‘I hope Imadeyou proudout there’
safety TyrannMathieu
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
There aren’tmany football players who have meant more to Louisiana than Tyrann Mathieu. Anative of New Orleans, borninthe 7thWard, Mathieu wasanoutright star at St. Augustine. He was asensation at LSU, where he earned “Honey Badger” as anickname.And he thrived
ä Rod Walker:Tyrann Mathieu played football for morethan himself. PAGE 1C
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
Starting this year,Louisiana school districts must installcameras in allspecial-education classrooms and makechanges to their special education policies, undera new state lawthat puts additional safeguards in place forstudents with disabilities. UnderAct 479, whichthe Legislaturepassed this year,schools must place at least one camera in every special-education classroom by February
The law also puts new restrictions on the practiceofphysically restraining students with disabilitiesorputtingtheminseparate “seclusion” rooms.For example,aschool nurse or other staffermust visit any student whoissecluded or restrainedand school personnelmustfile detailed incident reports. Those changes take effect Dec 1, though districtshaveuntilMay to submit updated policies to the state.
Thelaw also authorizesthe stateeducationdepartmenttodevelop afree “crisisintervention” training program forschool staffers on howto properly restrain students during emergencies. The training is expected to roll out this fall. The changes come after a2024 report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’sOffice found that, despite warnings from advocates and the federal government that using seclusion and restraint in schoolscan endangerstudents and potentially violate their rights, the state Education Departmenthad failed to properly monitor how public
Speakertryingtoavoid vote on releasingdocuments
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sent U.S. representatives home a day early as adebate over whethertorelease records from the federal investigation into convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein continues to roil Congress. For more than aweek, Democrats anda handful of Republicans in Congresshave repeatedly pressed for avote to demand the release of the Epstein files. Those demands have haunted proceedings in both chambers of Congress.
in theNFL, winning accolade after accolade on his way to eventually playing forhis hometown team Now,he’scalling it acareer TheNew Orleans Saints safety unexpectedlyannounced his retirement Tuesdayonaday when he was supposed to reportfor training camp. Instead,the 33-year-old decided to hang up his cleats after 12 seasons— stepping away from a decorated career that saw Mathieu earnthree All-Pros, threePro Bowls and win one Super Bowl. The decision took theSaints some-
House leadership had hoped to vote on an immigration measure and abill on environmental regulation this week. But that can’t happen without theHouseRulesCommittee first clearing thelegislation, and that panel hasbogged down as Democrats repeatedly try to force avote on releasing the files. Johnson, aRepublican from the Shreveport area, made clear the House would not voteonresolutions involving the Epstein files until the Trump administrationhas an opportunity to get approvalfrom afederal district court to release grand jury testimony “Weall understand that the America First agenda and the American people arebest served by puttinganend to the Democrats’
ä See HOUSE, page 6A
ä See MATHIEU, page 6A
ä See SCHOOLS, page 6A
Colbert jokes about ‘cancel culture’
Stephen Colbert returned for his first full program after last week’s announcement that CBS was canceling his “Late Show” with some supportive late-night guests, a joke about cancel culture and an extremely pointed remark directed at President Donald Trump.
“I’m going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture’s gone way too far,” Colbert said to a rambunctious audience that loudly chanted his name. CBS and parent Paramount Global said the decision to end the “Late Show” next May was purely financial. It hasn’t gone unnoticed and was mentioned by Colbert on Monday night — that the announcement came days after the comic had sharply criticized Paramount’s $16 million settlement of Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview Colbert, known for his sharp comic takedowns of the Republican president, said that “over the weekend, it sunk in that they killed off our show But they made one mistake. They left me alive.” Now, he said, “I can say what I really think of Donald Trump, starting right now.” As his audience cheered him on, Colbert said, “I don’t care for him. Doesn’t seem to have the skill set to be president.”
He read a passage from a Trump social media message saying that he loved that the “untalented” Colbert had been fired.
“How dare you, sir,” Colbert said. “Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?” The show switched to a close-up camera where Colbert appeared to say, “f*** you,” the word bleeped out and his mouth blurred.
Jim Jordan deposed in suit tied to sex abuse
COLUMBUS, Ohio Republican
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan was among those questioned under oath this month about the sexual abuse of Ohio State University athletes decades ago by a team doctor according to a court filing.
Jordan’s deposition Friday came in a federal lawsuit brought by former student athletes against the university over its failure to stop abuse by Dr Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. Hundreds say they were abused by Strauss, who worked at the school from 1978 to 1998.
Many ex-wrestlers over the years have accused Jordan, who served as assistant coach of the Ohio State wrestling team from 1986 to 1994, of knowing about the abuse and failing to act.
The 10-term congressman’s office had declined to confirm Friday’s deposition, but it reiterated Jordan’s denial of any awareness of Strauss’ crimes or the coverup. “As everyone knows, (House Judiciary) Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,” a statement said. Jordan formerly sat for questioning during the university’s independent investigation of the matter, but this was his first time under oath.
A Monday court filing shows attorneys for the former athletes also questioned Michael Murphy and John Doe 72, both plaintiffs in the case and former long-time Ohio State Athletic Director Andy Geiger
No lifeguard on duty when actor drowned
There was no lifeguard on duty when Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on Sunday, according to the nation’s volunteer lifeguard group. Warner 54, was caught in a rip current and drowned on Playa Grande in Limon, the Caribbean Guard said Monday Bystanders attempted to save Warner and performed CPR on the beach, but it was unsuccessful, the group said.
“Playa Grande is one of our most challenging beaches,” the Caribbean Guard wrote “It’s a beach known by local surfers and there are signs (in English and Spanish) that warn of the danger of death by drowning.”
However, the lifeguard group had moved resources to two other nearby beaches, Playa Negra and Chiquita, known for their own strong rip currents.
BY DIDI TANG and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump
said he has reached a trade agreement with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr., following a meeting Tuesday at the White House, that will see the U.S. slightly drop its tariff rate for the Philippines without paying import taxes for what it sells there.
Trump revealed the broad terms of the agreement on his social media network and said the U.S. and the Philippines would work together militarily The announcement of a loose framework of a deal comes as the two countries are seeking closer security and economic ties in the face of shifting geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region.
Marcos’ government indicated ahead of the meeting that he was prepared to offer zero tariffs on some U.S. goods to strike a deal with Trump. The Philippine Embassy did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Marcos’ three-day visit to Washington shows the importance of the alliance between the treaty partners as China is increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have clashed over the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal.
Washington sees Beijing, the world’s No 2 economy, as its biggest competitor, and consecutive presidential administrations have sought to shift U.S. military and economic focus to the Asia-Pacific in a bid to counter China. Trump, like others before him, has been distracted by efforts to broker peace in a range of conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza.
Trump said on Truth Social that the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff rate on
the Philippines, down from a 20% tariff he threatened starting Aug. 1. In return, he said, the Philippines would have an open market and the U.S would not pay tariffs.
Without further details on the agreement, it’s unclear how it will impact their countries’ economies.
Trump wrote that Marcos’ visit was “beautiful,” and it was a “Great Honor” to host such a “very good, and tough, negotiator.”
Appearing before reporters in the Oval Office ahead of their private meeting, Marcos spoke warmly of the ties between the two nations.
“This has evolved into as important a relationship as is possible to have,” said Marcos, the first Southeast Asian leader to hold talks with Trump in his second term.
When asked how he plans to balance his country’s relationships between the U.S. and China, Marcos said there was no need to balance “because our foreign policy is an independent one.”
“Our strongest partner has always been the United States,” said Marcos, whose country is one of the oldest U.S. treaty allies in the Pacific region.
On Tuesday when asked about the U.S. defense commitment to the Philippines, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, “Whatever cooperation the U.S. and the Philippines have, it should not target or harm any third party, still less incite confrontation and heighten tensions in the region.”
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have been involved in long-unresolved territorial conflicts in the South China Sea, a busy shipping passage for global trade.
The Chinese coast guard has repeatedly used water cannons to hit Filipino boats in the South China Sea. China accused those vessels of entering the waters illegally or encroaching on its territory
refuses to extend their
BY SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press
Thousands of Afghans in the U.S. are no longer protected from deportation after a federal appeals court refused to postpone the Trump administration’s decision to end their legal status.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia said in a ruling late Monday there was “insufficient evidence to warrant the extraordinary remedy of a postponement” of the administration’s decision not to extend Temporary Protected Status for people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.
TPS for Afghans ended July 14, but was briefly extended by the appeals court through July 21 while it considered an emergency request for a longer postponement.
The Department of Homeland Security in May said it was ending
Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days
That status — in place since 2022 — had allowed them to work and meant the government couldn’t deport them.
CASA, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, sued the administration over the TPS revocation for Afghans as well as for people from Cameroon, which expire August 4.
It said the decisions were racially motivated and failed to follow a process laid out by Congress.
A federal judge allowed the lawsuit to go forward but didn’t grant CASA’s request to keep the protections in place while the lawsuit plays out.
A phone message for CASA on Tuesday was not immediately returned. Without an extension, TPS holders from Afghanistan and Cameroon face a “devastating choice — abandoning their homes, relinquishing their employment, and uprooting their lives to return to a country where they face the threat of severe physical harm or even death, or remaining in the
Fla. sheriff says there’s more to story
BY JEFF MARTIN Associated Press
A video showing Florida deputies punching and dragging a Black man from his car during a traffic stop has sparked nationwide outrage, with civil rights lawyers accusing authorities of fabricating their arrest report.
The footage shows that William McNeil Jr., 22, was sitting in the driver’s seat, asking to speak to the Jacksonville deputies’ supervisor, when authorities broke his window, punched him in the face, pulled him from the vehicle, punched him again and threw him to the ground.
“What happened to William McNeil Jr is a disturbing reminder that even the most basic rights — like asking why you’ve been pulled over — can be met with violence for Black Americans,” lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels said in a statement. Crump is a Black civil rights attorney who has gained national prominence representing victims of police brutality and vigilante violence.
“William was calm and compliant,” they said. “Yet instead of answers, he got his window smashed and was punched in the face, all over a questionable claim about headlights in broad daylight.”
The sheriff said the cellphone camera footage from inside the car “does not comprehensively capture the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
But Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters says there’s more to the story than the cellphone video that went viral. He warned the public about “a rush to judgment” that could lead to faulty conclusions. McNeil’s lawyers say the video clearly depicts police brutality
Body camera footage of the encounter shows that McNeil had been repeatedly told to exit the vehicle, and though McNeil earlier had his car door open while talking with authorities, he later closed it and appeared to keep it locked for about three minutes before deputies forcibly removed him.
The vantage point of the bodycam footage that was released makes it difficult to see the punches that were thrown.
The cellphone footage from the Feb. 19 arrest shows that seconds before being dragged outside, McNeil had his hands up and did not appear to be resisting as he asked, “What is your reason?” He had pulled over and had been accused of not having his headlights on, even though it was daytime, his lawyers said.
“Part of that stems from the distance and perspective of the recording cell phone camera,” the sheriff said in a statement, adding that the video did not capture events that occurred before officers decided to arrest McNeil. Cameras “can only capture what can be seen and heard,” the sheriff added.
“So much context and depth are absent from recorded footage because a camera simply cannot capture what is known to the people depicted in it.”
A key point of contention in the police report is a claim that McNeil was reaching toward an area where a knife was. Deputies later found the knife on the driver’s side floorboard of his car when they searched it after taking McNeil into custody
“The suspect was reaching for the floorboard of the vehicle where a large knife was sitting,” Officer D. Bowers wrote in his report.
“The suspect continued to attempt to pull away from officers and refused to place his hands behind his back.”
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United States in a state of legal uncertainty while they wait for other immigration processes to play out,” CASA warned in court documents.
In its decision on Monday the appeals court said CASA had made a “plausible” legal claim against the administration, and urged the lower court to move the case forward expeditiously
It also said many of the TPS holders from the two countries may be eligible for other legal protections that remain available to them. Temporary Protected Status can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people who face safety concerns in their home countries because of armed conflict, environmental disaster or other conditions. They can’t be deported and can work legally in the U.S., but they don’t have a pathway to citizenship.
The status, however is inherently precarious because it is up to the Homeland Security secretary to renew the protections regularly usually every 18 months.
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Ex-Black Sabbath lead singer became a reality star
BY MARK KENNEDY
AP entertainment writer
Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice and drug-and-alcohol ravaged id — of heavy metal, died Tuesday, just weeks after his farewell show He was 76.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” a family statement from Birmingham, England, said. In 2020, he revealed he had Parkinson’s disease after suffering a fall.
Either clad in black or bare-chested, the singer was often the target of parents’ groups for his imagery and once caused an uproar for biting the head off a bat. Later, he would reveal himself to be a doddering and sweet father on the reality TV show “The Osbournes.”
Black Sabbath’s 1969 self-titled debut LP has been likened to the Big Bang of heavy metal. It came during the height of the Vietnam War and crashed the hippie party, dripping menace and foreboding. The cover of the record was of a spooky figure against a stark landscape. The music was loud, dense and angry, and marked a shift in rock ’n’ roll.
The band’s second album, “Paranoid,” included such classic metal tunes as “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Fairies Wear Boots.” The song “Paranoid” only reached No 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 but became in many ways the band’s signature song. Both albums were voted among the top 10 greatest heavy metal albums of all time by readers of Rolling Stone magazine “Black Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy metal. Anybody who’s serious about metal will tell you it all comes down to Sabbath,” Dave Navarro of the band Jane’s Addiction wrote in a 2010 tribute in Rolling
Stone. “There’s a direct line you can draw back from today’s metal, through Eighties bands like Iron Maiden, back to Sabbath.” Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, like showing up late for rehearsals and missing gigs. “We knew we didn’t really have a choice but to sack him because he was just so out of control. But we were all very down about the situation,” wrote bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler in his memoir, “Into the Void.”
Osbourne reemerged the next year as a solo artist with “Blizzard of Ozz” and the following year’s “Diary of a Madman,” both hard rock classics that went multiplatinum and spawned enduring favorites such as “Crazy Train,” “Goodbye to Romance,” “Flying High Again” and “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll.” Osbourne was twice inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame once with Sabbath in 2006 and again in 2024 as a solo artist
The original Sabbath lineup reunited for the first time in 20 years in July for what Osbourne said would be his final concert. Metallica, Guns N Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in
Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon all did sets. Tom Morello, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, Ronnie Wood, Travis Barker Sammy Hagar and more made appearances.
“Black Sabbath: We’d all be different people without them, that’s the truth,” said Pantera singer Phil Anselmo. “I know I wouldn’t be up here with a microphone in my hand without Black Sabbath.”
Osbourne embodied the excesses of metal. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably biting the head off the live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert (He said he thought it was rubber.)
Osbourne was sued in 1987 by parents of a 19-year-old teen who died by suicide while listening to his song “Suicide Solution.” The lawsuit was dismissed. Osbourne said the song was really about the dangers of alcohol, which caused the death of his friend Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC.
Then-Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York claimed in 1990 that
10 killed at assisted-living facility
BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press
FALL RIVER, Mass. — A fire that killed 10 people at a Massachusetts assisted-living facility was unintentionally caused by either someone smoking or an electrical issue with an oxygen machine, investigators said Tuesday The state’s deadliest blaze in more than four decades has highlighted the lack of regulations governing assisted-living facilities that often care for low-income or disabled residents. So far, investigators have remained mum on the possibility of criminal charges related to
the fire at Gabriel House in Fall River and declined to answer when asked during a Tuesday press conference.
The Massachusetts fire marshal, Jon Davine, said the presence of medical oxygen contributed to the fire’s spread on the night of July 13. The blaze left some residents of the three-story building hanging out windows and screaming for help.
“Please, there’s truly no safe way to smoke. But smoking is especially dangerous when home oxygen is in use,” Davine said Tuesday Investigators are still collecting evidence on numerous aspects of the case, including whether the facility’s sprinkler system worked as it should, said Thomas Quinn, the district attorney for Bristol County He told reporters there was no sign
that electrical outlets, lights, heaters or cooking appliances sparked the fire.
The blaze began in a studio apartment on the second floor of the facility, where investigators found the remains of smoking materials, a battery-powered scooter and an oxygen concentrator It’s hard to know exactly what happened, Davine said, because the person who lived in the room was among the victims of the fire.
Members of the local firefighter’s union have said understaffing made it harder to respond to the blaze, and made the fire deadlier
Earlier Tuesday, Democratic Gov Maura Healey said the state was releasing $1.2 million to hire more emergency response personnel for the blue-collar city about 50 miles south of Boston.
Osbourne’s songs led to demonic possession and even suicide. “You are ignorant about the true meaning of my songs,” the singer wrote back. “You have also insulted the intelligence of rock fans all over the world.”
Audiences at Osbourne shows could be mooned or spit on by the singer They would often be hectored to scream along with the song, but the Satan-invoking Osbourne would usually send the crowds home with their ears ringing and a hearty “God bless!”
