINE WyNN

Eat Fit LiveFit

TT OY OU BY

Special brew: Exploringthe roots and use of chicoryincoffee

Ifyou’veeversippedacaféaulaitin theFrenchQuarter,youhavetasted chicory’ssignaturenotes.Buthiddenin thatcupisahumblerootwhosestoryis biggerthanasinglesip Tolearnmoreaboutchicory,Isat downwithFeltonJones,roastmaster andbrandambassadorforPJ’sCoffeeand NewOrleansRoast.(Youcanhearour fullconversationonmypodcast,FUELED WellnessandNutrition.)

Onethingyoumayﬁndsurprisingabout chicorycoffeeisthatchicoryisn’tcoffee atall.Chicoryisablue-ﬂoweredperennial plantwithataprootthat,whenroasted, addstheboldrichnessNewOrleanians havecometoexpectfromacaféaulait.A blendofcoffeeandchicorywithsteamed milk,atypicalNewOrleanscaféaulait thesedaysismadewithabout20percent chicory.Butsomeblendsareasmuchas50 percentchicory,Feltonexplained

Alsoofnoteisthefactthatpure chicoryhaszerocaffeine.Backinthe day,itwassaidthatdrinkingcoffeeand chicorywould“puthaironyourchest.” Old-fashionedexpressionaside,thedark roastandrobustﬂavorsofchicoryonly seemliketheyshouldalsotranslateto morecaffeine.Inreality,chicorygivesusa naturallydecaffeinatedcoffeeadditive(or alternative)thatstillfeelslike‘real’coffee. “Tastewise,there’ssomuchpotencyin straightchicorythatyoucanusejusthalf thegroundsyou’dnormallyuseforcoffee andstillgetarich,almostespresso-like shot,”saysFelton.

Abriefhistoryofchicory

ChicoryshowsupinancientRoman andEgyptianwritingsfromthousands ofyearsago,mostlyforitsuseasa digestivetonic.Seventeenth-and eighteenth-centuryDutch,Germanand Frenchcafésroastedittostretchtheir limitedsupplyofcoffeebeansduring tradeembargoes,includingNapoleon’s

Co Blockade 1814) crippling economy forb wit Europe. crossing Atla Europe thet New where nav made blen brew Orl Taste Fel chicory half norm surprised slightly think of Isee by Pr Co experiment widely

Molly Kimball RD,CSSD

BY THENUMBERS

WHAT ORGANS DO LOUISIANANSNEED?

There are currently 105,501 candidates wait-listed for organ donation across the United States as of July,according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network that updates data monthly

In Louisiana, there are 1,867 candidates on the waitlist for donated organs: n 1,656 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for kidneys,

CHILD

Continued from page1X

n 132 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for livers, n 4 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for pancreases, n 66 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for kidneys and pancreases

n 33 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for hearts, n 4 patients are on the Louisiana waitlist for lungs. There are no patients on the

they found aclinical trial at Boston Children’sHospital thattreated Denver’sexact condition.

“What are the chances of that?” Coleman said. “Wewere desperate for answers.” Coleman searched online for anyone remotely relatedtothe trial, and copied them on an email reﬂecting her conditionand herinterest. Boston Children’sresponded in 24 hours, and the Coleman family leapt at the opportunity.

Just onemonth afterDenver’s diagnosis, when Colemanwas 34 weeks pregnant, shecanceledher babyshower.She and her husband, Derek, left her three children in good care with her mother and bought one-way tickets to Boston to enter anew in utero clinical trial at Boston Children’sHospital.

Theclinical trial

The Colemans knew there was only one documented case of a family undergoing this clinical trial in the world. They would bethe ﬁrst in the United States to have the groundbreaking treatment. If not diagnosed and treated early,accordingtoBoston Children’s Hospital, the malformation can causesevereproblems andmay even be life threatening Until now,babies have notbeen treated for vein of Galen malformation until they are born. Dr Darren Orbach, the lead author of the research, and his colleagues at Boston Children’sand Brigham and

waitlist for intestine, abdominal wall, head and neck, upper limb or uterus transplants in Louisiana, according to theOrgan Procurement and Transplantation Network.

In 2024, 618 donors participatedinthe transplant program in Louisiana (for all organs) 524 were deceased donors and 99 were living donors. So far in 2025, 284 donors

participatedinthe transplant program including 244 deceased and 40 living donors.

Organdonation candidates are counted as one patient waiting at more than one center,orfor multiple organs.

Dataonorgan donation registrations (counting each organ and center as one waitlist) is available at otpn.transplant. hrsa.gov

Building in Washington,

Women’sHospitaldesigned anew procedure aimedatintervening while infants are still in the womb. Because the malformation is so rare —and because theintervention is meant for fetuses with healthy brain tissue but at high risk for poor outcomes like heart failure— theteam has waited for several years to ﬁnd eligible candidates. With this condition and theclinical trial, themeasurement of the malformation is extremely important, according to Coleman.The smallest widthofmalformation allowed inthe trial was 7millimeters. At the time of herﬁrst MRI,

Denver’swas 12 millimeters, the width of asmall pea.

“Wewere in arace against time,” Coleman said. “Any additional growth to themalformation could have compromised her brain tissue,and in thatcase, we wouldn’t have been eligible for the procedure at all.”

Denver was ﬁrst of what Boston hospital hopes will eventually be 20 patients in this clinical trial. The clinical trial is still ongoing. The procedure itself was about 20 minutes, andColeman was awake for the procedure. She was given an epidural and watched as theteam strategically placed 23

•Chooseamethod.Chicoryworks instandarddripcoffeemakers,also Frenchpress,pour-over,mokapots –evenespressobaskets.(Notethat thegrindistypicallyabitcoarser thancoffee.)

•Blendtotaste.Startwitha4:1 coffee-to-chicoryratioforeveryday sipping–orﬂiptheratioifyou’re lookingforalower-caffeinecup. •Addmilkorkeepitblack.Fora creamycaféaulait,chicory’ssubtle sweetnessworkswellwithdairyand nondairyoptions.

