The Acadiana Advocate 08-23-2025

Buc-ee’s opening delayed

Baytown, Texas, is displayed at the site of a planned new Buc-ee’s at Louisiana Avenue and Interstate 10 in Lafayette on Friday.

Weather has affected construction, officials say

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

Construction of the Buc-ee’s store in Lafayette has been delayed and is now expected to be complete in 2028.

A document on the company’s website gives new expected opening dates for several locations across the United States and shows the Lafayette site is expected to open about two years later than the initially announced 2026 target date.

Buc-ee’s officials declined to comment

Thursday

When Buc-ee’s bought the 42 acres at the northeast corner of Interstate 10 and Louisiana Avenue in December, it indicated construction on the $82 million project would begin early 2025 and the store would open in the second quarter of 2026.

Site work began earlier this year, but frequent rains and other factors resulted

in an initial delay on the project. There’s been no significant activity at the site for weeks.

Scott-based Triton Construction, the general contractor on the project, told Developing Lafayette last month that construction was paused temporarily because of a combination of design delays and poor weather conditions. Messages left at Triton on Thursday were not returned.

Mandi Mitchell, president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, indicated last month that the fill dirt on the property needs to settle properly before the next step can begin, and because of frequent rains, the site now requires re-grading and more fill dirt.

Contacted Thursday, both Mitchell and Mayor-President Monique Boulet were unaware of the project’s revised completion date.

If construction takes 16 months, an estimate of when construction will start would be anywhere from mid-2026 to early 2027. Plans include a 74,000-squarefoot store along with about 120 gas pumps and nearly 700 parking spaces, along with public infrastructure improvements to Louisiana Avenue.

LEDA predicts it to generate $1.5 million in sales tax collections a year and employ 150.

The delay would not be in violation of the cooperative endeavor agreement between Buc-ee’s and the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, documents show

It indicates the company “shall use its best efforts” to complete the project within 36 months after all permits required to construct the facility are obtained. The project has not been issued

ä See DELAYED, page 4A

SafeSource to suspend operations

Broussard-based company to let go 541 employees

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

SafeSource Direct, the Broussard-based personal protective equipment manufacturer has suspended operations in a move that will put 541 people out of work.

Company officials made the announcement late Friday that it was suspending activity immediately at its nitrile glove and man-made fiber PPE plants because of poor market conditions after it first began operations just over three years ago.

ä See OPERATIONS, page 4A

Powell signals Fed may cut rates

Inflation risks remain despite possible move

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened the door ever so slightly to lowering a key interest rate in the coming months but gave no hint on the timing of a move and suggested the central bank will proceed cautiously as it continues to evaluate the impact of tariffs and other policies on the economy In a high-profile speech closely watched at the White House and on Wall Street, Powell said that there are risks of both rising unemployment and stubbornly higher inflation. Yet he suggested that with hiring sluggish, the job market could weaken further “The shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” he said, a reference to his concerns about weaker job gains and a more direct sign that the Fed is considering a rate cut than he has made in previous comments. Still, Powell’s remarks suggest the Fed will proceed carefully in the coming months and will make its rate decisions based on how inflation and unemployment evolve. The Fed has three more meetings this year, including next month, in late October, and in December, and it’s not clear whether the Fed will cut at all those meetings.

ä See POWELL, page 4A

Deal furthers plan for wetlands restoration

‘Hurricane highway’ project still needs to be funded

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

An agreement signed Friday by federal and state officials could help advance a stalled plan to restore wetlands destroyed by a notorious southeast Louisiana shipping channel labeled a “hurricane highway” after Katrina, but money must still be approved for the work. The deal comes with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching

next week and as coastal advocacy groups press the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward on the plan for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, or MRGO The agreement was signed by the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Corps, a statement from both agencies said. The original plan in 2012 aimed to restore and protect around 57,000 acres of wetlands and coastal habitat. It was estimated to cost $3 billion at the time, though the first phase addressed in Friday’s agreement alone amounted to $1.3 billion. The

ä See WETLANDS, page 4A

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A billboard advertising the next Buc-ee’s store and gas station located 194 miles away in

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

A rock dam stretches across the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet near the Breton Sound Marina.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened the door to lowering interest rates in the coming months.

Mich. stabbing suspect declared unfit for trial

DETROIT A Michigan man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Traverse City-area Walmart last month was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial during a court hearing Friday

Bradford Gille has pleaded not guilty to one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder At the end of July, Judge Michael Stepka with Traverse City’s 81st District Court increased Gille’s bail from $100,000 to $1 million, essentially ensuring he would remain in jail while his case proceeds.

A defense attorney for Gille requested a competence evaluation in that previous hearing. Competence refers to an examination of whether a defendant has the mental capacity to rationally understand the charges against them and participate in their own defense.

Jay Witherell, a forensic psychologist and the director of evaluation services at the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry, said that while Gille, who has a long history of mental health issues, seemed to understand factually how court proceedings work and what it means to be a criminal defendant, his perception of his own case seemed “odd” and “delusional.”

“He did have that factual piece; he understood basic-level concepts of how court works, but when he applied it to his own personal case and what he expected to have happen, it was very illogical,” Witherell said He said he met with Gille for about two hours on Aug. 11 at the forensic center, during which he said the man was cooperative and polite and opined Gille has schizophrenia. Among his “delusions,” Witherell said: beliefs that the forensic center is a death camp, and pleading not guilty by reason of insanity would lead to his death.

During questioning by Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg and Gille’s defense attorney Jacob Graff, Witherell said his opinion is that Gille is not currently fit to stand trial, but he believes Gille could be restored to competence through further treatment.

5 bodies are exhumed near Kenya cult site

KILIFI, Kenya — Five bodies were exhumed from shallow graves in coastal Kenya, at a site near where more than 400 bodies of followers of a doomsday cult were recovered two years ago Government pathologist Dr Richard Njoroge on Thursday said 10 human body parts were also recovered, scattered in nearby thickets at Kwa Binzaro area in Kilifi County, about 1.5 miles from the site of the Shakahola cult, and that the exhumation would continue on Friday

The exhumation exercise, led by homicide detectives, forensic experts, and pathologists, also uncovered 27 suspected mass graves, raising fears that more bodies could be buried in the area as investigations into the cause of death begin. In 2023 more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves in the Shakahola area of Kilifi County, where pastor Paul Mackenzie instructed his followers to starve themselves to death in order to “meet Jesus.” He was arrested and charged with murder, and is in custody awaiting trial.

Another U.S. military mini shuttle launches

Another U.S. military mini shuttle blasted off Thursday night to conduct classified experiments in space. Launched by SpaceX, the space plane with no one aboard took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida It’s the eighth such flight for the test vehicles known as X37B. This one will test laser communications and safe navigation without GPS, according to the U.S. Space Force. It’s not yet clear how long the mini shuttle will remain aloft. The last X-37B circled the globe for a little over a year before returning to Earth in March. Previous missions have lasted months to years. The Boeing-made reusable space planes were first launched in 2010 and are 29 feet long with a wingspan of almost 15 feet.

Abrego Garcia freed from Tenn. jail

Mistakenly deported man returning home to await trial

BY TRAVIS LOLLER and KRISTIN M. HALL

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from jail in Tennessee on Friday so he can rejoin his family in Maryland while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges.

The Salvadoran national’s case became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda after he was mistakenly deported in March. Facing a court order, the Trump administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, only to detain him on criminal charges.

Although Abrego Garcia was deemed eligible for pretrial release, he had remained in jail at the request of his attorneys, who feared the Republican administration could try to immediately deport him again if he were freed. Those fears were somewhat allayed by a recent ruling in a separate case in Maryland, which requires immigration officials to allow Abrego Garcia time to mount a challenge to any

deportation order

On Friday, Abrego Garcia walked out of the Putnam County jail wearing a short-sleeved white button-down shirt and black pants and accompanied by defense attorney Rascoe Dean. They did not speak to reporters but got into a white SUV and sped off.

The release order from the Tennessee court requires Abrego Garcia to travel directly to Maryland, where he will be in home detention with his brother designated as his custodian. He is required to

submit to electronic monitoring and can only leave the home for work, religious services and other approved activities.

An attorney for Abrego Garcia in his deportation case in Maryland, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said in a statement Friday his client had been “reunited with his loving family” for the first time since he was wrongfully deported to a notorious El Salvador prison in March.

“While his release brings some relief, we all know that he is far from safe,”

Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country still threaten to tear his family apart.”

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slammed the decision to free Abrego Garcia.

“Activist liberal judges have attempted to obstruct our law enforcement every step of the way in removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country,” Noem said in a statement. She called ordering his release a “new low” by a “publicity hungry

Maryland judge,” apparently referring to the judge overseeing his original deportation case rather than the Tennessee judge who ordered him freed.

“We will not stop fighting till this Salvadoran man faces justice and is OUT of our country,” Noem said.

Earlier this week, Abrego Garcia’s criminal attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the smuggling case, claiming he is being prosecuted to punish him for challenging his removal to El Salvador In a statement Friday defense attorney Sean Hecker called the charges a “vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the Administration’s continuing assault on the rule of law.”

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However Abrego Garcia was allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

Maxwell says she didn’t see Trump act inappropriately

DOJ releases transcripts of interviews with Epstein’s ex

BY ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL R. SISAK and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend repeatedly denied to the Justice Department witnessing any sexually inappropriate interactions with Donald Trump, according to records released Friday meant to distance the Republican president from the disgraced financer

The Trump administration issued hundreds of pages of transcripts from interviews that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted with Ghislaine Maxwell last month as the administration was scrambling to present itself as transparent amid a fierce backlash over an earlier refusal to disclose a trove of records from the sex-trafficking case.

The records show Maxwell repeatedly showering Trump with praise and denying under questioning from Blanche that she had observed Trump engaged in any form of sexual behavior. The administration

was presumably eager to make such denials public at a time when the president has faced questions about a long-ago friendship with Epstein and as his administration has endured continued scrutiny over its handling of evidence from the case.

The transcript release represents the latest Trump administration effort to repair self-inflicted political wounds after failing to deliver on expectations that its own officials had created through conspiracy theories and bold pronouncements that never came to pass. By making public two days of interviews, officials appear to be hoping to at least temporarily keep at bay sustained anger from Trump’s base as they send Congress evidence they had previously kept from view

sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14 told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s homes. Neither Maxwell’s lawyers nor the federal Bureau of Prisons have explained the reason for the move, but one of her lawyers, David Oscar Marcus, said in a social media post Friday that Maxwell was “innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted.”

After her interview with Blanche, Maxwell was moved from the low-security federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas to continue serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction on allegations that she lured teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Her trial featured sordid accounts of the

“I actually never saw the President in any type of massage setting,” Maxwell said, according to the transcript. “I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way The President was never inappropriate with anybody In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” Maxwell recalled knowing about Trump and possibly meeting him for the first time in 1990, when her newspaper magnate father, Robert Maxwell, was the owner of the New York Daily News. She said she often had been to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, sometimes alone, but hadn’t seen

FBI searches home of Trump adviser turned critic John Bolton

BY MYLES MILLER Bloomberg News (TNS)

FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, in a sign that the White House is stepping up a campaign of retribution against some of its fiercest critics.

The search is linked to an inquiry into whether Bolton retained or disseminated classified documents, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information Another person familiar with the situation said CIA Director John Ratcliffe gave

FBI Director Kash Patel limited access to intelligence that underpinned the search warrant.

In a social media post on Friday, Patel wrote “NO ONE is above the law.”

Trump denied knowing about the raid in advance, saying he first heard about it on television Friday morning and would probably be briefed later In an interview with NBC News, Vice President JD Vance denied that the investigation had to do with Bolton’s criticism.

“Not at all,” Vance said. “Classified documents are certainly part of it, but I think that there’s a broad concern about Ambassador Bolton.”

In Trump’s first term, prosecutors had investigated Bolton over his tell-all 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which detailed Bolton’s belief that Trump was unfit for the presidency Trump accused Bolton of using classified information in the book and sued unsuccessfully to block publication.

“Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information,” Trump posted after the book was published Bolton argued at the time that he cleared the book with a senior career government official.

Trump since the mid-2000s. Asked if she ever heard Epstein or anyone else say Trump “had done anything inappropriate with masseuses” or anyone else in their orbit, Maxwell replied, “Absolutely never, in any context.”

Maxwell, a onetime socialite who was convicted in 2021 of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, was interviewed over the course of two days last month by Blanche at a Florida courthouse. She was given limited immunity, allowing her to speak freely without fear of prosecution for anything she said except for in the event of a false statement.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department on Friday began sending to the House Oversight Committee records

from the investigation that the panel says it intends to make public after removing victim’s information. The case had long captured public attention in part because of the wealthy financer’s social connections over the years to prominent figures, including Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton and Trump, who has said he had a falling-out with Epstein years ago and well before Epstein came under investigation.

Maxwell told Blanche that Clinton was initially her friend, not Epstein’s, and that she never saw him receive a massage — nor did she believe he ever did. The only times they were together she said, were the two dozen or so times they traveled on Epstein’s plane.

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LA 70501

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRETT CARLSEN

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, center, leaves the Putnam County Jail on Friday in Cookeville, Tenn.

Maxwell Blanche

Israeli official tells Hamas to yield to demands

Defense minister warns of Gaza City’s destruction; group says city gripped by famine

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Israel’s defense minister warned Friday that Gaza’s largest city could be destroyed unless Hamas yields to his country’s terms, as the world’s leading authority on food crises said the city is gripped by famine from fighting and an Israeli blockade.

A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorize the military to mount a major operation to seize Gaza City, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that it could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” areas largely reduced to rubble earlier in the war

“The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote in a post on X.

He restated Israel’s ceasefire demands: the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament.

Hamas issued a statement that called Katz’s comments “a confession of committing a crime that amounts to ethnic cleansing.” The militant group has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war, but it rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, expressed frustration with Hamas’ stance in long-running ceasefire talks, suggesting the militant group was less interested in making deals to release hostages with so few left alive in captivity.

General whose agency’s assessment of Iran strike angered Trump fired

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN,

MARY CLARE JALONICK and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of U.S. damage to Iranian nuclear sites angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly Hegseth also fired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Adm. Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, another U.S. official said.

The reasons for their firings, the latest in a series targeting military leaders, were not clear Friday

The Trump administration increasingly has moved against both the military leadership and the intelligence community Some current and former national security officials saw their security clearances revoked

this week in a tactic that the administration has used against perceived foes.

Critics say the administration’s actions could chill dissent and send a signal that the intelligence community should be careful in reaching conclusions at odds with Trump’s interests. Kruse’s firing comes a few months after details of a preliminary assessment of U.S. airstrikes against Iran leaked to the media. It found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months, contradicting assertions from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report. His oft-repeated criticism of the DIA analysis built on his long-running distrust of intelligence assessments, including one published in 2017 that said Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence — which is responsible for coordinating the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency — has been declassifying years-old documents meant to cast doubt on those previous findings.

“The situation has to end. It’s extortion, and it has to end,” Trump told reporters Friday “And we’ll see what happens. I actually think (the hostages are) safer in many ways if you went in and you really went in fast and you did it.”

Netanyahu on Thursday said he had instructed officials “to begin immediate negotiations” to release hostages and end the war on Israel’s terms. It was not immediately clear if that meant Israel would return to long-running talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar after Hamas said earlier this

week that it accepted a new proposal from the mediators.

Gaza City offensive

With ground troops already active in strategic areas, the wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days.

Israel says Gaza City is still a Hamas stronghold, with a network of militant tunnels, after several previous large-scale raids The city is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians some of whom have fled from other areas, and it contains some of the terri-

tory’s critical infrastructure and health facilities.