He started an annual tour — Ozzfest — in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what was then the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza. Ozzfest has gone on to host such bands as Slipknot, Tool, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.
Osbourne’s look changed little over his life. He wore his long hair flat, heavy black eye makeup and round glasses, often wearing a cross around his neck. In 2013, he reunited with Black Sabbath for the dour, raw “13,” which reached No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and peaked at No. 86 on the U.S. Billboard 200. In 2019, he had a Top 10 hit when featured on Post Malone’s “Take What You Want,” Osbourne’s first song in the Top 10 since 1989.
In 2020, he released the album “Ordinary Man,” which had as its title song a duet with Elton John. In 2022, he landed his first career back-to-back No. 1 rock radio singles from his album “Patient Number 9,” which featured collaborations with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan. It earned four Grammy nominations, winning two. (Osbourne won five Grammys over his lifetime.)
John Michael Osbourne was raised in the gritty city of Birmingham. Kids in school nicknamed him Ozzy, short for his surname As a boy, he loved the Four Seasons, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The Beatles made a huge impression.
“They came from Liverpool, which was approximately 60 miles north of where I come from,” he told Billboard. “So all of a sudden it was in my grasp, but I never thought it would be as successful as it became.”
In the late 1960s, Osbourne had teamed up with Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward as the Polka Tulk Blues Band. They decided to rename the band Earth, but found to their dismay there was another band with that name. So they changed the name to the American title of the classic Italian horror movie “I Tre Volti Della Paura,” starring Boris Karloff: Black Sabbath.
Once they found their sludgy ominous groove, the band was productive, putting out their self-titled debut and “Paranoid” in 1970, “Master of Reality” in 1971, “Vol. 4” in 1972 and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” in 1973.
The music was all about industrial guitar riffs and disorienting changes in time signatures, along with lyrics that spoke of alienation and doom. The Guardian newspaper in 2009 said the band “introduced working-class anger stoner sludge grooves and witchy horror-rock to flower power Black Sabbath confronted the empty platitudes of the 1960s and, along with Altamont and Charles Manson, almost certainly helped kill off the hippy counterculture.”
After Sabbath, Osbourne had an uncanny knack for calling some of the most creative young guitarists to his side. When he went solo, he hired the brilliant innovator Rhoads, who played on two of Osbourne’s finest solo albums, “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman.” Rhoads was killed in a freak plane accident in 1982; Osbourne released the live album “Tribute” in 1987 in his memory Osbourne then signed Jake E. Lee, who lent his talents to the platinum albums “Bark at the Moon” and “The Ultimate Sin.” Hotshot Zakk Wylde joined Osbourne’s band for “No Rest for the Wicked” and the multiplatinum “No More Tears.”
Much later, a whole new Osbourne would be revealed when “The Osbournes,” which ran on MTV from 2002-2005, showed this one-time self-proclaimed madman drinking Diet Cokes as he struggled to find the History Channel on his new satellite television or warning his kids not to smoke or drink before they embarked on a night on the town.
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BY ERIC TUCKER and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump rehashed longstanding grievances over the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his first term, lashingout Tuesday following anew report from his intelligence director aimed at casting doubt on long-established findingsabout Moscow’s interference in the2016election.
“It’stime to go after people,” Trump said from the Oval Office as he repeated a baseless claimthat former President Barack Obama andother officials hadengaged in treason.
Trump was not making his claims for the first time, but he delivered them when administrationofficials are harnessingthe machinery of thefederal government to investigate the targets of Trump’sderision, including key officials responsible forscrutinizingRussia’s attemptstointervene on Trump’sbehalf in 2016.
Thebackward-looking inquiries are taking place even as the Republican administration’snational security agencies are confronting global threats.
But they haveserved as arallyingcry forTrump, who is tryingtounifyapolitical base at odds over the Jeffrey Epstein case, with some alliespressing to disclosemoreinformation despite the president’spush to turnthe page.
Trump’sattack prompted arare response from Obama’spost-presidential
office.
“Ouroffice does not normally dignify theconstant nonsenseand misinformation flowing out of this White House with aresponse,” said Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesman.
“Buttheseclaims areoutrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous anda weak attemptatdistraction.”
Trump’stirade,a detour from his official business as he hostedthe leader of thePhilippines, unfolded againstthe backdrop of a newreport from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard thatrepresented his administration’slatest attempttorewrite thehistory of the Russia investigation, which has infuriated him for years.
Thereport,released Friday, downplayed theextent of Russian interference in
Hunter Bidenlashesout over father’s 2024 campaign
ProminentDems likeClooney,party advisers criticized
BY MEG KINNARD and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON Former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter,seen by some as the problem child of the Democratic Party for legal and drug-related woes that brought negative attention to his father,islashing out against Democratic“elites” and others over the way he says his father was treated during last year’spresidential campaign.
Hunter Bidenspoke publicly in recent interviews about last year’selection, when Joe Biden ultimately dropped his bid and Donald Trump won the White House. In athree-hour, expletivefilled online interview with Andrew Callaghan of Channel 5, he directed iretoward actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney for his decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his 2024 reelection bid.
He also ranted against longtime Democratic advisers he accused of making money off the party and trading off previous electoral successes, but not helping candidates’ current efforts.
The lengthy screed made plainthe youngerBiden’s feelings that his father was mistreated by those around him in the waning days of his candidacy and administration. He also laid bare critiques of the party’sopewration and operatives that, he says, aren’twell-serving its opposition to Trump and the Republican Party Here’salook at someof the momentsinHunter Biden’sinterview:
Hunter Biden spared no feelingsinhis assessment of
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
In 2022, President JoeBiden shakes hands withactor, directorand producer GeorgeClooneyduring the Kennedy Center honorees reception at the White House.
the actor,questioning why anyone shouldlisten to the “Ocean’sEleven” star Clooney supportedJoe Biden’sbid for asecond term,even headlining a record-setting fundraiser for the then-president, but changed his stance after Biden’sdisastrous debate performance against Trump in June 2024.
Clooney madehis feelings known in an opinion piece in The New York Times, addinghis voice to mounting calls forthe then-81-year-old president to drop his presidentialbid. Biden ended up leaving the race afew weeks later and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, who wentontolose to Trump.
“Whatright do youhave to step on aman who’sgiven 52 years of hisf****** life to theservices ofthis country anddecidethat you, George Clooney,are going to take out basicallya full page ad in the f****** New York Times to undermine the president,” Hunter Biden said before he trailed offto talkabout how Republicans are more unified than Democrats.
Los Angeles-basedrepresentatives for Clooney did
not respond to an emailed request for comment Therewere also weighty critiques of anumber of longtime Democratic advisers.
Anita Dunn, alongtime Biden senior adviser,has made“$40 to $50 million” off of work for the Democratic Party, Hunter Biden said James Carville, adviser to former President Bill Clinton, “hasn’trun arace in 40 f****** years.”
Former Obama strategist David Axelrod, Hunter Biden said, “had onesuccess in his political life, and that was Barack Obama —and thatwas because of Barack Obama.” Otherformer Obama aides whonow host “Pod Save America,” are “four white millionairesthat are dining out on their association with Barack Obama from 16 years ago,” he said. One of thefour, Tommy Vietor,Monday on social media applaudedHunter Biden’sdecision “to process the election, look inward, andholdhimself accountablefor how hisfamily’s insular,dare Isay arrogant at times,approach to politics ledtothiscatastrophic outcomewe’re allnow living with.”
and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks, as well as acovert foreign influence campaign aimedatswaying public opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts.
Gabbard’sreportappears to suggest the absence of manipulationofstate election systems is abasis to callinto questionmoregeneral Russianinterference.
Democrats swiftly decriedthe report as factually flawed and politically motivated.
the 2016 election by highlighting Obama administration emails showingofficials had concludedbefore and after the presidential race thatMoscow hadnot hacked state election systems to manipulatevotes in
Trump’sfavor But Obama’sDemocratic administration never suggested otherwise, even as it exposed other meansby which Russia interfered in the election, including through amassive hack-
“It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard,who promisedtodepoliticize the intelligence community,is once againweaponizing her position to amplify thepresident’selection conspiracy theories,” Sen. MarkWarner,the top Democratonthe Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on X.
Continued from page 1A
what by surprise, but general manager Mickey Loomis said Mathieu gave “advanced notice” of his choice a few days ago.
“I just have so much respect for Tyrann and what he’s accomplished,” Loomis said. “He’s a legendary Louisiana player, a legendary NFL player I really appreciate his time with us. He was fantastic. I have a lot of good things to say about him. What a great career, and I just wish him all the best.”
Added coach Kellen Moore: “Just a spectacular NFL career His work ethic, playmaking skills, the impact he had on this community and this league, just incredible.”
Mathieu spent the past three seasons with the Saints after joining them in 2022. He arrived with championship experience, having won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs to cap the 2019 season Playing for the Saints, he had said was a dream come true — he often shared how he drove down to Canal Street to celebrate the Saints’ first-ever title.
As a Saint, his years were productive. Though New Orleans did not make the playoffs in his three seasons, Mathieu recorded 10 interceptions, three forced fumbles and 228 tackles. He also did not miss a game in that span, starting all 51 contests.
That Mathieu proved to be so reliable is perhaps not what many expected to start his career The safety, after all, was famously dismissed from LSU after failing repeated drug tests before the 2012 season that led him to enter rehab. And when he turned pro
Continued from page 1A
schools use the practices.
With the first day of school just weeks away districts “should be updating their policies, engaging with stakeholders and working with contractors, if they don’t already have one, about installing the cameras to ensure they meet the deadline,” said Ashley McReynolds, program director for Arc of Louisiana, a nonprofit that advocates for people with disabilities.
Some school systems are ahead of the curve.
Continued from page 1A
side shows, and that’s what we are doing by not allowing the Rules Committee continue with that nonsense this week,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, said Tuesday The Epstein records release is coming but needs to be handled carefully in order to protect the victims, he added Instead, the full House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on small and largely uncontroversial bills, then head home. It was scheduled to adjourn Thursday; representatives are scheduled to return Sept. 2. ‘Witch hunt’
A prominent financier, Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution. He died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial in 2019 on federal accusations that he trafficked dozens of under-
the following year Mathieu wasn’t drafted until the third round in part because of the question marks around his situation.
“I was just trying to convince people that I care about the game,” Mathieu said last year, recalling his draft process. “You know what I mean? I would do anything to stay on track.”
When Mathieu entered the NFL, landing with the Arizona Cardinals, the safety demonstrated the same kind of versatile skill set that made him an absolute star at LSU.
He was the “Honey Badger” — a
Under a different law passed in 2024, schools were required to install cameras in special-education classrooms within 90 days if a parent requested one The state allocated $8 million for that purpose, but only $2.2 million of those funds had been used as of December 2024, according to the new bill’s fiscal note.
Districts can use the leftover money to install cameras under the new state law the bill’s fiscal note says Around 1,600 classrooms need cameras, which cost about $5,000 to install per classroom, according to the note.
East Baton Rouge Parish schools previously received $500,000 to install cameras, said Janet Armelin
age girls, some as young as 14 years old. Epstein had associations with many prominent celebrities and businessmen, including former President Bill Clinton and British Prince Andrew, as well as President Donald Trump. His death spurred widespread conspiracy theories that he was murdered, that he kept a list showing he had trafficked girls for powerful people and that he was blackmailing some of those who used the girls. During the 2016 presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton, Trump himself began raising the specter of a cover-up to protect prominent Democrats. Conspiracy theories bloomed with claims, without proof, that Epstein was murdered to counteract his blackmailing elite men whose names were in his client list. Conservative media figures claimed Democrats didn’t want the list to become public because they would implicate high-ranking party officials.
player who could line up all over the field and force turnovers at a high rate. He even rocked a buzz cut with bleach-blonde hair on top to start his career, which was part of his signature look in college. Despite the controversies off the field, Mathieu was a beloved player at LSU. Former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas tweeted how the safety was “must see TV” every Saturday Mathieu, listed then at 5 feet, 9 inches and 170 pounds, didn’t have the size typical of his position, but he had the speed — and heart — to wreck op-
Harris, the district’s special education director The district has already installed between 25 and 30 cameras at the request of parents, she said. Now it will need to add cameras to about 200 additional classrooms.
“We are making every effort to move forward with planning and preparation to meet the deadline responsibly and efficiently,” said Taylor Gast, a district spokesperson. Schools will also need to train their staff on how to intervene with students experiencing a behavioral crisis The state Education Department is scheduled to present information about the training, which will be provided free to schools, at next month’s
While Biden was in office, nowFBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, Patel’s chief deputy, repeatedly condemned Democrats for not releasing the files, saying they contained the smoking gun linking elites to sex crimes with underage girls groomed by Epstein.
But federal law enforcement leaders this month released a twopage report that stated the files contained “no credible evidence” that Epstein was murdered, his client list didn’t exist and he blackmailed no one.
Trump has ferociously pushed back on accusations his administration is covering up the files. He said the whole debate is “sort of a witch hunt,” while taking questions Tuesday in the Oval Office with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr
During Tuesday’s news conference at the Capitol, Johnson and his second-in-command, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson,
Texans. After restoring his stock in Houston, he spent the next three seasons with the Chiefs — a stint that earned Mathieu recognition as one of the best safeties of his generation.
In Kansas City, in addition to the team’s Super Bowl success, Mathieu earned two of his three Pro Bowl nods and was named firstteam All-Pro twice. He was named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade team. But his time there came to an end in 2022 when his contract expired and the Chiefs chose not to re-sign him. The Chiefs’ choice was New Orleans’ gain. And following all those years away, Mathieu embraced the city and then some upon his return. He was a nominee for the league’s Walter Payton Award in 2023 and used his charitable foundation to give back to the community He was a near-constant presence, helping disadvantaged children throughout New Orleans.
posing offenses. His second year at LSU resulted in a nomination for the Heisman Trophy
“Best football player I’ve ever shared a locker room with,” former LSU center T-Bob Hebert tweeted.
In the NFL, Mathieu hit stardom, but his journey was far from easy In six seasons with the Cardinals, he suffered two separate seasonending ACL injuries. He was unceremoniously released from the team in 2018 when he refused to take a pay cut and settled for a one-year deal with the Houston
state board of education meeting. The law specifies topics that the training should cover Educators should learn how to deescalate conflicts, how to determine when students are at risk of harming themselves or others and how to restrain or seclude students, when necessary, in a way that’s safe and respects their rights.
Board President Ronnie Morris said the trainings will be offered in two “tiers.” One tier will cover best practices for educators who are already certified to work with students with disabilities, while the other will be for noncertified teachers and staff. Teacher preparatory programs will also be required to administer training.
also blamed Democrats.
“For four years, the Democrats hid and covered up the Epstein files,” Scalise said. “We’re going to continue pushing for transparency.”
“We’re done being lectured on transparency by the same party that orchestrated one of the most shameless, dangerous political cover-ups in the history of this country or any government on the face of planet earth,” Johnson added, saying Democratic aides and officials hid President Joe Biden’s mental decline. “They all participated in it.”
Some Republicans break ranks
But it’s not just Democratic members calling for release of the documents, another illustration of the political high-wire act Johnson constantly faces with a slim GOP majority
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, is pressing for the full chamber to vote on a resolution
On Tuesday, Mathieu did not give an official reason for his retirement. He had largely stayed away from the Saints in the offseason by skipping voluntary workouts, but his absences weren’t unusual for a player of his caliber — and Mathieu reported for mandatory minicamp in June. Earlier this month, however, Mathieu revealed that he was “beyond delighted” at the birth of his newborn daughter
In an Instagram post, Mathieu wrote that he was “filled with gratitude” and thanked teammates, coaches and fans for their support as he hung up his cleats.
“I hope I made you proud out there,” Mathieu wrote. “This isn’t goodbye — it’s just the next chapter.”
Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com
In Jefferson Parish, Louisiana’s largest district, School Board member Derrick Shepherd estimated that they’ll need to train between 300 and 400 teachers and personnel. He said the district is awaiting further guidance from the state on how to roll out the training.
Anybody who interacts with children will be encouraged to take one of the training programs, he said, including secretaries, principals and other staff members. If a child has an outburst, the main concern is making sure personnel know “how to calm them down, how to handle them gently,” Shepherd said, “without escalating the situation.”
calling for the Epstein file release without being first approved by the House Rules Committee. Rep Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, asked on X on Tuesday for a floor vote on the resolution that the Rules Committee did forward but Johnson tied up.
“I led Republicans in a serious resolution — that protects victims to expose the truth about the Epstein files, just like President Trump promised. But leadership is stalling,” Norman said. “The American people deserve action, not excuses. Let’s vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!”
Then a subcommittee asked for and received permission from the GOP majority House Oversight and Government Reform committee on Tuesday to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a prison term after being convicted of helping Epstein find young girls.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.