Funfact

Evernoticed‘chicoryrootextract’(often referredtoasinulin)listedasaningredient infiber-richbreads,wraps,nutrition barsandevenicecream?Thatextractis indeedfromthesamechicoryplant.But theprocessingofchicoryrootfiberis completelydifferentfromthatofchicory ‘coffee,’includingtheuseofmuchlower heattopreserveitssolublefiberandgutfriendly,prebioticbenefits. Whenchicoryrootisroastedtohigher temperaturestobeusedascoffee,nearly alloftheinulincaramelizes.That’sgreat forflavor,butthebrewwon’tretainthe samenutritionalperksoffiber-richchicory rootextract.

Onelastsip

ChicorymaydatebacktoancientRome, butitsrenaissanceisreal.Feltonshared thatit’sPJ’sCoffee’stopselleronAmazon. It’salsoabudget-friendly,all-naturaldecaf coffeealternative.And—ifourtastetest meansanything—wethinkit’ssurprisingly tastyonitsown.

So,thenexttimeyoucraveaboldcup ofcoffeeafterdinner,rememberthatthe boldestbrewinNewOrleansdoesn’teven comefromabean.Givethishumbleroota try—andletusknowwhatyouthink.

coils inside of Denver’smalformation that slowed Denver’sblood flow and relievingthe stress on her heart

Doctorsnoticed asignificant change in her condition within the ﬁrst hour,according to Coleman.

“If there’satestament of how successful this procedure was, Denverisdefinitely that,” Coleman said.

Denver wasborn two days later She weighed 4pounds, 1ounce. She was six weeksearly,but the procedure worked so well that Denver did notexperiencecommon complications when babies are born premature.

At dayﬁve, Denver was eating and nursing. After 11 days at BostonChildren’s, Denver was transferred to aneighboring NICU at Brigham Women’s hospital in Boston.The Coleman family spent just under four weeksinMassachusetts to workonher preemie milestones

“I honestlyfeel like when it comes to rare conditions, there’s notenough that’sbeing done,” Coleman said. “I kind of vowed at thattime, that if there was any opportunitytobeanadvocate, I would make that apriority.”

Mother-daughteradvocates

Since surviving the groundbreaking clinical trial, the Coleman’shavenot been idle.Kenyatta andDenver together have worked in both theirLouisiana community and nationwide to advocate for rare diseasesand share Denver’s remarkablestory On Denver’sﬁrst birthday,the Colemans started an Amazon wish

listtoprovide blankets, toysand essentialsfor NICUs. Theygot so many responses, theyhad to keep adding to the list to keep up. With the extrafunds, from the wishlistand theproceeds from “Grey’sAnatomy,” Denver and Colemanwereabletodistribute the gifts and provide lunch for NICU caregivers at threeLouisiana hospitals. “Whatwas supposedtobeaday of serviceturnedintoa weekend of fun,” Coleman said. “Miss Denverwas so tired andexhausted, butwewerefulﬁlled. We felt really good in the end.”

This year,for Denver’ssecond birthday,the mother-daughter duo hosteda community family affair and invited children with rare conditions and medically complex diagnosis to play at apark. Free snowcones,art activities, apetting zoo, Bluey cameos and more greeted the over 100 guests that came to the event. More recently,the entire Colemanfamily made the trek to Washington,D.C., andU.S.Congress, for Family Advocacy Day “Wewereable to collaborate and meet other families. It really put things into perspective forour family,”Coleman said. “Wewere able to understand thepower of our voice.”

Coleman, whonow serves on the Louisiana Rare Disease Advisory Council, is now looking for her next event in September forNICU awareness month.

Email Margaret

PHOTO PROVIDED By KENyATTA COLEMAN Kenyatta andDenverColeman, center,and the Coleman family visit the Capitol

D.C., for Family Advocacy Day.

BROUGH

Back tSchool Bestbets forahealthystart

1 in 5

11%

years

Packingschoollunchescanbeaweeklychallengeforparents, especiallywhenbalancingvariety,nutritionandpickyeaters.To keeplunchesexcitingandnutritious,herearethreecreativeideas: Notyourusualbrown-baglunch:Trysalmonortunasalad wrapsmadewithGreekyogurt,spinachandtomatoesfora protein-packed,veggie-ﬁlledoption.Pairwithcrunchysideslike TriscuitThinsorParmesanCrispsandlow-sugarGreekyogurtfora balancedmeal.

Tapas-to-go:Combineapplesliceswithnutbutter,stringcheese, hummussnackpacksandBeanﬁeldschipsforaprotein-andﬁberrichlunch.

Buildyourown“Lunchables”:Usewhole-graincrackers,cheese andleanproteinsliketurkeyorchicken.Addveggiestickswith high-proteinranchdipmadefromGreekyogurt. Involvekidsinplanningtoensuretheyenjoytheirmealswhile stayingfueledfortheschoolday!

in the United States arediagnosed with amental, behavioral or developmental disorder

Noticethesigns.

Payattentiontoshiftsinyourchild’smood,behavior,orhabits.Stress, withdrawal,orsuddenchangescouldbesignsthatsomethingdeeperisgoing on.Butalsotaketimetovalueandrecognizewhatyourchildisdoingwell.

Identifywaystorelax,connectandhavefunwithyourchild. Spendtimedoingthingsyoubothenjoy.Whetherit’sawalk,agame,orjust talking,thesemomentshelpyourchildfeelsafe,supported,andloved.

Listenwithoutjudgment.

Letyourchildknowit’sokaytotalkaboutwhatthey’refeeling.Listenwith care,validatetheiremotions,andremindthemthey’renotalone.

Seekprofessionalinterventionwhenneeded.

Ifyou’reconcernedaboutyourchild’smentalhealth,turntotheexperts. Speakwithyourchild’spediatrician,counselor,oramentalhealthprofessional todesignatreatmentplanthat’srightforyourchildandyourfamily.

Sports injury prevention tips

AccordingtotheAmericanAcademyofPediatrics,sports participationisassociatedwithreductionsinstress,anxiety, depressionandsubstancemisuseinchildren.Ithasalsobeen showntoincreaseself-conﬁdence,self-esteem,socialskillsand academicachievement.