Israel could also accept the latest ceasefire proposal, which would forestall the offensive. The proposal calls for a phased deal involving hostage and prisoner exchanges and a pullback of Israeli troops, while talks continue on a longer-term cease-fire. Israeli leaders have resisted such terms since abandoning a similar agreement earlier this year under pressure from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies.

Many Israelis fear an assault could doom the roughly 20 hostages who have survived captivity since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Aid groups and international leaders warn that renewed fighting would worsen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

The logistics of evacuating civilians are expected to be daunting. Many residents say repeated displacement is pointless since nowhere in Gaza is safe, while medical groups warn that Israel’s call to move patients south is unworkable, with no facilities to receive them.

Netanyahu has argued that the offensive is the surest way to free captives and crush Hamas.

“These two things defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” Netanyahu said Thursday while touring a command center in south-

ern Israel. Since 251 people were taken hostage more than 22 months ago, ceasefire agreements and other deals have accounted for the vast majority of the 148 who were released, including the bodies of eight dead hostages. Israel has managed to rescue only eight hostages alive and to retrieve the bodies of 49 others. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, about 20 of whom Israel believes to be alive.

Famine could spread

The world’s leading authority on food crises said Friday that Gaza City is gripped by famine that is likely to spread if fighting and restrictions on humanitarian aid continue. A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification says nearly half a million people in Gaza, about one-fourth of the population, face catastrophic hunger that leaves many at risk of dying.

Netanyahu’s office denounced the IPC report as “an outright lie.” Israel says it has allowed enough aid to enter during the war, and it eased its blockade in recent weeks after images of emaciated children sparked international outrage. But U.N. agencies say it’s not nearly enough, especially after Israel imposed a complete ban on food imports from early March to mid-May

N.Y. bus crash leaves multiple people dead

By The Associated Press

PEMBROKE, N.Y A tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls with 52 people crashed and rolled Friday on an interstate highway, killing and injuring multiple passengers, police said.

The bus apparently lost control on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 25 miles east of Buffalo. People inside were ejected as the windows shattered.

“At this time we have multiple fatalities, multiple entrapments and multiple injuries,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police, adding that children were on board.

The bus was traveling eastbound when it went into the median and ended up in a ditch on the right side of the road, O’Callaghan said. Most passengers were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino ethnicity, he said.

“The driver is alive and well. We’re working with him. We believe we have a good idea of what happened, why the bus lost control,” O’Callaghan said without elaborating.

The Mercy Flight medical transport service said its three helicopters and three more from other services transported people from the crash site. Hospitals in the region said they evaluated or treated more than 40 people. Injuries ranged

from head trauma to broken arms and legs.

Two people who needed surgery at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo were expected to recover, said Dr Jeffrey Brewer, chief of surgery

“It’s a full-size tour bus.

In response to a bus crash in New York in 2023, a state law requires seat belt use on charter buses built on or after Nov 28, 2016. The age of the bus in Friday’s crash wasn’t immediately known. The New York State Thru-

Heavy amount of damage,” O’Callaghan said “Most people I’m assuming on the bus did not have a seat belt on, that is the reason why we have so many ejected people on this bus.”

Authority said a lengthy stretch of the roadway had been shut down in both directions and drivers were

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

prepared

“The stability of the unemployment rate and other labor market measures allows us to proceed carefully as we consider changes to our policy stance,” Powell said That suggests the Fed will continue to evaluate jobs and inflation data as it decides whether to cut rates. The stock market jumped in response to Powell’s remarks, with the broad S&P 500 index rising 1.5% in midday trading.

“We see Powell’s remarks as consistent with our expectation of” a quarter-point cut to the Fed’s short-term rate at its Sept. 16-17 meeting, economists at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note to clients. The Fed’s rate currently stands at 4.3%.

Powell spoke with the Fed under unprecedented public scrutiny from the White House, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted Powell and has urged him to cut rates, arguing there is “no inflation” and saying that a cut would lower the government’s interest payments on its $37 trillion in debt.

Trump also says a cut would boost the moribund housing market. A rate cut by the Fed often leads to lower borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business borrowing, but it doesn’t always.

WETLANDS

Continued from page 1A

total cost in today’s dollars is certainly far higher, but the amounts remain to be determined.

Friday’s agreement prioritizes around 57 miles of restoration as a first step, focusing on vulnerable shorelines in Orleans and St Bernard parishes. It sets out a plan for design work.

The projects include protection along a stretch of the southeast shore of Lake Borgne from Bayou Dupre to Proctor Point as well as from Lake Pontchartrain to Bayou Chevee. Other work is planned along Lake Borgne between Alligator Point and the Rigolets.

Congress specified in a 2022 law that the plan is to be 100% feder-

OPERATIONS

Continued from page 1A

In its announcement officials indicated the board of directors exhausted all options to avoid the situation, but the company was “not immune from the ongoing challenges” facing the domestic PPE manufacturing industry Company officials would not identify how many employees will remain.

In a letter to employees, company leaders indicated they are working toward a solution in the next 60 days. During that time, SafeSource will secure all systems and facilities while decommissioning and preserving its equipment.

Impacted employees received a 60-day notice of termination and will be paid and receive benefits during that time. The company will also provide outplacement support and assistance with the Louisiana Department of Labor and local public and private re-

While Powell spoke, Trump elevated his attacks, telling reporters in Washington, D.C. that he would fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she did not step down over allegations from an administration official that she committed mortgage fraud If Cook is removed, that would give Trump an opportunity to put a loyalist on the Fed’s governing board. The Fed has long been considered independent from day-today politics. The president can’t fire a Fed governor over disagreements on interest rate policy, but

ally funded. That resolved a longstanding dispute between the state and the Corps of Engineers, which had initially sought a traditional cost split where it would cover 65% and the state the remainder

“Today’s signing marks a longawaited step forward,” CPRA

Executive Director Michael Hare said in a statement. “The communities impacted by the MRGO have endured decades of damage. Now it’s time to get to work protecting our coast and restoring vital ecosystems.”

Col. Scotty Autin, commander of the Corps’ New Orleans district, said the signing “showcased our partnership at the federal level with the state of Louisiana through CPRA to ensure we have the alignment and focus needed for this important ecosystem restoration project.”

he can do so “for cause,” which is generally seen as malfeasance or neglect of duty

Later Friday, Trump told reporters, referring to Powell, “We call him too late for a reason. He should have cut them a year ago. He’s too late.”

Powell spoke at the Fed’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a conference with about 100 academics, economists, and central bank officials from around the world. He was given a standing ovation before he spoke. Cook, who is also attending the

Congress must still appropriate money for the restoration projects themselves A relatively small amount of federal money — around $250,000 — is currently available for planning work. The state has pursued portions of the plan on its own in the meantime, using a variety of funding.

Finding further money may be a challenge as the Trump administration pursues deep cuts to the federal government, including at the Corps of Engineers.

State officials have long argued that Louisiana should not be held responsible for the widespread damage caused by the shipping channel, often referred to as the “Mr Go.” The channel was closed with a rock dam in 2009 near where it meets Bayou La Loutre, around Hopedale in St. Bernard Parish, but the wetlands destruc-

“We are proud of what our team accomplished as they boldly responded to the nation’s call to protect frontline workers and help strengthen America’s PPE supply chain in an unprecedented time.” JUSTIN HOLLINGSWORTH, SafeSource president

sources to help impacted workers.

“We are proud of what our team accomplished as they boldly responded to the nation’s call to protect frontline workers and help strengthen America’s PPE supply chain in an unprecedented time,” SafeSource President Justin Hollingsworth said.

“We successfully established a manufacturing base capable of supplying the nation with a reliable source of PPE, and it is extremely unfortunate that market conditions, which have been unsupportive for several years, do not permit sustained domestic production.”

Troy Wayman, president and CEO of One Acadiana, said he’s saddened to see SafeSource Di-

rect suspend operations since it had been a valued part of the business community “Global competition within the PPE market is increasingly strong, and we recognize how difficult a decision this was for them to make,” he said. “We stand ready to connect their workforce with resources and opportunities during this transition. This closure does not diminish the strength of Acadiana’s economy.”

The company was created out of a partnership between Ochsner Health and Alabama-based Trax Development nearly five years ago. It manufactured, warehoused and directly distributed PPE for health care and other industries.

conference, declined to comment on the president’s remarks.

In his remarks, the Fed chair underscored that tariffs are lifting inflation and could push it higher in the coming months.

“The effects of tariffs on consumer prices are now clearly visible. We expect those effects to accumulate over coming months, with high uncertainty about timing and amounts,” Powell said.

Inflation has crept higher in recent months though it is down from a peak of 9.1% three years ago. Tariffs have not spurred inflation as much as some economists worried, but they are starting to lift the prices of heavily imported goods such as furniture, toys, and shoes.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July from a year ago, above the Fed’s target of 2% Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%.

Powell added that higher prices from tariffs could cause a one-time shift to prices, rather than an ongoing bout of inflation. Other Fed officials have said that is the most likely outcome and as a result the central bank can cut rates to boost the job market.

The Fed chair said it is largely up to the central bank to ensure that tariffs don’t lead to sustained inflation.

“Come what may, we will not allow a one-time increase in the price level to become an ongoing inflation problem,” he said, sug-

tion it caused remains. The 76-mile shipping channel, fully opened in 1968 as a shortcut from the Gulf to the doorstep of New Orleans, was labeled a “hurricane highway” by many Louisiana officials who said it funneled storm surge into New Orleans during Katrina, contributing to the levee failures that flooded the city The Corps has downplayed the channel’s role during Katrina, but there is no dispute over its gradual destruction of wetlands and swamp that helped protect the region from storm surge.

The channel helped erode vast swaths of wetlands adjacent to it while funneling in salt water that destroyed cypress and tupelo swamp. The Pontchartrain Conservancy nonprofit has estimated that the channel impacted more than a million acres of coastal habitat.

The company was born during the pandemic as a way to offer domestic production of PPE items. Then-Gov John Bel Edwards spoke during the announcement that day in May 2021 and remarked how the operation would allow companies to stop relying on products made in China.

Officials that day touted a goal of employing 1,221, and the first nitrile glove rolled off the assembly line in January 2022.

SafeSource occupied two buildings in Broussard — a 400,000-square-foot facility in the Spanish Trail industrial park in St. Martin Parish and it was retrofitting the 80,000-square-foot former Weatherford International facility

The Broussard facility was set to house 245 jobs and manufacture surgical tie masks, bouffant hair covers, shoe covers, isolation gowns, procedure masks and N95 masks. The St. Martin Parish location was to house 976 jobs and include multiple production lines of PPE manufacturing with nitrile rubber gloves as the main product.

gesting deep rate cuts, as Trump has demanded, are unlikely Regarding the job market, Powell noted that even as hiring has slowed sharply this year the unemployment rate remains low He added that with immigration falling sharply, fewer jobs are needed to keep unemployment in check. Yet with hiring sluggish, the risks of a sharper downturn, with rising layoffs, has risen, Powell said.

Powell also suggested the Fed would continue to set its interestrate policy free from political pressure.

Fed officials “will make these decisions, based solely on their assessment of the data and its implications for the economic outlook and the balance of risks. We will never deviate from that approach.”

Powell dedicated the second half of his speech to announcing changes to the Fed’s policy framework that was issued in August 2020. The framework, which has been blamed for delaying the Fed’s response to the pandemic inflation spike, provides guidelines on how the Fed would respond to changes in inflation and employment.

In 2020, after a decade of low inflation and low interest rates following the financial crisis and Great Recession in 2008-2009, the Fed changed its framework to allow inflation to top its 2% target temporarily so that inflation would average 2% over time.

Coastal restoration advocacy groups have renewed a push for action in the run up to the Aug. 29 anniversary of Katrina Those groups include the MRGO Must Go Coalition, which has long advocated for the Corps to address the damage done by the shipping channel.

“Today’s milestone brings us a significant step forward in the longoverdue restoration of the MRGOimpacted coast. While we welcome this progress, we recognize that this effort needs to move faster,” said Amanda Moore, senior director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Program and the coordinator of MRGO Must Go. “The urgency of restoring our coastal resilience cannot be overstated.”

Email Mike Smith at msmith@ theadvocate.com.

DELAYED

Continued from page 1A

a building permit by the Lafayette Consolidated Government.

A similar project in Kansas City was also put on hold, reports indicate. Work was scheduled to begin in June but got pushed back until late this month or early next month.

The report did not reveal a reason for the delay

Another project in Kentucky was also delayed in order for surrounding road construction to begin, reports indicate. That project, which was set to begin this summer and be complete by fall 2026, now likely will begin in early next year

Work on the Ruston location, which early projections indicated would have opened this year, is now expected to open in 2027. Work is continuing on road construction around the site.

Email Adam Daigle at adaigle@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ANDREW CABALLERO-REyNOLDS

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, right, speaks with President Donald Trump as he visits the Federal Reserve in Washington on July 24.

Judge halts expansion of Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Ruling orders facility to wind down operations

BY MIKE SCHNEIDER and CURT ANDERSON Associated Press

ORLANDO Fla. A federal judge has put a stop to further expansion of the immigration detention center built in the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” ordering that its operations wind down within two months.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami wrote in her 82-page order late Thursday that Florida officials never sufficiently explained why an immigration detention center needed to be located in the middle of sensitive wetlands cherished by environmentalists and outdoors people.

She also said that state and federal authorities never un-

dertook an environmental review as required by federal law before Florida officials hastily built the detention camp which they championed as a model for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. That failure adversely affected the “recreational, conservational, and aesthetic interests” of the environmental groups and Miccosukee Tribe which brought the lawsuit she said.

Republican Gov Ron DeSantis on Friday reacted to the ruling, saying he would not be deterred by “an activist judge.”

“We knew this would be something that would likely happen,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City “We will respond accordingly You either have a country or you don’t.”

The ruling

Williams said she expected the population at the facility to drop within 60 days by transferring detainees

to other facilities. Once that happens, fencing, lighting, gas, waste, generators and other equipment should be removed from the site. No additional detainees can be sent to the facility, and no more additional lighting, fencing, paving, buildings or tents can be added to the camp. The only repairs that can be made to the existing facility are for safety purposes. However the judge allowed for the existing dormitories and housing to stay in place as long as they are maintained to prevent deterioration or damage.

Detainees’ destinations

During court hearings, lawyers said at one point there were fewer than 1,000 detainees at the facility, which state officials had planned to hold up to 3,000 people.

Although the detainees could be sent to other facilities out of state, Florida has other immigration detention centers including the Krome

North Processing Center in Miami, the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and the Baker County Detention Center managed by the local sheriff’s office. Earlier this month, DeSantis announced plans for a second state-initiated immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison about 43 miles west of downtown Jacksonville. State officials say it is expected to hold 1,300 immigration detention beds, though that capacity could be expanded to 2,000 beds.

Implications for lawsuit

Civil rights lawyers had filed a second lawsuit over practices at “Alligator Alcatraz,” claiming that detainees weren’t able to meet with their attorneys privately and were denied access to immigration courts.

Another federal judge in Miami dismissed part of the lawsuit earlier this week after the Trump administra-

tion designated the Krome North Processing Center as the court for their cases to be heard. The judge moved the remaining counts of the case from Florida’s southern district to the middle district.

Eunice Cho, the lead attorney for the detainees, said Friday that the decision in the environmental lawsuit won’t have an impact on the civil rights case since there could be detainees at the facility for the next two months.

“Our case addresses the lack of access to counsel for people detained at Alligator Alcatraz, and there are still people detained there,” Cho said.