Israeli troops target Gaza residents as hunger worsens
BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed 25 people across Gaza, according to local health officials.
Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid — without providing evidence of widespread diversion — and blames U.N. agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. The military says it has only fired warning shots near aid sites. The Gaza Humanitarian Founda-
tion, an Israeli-backed American contractor, rejected what it said were “false and exaggerated statistics” from the United Nations.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamasrun government and staffed by medical professionals, said Tuesday that 101 people, including 80 children, have died in recent days from starvation.
The deaths could not be independently verified, but U.N. officials and major in-
ternational aid groups say the conditions for starvation exist in Gaza. During hunger crises, people can die from malnutrition or from common illnesses or injuries that the body is not strong enough to fight.
Israel eased a 21/2-month blockade in May, allowing a trickle of aid in through the longstanding U.N.-run system and the newly created GHF Aid groups say it’s not nearly enough.
Dozens of Palestinians
Funding pulled from cultural agency
BY FARNOUSH AMIRI and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will once again withdraw from the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, an expected move that has the U.S. further retreating from international organizations.
The decision to pull U.S. funding and participation from UNESCO comes two years after the Biden administration rejoined following a controversial, five-year absence that began during President Donald Trump’s first term. The White House cited similar concerns as it did in 2018, saying it believes U.S. involvement is not in its national interest and accusing the agency of promoting anti-Israel speech.
The decision, which won’t go into effect until December 2026, will deal a blow to an agency known for preserving cultural heritage through its UNESCO World Heritage Sites program — which recognizes significant landmarks for protection, ranging from the Taj Mahal to Egypt’s pyramids of Giza and the Grand Canyon National Park.
The agency also empowers education and science across the globe.
It is the Trump administration’s latest move to pull support for U.N. agencies under a larger campaign to reshape U.S. diplomacy Under the “America First” approach, the administration has pulled out of the U.N. World Health Organization and the top U.N. human rights body, while reassessing its funding for others. This has left the U.N., which is in the process of its own massive overhaul,
reevaluating core programs and initiatives and what the international body would look like without support from the U.S. its largest donor.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the withdrawal was linked to UNESCO’s perceived agenda to “advance divisive social and cultural causes.”
She added that UNESCO’s decision in 2011 “to admit the ‘State of Palestine’ as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to U.S policy and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization.”
UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay said she “deeply” regrets the U.S. decision but said it was expected and that the agency “has prepared for it.” She also denied accusations of anti-Israel bias, saying it contradicts “the reality of UNESCO’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism.”
Azoulay added that “the reasons put forward by the United States of America are the same as seven years ago, even though the situation has changed profoundly, political
tensions have receded, and UNESCO today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-oriented multilateralism.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., celebrated the announcement, saying in a statement that it is a “fitting response to the consistent misguided antiIsrael bias of UNESCO, an organization that has lost its way.”
The Biden administration had rejoined UNESCO in 2023 after citing concerns that China was filling the gap left by the U.S. in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education.
“Unilaterally withdrawing the United States from UNESCO is another assault by the Trump administration on international cooperation and U.S global leadership,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
“This decision cedes more ground to U.S. competitors, especially China, who will take advantage of America’s absence to further shape the international system in their favor.”
lined up Tuesday outside a charity kitchen in Gaza City, hoping for a bowl of watery tomato soup. The lucky ones got small chunks of eggplant. As supplies ran out, people holding pots pushed and shoved to get to the front.
Nadia Mdoukh, a pregnant woman who was displaced from her home and lives in a tent with her husband and three children, said she worries about being shoved or trampled on, and about heat stroke as daytime tem-
peratures hover above 90 degrees.
“I do it for my children,” she said. “This is famine — there is no bread or flour.”
The U.N World Food Program says Gaza’s hunger crisis has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation.” Ross Smith, the agency’s director for emergencies, told reporters Monday that nearly 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and a third of Gaza’s population is going without food for multiple days in a row
MedGlobal, a charity working in Gaza, said five children as young as 3 months had died from starvation in the past three days.
“This is a deliberate and human-made disaster,” said Joseph Belliveau, its executive director “Those children died because there is not enough food in Gaza and not enough medicines, including IV fluids and therapeutic formula, to revive them.”
The charity said food is in such short supply that its own staff members suffer dizziness and headaches.
Of the 1,054 people killed while trying to get food since late May, 766 were killed while heading to sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to the U.N. human rights office.
The others were killed when gunfire erupted around U.N. convoys or aid sites. Thameen al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the U.N. rights office, says its figures come from “multiple reliable sources on the ground,” including medics, humanitarian and human rights organizations. He said the numbers were still being verified according to the office’s strict methodology Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces regularly fire toward crowds of thousands of people heading to the GHF sites. The military says it has only fired warning shots, and GHF says its armed contractors have only fired into the air on a few occasions to try to prevent stampedes.
A joint statement from 28 Western-aligned countries on Monday condemned the “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians.”
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” read the statement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, France and other countries friendly to Israel. “The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”
BY CAMDEN DOHERTY camden@thecurrentla.com
AlongRoute25, theJohnston Streetbus line, commuters sit and stand in rare spots of shade from nearby trees. For some,thiswait is just about two minutes. For others, it can be overanhour Under the blistering sun, frustrations oftenboilover.“Iknow it’shot. …It’sjust me today,sorry,” onedriver tells passengers as they board the bus. Attracting and retaining drivers has been amajor challengefor the Lafayette Transit Authority, exacerbating wait times andthrowing
Director says maintenance was being performed
BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN
Staff writer
Over the weekend, aTrumpbranded airplane was spottedat Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles.
On Sunday,severalLake Charles community members postedonFacebook that they had spotted one of President DonaldTrump’spersonalplanes at the airport.
Chennault International Airport Authority Executive Director W. Kevin Melton said one of the airport’stenants, Citadel Completions, was doing scheduledmaintenancework on a VVIP Boeing Business Jet B757. On the Trump Organization’s website,the Boeing 757 is referredtoasthe “crownjewel in the Trump fleet.” “As theyprepare for theredelivery of this exceptionalaircraft to one of their highly satisfied clients, it is currently undergoing standardflight checks to ensure it meets the highest standards of quality and safety,” Melton said.
Citadel Completions Director of Marketing MichelleSavoy said the company declined to comment due to the sensitivity of its clientele. The company customizes and outfits planes for its clients, as wellasconductingregular maintenance. This is not the first time a Trump plane has beenspotted at Chennault.
In 2019 and 2020, media organizations reported the president arriving at Chennault. Then, in November 2021, aTrumpbranded plane wasalso spotted at the airport for service.
Email Courtney Pedersen at courtney.pedersen@ theadvocate.com.
awrench into an already fragile system.Pay has been an issue, but it’scompounded by thepublic-facing nature of the job: No one likes getting constantly fussed at over something they can’t control, like long wait times. Some cities have tested an unlikely solution to that problem: free fares.
Southeastern Regional Transit Authority,which covers over 300,000 residents on Massachusetts’ south coast, made fares free as of January 2024 andhas seen an increase in riders andspeeds, while limiting hostile interactions with drivers.
“The numberofriders for each hour of SRTA bus service increased by 42%,” says Phineas Baxandall, policy director at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center,inanexamination of the program The main sacrifice for the SRTA is in fare revenues, which makeup roughly 12% of the transportation authority’sbudget.However,with aroughly 28% decrease in late buses, which held consistent from 2024 to 2025, thecosthas shown a marked improvement for riders. In Lafayette, fares make up a much smaller portion of thebudget
LTSgenerates about $200,000 from bus faresa year —lessthan half thecost of asingle natural gas-powered bus. Meanwhile, the process to collect these payments often resultsinoverheated and frustrated passengers venting theirfrustrations to drivers, who candolittle but bear the brunt of riders’ anger
“They get all the s***,” said Tyrone Bartie, alongtimerider of Lafayette’spublic transit. Bartie, whosemobilityislimited by partial paralysis, said he has seen bus drivers screamed at fordelays.
Bartie himselfhas plenty to complain aboutasadaily bus passengerwho has to try to plan around an unreliable system.“Ileave two hours before Ihavetobesomewhere,” he says. Still, he tells fel-
lowpassengers to go complain to those in charge instead of drivers, whoare just employees,afterall “Everyone has got aboss,” he says. Lafayette Consolidated Governmenthas tried other methods for increasing its driving staff.
When Mayor-President Monique Boulet took officelast year, LTShad only three bus drivers. In response, heradministration increased paytoaminimum of $17.40 an hour.But LCG still faces stiffcompetition, with much higher potential earnings available in private driving jobs that require similar licensing, like Amazon, which offers over $30/hour And despite the pay increase, staffing remains achallenge. As of
from lower left,Anna Kojevnikov, of
Elliott;Jesse Guidry,ofLafayette Travel; andEman Boyd and Jamie
of LCG,exchange ideas duringPublic Art Office Hours, aseries of community input sessions held by Lafayette Consolidated Governmentand Basin Artsaspart of the University Avenue Public Art Initiative on July 16 at Black Cafe in Lafayette.
The disappearance of amissing teen isnow being investigated as ahomicide after she was found dead, according to St. Martinvillepolice.
during this incrediblydifficult time,” policesaidina news release. Authorities said additional details will be releasedasthe investigation continues.
Iris Davis,16, wasreportedmissingThursday. Officers locatedDavis’ body in afield near herresidence,police said. At this time, the case is being investigated as ahomicide.
“Our thoughtsand prayers are withIris’sfamilyand lovedones
Several undocumented menarrested,deputies say Acall to theSt. LandryParish Sheriff’s Office aboutsuspected human trafficking and drug operations led to the arrest of six men whoare alleged tobeundocumented On Monday,deputies responded
about 9a.m. to the 200 block of Raiders Road in rural St. Landry Parish. Uponarrival, deputies detained aman after he attempted to flee on foot, according to Major MarkLeblanc, aSheriff’s Office spokesperson Executing asearch warrant on the home, sevenothermen were foundinside. Deputiesfound no evidence of human trafficking or drug operations.
“They were unable to converse withusand provide us any identification or documentation. Our agent immediately contacted ICE agents out of the Lafayette office,”
Leblanc said.
U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement alleged that six of the men wereundocumented. Kenny Jose Ochoa, Omar FloresRodriguez, Arturo Flores Lopez, CarlosRoberto Mejia-Benegas, RonyAlexanderLopez-Tabora andLeonardo Morido Resendez were all taken into ICE custody, Leblanc said. Deputies handed over the investigation to ICEagents.
All menare being held at the Pine Prairie CorrectionalFacility,
ä See BLOTTER, page 2B
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
Officials at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport say if passengergrowth continuestrending upward at the rate it has been until recently,the airport will need 15 more gates, another parking garage, and new ticket counters,security checkpoints and baggage claim areas by 2031.
In order to meet the additional needs, the airport shouldconsider starting work on asecond new terminal, Aviation Director Kevin Dolliole told the New Orleans City CouncilTransportation Committee on Tuesday While it seems virtually impossible that the airport could have another new terminal underway,much less completed, in six years, the facility will need the increased capacity once its passenger count reaches9.7 million “enplanements” ayear,Dolliole
Continued from page 1B
according to ICE rosters
Man arrested for alleged child sex crimes
said. Enplanements measure the number of departing passengers from an airport.
Armstrong International hasbeenontargettohit that passenger count by 2031, though arecent softening in domestic and international air travel could slow theprojection, hesaid “New Orleans, like therest of thecountry,isexperiencingit,”Dolliole said. “It’s seen in theindustry as atemporarythingand thatwewill getback to normal.”
Dolliole’sremarks were part of an update on the airport’smasterplanning process, which kicked off nearly twoyearsago and is nearing completion. As part of that process, consultantshave been studyingtraveltrends andmappingout the airport’s needs over thenext five,10 and 20 years. Later this summer,the airport will presentits findings to locals, who willhave an opportunity to weighin. Then
Amonthslong investigation led to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’sOffice arresting an Opelousasman on alleged sex crimesinvolving juveniles.
Braylon Dewight Rubin, 21, faces one count of pornographyinvolving juveniles and felony carnal knowledge of ajuvenile, according to a Sheriff’s Office announcement.
Deputies begantheir investigation in mid-May,when they responded to acomplaint involving inappropriate sexual relations with ajuvenile.
Detectives found video evidence of the alleged behavior,whichled to Rubin’sarrest, officialssaid Rubin does not appear on parish jail records.
Anyone with additional information about this crime is encouraged
the airport will finalize amore detailedmasterplanwith construction timelines, estimated price tagsand funding sources.
Steady growth
In thesix years since it opened, the airport’s $1.3 billion North Terminal has won rave reviews from designers and customer satisfaction surveys, bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to attract new air service.
Among the new routes at the airport in thepast year are Alaska Air’sdaily service to Portland, Oregon; AveloAirlines’service to New Haven, Connecticut;Breeze Airways’ service to Tampa, Florida, and Myrtle Beach,South Carolina; and Spirit Airlines’service to Honduras and Mexico.
Even more are on the way including direct nonstop service to Los Angeles and Las VegasonBreeze, Dolliole said.
to callthe St.Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office at (337) 948-6516.
Unrestrained woman dies in single-vehicle crash
Asingle-vehicle car crash Monday in New Iberiakilled aunrestrained driver, police said Renota Lowther,44, of New Iberia, sustained fatal injuries andwas pronounced dead atthe scene.
Thecrashoccurredshortly after 1a.m. Monday on U.S. 90 Frontage Road near Captain Cade Road, accordingtoLouisiana State Police. A preliminary investigation revealed Lowther was driving a2012 Infiniti M37 west on U.S. 90 North Frontage Road. For reasons still under investigation, the Infiniti veered offthe roadway to the right, police said.
Lowther then overcorrected causingthe Infiniti to crossbackoverthe roadway before exitingtothe left, where thecar hitanembankment and overturned,officials said.
Routine toxicology samples were collected foranalysis. This crash remainsunderinvestigation
Meanwhile, passenger counts have grown from5.9 million enplanements in 2022 to 6.6 million last year
Basedonthe increased traffic, airport planners have been forecasting a“high growth” scenario for thelocal airport, which would call for significant expansion quickly Dolliole said projections call for 15 more gates and an additional 31,000-squarefeet of ticket lobby space, 53,000-squarefeet of security checkpointspace and 78,000-square feet of baggage claim area.
“The additional capacity needswill drive the growth of asecond terminal,”hesaid. As currently envisioned in future phases of theplan, the newterminal wouldbebuilt to the west of the existing terminal, whichwould be expanded to thewest and to the east and connect to the new terminal. Eventually,the facilitywould have thecapacity to accommodate 60 gates.
mid-June, LTShad two bus driversinthe trainingprogram, leaving theservice still two drivers short of pre-pandemic levels and well below thebudgeted number of 20.
Raleigh, North Carolina, and other cities stumbled on apartial solution to both passengers’ frustrations and driver retention during thepandemic. Riders had to enter from thereardoors in 2020 due to COVID-19, not allowingthe city to collectfares as it compliedwith pandemic distancing requirements.
It turnsout that eliminating the payment process madebuses faster andthereby more reliable.
“The seconds it takesfor each passenger to pay their fare adds up. …Ittakes more timewhen riders have trouble finding or completing theirpayment,or argue with the driverabout the fare,” Baxandall saidinhis 2021
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
Asection of University Avenue is settostartundergoing nightly alternating lane closures on Wednesday
Thework,which will takeplace between Cameron Street at U.S. 90 andInterstate 10, is part of the University Avenue Corridor Project. Thelaneclosures will continue through spring, Lafayette Consolidated Governmentannounced Tuesday
These closures are necessary for pavement and striping modifications.
The long-term goal of this project is to transform the corridor into amore accessible, walkable and community-friendly gateway into Lafayette, enhancing both traffic flowand pedestrian safety. In the next three to fourweeks, motorists will see anew traffic configuration that bans leftturns along median sectionsunder construction
Existing daytime lane closures will remain in effect throughout thisphase.
An LCGspokesperson said while the work may present achallenge to drivers, it represents“critical progress toward asafer,more efficient University Avenue.”
analysis of free fares.
In Raleigh, just as in southernMassachusetts,fare-free buses increased ridership and decreased dwell times,the time when buses idle to let people board and pay,which can be as high as one-third of the time on abusy route.
Fares made up $3 million in revenue for Raleigh, aquite significant amount, but the city originally used CARES Act funding to cover these losses. When that money ranout,the city council reinstated fares in 2024.
But the city still offers free servicetoseniors, riders under 18 and income-qualified riders, increasing access options fora population that makes up alarge portion of Lafayette riders as well. Many cities that experimented withfree fares have pivoted to this strategy to try to keep revenue flowing while also making thebus amore affordable option for those whoneed it. New Orleans started asimilar program last year withOppor-
tunity Pass, issuing free transit passesfor 16-to24-year-olds. In Lafayette, public school students’ IDs can function as abus pass, but that information isn’t widely known.