Toreapallthebeneﬁts,it’simportanttostartoffontheright foot.Theﬁrststepisaphysicalexam.Allathletesshouldvisittheir primarycaredoctorforayearlysportsphysicalbeforethestartof theirseason.

Inadditiontoprioritizingrestandhydration,studentathletes shouldadheretoproperstretchingandcrosstrainingroutines.

Yourchildshouldwearprotectivegearthat’sintendedfora speciﬁcsportandposition.Itshouldalwaysbeworncorrectly andinspectedregularlytomakesureit’singoodconditionand ﬁtsproperly.

TreatinjurieswiththeRICEmethod:rest,ice,compressionand elevation.Ifyoudohometreatmentandtheinjurydoesn’tresolve withinafewdays,it’stimetoseeadoctor.

ALAND’SLEGACY

Land Trustfor Louisianaholds unique events forconservation

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Not every legacy is built with concrete.

In astate where land carries deep meaning, more Louisianans are finding ways to protect the places they love. Through conservation easements, they’re ensuring theirwoods, pastures and wetlands will remain for generations to come.

Land Trust for Louisiana, aconservation nonproﬁt based in Covington, was formed 20years ago to help property owners protect Louisiana’snatural landscapes and resources. They now hold conservation easements on dozens ofproperties across thestate, preserving nearly15,000acres of forest,farmland, riverbanks, marsh and green spaces. These places range from a 100-year-old,family-runrice farm in Vermilion Parish,toold-growth forest near north Louisiana’s peach country

An easement is alegal agreement —typically between alandowner and an entity such as aland trust —thatspells outhow the owner can continue to use and beneﬁt from theproperty,while restrictingdevelopment andactivities that could harm theland.

‘Peoplewanttoprotect aplace they love’

Conservation easements can also bring income tax beneﬁts for thepropertyowner,especially for farmers and ranchers with agricultural land. But that’sthe paperwork. At theend of the day,“people want to protect aplace they love. They want to see it thrive for future generations,” according to Land Trust for Louisianaexecutive director Cindy Brown. This is what motivated agroupof friends in the Hammondarea, who started the landtrust in 2005 with thegoal of protecting old campground, Cherokee Beach,that had brought campers and tubers to the

JayAddison, left, CEOofLand Trust for Louisiana and owner of Pine Knoll Farm,stands withLand Trust for Louisiana executivedirector Cindy Brown at the organization’s annual meetinginHammond in February2023.

Tangipahoa River for decades. “Our founder,Dr. Jay Addison, grew up near thecampground and got his start workingasthe farm manager at Pine Knoll Farm, just

ä See LAND, page 2Y

Fake Facebook storiesare foolingfans

LSU football coach Brian Kelly did not rescue 165 people in the Texas floods.Neither did he decide to cover all funeral expenses and provide compensation to the families of the victimsofthe flashfloods.Nor did he convince quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to join him on the mission. The LSU Tigersfootball team did not donate $50 million to supportflood victims— despite the fake posthaving been liked by more than 4,000 people and shared by more than athousand. Country superstars Reba and Dolly didn’tride down the swollen Guadalupe River lastweek in matching orange rain jackets. Peyton Manning didn’tchange the life of apoor 13-year-old girl named Nia by paying for her to attend math camp, leading her to win anational math awardseven yearslater KingCharles didn’tcry at the French state dinner on July 8, speaking about Catherine, PrincessofWales.Instead, he spoke about England’slong and complicated history with France —and their hope for the future.

Allofthosefabricated stories appear to be artiﬁcial intelligence-generated stories pushed by Facebook pages,usually run by people in other countries, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines. Speciﬁcally,the LSUbased stories areshared from a Facebook fan page called LSU Gridiron Glory Why people make up this stuff —and what their endgameis —remains unclear.SoIstarted digging.

The LSU Gridiron Glory fan page says that eight of the page managerslive in Vietnam,two live in the U.S. and one lives in the Philippines. It alsosaid that it’sbased at 105 N. Main St., in Koosharem,Utah. The “about page” even includes aphone number

Icalled the number Awoman named Annette answered. She had no idea what I was talking about. She and her family runasmall farm. They used to accept wool and cotton from other people acrossthe countryand make yarn, but now they just farm. We chatted about my new loom.Then Iasked if she or her farmwere located on Main Street in Koosharem,population 310 people.

She said shewasn’t.

“I’m out of Koshurum,” Annette said. “That addressmight be the mercantile, or it might be achurch.”

She had no idea how her phone got associated with apage about LSU sports, but shewished she could help me with my new loom She’sthinking about getting one herself.

The hunt for other scam sites was on.

Ifound that there was asimilar SoonersGridiron Glory.Istarted digging into its “about” info and eventually learned that it uses the phone number and address for Ray’sBarbecue in Norman Oklahoma. Icalled. The waitress whoansweredsaid Ineeded to talk to Ray. He, too, was confused and told me they were not afﬁliated with theFacebook page, but that they serveamean version of St. Louis-style ribs

The listofsites pushing these made-up stories is long.

These types of stories are called “glurge,” deﬁned as “stories,often sent by email or social media, that aresupposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental,” according to dictionary.com

See RISHER, page 2Y

FILEPHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD

PHOTOSPROVIDED By LAND TRUST FORLOUISIANA

LandTrust for Louisiana holds yoga in the Sunflowers, an event that supports conservation across thestate, at Pine Knoll Farm —a working horse farmand conservation easement in Tangipahoa Parish. yoga in the Sunflowersistaking placethis summer at PineKnoll Farm in Independence.

ASK THE EXPERTS

Mentoring organization wins national award

Chapter president proud of members

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

Originally from Lake Charles,

Andre Harmon, a Southern University alumnus, is the current president of 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge, a nonproﬁt organization in which African American males step forward and assume roles of community leadership, responsibility and guidance. He is in his second year of his presidency and just last year celebrated the largest intake of new members at 84 men from all walks of life.

In 1993, 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge joined 100 Black Men of America with Brace Godfrey, Jr as its founding president. The chapter has grown from six founders in 1993 to 300 members in 2025. The organization fosters and develops programs that build community by enhancing the lives of the area’s African American youth.