Ongoing appeal

Status of construction

No one has said publicly what will happen to the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts involved in the facility DeSantis’ administration in July signed contracts with private vendors to pay at least $245 million to set up and run the center according to a public database. That amount — to be fronted by Florida taxpayers — was in line with the $450 million a year officials have estimated the facility was going to cost. The governor’s office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Friday didn’t respond to questions about whether Florida taxpayers would still be on the hook for the contracts if the facility is shuttered.

The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued. As its name suggests, a preliminary injunction is only an initial action taken by a judge to prevent harm while a lawsuit makes its way through the court process and when it appears that one side has a good chance of succeeding based on the merits of the case.

Texas Democrats ready final resistance to map redraw

BY JIM VERTUNO and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas Texas Democrats prepared for a final show of resistance against a Republican effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps mid-decade, signaling plans to speak late into Friday night on the Senate floor in an attempt to delay final passage.

It’s the latest chapter in a weekslong showdown that has roiled the Texas Legislature, marked by a Democratic walkout and threats of arrest from Republicans While much of the drama has unfolded in the House — where the map ultimately passed on Wednesday Democrats are mounting one last breath of resistance as the maps move toward likely approval.

“Republicans think they can walk all over us. Today I’m going to kick back,” Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado wrote on social media Friday. “I’ve submitted my intention to filibuster the new congressional maps. Going to be a long night.” Democrats had already delayed the bill’s passage during hours of debate, pressing state Sen. Phil King, the measure’s sponsor on the proposal’s legality, with many alleging that the redrawn districts violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting voters’ influence based on race an accusation King vehemently denied.

“I had two goals in mind: That all maps would be legal and would be better for Republican congressional candidates in Texas,” said King, a Republican. Alvarado, chair of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, will not be able to take breaks to eat, drink or even go to the bathroom once she starts. She will be required to remain standing and cannot sit down or lean on her chair desk or other lawmakers for support.

Her filibuster is unlikely to do more than delay the inevitable In 2021, Alvarado spoke for 15 hours to protest GOP voting restrictions that ultimately became law

The showdown in Texas has inflamed a broader, stateby-state redistricting battle, with governors from both parties pledging to redraw their congressional maps. It was kicked off by President Donald Trump pushing Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s U.S. House map to help the party gain more seats in 2026.

California Democrats have punched back. They approved legislation Thursday calling for a special election in November for residents to vote on a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year. California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly signed the special election bill.

“This is not something six weeks ago that I ever imagined that I’d be doing,” Newsom said. “This is a reaction to an assault on our democracy in Texas.”

California’s map needs voter approval because, unlike in Texas, a nonpartisan commission normally draws

the map to avoid the sort of political battle that is playing out.

other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and

Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.

“Republicans are not finished in the United States,” Abbott said Friday Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, immediately after a census. While some states have their own limitations, there is no national impediment to a state trying to redraw districts in the middle of the decade.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines.

More Democratic-run states have commission systems like California’s or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do,

leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can’t draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.

Republicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established California’s nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 one that extended its role to drawing congressional maps Both sides have shown concern of what the redistricting war could lead to. California Assemblyman James Gallagher the Republican minority leader, said Trump was “wrong” to push for new Republican seats elsewhere. But he warned that Newsom’s approach, which the governor has dubbed “fight fire with fire,” was dangerous.

Abbott on Friday called California’s redistricting “a joke” and said that while Texas’ new map is constitutional, he claimed California’s would be overturned.

The back-and-forth between the two states marks the starkest escalation yet in an emerging redistricting war, with both parties openly redrawing congressional lines to lock in power ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority The incumbent president’s party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms.

The Texas redraw is already reshaping the 2026 race, with Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the dean of Texas’ congressional delegation, announcing Thursday that he will not seek reelection to his Austin-based seat if the new Republican-drawn map takes effect. Under the proposed map, Doggett’s district would overlap with another Democratic incumbent, Rep. Greg Casar

The president has pushed

DOJ declines to defend grants for Hispanic-serving colleges

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration said Friday it will not defend a decades-old grant program for colleges with large numbers of Hispanic students that is being challenged in court, declaring the government believes the funding is unconstitutional. In a memo sent to Congress, the Justice Department said it agrees with a lawsuit attempting to strike down grants that are reserved for colleges and universities where at least a quarter of undergraduates are Hispanic. Congress created the program in 1998 after finding Latino students were going to college and graduating at far lower rates

than White students. Justice Department officials argued the program provides an unconstitutional advantage based on race or ethnicity

The state of Tennessee and an anti-affirmative action organization sued the U.S. Education Department in June, asking a judge to halt the Hispanic-Serving Institution program. Tennessee argued all of its public universities serve Hispanic students but none meet the “arbitrary ethnic threshold” to be eligible for the grants. Those schools miss out on tens of millions of dollars because of discriminatory requirements, the suit said. On Friday, the Justice Department released a letter in which Solicitor General

John Sauer notified Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that the department “has decided not to defend” the program, saying certain aspects of it are unconstitutional. The letter, dated July 25, cited a 2023 Supreme Court decision that “outright racial balancing” is “patently unconstitutional.”

The Justice Department declined to comment Tennessee is backed in the suit by Students for Fair Admissions, a conservative legal group that successfully challenged affirmative action in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. That suit led to a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that forbids universities from considering students’ race in admissions decisions.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy

A Texas trooper passes the Texas state seal on the Rotunda at the Texas Capitol on Friday before debate on a bill for a redrawn U.S. congressional map during a special session in Austin, Texas.

Erin weakenstopost-tropical cyclone, movesout to sea

BY ALLEN G. BREED, JOHN SEEWERand LEAHWILLINGHAM

Associated Press

RODANTHE, N.C Strong winds and waves battered Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and dangerous rip currents threatened from the Carolinas to New Englandas Hurricane Erin made its way farther out to sea. The storm was forecast to cause possible coastal flooding into the weekend along the East Coast but was also expected to gradually lose strength. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported Friday evening that Erin had weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, and was located about 375 miles south-southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia Despite being twice the size of an average hurricane, Erin so far has managedto thread the needle through the Atlantic between the East Coast and several island nations, limiting its destructiveness. Massachusetts-based me-

teorologistCaitlyn Mench said FridaythatErin’shigh wind field caused it to be felt widely along the East Coast: “On apositive note, it passed all offshore,” shesaid,ofthe New England area, which experienced some minor coastal flooding due to the storm.

Nantucket’sairport recorded winds of up to 45 mph overnight into Friday The MassachusettsBay TransportationAuthority announced Friday that it wascanceling ferryservice to and from the Bostonarea cities of Lynn, Quincy,and Winthrop. Severaloceanside beachesalong Cape Cod’sNationalSeashorealso closedtoswimmersand other recreation duetohighsurf and rip currents On North Carolina’sOuter Banks, waves breached dunesinthe town of Kill Devil Hills on Thursday evening, and waterand sand pooledonHighway12.

Although damage assessmentswere still underway, the low-lyingislands appearedtohave dodged widespread trouble.

Atropical storm warning was lifted for Bermuda, where residents andtourists had been toldtostay outof the water through Friday Warnings alongthe coasts of North Carolina and Virginia were also discontinued. The National Weather Serviceissued coastal flood

warnings for places as far north as the Mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, saying that some roads could be made impassable On Thursday night, local news outlets reported that firefighters rescuedmore than 50 people from cars, restaurantsand bars after

tidal flooding in Margate City,New Jersey Beaches wereclosed to swimming Thursday in New York City,but morethan adozen surfersstill rode waves at Rockaway Beach in Queens. Scott Klossner,who lives nearby,said conditions were great forexperienced

surfers.

“You wait all year round for these kinds of waves. It’s challenging, really hard to stay in oneplace,because there’saheavy,heavy,heavy rip,” he said. “But this is what surfers want —a hurricane that comesbut doesn’tdestroy my house? I’ll take that.”

The Outer Banks —essentially sand dunes sticking out of the ocean afew feet above sealevel —are vulnerable to erosion. Storm surges can cutthrough them,washing tons of sand and debris onto roads and sometimes breakinguppavementand creating new inlets.

The dunesand beach took a beating the last two days, but Dare CountyManager Bobby Outten said therehave been no new inlets with Erin or significant structural damage to homes or businesses. “All in all, it’snot as bad as it could have been,” Outten said. Erin hasfluctuatedinintensitysinceforming nearly aweek ago but remained unusually large, stretching across morethan 600 miles.

National GuardtroopsonD.C.streets to startcarryingguns

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, MATT BROWN and CHRISMEGERIAN

Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered National Guard troops to start carryingfirearms

whilepatrolling the streets of Washington for President Donald Trump’slaw enforcement crackdown, the Pentagon said Friday

TheDefense Department didn’toffer any other details about the new development or why it wasneeded. Hegseth referred to it as “common sense” on social media. No troops havebeen spotted yet with firearms around the city in the hours after the announcement. But the decision is an escalation in the Republican administration’s

intervention in the nation’s capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guardmembershavebeen stationed in the heavily Democratic city Some local officials were harshly critical, with D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen saying Trump’sactions are“not of apresident, but of someoneonthe march to an authoritarian takeover.”

Trump initially called up 800 members of theDistrict of ColumbiaNational Guard to assist federallaw enforcement in his bidtocrack down on crime, homelessness and illegalimmigration. Since then,six Republican-led stateshave sent troops to the city, growing themilitary presence It’sunclear how long the deployment willlast. “If Ihave to, I’lldeclare a

national emergency, which Idon’tthink I’ll have to do,” Trump said.

He suggested that he could takeasimilar approach in other cities, such as Chicago and maybe New York.

“After we do this,we’ll go to another location, and we’ll makeitsafealso,” Trump said in theOval Office. Referring to Chicago as “a mess,” he said, “that will be our next one after this.”

Therewerenosigns that theNational Guard’srole in D.C. would be changing. The troops have not taken part in law enforcement and largely have been protecting landmarks including the National Mall and Union Station and helping withcrowd control.

Sometroopshave fed squirrels. OneGuard member helped awoman carry

her belongings down the stairs in atrain station. Others have been seen taking photos with passersby, standing around chatting and drinking coffee. There have been no overt indications that they have faced threats thatwould require weapons

D.C.council member

Christina Henderson said Trump was “invitingconfrontation wherethere doesn’tneed to be any Trumphas boasted that thecityissafer than ever because of his intervention. He told reporters Friday that“it’sa miracle what’s happened.”

“D.C. was ahellhole,” he said. “But nowit’ssafe.” He suggested that he could prolong thedeployment of troops and federal agentsin Washington.

“The big question is how long do we stay?” he said. “Because if we stay,wewant to make sure it doesn’tcome back.Sowehavetotake care of these criminals and get them out.”

Trump said he would ask Congress for $2 billion to improve the appearance of the city,including resurfacing roadsand replacing streetlights. He’s previously pledged to improve the grass to look like one of hisgolf courses.

“It’sgoing to be safe, and it’sgoing to be beautified,” he said.

Trump’sdecision to seek more money for sprucing up Washington comes months after the Republican-controlledCongresspassed legislationthatessentially forced a$1.1 billionbudget

cut on the city.Local leaders have pleaded for afix, but to no avail.

Tensions have flared at timesinthe streets of D.C. since Trump’sintervention began,especially involving federalagents carrying out immigration enforcement. Somefear armingthe National Guard could exacerbate the situation. Alex Wagner,aformer chiefofstaff to the Army secretary and assistant secretary for the Air Force during Democratic administrations, said asking troops to carry firearms is a“recipe for disaster.”

He said mostNational Guard members don’thave the right training for Trump’s law enforcement crackdown and are being put in a“nowin situation.”

VIRGINIAN-PILOT PHOTO By KENDALLWARNER

Brianna Quick holdsher dog,Hina, while checking out the coastal flooding on Thursdayin the Colonial Place neighborhood of Norfolk, Va., as aresult of Hurricane Erin.

FOLLOW

YOUR ART

Artsupplies for sale at Scrappie Studio areseen recently

A35-year-old Lake Charlesman was arrested for attempting to kidnap a15-yearoldgirl on Thursday morningnear the Prien Lake Mall, according to police. Dustin Frederickwas arrested Thursday by members of the Lake Charles Police Department SWAT team duringa trafficstop at Ernest and West College streets, according to anews releasefromthe department. He was booked on one count of attempted kidnapping Police were dispatched to the area of Glenn and Hazel streetsaround 6:40 a.m. Thursday regardingthe attempted kidnapping of a15-year-oldfemale.

When the officers arrived,the girl saida man, later identified as Frederick, wasdriv-

ing ablack SUV-style vehicle andstopped and asked if sheneeded aride. When she told theman no,hedrove away, butthen passed by her many times,she said.

On thelast pass,the manstopped, got outofthe car,grabbed thegirl, put his arm aroundher and said he wanted to drive her Thegirlhit the man in the face, he let her go and then left thearea in his vehicle.

The police were able to identify Frederickwith the assistanceofvideo evidence nearthe scene. His bond has been set at $1 million.

Opelousas man indicted in mother’smurder

ASt. Landry Parish grand jury formally charged an Opelousas man with first-degreemurder in thedeath of his 65-year-old mother in late June.

Scrappie Studio, an artsupplyand studio space, opensinLafayette

BY ASHLEYWHITE Staff writer

RaeleighBoydand Preslie Such met while working at an e-commerce business. But the artists had dreams of openinga community art supply and studio space. When they realized they wanted the same thing for Lafayette and that they worked well together,they quit their jobs and decidedtoopenScrappie Studio.

The businesshad asoftopening earlier this month and agrand openingwas planned for Friday inside the oldAlexander BookstoreonJohnston Street, afew blocks from the UniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette.

“In Lafayette, we have such abooming and bustling art community,but for some reason, we don’thave alocal artsupply store,” Such said. “We’re justtrying to bridge agap we sawin thecommunity.”

Creating ScrappieStudio and finding theperfect spacefor it has been serendipitous for Boydand Such. Boydisfrom theOpelousas area but now claims Lafayette as her home. Shegraduated from UL last year Such movedtothe area from Texas and studiedatLSU before returning. When the pair started talking, they realized there’donlybeen aboutone degree of separation before they eventually met and realized their shared dream

Even thehouse they’re renting as their brick-and-mortar studio space felt as if things aligned perfectly for them to find it. Each roomhas apurpose andthere’s spacefor growth.And Boyd’sgrandmotherknew someone who used to liveinthe house.

See ART, page 2B

AaronLloyd, 34, was indicted for first-degree murder Friday,according to adistrict attorney’s statement. The charge comes after Lloyd allegedly admitted to police that he killed his mother

After the confession,police arrived at the ParkCircle home in Opleousas to find thewoman covered with trash bags and stuffed inside atrash can under the carport after Lloydallegedly injected herwith methamphetamines and beat her to death.

Law enforcement, including the Opelousas Police Departmentand St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Department, worked together to locate LloydinKrotz Springs.

“This is adeeply tragic andheartbreaking case that has impacted ourentire community,”Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlancsaid at the time.

Shaquille O’Neal to invest in newLSU arena

He says BR deserves ‘world-class’facility, vouchesfor developer

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Former LSUbasketball player, fourtimeNBA champion and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal will invest in the proposed new arena on the LSU campus.

“LSU and Baton Rouge deserve a world-class arena and I’mvery excited to endorse Oak View Group’splan,” O’Neal said in astatement Friday.“I look forward to becomingthe first investor to help bring this new venue to Baton Rouge and LSU.”

O’Neal vouched for Oak View Group, the developer that is the sole finalist forthe project. Oak View’s CEO stepped down last month after he was indicted on bid-rigging allegations connected to aproject in Austin.