Access to reliable public transportation has been shown to improve public health and economic development,and has the potential to alleviate racial inequity
Free fares could be ameaningful —and relatively cheap first step.
BY COURTNEY LUCIUS Staff writer
If there weren’t children climbing on the bark-like exterior of the new sprawling playground structure in Lafreniere Park, Tripp’s Treehouse could blend into the surrounding trees
The new disability-friendly playground, named after the park’s first director is the latest addition to Metairie’s biggest park
On Tuesday, Jefferson Parish Council member Arita Bohannan, other officials and local families gathered to cut the ribbon on the new $1.3 million project that replaces the old playground that stood in its place.
Afterward, screaming children rushed down neon green slides and banged cylinders on the xylophone bridge as parents and camp counselors watched from the shade with sno-balls in hand.
“When it came to something that was important to me and to my district, no one hesitated, and that means the world to me,” said Bohannan.
Even though Tripp’s Treehouse sits in her district, Bohannan got help from her fellow council members to get the playground built. Council members Hans Liljeberg, Deano Bonano and Byron Lee pitched around $100,000-$150,000 from their discretionary funds, Bohannan said.
“But with very, very little hesitation, if any, all three said yes and helped me pay for this playground.
,” said Bohannan “We are partners in Jefferson Parish. This playground is just an example of that.”
She and the park’s namesake, Lafreniere Park Director Tripp Rabalais, also have a personal connection to the all-inclusive playground.
“When we broke ground, that was the first moment I knew it was going to be called Tripp’s Treehouse, an experience that has humbled me beyond belief,” Rabalais said. His sister, Lyn Amanda Rabalais, had spina bifida and was
wheelchair bound until her recent death while the park was being built. When they were kids, there weren’t any places like Tripp’s Treehouse for them to play, Rabalais said “My father made some modified stuff in the backyard, but it was nothing like this,” Rabalais said as he gestured toward the playground. “This she could come to and enjoy.”
For Bohannan, her passion for the project comes from her nephew, Anthony, who is on the autism spectrum. She also spearheaded the effort for Anthony’s Missing Pieces Playground in Kenner’s Miquez Park
“So, it has special features that make this a very special, safe place for all kids to play,” Bohannan said of Tripp’s Treehouse. “The equipment is specifically designed so that they have to work together sometimes to make the equipment work.”
“Like my nephew said, after they play with me, they realize I’m not weird. So, the idea of this playground is to have children and adults playing together in a safe place.”
The park, designed by Unlimited Play and built by Swift Recreation LLC, is full of inclusive playground equipment. There’s the accessible slide that doesn’t make noise when
a rider slides down. Under a tree at the edge of the park, there’s a “quiet grove,” a structure with noise-canceling walls covered in green caterpillars, as well as fidget spinners and a bench that faces away from the playground. Kids can sit in there to calm down. Over by the gazebo, there’s a “raft rider,” an elevated platform painted brown to look like a raft, complete with blue splashes on the side. The platform has a ramp and space for wheelchairs in addition to benches for nonwheelchair users. Then, the riders rock back and forth together to sway The “zoom twist spinner” is a
tall, cone-shaped net with a cone on top. Up to 20 kids can squeeze into the ride and spin as much as they like. On opening day, kids reached through the net as they hung on and squealed while it spun.
For families in Metairie, this playground was long overdue. “The slides were broken, and so we’ve been waiting because it was just closed for two years and then they were finally doing construction,” said Carolina Osorio, a Metairie parent. “So definitely an improvement for the neighborhood and the community.”
Park gates open at 6 a.m. and close at 9:45 p.m.
OUR VIEWS
We’d like to take amomenttocommendthe federal and state law enforcement officersand agencies who were part of theinvestigation that led to several arrestslast week in asweeping case of immigration fraud thatshocked the state.
There areplentyofthreads topullhere, but first, the basics. The roundupnettedthreecurrent and one former elected law enforcement officer from acluster of small towns alonga 17-mile stretch of U.S. 165 in centralLouisiana
The four are accused of acceptingbribes from alocal businessman, alsoindicted, in return for creating police reports documenting crimes that neverhappened.
The police reports could then be citedby those seeking what are known as Uvisas, in which the petitionerclaims to be thevictim or awitness to acrime who is aidinglaw enforcement.
Granting of aUvisa often allows the petitioner to remain in the United States until the caseis resolved.
Accordingto the indictment, theowner of aSubway restaurant in Oakdale paid officers from there as well as from the nearby towns of Glenmora and ForestHill tocreate the fake reports
Exactly who applied for the visas remains unclear,thoughthe federal indictment says that most of those who used thefakepolicereports were notresidents of Louisiana.
The indictment alleges that themen created hundreds of police reports. In return, theywere paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, using the money to purchase acamp at anearby lake, vehicles and anRV, among otheritems. The 62-count indictment focuses on 2024, butthe conspiracy may go back adecade.
In adramatic twist, two of the arrestswere made while men attendeda police conventionin Baton Rouge.
It is always disappointing,ofcourse,whena sworn police officer is accused of wrongdoing But it should serve as an importantreminder: The elderly man on his way to work inLafayette, the nursing mother in Baton Rougewho showed up for ascheduled immigration appointment or the woman gardeninginher NewOrleans yard are not the problem with thenation’s immigration system. Targetingthemisnot just cruel, but it does little to stem thetide of those who are here to do illegalthings.
Rather,investigatingtruebad actors, as these folks allegedly were, is amuch more worthyuse of time and resources
We are glad that, in thiscase, it appears that’s exactly what happened.
It is also important to remember thatanindictment is only an accusation. Those charged in this scheme arepresumed innocent until proven guilty.They,like those sweptupinall the immigration raids that have taken place this year,deserve humanetreatmentand due process.
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Medicaid cuts will affect many who’ve worked alltheir lives
My grandmother was thebackbone of our family —caregiver,small business owner and wife totwo World WarIIveterans. She died penniless, but had Healthy Louisiana, our state’s version of Medicaid. That gave her dignityatthe end.
Even with coverage, her nursing care was stretched thin. She shared aroom with multiple patients. Now Republicans are cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid —likely stripping 200,000 Louisianans of their care.
Many don’trealize Healthy Louisiana is Medicaid. It supportskids, seniors, disabled loved ones, small business owners and working people with no insurance.
It’snot acheck in themail —itreimburses hospitals and clinics for care already provided.
Leaderslike Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, Julia Letlow,Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy are spreading myths about abuse. The truth? Healthy peo-
The article about theAmistad Center laying off workers to be in line with “President Donald Trump’seffortsto end programs that promote diversity or prioritizethe experience of minority groups” is misleading on many levels. First,the Trumpadministration has not declared war on minoritygroups nor their historical research. It has declared war on “diversityequityand inclusion” or “DEI” programs, whose end effect was to divide students by race and promotethe tired Marxist rhetoric that the world is divided between two groups: theoppressor and oppressed. (Sorry,but in America, the sky’sstill thelimit.) TheAmerican public rejected DEI when it voted last November Secondly,all of the archives in the Amistad Center are housed at Tulane. If Tulane values this worthy research and preservation, why doesn’titfund it? As aprivateinstitution, witha healthy endowment, this would be a great use of itsfunds. The merefact that “grant-writing” is now ahigh-
ple don’tcost Medicaid anything. Sick people do. Cuttingthis meansfewer surgeries, prescriptionsand nursing beds —while billionaires get tax cuts. Thirty-three rural hospitals in Louisiana could close. That’llraise premiumsfor everyone and stretch emergency roomstothe breaking point. Every other developed nation provides healthcare for less money with better results. We could, too —ifwe took theprofit motive out of people’s health. This is about morethan one program.It’sabout privatizing everything we rely on —Healthy Louisiana, Medicare, Social Security —socorporations can profit from what was once public good.
We’ve worked our whole lives. All we’re asking for is dignity in health. Say it withme: No more. We want change.
DUSTIN GRANGER LakeCharles
paying job demonstrates how deeply we have accepted that federal funding must support every project that any group deemsnecessary At one point in thearticle, there wasa quotethat “every parish” in Louisiana(andnodoubt county in the rest of the country) has “an Amistad.” Nothing screams inefficiency like duplication. The work of this center is aworthy endeavor.Kathe Hambrick, theexecutive director,toher credit, has gone to thepublictosolicit support from theprivate sector.Bravo to that, and how about afew of these museumsand research institutions consolidating? Cutting unnecessary staff, reducing facility costs, prioritizing core missions? With a$37 trillion debt, you can count on more cuts, or we’re going to drown in debt.Alittle context in this article would have gone along way. Please, just do better reporting. Stop advocating.
DONNA MASELLI Tulane Law1985
Why was astoryabout aUFC fighter on the front page of the paper? Is there nothing moreimportanthappen-
ing in the world? This is ridiculous. EUGENIA RESS Ventress
Stripping religion from public spaces hasno historical justification
Our founding fathers had astrong trust in Godand desire forfreedom.Starting with Patrick Henry’s “Liberty” speech in 1775: “Wemust fight! We shall not fight our battles alone. There is ajust God whopresides over the destinies of nations. As forme, give me liberty,orgive me death!”
The Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776, stated: “All Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights with afirm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence.”
George Washington stated at his inaugural address in 1789: “Itwould be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being whorules over the Universe No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand morethan the People of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to an independent nation, seemstohave been distinguished by sometoken of providential agency —wemust understand that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on anation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”
This leads us to The Bill of Rights, which amended the Constitution in 1791 with Amendment Itoconfirm religious freedom: “Congress shall makenolaw respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Nowhere in the Constitution is there aprovision requiring the separation of church and state.
Fast forward to the 1970s after socialist intellectuals had invaded our law schools and courts and “wordsmithed” Amendment Itorequire the separation of church and state such that God was kicked out of our schools and public squares. What about “Congress not making lawsprohibiting the free exercise of religion” and “the propitious smiles of Heaven?”
STEVE GARDES Lafayette
Buried deep in the thousands of pages of one court case, asingle line of afew simple words lays bare what canhappenwhen bad actors apparently run amok in the American health care system.
“These insiders,” the line reads, “pilfered Steward’sassets for their own material gain, while leaving the Companyand its hospitals perpetually undercapitalized and insolvent.”
paid —by$200 million —for five hospitals in Miami because he wanted an “empire” there. It also accuses him of directing payments for Steward assets into acompany owned by himself andtwo other executives, again gaining millions while his hospitals failed.
Steward, in this case, is Steward Health Care LLC, the Texas-based hospital operator that ran hospitals around the country before collapsing into bankruptcy lastyear and being forced to sell off assets. One of the company’shospitals was Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe,amajor health care provider in Louisiana’s largely rural northeastern corner.
The “insiders” in the linerefers to the company’sformer CEO, Ralph de la Torre, and ahandful of other former Steward executives and board members.
Earlier this month, Steward filed suit against those formerleaders in an attempt to recoup some of what they paid. According to the filing, “through their greed and bad faith misconduct, (they) operatedStewardwiththe aim of enriching themselves.”
The most galling allegation is that de la Torre and others arranged for a$111 million dividend payout to executives and board members in January 2021, “ata time when the SHC System was alreadyinsolvent.”
In other words, even as their hospitals were failing, the company’sexecutives andboard members were paying out tens of millions of dollars themselves. De la Torre, the suit alleges, got$81.5 million in the deal, money he turned around and used to purchase a $30million yacht. The suit also alleges de la Torre over-
Even in dry legalese, thefiling is infuriating.
While de la Torre was enjoyinghis very first-world yacht patients in West Monroe were getting“thirdworld medicine,” according to what one doctor told a federal inspector The problems at Glenwood ranged from theannoying to thecritical. Sometimes, medical staff couldn’tperform basic diagnostic tests, such as for COVID, strep and staph. Some vendors hadn’tbeen paid.
In one case, apatient complained of chest pain andadoctor recommended emergency surgery.But Glenwood didn’thave thepersonnel to operate and atransfer would have been unsafe. At least one doctor regularly sent patients outofstate because of the staffingproblems
Theproblems got so bad that state inspectors twice put the hospital on a restricted status after it determined that patients’ health and safetywere in “immediate jeopardy” due to supply andstaffingshortages
Thesecondtime, in early 2024, meant the hospital was allowed to operate at only aboutone-third of its capacity
Meanwhile, de la Torre may as well have been in the Bahamas, on hisyacht, dreaming up thenext big dividend paymentorplotting the next expansion of hisempire. Or maybe he wasputtinghis money in aCayman Islands bank. Or perhaps checking out islands with no extradition arrangements. Ican’tsay
Iampretty sure, however,that what he was not doing was worrying about whether people in West Monroe could
get aCOVID testora potentially lifesaving heart operation. At aSteward facility in Massachusetts, awoman died one day after giving birthwhen doctors learned during surgery that supplies needed totreat her had been repossessed, according toareport in The Boston Globe.
That makes De la Torre an avatar for everything that is wrong about the American health care system. For him,profitsand personal wealthwere moreimportantthan his patientsin Massachusetts,Texas and northeast Louisiana.
Luckily for those in West Monroe, Glenwood, like the other hospitals Steward owned, has been sold as part of the bankruptcy.Its new owner, California-based Healthcare Systems of America, took over last year.On itswebsite, HSA says its mission is to “breathe new life intostruggling hospitals.”
That imagery can’tbeamistake. A company whose business is literally about breathing new life into human beings wantstodothe samefor struggling healthcare facilities.
Glenwood CEO and Chief Medical Officer Mark Boersma, aphysician and longtime Glenwood employee, has said that’swhat HSA is doing. During atour with Monroe TV news station KNOE, he showed off stuffed supply boxes and insisted that shortages were not a problem
An industry group gave Glenwood an “A”for safety in thefourth quarter of last year,afirst,Boersma said.
“Their emphasis was you will run the hospital locally.And we will assist you in any way that we can,” he told KNOE. HSA has been welcomed in West Monroe for obvious reasons. Andhopefully Glenwood continues its rebound. Butjust in case, let’s keep an eye on yacht purchases.
Faimon A. RobertsIII can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com.
Can you hear the canary in the economy’s coal mine singing her heart out?
Youknow that we are headed fortrouble when somemasses start buying groceries on the installment plan. That is the business model behind the popular “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) borrowing platforms—loans that spread out purchases into four payments. Troubles are growing in several credit sectors —incar loans, in credit card debt, in student loans.
Inflation driven by monstrous federal deficits, plus atrade war, has already led to higher borrowing costs, which makes paying borrowed money back all that harder BNPL seemstobecatnip foryounger consumers whoare digitally savvy and do alot of buying online. BNPL shoppers spent about $19.2 billion in the first quarter of this year
Modest wages play apart, but so does the allure of online shopping, which makes the purchase of fancy steak knives or luxury handbags feel so seamless. Over half of BNPL users responding to aHarris poll admitted that splitting payments let them spend morethan they knew they should. Almost aquarter said their BNPL spending was “out of control” and that they couldn’tafford mostofwhat they bought without splitting payments.
BNPL lets people dig deeper into the debt hole, which “will be harder and harder to climb out of,” Ed deHaan, an accounting professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, told Bloomberg News.That happens more“easily when there’snotransparency.”
And there hasn’tbeen transparency.This huge form of borrowing hadn’tshownupin Americans’ credit scores. The BNPL giants say they don’twant to release that information because it could hurt credit scores needed to secure mortgages and other important loans. Why didn’tthese borrowers use credit cards instead? The answer,inpart, is that athird of them had already nearly maxed out on credit cards. BNPL traditionally attracts struggling low-wage earners and nowadays moremiddleclass customers.
During his visit to Washingtonrecently,Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interviewed for anhour by Fox News and radio host Mark Levin. The interview was arebuke to the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israelslantso many in the media convey to the public Asked about Iran and itsproxies, Netanyahusaid:“Aregime that chants ‘Death to America,’ that’skilled and injured thousands of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan through their IEDs that bombed your embassy that burned your flag, that tried to assassinate President Trump, twice, bythe way, tried to assassinate me once, and they just put aprice on our head .this is ridiculous. These arethe enemies(of) America, sworn to your destruction. And, of course, President Trumpunderstands that. He understands that our enemy is your enemy,and that our victory is your victory.But he went further thanthat. He changedAmerican policy.Hesaid, if this is our common enemy,wecan have acommon victory.” About Iran following the bombing of its nuclear facilities:“This regime is in deep trouble. Imean theMiddle East without Iran, the Middle East with Israel and our Arab partners, the possibilities for economic cooperation, technological cooperation,energycooperation, A.I., tourism, trade. it’sa different world.”
As much of the American andespecially European media quickly pivoted from sympathy and support of Israel following the Oct. 7attack by Hamas, to its previous hostility towardthe prime minister and the Jewish state, Netanyahu debunked reporting that relies on Palestinian news releases which blame Israel for killingcivilians in Gaza: “Israel does everything in its power to avoid civiliancasualties. Hamas does everything in itspowerto have civilian casualties, civilian casualties on our side when theyrocket our cities and civilian casualties on their side when they prevent the civilian population, the Palestinian population, from leaving the combat zones.