This year 100 Black Men of America recognized 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge with the Large Chapter of the Year award out of 103 chapters in the country

How did you get involved with 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge?

I joined right about 10 years ago. I had a couple of friends who were doing some community service projects, and I was intrigued by what they were doing — mentoring young men. I’ve always had a zeal for mentoring as well, and so I decided to look into the organization. I saw they offered a lot of wonderful programs, so I decided to join right around that time.

What does winning the 100 Black Men of America Large Chapter of the Year award mean to you?

It’s one thing to do the work and try to make a difference in young people’s lives, but then when you’re recognized for your achievements, it’s really special. It motivates us as volunteers, as leaders, and then it also gives us a great talking point because

we’ve worked so hard to get them where they are. Which program are you most proud of?

I can’t say that I love all of them. I can tell you that the Project Excel, that’s the largest one. I don’t know how many children we’re going to have in August, but last year we had right at 150.

The good thing about the organization is that all of our other programs like the ﬁnancial literacy program, ACT prep and Young Investors Academy are available to the kids in the mentoring program. I love all of them, but the mentoring program is probably my favorite because those are the most kids that I interact with.

We have actually touched almost every public school, alternative school and charter school in Baton Rouge through our mentoring program. What would you like people to know about the organization that can’t be found in a press release?

I’ve sat in meetings with School Board individuals, and we actually have members on the School Board as well. And one of the things that they stressed to me is, if you can get a child as early as the fourth grade and make sure that he can read, then the rest of his school career might really take off.

Q&A WITH ANDRE HARMON PRESIDENT OF 100 BLACK MEN OF BATON ROUGE

We do ACT prep and STEM We do these things in conjunction with the Project Excel mentoring program. It’s multifaceted. We just try to do what we can, when we can I always have to make sure I give a shout out to all the volunteers of the organization who put this thing together. We have a lot of moving pieces, but the reason why we do so well is because the volunteers that we have give 110% I always love to acknowledge my members.

How are people’s lives impacted through the mentoring and programming that 100 Black Men offers in Baton Rouge? When I ﬁrst started out, I remember one young man who was in middle school when I started He was shy wouldn’t talk and hid behind his mom at our ﬁrst meeting. He went through the programs, joined the Collegiate 100, and we followed him from middle school all the way through college He graduated from college, and we just inducted him into the organization.

PHOTO PROVIDED By LAND TRUST FOR LOUISIANA Land Trust for Louisiana holds yoga in the Sunflowers, an event that supports conservation across the state, at Pine Knoll Farm — a working horse farm and conservation easement in Tangipahoa Parish. yoga in the Sunflowers is taking place this summer at Pine Knoll Farm in Independence.

LAND

Continued from page 1y

He’s the ﬁrst mentee to be inducted as a member of the organization. And now he’s this entrepreneur working on his master’s degree.

Those type of things, to me, speak volumes because it’s not just about the work that we do. When you follow the kids from middle school to high school and through college, it’s a really big deal for us. It makes us feel good to know that the work that we’re doing is actually being received at that level.

RISHER

Continued from page 1y across the river,” Brown said. “In 2000, he purchased Pine Knoll and immediately started asking about protecting Cherokee Beach but he realized that if he wanted to conserve it, he would have to buy it, too.” Addison, an equine veterinarian specializing in Thoroughbred racing, helped found the conservation nonproﬁt so that Louisiana would have its own, locallybased land trust to conserve smaller, ecologically-signiﬁcant properties that may fall under the radar of larger groups.

“Unfortunately, these types of posts are becoming more common on social media,” said Michael Bonnette, LSU sports information director

“We do the best we can to report them to whichever platform that they appear but other than that, there’s not much more we can do.”

Bonnette said LSU does not respond to the posts because they don’t want to give the generated posts any credibility

Why are people in Vietnam and the Philippines going to the trouble of creating these AI-generated images? Money

In stories, look for vague timelines, generic quotes or phrasing that seems too smooth. AI text often lacks specificity In photos, look closely at the lines where people and backgrounds meet. AI does something funny to those areas. AI is getting better, but it often distorts these subtly Extra fingers, warped glasses or melted jewelry are red flags. Check: n hands n eyes n teeth n text. (In the Peyton Manning/Nia story the wording in photos is garbled.)

The perfect place Land Trust for Louisiana now holds conservation easements on both Cherokee Beach and Pine Knoll Farm in Tangipahoa Parish — a working horse farm where Addison also manages new stands of longleaf pine, as part of ongoing longleaf restoration efforts by property owners and conservation groups on the Northshore. Pine Knoll Farm is a private property typically closed to the public, but as part of their awareness work, Land Trust for Louisiana hosts events on properties where they hold easements — like a birding field trip at Live Oak rice farm in Acadiana, fall hikes at the Abita Creek Flatwoods Preserve and a spring paddle

trip at Maurepas Swamp.

This month, Addison is opening Pine Knoll Farm for a special day of yoga next to a mature sunﬂower ﬁeld, where participants can pick their own flowers and take tours of the property following a gentle, all-skills yoga class.

“We’re in the heart of the Florida Parishes, surrounded by rolling hills and our native longleaf pine habitat,” said Addison. “This is something really unique for the area, in one of the most serene natural settings I can imagine.”

Brown added that the horse farm is the ideal place to unwind during the heat of summer, since the nearby river produces cool breezes across the property.

“Our goal for everyone

who participates is to leave feeling more connected to nature, themselves and to each other,” Brown said.

“One of the best ways to realize the true value of the nature that surrounds us is to immerse yourself in it.”

Yoga in the Sunflowers will be held 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 26, at Pine Knoll Farm, near Hammond. Tickets can be purchased at the Land Trust for Louisiana website Shade, refreshments and restrooms will be available.

Editor’s note: Staff writer Joanna Brown volunteers with Land Trust for Louisiana.

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

While the Facebook pages currently lack ads, commenters on “Country Nightfall” are often approached by proﬁles who appear to work with the page in messages — a setup likely to lead to money requests. Beyond that, David Ponevac, an AI-expert with Luceon LLC, says the scammers who operate these pages do so with purpose and strategy

“Facebook is a platform they use for sharing and building up a following,” Ponevac said.

“It is extremely simple to grow an audience on Facebook with fake/ outrageous stories. Then they encourage you to read the whole article, and you end up going to a site where they run ads.”

How to recognize glurge:

1. Check the story’s credibility Is it from a reputable outlet, with a named and traceable journalist or photographer? If you can’t verify authorship or source history, be skeptical

2. Examine the details.

3. Does the story pull at your heartstrings? While there are certainly real stories that are touching, AI-written stories often go to the extreme They mimic emotion, but they lack nuance or contradiction — a human story usually includes complexity, ﬂaws or unexpected details. If the story feels overly smooth, repetitive or emotionally forced, it’s likely AI.

4. Cross-reference facts. If you’re still not sure, Google names, places and events mentioned in the text. If you can’t ﬁnd independent conﬁrmation of key details, it is likely an AI-fabricated story

5. If you’re able, use reverse image search. Drop photos into Google Images or TinEye to see where else they appear If the same image shows up with different contexts or no real origin, it is likely AI-generated. In the age of AI, not every heartwarming story is real. If it sounds too good to be true especially on Facebook — it probably is.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate. com.

Andre Harmon sits with Project Excel mentees as they work on vision boards.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Andre Harmon, president of 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge

BY HANNAH LEVITAN Staff writer

Though violent crime rates have dipped both nationwide and in New Orleans, self defense experts say sharpening thesenses andpracticing strength training are still important tools for staying safe.

Whether you’re walking alone afterdarkornavigating unfamiliar streets, staying safe starts with staying aware, according to local black beltdojo instructors Sharon Davidson, Natsumi Sugiyama andKaty Ancelet.

For the three instructors, selfdefense starts long before any physical confrontation.And sometimes, taking basic safety precautions, like scanning your surroundings, can be just as powerful as learning other moves or techniques.

Ancelet, who is the lead instructor for the Judo Youth Program, said the mind can often shut down when presented with adangerous situation.

“But Ithink with continual (martial arts) practice,you can override that feelingofpanic so that your body reactsevenwhen your mind isn’tquitesure what to do.”

Mind andbody

At Shotokan Academy,where students train in karate,judo and aikido, Davidson, Sugiyama and Ancelet focus on empoweringindividualswho take their classes.

Martial arts trainingenhances strength, reﬂexes and coordination, along with othertechniques needed for self-defense.

“There’sasatisfaction and a

sense of well-being that comes with feeling strong,which Idon’t think women are necessarily encouraged to feel,” Davidson said.

Alarge part of Davidson’s introduction to martial arts wasthe desire to gain controlover potentially harmful situations.

After yearsofpractice, the karate instructorisnow conﬁdent in herabilitytodefendherself, though she saidshe hopestonever haveto.

“I deﬁnitely think thathaving someconﬁdenceinyour ability changesthe way that you carry

yourself,and people can recognizethatfor sure,” shesaid. Thephilosophy

Even withoutmartial arts experience, youcan stilldeploy preventativemeasures to diminish danger

“Your brain is your ﬁrst weapon for defense,” Davidson said. Sugiyamaadded that engaging in combat should be one’s last resort when encountering danger When leaving thedojolateat night, she often scans her surroundings and locates her car keys beforeheading outside.

“Martial arts is not just ﬁtness to me,it’smorelike aphilosophy,” Sugiyamasaid.

Howtoget involved

New Orleans Shotokan Academy offers avarietyofclasses forbeginnerslookingtolearn self-defense tactics

Otherspots likeNew Orleans Shaolin offer trauma-informed self-defense courses based on the art of kung fu. If you’re interested in practicing Krav Maga —ablend of martial art stylesthatfocusonreal-world situations— consider signing up for self-defense classes at DF6

Defense Academy,where training is informed “byreal-worldexperiences, encompassing insights from thebattleﬁeld, urban crime statistics, andcounter-terrorism strategies.”

The NewOrleansPoliceDepartment also offers afree seven-week Citizen’sPoliceAcademy program twiceayear that details theinner workings of thecriminaljustice system while offering safety tips. But above all, prevention is most important, Davidsonsaid. “A little bit more preparation and vigilance can go way farther than anything we can teach in two hours.”

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Krav Magaself-defense class participants learnthe best ways to punch and kick back at TriumphKravMaga.

FAITH & VALUES

Volunteer ﬁnds pristine abolitionist-era documents

Baptist archive in Massachusetts sheds light

BY MICHAEL CASEY Contributing writer

Jennifer Cromack was combing through the American Baptist archive when she uncovered a slim box among some 18th and 19th century journals. Opening it, she found a scroll in pristine condition.

A closer look revealed the 5-footlong (1.5-meter-long) document was a handwritten declaration titled, “A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery,” signed by 116 New England ministers in Boston and adopted March 2, 1847. Until its discovery in May at the archives in Groton, Massachusetts, American Baptist officials worried the anti-slavery document had been lost forever after fruitless searches at Harvard and Brown universities and other locations. A copy was last seen in a 1902 history book.

“I was just amazed and excited,” said Cromack, a retired teacher who volunteers at the archive. “We made a ﬁnd that really says something to the people of the state and the people in the country It speaks of their commitment to keeping people safe and out of situations that they should not be in.”

The document offers a glimpse into an emerging debate over

slavery in the 19th century in the Northeast

The document was signed 14 years before the start of the Civil War as a growing number of religious leaders were starting to speak out against slavery

Split over slavery

The document also shines a spotlight on a critical moment in the history of the Baptist church.

It was signed two years after the issue of slavery prompted southern Baptists to split from northern Baptists and form the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

The split in 1845 followed a ruling by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society prohibiting slave owners from becoming missionaries. The northern Baptists eventually became American Baptist Churches USA.

“It comes from such a critical era in American history, you know, right prior to the Civil War,” said the Rev Mary Day Hamel, the executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts.

“It was a unique moment in history when Baptists in Massachusetts stepped up and took a strong position and stood for justice in the shaping of this country,” she said.

“That’s become part of our heritage to this day to be people who stand for justice, for American Baptists to embrace diversity.”

A risky declaration

Deborah Bingham Van Broek-

hoven, the executive director emerita of the American Baptist Historical Society, said many Americans at the time, especially in the North, were “undecided” about slavery and weren’t sure how to respond or were worried about speaking out.

“They thought it was a Southern problem, and they had no business getting involved in what they saw as the state’s rights,”

Van Broekhoven said “Most Baptists, prior to this, would have refrained from this kind of protest. This is a very good example of them going out on a limb and trying to be diplomatic.”

The document shows ministers had hoped “some reformatory movement” led by those involved in slavery would make their action “unnecessary,” but that they felt compelled to act after they “witnessed with painful surprise, a growing disposition to justify, extend and perpetuate their iniquitous system.”

“Under these circumstances we can no longer be silent,” the document states. “We owe something to the oppressed as well as to the oppressor, and justice demands the fulﬁllment of that obligation. Truth and Humanity and Public Virtue, have claims upon us which we cannot dishonor.”

The document explains why the ministers “disapprove and abhor the system of American slavery.”

“With such a system we can have no sympathy,” the document states. “After a careful observa-

PROVIDED PHOTO

The document offers a glimpse into an emerging debate over slavery in the 19th century in the Northeast.

tion of its character and effects and making every deduction with the largest charity can require, we are constrained to regard it as an outrage upon the rights and happiness of our fellow men, for which there is no valid justiﬁcation or apology.”

Who signed the document?

The Rev Diane Badger, the administrator of the American Baptist Church of Massachusetts who oversees the archive, teamed up with the Rev John Odams of the First Baptist Church in Boston to identify what she called the “Holy Grail” of abolitionist-era Baptist documents. Her greatgrandfather was an American Baptist minister Since its discovery Badger has put all the ministers’ names on a spreadsheet along with the names of the churches where they served. Among them was Nathaniel Colver of Tremont

Temple in Boston, one of the ﬁrst integrated churches in the country, now known as Tremont Temple Baptist Church. Another was Baron Stow, who belonged to the state’s anti-slavery society Badger also is working to estimate the value of the document, which is intact with no stains or damage, and is making plans to ensure it is protected. A digital copy could eventually be shared with some of Massachusetts’ 230 American Baptist churches.

“It’s been kind of an interesting journey and it’s one that’s still unfolding,” Badger said. “The questions that always come to me, OK, I know who signed it but who didn’t? I can go through my list, through my database and ﬁnd who was working where on that and why didn’t they sign that. So it’s been very interesting to do the research.”

The Rev Kenneth Young — whose predominantly Black Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts was created by freed Blacks in 1871 — called the discovery inspiring.

“I thought it was awesome that we had over hundred signers to this, that they would project that freedom for our people is just,” Young said. “It follows through on the line of the abolitionist movement and fighting for those who may not have had the strength to fight for themselves against a system of racism.”

Once-extinct spring Chinook salmon back at Walla Walla

900 recorded in river result of decades of work

BY SUSAN SHAIN

Contributing writer

Editor’s note: This story, created by Susan Shain for Northwest Public Broadcasting, is part of the Solutions Story Tracker from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. Louisiana Inspired features solutions journalism stories that provide tangible evidence that positive change is happening in other places and in our own communities — solutions that can be adopted around the world.

In a tiny cement room under a big steel-and-cement bridge, Jerimiah Bonifer stood at a rectangular window Through the plexiglass pane, he had an underwater view of the Walla Walla River, which ﬂows from the Blue Mountains to the Columbia River

A camera sat trained on the window, collecting data that would be hand-reviewed by staff at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, or CTUIR. Bonifer, who manages fishery programs for the CTUIR, was excited by what the camera had captured: more than 900 spring Chinook salmon swimming past this bridge in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, as of late June.

That number is a significant jump from past years: roughly 500 in 2024 and roughly 60 in 2023. The growing numbers of Chinook are the result of decades of work by the CTUIR, as well as extensive collaboration with the Bonneville Power Administration and the governments of Washington and Oregon.

The CTUIR, which is a union of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, soon hopes to have a self-sustaining population of Chinook, with runs big enough to allow for tribal harvest.

“With spring Chinook actually returning in harvestable numbers, we’re gonna be restoring a connection to landscape that’s been missing for quite a while,” said Bonifer, who’s a CTUIR member “This relationship with the landscape, this relationship with the foods, is essential to our culture.”

A ‘First Foods’ mission Spring Chinook went extinct in the Walla Walla River about a century ago, after infrastructure built in the river caused it to run dry in the summers. Bonifer said other factors contributed to the extinction, too: overﬁshing, overallocation of water, and a lack of screens on irrigation systems, which meant salmon would pour

SHAIN

familiar with the speciﬁcs of the laws or their origins, he said the notion that states worked together and prioritized ﬁsh passage was noteworthy in itself.

“Usually states, pretty jealously protect state sovereignty over water,” he said. “So just the fact that these two states are engaging with each other on this level and making agreements that might limit one state’s or both states’ control over water resources, I really think is pretty groundbreaking.”

The first time water was protected through these news laws was in 2024, as part of a cooperative effort between the city of Walla Walla, the CTUIR and a nonproﬁt called the Washington Water Trust.

The 33,000-square-foot building has dozens of tanks that see the salmon through their first two years of life.

The hatchery’s construction was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, as part of its legally-required efforts to mitigate the impact of hydropower dams. The company also covers the hatchery’s ongoing operating and maintenance costs. In 2023, the hatchery released 500,000 smolt the first group of fish that it had reared from eggs to juveniles into the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek. Now, those fish are returning as 4-yearold adults.

onto farmers’ ﬁelds.

The loss of the salmon was devastating to the CTUIR. For the tribes, the ﬁsh are more than just a food source; they’re an integral part of their culture. So much so, the mission statement of the tribes’ Department of Natural Resources is to “protect, restore, and enhance the First Foods” — water, salmon, deer, roots and huckleberry that represent the region’s Indigenous people.

So in 2000, the CTUIR began making a pointed effort to bring Chinook back to the Walla Walla Basin. It started by planting adults, and later juveniles, or smolts, from the Carson National Fish Hatchery into the river

But not many salmon returned in the following years. And besides, releasing salmon from a different location seemed incongruous with the tribes’ ultimate goal of a naturally spawning local population. So the idea for a CTUIR-owned hatchery was born.

But ﬁrst, the water ﬂowing down the Walla Walla River which needed to be colder and more plentiful for the fish to survive their passage had to be addressed.

A groundbreaking new law

The tribes weren’t the only ones concerned about water in the Walla Walla Basin.

Brook Beeler, the eastern region director for Washington’s Department of Ecology, said that there had been “decades of frustration” because there wasn’t enough water to meet the needs of everyone: farmers, industry cities and tribes.

So in 2009, Washington’s Legislature developed a pilot program that gave those in the Walla Walla Basin more ﬂexibility in managing their water Despite some successes, the program didn’t result in more water in the streams — a necessity for ﬁsh migration. And after a decade, the CTUIR asked the state of Washington for more

help.

The Legislature directed the Department of Ecology to get involved again and this time, to include the state of Oregon, as well. The result was the Walla Walla Basin Advisory Committee.

Modeled after the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, which started in 2013, Walla Walla’s committee includes representatives from government, agriculture, business, recreation, conservation and more. The group also encourages the public to attend its monthly meetings.

“The overarching goal is to have that durable supply for everyone,” Beeler said. “People, farms and ﬁsh.”

In comparison to the pilot project, the new committee makes decisions by consensus rather than votes. Beeler said that’s been key to its success.

“Whereas before you could really just sit in your camp and vote how you wanted, now it really forces dialogue and understanding,” she said.

The committee’s biggest accomplishment, Beeler said, has been pushing for two new laws that allow the state of Washington to collectively manage water in the Walla Walla Basin with Oregon.

Now, when someone in Oregon adds more water to the proverbial water cooler that is the Walla Walla River, Washington’s Department of Ecology can preserve that water, too, ensuring it ﬂows all the way to the Columbia River and out to sea The laws that allow this were among the ﬁrst of their kind nationwide.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” said Dylan Hedden-Nicely, a professor and head of the Native American law program at the University of Idaho and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. “I think that this serves as maybe an example or a precedent for better intergovernmental, transboundary water resources management.”

While Hedden-Nicely wasn’t

The city, which has some Oregon water rights despite being in Washington agreed to put some of its Oregon water into an aquifer during the winter, when demand for water is lower The city then diverts less water during the dry summer months using what’s stored in the aquifers instead — thereby preserving more stream ﬂow for ﬁsh in Mill Creek, a tributary of the Walla Walla River.

Greg McLaughlin works for the Washington Water Trust. In the West, he said there’s been a long history of litigation when it comes to water rights But that attitude has been changing, especially in this region.

“There’s a lot of places where water is this kind of place of conﬂict — and truly in the Walla Walla, this is a place where partners are working on behalf of one another,” he said “There’s a real spirit of, ‘We can do more together than we can separately.’”

Beeler echoed that sentiment. She brought up an old saying: “Whisky’s for drinkin’ and water’s for ﬁghtin’.”

“That has really been what water management has been, up until the last, probably, 10 to 20 years,” she said. “We’re learning that you’re much more successful when you have all the interests working together towards common goals.”

500,000 smolt

Back at the bridge in MiltonFreewater, Emily Meshke opened the lid of a big silver tank truck. About 30 salmon swam around, the water burbling around them. Meshke, who works at the CTUIR’s Imtwaha Fish Hatchery, was collecting these adult ﬁsh from the Walla Walla River to use as “broodstock.” She’ll put the ﬁsh into a holding pond to mature and spawn, thereby providing the hatchery with smolts that can be released in future years. Imtwaha, the first hatchery that’s fully owned and operated by the CTUIR, sits on a 12-acre site on the South Fork of the Walla Walla River about nine miles from Milton-Freewater

“I was just excited to see a lot of ﬁsh showing up,” said hatchery manager Thomas Tall Bull, who is Cayuse and an enrolled member of the Nez Perce tribe.

Imtwaha’s program has continued to release another halfmillion smolt every spring, with the eventual goal of having 5,000 return annually Those stark numbers reveal the limitations of these efforts: Surviving as a salmon is difﬁcult, even with lots of help. It’s especially difficult when they must pass through a system ﬁlled with dams and other infrastructure. And when climate change is bearing down on them, too.

“I’m kind of worried about drought, kind of worried about ﬁre, I’m worried about habitat — especially low ﬂows and warmer temps,” Tall Bull said. “The tribe is doing their best to make up for that.”

And if the CTUIR succeed, Tall Bull said the return of spring Chinook would beneﬁt far more than just the tribes.

Salmon “bring nutrients to the water from the ocean, not just to humans, but to all walks of life,” he said. “Everything flourishes with what salmon bring to the area, because they’re a keystone species.”

Earlier this spring, Bonifer thought there might be enough returning Chinook to have a harvest.

But the returns were about 100 fish shy of what the tribes’ Fish and Wildlife Commission was looking for The agency only opens ﬁshing after an adequate number of salmon have been captured for the hatchery and an adequate number have escaped to spawn naturally

Still, Bonifer is hopeful it’ll happen next year Or the year after that. Whenever it does, he will celebrate his people’s return to the river to catch spring Chinook, prepare them for ceremonies and feast together as they have for millennia.

“We’re not just thinking about today, we’re not just thinking about tomorrow,” Bonifer said. “We’re thinking seven generations ahead.”

PROVIDED PHOTO By SUSAN

Jerimiah Bonifer, fisheries program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, looks for salmon in Milton-Freewater, Ore.

SUNDAY, JUlY 20, 2025

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis

grams

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

word game

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — sHiBBoLetH: SHIBoh-leth: A common saying or belief with little current meaning.

Average mark 41 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 62 or more words in SHIBBOLETH?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

Sudoku

wuzzLes

The mighty five

North opened an off-shape one no-trump, which did not have much effect on the auction.

North-South reached the best game contract available to them.

West in today’s deal was Gunnar Hallberg. Hallberg is a native of Sweden, but he has lived in London for many years, playing rubber bridge for the highest stakes he can find. He has made occasional forays into the tournament world with notable success. All the world’s best players know exactly who he is.