“I’veworkedwithOVG in venues across the country (with my Big Chicken brand) andtheyare thebestpartners and great operators,” O’Neal said in the statement.

O’Neal did notsay howmuchofa stake he was planning to invest in the newfacility, or what that deal might look like.

Afinal deal with LSU to develop the project hasnot yet been inked. LSU officials paused the deal after Oak View’s then CEO,Timothy Leiweke, wasindictedonfederal chargesJuly 9for allegedly rigging the bidding schemefor an arenaatthe University of Texasat Austin that LSU officials have cited as

ä See ARENA, page 2B

Arrest made months after carcrashed into house

waskilled, Lake Charlespolicesay

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer

Nearly three months after acar drove through ahouse near Auburn andMadeline streets and killed the sole occupant, the LakeCharlesPoliceDepartmenthas arrested a72-year-old man On Thursday,Albert C. Miller wasarrested and booked on charges of negligent homicide by Lake Charles Police, according to anews release.

The department was dispatchedto an addressonAuburnStreetaround 9:35 a.m. on May26inreference to a crash involving avehicle and aresidence. When officers arrived, they learned that Lake Charles 35-year-old Cody Brock, the sole occupant of the residenceatthe time,was dead as aresult of the crash.

Uponfurther investigation, it was discovered that Millerhad allegedly been driving a2010 Chevrolet Silverado westbound on Madeline Street when he left the road and crashed into the residence.

On May 27, the police saidthe standard toxicology tests were pending, and the crash wasstill under investigation. After conducting an “extensive investigation,” the Lake Charles Police Traffic Division obtained an arrest warrant forMiller

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIEWESTBROOK

Scrappie Studioco-owners Preslie Such, right,and Raeleigh Boyd talk recently about their newart supply,studioand classroom space in Lafayette.

O’Neal

Boy, 15,killedinalleged drunkendriving crash

Denham Springs victim was on hisbike

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

A15-year-old boy was killed in acrashwhile riding his bicycle Thursday night in Denham Springs, and the driver who hit him

was allegedly driving drunk. Juan Alfredo Chavarria Lezama, 31,ofWalker,was arrested on counts of vehicular homicide, driving while under the influence, reckless operationofa moving vehicleand possession of alcohol in amoving vehicle.

Lawenforcementalso said he had no driver’slicense and is on an ICEdetainer,which is arequest

from Immigration and Customs Enforcementtolocal authorities to hold someone for additional time.

TheLivingstonParish Sheriff’sOffice wasdispatched after 7p.m. ThursdaytoMagnolia Boulevard near Whiteleaf Streetfor acrash involving avehicle and ateenager on abicycle.

Sheriff Jason Ard said the victimwas airlifted to alocal hospital, wherehelater

died from his injuries.

Ardsaid deputies saw the driver was impaired at the scene, then found his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit.

Thedriver is in theLivingstonParish Detention Center,and the investigation is ongoing.

Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@ theadvocate.com.

Continued from page1B

“Wewalked in and we were like, ‘This is it,’”Such said. “It was like we were made to be here.” When someone immediately walks in, they’re greeted by Boyd’sand Such. The front of the space is for retail. Art supplies,such as clay andpaints, areondisplay.Inaroom to the right is artists’ work, including Boyd and Such’s, available for sale —prints, stickers, ceramics, jewelry,clothing. The back of the spaceis designed for workshops and classes.Awide open room, what appears to be

aprevious kitchen and dining room, is perfect for classes. Thecheckered linoleum floors are perfect for cleaning up spills. Astorage room hasshelvingfor students to keep their piecesin oneplace between classes. Sharingthe knowledge Thestudio is apassion project for Boyd and Such. They each havesuccessful online stores for their own art. Boyd, agraphic designer by trade,sells stickersof herart. Such sells clothing with her original designs. They’velearned alot running those businesses and want to share it withother artists, whether that’shelping them set up awebsite or giving them brick-and-

mortar space to sell their products.

“Wewant to pass down this knowledge so bad,” said Boyd. “We’regonna find you and help you.”

In addition to the retail space, ScrappieStudio will host classes for adultsand children, and weekly workshops.

Theclassesinclude photography,ceramics, cross stitching and more.Workshops areone-night events. Some of those include cake decorating, felt art andItalian charm making.

Instructors, alot of whom are talented artists without as much teaching experience, design theirown lesson plans and are passionate about their craft, Boyd said.

Boyd and Such areexcited about having acreative space in Lafayette. They’re hoping as time goes on, they’llfill theirclasses and be able to offer more based on thecommunity andinstructors’ interests. Andthey want to show people that it’s possible to be an artist. They want to space to complement what already existsinLafayette;they aren’tincompetition with other artspaces, Boyd said.

“In the game of art, there’s no loser,”she said. “Every single person can win, andthe competition can be healthy.”

Email Ashley White at ashley.white@ theadvocate.com.

Children climbing fenceat BatonRouge pool arrested

Police saythey hadpainted BB guns to look ‘real’

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

Threesiblings, ages 12 andyounger, were arrested by BatonRouge policethis week and released to their parents aftertheyclimbed the fencearound aBREC park last month, carrying BB guns madetolook like real weapons. Security videoofthe July 20 incident showed that thechildrenwerecarrying what appeared to be two handguns whentheyscaled the fence around the BREC Howell Community Park pool on Winbourne Avenue at about 11 a.m.onaSunday, officials said.

Investigators learned, though, that the weapons were BB guns that belonged to the children’sfather.The childrenhad painted the orange tips of the gun —the marks of atoy gun —black “to make them appear real,” Baton Rouge police said in a

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

Police investigating fatal shooting

news release. Afourth child who took part in the incident was7 years old and was notarrested, policesaid.

TheBaton Rougeparks andrecreationagency closed the Howell Park pool indefinitelyafter the incident. Officials saidFriday the facility will remain closed until furthernotice. Besides carrying what appeared to be handguns, the childrengot into the pool unsupervised, BREC said in anewsreleaseatthe time.

The childrenran away, without confrontation, when staff approached them, BREC said.

“The decisiontoclose the pool was made to ensure the safety of all visitors and allow for athorough assessment of the situation,” the agency said.

The threechildren, ages 10, 11 and12, were each arrested on acount of unauthorizedentry of abusiness andreleased to theirparent, pendingtheir courtdate, the news releasesaid.

Email Ellyn Couvillionat ecouvillion@theadvocate.

The Lafayette Police Department is investigating ashooting that occurred around 2:20 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of Hugh Wallis Road. Officers responded to reports of ashooting and located adeceased male victim, according to anews release. No additionalinformation wasavailable on Friday afternoon. Anyone with information should contact the Lafayette Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.

ARREST

inspiration for the project. Leiweke has since stepped down as CEO, and LSU said it was “evaluating the implications” the day after he was charged. When reached for comment Friday,anLSU spokesperson said the universityis “still in the evaluation/due diligence phase.” In Corpus Christi, where Oak View Groupruns the American Bank Center,a City Council member called for afull audit of the firm’s management of the facility after learning of an agreement with controversial ticket seller Ticketmaster thatdoes notexpireuntil 2032, TicketNews reports. Baton Rouge hospital Our Lady of the Lake is the sole candidate fornamingrights of the building. Documents show the hospital has discussed paying a$50 million fee over 10 years to name it “Our Lady of the Lake Arena.” Officials with Baton Rouge

government, LSU and Our Lady of the Lake have all said thearena couldbea “transformational”project that would draw major economic activity.Inadditionto providing anew venue for LSU basketball and gymnastics, it would host concerts and other majorevents. On Wednesday,the East Baton RougeParish Metro Council is set to vote on allowing the LSU Economic Development Districtto levy a2%sales tax near thesite where officials hope to build the arena Documents show the deal also hingeson both the parish and the state giving sales taxes collectedonthe stadium and immediate surroundings to Oak View Group

EmailPatrick SloanTurneratpatrick.sloanturner@theadvocate

Miller was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office for confinement on Thursday.His bond wasset for $50,000.

Lake Charles Police Traffic Division at (337) 491-1456, ext. 5427. Email Courtney Pedersen at courtney.pedersen@ theadvocate.com.

Continued from page1B LOTTERY

Lake Charles Police Department Lt. Brenda Treadway saidthe department is not releasing any information about whetherMiller was impairedatthis time

Anyone with additional information should contact Sgt.ScottDoughertyofthe

THURSDAY, AUG. 21, 2025 PICK 3: 4-7-6 PICK 4: 7-5-8-1

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIEWESTBROOK

Scrappie Studio co-ownersPreslie Such, left,and Raeleigh Boyd areseen recently at their artsupply,studioand classroom space in Lafayette.

Canada will match U.S. tariff exemptions

TORONTO Canada is dropping retaliatory tariffs to match U.S. tariff exemptions for goods covered under the United StatesMexico-Canada trade pact, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday

Carney said Canada will include the carve-out that the U.S. has on Canadian goods under the 2020 free trade deal that shields the vast majority of goods from the punishing duties.

“Canada currently has the best trade deal with the United States. And while it’s different from what we had before, it’s still better than that of any other country,” Carney said.

Carney and U.S President Donald Trump spoke on the phone Thursday and Carney met with his Cabinet on Friday before making the announcement.

“We had a very good call,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “We are working on something. We want to be very good to Canada. I like Carney a lot. I think he’s a very good person.”

“I am fighting for the United States, and Canada and Mexico have taken a lot of our business over the years,” Trump said.

Carney said Trump told him that lifting the tariffs would reset trade negotiations. Canadian and Mexican companies can claim preferential treatment under the USMCA.

Trump to keep extending TikTok ban deadline

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is calling national security and privacy concerns related to TikTok and its Chinese parent company “highly overrated” and said Friday he’ll keep extending the deadline for the popular video-sharing platform until there’s a buyer Congress approved a U.S ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its controlling stake. But Trump has so far extended the deadline three times during his second term — with the next one coming up on Sept. 17.

“We’re gonna watch the security concerns,” Trump told reporters, but added, “We have buyers, American-buyers,” and “until the complexity of things work out, we just extend a little bit longer.”

The first extension was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — took effect. The second was in April, when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trump’s tariff announcement.

Feds to take over Boar’s Head plant inspections

Federal inspectors will assume direct oversight of a troubled Boar’s Head deli meat plant when it reopens after last year’s deadly listeria outbreak, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said The Jarratt, Virginia, factory is set to resume operations in the coming months. It will face at least 90 days of heightened monitoring and inspections by federal Food Safety and Inspection Service officials. Previously, inspections were conducted by state officials who operated on behalf of the agency

The change aims to “ensure the establishment consistently and effectively implements its corrected food safety plans,” USDA officials said in a statement. It calls for stricter enforcement if lapses occur

The plant was shuttered nearly a year ago when listeria-tainted liverwurst caused the outbreak that killed 10 people, sickened dozens and forced a recall of more than 7 million pounds of deli products. USDA officials lifted the plant’s suspension in July

BUSINESS

Market hopes for lower interest rates

Dow surges 846 points to a record

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK Wall Street rallied to its best day in months on Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve hinted that cuts to interest rates may be on the way, along with the kick they can give the economy and investment prices.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.5% for its first gain in six days and finished just shy of its all-time high set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 846 points, or 1.9%, to its own record after topping its prior high from December The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.9%.

“Ka-Powell” is how Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, described the reaction to Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The Fed isn’t going to be the partypooper.”

The hope among investors had been that Powell would hint that the Fed’s first cut to interest rates of the year may be imminent. Wall Street loves lower rates because

they can goose the economy, even if they risk worsening inflation at the same time. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for lower rates, often insulting Powell while doing so. And a surprisingly weak report on job growth this month pushed many on Wall Street to assume cuts may come as soon as the Fed’s next meeting in September Powell encouraged them on Friday after saying he’s seen risks rise for the job market. The Fed’s two jobs are to keep the job market healthy and to keep a lid on inflation, and it often has to priori-

Under the big top

Business leaders engage in carnival-themed AI training

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Artificial intelligence is a cloudy crystal ball, but DisruptREADY is here to clear it up.

It’s what the advisory firm’s “Carnival Crew” told attendees Thursday afternoon at its AI training session in Celtic Studios Under the big top executives from more than 50 companies, including Entergy and b1Bank, engaged in station-style lessons on incorporating AI into their business.

CEO and carnival ringmaster Henry Hays said he wanted to create a safe, fun space for business executives to learn about AI amid the technology’s rapidly increasing presence. While some people may be intimidated by AI, Hays wants Baton Rouge companies to stay ahead of the game.

“We’re really stressing now is the time to get involved,” he said.

This month, state education policymakers passed a resolution to lead an AI research agenda so students can keep up with the latest innovations. Construction has started on two massive AI data centers that have drummed up excitement and business in West Feliciana and Richland parishes.

Attendees rotated through six “knowledge centers” on topics including the foundations of AI, using AI with company data, writing AI prompts and misconceptions about AI. At each station, Carnival Crew members — experts in Hays’ network — walked their group through the interactive lesson, using real-life scenarios where they could use AI.

Carnival Crew members used polls to gauge attendees’ familiarity and comfort with AI. In response to “What is preventing your organization from embracing AI?” attendees brought up concerns about the environmental impact, privacy and the “fear of the unknown.”

Hays defines his target audience as small groups of leadership teams, typically vice president level or higher Thursday’s event was invite-only and prospective participants can apply to attend future events. DisruptREADY will host two more carnival events on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23.

He said he chose the carnival theme because it is chaotic, fun and different than other methods executives may use to learn about AI

“We wanted to really disrupt the way that adults traditionally learn, because it’s either YouTube or, frankly, a really boring, seated all day event where it’s speaker after speaker after speaker We find it doesn’t really hit the mark,” he said.

A stilts performer greeted attendees as they walked into the studio, where large red and white curtains lined the perimeter and graphics of circus elephants and performers draped the walls. In intermissions between each knowledge center rotation, two actors performed skit scenarios like a king ridiculing his intern for suggesting the use of AI in the kingdom on a stage in the center of the room.

The Carnival Crew donned red and white striped vests and carnival straw hats, with a cane for Hays to complete the ringmaster look.

AI technology is not present in Dana Schlotterer’s day-to-day work as the executive

director of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. Schlotterer said she attended the event to learn how to use AI ethically as she trains Baton Rouge area high school students in entrepreneurship.

Schlotterer said students are scared to use AI because they do not want to get in trouble. She’s seeking out a balance between ensuring students produce original work while incorporating the expanding technology

“We’re coming around to it,” she said.

Ronnie Rantz, the CEO of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation and owner of the Baton Rouge Rougarou baseball team, said he has used AI on a “small level” and is finding ways to incorporate it in areas like payroll, billing and sales. He said some AI, like ChatGPT, can be intimidating because it cannot solve every problem, but the carnival helped dispel some of the fear

“I can see them doing more of these,” he said.

Trump says Intel agrees to U.S. stake in company

BY MICHELLE L PRICE and MICHAEL LIEDTKE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said that Intel has agreed to give the U.S. government a 10% stake in its business.

Speaking with reporters on Friday Trump said the deal came out of a meeting last week with Intel

CEO Lip Bu Tan — which came days after the president called for Tan to resign over his past ties to China.

“I said, I think it would be good having the United States as your partner,” Trump said. “He agreed, and they’ve agreed to do it.” Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agreement.

The struggling Silicon Valley chipmaker has a market cap of just over $100 billion The agreement comes just after Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group disclosed Monday that it is accumulating its 2% stake in Intel.

The official announcement is ex-

pected to come later Friday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity What’s happening?