LETTERS TO
“Sowesend millions of text messages, phone calls, leaflets, get out of the war zonebecause we don’twant youtobehurt. Hamas shootsthem. They shoot their own people, in order to have Western media cover this and say,whatare the Israelis doing? And this is horrible.”
Asked by Levin to comment on biasedmedia coverage, Netanyahu responded: “I think that’sthe other front. We have aseven-front war,and we’ve won on all fronts and winning on all fronts, but this is the eighth front, the disinformation campaign is amongus.... it takes asecond for alie to circulate the world, and then you have to battle it with theonly weapon youhave, which is thetruthand truth is slower than lies and moredifficult to ascertain, because you have to get thefacts when you lie, you can say anything,and it’sinstantaneous. When you tell the truth, you have to ascertain thefacts and until you do that in the electronic age, boy,that lie could encircle theEarth athousand times
So it’s ahandicap, but we’ll fight theinformation war,too Ithink we have to shamethe media that does this.” Does the prime minister thinkthe apparent success of the bombing mission by Israel and the U.S. against Iran’s nuclear sites will ease antisemitism in Europe and the U.S.: “In away,yes, because antisemitism targets the Jews, because they’re prominent, but (the stereotype is we are) weak. Well, we’re not weak, and the world has been habituated tothe Jews as avictim, perfect victim.During our centuries of wandering, we were massacred, pogromed, expelled and exiled and finally burned in the ovens of Auschwitz theworld got used to us as aperfect victim. Now, they have to get used to us as an equal among the nations, and we will not be slaughtered again.”
Truthhas apower of its own, and Netanyahu delivered it powerfully in that interview
Email Cal Thomasattcaeditors@ tribpub.com
FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) is the company behind the most-used credit scores. It plans to roll out anew model that factors these BNPL loans into their calculations. Apple Inc. is the first big BNPL provider to give transaction and payment data to Experian, one of the big-three credit reporting agencies.
But things are getting tough all over in the consumer debt world. Credit card delinquency rates have recently reached the highest level since at least 2012. The number of auto loans that were at least 90 days late in the first quarter wasupover 13% from the sameperiod a year ago, according to the NewYork Fed. The thing is, manyAmericans can’tget to work without their cars and trucks.
“When auto loan delinquencies are rising, it’s alikely sign that people are struggling,” LendingTree consumer finance analyst Matt Schulz told Fox News.“That’snogreat surprise, given stubborn inflation, high interest rates and general economic uncertainty.”
Schulz adds that these numbers are especially worrisomebecause unemployment rates are still relatively low
What about student debt? Nearly 25% of the $1.6 trillion in the federal student loan portfolio is at risk of default, according to Investopedia. TransUnion, another big credit-rating agency, reports that arecord-high 31% of federal student loan borrowers are already 90 or more days past due.
It’s hard to see the current leadership in Washington doing anything other than make the problem worse. Higher federal borrowing at higher interest is on track to makelifeinthis country moreexpensive. (Moody’srecently stripped the United States of its last triple-A credit rating.)
The Trumpadministration, meanwhile, is busy dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB put alid on some predatory lending practices.
The canary is singing “A Hard Rain’sA-Gonna Fall.” The U.S. economy is looking shakier No amount of bullying the Federal Reserve can change that.
Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com
Cajuns taking role as SBCWest favorite in stride
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
The UL Ragin’ Cajuns were in an in-
teresting positionduring the first day of Sun Belt football media days on Tuesday at the New OrleansMarriottWarehouse Arts District
They were voted as thepreseason favorite to win theSun Belt West with86 total points, just ahead of Texas State with 78 points.
Buteven as thereigningWestdivisionchamps,the Cajunsdon’t really feel like championsafter getting beat 31-3 by Marshall in the Sun Belt championship game and 34-3byTCU in the Arizona Bowl to close outlast season
“Tome, we’re still hunting,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said.“We haven’t gotten what we wanted. We’repretty disappointedwiththe waywefinished
up last season.”
The offseason mindset has afamiliar feel.
“Wewere a10-win team, but you almost have that same mindset thatwe
PROVIDED PHOTO
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough and hiswife,Jordan, posewith theirdog,Murphy. Shough credits his supportsystem —led by Jordan and Murphy— forhelpinghim pushthroughtough times.
BY MATTHEW PARAS
Staff writer
All these months later, Tyler Shough still chuckles at the thought of his dog’sreaction on draft night. There were the quarterback and hisfamily,ecstatic after the Saints selected him with the 40th overall pick. And there was Murphy, the dark red-haired goldenretriever,jumping up and down. Murphy might not have known exactly what was happening,but she knew it was a moment to celebrate.
“She was just chilling thewholetime and wasn’treally doing anything,” Shough said,
“and then as soonaseveryone got hyped, she wants to be involved.” Murphy’sexcitementwentviral, with multiple outlets(including this one) proclaiming the dog stole theshow.There was also the adorable image of Murphy wearing aSaintsbranded dog bandana, which the Shoughs put on once the quarterback found outwhere he was headed. Shough was glad the public enjoyedit, but hiscompanion’sreaction signifiedsomethingdeeper.Itwas indicative,hesaid, of howmuchMurphymeans to him andhow her arrival coincidedwith the quarterback’s
were6-7,” senior guard Jax Harrington said.“We’recoming in full force. Our feet have not been taken off the glass because we won 10 games.” Senior safety TyreeSkippercon-
UL coachMichael Desormeaux saidthe Cajuns are farfrom satisfied after losing bigtoMarshallin last season’sSun Belt Conference championshipgame. ‘Tome, we’restill hunting.Wehaven’t gotten what we wanted. We’repretty disappointed with the waywe finished up last season,’he said.
curred, saying, “I’m so hungry.” The Cajuns also concedehow difficult it is to predict conference standings
Tyrann Mathieudidn’t just play forthe Saints. He played for NewOrleans.
He played for Louisiana. He played for all those kids across the country whogrew up wanting to wear the sameNo. 7jersey Mathieu donned when he burst onto the scene as anational phenom during his playing days at LSU. Andheplayed for all the boys, both Black and White, whorocked blond mohawks because theywantedtolook like him
Most importantly to Mathieu, he did it for the kids in his hometownofNew Orleans, the ones he wanted to see beat the odds just like he did.
“New Orleansiseverything I’m madeupof,” Mathieu told me in a2020 interview during Super Bowl week when he was playing with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Andthat’swhat Mathieu did, rising from the 7th
ward of New Orleansto afifth-place finish in the Heisman race to becoming oneofthe most respected players in the NFL.
Mathieu’s playingcareer came to asurprising end Tuesday afternoon when he announced his retirement on the eveofthe Saints’ trainingcamp.His retirementleaves ahole at the safetyposition,giantshoes for someone to trytofill. This would have been Mathieu’sfourthseason with the Saints andhis 13thin the NFL.
Instead, he’s hanging up the cleats, as he showed us with an Instagram post of two AirJordan cleats
drapedacross awire.
Chances are, youcan’t name aLouisiana-born footballplayermore belovedthanMathieu.When he signed with the Saints in 2022, the team put preorders for hisjersey on a website.The site crashed because of high traffic. “I justwanttoplay good ball, andIjust want to do good things in the community,” Mathieu said when he signed. He’ll probablybethe first to admit he endedupdoing more of the latterinhis three seasonsback home. Mathieu,who turned33
No support for SEC’s at-large bid preference for college playoffs
BY EDDIE PELLS AP national writer
LAS VEGAS The Big Ten com-
Devers debuts at 1B after balking to do so
Rafael Devers was in the lineup at first base for the San Francisco Giants at Atlanta on Tuesday night, the slugger’s first start at the position that he refused to play for his prior team, the Boston Red Sox. Boston traded Devers to San Francisco in June after his relationship with management deteriorated less than two years into a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed in 2023.
missioner doubled down on the league’s preference for multiple automatic qualifiers in the next version of the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, increasing the likelihood of a showdown with the Southeastern Conference when the format for 2026 is decided. At the league’s football media days, Tony Petitti said any change that adds at-large bids and increases the discretion and role of a selection committee — a format the SEC and others have shown a preference for — “will have a difficult time getting support of the Big Ten.” Petitti also bolstered the idea of a weekend’s worth of conference play-in games for some of the four automatic bids that would go to the Big Ten in its preferred version of a 16-team playoff. He said the league favored this even though the games could put some of the Big Ten’s top-seeded teams in jeopardy of being shut out of the CFP
The likely slate for that would include a league title game between Nos. 1 and 2 and play-in games involving the 3-6 seeds.
“There are 18 members in the Big Ten, you have 17 possible opponents and you play nine,” Petitti said. “There’s a lot of discrepancy Let alone making comparisons across leagues, there’s a lot of issues about how you compare teams inside the Big Ten. Where we came down is we were willing to take that risk.”
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, whose team earned the 10th seed in last year’s playoff but lost 2717 to Notre Dame in a game that didn’t feel as close as the score, echoed the commissioner’s thoughts and pointed out that Ohio State finished fourth in the conference last season and went on to win the national title.
If “you want to put the best teams in the playoffs, give the best leagues the AQ, but make them earn it with play-in games,” Cignetti said. Though there is a Dec. 1 deadline for expanding the playoff for 2026, Petitti said he wouldn’t put any firm date on it. That echoed a sentiment SEC commissioner Greg Sankey
voiced earlier this month when he said the 12-team format, which went into effect last season and offers automatic spots to five conference champions, could stay in place until the two leagues can agree.
Petitti said recent meetings between Big Ten and SEC athletic directors have produced good results on a variety of topics and he expects another such summit would do the same.
“The goal would be to bring people back together, have a conversation about what we think works, then kind of go from there,” he said.
The Big Ten and SEC will ultimately decide the new format, with input from the Atlantic Coast
and Big 12 conferences, along with Notre Dame and the five smaller conferences that are part of the system.
At his conference’s media days, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said his preference was a format with five automatic bids and the rest at-large, which is also what Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has said his league favors.
“Fairness and access should also be part of the equation,” Phillips said Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, while backing the work of the selection committee that would have a bigger role with up to 11 at-large selections to sort through.
Conferences currently earn $4 million for every team they place in the playoff, and that number could grow, which adds to the stakes of how the next version of the playoff takes form.
Embedded in the debate is the nine-game conference slate the Big Ten plays vs. eight for the SEC. That extra non-conference game, some believe, gives SEC teams a chance to bolster their schedules, which then adds value to any calculation the committee would consider in determining atlarge bids.
The SEC is exploring moving to nine conference games. Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman portrayed a Big Ten that is unified around the format of nine regular-season conference games, a new round of play-in games and something like four automatic spots in a 16-team playoff going to both the SEC and Big Ten.
“It means you’re going to have probably eight or nine, maybe ten schools that are jockeying for the fifth and sixth spots as you get into November,” Whitman said.
“It’s so cool, when you just think about what it would mean for our fan bases and the enthusiasm around those games And it minimizes some of the subjectivity that would be placed around the selection committee.”
BY AARON BEARD AP sportswriter
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jim Phillips
stood in the same spot Tuesday morning that he did exactly one year earlier as he officially opened the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason football media days. Only now, the message and tone are far different.
The league has successfully quelled a rebellion in the form of the lawsuits by member schools Clemson and Florida State, which represented a threat fueling doomsayers’ chatter about the league’s long-term stability. Instead, the settlement that ended the legal fight spawned a new revenue-distribution model set to benefit the league’s biggest brands. There was also ESPN’s extension on its long-running partnership with the league.
And that sends the ACC into the 2025-26 sports season with the closest thing to peace as a college landscape churning with constant change can muster In an interview with The Associated Press, Phillips, the ACC commissioner, described recent months as “the restabilization of a great league that went through a very bumpy period.” He also talked about working to “make this a league that teams want to be in, not have to be in” at the start of the revenue-sharing era.
“We’re as healthy of a league as we’ve ever been based on having to go through some really tough moments,” Phillips told the AP “I give our presidents/board credit for it, and I give our ADs a ton of credit for it as well. So we’ve moved away from some of the legal issues that we’ve had and now we’ve been able to work on things that I think have been put on the backburner.”
A summer earlier FSU, Clemson and the league were entangled in a crossfire of lawsuits over the ACC’s ability to charge hundreds of millions of dollars in exit fees for schools that leave for another league.
That came amid the backdrop of the ACC’s financial conundrum. The league annually posts record revenue hauls ($711.4 million for 2023-24, with football-playing members receiving nearly $45 million). It also keeps lagging behind the Big Ten ($928.1 million revenue, $63.1 million payout) and Southeastern Conference ($839 million, $52.6 million), though it ranks firmly third among the Power Four leagues ahead of the Big 12 ($493.8 million $39.5 million).
Had the Clemson or FSU lawsuits proceeded, there was potential a ruling might defang the league’s exit fees. Or its grantof-rights deal, signed by all ACC schools to give the conference control of their media rights — and the TV money that comes with them — as a deterrent to moving elsewhere.
Either could have triggered more teams to exit and chase revenue elsewhere, with the 2024 disintegration of the Pac-12 offering a worst-case harbinger
The stakes were clear last summer when Phillips took an assertive stance that was downright pugilistic by his own measured-tone standards in promising the league would fight “as long as it takes.”
He now touts a successful “reconciliation” and what he calls “a really good story about the ACC.”
“People had various opinions about how unstable it was I never felt ever that it was going to lose its way or anything like that,” Phillips said. “It was never going to have the demise that I had heard that may happen. I never believed that for a second.
“But you have a staff that you’re dealing with. You have other schools that you’re dealing with. So to me, part of my responsibility was to be incredibly level and strong and unwavering about (how) we would get to the place that we’re experiencing now, where we have stability.”
ESPN’s decision in January to pick up its base-rights option through 2035-36 provided a key perception boost, aligning that
deal’s timeline with a second covering the partnership for the ACC Network. The legal settlement followed in March, featuring a revised revenue-distribution model incorporating TV viewership as a way for top programs to make more money Throw in the last season’s implementation of a “success initiative” allowing teams to keep money generated by their own postseason success, and big-brand names like Clemson and FSU in football or Duke, North Carolina and Louisville in basketball, have avenues to offset the gap with Big Ten or SEC peers. That said, it didn’t sound like the legal fight produced constant stress at the team level.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal said he never focused on uncertainty surrounding the conference’s future, while linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa said they essentially knew nothing about the lawsuits.
“I live in a cave,” Mauigoa said with a grin.
Still, reaching resolution was a welcome sign all the same.
“For me,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said, “really to see the commissioner stand up there and have confidence and say the things he’s said just gives me confidence.”
Longer-term questions await, though. The settlement included a rollback of the ACC’s grantof-rights provision that ensured schools would bring no TV value to a new league. It also created a schedule of declining exit fees from its current nine-figure status to $75 million for the 2030-31 season, then leveling off there through the duration of the ESPN deals.
That 2031 date would largely align with expiration of media deals for the Big Ten (2029-30 season) and the Big 12 (2030-31), while the SEC’s deal runs through 2033-34. That confluence could set up a potential countdown for massive realignment impacting all Power Four leagues, maybe even through the formation of super league.
Asked about that looming potential, Phillips could only chuckle.
“We’re trying to get through this next year,” he said, “and all the rest of it.”
The Red Sox signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training and asked Devers to move to designated hitter.
He balked before agreeing to the switch, but when Boston first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about playing the position and he declined.
Rays put second baseman
Lowe on 10-day injured list
The Tampa Bay Rays placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list Tuesday and acquired outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Braves for cash considerations.
Lowe has been dealing with tendinitis in his left ankle. He exited Saturday’s game and was initially diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. The injury was later clarified as tendinitis.
His IL placement was retroactive to July 20, indicating he could return before the July 31 trade deadline.
The 29-year-old has appeared in 87 games this season, batting .269 with 19 home runs, 11 doubles and three stolen bases. He’s driven in 58 runs while striking out in just over 25% of his plate appearances.
Paul to wear No. 3 jersey in return to Los Angeles
Chris Paul will be wearing his No 3 jersey in his return to the Los Angeles Clippers. Newly acquired Bradley Beal has agreed to give Paul the number that Beal has worn his entire NBA career, according to Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations. Paul played last season in San Antonio and forward Keldon Johnson gave up wearing No. 3 so Paul could have it. Paul has worn the number since he entered the NBA in 2005. Paul, a free agent, signed with the Clippers for what is expected to be his 21st and final NBA season, citing a desire to return to Los Angeles where his family lives. He played 82 games for the Spurs, but will come off the bench for the Clippers.