Hallberg started by cashing his two top hearts. Not seeing anything better to do, he continued with a third round of the suit.

Declarer ruffed with dummy’s jack and discarded a low club from his hand. He led a spade to his queen, losing to Hallberg’s king. Hallberg led a fourth round of hearts. East ruffed this with the five of spades, promoting Hallberg’s trump holding into another trick. Down one after a lovely defense. It would not have helped declarer to ruff the third heartwithdummy’ssixofspades.

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

super Quiz

Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

SUBJECT: CLASSIC COMMERCIAL BLURBS

Provide the missing word to complete the commercial blurb. (e.g., Kodak: “Share moments. Share ” Answer: Life.)

FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. The New York Times: “All the news that’s fit to

If he then overtook the jack of spades with the queen, Hallberg would win and a fourth round of hearts would achieve the same promotion. Should declarer run the jack, Hallberg would duck and South would not be able to get off the table effectively. There is a winning play. South has to win the first round of spades with his ace and continue with the queen. That would prevent the uppercut and bring home the contract.

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2025 Tribune Content Agency

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Knowledge will be crucial when making decisions that will have a lasting impact. Explain your intentions and offer incentives when dealing with opposition. Live by your word and honor your promises.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Do some research and make a change that will enhance your life. Be part of the solution and do what’s best for you It’s up to you to protect your rights and create opportunities

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) A tactful approach will help ward off opposition. Refuse to let your emotions

swing wildly if someone opposes you. Don’t share your secrets or fall prey to jealousy LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Jump into action, take control and make things happen. Use your flair, enthusiasm and connections to spread the word and make a difference. Proceed with caution.

SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 22) Explore the possibilities, travel, attend venues that interest you, expand your mind and try new things. It’s up to you to embrace life instead of waiting for things to come to you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) You will be confused by the choices available to you. Consider what you want to do and what you must do, and plan a schedule that helps you manage your responsibilities.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Look for financial opportunities while being leery of joint ventures or shared expenses. Don’t feel obligated to pay for someone else’s mistake or try to buy someone’s love.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Hosting an event or accepting an invitation will lead to interesting encounters. Embrace the possibilities and enjoy

the people you meet along the way Put yourself out there.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Look at and consider what interests you, but refuse to commit until you can verify facts and figures. Keep in mind that your happiness is your responsibility

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Articulate, pontificate and make yourself heard. Don’t hesitate to take an opportunity to speak your mind at a public forum. It’s in your best interest to do your part.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Gather information and facts to convince

others to see things your way Being armed with knowledge instead of relying on force will help you get your way

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) If you change, others will follow. Set the pace and lead the way A quest for knowledge will take you on a worthwhile journey that points you in a promising direction.

goren Bridge

Answers

to puzzles

super quiz

1. Print. 2. Upper.3.Diamond. 4. Finger. 5. Home. 6. Beef. 7. Break.8.Your.9.Eat. 10. Sing. 11.Wallet. 12.Neighbor.13. Bun. 14.Worth. 15.Waking.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

CryptoquoteAnswer

All waterhas aperfect memoryand is forever trying to getback to whereitwas. —Toni Morrison

word GAmeAnswer

sudoKu Answer jumble Answer

Crossword Answers

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Ken Ken Answers

hidAtoAnswers

jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly

FoXtrot/ by BillAmend

dustin /bySteve Kelley&JeffParker

The Times-Picayune 07-20-2025

Solitude afterthe storm

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Israeli troops kill 32, Gaza officials say

group’s food distribution sites

Car strikes crowd outside L.A. venue, injuring 30

Bystanders attack driver, who was shot

Trumpchisels away at powerofcompliant Congress

Tech CEOresigns aftercontroversy over Coldplay concertvideo

Family sues Atlantaoverhomelesscampdeath

Syria urges Bedouin tribes to commit to ceasefire

Congo, Rwanda-backed rebels

SOLITUDE

Surrogates speakout aboutcoupleunder investigation

Bangladesh’s Islamist partyprojectsforce with rallyinDhaka

Othercorruption

Multi-disciplinary collaborationisthe heartbeatofthe Lakeview Hospital cardiovascular care team

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Johnsongetsfunding clawback legislationpassed

Victorycomesamid

Epstein filesimbroglio

CAPITOL BUZZ staff reports

ADVERTISEMENT

Texas’ search for flood victims stretches into 3rd week

Man dies after heavy chain around neck pulls him into MRI machine

Gene therapy maker says it won’t halt shipments despite patient deaths

THE GULF COAST

NewparkinFlorida expands public beachaccess,parking

Anglerscatch 1,000-pound tiger

Trump’s tariff threat pushes Brazil’s Lula’s popularity

footwear

Essence hotel bookings declined

Short-term rentals were also down sharply

N.O. libraries dip into rainy-day fund

STILL AT LARGE

INJURED

ESSENCE

GROVES

ZONING

Drouant,Joy AnnMejia

OUR VIEWS

Allacross La., there’s good news on crime

OPINION

ANOTHERVIEW

Anew trend: Gettheetoanunnery

COMMENTARY

As N.O. enters itspolitical season,changeisinthe air

NewOrleans Forecast

Summer optimism for Pels in s ort

Scheffler appears inevitable at British Open SPORTS

DO PENNING

Logano youngest to hit 600 starts

Shorthanded

Germany beats France at Women’s Euro

OUTDOORS

LDWF distributes 5M Fla.-strainbass

it

NFL PLAYER RANKINGS

TWO CLOSE TO CALL

Kittle’s all-around game earns him top tight end

Barkley top RB after record-setting year

WNBA commissioner says labor deal will get done

SAINTS

SHOUGH

SAINTS SIGN VETERAN D-LINEMAN AHEAD OF CAMP

WALKER

BRITISH OPEN

Li aims to be China’s ﬁrst major winner

ALouisiana

IT’S A RUFF LIFE

ON THE DINING SCENE

Global eventputsN.O.cocktailculture in spotlight

Talesofthe Cocktail returnsthisweek

Soakinginthe scene

n Guardian Angels

Nell Nolan SOCIETY

LAZARUS LANTERN and

n AndAll That Pizzazz

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

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