The Trump administration has been in talks to secure a 10% stake in Intel in exchange for converting government grants that were pledged to Intel under President Joe Biden. If the deal is completed, the U.S. government would become one of Intel’s largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world’s largest economy Why would Trump do this? In his second term, Trump has been leveraging his power to reprogram the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are helping to power the craze around artificial intelligence, to pay a 15% commission on their sales of chips

in China in exchange for export licenses.

Trump’s interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country’s dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the U.S. will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence.

Didn’t Trump want Intel’s CEO to quit?

That’s what the president said August 7 in an unequivocal post calling for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign less than five months after the Santa Clara, California, company hired him. The demand was triggered by reports raising national security concerns about Tan’s past investments in Chinese tech companies while he was a venture capitalist But Trump backed off after Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet

with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an “amazing story.”

Why would Intel do a deal?

The company isn’t commenting about the possibility of the U.S. government becoming a major shareholder, but Intel may have little choice because it is currently dealing from a position of weakness. After enjoying decades of growth while its processors powered the personal computer boom, the company fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone’s 2007 debut Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for Nvidia and AMD. The company lost nearly $19 billion last year and another $3.7 billion in the first six months of this year, prompting Tan to undertake a cost-cutting spree. By the end of this year, Tan expects Intel to have about 75,000 workers, a 25% reduction from the end of last year

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Henry Hays, CEO of DisruptREADy, center, chats with Jay Allen, left, and Becky Costa, of Atlanta, during Carnival of Change hosted by DisruptREADy on Thursday at Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge.

Extreme partisanshipstarted infecting American politics long before Donald Trump emerged, butthe president’sunhingeddesirefor unlimitedpower is now driving the two-party systemtothe brink ofall-out war Trump ignited the latest escalationbydemanding that Texas and other Republican-controlled states defy traditionand redrawtheir congressional districts before the next census in 2030. Since the president’sparty almost always loses seats in midterm elections, his goal is to createmoreRepublican districts in red states and thus protect the party’stiny 3-vote margin in the House before next year’sballoting Governors in blue states like California and New York are accusinghim of “cheating” and are threatening to retaliatebyaltering theirown maps to boost Democratic fortunes.

Bothsides aredigginginand loading up. Onlyafew sane and lonely figures keepwarningthatthe democratic system is in jeopardy

“We’re only supposed to be redistrictingevery 10 years,” said U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, aNebraska Republican whocan speak his mind becausehe’snot running again.“At some point, thepartisanship gets toomuch.

Ijust think it goes too far.”

Democrats know how damaging gerrymandering can be, and in states like California, they have created independent commissions to mapdistricts. But Trump’stantrum has pushed them to abandontheir own principles.

“How Ifeel is terribly conflicted. Ihateit. Ireally worry about arace to the bottom on something that I consider pretty despicable,” U.S. Rep. JaredHuffman, aCalifornia Democrat, told Axios.“But Iunderstand whythe governorand othersare considering it. The only reasonitwould even be possible is whatTexas andothersare doing just stinks so badly thatit’spissingpeople in Californiaoff.”

One particularly nervous faction are Republican lawmakers in blue states, who could lose theirseats if Democrats follow through on their threats. One of them, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California,has introduced a bill that would bar redistricting before the next census “It createsalot of instability if you’re just constantly shifting the lines on the maparound so that, youknow, representatives are losing constituents, losing communities, gaining new ones,”Kiley told FoxNews. “It’s just total chaos. It’snot goodfor representative government.It’snot good forconstituents. It is not good for Democrats or Republicans.”

Partisanship is essential for ahealthy democracy and the modern two-partysystemhas generally served the nation well since it evolvedinthe 1850s. Nor is it unusual foravictorious party to change the rules to solidifyits power.The word “gerrymander” wascoined in 1812, when Gov.Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts approvedastate senatedistrictthatresembled asalamander

Moreover, Democrats are hardly innocent when it comes to map manipulation. Illinois, for example,is represented by 14 Democrats andonly threeRepublicans. But as Bacon said,atsomepoint,“the partisanship gets too much (and) goestoo far.” That’s what’s happening now.Trump is demolishing something intangible but invaluable —the mutualrespect, thespirit of civility across party linesthat makesa functioning democracypossible.

The problem is not just whatTrump and the Texas Republicans aredoing, it’s howtheyare doing it. Democratic lawmakers havefled the state, depriving the legislature of aquorum and stallingimplementationof the new maps. In retaliation, Trump and his ally,Gov Greg Abbott, are implementing policestate tactics, threatening to fine and arrest the absent Democrats and even declare theirseats vacant.

“They’re just treating ourcountry and our system of government like it’sajoke,” said the HouseMinority Leader,Gene Wu This is not ajoke. The current Congress is alreadyso polarizedthatnot asingleHouse Democrat votedfor any of Trump’smajor legislative initiatives. Under current maps, the gerrymandering is so severe that only a handful of all House seatsare consideredwinnableby either party If open warfare breaks out, if maps areredrawn in both red and blue states, the numberofmarginal swing districts will continuetoshrink, and the polarization will get even worse than it is now Gov.Gavin Newsom of California hasofferedTrump atruce if thepresidentalso backs down, but that seems highly unlikely.The president’spush to redraw districts is part of amuchlarger strategytoundermine any and all forces that might restrain his relentless ambitions —judges and economists, lawfirms and universities,norms andconventions andtraditions. As Kiley putsit, “total chaos” is looming.

Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com.

To theletter writer who stopped his contributions toNPR because of supposed bias, Iironically started my contribution to NPR in light of thefunding halt.Ilisten to NPR. It covers stories from all 50 states and the world, including Congress and the president. It covers what President Donald Trumpsays, and it reportsthat mostofwhich he alleges is not based on facts and is unsubstantiated and outright lies. NPR reportsthe good and bad. It reportson theeffects of thecutstoprograms, thedepartments and the layoffs. You don’tknow how manytimes Ihear theNPR announcer statethat, “We reached out to(fill in the blank) for a responsebut have not heard back.”

Is this leftist” or simply reporting thenews? MAGA, of course, would rather not have it reported at all. Ichallenge theletter writer,along with Congress andour two subservient senators, to offer one, just one, sliver of evidence of NPR’sleft-leaning reporting. Funny how the debate in Congress to defund NPRfailed to provide any evidence of unfair reporting. NPRreports on what it sees. MAGA doesn’tlike those reports. So let’ssilence them just like it silences thecolleges, the schools, medical treatments for those not like them, theenvironmental agencies, just to nameafew examples. KeepNPR.

NAHUM LAVENTHAL NewOrleans

Aletter by army veteran Mark Birden deserves areply Arecent edition carries amessage by Birden saying we don’ttreat our militaryveterans well. Like him, I’m aveteran, having spent nearly five years on active dutyand several moreinthe Army Reserve. Ialso spent time in Vietnam and received adirect commission during my active-duty years. Ispent time in aseries of classified jobs both in Southeast Asia and on domestic assignments.

Idisagree with him.

SomeAmerican veterans, it’s true, deserve morethan they’re receiving. Butnot all. Many spent a minimum amount of time in uniform and never came under fire. In fact, relatively few people spent their militaryservice in combat. And manymore were cooks and clerks

and held other noncombat jobs. As veterans, they too deserve honor and recognition. But combat vets deserve more. They deserve to go to thefront of the line when it comes to mostVAservices. Yetall veterans seem tobetreated equally My father survived World War II. He was wounded in France and —like millionsofothers —saw thingsnoone should have to see. His wounds were both external and internal (what we’d now call PTSD), but he never received treatment for thehidden ones. Nordid mostWorld WarIIcombat vets. And that’salways bothered me. It’stime to balance things. Survivors of combat deservemore than those who never saw combat and those who never leftthe safety of theUnited States.

RUSS WISE

The darker car windows law went into effect Aug. 1. This new law was allegedly inspired by alegislator whose daughter’s medication increased her eye sensitivitytolight.

It would have been much safer for everyone, particularly all law enforcement officers, if she would

wear sunglasses. Allowing darkertinted front windows is not the answer Iamamazed that this legislation was overwhelmingly approved, and theLouisiana Sheriff’s Association took no position on thebill.

FRANK H. PEREZ Baton Rouge

What if,inthese deeply divided times, the Jeffrey Epstein story is neither aconspiracy,hoax nor a distraction, but acatalyst forunification?

What if the worst of humanity,as detailed by the victimsofEpstein and his brethren, can bring out the best in the rest of us?

We can agree that no matter if you are rich, famous, powerful, Democrat or Republican, raping children is unacceptable and you belong behind bars.

No matter if the goal is blackmail or foreign intelligence, child rape is reprehensible.

And the people whoenabled, funded and covered up the raping of children —and those who turned their heads and pretended not to see —shall also be held to account.

Together,wecan stand against those whothink they have impunity.Against those whothink child rape is their reward forpower We can say,“No, it is not OK to manipulate, coerce and lie to children to rape them.”

And through this united front, we can show that the majority of Americans are courageous with a strong moral compass.

Epstein is not just ascandal. Who Epstein was,and whojoined him in his depravity,speaks to the very core of the human experience. It speaks to the core of morality and conviction.

Let’sunite in numbers and a voice that can’tbeignored.

That includes the Epsteinobsessed far-right who, formany years claimed outrage about child sex-trafficking.

True colors can now be revealed. Is your fight against child rape, or is it only afight if the perpetrators also happen to be your sworn enemies?

So at this critical momentin history,let’sall ask ourselves, “Is child rape OK?”

KARI DEQUINE HARDEN NewOrleans

Steve Roberts

Readytohandle bigger workload

UL specialteams star St.Andre to getregular time at linebacker

BY KEVIN FOOTE

Staff writer

UL linebacker Jake St. Andre doesn’t have aproblem being underrated or undervalued.

Proving people wrong through hard work and effort is what has ignited his success. He came to Lafayette from HaughtonHighSchool as awalk-on and earned ascholarship with theRagin’ Cajuns, who will open the season at 7p.m. Saturday against Rice at Our Lady of theLourdesStadium

So don’texpect St. Andre or his insidelinebacker colleagues to be intimidated by what faces them this season.

JakeSt. Andre, aformer walk-on, will be aregular at inside linebacker for the Cajuns this season in addition to his numerous special teams duties.

“We’ve talked about the inexperience in our room and how so many people view it as aquestionmark,” St. Andre said. “And it’ssomething thatwekindof carry every day,and that’ssomething wetake pride in and then eliminating that question markcome the season.”

Thetransitionlargely stems from tacklingmachine K.C. Ossai’sgraduation.

Part of the solution was moving Jaden Dugger inside from outside linebacker.The other partofthe plan is numbers, including St.Andretaking more snaps at linebacker in addition to his many special-

ä See ST.ANDRE, page 3C

KellycomparesPickett to NFLstarHamilton

LSUcoach sees big potentialinfreshman

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

WhenLSU coach Brian Kelly watches freshman cornerback DJ Pickett, he’s reminded of Kyle Hamilton,one of thebest defensive players he ever had at Notre Dame. Hamilton, a6-foot-4 safety,was atwo-timefirst-teamAll-America selection. In three years with the Baltimore Ravens, he has been voted to thePro Bowl twice. He was named All-Pro in 2023.

“(Pickett) is unique as aplayer,” Kelly said Thursday night on his radio show.“Ihad akid like that at Notre Dame in Kyle Hamilton, who Iknewasafreshman was unique as aplayer. This is

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU cornerback DJ Pickett, rated theNo. 2cornerback in thenation in theClass of 2025, has drawn comparisonstoBaltimoreRavens All-Pro safetyKyle Hamilton.

aunique player.You’re going to enjoy watching him play.” Pickett wasafive-star recruit and the No.2cornerback in the

ä See PICKETT, page 3C

Rod Walker

Saints’Price aiming to join small NFLgroup

Jayden Price never knows exactly what he will hear,but he knows he’sgoing to hear something. It comes with the territory when you’re playing aposition thatfew players who look like him play

He’sheard “White Chocolate.” And there are the times he’ll line up at cornerback and hear areceiver standing acrossfrom him say“Milk check.”

His personal favorite is the name given to him since he joined theNew Orleans Saints.

“All the tight ends here started calling me ‘White Pepper,’ ”Price said. “I thought that was pretty good. So I’ve been really embracing that one. It’sbeen fun.”

As the Saints closeout training camp with Saturday’spreseason

finale against the Denver Broncos, Price is trying to makehis case that he belongs on the53man roster.He’sprobably along shot in acrowded room, but he would like nothing more than to join an oh-so-small fraternityof White cornerbacks in the NFL. Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, who willbeinthe Caesars Superdome on Saturday, and PhiladelphiaEagles rookie Cooper DeJean werethe only two White cornerbacks to start last season. Ethan Bonner is abackup for the Miami Dolphins. When Moss became astarter for Denver in 2023, he wasthe first White cornerback tostart an NFL game since Jason Sehorn, who finished his career withthe New York Giants in 2003.Last season, Moss was the first White cornerback to get an interception

Bubble ballers

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

There won’tbemuch time between when the Saintswrap up their finalpreseason game against the Denver Broncos on Saturday and when they trim their roster to 53 players. New Orleanscurrentlyhas a90-man roster.ByTuesday afternoon, that number must be 53, with a16-man practice squad (orpotentially17) to follow.

TheSaints will have plenty of interestingdecisions to make, and it sounds like they’re willingtomanipulatethe roster as much as they can

“The unique thing is therosterissuch amoving, dynamic,fluid thing,” coach Kellen Moore said. “With the veteransthat can be on the practice squad, what our initial 53 looks like is going to be moving, especially duringthe first three or four weeksofthe season, just because you have some flex to move guys up anddown and veterans that don’thave to go through (waiver)claims.”

Mooresaidthe Saintshave “a roadmap” for howthey’d like to construct their roster,which likely includes target numbers forspecific position groups. But

the team is also using every bit of information it can before it makes some decisions at the bottom of the roster

The final evaluation point is Saturday’sgame against the Broncos.

“It is the last stage of this training camp journey,soa lotofopportunitiestobehad for allthese guys, forevery level of the roster,” Moore said. “There’sopportunities throughout this thing. We’ve gotso

many guys witha path to the53, and it’s exciting to let them play this whole journey out.”

Here are several players who could be on the rosterbubble who may need big performances Saturday in the Superdome.

Runningbacks

DEVIN NEAL,VELUS JONES AND CLYDE

EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Alvin Kamara is alock to makethe roster,and it looks like KendreMillerhas seized the primary backup role.

That leaves one and maybe two morespots for several other backs.

Start withNeal,who missed asignificant chunk of training campwith ahamstring injury and has notyet appeared in apreseasongame. Thesixthround pick in this year’sdraft hasnot beenable to show what he can do in live action.

Nealreturned to practice this week, but it’snot certain he’s been cleared to return to the field this weekend. He would be an practice squad candidate, but New Orleans would have to risk sending him through waivers —adicey proposition with recent draft picks, as teams spent mostofthe spring evaluating them.

Edwards-Helaire and Jones both have had plenty of opportunities to show what they can do, and each brings adifferent skillset.

Edwards-Helaire,a former first-round pick out of LSU,offers abit morebalance —he’s not especially explosive, but he’sbeen awilling pass protectorand hasshown solid hands throughout training camp.

Jones is aconvertedwide receiver whoisstill somewhat

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Saints running back Velus Jones carries the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sundayatthe Caesars Superdome. Jones, a converted wide receiver,bringsspeed to the positionand is also apotential returnman.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, whoplayedfor coachKellen Moore when theywere both with the Dallas Cowboys, bringsabig body to the postionat6-foot-2,

STAFF PHOTO By BRADKEMP

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER Saints cornerback Jayden Price, right, covers wide receiver Cedrick Wilson during training camp on Aug. 2inMetairie.