Terry McLaurin did not report to Washington Commanders training camp Tuesday as the team’s top receiver seeks a new contract, according to a person with knowledge of the situation on condition of anonymity
Word of McLaurin not showing up with the rest of the veterans on the eve of the first practice of camp came hours after general manager Adam Peters said he expected everyone to be in attendance. McLaurin, who turns 30 in September expressed frustration last week about the lack of progress in negotiations. McLaurin, who skipped mandatory minicamp and some voluntary workouts this spring, signed a three-year, $68.2 million extension in 2022 with the Commanders’ previous regime.
from golf coverage on CBS
Ian Baker-Finch is retiring after CBS ends its PGA Tour golf coverage next week after nearly 19 years of his friendly Australian voice contributing to the network’s broadcast.
Baker-Finch, best known for his British Open victory in 1991 among his 16 victories worldwide, joined CBS in 2007.
He had worked the previous decade in golf announcing with ESPN and TNT
“Golf has been an enormous part of my life,” Baker-Finch, 64, said in a statement “I was fortunate to compete against the best players in the game and more recently work with the very best in television.”
CBS ends its 2025 coverage of the PGA Tour next week at the Wyndham Championship.
9, Tommy Fleetwood, 1,783. 10, Keegan Bradley, 1,749. Scoring average: 1, Scottie Scheffler, 68.314. 2, Rory McIlroy, 68.976. 3, Tommy Fleetwood, 69.756. 4, Sepp Straka, 69.873. 5, Russell Henley 69.895. 6, J.J. Spaun, 69.979. 7, Harry Hall, 69.981. 8, Justin Thomas, 70.072. 9, Ben Griffin, 70.076. 10, 2 tied with 70.107. Driving distance: 1, Aldrich Potgieter, 327.6. 2, Rory McIlroy, 323.4. 3, Jesper Svensson, 319.4. 4 (tie), Niklas Norgaard and Michael Thorbjornsen, 319.2. 6, Nicolai Hojgaard, 318.4. 7, Kurt Kitayama, 317.2. 8 (tie), Chris Gotterup and Rasmus Hojgaard, 317. 10, Will Gordon, 316.1. Driving accuracy percentage: 1, Paul Peterson, 73.88%. 2, Aaron Rai, 73.37%. 3, Ben Kohles, 72.68%. 4, Collin Morikawa, 71.25%. 5, Takumi Kanaya, 70.40%. 6, Andrew Putnam, 70.23%. 7, Zach Johnson, 69.00%. 8, Brice Garnett, 68.66%. 9, Brandt Snedeker, 68.55%. 10, Lucas Glover, 68.43%. Total driving: 1, Rico Hoey, 58. 2, Michael Thorbjornsen, 63. 3, Thomas Rosenmueller, 75. 4, Kevin Roy, 77. 5, Luke List, 83. 6, Alex Smalley 87. 7, Ricky Castillo, 99. 8, Kevin Yu, 103. 9, Isaiah Salinda, 104. 10, 2 tied with 107. SG-putting: 1, Sam Burns, .950. 2 Taylor Montgomery, .819. 3, Harry Hall, .789. 4, Rory McIlroy, .754. 5,
Southland Conference Predicted order of finish Southland Conference media predictions with first-place points in parenthesis and total points Team (first-place votes) Points
1. Incarnate Word (15) 158
2. Stephen F. Austin (3) 137
3. Southeastern (1) 136 4. Lamar (1) 112 5. Nicholls State 91 6. McNeese State 85 7. Houston Christian 59
7. East Texas A&M 59
9. Nothwestern State 39
10. UTRGV 24
All-Sun Belt Conference
preseason First-team offense
QB: Braylon Braxton, Southern Miss, Sr.
RB: George Pettaway, James Madison, Jr.
RB: Kentrel Bullock, South Alabama, Sr.
OL: Nick Del Grande, Coastal Carolina, Jr.
OL: Caleb Cook, Georgia Southern, Sr.
OL: Pichon Wimbley, Georgia Southern, Sr.
OL: Pat McMurtrie, James Madison, Gr.
OL: Zach Barlev, Old Dominion, Sr.
TE: Toby Payne, Marshall, Jr.
WR: Corey Rucker, Arkansas State, Sr.
WR: Josh Dallas, Georgia Southern, JR.
WR: Ted Hurst, Georgia State, Sr.
First-team defense
DL: Bryan Whitehead, Arkansas State, Sr.
DL: Latrell Bullard, Georgia Southern, Sr.
DL: Jordan Lawson, UL, Sr.
DL: Kevontay Wells, ULM, Sr.
DL: Brodarius Lewis, Southern Miss, Gr.
LB: Brendan Harrington, Georgia Southern, Sr
LB: Jason Henderson, Old Dominion, Sr.
LB: Blayne Myrick, South Alabama, Jr.
DB: Chance Gamble, Georgia Southern, Sr.
DB: Jacob Thomas, James Madison, Sr
DB: Tyree Skipper, UL, Sr
DB: Josh Moten, Southern Miss, Sr
First-team special teams
K: Clune Van Andel, Arkansas State, Jr.
P: Alex Smith, Georgia Southern, Jr.
RS: Ian Foster, Southern Miss, So.
a.m Detroit (Melton 0-0) at Pittsburgh (Falter 6-5), 11:35 a.m. L.A. Angels (TBD) at N.Y. Mets (Manaea 0-1), 12:10 p.m. Kansas City (Lugo 6-5) at Chicago Cubs (Rea 8-3), 1:20 p.m. St. Louis (Pallante 5-6) at Colorado (Freeland 2-10), 2:10 p.m. Houston (Walter 1-3) at Arizona (Pfaadt 10-6), 2:40 p.m. Milwaukee (Priester 8-2) at Seattle (Castillo 7-5), 2:40 p.m. Minnesota (Paddack 3-9) at L.A. Dodgers (Glasnow 1-1), 3:10 p.m. Boston (Giolito 6-2) at Philadelphia (Luzardo 8-5), 6:05 p.m. Pro basketball WNBA glance EASTERN CONFERENCE
AP: Ja’Quez Cross, Arkansas State, Sr.
Second-team offense
QB: Alonza Barnett III, James Madison, Jr.
RB: Ja’Quez Cross, Arkansas State, Sr.
RB: Bill Davis, UL, Soph.
OL: Jax Harrington, UL, Sr.
OL: George Jackson, UL, Sr.
OL: Jalen Slappy, Marshall, Jr.
OL: Jordan Davis, South Alabama, Sr.
OL: Eli Russ, Troy, Sr.
TE: Kyirin Heath, Southern Miss, Sr.
WR: Dalton Stroman, App State, Sr.
WR: Jameson Tucker, Coastal Carolina, Sr.
WR: Dalen Cobb, Georgia Southern, Sr.
Second-team defense
DL: Henry Bryant, Georgia State, Sr.
DL: Immanuel Bush, James Madison, Sr.
DL: Kris Trinidad, Old Dominion, Sr
DL: Luis Medina, Troy, Sr.
LB: Shane Bruce, Coastal Carolina Gr.
LB: Trent Hendrick, James Madison, Sr.
LB: Cameron Whitfield, UL, Sr.
LB: Koa Naotala, Old Dominion, Jr.
DB: Tracy Hill Jr., Georgia Southern, Jr.
DB: DJ Barksdale, James Madison, Jr.
DB: Wesley Miller, South Alabama, Jr.
DB: Devin Lafayette, Troy, Sr.
Second-team special teams
K: Scott Taylor Renfroe, Troy, Sr.
P: Aleksi Pulkkinen, South Alabama, Jr.
RS: Ja’Quez Cross, Arkansas State, Sr.
AP: George Pettaway, James Madison, Jr.
Preseason awards Offensive Player of the Year: QB Braylon Braxton, Southern Miss, Sr. Defensive Player of the Year: LB Blayne Myrick, South Alabama, Jr. Special Teams Player of the Year: K Clune Van Andel, Arkansas State, Jr.
Sam Ryder, 750. 6, Sami Valimaki, .638. 7, Jacob Bridgeman, .587. 8, Nico Echavarria, .580. 9, Denny McCarthy, .552. 10, Cameron Young, .534. Birdie average: 1, Harry Hall, 4.51 2, Justin Thomas, 4.5. 3 (tie), Jake Knapp and Scottie Scheffler, 4.42. 5 Michael Thorbjornsen, 4.38. 6, Sepp Straka, 4.35. 7, Keith Mitchell, 4.34. 8, Nicolai Hojgaard, 4.33. 9, 2 tied with 4.24. Eagles (holes per): 1, Alejandro Tosti, 66.9. 2, Steven Fisk, 73.4. 3, Scottie Scheffler, 82.3. 4, Charley Hoffman 84. 5, David Skinns, 88.2. 6 (tie), Kurt Kitayama, Rory McIlroy and Karl Vilips, 90. 9, Chan Kim, 96.5. 10, Cam Davis, 97.2. All-around ranking: 1, Scottie Scheffler, 196. 2, Keith Mitchell, 268. 3, Alex Smalley, 325. 4, Rory McIlroy, 329. 5, Sepp Straka, 331. 6, Kevin Yu, 333. 7, Nicolai Hojgaard, 348. 8, Sam Burns, 368. 9, Kevin Roy, 391. 10, Kurt Kitayama, 402. Presidents Cup standings At The Royal Montreal GC; Montreal Sept. 26-29; top 10 automatically qualify United States 1. Scottie Scheffler 13,711 2. Xander Schauffele
Cycling Tour de France
16th stage A Hilly 106-mile ride from Montpellier to Mount Ventoux
1. Valentin Paret-Peintre, France, Soudal Quick-Step, 4:03:19.
2. Ben Healy, Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, same time.
3. Santiago Buitrago, Colombia, Bahrain Victorious, 4:03:23.
4. Ilan van Wilder, Belgium, Soudal QuickStep, 4:03:33.
5. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 4:04:02.
6. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:04:04.
7. Enric Mas, Spain, Movistar, 4:04:12.
8. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Tudor, 4:04:36.
9. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Red Bull — BORA — Hansgrohe, 4:05:10. 10. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — BORA — Hansgrohe, 4:05:12. Also 29. Sepp Kuss, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:08:31. 67. Quinn Simmon, United States, Lidl-Trek, 4:24:11.
80. William Barta, United States, Movistar Team, same time. 96. Neilson Powless, United States, EF Education-EasyPost, 4:26:03. 115. Matteo Jorgenson, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:29:28. Overall standings 1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 58:24:46. 2. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 58:29:01. 3. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 58:33:49. 4. Oscar Onley, Great Britain, Picnic PostNL, 58:35:50. 5. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 58:36:28. 6. Kevin Vauquelin, France, Arkea-B&B Hotels, 58:38:06. 7. Felix Gall, Austria, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 58:39:36. 8. Tobias Johannessen, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, 58:41:47. 9. Ben Healy, Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, 58:42:38. 10. Carlos Rodriguez, Spain, Ineos Grenadiers, 58:45:31. Team standings 1. Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 175:55:27. 2. UAE Team Emirates XRG, 176:10:35. 3. Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 176:45:01. 4. Arkea-B&B Hotels, 177:51:55. 5. Decathalon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 177:12:03. 6. Ineos Grenadiers, 177:41:25. 7. XDS Astana Team, 177:53:08. 8. Movistar Team, 177:53:22.
9. Groupama-FDJ, 177:54:00. 10. Team Picnic Postnl, 178:22:32. Transactions FOOTBALL NFL
winding path to the NFL.
When training camp begins Wednesday for the Saints, Shough will step onto the field as he seeks to become the team’s starting quarterback. Drafted in the second round out of Louisville, the 25-year-old is the franchise’s highest-selected signal-caller in 54 years Although he must first win the competition against Spencer Rattler, Shough was handpicked by the Saints new coaching staff to guide the team into a new era.
The journey hasn’t been easy, given all of Shough’s adversity in college — three schools, seven years and numerous injuries.
Shough credits his support system — led by his wife, Jordan, and Murphy — for helping him push through. Among the broken bones, grueling rehab and the ascension of his sole season at Louisville, they were at Shough’s side.
“The biggest thing with Murphy is she doesn’t care how your day went, whether you played good or played bad,” Shough said.
{h3 style=”text-align: left;”} Friends in need{/h3}
The first thing that stood out was the smell.
In December 2022, after his second season at Texas Tech, Shough had made up his mind that it was time for Jordan and him to get a dog. They both grew up in dog households, so Shough found a farm in Fort Worth where they could adopt a golden retriever puppy On Jordan’s birthday, they made the fivehour drive from Lubbock, Texas, to pick up 8-week-old Murphy It was apparent right away they were adopting a farm dog.
“She smelled like cow poop,” Shough said.
“We (had) to immediately give her a bath,” Jordan said with a laugh.
Jordan likes to refer to Murphy, named after a character in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” movie, as a therapy dog. At the time, her husband was recovering from surgery for a broken collarbone that limited his year to seven games. Murphy, she said, provided a “disruption” that the couple could “pour everything into.” And Jordan even discovered how helpful having a dog could be.
At first, Jordan was hesitant about whether the timing was right After playing soccer at Oregon, where she met Shough, she agreed to move to Texas with him and started her first job out of college as a seventhgrade science teacher She was worried about the commitment the dog would require, but Shough’s calmness convinced her “That’s pretty much how our big decisions happen,” she said. “He’s the calm one that’s like, ‘It’s going to be OK. It’s gonna work out.’ And then I’m the one questioning it a little more. But yeah, it turned out to be the best thing ever.”
Murphy quickly became a fixture not just for the Shoughs but also in the Texas Tech community In the era of name, image and likeness deals, Murphy even got her own endorsement from a doggy daycare named WagBnb. The sponsorship gave Murphy a place to stay when the Shoughs traveled to road games. For the first three days after Shough broke his leg four games into his 2023 season, Murphy stayed in the quarterback’s lap. Shough vividly remembers what
Continued from page 1C
these days in the Sun Belt
“More than ever, these preseason polls don’t mean very much,” Desormeaux said. “No one knows what any other team has truthfully Yes, I feel like we have a good football team, but truthfully be able to tell you what everyone else has, I don’t know
“There’s so much turnover It’s harder than ever to predict.”
In 2022, UL was picked to win the West after Billy Napier left for Florida, but Desormeaux knew the obstacles facing his team behind the scenes.
“I knew we had an uphill climb,” he said.
This year, the Cajuns boast two
first-team preseason All-Sun Belt performers in Skipper and defensive end Jordan Lawson, and four second-team selections in offensive tackle George Jackson, Harrington, running back Bill Davis and linebacker Cam Whitfield
“It’s a formality, but we feel very strongly we can win this division and win this league and that’s all that matters,” Desormeaux said.
Last season, Troy was the twotime Sun Belt champions and were picked second in the West. The Trojans finished 4-8 and 3-5 in the Sun Belt, which placed them in a tie for fifth in the West. This year, the Trojans are picked
Tyler Shough’s dog, Murphy, was his constant companion while Shough rehabbed from a broken leg in college.
When the Saints take the practice field for the start of training camp
Wednesday, two veteran tight ends will watch from the sidelines.
The Saints announced Tuesday that both Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau will begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.The news was expected, as both Hill and Moreau missed the summer program while recovering from knee injuries suffered late last year
While both Mickey Loomis and Kellen Moore struck optimistic
he called the lowest point of his college career A defensive lineman had broken Shough’s leg on a hipdrop tackle, and though he tried to play through the pain, he was carted off one play after Shough couldn’t walk, wondered about his future and even briefly contemplated retirement.
Murphy could tell Shough was in pain. Jordan remembers how Murphy would spend “all day” by her husband’s side.
By the fourth day, Shough sensed a shift in the dog’s demeanor.
“She was like, ‘All right, let’s get up,’ ” Shough said.
Over the next few weeks, that’s when the walks began. Initially, Shough was bound to a knee scooter Despite the limited mobility, the quarterback found comfort in the way his dog would get excited about those trips.
When dealing with a serious injury, Shough said there’s a period of self-pity that kicks in. Factor in his two previous broken collarbones — one in 2021 and another a year later and Shough couldn’t be blamed if he wondered whether someone, or something, had it out for him. But it was on those walks with Murphy that Shough gained perspective, a sense of clarity that he said made him grateful for all that he endured
As he progressed physically and worked his way back into shape, Shough was able to escape Not just literally from the home he was cooped up in — but from football and that day’s workload Murphy wouldn’t allow Shough’s mind to wander, anyway Shough often had to keep his dog from chasing after squirrels, pointing at birds, or drifting off to trees for sticks and branches.
“That’s really the best part about it is going on those adventures,”
Shough said “To me, that’s what life is about.”
Jordan could see how Murphy was
sixth.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re picked to finish second or sixth,” Troy quarterback Goose Crowder said.
“We’re just focused on our path to become better We know what we have in our locker room and we’re looking forward to it.”
In the league’s 25th anniversary of football, Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill addressed the recent addition of Louisiana Tech to the conference.
“The Sun Belt Conference foundation is built on schools with passionate fan bases, great football tradition, tradition of success in other sports and proximity that creates regional rivalries,” Gill said. “Louisiana Tech allows us to be better in each of these areas.”
No one was more excited for the addition of Louisiana Tech than ULMonroe coach Bryant Vincent.
“The minute I stepped on campus, people talked to me about the La. Tech rivalry. It’s constant,” Vincent said. “If we’re going to rebound this program, we need to play La. Tech Northeast Louisiana needs the ULM-Tech rivalry
“And sure, we’ll have a plan to wreck Tech, because that’s what everybody wants.”
The hope is Louisiana Tech will join the Sun Belt for the 2026-27 athletic year, but Gill stated it’s possible that it could take until the 2027-28 school year
Either way, Louisiana Tech will replace Texas State, which made it clear it’s still focused on the Sun
tones about Hill and Moreau’s recoveries, neither committed to a potential timeline for their return to the field.
Players are eligible to come off the PUP at any time during training camp, though it’s possible that one or both are not ready for the start of the regular season.
Hill suffered a torn ACL against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 1 while Moreau required surgery after injuring his knee in the season finale.
Luke Johnson
helping. After all, she knew better than anyone how the quarterback’s injury affected him. She was the one who bathed Shough with a wet rag when he couldn’t move, who helped him fall asleep on those restless nights after the injury This isn’t lost on Shough, either He credits Jordan as his “primary support,” thankful she was there.
But Murphy cared, too.
“It helped him a lot,” Jordan said, “just having this dog that just loves him regardless of everything else happening in his life.”
Shough didn’t know what to expect when he transferred to Louisville last year He said he certainly didn’t envision it would lead to him becoming a second-round draft pick.
All he wanted was a shot. He wanted to make it through a year healthy And he looked forward to coach Jeff Brohm’s pro-style offense, thinking it was a scheme in which he could thrive. He was ready for a new adventure.
“I was hopeful that he was hungry,” Brohm said.
Brohm’s hopes soon were realized. The coach learned quickly that Shough was willing to put in the work and could process everything his offense required. Brohm wasn’t concerned about Shough’s injury history, either He had a plan to keep the quarterback out of harm’s way, keeping him mostly in the pocket rather than on designed quarterback runs.
As they started to work together, Brohm saw how Shough’s adversity had shaped him. There was a maturity about him, Brohm said. And his work ethic fueled what was ultimately a successful pairing: For the first time as a starter in college, Shough made it through the year completely healthy And he had results to show for it, leading Louisville to an 8-4 record with more than 3,000 yards passing.
Belt before heading to the new Pac12.
“With everything going on, we’re focused on the Sun Belt,” Texas State coach GJ Kinne said. “We’re focused on competing. Our seniors, they’re focus is on the Sun Belt as well. We’ll let the (Texas State administration) worry about all of that other stuff.
“We’re super excited to finish the right way in the Sun Belt. We’re excited about this team we have going into our third season.”
Last season, Texas State was led by James Madison transfer quarterback Jordan McCloud. This year the Bobcats are searching for their quarterback. Texas State also lost leading rusher Ismail Mahdi to Arizona via the transfer portal.
In the running at quarterback are returnee Brad Jackson, and transfers Holden Geriner from Auburn, Nate Yarnell from Pittsburgh and Keldric Luster from SMU.
“He (Geriner) can throw it as well as anyone we’ve ever had and an elite processor,” Kinne said. “He’s in the film room more than some of the coaches.”
The Bobcats have a lot more questions this season.
“A year ago, we wouldn’t have had to have fall camp, to be honest with you,” Kinne said. “We could have gone out there and played that Week One game.
“This year, we need every single fall camp practice, we need every single meeting, we need every single walk-through to be able to
Life in Louisville became normal as well. While Shough was ascending, he had Jordan and Murphy to fall back on. They had found their go-to dog park, their favorite pet store and plenty of other places where Murphy could roam.
“The nicest part is she’s just attached to us,” Jordan said “Like, we’re our own little family We’re excited to go to new places because of her, (just) because she’s so excited. She’s so resilient when she’s moved. We’ve driven across the country multiple times. She loves it.”
Shough’s breakout caught the eye of NFL teams, including the Saints. Suddenly, one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft, Shough prepared for every team — with Jordan providing an assist by quizzing him on different playbooks and specific plays, a process that dated to their time in college.
The Saints made their interest apparent at Louisville’s pro day in March. Quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien took Shough out for lunch, followed by what Shough said was “extensive board work” in a meeting with coach Kellen Moore and the rest of the Saints contingent on the trip. They later hosted him for a pre-draft visit.
“There was a lot to like on his tape,” said Tolzien, who raved about Shough’s accuracy “And then you see him in person, and it confirms a lot of that stuff.”
Now another adventure begins.
Shough has spent the last few months integrating into the city of New Orleans. He shucked an oyster and tried crawfish. He popped a tire on a pothole. He stuck around the area after offseason workouts concluded and volunteered at the Manning Passing Academy He has settled in, allowing him to focus mainly on football. The stakes are clear Even beyond the drama of a quarterback competition, Shough must play well enough this season to quiet chatter that the Saints could be in the market for another rookie signal-caller in 2026 if they finish with one of the worst records in the NFL. The projected top of next year’s quarterback class — Texas quarterback Arch Manning (grandson of Saints legend Archie Manning) and LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (son of Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier) — hold strong ties to the organization as well.
“I got to see him through every kind of hard battle, every tough game, every big move across the country,” Jordan said. “He’s the same person. He’s pretty unshakeable. The biggest thing I’ve noticed, especially in the last few years, is he loves this more than anything.
“It’s pretty evident, especially being somebody that lives with him.” Shough gets home and often wants to put on film, Jordan said. And the quarterback lights up when talking about his day at the facility That conversation even ropes in Murphy, whom Jordan said Tyler addresses as if she were a person.
Shough said he isn’t sure how he’ll balance the grind of the regular season while finding time to take Murphy out on their usual walks. And if his career truly takes off, the reality is he might become too famous to walk around the neighborhood with his dog, anyway
But if the trips have to be put on pause, or if more challenging times lie ahead, Shough still can come home to a dog that is eager to see him.
Just as it has been from state to state, year after year
accomplish what we need to accomplish.”
Predicted to finish fifth in the West is Southern Miss, which went 1-11 last season but is now coached by Charles Huff, who led Marshall to the Sun Belt crown in 2024.
“We should have been picked last,” Huff said. “We were 1-11 last season. That’s who we are. Now it’s about how we respond.”
Last year, the quarterbacks at Southern Miss combined for seven touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Braylon Braxton, who joined Southern Miss with Huff in the offseason, led Marshall to the Sun Belt title with 19 touchdowns and two picks.
Huff said the West is deeper than the East this season. Supporting that is UL-Monroe — predicted to finish last in the West returns the most players in the conference.
Among those who left was firstteam All-Sun Belt running back Ahmad Hardy to Missouri. Vincent still loves his running back options.
“People know what we do on offense,” he said. “Running backs want to play in our offense because of what we do. We’re going to establish the run and stop it to win championships.
“We’ve had a lot of great backs throughout the years, and I think this room of running backs is the best that I’ve had in my career from top to bottom.”
Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.
in May, recorded 10 of his 36 NFL career interceptions with the Saints. But the team never reached the playoffs in his return home. Off the field, he was a staple in New Orleans, giving back just like he did during his playing days with the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Chiefs.
The first time I met Mathieu was about 10 years ago at one of his camps. I still remember being shocked at how small he was.
Nobody this size (he’s listed at 5-foot-9, 190 pounds) was supposed to wreak that much havoc on a football field But Mathieu was living proof that you can’t measure the size of one’s heart.
His heart wasn’t just passionate about football. He also was passionate about giving back to the city Those LSU days of hearing the phrase ”Honey Badger don’t care“ were long gone. Honey Badger indeed cares, which is why the kids in his hometown mean so much to him. He doesn’t want to see any of them fall by the wayside and become a statistic. He knows he easily could have when he was dismissed from the football team at LSU.
But New Orleans didn’t teach Mathieu to quit. He went to St. Augustine High School, where the first lyrics of the school’s alma mater are “Rise, Sons of the Gold and Purple.” And he learned just as many lessons at the school of hard knocks, which is what life for Mathieu felt like growing up. He’s had family members who were locked up in jail. He’s lost friends to gun violence. He’s seen it all.
But New Orleans taught him this:
“It’s fighting, it’s surviving,” Mathieu said in 2022 “It’s celebrating other people and happiness. I think that’s who I am.”
On Tuesday, it was time for others to celebrate Mathieu. His peers flooded social media with well-wishes to Mathieu.
Former Saints receiver Michael Thomas summed it up well.
“He was must-see TV for me on Saturdays in high school,” Thomas posted on X. “Really for all of us. In my generation, we never really (had) seen anyone like him Through all the adversity he gave us a show every time. What an honor to call him a teammate.” Mathieu was a favorite of his teammates, and he was a favorite of the local media. Win or lose, we always knew we could go to Mathieu and he’d put the game in proper perspective. He was voted the winner of the media award in New Orleans in 2023, an award that he also won at his other three NFL stops.
“He is one of those guys that commands respect by his actions and his deeds,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. “Very thoughtful. Intelligent. Super smart player Did all the right things on the football field and with his experiences in life. He’s just fantastic.” It seems fitting that Mathieu finished his career in New Orleans. It’s the city that raised him. It’s the city where he got his first NFL interception, picking off a Drew Brees’ pass in the Superdome in 2013 during Mathieu’s rookie season with the Cardinals. He also got his final interception in the Dome in November, intercepting a Kirk Cousins’ pass. Is there a better way for a guy from New Orleans to finish off his career than to get his last interception against the rival Atlanta Falcons?
In between those interceptions, he was named to four All-Pro teams and three Pro Bowls. He also was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2010s. And he won a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs. But around here, Mathieu won’t be remembered for any of those accolades. He’ll be remembered for being arguably the most revered and electrifying player this state ever has produced, highlighted by some magical Saturday nights in Baton Rouge at Tiger Stadium.
He was small in stature but played so big. He was bigger than just football, which is why even Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry weighed in on his retirement.
“There is no one like the Honey Badger,” Landry posted on X. “A Louisiana Legend!” Chances are, there never will be another one like him.
Tulane grad, ‘Big Brother’ winner to compete on ‘The Traitors’
BY HANNAH LEVITAN Staff writer
Ian Terry, a Tulane University graduate and “Big Brother” winner, is back on his reality TV grind this time, on the cast of “The Traitors.” Terry, who graduated from Tulane in New Orleans with a chemical engineering degree in 2013 currently works in Houston as a senior consultant for the Peloton Consulting Group.
Terry shared he received a call from the show’s producers to join the cast over on Memorial Day weekend. Although he competed on two seasons of “Big Brother,” he said Thursday he had never seen “The Traitors” before getting the offer to be on the cast In “Big Brother,” a group of people lives together in a house with more than 200 cameras and microphones; each week, someone is voted out
Before leaving to play, he watched season three and read analyses of the first two U.S. seasons, as well as the U.K. version of the show
“It basically felt like the dream where you are late to the final exam for a class you skipped all semester,” he said Joined by a mix of reality TV stars, actors and even Olympic figure skaters, the reality star veteran will compete for a cash prize in a Scottish castle, where contestants partake in the ultimate game of deception Actor Alan Cumming hosts the show Members are chosen to be “traitors” or “faithfuls,” all trying to eliminate members of the other group.
“My friends and family, almost unanimously, told me that I’d be better off as a traitor,” Terry said, adding he had a slight preference toward being a faithful
“First, it just seemed more fun to have a mystery to solve. Second, being a traitor is an overdog position: If you mess up, you end up looking very foolish. Third, I saw that ‘Big Brother’ traitors in past seasons got a lot of hate online — much of which seemed unwarranted and uncouth.”
Though he’s won a competition TV show before, Terry said “this was a whole different ball game a completely new game that (he) knew basically zero about.” The fourth season will air on Peacock in early 2026. Terry has not been back to New Orleans since 2016, but said he has plans for a trip back in September
“I love the city and the years that I spent there,” he said
715 E.Admiral Doyle Drive, New Iberia; 209 Center Sarcelle Blvd., youngsville
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TEA REX
2920 Johnston St., Lafayette; 120 Curran Lane Lafayette
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BOBABABY
1001 Savoy Road, youngsville
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BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
How can someone improve a hot dog, deep-fried in cornmeal and served on a stick?
By zesting it up with panko, cheese, sauce and other imaginative flavors — like Cheeto dust
— to create a corn dog that’s aesthetically pleasing enough for social media photos.
Korean corn dogs started going viral on social media around 2019, when the rising trends of street food, Boba tea houses and food vlogging converged to shine a light on the South Korean hot dog popular as a late-night treat.
The craze started with the rapid expansion of the Myungrang Hot Dog chain, founded in Busan, South Korea, in 2016 for the student crowd. A Korean-American opened the first United States location in Georgia in 2018, and a Los Angeles franchise opened a year later to long lines and national attention. The Korean corn dog had officially arrived in the U.S., but in South Korea, they are just known
as “hot dogs.” Where an American corn dog is a simple affair associated with weekends at the ballpark or the mall food court (in an earlier generation), a Korean corn dog is free to break the bounds of nostalgia which is how you end up with a corn dog filled with mozzarella cheese and drizzled with a mayonnaise sauce. Across the country, Korean corn dogs are typically found in cafes that also focus on other East Asian food trends popular with a younger crowd, like boba, or “bubble” tea. These drinks originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and are usually made with black or green tea shaken with milk, fruit purées and syrups and served over ice. Sweet, chewy black tapioca pearls, or “bubbles,” are popular additions to the drinks. Like Korean corn dogs, there’s a lot of room for creativity and variation in the world of bubble teas — and both items are almost as fun to photograph as they are to consume. The concepts naturally go together, and both
ä See CORN DOGS, page 6C
By The Associated Press
Dear Miss Manners: After25
yearsatthe same company, my role was eliminated by the parent corporation. When it comes to former co-workers, who should call whom after such ajob loss?
Iconsider this something like a sympathy situation, and wonder if the remaining employees shouldcall or write me to offer their support. If Ishould want to keep in touch with some of my work associates, shouldI make the firstcontact? If Ihave not received anycontact, should Iassume no one wishes to do so? Is there any convention for this situation?
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Gentle reader: There are multiple conventions, depending on whether the relationship between the current employeeand the departing one is personal or solely professional and also, unfortunately,on whether one wants to do what is proper or what is commonly done. All too often, employees pretend the person fired never existed, which is both heartless and foolish, as it convinces bosses they will get the same response whether they make good
decisions or bad ones. ButMiss Mannersobjects to treating such departures like deaths. Besides being undulypessimistic, this makespersonalassumptions about the terms of the separation and the feelings of theformeremployee.Such assumptionsmay be inaccurate andeven condescending Employees whose jobs are eliminated should be treated the same as other departing employees. Youmay reach outtoactual friendsorthey mayreach outtoyou —just be prepared to find out that some people you thought were friends are not so loyal when they do not see you atwork.
Dear Miss Manners: What is thebest way to communicate “dressy casual” on an invitation?
Gentle reader: With adecoder ring
Dear MissManners: Is it OK to give someone an itemthat onefound?I founda really nice bracelet at apark. I took it to my jeweler,who confirmed that it wasmade of 14 karat white gold, with diamonds and garnets. Itried my best to find the owner,placing an ad in alo-
cal online publication. It has been someweeks now,and no one has claimed it
Someone dear to me has abirthday soon, and her birthstone happens to be a garnet.The bracelet is in a style that Iimagine would appeal to her.She is not one to wear much jewelry besides her wedding rings —often just simple earrings when dressing up. But this piece is dainty and the stones are not ostentatious. Would it be OK to give the bracelet to her?
Gentlereader: As etiquette prohibitsyou from snatching agift back out of the recipient’shands, Miss Manners recommends against giving away somethingto which you do not have a clear title.
This will save you the embarrassment of having to explain to someone who sees the notice after returning from an extended stay abroad why you no longer have thebracelet.Orofexplaining to your friend how you camebyanexact replica of her grandmother’s bracelet,which thegrandmother lost on awalk in the park last month
Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com.
Afajita platter fromLaPagua in Lafayette
Continued from page5C
side of rice and beans and awarm tostada with guacamole for scooping up the perfectbite.
La Pagua offers popular Tex-Mex dishes like enchiladas, fajitas, tamales and more,but leans traditional in their style and flavors, giving guests an exceptional experience that made me wonder why I’d never tried this spot before.
The tamalesinparticular were aspecial treat moist and tender,cooked in some mix of savory and warm seasonings that left me going back for more. And don’tmiss La Pagua’s special, housemade margarita mixes. The fruity
Seven layer salad
n Superior Grill, 5435 GovernmentSt.;7333 Highland Road, Baton Rouge
The seven layer salad at Superior Grill is somewhat of ashowstopper
Today is Wednesday, July 23, the 204th day of 2025. There are 161 days left in the year
TodayinHistory
On July 23, 1967, the first of five days of deadly rioting erupted in Detroit as an early morning police raid on an unlicensed bar resulted in aconfrontation with local residents, escalating into violence thatspread into other parts of the city and resulting in 43 deaths
Also on this date:
In 1982, actor VicMorrow and two child actors 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee ShinYi Chen, were killed when ahelicopter crashed on top of them during filming of aVietnam Warscene for “Twilight Zone: The Movie.” (Director John Landis and four associates were later acquitted of manslaughter charges.)
In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; thepilots were able to glide thejetliner to asafe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. (Thenear-disaster occurred because thefuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilogramsatatime when Canada was converting to themetric system.)
In 1990, President George H.W.Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter of
Continuedfrom page5C
Korean corn dogs andbubble teas can be purchased together at eateries in Lafayette and Youngsville. At TeaRex in Lafayette, atrendy spot known for its large menuofbubble teas and Korean corn dogs, employee Kennie Washington said thatthe treat’s “nov-
NewHampshire to succeed the retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the U.S. SupremeCourt.
In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug madeaheroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her leftankle as the U.S. womengymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.
In 1997, the search for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace and others, ended as police found his body on ahouseboat in MiamiBeach, an apparent suicide.
In 1999, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off with the world’smost powerful X-ray telescope and Eileen Collins becamethe first womantocommand aU.S. space flight.
In 2003, Massachusetts’ attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese had probably sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades.
In 2006, Tiger Woods became the first player since TomWatson in 1982-83 to winconsecutive British Open titles.
In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse, 27, was found dead in her London home from accidental alcohol poisoning.
In 2012, Penn State’s football program wasall but leveled by penalties for its handling of the Jerry
elty” is enticing formany of her customers.
These corn dogs are indeed novel in the way they balancesweetand savory flavors, with hand-held convenienceand social media cachet.
“It’sjust different enough for Americans interested in Asian cuisine,” she said. “Especially with thepopularity of Asian markets now.” At theAsian Market in
Sandusky child sex abuse scandal as the NCAA imposed an unprecedented $60 million fine, afour-year ban from postseason play and acut in the number of football scholarships it could award.
In 2021, Cleveland’sMajor League Baseball team, known as the Indians since 1915, announced that it would getanew name, the Guardians, at the end of the 2021 season; the change cameamid apush for institutions and teamstodrop logos and names that were considered racist.
Today’sBirthdays: Retired SupremeCourt Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 89. Actor Ronny Cox is 87. Rock singer David Essex is 78. Actor Woody Harrelson is 64. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 64. Actor &director Eriq Lasalle is 63. Rock musician Slash is 60. Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton is 57. Modelactor Stephanie Seymour is 57. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is 56.
Charisma Carpenter is 55. Country singer Alison Krauss is 54. R&B singer Dalvin DeGrate (Jodeci) is 54. Actorcomedian Marlon Wayans is 53. Actor Kathryn Hahn is 52. Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 52. Actor Stephanie March is 51. R&B singer Michelle Williamsis46. Actor Paul Wesley is 43. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 36.
Lafayette,located at 119 Tucker Drive near the Acadiana Mall, the Korean corn dog-curious can find frozen packs suitable for frying, or airfrying, at home. If you’drather try onethat’s hot, garnished and ready to devour,try these area cafes with Korean corn dogs featured on the menu.
Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.
tangydrinks are theperfect complement to aMexican nightout.
—JoannaBrown, staff writer
Abed of lettuce is placed on adish while aserver balances aglass cylinder full of mesquite chicken, chipotle peppers, roasted tomatoes,avocado, queso blanco, roasted corn and black beans tossed with chipotle ranch on top. With alittle swirl, all of the components are released onto the plate. Yes, thetheatrics are there, but thesalad itself is delicious. It’s smoky.It’sa little spicy. It’severything one could want from asalad at aMexican restaurant.
—Lauren Cheramie, features coordinator
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Engage in events that stimulate the mind and motivate you to be and do your best. Working alongside others will encourage new friendships and provide opportunities to experience different lifestyle choices.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Take precautions when dealing with financial, medical or contractual matters. Pay attention to detail and negotiate any changes you want to implement before proceeding.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) Walk away from anyone demanding too much time, patience and talent. Concentrate on doing more for yourself. Change your work or living space to accentuate your lifestyle.
ScoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) If you want more money, focus on careers that pay top dollar. Including educational pursuits on your resume when applying for your dream job will pay off
SAGIttARIuS (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Live, learn and appreciate whatever comes your way. Let your charm work its magic on someone you want to get to know better Persistence, playfulness and patience will pay off.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take time to rethink your next move. Numerous outside influences can deter you from achieving what you want. Bide your time, watch how others respond and learn from the experience you gain.
AQuARIuS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Turn up the volume, direct your energy and play
to win. Kindness and confidence will carry you forward with the class and poise of a winner. Believe in yourself and your actions.
PIScES (Feb. 20-March 20) You'll thrive in environments that feature something you enjoy. Refuse to let anyone play with your emotions. Rise above it all, know your worth and use your energy to ensure every move is right on the money.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Pursue your interests. Don't wait for someone to beat you to the finish line. Keep whatever you do simple and affordable, and you will see long-term benefits.
tAuRuS (April 20-May 20) Tidy up loose ends and complete whatever task or responsibility you receive from your superiors. What you do and how you do it will be what counts, not the promises or compliments you make.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Sticking to facts and figures will help liberate you from the people most likely to attempt to take advantage of you. Making personal improvements will boost your confidence.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Your imagination will be in overdrive. Don't overreact; give others the benefit of the doubt, but keep your guard up just in case. A little charm will go a long way.
The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.
By Andrews McMeel Syndication
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer
Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer
Bridge
By PHILLIP ALDER
James Patrick Murray,a former sportswriter, said, “Show me aman who is agood loser, and I’ll show you aman who is playing golf withhis boss.”
That reminds me of astory about Sam Snead, who still has the most winsonthe PGAtour. While an office boy, he was playing golf with his boss. They reached adownhillpar 4that wasmore than 300 yards.Snead,whohadthehonor,waited. His boss suggested that Snead should hithis drive. Snead pointed out that the foursomeinfrontwasstillputtingonthe green. “Doyou wantajob tomorrow?” asked his boss.
“Yes, sir.
“Then drive.”
Snead hit his ball onto the green into themiddle of thefoursome. Ihope the bossapologizedtothem.AndIguessthat Snead won the match.
At thebridge table, it is important to track losers. In this deal, how should Southplayinfour spades afterWest leads thediamond queen?
Southhas five losers: three hearts and two diamonds. He can discard aheart on the club ace, butneeds to trump a diamond in the dummy (unlessthe suit breaks 3-3)
Declarer should take the first trick on theboard, pitch aheart on the club ace, playadiamondtohisace,andleadanotherdiamond.Inamoment,hewillruffhis last diamond withdummy’sspade 10, so that East cannot overruff. South will take six spades,two diamonds, oneclub and that diamond ruff in the dummy.
©2025 by NEA,Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel
Syndication
Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previous answers:
word game
InStRuctIonS: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed
toDAy’S WoRD HEPAtIc: heh-PAT-ik: Associated with the liver
Average mark26words
Timelimit 40 minutes
Can you find 35 or morewords in HEPATIC?
yEStERDAy’S WoRD —EPISoDES
episode epode espied espies pied poesies posies poise pose ides seed
seep side sped speed spied spies deep depose despise dispose does dope dose
today’s thought
“For as the lightning comesout of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall alsothe coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew24:27
Jesusiscomingback. Areyou ready?— G.E. Dean
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Wall Street ticks up to another record
Wall Street inched to another record Tuesday following some mixed profit reports, as General Motors and other big U.S. companies gave updates on how much President Donald Trump’s tariffs are hurting or helping them.
The S&P 500 added 0.1% to the all-time high it had set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 179 points, or 0.4%, though the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4% from its own record.
General Motors dropped 8.1% despite reporting a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. The automaker said it’s still expecting a $4 billion to $5 billion hit to its results over 2025 because of tariffs and that it hopes to mitigate 30% of that. GM also said it will feel more pain because of tariffs in the current quarter than it did during the spring. That helped to offset big gains for some homebuilders after they reported stronger profits for the spring than Wall Street had forecast. D.R. Horton rallied 17%, and PulteGroup jumped 11.5%. That was even as both companies said homebuyers are continuing to deal with challenging conditions, including higher mortgage rates and an uncertain economy So far, the U.S. economy seems to be powering through the uncertainty created by Trump’s on-and-off tariffs. Many of Trump’s proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and the next big deadline is Aug. 1. Talks are underway on possible trade deals with other countries that could lower the stiff proposals before they kick in.
LA Times owner plans to take paper public
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times since 2018, said this week that he intends to take the newspaper public in the coming year
During an interview on Monday’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Soon-Shiong said the move would allow the Times “to be democratized and allow the public to have ownership of this paper.”
Soon-Shiong said he’s working with “an organization that’s putting that together right now.” He didn’t identify the organization or say whether the deal would involve an initial public offer to sell shares of the company or another investment arrangement.
“Whether you’re right, left, Democrat, Republican, you’re an American. So the opportunity for us to provide a paper that is the voices of the people, truly the voices of the people, is important,” he said.
Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, acquired the Times as part of a $500 million deal, returning it to local ownership two decades after the Chandler family sold it to Tribune Co. Soon-Shiong’s purchase raised hopes after years of cutbacks, circulation declines and leadership changes.
Altman warns of AI voice fraud crisis
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned of a looming fraud crisis in the financial industry due to AI’s ability to mimic voices. Speaking at a Federal Reserve conference Tuesday, Altman criticized financial institutions still using voiceprints for authentication.
He called this practice outdated, as AI can now create voice clones that are nearly indistinguishable from real voices.
Voiceprinting became popular over a decade ago for wealthy clients but is now vulnerable to AI-driven fraud. Altman emphasized the need for new verification methods. The central bank’s top regulator Michelle Bowman suggested exploring partnerships to address these challenges.
Coca-Cola has sold Mexican Coke — which uses cane sugar — in the U.S since 2005, but it’s positioned as a trendy alternative and sold in glass bottles. Coke with cane sugar likely will be more widely available.
BY DEE-ANN DURBIN and JONEL ALECCIA Associated Press
President Donald Trump teased the announcement last week, but the Coca-Cola Co. confirmed it
Tuesday: A cane sugar-sweetened version of the beverage maker’s trademark soda will be released in the U.S. this fall.
For decades, Coke and the makers of other soft drinks have generally used high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners in their products manufactured in the U.S. But American consumers are increasingly looking for food and drinks with fewer and more natural ingredients, and beverage companies are responding.
PepsiCo and Dr Pepper have sold versions of their flagship sodas sweetened with cane sugar since 2009.
Coca-Cola has sold Mexican Coke — which uses cane sugar — in the U.S. since 2005, but it’s positioned as a trendy alternative and sold in glass bottles. Coke with cane sugar likely will be more widely available.
Many consumers know that consuming too many sweets can negatively affect their health, but soda drinkers sometimes debate if either cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup is better (or worse) than the other
The short answer is that it doesn’t make a difference, said Marion Nestle, one of the nation’s top nutrition experts and professor emeritus at New York University
High fructose corn syrup is made of the simple sugars glucose and fructose in liquid form. Cane sugar, also known as sucrose, is made of glucose and fructose
bonded, but quickly split, Nestle explained. Both are still sugars, with about the same amount of calories.
Whether a can of Coca-Cola contains one or the other, it will still be a sugary drink with about the same amount of calories and the same potential to increase welldocumented health problems from obesity and diabetes to tooth decay
Why the switch?
High fructose corn syrup costs less. According to price data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the wholesale price of HFCS-55, the type of corn syrup most commonly used in beverages, averaged 49.4 cents per pound last year. The average wholesale price of refined cane sugar was 60.1 cents per pound, while the average wholesale price of refined beet sugar was 51.7 cents per pound.
But high fructose corn syrup has advantages beyond price. According to a 2008 paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high fructose corn syrup is more stable than sugar when added to acidic beverages, and it can be pumped directly from delivery trucks into storage and mixing tanks.
Why a cost difference?
Tariffs are one reason. The U.S. has had barriers on sugar imports almost back to its founding; the first went into place in 1789, according to the Cato Institute, a think tank that advocates free markets.
Since the passage of the Farm Bill in 1981, the U.S. has had a system in place that raises duties
on sugar once a certain amount has been imported. The U.S. also has domestic production controls that limit supplies, keeping prices higher
But high fructose corn syrup is also cheaper because of the federal government’s billions of dollars in subsidies for corn farmers. Loans, direct payments, insurance premium subsidies and surplus crop purchases all lower farmers’ costs — and the price of the corn they grow
Other sugar replacements
While cutting back on added sugars has documented benefits, replacing them with artificial sweeteners is complicated, too.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, introduced in 2017, uses the artificial sweetener aspartame and the natural sweetener stevia in its recipe. But research suggests that aspartame may be linked to cancer In 2023, a committee for the World Health Organization determined that aspartame should be categorized “as possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
While that doesn’t mean that diet soda causes cancer the scientific committee concluded that there may be a possible link between aspartame and liver cancer, and that the issue should be studied further
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disagreed with the WHO panel, citing “significant shortcomings” in the research that backed the conclusion.
FDA officials noted that aspartame is one of the most studied food additives and said “FDA scientists do not have safety concerns” when it is used under approved conditions.
Stevia, a plant-based sweetener, appears to be “a safe choice,” according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group.
Hood Container says move will boost production
BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer
Hood Container said it will spend
$118.9 million to expand its St Francisville paper mill, a move that will boost production capacity at the facility
The expansion, set to begin in summer 2026, will retain the 295 jobs at the mill, Louisiana Economic Development announced Tuesday. The work will create 650 construction jobs.
The work will involve upgrading the primary paper machine at the mill, boosting production capacity by 80,000 tons per year This will boost the amount of wood chips and recycled boxes the plant buys each year Hood Container acquired the 61-year-old former Crown Zellerbach and Tembec mill in 2015, after it emerged from federal bankruptcy protection filed by an interim owner Since then, the company has invested more than $160 million
said investments like the one Hood Container is making boost the manufacturing base and the timber economy, two industries that have deep roots in Louisiana.
“The timber industry plays a key role in growing Louisiana’s agribusiness sector, which is one of
BY DAMIAN J. TROISE AP business writer
NEWYORK As the stock market pushes into record territory and bargains become harder to find, investors are once again turning to some of Wall Street’s beaten-down companies in hopes of a quick score.
The latest so-called meme stocks are the department store Kohl’s, which has surged this week, and the onlinebased real estate company Opendoor Technologies, which has skyrocketed this month. Both companies have been struggling in their respective sectors. Wall Street defines a meme stock as a stock that gains significant popularity and trading volume, primarily driven by social media hype and online communities, rather than the company’s fundamental financial performance. Think GameStop and AMC Entertainment in 2021, and a few subsequent instances. Often, meme stocks are initially the target of “short sellers,” or investors betting against the stock. If other investors start buying the shares and boost the price, that could prompt the people betting against the stock to buy more shares to cushion their own losses.
Kohl’s
Kohl’s, which operates 1,600 stores across the country, has risen almost 50% this week. It is wrestling with a number of challenges, including a revolving door of CEOs and weak sales. In May, it announced it had terminated its new CEO Ashley Buchanan after an investigation determined that he directed the retailer to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Kohl’s named Chairman Michael Bender as interim CEO as it searches for a replacement. Buchanan’s appointment marked the third CEO for Kohl’s in three years as the department store struggles to reverse sluggish sales. Its middle-income shoppers have pulled back on discretionary spending in the face of still-high prices for necessities. It’s also faced stiff competition from Walmart and Amazon, which have been improving their fashion offerings at affordable prices. Now, like many retailers, it’s facing higher costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Opendoor Technologies
Opendoor shares are up 28% this week after nearly tripling last week. Overall, they are up more than fivefold in July, closing at $2.88 per share Tuesday That’s still far below their peak of $35.88 in early 2021.
The stock’s recent gains come as hedge fund manager Eric Jackson touts the stock on X, formerly known as Twitter On July 14, he said his hedge fund, EMJ Capital, took a position in Opendoor and expects growth over the next few years.
The real estate services company, which also buys and flips homes, has yet to notch an annual profit. Analysts polled by FactSet expect it to continue posting losses in 2025 and 2026. The company faces a tough housing market. Soaring interest rates and a low supply of homes on the market have made it difficult for homebuyers. Those same factors have also made it less likely for current homeowners to sell their homes, especially those with lower interest rates.
the priority areas we’ve identified for future growth in our Comprehensive Statewide Strategic Plan,” Bourgeois said in a statement. The work is expected to be completed in May 2027, when the mill has its annual outage.
The state offered the company an incentive package that includes a $800,000 Modernization Tax Credit spread over a five-year period. Hood Container is also expected to use the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
Email Timothy Boone at tboone@ theadvocate.com.