ä See WALKER, page 3C

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6:30 p.m.NWSL: Utah at NJ/Ny ION

9p.m.NWSL: KansasCity at Portland ION TENNIS

1:30 p.m.Cleveland-WTATennis

4p.m.Winston-Salem-ATP Tennis

6p.m.HallofFame Induction Tennis

7:30 p.m.Monterrey-WTATennis WNBA

1p.m.New york at Atlanta CBS

3p.m.Connecticut at ChicagoCBSSN

Fleetwood, Henley sharelead

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

ATLANTA— Tommy Fleetwood is a familiar storyhopeful of adifferent ending, posting eight birdies in his round of 7-under 63 to share the lead Friday at the Tour Championship with Russell Henley in what was shaping up as atight race for the $10 million prize.

Fleetwood, increasingly popular for his grace in handling so many tough losses, is searching for his first PGA Tour win to go alongwith acollection of strong European tour titles.But he has been downthis road before, quite often this year.The questions are getting old.

Maybe it endswith the Englishman winning two trophies for his first win —the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putterthat serves as theTourChampionship trophy

“All Ican do is keep learning,” Fleetwood said. “I actuallyfeel like I’ve played very,very well when I have led the tournaments and been in contention. It’sjust Imight have not got things right right at the end. It’snot like I’ve crashed and burned. It’sjust that I’ve not quite finished things off. The people that win the most are the guysthat are in contention the most.

“That’swhere Iwant to be,” he said.“Ikeepgoing. Ilovethe buzz when Iam in contention, andI’m

of the

just excited for the opportunity again.”

Theonlybuzz he gotwrong was the setting on his clippers when he went to trim his beard, prompting questions about whether he shaved. It beats the alternative question of when he will win orwhether this will be theweek.

Butitwon’tbeeasy.Russell Henleyhad another birdie-birdie finish for a66tojoin him in ashare of the lead at 13-under 127, extraordinarily low scoringexceptfor spells of heavy rain theprevioustwo days at East Lake andmore expected Friday —they moved the teetimes

forward to avoid astoppage in play Greensare soft, they run true and preferred lies are in place.

It’sarecipe for low scoring and that’swhat the Tour Championship has provided. Add to that the new format where thetop 30 players start at even, instead of the topseed getting atwoshot lead andthe bottom five players starting 10 shotsbehind.

Cameron Young bolstered his RyderCup hopes with a62, which included apar save from the 17th fairway when he wisely pitchedout from amost awkward lie. He was twoshots behind.

Patrick Cantlay, theFedEx Cup championfrom 2021,was on the vergeoftaking himselfout of the tournament until he shot30onthe back nine, capped off by abirdiebirdie-eagle finish, the last one a 7-wood from 249 yards to 6feet. He shot 66 and was three behind, along with BMWChampionship runnerup Robert MacIntyre.

Scottie Scheffler hit awedge to afoot on thefinalholefor a69, not his cleanest round but extending his streak of 19 consecutive rounds under par He was five back.

“Just one of those days where it seemed like Iwasn’tgetting rewarded for the stuff that Iwas doing,”Scheffler said. “Just atouch off all day.”

Henley opened the round by holing out from abunkerfor birdie and he played the slope on the green from the bunker on the 18th for aclosing birdie

Thecourse is playing to an averagescore of 67 through tworounds.

“Whenconditions are softand there’s been rain, Ithink that leads to abunchedleaderboard, so no surprisethere,” Cantlay said. “These 30 guys have played well all year, so not asurprise to seethemplaying well here this week.”

That’sespecially true forFleetwood. He was gutted when he took aone-shot lead into the final holeat theTravelers Championship, only to takethree putts from 50 feet from shortofthe greenand lose by one shot to aKeegan Bradley birdie.

Kelly: LSU spends $18M on 2025 roster

BY REED DARCEY and WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writers

Brian Kelly revealed that LSU football spentaround$18 million on its 2025 roster,whichismore than triple the amountthe Tigers spent last season.

The number is acombination of revenue theathletic department is now allowed to share with its players and donor-backed name, image and likeness (NIL) deals sourced largely from Bayou Traditions, LSU’sofficial booster collective.

“We’re going to be just about $18 million,” Kelly said Thursday on his weekly radio show LSUspent $5.5 milliononthe roster last season and $11 million over the previous three yearscombined, thegeneral counsel of Bayou Traditions previously toldThe Advocate. The Tigers went 9-4 last year during Kelly’sthird season

As aresult of the landmark House settlement, teams now have more money to spend. Schools across the country can share up

to $20.5 million with their players duringthe 202526 academic year, adefacto salary cap thatwill rise annually over the next 10 years.

LSU, like many in theSEC, allocated$13 5millionofthe revenuesharingbudgetfor its football program. Kelly andLSU general manager Austin Thomas previously said that money will be used on boththe 2025and 2026 teams because revenue sharing operates on the academiccalendar

Kelly made the commentwhile talking abouthow the salary cap compares to the NFL.

“Look, theNFL is $280 million a year in salary cap. We’re going to be just about$18 million,” Kelly said. “There’sabig difference between $280 million and$18 million. So, if you can’tsee the difference between thetwo, then you’re not really understanding thatwhat youwanttodevelop your sontobe

is the best version of himself, so he can get the big money in three years.”

Most of themoney from Bayou Traditions was front-loaded through NIL agreementsfinalized before July 1, the datethe House settlement took effect. At that time, collectives across thecountry had to begin abiding by new restrictions meant to curbpay-forplay deals.

“Wehad aplan that Ithink was advanced for everybody else and that was that we were going to front-load alot of ourplayers prior to revenue sharing,” Kelly said.

“Andsowewouldn’tbeinaposition where, when we gottorevenue sharing, we couldn’tcompete.

“Pulling from bothofthose resources really allowed us, from acontractual standpoint, to get a little bit of ajump on thecrowd, if you will, becauseeverybody now sees that plan andwill be using it Butitgave us areal boomerang effect in terms of recruiting, and it helped us withour freshman recruiting as well.”

Using NIL money fromthe collective,LSU planned to pay out at least $10 millioninthe first half of 2025, multiple peoplewithknowledge of the plansaid. It did not factor into thesalary cap. Kelly said LSUthen used revenue-sharing funds “to kind of put them over the top.”

Afundraising push for the NIL money began during the 2024 season. It helped LSU sign the nation’s No. 1transfer class, according to 247Sports, creating aroster that Kelly believescan compete for an SEC championship and aCollege Football Playoff berth. Kelly pledged to match $1 millionindonations. The campaign raised$3.23 million,LSU officials said. The majority of the money —$1.23 million from fans and $1 million from an unnamed booster —went to Bayou Traditions. Kelly’sdonation was put intothe Tiger Athletic Foundation’sscholarship fund. Before the fundraising, LSU officialssaidtheywere behindother top teamsinterms of spending for the past few years.

UL softball hirespitchingcoach from Toledo

It was along search, but UL softball coach Alyson Habetz has found her new pitching coach in Toledo pitching coach Kyle Brady Brady was at Toledofor just one season after helping leadChattanooga State Community College to the NJCAA World Series as an assistant coach two years ago. Brady was the pitching coach at Connecticut in 2022, helping the Huskies finish 20-4 in Big East play for the program’sfirst regular-season con-

ference championship since1997.

TheHuskies had a1.99 ERA in conference play with aschool-record 194 strikeoutsagainst league hitters that season. UConnalso had aschool-record395 strikeouts Prior to his stint at UConn, Brady servedasthe directorofoperations at Duke from 2019-20. The Blue Devils finished oneofthose seasons ranked No. 25 nationally In additiontocoaching, Brady has runtrainingprogramsfor pitchers with aheavyemphasis on the biomechanicsofpitching, helping send many aspiring players

into college programs around the country He’sa native of Cincinnati and graduated from Dayton in 2009. He played professionally for three seasons in the Frontier League and American Association. His first season at Toledo didn’tgoas planned. Theteam went 19-28and the pitching staff had a4.91 ERA. Brady replaces Shelbi Sunseri at UL. Sunseri and hitting coach Shellie Landry were let go shortly afterthe 2024 season. Brady takes overapitching staff thatshould be moreequipped than

ayearago.Texas Tech transfer Sage Hoover andLexie Delbrey areexpectedtobeavailableafter missing the entire 2025 season while recovering from injuries. Habetzalso added Arizona State transfer Julianne Tipton to the rosterduring the summer Also in the picture are returning left-handerBethaney Nobleand incoming freshman Bailey Mackles from Slidell. Last month,Habetz added former Western Michigan assistant coachBill Shipman as the hitting coach.

49ersacquire running back

Robinson fromWashington

The San Francisco 49ers added aproven runningbacktotheir injury-depletedgroup by acquiring Brian Robinsonfromthe WashingtonCommanders for a2026 sixthround draftpick.

Twopeople familiarwith the deal said the trade will be finalized onceRobinsonpassesaphysical. The people spoke on condition of anonymity SanFranciscowas in need of adding healthy running backs behind starterChristian McCaffrey after Patrick Taylor,Corey Kiner and Ameer Abdullahall got placed on injured reserve this month.

Fifth-round rookie Jordan James is also out with abroken finger,and second-year back Isaac Guerendo just returned to practice thisweek after missing timewith ashoulder injury

Panthersre-sign RT Moton to atwo-year extension

Taylor Moton is staying in Carolina. The Panthers announced Friday they’ve given their durable longtime right tackle atwo-year contract extensionthatwill keep him withthe team through the 2027 season.

Moton will make $44 million over the next twoyearsincluding $40 millioninguaranteed money,a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity The deal meansthe Panthers have allfive starting offensive linemen under contract at least through the 2026 season.A secondround pick in 2017, Moton has been an extremely consistent player in Carolina playing in 129 gameswith 113 starts. He has missedonly three games, all of those last year

NBAplayer Beasleynolonger atarget in gambling probe Federal investigatorsnolonger consider NBA freeagent Malik Beasleya target in theirgambling probe,Beasley’sattorneys told ESPN.

Attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter said they’ve had what the report called “extensive” conversations and meetings with Eastern District of NewYork authorities.

Lawyers for Beasley didn’timmediately respond to emails and phone callsfromThe Associated Press seeking comment, and the U.S. Attorney’soffice in Brooklyn declined to comment. In late June it wasannounced Beasley was under investigation,coming 14 months after the NBA banned Toronto’s JontayPorterafterhewas linked to an investigation.

Secretariat jockey

Turcotte dies at age84 Hall of Famejockey RonTurcotte, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crownin1973, has died. He was 84.

Turcotte’sfamily said through his longtimebusiness partner and friend LeonardLusky that the Canada-born jockey died of natural causes Friday at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick. He won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, most notably sweeping the three with Secretariat to endhorse racing’sTriple Crown drought that datedtoCitation in 1948. Secretariat’srecord time of 2:24 in the Belmont, winning by 31 lengths at a11/2-mile distance, still stands 52 years later.Turcotte was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.

Iwai opens 3-strokelead in CPKC Women’sOpen

Akie Iwai took athree-stroke lead into the weekend in the CPKC Women’sOpeninher bid to win for the second straight week.

Iwai followed her opening 7-under 64 with a69onFriday to get to 9-under 133 at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

The 23-year-old Japanese player won thePortland Classic on Sunday to join twin sister Chisato as a rookie LPGATourchampion. She’s trying to keep it simple and not get ahead of herself Iwai, asix-time winner on the JLPGA Tour,isplaying in Canada forthe first time. JeenoThitikul, theThaistar making her first start since taking the No. 1spot in the world from Nelly Korda, had a70for ashare of second place with Minjee

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

Tommy Fleetwood, of England,waits to putt on the third green during thesecond round

Tour Championship on Friday in Atlanta. Kelly

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

raw at the position, but he brings home run speed and adds value as areturner

Wide receivers

DANTE PETTIS AND CEDRICK

WILSON: Both of these veterans are in tenuous positionsafter the Saints acquired receiver Devaughn Vele in atrade this week. New Orleans now has five receivers who should comfortably be on the roster in Vele, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Brandin Cooks and Mason Tipton. Will it keep asixth?

Pettis has offered more as areceiver —and he also brings some value in the return game —but he’sa similar body type to four of the aforementionedreceivers.Wilson haspositive prior experience with Moore,having spent some of the best years of his career with him in Dallas, and he brings the added benefit of another big body who can block. But he’sshown little as apass catcher Tightends

TREYTON WELCH AND MO-

LIKI MATAVAO: While Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill recover from late-season knee injuries, the Saints need to decide who is going to roundout their depth at tight end.

Jack Stoll likely will join Juwan Johnson on the 53man roster,but it will be interesting to see how the Saints treat the rest of the position room. Welch has closed training camp on astrong note, and he flashedinlast week’s preseason game against the Jaguars,making atough 28-yard catch in tight coverage. He spent mostof last season with the Saints on the practice squad.

WALKER

Continued from page1C

in agame since Sehorn in 2002. While Price doesn’t know Moss and DeJean, he keeps up with their careers.

“I’m rooting for those guys because there aren’t many of us,” Price said. DeJean was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2024 draft. Moss was selected by the Broncos in the third round in 2023.

Price’sroad to the NFL hasn’tbeen as conventional. He went undrafted in 2024 and signed with the Atlanta Falcons before being let go on cut day He then playedone game in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and in the United Football League with the Arlington Renegades.Their season ended on June 1, and the Saints signed him 19 days later Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom is entering his ninth NFL season. Price is the first White teammate he’shad in the cornerback

PICKETT

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2025 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings,makinghim the highest-rated freshman in LSU’s class

“He’slong. He’sathletic. And the thing is,he’sgot long speed,” Kellysaid.

“That doesn’thappen. These guys don’tnormallyhave long speed. Andwhen Isay long speed, he can track the ball and beat you down the field as well.”

Similar to Hamilton, Pickett stands out as adefensive back because of his height. He is listed at 6-5and 195 pounds. “With his length, you’re not going to throw aslant,” Kelly said. “You can’tthrow the dig route. Imean, he’s just toolong. He’s 72 inches in wingspan. It’sridiculous

He’slike an offensive lineman.” Pickett also has impressed defensivecoordinator Blake Baker,who saidPickett has

The Saints selected Matavao inthe seventhround in the spring. He hasn’t had much chancetoshow what he can do as apass catcher in the preseason, withone catch for 6yards, buthe’sa big body who can add value as ablocker Edge rusher

JASHEEN DAVIS: Barring something unforeseen, Daviswill getcaught up in thenumbers game along the edge. New Orleans can only keep so many,and three of the spots will be locked up by Chase Young,

CarlGranderson andCam Jordan.

ButDavis is also an interesting case. He had astring of afew practices where he looked nearly unblockable —including onewhere he recorded at least three sacks.

Then, like Neal, he suffered an injury that cost himafew weeksofpracticeand thefirst two preseason games. Davis recently returned to practice, and this weekend will be the first time the Saintssee him in alive setting. He still faces an uphill

By KyUSUNGGONG

PRESS

cornerback Jayden Price breaks up apass intended for Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Brenden Rice on Aug. 10 in Inglewood,Calif.

room with him.

“It’scrazy,” Yiadom said. “I think when you’re a good White athlete, they just automatically put you at slot receiver or safety. They don’teven think to put youatcorner.The few that domakeitinthe league, they are aspecial breed. Youlook at Riley Moss andCooper and they are really,really good.” Saintstight end Seth Green,who first gotinthe NFL in 2022, was Price’s teammate in the UFL with the Renegades.

“He was one of thehard-

gained about 20pounds since he came to LSU.

Though Pickett needs to work on his consistency, Baker said, he has become more physical

“I’ve been more impressed with hisphysicalitysofar,” Baker said. “The coverage skills and stuff, he’s always hadthat—and he’s gotten better,don’tget me wrong —but hisphysicality, he has turned it up anotch thisfall camp.”

Afterenrolling early at LSU, Pickett is competing forplaying time withjunior Ashton Stamps, sophomore Florida transfer Ja’Keem Jackson and sophomore PJ Woodland Pickett usually hasbeen seen withthe second-team defense during open practices.

Aweek from the season opener against Clemson, LSU has to decide which one willstart. Stamps consistently hasreceived firstteam reps during preseason practice after starting17 gamesoverthe pasttwo years, butthe competition

est workers on the team,” Green said. “He’salways going to show up when he getsthe opportunity.” Green, like Yiadom, said Price is thefirst White cornerback he’shad as a teammate in theNFL.

“He is out there letting thework speak for itself,” Green said. “I love that. He’sa good dude and he always embraces it and jokes about it. He knows it’srare, but he also knows his work is going toshow.”

While cornerback is his primary position, Price can contribute elsewhere.

has not been decided.

Oneofthe cornerback spots already has been locked up.Kelly said Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane will “anchor one side.”

Delane started 29 straight gamesbefore entering the transfer portal,and he was one of LSU’s toptargets as it triedtoimprove the secondary

“Mansoor Delane was the guy that we hadour eyes on,” Kelly said.

“He hadthe highestdraft grade of anybody that was in the portal at that position, andwerecruited theheck out of him.”

The LSUpass defense has ranked 76th or worse in the country in yards passing allowed per game in four of the past five years. With Delane andsafeties Tamarcus Cooley and AJ Haulcy, at leastthree of LSU’s four starting defensive backs likely will be transfers.

“Two exceptional safeties with alot of experience,” Kelly said of Cooley and Haulcy

climb to make the roster with veteran Chris Rumph and draft pick Fadil Diggs likely ahead of him —but he will be an interesting one to watch.

Linebackers

JAYLAN FORD,NEPHI SEWELL

ANDISAIAHSTALBIRD: Linebacker hasbecomeone of the more interesting positionsonthe roster With Demario Davis and Pete Werner sittingout the first two preseason games, the Saints have displayed their depth at the position.

RookieDanny Stutsman

Kellen Moore has used him in thereturn game, where Price had a31yard kickoff return and a13-yard punt return in Sunday’spreseason game against theJacksonville Jaguars. He had a25-yard kickoff return in thepreseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I love it,” Price said. “It’s abig part of my game.”

Price madesure of that when he got to college at North Dakota State. He played quarterback in high school in his hometown of Derby,Kansas, right outside of Wichita. He started playing somecornerback his senior year since he was being recruited as an athlete.

He got scholarship offers from North Dakota State, several schools in theMissouri Valley Conference and alate offer from Tulane. He shunned theTulane offer,deciding to stick with his commitmenttoNorth Dakota State, where he was on three FCS national championship teams

“Once Igot to college and switched to the defense side, Iwas trying to

has made some plays,and he’sbeen lined up next to D’Marco Jackson with the first team

The rest of the group has popped as well. Ford made akey interception last week andalso pressured the quarterback several times while blitzing. Sewell has been acorespecialteamer forseveral seasons now, but Stalbird is pushing him there, making four special-teams tacklesinthe preseason so far.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

findaway to keep the ball in my hands,” Price said.

“So Istarted being areturner and adapted to that andithelped my gamea lot. Iadded somevalue to myself,soI love doing it because Ilove the ball in my hands.”

He also loves keeping the ball out of the hands of anyreceiver he lines up against. Even when they look at him and think he won’tbeable to do it.

Price knowshe’sgoing to standout in whatever cornerback room he’sin, but he also wants to makesure he stands out on the field so he can earn one of those 53 precious roster spots. It won’t be easy,but Price knows what he needs to do in Saturday’sfinal audition.

“Anything and everything,” Price said. “Just go outthere and makeplays, fly around and play fast andplay confident. Hopefully afew plays go my way and Ican show that Ican makeabig play and I’ll feel good going into next week. Anything and everything can help my case.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@theadvocate.com.

ST.ANDRE

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teamsduties. “I’mbeyondexcitedfor it,”

St. Andre said. “You know, I’vebeenheregoing on my fifth season now,sotobeable to finally earn that role defensively is awesome.”

He knowsthe physical demands of wearing so many hats will intensify

“Football’sa physical sport, so it’sjust something you have to deal with and take care of your body,” St. Andre said. “If it means spending more time in thetrainerroom, so be it Youwant to be at your best every single Saturday.”

The6-foot-1, 220-pounder was credited with seven tacklesand aforced fumble as a reserve last season. Inside linebackers coach Scott Stoker is encouraged by St.Andre’s ability to handle the increased workload.

“Jake’sone of the most well-respectedleaders on the team,” Stoker said. “He’sgoingtoget alot of workatinside linebacker this season. He’shad areally great August camp.

“He’sbeeninona lotof plays. He’svery dependable. Youknowwhatyou’regetting when he’sout there.”

St. Andre will help Dugger with theunit’scommunication “Basically gets everybody else linedupcorrectly,”Stoker said. “About 90% of this is just getting lined up right.”

The leadership aspect of his elevated role comes naturally

“Having to be vocal and holding guys accountable that’s something me andTerrence Williams would try to take great pride in stepping up as leaders on that side of the ball,” St. Andre said.

There’sstill alot forSt. Andre to prove heading into the season.

“Our biggest progressions have been in our assignment, ouralignmentand getting downhill foot in the run, but alsohelpingout in theback seven in the secondary,” St. Andre said.“In terms of still needing to improve on, Iwould just say using ourhands everysingle play.”

Daily input fromaseasoned coach like Stoker is abig help. “He’s incredible,” St. Andre said of Stoker.“He’s acharacter, that’sfor sure, and he doesn’t change.His knowledge of the game is impressive. He doesn’t just break down thelinebacker position, butthe backend and the coverage and the front and alsoonthe offensive side.

“The biggestthing I’ve taken from him is just being asmart football player and understanding that it takes everybody doing theirjob for the defense to work andcome together as one.”

His increased duties at linebacker won’tdiminish St. Andre’sfirst love —special teams.

In fact, withDalen Cambre now pursuing an NFLjob with the NewYork Giants, St. Andre’srole in the kicking game has grown.

“Me, Dalen and coach (Mike) Giuliani spent alot of time before games going over allthe little details,” he said. “That’s definitely arole I’m trying to step into this season.”

Email KevinFoote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED

PHOTO

Saints

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Saints linebackerJaylan Ford is tackled by Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Patrick Herbertafter Ford’s second-half interception on Sundayinthe Caesars Superdome.

Date

PAST FIVE YEARS

2024: 4-7

2023: 4-7

2022: 3-8

2021: 1-9 2020: 2-5

PROJECTED STARTERS

WR Damon Comeaux, Sr.*

WR Javante Broussard, So.*

WR Tavion Arceneaux, Sr.

WR Jai Joseph, Sr.*

LT James Ross, So.

LG Joshua Willis, Sr.*

C Juandre Alexander, Sr.*

RG Logan Narcisse, Sr.

RT Jamarien George, Sr.

QB Chace Dugas, So.

RB Kam’ron Celestine, So.

Defense

DE Luderius Williams, Jr.*

NG Jeremy Britton, Sr.

DE Kayden Gee, Sr.

LB JeKaven Felix, Sr.*

LB Paul Cluse, Sr.*

LB Clint Cormier, So.

LB Kavin Mouton, Sr.*

DB Peyton Boyd, Sr.*

DB Mario Alexander, Sr.*

DB Braeden Prejean, Sr.*

DB Jaylon Francois, Jr. *RETURNING STARTERS

COACHES

Head coach: Jacarde Carter (34-15)

Assistant coaches: Malcolm Glaze, Vincent DeRouen,Jack Phillips, Brandon Green, Bryson Morgan, Mark Joseph,Darrel Comeaux, Cedric Figaro, Edward Williams, John Carter, Clarence Clay, Martin Lee.

PREP FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW

Northside

What we know

Northside coach Jacarde Carter has lofty expectations for this year’s Vikings football team.

No, he isn’t making any predictions or putting a number on how many victories he believes the Vikings will have, but he admittedly is optimistic about what Northside can accomplish this season.

“We have a very experienced team coming back,” Carter said. “We have about 20 seniors, and they all have been playing since their freshman or sophomore seasons. On top of that, we have a really good sophomore class that got some playing time as freshmen. We have a chance to be really good.”

And not “really good” in just one phase of the game. Defensively, Carter expects the Vikings to be vastly improved not only with the return of defensive backs Peyton Boyd and Kavin Mouton and linebacker JeKaven Felix, but the addition of former St. Martinville head coach Vincent Derouen.

“We’re definitely going to be able to lean on our defense early on,” Carter said. “It has been great having coach Vince back. The defense is ahead of the offense right now They haven’t just been bullying the offense or anything like that but they have been winning the matchups so far.”

Offensively, the Vikings have some interesting pieces, with sophomore quarterback Chace Dugas, receivers Javante Broussard and Jai Joseph, and offensive linemen Juandre Alexander and left tackle James Ross.

“I’m very excited about this year,” Carter said. “Compared to previous years, we have a lot of depth. And it is quality depth. For the first time since I’ve

been here, we have been able to have 11 different guys on offense, defense and special teams.”

What we don’t know

How will Carter and his coaching staff replace Ja’Nathan Bonnett? Bonnett, who graduated in May, was the Vikings’ “Mr Everything” as he starred at running back, linebacker kicker and punter for Northside.

“The biggest question mark for us is the kicking game, for sure,” Carter said. “Replacing Ja’Nathan on offense, defense and special teams is going to be vital for us.”

Although Dugas is getting the first crack at punting duties, Carter doesn’t like the idea of his quarterback handling the job. As a result the Vikings have started a soccer club and hope they find Bonnett’s successor

“The kicking game is extremely important,” Carter said. “You can change the game with a good kickoff or punt. To be able to flip the field on a punt or pin someone deep in their territory with a kickoff and getting that plus-one after a touchdown is huge. We’ve got time, but we definitely have to figure it out.”

How we see it

Depth has always been a concern for the Vikings, but that’s not the case this year with 62 players in grades 10-12 and another 25 freshmen on the roster

The talent is there and the addition of Derouen and Jack Phillips to the coaching staff is only going to help the Vikings as they look to make the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

Eric Narcisse

SCOREBOARD

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Peyton Boyd FS, 5-10, 175, Sr. Boyd is the quarterback of the Vikings defense.A great communicator, Boyd has proven to be an all-around safety He has good coverage skills and is a really good tackler.

Juandre Alexander C, 5-10, 265, Sr. Alexander is the anchor of the Vikings offensive line.A three-year starter,Alexander is a dominating run blocker He has a high football IQ, makes all of the checks at the line and he understands the importance of leverage.

Kavin Mouton SS, 5-7, 155, Sr. Mouton is a versatile defensive back who can play in coverage and come up and support against the run.A fierce tackler who a year ago recorded 110 tackles, including 70 in district, Mouton is among the top players on the Vikings defense.

Jai Joseph WR, 6-4, 190, Sr. Joseph has a great combination of size and speed. He does a great job of finding the hole in the zone and he has strong hands. Known for his ability on the track, Joseph is improving his route-running ability

JeKaven Felix MLB, 5-10, 180, Sr. Felix is an extension of Carter on the field.A four-year starter, Felix knows the defense extremely well. He has good sideline-to-sideline speed, is capable of contributing in coverage and is a solid tackler

Eric Narcisse

PHOTO By ERIC NARCISSE

The Northside defensive leaders include, from back left, Mario Alexander, JeKaven Felix, Peyton Boyd and Paul Cluse; from front left, Kayden Gee and Luderius Williams. The Vikings will lean on their defense early this season.

Joseph Carter

Alexander

Boyd

Felix

Mouton

TerryRobinson

FAITH MATTERS

The ‘Tambourine Lady’keeps thebeat in Louisiana

Trials haven’tshaken Rosalie Washington’sfaith.

Affectionately known as “The Tambourine Lady,” Washington continues to shake her tambourine in praise— whether it be at Gloryland Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, the Jazz Festival in New Orleans and just about anywhere else.

“I just bring that scripture to life that says ‘praise him with the tambourine andthe dance,’”said Washington, who moved to Baton Rouge 20 years ago after being evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Washington, 68, firstperformed at the gospel tent at the Jazz Festival in 1992,serving as abackup with afamily singing group from Violet.Washington became ahighly sought performer in her own right and eventually earned “The Tambourine Lady” moniker

She said she has performed at Jazz Fest every year,except the year afterKatrina. Washington has participated in a variety of events, includingat Southern University football games. She has gained viral fame and appearedinmovies and TV shows.

Born in New Orleans,Washington was raisedinDenham Springs by her godparents in the Church of God in Christ denomination.

Tambourines have been in Washington’shands since she was 5years old. That was shortly after she witnessed her godmother passionately sing the hymn “Power, Lord” while playing the tambourine.

“I said, ‘She can make fire with atambourine. IwishI could play like that,’and the rest is history,” said Washington, agraduate of Denham Springs High and Southern University

Her extraordinarytalent was evident early,but she didn’t realize it as early as everyone else.

While she grew up on gospel music in the church, it was the rhythm and blues —byway of The O’Jays —that helpedget Washington savedatage 17.

“I went to an O’Jays concert and went to sleep. My friend said, ‘Girl, we could haveleft you at home if you were going to go to sleep at an O’Jays concert,’”Washington recalled. That served as her wake-up call.

“I said, ‘Lord, Iwant to goto church and get saved,’”she said. “Like my momma said the Lord gives me power to

ä See MATTERS, page 6C

From Katrinatothe LSUfootball fieldto Tulane University,Brandon Surtainfollowedhis

HEART

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Brandon Surtainscrolls through the photos on his iPhone,stopping at the snapshots taken in astudio not the homestudio he now maintains in his old Mid-CityNew Orleansneighborhood, but the classroom studioinLSU’s Foster Hall, where he spent countless hours after football practice.

He remembers being tired, maybetoo tiredtostand or sit in frontofaneasel.After all, no one was monitoring the studio, so who would know if he wasn’tthere?

Answeringthatquestionwas easy for Surtain:Hewould know. His teammates would know,too.

Yes, thosebig guys on theLSU football team’s defensivelineand backfield. Surtain played defensive back forLSU between, andhis teammates often accompanied him to thestudio.

Some watchedasSurtainand fellow art students painted; others tried their own brush on acanvas. Were they good artists?

“No,” Surtain said, laughing. “But they kept me going when I wastired.And they likedbeing around the art studentsand seeing what they weredoing, and the art students likedhavingthe football playersinthe studio.”

He shows photo after photo of his teammatesinthe studio.Heknows

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK Brandon Surtain, thenajunior defensivebackfor LSU,paints after practice in the artstudio in Foster Hallin2015.

that he was an anomaly at the time, because college football players aren’tusually art majors.

Surtain was at LSU between 2014 and 2017. He walked on to the team, won aspot on defenseand wore No 27 on thefield.Heplayed,but he was never given ascholarship. Yet he stuck withit.

“Those were good times,” he said.

However,Surtain says those good

times probably wouldn’thave happened if Hurricane Katrinadidn’t forced his family to evacuate New Orleans forBaton Rouge.

In Baton Rouge, Surtain was placed in Glasgow Middle School’s gifted and talented visualart program, where art teacher Geeta Davé laid thegroundwork forwhat would become Surtain’scareer in art and architecture.

And it was in Baton Rouge where Surtain’smother, Debbie Surtain, advised him to “follow his heart,” when he wasdebating on changing his initial declared major of petroleum engineering to art.

Surtain listened to his mother Now he’s assistant director of community engagement for Tulane University’sAlbert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design. He’salso creating abody of work for his third solo showatArthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans. In between, he reminisces about bygone days, when his football teammates supported him while he followed his heart.

Home sweethome

Surtainwas 11 years old when he, his mom and sister joined 63 of his family membersina motorcade from NewOrleans to Baton Rouge on Aug. 28, 2005. It wasthe daybeforeHurricane

ä See SURTAIN, page 6C

Friedchicken chainopens newlocationinLivingstonParish

Bojangles recently opened its newlocation in Albany.

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

Bojangles,a

STAFFPHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Artist Brandon Surtain poses with his dog Denim in his studio in NewOrleans.

Howtosafelyplay with apet hamster

Dear Heloise: My granddaughter,Bobbi, recently received a dwarf hamster for her 9th birthday. He is azippy little escape artist! To keep him safe when she wants to play or cuddle with him, she sits in adry bathtub. Smart girl! —Debbie Brewer,inSt. Paul,Texas Poweroutagehint

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: With the increase in power outages, we have started filling

plastic containerswith water and keeping them in our freezers. This way,when thepower goes out, ice is already in place to help keep thingscoldeven if we aren’t home. If we are home, we can quickly grabone forthe refrigerator to help things in there stay cold as well. —Valerie Hess, in Lolo, Montana

Send ahint to heloise@ heloise.com.

RELIGION BRIEFS FROM STAFFREPORTS

Public invited to WorldRevival

The public is invited to the Life Changing Word Revival with evangelist T. RonWeegar,at5100 Osborne Ave., in Baton Rouge. The revival begins Saturday with services at 7p.m. each evening, except on Mondays and Thursdays when no meetings will be held. For special prayeror Bible study,call (225) 9452785 or (225) 379-8740.

5th Sunday Fellowship&Fun Day

Freeman Baptist Church, 4628 La.955 West in Ethel, will host its 5th Sunday Fel-

lowship &Fun beginningat 8:30 a.m. Aug.31. Theday will featurea special message from the Rev.Ray Campbell of Ideal FamilyChurch inDallas.

Allare encouraged to wear their favorite church shirt and come readyfor ajoyful dayofinspiration,praise, games, face painting,a waterslide,a bounce houseand more fun for all ages. FairviewBaptist hostsguestspeaker

La. Supreme Court Justice JohnM.Guidry will be theguest speaker at Fairview Baptist Church, 1636 Braddock St. in Baton Rouge, at 11 a.m. Sunday All are invited

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2025. There are 130 days left in the year

Todayinhistory On Aug. 23, 1970, the Salad Bowl strike began, organized by farm labor leader Cesar Chavez; between 5,000 to 10,000 laborers walked off the job, leading to the largest farmworker strike in U.S. history

Also on this date:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason. In 1775, Britain’sKing George III proclaimed the Americancoloniesto be in astate of “open and avowedrebellion.”

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World WarI In 1927, amid worldwide protests, Italian-bornanarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a1920 robbery.(On the 50th anniversary of their executions, then-Massachusetts Gov.Michael Dukakis issued aproclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted.)

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to anonaggression treaty,the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow

In 2000, aGulf Air Airbus crashed into the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, killing all 143 people aboard In 2003, former priest John Geoghan, the convicted child molester whose prosecutionsparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman CatholicChurch nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in aMassachusetts prison In 2011, amagnitude 5.8 earthquakecentered

MATTERS

Continued from page5C

live right, power to walk right and the power to talk right.” That power has carried Washington through trying times: being displaced by Katrina, raising three children largely on her own and the heartbreak of losing her 34-year-old son Dantonio last year

SURTAIN

Continuedfrom page5C

Katrina made landfall, her wrath leaving much of his homecity underwater floodwaterscovering his neighborhood.Surtain lived on acorner along Norman C. Francis Parkway in theMidCity neighborhood.

“Ittookus12hours to drive from New Orleans to BatonRouge,”Surtain said. “Westayed in acondo in theGarderearea when we got there.Itwas owned by oneofour relatives, andit wasn’tinthe best shape, but all 63 of us stayed there.”

the best place Icould have gone.”

nearMineral, Virginia,the strongest onthe East Coast since 1944,causedcracks in the Washington Monument and damaged WashingtonNational Cathedral. In 2013, amilitary jury convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampageatFort Hood, Texas, that claimed 13 lives; the Armypsychiatrist was latersentenced to death. In 2020, aWhite police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin,shot aBlack man, Jacob Blake, seven times as officers tried to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant; the shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and triggered several nightsofviolent protests. In 2022, ajury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnapMichiganGov Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, avictory for prosecutors in aplot that was broken up by theFBI and described asarallying cry for aU.S. civilwar byantigovernment extremists. Today’sBirthdays: Actor Vera Milesis96. Actor Barbara Eden is 94. Football Hall of FamerSonnyJurgensen is 91. Ballerina Patricia McBride is 83. Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello is 81. Singer-songwriterLinda Thompson is 78. Author andmotivational speaker Rudy Ruettiger is 77. Actor Shelley Long is76. Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 76. Noor al-Hussein (Queen Noor of Jordan) is 74. Film composer Alexandre Desplatis64. Actor Jay Mohr is 55. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is 54. Actor Ray Park is 51. Actor ScottCaan is 49. Rock singer Julian Casablancas (TheStrokes) is 47. Actor JoanneFroggattis45. Olympicgold medal swimmerNatalie Coughlin Hall is 43. Musician Lil Yachty is 28.

“My son’ssmile would make your day,” shesaid. “He was gifted in artsand music. He was agood kid ” The Lord gives her the strength to keep going— and shakingher tambourines. “If Ididn’thave him in my life, Icould do nothing,” she said, “but with him, everything is possible.”

ContactTerry Robinson at terryrobinson622@ gmail.com.

Family members didn’t complain. They werehappy to have shelter while thinkingthatKatrina would be like hurricanes past —it would eitherpassbyNew Orleans or come inland withoutmuchincident, then everyone could go home.

But Katrina was thebig one. The men in Surtain’s family stealthily returned to the citytocheck on their homes, all submerged in murky water.The house Surtainshared withhis mom andsister was leaning at an angle, itsfoundation destroyed.

Surtain remained in Baton Rouge, learninglater that his childhood home had been demolished. Meanwhile, representatives of theEast Baton Rouge Parish School system began registering displaced New Orleans kids in Baton Rouge schools.

Surtainwas assigned to Glasgow while his cousins weresent to Kenilworth Middle School.

“I wasmad at first,” he said. “I didn’tunderstand, becauseI wanted togoto thesameschooleveryone else was going to. ButIrealized later thatGlasgow was

BOJANGLES

Continuedfrom page5C

the registers,” said franchiseowner Benjamin Van Cleave. “There’sa very large window,and there’sa logo on the top that says, ‘49 stepsmadewithlove,’ and you can watch ourbiscuitmakers craft thesebiscuits throughout theday consistently.”

Cleave is oneofthe few franchisees opening with Bojangle’snew genesisprototype building, featuring a modern, ergonomic design minimizing stepsbetween stations.

Bojangles’ architectural design andmenuoptions vary by location.Some locations, particularly on the East Coast, won’tsee abiscuit theater,hesaid. The newAlbanylocationwon’t have green beans, pinto beans or mashed potatoes, but it’ll have bakedmacaroni andcheese, something thecore market doesn’t have. If desired, the Albany location may expand themenu after ayear of operation to includebone-in chicken andother items likethe fish sandwich andporkchop biscuit. Butfirst,the team wantstofully grasp the menuand executeittoper-

At Glasgow,Davérecognizedhis talents and began introducinghim to other art forms.She signed him up for summer art camp in the summers, for which he eventually became an instructor,upon entering McKinley High School.

He alsotook asummer trip to Germany with Glasgow’s gifted and talented program, andthrough it all, he was playing football.

“I played for McKinley High School,” Surtain said. “When LSU wenttothe national championshipgame in 2012, Isaid Iwould go there andplay footballfor them. Ididn’tknowhow college football teams or colleges worked.”

Because of his uncertainty, Surtain began witha major in petroleum engineering.

“My friend said he was goingtosignupfor that,” Surtain said. “He said if Isigned up for it,too, we could both be making $70,000 ayear once we graduated. But I didn’tlike it. Iwasn’thaving problemswith theclasses, I just didn’tlike it.”

So, he followed his heart Open doors

Surtaincan’tremember atime when he wasn’t dabblinginart.His first foray

was drawing characters from the “Dragon Ball” Manga series with hopes of one day creating his own comic series.

“DragonBall” morphed intoother subjects,then, when enrolling at Glasgow Middle, other art forms. At LSU, his artistic style evolvedfrom realisticto impressionistic into his own style thattellsthe stories of the people andneighborhoods of his hometown.

In hisMid-City New Orleansneighborhood,Surtain and his friends grew up spending summer days at Comiskey Playground. He later painted anighttime sceneofthatplayground, and it was swooped up by an art collector before the opening of his 2019 solo White Linen Night show at Arthur Roger Gallery

While at LSU, the newspaper featured Surtain during hisjunior year andagainat his seniorart show,which caught the attention of both Tulane University’sSchool of Architecture and the Arthur Roger Gallery Tulane offered Surtain aspot in the architecture school’sgraduate program, which he started only days after graduating from LSU in 2017.

Surtain continuedhis painting while simultane-

ouslystudying architecture and realized he needed to learnthe business of real estate along the way.

“I realized that when people hire to design something, theydon’t know where it all begins,” he said. “Inmyfirst year at Tulane, Irealized that, for some of the issues, Ineeded aseparate skill set, like how to find asite and how to program asite —as in, ‘What’sinthis neighborhood,and howcan it benefit the residents and give them moreagency?’ It wasalso aboutlearning howtoput funding togethertoget a project off theground, and these aren’tnecessarilythe skills you learn in architecture school.”

Surtain’sinspiration for learning both the design and business sidesofhis trade was his childhood home, the house whose foundation was washed outbyKatrina Surtain wanted to find ways to design sustainable structures for such places as his Mid-City neighborhood. So,hespent the first year of thepandemicinterning with an architecturalfirm in Boston that matched his goals. Now,he’shelping Tulane’sarchitectural students learn this skill set at the Small Center That is, while painting scenes of his city.He’s shownsome of hiswork in asummershowatBaton Rouge Gallery,ofwhich he’s now an artist member Now,atage 31, he prepares for the next Arthur Roger Galleryshow in his studio while his dog, Denim, keeps watch.And though his football teammates are no longer there, he still holds on to their enthusiasm. Andhewon’t letthemdown. Email RobinMillerat romiller@theadvocate. com.

will feature a‘biscuittheater’ where customers canspectate the inception of the 49-step buttermilk

made fromscratch every20minutes.

fection, he said. WhyAlbany?

Cleave, bornand raised in McComb,Mississippi,isa third-generation petroleum jobber in afamily that also owns asmall chain of convenience stores. Around 2019, Cleave decideditwas time for some diversification. After spending 27 weeks of instore training at acorporate Bojangles, his team began a propertyhunt

“Albany —itreminded me so much of my hometown and also of my dad’s hometown,” Cleave said. “It’sjust great community spirit. Very family-oriented. It looks like it’sprimed for growth.” Cleave’sfavoriteitem on the menu is Bo’sChicken Sandwich, whichcomes on apremium bun withmayonnaise and crisp dill pickles. It can also be customized to add lettuce, tomato, bacon or cheese. More to come Cleave plans to open a Hammond location on the Interstate 55 corridor by next summer,ifnot sooner His team also plans on property hunting more along Interstate 12. “Chicken is king in the South,” he said. “The brand is really focusing on franchise growth and expansion and constantly innovating.”

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Brandon Surtain paints in his Mid-City studio in NewOrleans.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Bonjangles

biscuits

STAFFFILE PHOTOByROBIN MILLER

Brandon Surtain’sexhibit, ‘Night Shift,’was featured in the 2019 White Linen Night at Arthur Roger GalleryinNew Orleans.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Something unexpected is headingyourway. Before you dismiss what'scoming, consider how you can parlay it into something useful.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll be torn between what youshould do and what you want to do. Stop procrastinating; choose what offersgratitude and satisfaction. Let your imagination help you gain insight into self-improvement.

SCORPIO (Oct.24-Nov. 22) Pick up knowledge, skills and qualificationsthat will help you raise your earning potential. Mixbusinesswith pleasure, and you'll charm people who can helpyou advance.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Lookatyour environment, set abudget and reconstruct your surroundings to suityour needs. Examineyoureating andexercisehabits to ensurebetter health.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.19) When in doubt, step back, weigh the pros and cons and don'tbeafraid to take apass. Trust yourself over someone putting on abig show to convince you to become a follower

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Be brave and challengeyourselftotry something you've never done before, and see what happens. Apositive change at home or to your lifestyle is apparent.

PISCES (Feb.20-March 20) Observation is yourfriend.Choosethepaththatencour-

ages positiveinput and spending time with peoplewho accept you for whoyou are and loveyou unconditionally.

ARIES (March21-April 19) Intelligence is your ticket forward.Joint ventures, expenses or spaces require patience, common sense and compromise. Overreacting will not helpyou resolvematters. Lead theway.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Do what you must do and keep moving. Making excuses will prolong theagony of doing something you findtaxing. Balance is thekey to thriving

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Inconsistency will hold you back. Learn all you can. Be open to suggestions, but implement only what's necessary. Asimple path forward will stifle procrastination.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Acivil conversationwill be more effective thana shouting match. Take the time to sort out your thoughtsand layout alternatives andcompromises that willminimize arguments.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Use your swagger and your intelligence to win favors. Offer facts, demonstrations and proof that your word is good. Leave nothing to chance or unfinished.

Thehoroscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

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

TODAy'S CLUE:V EQUALS K

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudokuis anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

BernardPivot, aFrench journalist, interviewer and host of cultural television programs, said, “You get thefeeling thatmany of my guests feel that the Frenchlanguage gives them entry into a more cultivated, more intelligent world, more highlycivilized too, with rules.”

Several decades ago, French wasthe diplomatic language, but it has been replaced by English. But it still is abeautiful language. If abridge playeriscareful withhis entries, he must be an intelligent player. This is atextbook example. How should South play in three no-trumpafter West leads afourth-highest heart seven?

Southdoesn’t like to respond one notrump, but such is life occasionally at the bridge table. (Some Souths would respond three clubs, aweak jump shift, but Iamnot afan of leaping into the stratosphere with no knownfit. Here, it is true, it works finebecause East is unlikely to find the testing heart lead against three no-trump.) North, with a good five-cardsuit, three aces and one king, is worth the jump-raise to three no-trump.

Southhas only fivetop tricks: two spades, two hearts (given the opening lead) and one diamond. Five more winners can come from theclub suit, but assuming the defenderwith the club ace will duck the first round of the suit, declarer will needa hand entry —which is where? Hisonly winner outside clubs is in hearts.

To guarantee that hand entry, South must take the first trick with dummy’s heartace. Thenhedrivesout theclub ace and will eventually come to 10 tricks: twospades, twohearts, one diamond and five clubs.

©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By

AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzleisawordriddle whichcreates adisguisedword, phrase,name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters

or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

or

toDAY’s WoRD ZooPHYtEs: ZO-uh-fites:Invertebrate animals resembling plantsinappearance.

Average mark 31 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Can you find47ormore wordsinZOOPHYTES?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —oMIssIBLE

the

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

Remember

is still on the throne. G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles