The Times-Picayune 08-23-2025

Tangipahoa explosion promptsevacuation

A fire rages Fridayatthe Smitty’sSupply Inc.oil and lubricants plant near Roseland. The complex is knowntostore avariety of highly flammable products,accordingtostate regulatorypapers.

Former governor amongevacueesnearplant in Roseland

BY DAVID MITCHELL and WILLIE SWETT Staff writers

An explosion and raging fire at aplant in Tangipahoa Parish known to store highly flammable products prompted an evacuation order withina mile radiusonFriday,affecting an elementary school and former Gov.John Bel Edwards,while firefighters battled the towering blaze.

An aerial photograph from local authorities showed aportion of the facility in the small community of Roseland engulfed in flames with adark black plumerising above it Gov.Jeff Landry said his office was closely monitoring the situation.

Firefighters battled the blaze forhours after it was reported justbefore 1:20 p.m ,but by late Friday afternoon, parish

officials couldn’tyet estimate when it wouldbebrought under control. No injuries had been reported “Thisisone of the worst things that hashappened to our community,” Roseland Mayor VanL.Showers said at the AmiteCommunity Center, which had been setupasashelter

He addedthathewas focused on making sure thetown’s960 residents who evacuated have aplace to stay.Onthe steps outside the center,apastor led aprayer as residents wearingwhite masksbowed their heads

The plumeofsmoke could be seen fromthere,located several miles away,and theair was acrid School officials evacuated nearbyRoseland Elementary

ä See EXPLOSION, page 4A

OrleansParishSchoolBoard, city sign revenuedeal

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

After months of negotiations, the Orleans Parish School Board on Thursdaysigned off ona new agreement with the city to sharerevenue generated by traffic cameras in school zones The agreement, which retainsapreviously agreed upon 60-40 split of net revenues butadds penalties forlatepaymentsfromthe city,willnow go before New Orleans CityCouncil. If approved, school-zone traffic cameras can be reactivated, potentially ending acontentious debatethat culminated this weekwith state Attorney General Liz Murrill threatening to pursuecriminal charges if

ä See SPEED, page 5A

Plan for wetlands restoration advances

MRGO projectstill needstobefunded

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

An agreementsignedFridayby federal and state officials could help advance astalled plan to restore wetlands destroyed by anotorious southeast Louisiana shipping channel labeled a“hurricane highway” after Katrina,but money must still be approved forthe work.

The deal comes with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching next week and as coastal advocacy groups press theU.S. Army Corps of Engineerstomove forward on the plan for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, or MRGO

The agreement was signed by the state’sCoastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Corps, astatement frombothagencies said.

Of

cers

“The communities impacted by theMRGO have endured decadesof damage. Now it’s time to gettowork protecting our coast and restoring vital ecosystems.”

MICHAEL HARE, CoastalProtection and Restoration Authority executivedirector

The original plan in 2012 aimed to restore and protect around 57,000 acres of wetlands and coastal habitat. It wasestimated to cost $3 billionatthe time, though the first phase addressed in Friday’sagreement aloneamounted to $1.3 billion. The total cost in today’sdollars is certainly farhigher,but the amounts remain to be determined.

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

The projects include protection along astretch of the southeast shore of LakeBorgne fromBayou Dupre to Proctor Point as well as from Lake Pontchartrain to Bayou Chevee. Other workisplanned alongLake

ä See WETLANDS, page 5A

Volunteers continue search formissing boy

NOPD criticized for delayinresponse

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

New Orleans East resident Marco Hernandez donnedrain gear and grabbed amachete on Friday morning as he preparedtosearch thearea’sthicketed marshes, abandoned homes and waterways until sundown. He joined dozens of community members whohave done the samesince a12-year-old nonverbal boy vanished last week. Hernandez said his motivations are simple: “I have ason.”

The search foryoung Bryan Vasquez went into its ninth day as the New Orleans Police Depart-

ment weathered criticism over a five-hour lag from when the first call came in and an officer wasdispatched to respond. NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Thursday that the department has launched an internal investigation. ATimes-Picayuneanalysis of NOPD call logs shows the response in Vasquez’scase was not unusual. The department has fielded more than250 missing child reports so far this year,many with similar response times, the data shows. Vasquezwas last seen on surveillance video leaving his Beaucaire Street homeataround 5:20 a.m. on Thursday,Aug. 14. Though foul play hasn’tbeen confirmed in Vasquez’scase, police

ä See MISSING, page 5A

STAFF PHOTO By CHRISGRANGER

fi

withthe Louisiana State Penitentiaryat Angola chase team look at amonitorinthe back of atruck as they flya drone over awoodypark in NewOrleans East on Monday searchingfor Bryan Vasquez, 12, whovanished last week.

PHOTO PROVIDED By TANGIPAHOAPARISH SHERIFF’SOFFICE

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Louisiana State Police block off U.S. 51 as smokerises from Smitty’s Supply Inc. in Roseland on Friday.

Judge halts expansion of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

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 undertook 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.”

The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued.

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.

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 alone, but hadn’t seen Trump since the mid-2000s.

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 be-

havior 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 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 Ep-

stein. Her trial featured sordid accounts of the 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.”

“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

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 intelli-

gence 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.

Bolton had escalated his criticism in recent days in response to the president’s decision to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Bolton’s repeated television appearances prompted Trump to write a social media post blasting the media for quoting “fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton.” Bolton didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday

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.

Maxwell

Blanche

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRETT CARLSEN

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

Israeliofficial tellsHamas to yieldtodemands

Defenseminister warnsofGaza City’s destruction; groupsayscity grippedbyfamine

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ Associated Press

GAZA CITY,Gaza Strip Israel’s defense minister warned Friday that Gaza’slargest city could be destroyed unless Hamas yields to his country’sterms,asthe world’sleadingauthority on food crisessaid the city is gripped by famine from fighting and an Israeli blockade.

Aday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorizethe military to mount amajor operation to seize Gaza City, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that it could “turn into Rafahand Beit Hanoun,” areas largely reduced to rubble earlier in the war

“The gates of hell will soon open on theheads of Hamas murderers and rapistsin Gaza —until they agree to Israel’sconditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote in apost on X. He restated Israel’s ceasefire demands: therelease of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament.

Hamas issued astatement that called Katz’scomments “a confession of committing acrime that amountstoethniccleansing.” Themilitant group has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war,but it rejects disarmament without the creation of aPalestinian state.

PresidentDonaldTrump, meanwhile, expressed frustration with Hamas’ stance in long-running ceasefire talks, suggesting themilitantgroup was less interested in making deals to release hostages withsofew left alive in captivity.

General whoseagency’s assessmentofIranstrike angeredTrump fired

BY KONSTANTINTOROPIN, MARYCLAREJALONICK and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired ageneralwhose agency’sinitial intelligence assessment of U.S. damage to Iraniannuclear sites angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and aWhite House official.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the U.S. DefenseIntelligence Agency,according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werenot authorized to discuss it publicly Hegsethalso fired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Adm. Milton Sands, aNavy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, another U.S. official said.

The reasonsfor their firings, the latest in aseries targeting military leaders, were not clear Friday

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

this week ina tactic that the administration has used against perceived foes. Criticssay the administration’s actions couldchill dissent and send asignal that theintelligence community should be carefulinreaching conclusions at odds with Trump’sinterests. Kruse’sfiring comes a few months after details of apreliminary assessment of U.S. airstrikes against Iran leaked to themedia. It found that Iran’snuclear program has been set back only afew months,contradicting assertionsfrom Trump and Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu.

TheRepublican president,who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejectedthe report. His oft-repeated criticism of theDIA analysis built on his long-running distrust of intelligenceassessments, includingone publishedin 2017 that said Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence —which is responsiblefor coordinating the work of 18 intelligenceagencies, includingthe Defense Intelligence Agency—has been declassifying years-old documents meant to cast doubt on thosepreviousfindings.

“The situation has to end. It’sextortion,and it has to end,”Trump told reporters Friday.“And we’ll see what happens. Iactually think (the hostagesare) safer in many waysifyou 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 hostagesand endthe war on Israel’s terms. It wasnot immediately clear if that meant Israel would return to long-running talks mediated by Egypt andQatar after Hamas said earlier this

week that it accepted anew proposalfrom the mediators.

Gaza City offensive

With ground troopsalreadyactive in strategic areas,the wide-scaleoperation in Gaza City could start within days.

Israel says Gaza City is still aHamas stronghold, with anetwork of militant tunnels, after several previouslarge-scale raids. The city is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians,someofwhom have fled from other areas, and it contains some of the terri-

tory’scritical infrastructure and health facilities.

Israel could also accept thelatest ceasefire proposal, which would forestall the offensive. The proposal calls for aphased deal involving hostage and prisoner exchanges and apullback of Israeli troops, while talks continue on alonger-term cease-fire. Israeli leaders have resistedsuchterms since abandoning asimilar agreement earlier this year under pressure from Netanyahu’sfar-right coalitionallies.

Many Israelis fear an assault could doom the roughly 20 hostages whohave survived captivity since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Aid groups andinternational leaders warn that renewed fighting would worsen Gaza’shumanitarian crisis.

The logistics of evacuating civilians are expected to be daunting. Many residents say repeated displacement is pointlesssince nowhere in Gaza is safe, while medical groups warn that Israel’s calltomovepatients 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 twothings —defeating Hamas andreleasing allour hostages —go hand in hand,” Netanyahu said Thursday while touring acommandcenter in south-

ern Israel. Since 251 people were taken hostage morethan22 months ago, ceasefire agreements and other deals have accounted for the vast majority of the148 whowere released,including thebodies 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 whomIsrael believestobe alive.

Famine couldspread

The world’sleading 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. Areport by the Integrated Food Security PhaseClassification says nearly half a millionpeople in Gaza, about one-fourth of the population, face catastrophic hunger that leaves manyatrisk of dying.

Netanyahu’sofficedenounced the IPC report as “an outright lie.” Israel says it hasallowed enough aid to enter during the war, anditeased its blockade in recent weeks after images of emaciated children sparked international outrage.But U.N. agencies say it’snot nearly enough, especiallyafter Israel imposed acomplete ban on food imports from early March to mid-May.

Tour busrolloverkills 5onN.Y.highway

By The Associated Press

Atour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Fallswith54people aboard crashed and rolled on itsside Friday on an interstate highway,killing five passengers and injuring manyothers, authorities said.

Thedriverapparentlybecamedistracted, lost control and overcorrected before the bus went intothe right shoulder and flipped over shortly before12:30 p.m. on the eastbound side of Interstate 90 in Pembroke, New York, about25mileseastof Buffalo,statepolice Maj. Andre Raysaid at an evening news conference.He did not say how thedriver became distracted,adding that thecauseremains under investigation.

Ray saidthe passengers ranged in agefrom 1to74.

Multiple people were ejected from thebus during the crash, and five people —all adults —were pronounced dead at the scene, Raysaid. Manyothers became entrapped in the wreck and wererescued. Dozens were takentohospitals.Ray said it didn’tappear anyother people hadlife-threatening injuries.

“An absolute tragedy took place,” Ray said. “And first andforemost, ourthoughts, prayers and heartsgoout to those involved, their friends and their families.”

State policesaidmost of

thepassengers on the bus were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino ethnicity, and authorities brought in translators to help withthe emergency response.

Ray saidapreliminary investigation ruled out mechanical failure or driver impairment. Thedriver survived thecrash and was cooperating with police, officials said. No charges had been filed as of Friday evening, Ray said.

TheNationalTransportation Safety Board said it was sending ateam to NewYork to investigate the crash.

The Mercy Flight medical transport service said its threehelicopters and three more from other services transported people from thecrash site. Hospitalsin the region said they evaluated or treatedmorethan 40 people.Injuries ranged from head traumatobroken arms and legs.

Twopeople who needed surgery at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalowere expected to recover,said Dr.Jeffrey Brewer,chief of surgery

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Palestinian children wait Friday at acommunity kitchen before donated food is prepared and distributed in Gaza City

Powell signalsFed maylower interest rates

Inflationrisks remain despitepossiblemove

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday opened the door ever so slightly to lowering akey interest rate in the coming months but gave no hint on the timing of amove and suggested the central bank will proceed cautiously as it continues to evaluate the impact of tariffs and other policies on the economy.

In ahigh-profile speech closely watched at the White House and on Wall Street,Powellsaid that there are risks of both rising unemployment and stubbornly higher inflation. Yethesuggested that with hiring sluggish, the jobmarket could weaken further

“The shifting balance of risks maywarrant adjustingour policy stance,” he said, areference to his concerns about weaker job gains and amore direct sign that the Fed is considering arate cutthanhe hasmade in previous comments. Still, Powell’sremarkssuggest the Fed will proceedcarefully in the coming months and will make its rate decisions based on how inflation and unemployment evolve TheFed hasthree more meetings this year,including next month, in late October,and in December, and

it’snot clear whetherthe Fed will cutatall those meetings.

“The stability ofthe unemployment rate and other labor market measures allows us to proceed carefully as we consider changes to our policy stance,” Powell said.

That suggests theFed will continuetoevaluatejobsand inflation data as it decides whether to cut rates.

The stock market jumped in response toPowell’sremarks, with the broadS&P 500 indexrising 1.5% in midday trading.

“Wesee Powell’s remarks as consistent with our expectation of” aquarter-point cut to the Fed’s

short-term rate at itsSept.16-17 meeting, economistsatGoldman Sachswrote in anote to clients. The Fed’s ratecurrently stands at 4.3%.

Powell spoke withthe Fed under unprecedented public scrutiny from the WhiteHouse, as President DonaldTrump has repeatedly insulted Powell andhas urged him to cut rates, arguing there is “no inflation” andsayingthatacut would lower the government’sinterest payments on its $37 trillion in debt.

Trump also says acut would boostthe moribund housing market. Arate cutbythe Fed often

leads to lower borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business borrowing,but it doesn’talways.

While Powellspoke, Trumpelevated his attacks, telling reporters in Washington, D.C. thathewould fire FederalReserve Governor LisaCook if she did not step down over allegationsfromanadministration official that she committed mortgagefraud. If Cook is removed, that would give Trump an opportunity to put aloyalistonthe Fed’sgoverning board. The Fed has long been considered independentfrom day-todaypolitics. Thepresidentcan’t fire aFed governor over disagreements on interest rate policy, but 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 himtoo late for areason. He shouldhave cut them ayear ago. He’stoo late.”

Powell spokeatthe Fed’sannual economic symposiuminJackson Hole, Wyoming, aconference with about100 academics, economists, andcentral bank officials from around the world.

He was given astanding ovation before he spoke.

Cook,who is also attendingthe conference,declined to comment on thepresident’sremarks.

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.Weexpectthose effectsto accumulateovercomingmonths, with high uncertainty abouttiming and amounts,” Powell said.

Inflation has crept higher in recent months though it is down from apeak 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 goodssuchasfurniture,toys, and shoes.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July fromayear ago, abovethe Fed’starget of 2%. Excluding the volatile food andenergy categories, core prices rose 3.1%.

Powell added that higher prices from tariffs could cause aonetime shifttoprices, rather than an ongoing bout of inflation. Other Fed officials have said that is the mostlikely outcomeand as aresult the central bank can cut rates to boost the job market.

The Fed chair said it is largely up to the centralbanktoensure that tariffs don’tlead to sustained inflation.

“Come what may,wewill not allow aone-time increase in the price level to become an ongoing inflation problem,” he said, suggesting deep rate cuts, as Trump has demanded, are unlikely

School on the adviceofparish homeland security officials and brought them by bustocentral officesin Amite for parent pickup Edwards and his wife, Donna, live in Roseland and said in atext message that they had joined the evacuation. The site is less than a mile from their home.

The incident occurred at the Smitty’sSupply Inc. complex off U.S. 51. State and local officials could not say yet what was burning or what sparked the explosion and fire, but the plant’s8.7 million gallons of tank storage can holdavariety of highly flammable products, state regulatory and company papers say The complex employs about 400 to 450 people.

Smitty’sofficials told state regulators in 2023 that the facility’sstorage tanks can typically hold ethanol,charcoal lighter fluid, gas oil mixture,motor oil,lubricants andhydraulic fluids, diesel, brake fluid, grease and a varietyofunnamed waterbased chemicals, according to the report.

Smitty’ssaid then that none of the materials, while flammable, is considered hazardous under state or federal law

ATangipahoa Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, Ashley Rodrigue, said first responders were staging at theFlorida Parishes Arena in Amite. Multiple departments were involved, including from neighboring Livingston and St. Tammany parishes During abrief news conferenceinAmite on Friday

afternoon, Tangipahoa ParishPresident RobbyMiller promised toprovide more information as it becomes available.

“I’m going to reiterate that we are doingour best to protect people, structures and theenvironment,” Miller said.

He said he did not expect the one-mile evacuation zone to be expanded at this time.

Miller said responding firefighters have experience with industrial fires and,according toSmitty’sresponse plans, the plant has an inhouse emergency response team. Online maps show a Tangipahoa Parish fire department is located next doortoSmitty’s Attempts to reach Smitty’s officials were unsuccessful on Friday afternoon.LouisianaDepartmentofEnvironmental Quality officials set up air monitoringand had not detected harmful chemicals at the ground level aroundthe fire by 4:30 p.m. Greg Langley,DEQ spokesman, said personnelwere usinghandheld monitorstomeasure emissions,likelyfor byproducts produced from burning hydrocarbons. He said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also hired contractors to aid in the air monitoring,though he didn’t knowwhenthat team would arrive.

Langleysaidatsome point during thefire,anoily material emanated from the blaze and fell on the surrounding area. Such alarge firetypically combusts, or destroys, much of theburning chemical but often not 100%ofit. Estimatesvary on the completeness of thecombustioninan

uncontrolledfire like this one. In chemical plants, familiar facility flares, which are designed to destroy harmful emissions, can work with up to 98% or 99% efficiency but have tight controls that are regularly monitored by workers.

Michael Ruffin, a71-yearold Roseland resident, was sitting on his porch less than amilefromthe plantwhen he heard theexplosion, then saw thefire and smoke.

“It was scary,”hesaid at theAmite shelter He said thesheriff’s department hadcome to his house about 30 minutes before the explosion to tell him to evacuate and warned him of apossible blast.He stayed to wait for his wife, but when the explosion happened, he gotinhis car.His wife arrivedsoon after,and they went to the community center Ruffin, who moved to Roseland from New Orleans after HurricaneKatrina, said, “Now we have to run fromthis here.It’ssomething.”

Tonya Mabry,executive director of housing in Tangipahoa, said in the early eveningthatabout 100 evacuees had shown up to theAmite Community Center,which has acapacity of 175 to 200. If needed,an additional overflow center would be opened.

“We’re pretty much prepared,”she said, though she added that this wasthe first explosion she’s worked on —normally it’shurricanes or floods.

Mike Whittington, the chiefexecutive officer of Hood Memorial Hospital in Amite, said his hospital has seen aslight uptick of residentsand othersfromout-

side the complex Friday afternoon. Whittington didn’t immediately have more details on the nature and size of thevisits,but said the area around Smitty’sisnot densely populated.

Gov.Landry said on Xthat “we are monitoring this situation closely.Pleasefollow theguidanceofyourlocal officials. We are praying for everyone’ssafety.”

Coveringabout 20 acres, Smitty’sblends anddistributes oil and other lubricantsunder the Super S, Shell, Quaker State, Castrol, Exxon, Valvoline and many other brand names and also providescontract oil, lubri-

cation and treatment product manufacture.

Thefacility has20separate tank farms with 265 steel or plastic aboveground storage units. Those tanks hold between 2,000 and 504,000 gallons of various but generally flammable liquids, according to a2023 state regulatory report.

Many of the tanks are outdoors, although the facility has more than 14 acres of warehouse space, stormwater and company plans show The 2023 report is requiredsostate regulators can assess the company’s plans forpotential spills that might leak from tanks into

surrounding watersheds. The report is notacurrent assessment of whatwas being stored in Smitty’son Friday The complex, whichalso has agrease manufacturing plant, is set up to receive andoffloadmaterialsfrom trucks andrailcarsand has threerailspurs, thecompany says. In addition to the oil, lubricant and grease blending, manufacture or storage, Smitty’shas plastic injection molding equipment to make bottles and other products. Marco Cartolano, Tyler Bridges and Bob Warren contributed to this story.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Fridayopenedthe door to loweringinterest rates in the coming months.

Borgne between Alligator Point and the Rigolets.

Congress specified in a 2022 law that the plan is to be 100% federally 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.” 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 destruction 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. 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 long-overdue restoration of the MRGO-impacted 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.

haven’t ruled it out, NOPD Detective Mario Bravo said Friday Deploying drones and dogs officers with NOPD, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries canvassed an area hemmed by canals near the 13000 block of Sevres Street. The search has galvanized volunteers from Baton Rouge to Michoacán, Mexico, and spawned an international partnership

The United Cajun Navy, founded by local boaters in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, has joined forces with Los Topos, a nonprofit Mexican rescue team founded in the wake of a deadly 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

“The Topos did a brief training

SPEED

Continued from page 1A

the city continued issuing speeding tickets without first approving a revenuesharing agreement.

“This agreement represents a significant step forward in supporting our public schools and enhancing student safety,” School Board President Katie Baudouin said in a statement.

“By partnering with the City, we’re not only complying with state law but also channeling vital resources back into our classrooms, programs, and facilities.”

The agreement is required by a 2024 state law that says municipalities must split revenue from school-zone traffic cameras with local schools. It also bars municipalities from issuing tickets and collecting fines until they finalize revenuesharing agreements with their local school districts.

for the community volunteers, and we began the search based on what the Cajun Navy needed us to do,” said Cristina Casas, a member of Baton Rouge Unido.

She is one of around 40 volunteers she says are assisting authorities in an increasingly desperate

New Orleans continued collecting fines after the law took effect last August, but it held the revenue in an escrow account. A separate law, which took effect this month allows city officials to be charged with malfeasance in office if they violate the revenue-sharing rule. Earlier this week, Murrill said she would launch a criminal investigation and pursue charges against city officials if New Orleans continued to collect fines without an agreement in place. She also said New Orleans should return money it collected that was “not authorized by law at the time.”

The New Orleans City Council approved a revenuesplitting agreement in July, but Orleans Parish School Board members rejected it over concerns about the payment timeline and how revenue would be divided when a school zone covers a public and a private school.

The new version of the agreement, which lasts two

search New Orleans Crimestoppers on Friday announced a $1,250 reward for anyone with tips that help bring Vasquez home.

“We are working very hard to find Bryan,” said Bravo, who is leading the investigation.

Family members don’t believe

years, specifies that the city must pay the School Board by the 30th of each month. If payments are not received within 15 days of the due date, the city must pay a late fee equal to 10% of the overdue balance. It also says the city will foot the bill for any costs the School Board might have in attempting to collect overdue payments.

Board members asked last month that the agreement be revised to include means of holding the city accountable.

The addition comes as the Orleans Parish School Board is still awaiting a $10 million settlement payment from the city related to property taxes the city collects on behalf of the school system.

The school board has asked a Civil District Court judge to hold the administration in contempt for not paying.

School Board member Olin Parker cast the lone vote on Thursday against the revenue-sharing agreement, saying that he opposes traffic cameras on principle.

the NOPD has done enough, said Cristi Fajardo, founder of El Pueblo Nola.

She cited a lack of communication with NOPD and the five hours that lapsed between the time the missing juvenile report came in at 10:20 a.m. on Aug. 14 and the time an officer arrived on the scene at 3:06 p.m., NOPD call logs show

“We opened up a formal investigation into that so we could find out what all of the facts are, get them in context and then make decisions,” Kirkpatrick said Thursday “The most important thing is the child.”

NOPD officials at a Friday media briefing did not comment on the response times, citing the open investigation. The city on Friday denied a request for related 911 audio, dispatch notes, NOPD records and transcripts, citing a constitutional right to privacy

A Times-Picayune analysis of NOPD’s calls for service log shows 254 reports of missing juveniles so

far in 2025 that culminated in a police report. Of those calls, 78 came from the sprawling 7th District, which encompasses New Orleans East. Only five of those calls were categorized as Priority 2 calls, which merit blue light and sirens. Those Priority 2 calls had an average response time of 49 minutes. The rest were categorized as Priority 1, a “routine” call, and their response times ranged from hours to, in one case, days, records show Casas said she remains hopeful, saying she and other Hispanic volunteers are assisting in the search despite what they view as a risk of potential arrest and detainment by federal immigration agents. Darlene Cuzanza of Crimestoppers reiterated Thursday that tipsters are anonymous. “We want further collaboration with the Hispanic community,” she said. “We don’t want them to be scared of us. This hurts us all.” John Simerman contributed to this report.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

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

NewOrleans Forecast

BY ALLEN G. BREED, JOHN SEEWER and LEAH WILLINGHAM 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,

By The 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 NationalGuard members have beenstationed in the heavily Democratic city

Erin weakenstopost-tropical cyclone,movingout to sea

Erin sofar has managed to thread theneedle through theAtlantic between theEast Coastand severalislandnations,limitingits destructiveness.

Massachusetts-basedmeteorologistCaitlyn 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

closed to swimmers and other recreationdue to highsurf and rip currents.

On North Carolina’sOuter Banks, waves breached dunesinthe town of Kill Devil Hills on Thursday evening, and water and sand pooled on Highway 12.

Although damage assessments werestill underway, thelow-lying islands appeared to have 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

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 take asimilar approach in other cities, such as Chicago andmaybe New York

“After we do this,we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also,” Trump saidinthe Oval 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 atrainstation. 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

Mayor’s Office taking cut of school taxes

But council passed law forbidding practice

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration has continued to take a cut of the Orleans Parish School Board’s tax revenues, irking City Council members who passed a law this spring to forbid that practice while a six-year-old lawsuit over the city’s tax collections plays out.

Sports medicine complex coming to Metairie

Ochsner Health site will serve Saints, Pelicans, public

BY LAUREN WALCK and LARA NICHOLSON Staff writers

A $45.6 million sports medicine facility is coming to Metairie and will be built next to the Saints and Pelicans training facility, Ochsner Health and the two teams announced this week.

Called Ochsner Medical Complex-Airline, the complex will be located on a portion of the LaSalle Tract at the corner of Airline Drive and Tom Benson Way. Construction is expected to start later this year with a projected opening in late 2027.

“This is a world-class medical facility that we should all be very proud to have in our community,” Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson said in a statement. “It will serve patients throughout the entire Gulf South region in addition to directly servicing players from both teams.”

The two-story, 46,000-squarefoot Ochsner Medical Complex will treat professional athletes from both teams as well as members of the public. The Saints, in particular, were hamstrung by injuries last season, a reality coach Dennis Allen called “extremely frustrating.”

“This facility is designed to be a premier destination for sports medicine care in the region, offering cutting-edge treatments and expertise to help our local professional athletes and competitors of all levels stay active, recover stronger, and achieve their full potential,” Dr W. Stephen Choate, the lead physician for the Saints, said in the release.

The new facility is expected to create 60 new jobs, Ochsner said, along with a local economic impact of $13.4 million per year over the next decade.

To make the project happen, Jefferson Parish officials carved out 13 acres from a much larger tract of land that is being leased at no cost to the Saints, the state and the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which oversees the Superdome. A sports complex was originally envisioned for the parcel near Saints and Pelicans training facility but never came to fruition.

Officials then approved a new 80-year lease for the smaller tract on Wednesday with the Benson Organization and a newly-created public benefit corporation, the LaSalle Park Area Development Corporation. Jefferson Parish Council member Deano Bonano, who represents the district that includes the LaSalle Tract, said state law did not allow for the LSED to build the medical facility on the land under

The administration has maintained in court that the collection fee is a necessary payment for services rendered, as city officials collect property tax revenues on the School Board’s behalf and disburse them to the board.

The School Board, meanwhile, says the fee is illegal, and the council joined the board in a longrunning lawsuit that alleges the School Board is entitled to all

taxes assessed in its name. After a proposed settlement in that lawsuit fell apart last year, the council passed a law in April that bars the administration from levying School Board collection fees until the end of 2026.

Council President JP Morrell on Thursday lambasted the administration for disregarding the council ordinance. “I think that we are exposing

ourselves to ongoing liability as a city as bad actors,” Morrell said.

Finance Director Romy Schofield-Samuel acknowledged in an Aug. 13 council committee meeting that the city is still taking a fee despite the new ordinance, since litigation over the practice is still pending. She also questioned the wisdom of an ordinance requiring the city to “work for free.”

“As long as the services are provided and the work is being done and the distributions are being made on a monthly basis, the fee

was relevant,” Schofield-Samuel said.

City Attorney Donesia Turner, who appeared at the same meeting, sidestepped questions about the legality of the ongoing fee collection and said she hadn’t discussed it with Schofield-Samuel. The administration did not respond to questions on Thursday The council sided with the School Board in the lawsuit, and some members publicly said in

FUTURE REFLECTION

Levee board member resigns

Lawmakers questioned legality of appointment

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

A member of the New Orleans area’s flood protection board will resign after state lawmakers questioned whether Gov Jeff Landry skirted state law in appointing him, the latest controversy to hit the agency since the governor began pursuing changes there. Landry bypassed the board’s independent nominating committee and installed Kerwyn King. Since he was appointed, King has attended just one board meeting, where he was sworn in. Now, King, an electrical engineer, says he is

resigning, but he intends to reapply for another seat on the board for which he is qualified to serve.

There appeared to be two problems with King’s nomination: He lives in New Orleans and was appointed to a board seat intended for someone who lives outside of the agency’s jurisdiction, and the committee that vets prospective board members did not submit King’s name to the governor for approval.

“From my understanding, there was a little confusion with my initial application,” King said. “The plan is for me to be part of the board, in the correct seat. I will resign from my nonresident seat and begin the application process immediately for an open resident seat.”

For King to legally join the board, the nominating committee

must submit his name to the governor for approval, which it previously declined to do.

The issues with King’s nomination were apparent to lawmakers at a committee hearing in the state Legislature this week.

“When I read the law, it says,

‘The members shall be appointed by the governor from nominations submitted by the nominating committee,’” Sen Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, said at Tuesday’s hearing.

“Apparently, he was not.”

Board President Peter Vicari confirmed to lawmakers at the hearing that King appeared not to have been properly appointed to his seat.

“I got word that he’s going to resign,” Vicari said. “I don’t know much about it. I was just told by

See LEVEE, page 2B

New conviction in kettlebell drownings

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

jobs could be added as site ramps up production

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

the facility in the coming weeks and months, an Amazon representative said Friday More jobs could open as the center ramps up production, the company says. “We’ve been shipping to customers as of this week,” Amazon spokesperson Daniel Martin said. He said the first packages were delivered Wednesday The company began hiring people at the 140,000-squarefoot center on Town Center Parkway near Old Spanish Trail last month. It’s expected to be staffed by 100 to 200 workers, the company has said previously Martin said Friday he

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Tulane running back Arnold Barnes III runs off the field after practice at yulman Stadium in New Orleans on Friday. His reflection is caught in a water puddle as the Green Wave preps for the season ahead

Lafayette Buc-ee’s opening delayed to 2028

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

OCHSNER

Continued from page 1B

the original lease

“For over a decade, the land in LaSalle Park has sat unused. With this new lease agreement and the creation of a Public Benefit Corporation, we’re finally unlocking the full potential of this property,” Bonano said in a news release.

As part of the agreement, the Gayle and Benson Charitable Foundation will donate $5 million toward a new aquatic center on the West Bank or different recreational facility in District 2 The project will also include a retention pond that will help with drainage.

Part of LaSalle Tract

In addition to the Saints and Pelicans training facilities, the massive LaSalle Tract on Airline Drive includes the Shrine on Airline stadium, a jogging and walking path, and LaSalle Park, which includes

AMAZON

Continued from page 1B

didn’t have a specific number of workers currently at the site, but added that more could be hired as the workload there increases.

“We have staffed up significantly to support the launch of the facility and as we continue to ramp up operations over the coming weeks there will be additional opportunities,” he said in an email later Friday Those interested in working for Amazon can search for current job openings and sign up for job alerts at www.amazon.com/jobs.

The opening comes several years after the company announced in 2021 that it would build the center in Slidell. The initial opening was targeted for 2022, but the company pushed that back several times. At delivery centers, larger shipments of packages are sorted and loaded onto delivery vans and trucks and then delivered to customers The Slidell center is currently handling packages for the general northshore region, but that area could fluctuate depending on demand. The Slidell delivery station adds to the online retail giant’s footprint across Louisiana. In a recent news release, the company said it had created 6,000 fulltime jobs in Louisiana since 2010.

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-square-foot 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 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

RENDERING PROVIDED By OCHSNER HEALTH

Ochsner Health and the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans on Wednesday announced plans for a new medical complex next to the teams’ training facility in Metairie.

multiple soccer and softball fields.

The parish bought most of the 113-acre tract in 1990 to increase tourism. Then the state bought the remaining 30 acres in 1996 so a baseball stadium and the Saints training facility could be built. After surveying residents on what to do with the remaining acres, a park was built to preserve green

MAYOR

Continued from page 1B

February that the collections were illegal. Since then, however Morrell, council member Joe Giarrusso and others have said that some fee commensurate with the cost of collecting taxes is appropriate. But they say the city is gouging the School Board with a fee that amounted to $12 million last year, according to the School Board.

That includes 2% of the School Board’s property taxes and 1.6% of sales taxes, plus an additional fee for the Assessor’s Office.

Morrell compared that with the finance department’s $13 million budget.

“If the amount you’re charging is more than what it costs to perform the service, that is no longer a fee.

CONVICTION

Continued from page 1B

courtroom of Chief Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier again found Laurence McKee, 35, guilty of seconddegree murder in the 2016 slaying of a friend, Justin Scott, 25, at his 7th Ward apartment. A former U.S. Marine, McKee called 911 claiming self-defense. He faces an automatic life prison sentence. A jury in 2017 had convicted Johnson in an 11-1 vote on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice Another conviction on a charge of obstruction of justice was unanimous. The case against Johnson, a businessman with a prior conviction for manslaughter, was aided by his ex-

space, along with the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center

The property where the medical complex will be built is one of the remaining green spaces with trees. As part of the deal, Ochsner and the Saints will build a retention pond that will help with drainage on the tract.

The Shrine on Airline is also get-

That’s a tax,” Morrell said at the committee meeting.

The council’s ordinance bans fees for agencies that the city collects taxes without a multiyear agreement in place. For the School Board, fees aren’t allowed at all until after 2026

The School Board would then be responsible for collecting its property and sales taxes if it can’t negotiate an agreement with the city.

The School Board claims it is owed $135 million for illegal fees dating back nearly two decades. School officials joined by then-Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano and Giarrusso, announced a $90 million settlement in November Cantrell nixed the settlement two months later claiming she hadn’t been told about it and the city couldn’t afford it.

Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard determined the settlement was never legally executed,

girlfriend, Brittany Martin, who’d spent months in jail on murder charges before turning on Johnson. They had met while she was a state prison guard and he was a convict serving time for a 1994 killing. Martin testified at both trials. She claimed Johnson beat the victims bloody before they went to a Kenner Walmart, where Johnson bought two kettlebells, nylon rope and a degreaser for blood stains. She said two other men joined them on the bridge between New Orleans East and Chalmette. Prosecutors said Stephen Bradley and Amir “Blue” Ybarra threw the couple off the span. Bradley received a 70-year sentence as a habitual offender Ybarra fled. Martin served a 10-year sentence with five years suspended.

Defense attorney Bradley Phillips argued that prosecutors failed to prove their murder case against

boards and commissions that that’s going to happen.”

An end run

King’s nomination raised questions about whether the governor skirted a post-Katrina law governing the nominating process for the flood protection board, officially known as the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East. Board members are chosen by an independent nominating committee that includes representatives of government watchdog groups and professional appointees, a reform meant to depoliticize oversight following the levee failures during Katrina. Its job is to vet candidates and prevent elected officials from using board seats as patronage.

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.

ting a $30 million renovation this year, which will convert it into a multipurpose sports facility with a stage for concerts.

Sports specialists

The project is an expansion of Ochsner’s partnership with national sports medicine provider Andrews Medicine, founded by renowned sports star surgeon Dr James Andrews. The former LSU athlete has operated on everyone from Drew Brees to Roger Clemens Andrews Medicine provides orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers and physical therapists to professional sports teams, including the Saints, and high schools across the country Andrews Medicine also provides specialists in cities across Louisiana as part of the Ochsner Andrews Sports Medicine Institute.

“As a Louisiana native, it’s an honor to bring the Andrews Institute to New Orleans in partnership with Ochsner Health,” Andrews said in the news release.

but she ordered the city to pay $10 million to the School Board a lump sum included in the proposed settlement — since it was included in the city budget that Cantrell approved.

The administration did not make the payment and instead asked Sheppard to reconsider The School Board, meanwhile, asked Sheppard to hold the administration in contempt for failing to pay the $10 million. Those motions were filed in March and April, respectively

The School Board on Tuesday asked Sheppard for a preliminary injunction to stop the collection fees, citing the council’s April ordinance forbidding collection fees without multiyear agreements in place. A hearing had not been set as of Thursday afternoon.

Email Ben Myers at bmyers@ theadvocate.com.

Johnson.

Relatives reported the Josephs missing on Feb. 19, 2014. Days later, their van was spotted in a TraveLodge parking lot in suburban Atlanta Lakeitha Joseph’s nearly naked body surfaced on March 10, 2014, with a nylon cord dangling from her leg. Her husband’s body came to the surface later a rope still binding his body to a kettlebell. The coroner determined both had drowned. Detectives linked the van to Frank Mike Jr., an ex-con who told police Stephen Bradley had given him the van and told him to dispose of it Mike pleaded guilty to state and federal charges for trying to wipe the van clean of evidence and received a nine-year sentence.

District Attorney Jason Williams’ office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on the verdicts.

The pre-storm levee boards were seen as weighed down by politics and lackadaisical in their oversight of the levees built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The Corps accepted responsibility for the levee failures during Katrina, but groups that advocated for reform argued that strong local oversight could only improve the levee system.

That nominating committee is also responsible for ensuring that the board has representation from the three parishes it covers Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard — as well as board members who live outside of the agency’s boundaries.

King’s nomination has rankled watchdog groups, levee reform advocates, and even the nominating committee itself If the governor is going to ignore the committee’s recommendations, they note, there’s no reason to have a nominating committee at all.

“We’re just trying to follow the intent of the law that was first passed after Katrina,” said Windell Curole, the chair of the nominating committee. “We want to get a professional group that will be focused on one thing: keeping water out of people’s homes.”

The governor has repeatedly signaled frustration with the way that the nominating committee functions. He put forward a bill that would have scrapped the committee entirely; lawmakers amended the bill to retain the committee before it passed.

And when the committee sent up a new slate of nominees in July, Landry ignored the recommendations and instead tapped King, who had applied for a board seat but had not been selected by the committee.

Lawmakers will ‘watch closely’ Rep Stephanie Hilferty, RMetairie, also questioned how King could have been legally appointed and stressed the importance of the post-Katrina reforms to her constituents.

“The reforms that came about after (the storm) are very specific because we don’t want to see that happen again,” she said. “We have learned our lesson. We do not need to see it repeated. It would be catastrophic.”

“We’re looking at the board and we see the disarray and we see the confusion,” said Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans. “It’s hard for us to have confidence in the entire organization.”

“It’s clear that dysfunction has taken a toll,” said Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, after the meeting. “Mr Vicari has a big job ahead and the Legislature will continue to watch closely.” Lawmakers also pressed the agency’s police chief, Joshua Rondeno, to justify his recent promotion and pay increase to $208,000. Rondeno said that he’d reduced the agency’s liability by “millions upon millions of dollars,” but did not provide any detailed accounting of those savings.

“Yes, $208,000 may appear to be a lot at face value,” Rondeno added, “but the value that it onboards to the agency overall is tremendously more.”

Email Alex Lubben at alex. lubben@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A billboard advertising the next Buc-ee’s convenience store and gas station located 194 miles away in Baytown, Texas, is displayed at the site of a planned new Buc-ee’s on Friday at Louisiana Avenue and Interstate 10 in Lafayette.

Shaquille O’Neal to invest in new LSU arena

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

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Former LSU basketball player, four-time NBA 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’m very excited to endorse Oak View Group’s plan,” O’Neal said in a statement Friday “I look forward

to becoming the 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 for the project. Oak View’s CEO stepped down last month after he was indicted on bid-rigging allegations connected to a project in Austin.

“I ve worked with OVG in venues across the country (with my Big Chicken brand) and they are the best partners and great operators,” O’Neal said in the statement

O’Neal did not say how much of a stake he was planning to invest in the new facility, or what that

deal might look like.

A final deal with LSU to develop the project has not yet been inked. LSU officials paused the deal after Oak View’s then CEO, Timothy Leiweke, was indicted on federal charges July 9 for allegedly rigging the bidding scheme for an arena at the University of Texas at Austin that LSU officials have cited as 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, an LSU spokesperson said the university is “still in the evaluation/due diligence phase.”

In Corpus Christi, where Oak View Group runs the American Bank Center, a City Council member called for a full audit of the firm’s management of the facility after learning of an agreement with controversial ticket seller Ticketmaster that does not expire until 2032, TicketNews reports. Baton Rouge hospital Our Lady of the Lake is the sole candidate for naming rights 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 the arena could

be a “transformational” project that would draw major economic activity In addition to providing a new venue for LSU basketball and gymnastics, it would host concerts and other major events. On Wednesday, the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council is set to vote on allowing the LSU Economic Development District to levy a 2% sales tax near the site where officials hope to build the arena.

Documents show the deal also hinges on both the parish and the state giving sales taxes collected on the stadium and immediate surroundings to Oak View Group.

Jefferson drops three Mardi Gras parades for 2026

Ordinance:

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

It may still be the middle of hurricane season, but Mardi Gras planning is underway across the region.

On Wednesday, the Jefferson Parish Council announced a handful of changes to its parade rules and schedule, providing a preview of the 2026 Carnival season.

Donna Russo, Jefferson Parish’s director of citizens affairs, said the changes were meant to “clean up” the existing Carnival rules.

For instance, she said, the parish had experimented with permitting float riders to substitute face paint, glitter and sunglasses for proper Carnival masks But, Russo said, “that didn’t work out.”

So on Wednesday the council decreed that from now on, full masking will be required “to disguise facial characteristics,” in accordance with the age-old Carnival tradition.

“This provision shall not

apply to the king, queen, captain, officers, maids, dukes, pages, attendants or special guest celebrities,” the revised ordinance reads

According to the new ordinances three parading groups have been officially dropped from the upcoming schedule.

The Culinary Queens of New Orleans parading group, which debuted in 2022, bowed out in 2025 for lack of funds and has been removed from the 2026 parade list.

Likewise, the Krewe of Jefferson truck parade, which was founded in 1972, wasn’t able to roll in 2023 because of a lack of participation, and has been officially cut from the 2026 lineup. The ordinance further stipulates that “there shall be no more than two permits issued to truck parade organizations: the Krewe of Elks of Jeffersonians and a future truck parade organization.”

Last year Russo said, the Krewe of Symphony lacked the required number of

floats and was therefore in violation of its parade permit. Because of that shortfall, the krewe, which first paraded in 2022, was scrubbed from the current lineup. But, Russo said, the leaders of Symphony could reapply for a 2026 permit and possibly receive a slot in the lineup.

According to Wednesday’s ordinance revisions, Jefferson Parish’s 2026 east-bank parades will include Argus Athena, Atlas, Centurions, Excalibur, Kings and MadHatters The Music and Nandi parades are expected to take place on the West Bank.

The Little Rascals children’s parade will proceed as usual, but was not included on the list because it takes place before the official Carnival season begins, Russo said. Little Rascals will roll Feb. 1. The Krewe of Isis parade does not appear on the list because it is specifically permitted by the city of Kenner

Other changes to the Jef-

Man gets life in double shooting

1 died, 1 injured in 2022 incident

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

A 33-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for a shooting that left one man dead and another injured at a West Bank “trap house,” according to Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr Curtis Thomas III of Bridge City was convicted last month of the second-degree murder of Charles McGehee, 50, and the attempted second-degree murder of a 28-year-old Westwego man. Authorities say Thomas shot the two men inside a home on the 600 block of Emile Avenue outside Westwego on the night of Feb. 13, 2022.

The three men were part of a group watching the Super Bowl using the light of a single bulb in a fixture attached to a counter and plugged into an outlet with an extension cord, according to law enforcement.

The electricity briefly cut out, and Thomas opened fire, according to officials

When the light came back on, McGehee had been shot in the abdomen, the 30-yearold was shot in the arm and Thomas was holding the gun, authorities said. McGehee was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, and the other victim was driven by Thomas’ father Curtis Thomas Jr to West Jefferson Medical Center for treatment.

Thomas was arrested by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies near the house while fleeing on foot. He was

carrying the murder weapon, a stolen pistol and had McGehee’s blood on his socks, according to the district attorney’s office.

The home in question is known among neighbors for its troubled history with drug dealing and violent crime, including the shooting death of Thomas’ father, Thomas Jr., 51, and the homeowner, Linda Turner, 68, at the hands of another alleged dealer in 2023.

Jurors found Thomas III guilty as charged Tuesday after about four hours of deliberation, court records said.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Thomas to life in prison for seconddegree murder, 50 years for attempted second-degree murder and 20 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm, with sentences running concurrently

ferson Parish parade rules mandate that krewe royalty and dignitaries ride only in the first five floats; that float-towing tractors arrive at the parade lineup at least one hour prior to start time; that each marching club

identify itself with a banner; and that “trucks shall refrain from blowing their horns under the Causeway Bridge underpass and any other barricaded areas.”

Finally, the ordinance revisions specify details of the

multimillion-dollar insurance policies required of all parading groups. Russo said she wasn’t sure if the revised revisions meant those costs had gone up or if the rules had just been better elucidated.

BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

Three FBI special agents were injured Thursday night after their vehicle was hit in the 7th Ward while they were on duty a spokesperson for FBI New Orleans said.

The three agents were near the intersection of A.P Tureaud Avenue and Aubry Street shortly after 9 p.m. when their car was struck, according to the agency

The agents were working on an investigation at the time of the crash, but the FBI declined to further comment on the operation, saying it was ongoing.

Louisiana State Police is investigating the crash, and no other information was immediately available. 3 FBI agents injured in crash

The officers were taken to a hospital and released shortly after being treated for minor injuries.

Arrest made in fatal hit-and-run

BY JONI HESS Staff

that killed a female bicyclist at the intersection of North I-10 Service Road and Bundy

Road. Suazo fled the scene without notifying police or seeking medical attention, according to the NOPD. Police say the crash happened around 9 p.m. after a 2008 Dodge Caravan slammed into the back of the woman’s bike and ejected her onto the road. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The NOPD Traffic Fatality Unit later found Suazo’s

van abandoned and burned in what they say was an attempt to destroy evidence. Suazo was booked Friday into the Orleans Justice Center on charges of hitand-run driving involving death or serious bodily injury reckless operation of a vehicle, obstruction of justice and falsifying a police report.

Email Joni Hess at joni hess@theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD

The Krewe of Athena rolls to the theme ‘X Marks the Spot’ during its 10th annual parade in Metairie on March 2, 2025.

Busby, Henry

Harris, Christione

Kellermann, Harvey Naquin, Patrice

Shorts,Kionyah

NewOrleans

Majestic Mortuary

Shorts,Kionyah

St Tammany

EJ Fielding

Busby, Henry West Bank

Robinson FH

Harris, Christione

Obituaries

Busby, HenryChelton

HenryChelton Busby, age 86, of Mandeville, Louisiana,passedaway peacefullywithfamilypre‐sentonWednesday,Au‐gust20, 2025. He wasborn onOctober 25, 1938,in Franklinton,Louisiana Chelton wasthe most lov‐ing husbandtohis beloved wife, JimmieNell, with whomheshared68won‐derfulyears of marriage Together they builta fam‐ily grounded in faith,love, and devotion.Hewas a proud father,a doting grandfather,and awon‐derfulgreat-grandfather whose presence brought joy andcomfort to allgen‐erationsofhis family. Chel‐ton honorablyservedhis country in theUnited StatesAir Forcefor four years,including 18 months stationed in Alaska.Fol‐lowinghis military service, hededicated more than fourdecades to McDer‐mottInternational,retiring after 42 yearsofhardwork and commitment.Above all else, Cheltonwas atrue servant of theLord. His deep love forJesus Christ shinedthrough hislifeand touched everyone whohad the blessing of knowing him.Hefaithfullyserved for many yearsasa Dea‐con at theFirst Baptist Church of Mandeville, where he waslater hon‐oredwiththe titleofDea‐conEmeritus. Hislegacyof

faith,love, andservice will continue to live on through his family,friends,and all whose liveshetouched Chelton is survived by his lovingwifeof68years,Jim‐mie S. Busby; hisdaughterin-law, BarbaraBusby,and son-in-law, Pete Clement; his grandchildren, PJ Clement (Kristen), Whitney Nielsen (Matt),Megan Gouzy (Joshua),Travis Clement (Marley),and Jamie Brantley (Richard); and hisgreat-grandchil‐dren, Hudson andNora (Megan),Martin(Whitney), Madelyn (Jamie), and Quincy, Kellen,and Sullivan (Travis). He is also survived byhis sister,RubyE.New‐man,along with many ex‐tendedfamilymembers and dear friends. He was precededindeath by his parents,JohnC.Busby and MaryLou Boutwell Busby; his children,ChetW.Busby and Lisa B. Clement; his brothers, Marshall I. Busby and WilliamR.Busby;and his brother-in-law,Lavon Newman. Relativesand friends areinvited to at‐tendthe memorial service onWednesday,August27, 2025, at 11:00 AM at First Baptist Church of Mandev‐ille, with visitation begin‐ningat9:00AM. Interment willfollowatPinecrest MemorialGardens in Cov‐ington, Louisiana. E. J. FieldingFuneralHomeof Covington,Louisiana,is honored to be entrusted withMr. Busby’sfuneral arrangements. Hisfamily invites youtoshare thoughts, memories,and condolences by signingan onlineguestbook at www ejfieldingfh.com

Harris,Christione Jenae'Yanny'

Christione JenaeHarris affectionatelyknown as “Yanny” passedawayon August11, 2025. Shewas a residentofMarrero,La. Christionewas avibrant 16-year-old who brough joy,love, andlight to every‐one around her. Shewas an11thGraderatWestJef‐fersonHighSchool.She was a member of Empow‐ering forLife Ministries Christioneloved music, church,and sheenjoyed the momentsshe spent with familyand friends. Christionewas theloving daughterofBrittanyHarris and ChristopherWilliams. She wasthe belovedsister ofChristtany, Christasia Christina,Christopher Jr and ChristianWilliams. The Granddaughter of Wanda

Harris,TyroneBoyd, Tina Williams (DonaldLumar), JohnnyFisher. Great granddaughter Alma Lee Harris, Bertha Boyd,Roxie Andrews,and thelateBilly Harrisand HerbertGivens. Niece of Ashley Harris (Earl Thomas, Sr.) AshanteHar‐ris (CarlBrown) Charles Williams,SheenaWilliams, MyeshaWilliams, andthe lateBrandon andDerrick Harris; Willie andShane Harris. Christione is sur‐vived by herlovingpar‐ents, Brittany Harris and Christopher Williams,sib‐lings,grandparents, aun‐ties, uncles,and cousins, along with many otherrel‐ativesand friendswho will forever cherishher mem‐ory.Relatives andfriends ofthe familyalso prophetes(s), pastors, offi‐cers, andmembers of Em‐poweringfor Life Prophetic Ministryand allneighbor‐ing churches;staff and studentsatWestJefferson HighSchool areinvited to attendthe FuneralService atTrueHopeMinistriesIs‐raelBaptist Church,1228 Cohen St.Marrero,LAon Saturday, August 23, 2025 at10:00 a.m. Host Prophet‐ess BeverlyLewis officiat‐ing.Visitationwillbegin at 8:30a.m.until servicetime. Funeralplanningentrusted toRobinsonFamilyFuneral Home9611 LA-23, Belle Chasse LA.70037 (504) 2082119. Foronlinecondo‐lencespleasevisit www robinsonfamilyfuneralho me.com

Obituary of Craig Kellermann: HarveyCraig Kellermann diedpeacefully at his home in Middlesex Beach, Delaware on Friday, August 8th, surrounded by family and friendswho deeply lovedhim.

Craigwas astellar student at Isadore Newman High School, attended the University of Virginiaand obtaineda master's in English at UVA.Hewas a voracious reader. He was attractedtoWilliam Faulkner buthis favorite novel was James Joyce's Ulysses.

Craig spent thebulkof his careerinWashington, DC.,working at the Securitiesand Exchange Commissionand then transitionedtomanage thelaw firm of Debevois and Plimpton.

Craig met theloveofhis

life,Tom Hill, whileriding theDCMetro.For thenext 51 years, they shared every aspect of life together. Tomand Craig were holding handsand heartsas Craigpassed.

Craig cared deeply about gay rightsand equality forall people

Craigretired to his beach house at Middlesex Beach, were he enjoyed entertaining friendsand swimming in theAtlantic waters. In the mornings, he refusedtobedisturbed untilhehad devoured the WashingtonPost and the NY Times, conquered the crossword puzzlesand imbibedtwo cupsofcoffee.

Craig traveled extensively, particularlyenjoying his timeinItaly.He was well versed in Roman history and culture and felt like Florence was his second home

He is remembered for being exceptionally kind to everyone and havinga generous spirit

He is preceded in death by hisparents Butter and Harveyand is survived by his partner Tom, brother Scott,nephews Seth and Josh and numerous friends. He felt aclose connectiontothe lifeguardsat Middlesex Beach. According to his wishes, thelifeguardswillscatter his ashes.

Donations in Craig's honorare suggested to ActBlue or to the Middlesex Beach Patrolhttps://middlesexbeach.or g/committees/beach-patrol/

Patrice MarieNaquin (1955-2025)

Patrice MarieNaquin belovedmothertoher four children and Mimi to her 13 grandchildrenthatshe adored more than anything,passed away peacefully on August 21, 2025 leaving avoid herfamily couldnever fill

She wasborn in New Orleans, Louisiana to her parents, Roland Naquin andPatriciaMaherNaquin on October 15th, 1955. She attended Chapelle High School, and she was the RummelHomecoming Queen in 1973.

Patrice was adevoted mother to Brad Giarrusso (Amy), Brianne Lagasse (Wesley), Brittney Rodriguez (Jonathan), and Brandi Myer (Matthew). She was theproud Mimi to her 13 grandchildren: Allie,

Sam, Kristen, Paige,Aiden, William, Faith, Aubrey, Hailey, Kate, Brooke, Preston, andCole, whoshe calledher little "love bugs"

Sheispreceded in death by herparents,grandparents, andbrother,Mark (Liz). Sheissurvivedbyall of herchildren and grandchildren, as well as her brothers, Kenneth(Kim) and Tommy (RoxAnn)and numerouscousins and nieces/nephews, whowill neverforget thelove she broughttotheir lives as well as herinfectious smile.

In hopesoffindinga cure or advanced research of Fabry'sdisease, she has noblydecided to donate herbody to Science, therefore,a Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, October4th, 2025 at 9 Beechwood GardensLane Covington,LA, 70435 (Brianneand Wes' house) at 2:00PM.Attire is casual as she wouldwant everybody brightand happy!

In lieu of flowers, Patriceasked that donationsbemade to the Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Research, METAvivor and/ or herdaughter, Brittney's Cancerfundvia direct funds to herasshe battles metastatic breast cancer

Acelebration of life will be held at 2:00 PM on 2025-1004 at Lagasse House,9 Beechwood GardensLane.

KionyahKahleyShorts, affectionately knownas “Keedy”,was born August 20, 2007 anddepartedthis lifeonAugust10, 2025. She was thebeloved daughter of Kionte Shorts andCas‐

sidy Gabriel-Blair. Sheis survivedbya host of bonus parents, grandpar‐ents, sisters, brothers aunts, uncles,nieces, nephews,cousins,family members andfriends.She isprecededindeath by her beloved grandmotherand bestfriendRenitaD Shorts. AHomeGoing Ser‐vicewillbeheldonSatur‐day,August23, 2025 at 10:00 am at FischerCom‐munity Church 1737 L.B. LandryAve., NewOrleans, Louisiana 70114. Visitation willbegin at 9:00 am.Inter‐mentinWestlawnMemor‐ial Park,1225 WhitneyAve., Gretna, LA.70056. Profes‐sionalarrangementsen‐trusted to Majestic Mortu‐ary Service, Inc. (504) 5235872.

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Simplify your Lifestyle &Plan with Expert, CompassionateGuidance EveryStepofthe Way! Call 504-491-2783 todayfor ano-obligation consultation!

Shorts,Kionyah Kahley

Naquin,Patrice Marie

Kellermann, HarveyCraig

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

NOLA.COM/BIZ

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-

tize one over the other because it has just one tool to fix either But Powell also would not commit to any kind of timing. Treasury yields tumbled in the bond market as bets built that the Fed would cut its main interest rate in September Traders see an 83% chance of that, up from 75% a day earlier, according to data from CME Group. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.33% late Thursday The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, sank to 3.69% from 3.79% in a notable move for the bond market.

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, prompt-

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.

ANOTHERVIEW

Wherethe New Orleansmayor’s race nowstands

The open primary for mayor of New Orleans is seven weeks away. Early voting starts in five weeks Alot will happen between now andthen. Wheredoes theracenow stand?

TherecentWWL-TV poll that Iconducted shows Helena Moreno, an at-large memberofthe City Council, in first place with47% of thevote. She is followed by state Sen. Royce Duplessis with18% and District ECouncil member Oliver Thomas with 16%. Other candidates total5%, and 14% of voters are undecided

Ron Faucheux

The big question amonglocal politicos is whether front-runner Moreno can win withouta runoff.Itmay be possible, but it’sstill too earlytotell.

To push the race into arunoff, Moreno’sopponentsneed to better define themselves andtheir messages Why would they be abetter mayor? They also need to weaken Moreno, and that’s usually done with attack ads that reach wide audiences, especially on television and radio.

Online media has an importantrole to playinevery campaign’smedia mix, butTVand radio ads,backed up by direct mail, move numbers quicker—and these candidates need to move numbers quickly

While seven weeks may be an eternity in politics, Moreno’sopponentsshould recall Louisiana’s last gubernatorial election, when Jeff Landry’sopposition waited too late to go afterhim. Moreover,attack ads are double-edged swords: Just as Moreno’sopponents can go after her,she can go after them.

Thebiggest news from theWWL-TVpollisDuplessis overtaking Thomas for second place. Arthur Hunter’swithdrawal from themayoral contestand his endorsement of Duplessis gave Duplessis aboost. Twopolls —one taken right beforeHunter’s exit andone rightafter —showed Duplessis gaining four points while Moreno and Thomas didn’t budge Duplessis entered the race latebut has made quick, though less than dramatic, progress. Thomas has been running for along time and appears to be stuck, at least for now.None of this hashad much impact on Moreno’slead, althoughmost local wags believe Duplessiswould be astronger runoffopponent for her than would Thomas.

Why is Moreno so strong? There aretwo main factors.

First, mostvoters in thecitylike her. Herfavorable rating is 62%, with arelatively lowunfavorable rating of 17%. Duplessis and Thomashavefavorable ratingssimilar to one another’s(40% and39%), but Thomas has an unfavorable rating (34%) that’shigher than Duplessis’ (22%).

The second factorisMoreno’smultiracial voter appeal. The WWL-TV poll shows her running first in the primary with Blacks, Whites and those who identify as other races. That’sa grandslam in thegame of coalition-building.

Forthe primary,Morenopolls 30% ofBlack voters, while Duplessis and Thomas each poll24%. Moreno polls 70% of White voters comparedto10% for Duplessisand 3% forThomas.

Many election watchers believe Moreno will have atough time holding her currentlevel of Black support in the primary,and especially in arunoff. History tells us they could be right.We’ll see. But for now,polling shows her leadinghypothetical runoffs against bothThomas and Duplessisbywide margins, capturing substantial support across racial lines Current voter registration in New Orleansis54% Black, 37% White and 9% other.Inthe 2024 presidential election featuringDonald Trumpand Kamala Harris, 52% of votes in the citywerecastbyBlack people, 40% by Whitepeopleand 8% by people of other races. How about other demographics?

Duplessis does better withyounger voters, and Thomas does better with olderones. Moreno leads younger and older voters anddoes about the same with both groups. Moreno and Thomas do somewhat better among women than men —and in New Orleans,that’simportant; asizable 56% majority of the electorate is female. Duplessis doesa bit betterwith men than with women. Allthese positions can fluctuate over time. Importantly,the WWL-TV poll shows more undecided voters are Black thanWhite, younger than older, men than women. Motivating voter turnout is critical for all three campaigns. So, who wins? That dependsonyou, thevoters. Remember,polls are only pictures intime andnot crystal balls.

Ron Faucheux is anonpartisan pollster, political analyst andwriter based in Louisiana.

NPRbroadcastsnewsthat MAGA doesn’twanttohear

To theletter writer who stopped his contributions to NPR 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 response but 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

Combat veterans should getspecial recognition

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

Allowing darker window tint seemsunnecessary

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

In eraof divisiveness,all should agreeon Epstein files

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

GreenWavenot sweating it out

Tulane hopefulexchangeof Australianpunters will be aboon

BY GUERRYSMITH

Contributing writer

After attending Marshall in Huntington, West Virginia, the past two years, newTulane punterAlec Clarkadmits he still hasnot gotten used to the New Orleans humidity that makes him sweat the second he walks out to practice.

On the flip side, his presence has allowedcoach Jon Sumrall to sweatmuch lessthan he would have otherwise.

Clark, from just outside Perth, Australia, transferred in April to replace Sydney nativeWill Karoll, who departed for UCLA near theend of spring drills. Nearlyleft in the lurch, Sumrall hopestocomeout ahead in the exchange of Aussie punters fromopposite sides of the country

Their statistics aremostly awash.Karollaveraged 42.8 yards on 42 punts with a78-yarder lastseason that was the third-longest punt in schoolhistory. A

practice. The Marshall transfer and Perth, Australia, nativereplaces Sydney,Australia,

wholeft for UCLA.

year earlier,heaveraged 44.0 yards.

Clark averaged 42.4 yards with along of 67 in 2024 after spending most of his 2023 freshman season at Marshall as abackup. “It was vital (toget him)” Sumrall said. “There’sno substituting for aguy who’sbeen out there with the

page 4C

KellycomparesPickett to NFLstarHamilton

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 wasnamed 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 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

Saints’Price aiming to join small NFLgroup

Jayden Price never knows exactly what he will hear,but he knowshe’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 close out training camp with Saturday’spreseason finale against the DenverBroncos, Price is trying to make his casethat he belongs on the 53man 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 PhiladelphiaEaglesrookie CooperDeJeanwerethe only two White cornerbacks to start last season. Ethan Bonner is abackup for the Miami Dolphins. When Moss became a starter for Denver in 2023, he was the first White cornerbacktostart 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

ä See WALKER, page 5C

Bubble ballers

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

There won’tbemuch time betweenwhen the Saintswrap up their finalpreseason game against the Denver Broncos on Saturdayand when they trim theirroster to 53 players. New Orleans currently has a90-man roster.ByTuesday afternoon, that number must be 53, with a16-man practice squad (orpotentially 17) to follow The Saints will have plenty of interesting decisions to make, and it sounds like they’re willingto manipulatethe roster as much as they can.

“The unique thing is theroster is such amoving, dynamic, fluid thing,” coach Kellen Moore said. “With the veterans that can be on the practice squad, what our initial 53 looks like is going to be moving, especially during the first three or four weeksofthe season, just because you have some flex to move guys up and down 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,VELUSJONES 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 not yet appeared in apreseasongame. Thesixthround pick in this year’sdraft has not beenable to show what he can do in live action.

Neal returned 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 NewOrleans would have to risk sending him through waivers —a dicey 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 protector andhas shown solid hands throughout training camp. Jones is aconvertedwide receiver whoisstill somewhat

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Alec Clark prepares to punt Friday during aTulane

nativeWill Karoll,

Rod Walker

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

at the Caesars Superdome. Jones, a

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER

Saints cornerback JaydenPrice, right, covers wide receiver Cedrick Wilson during training camp on Aug. 2inMetairie.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

6p.m.UCDavis

6:30p.m.

6:30

2p.m. Kansas vs.Vanderbilt FS1

4p.m. Creighton vs. Penn St.FS1 GOLF

9a.m. LIV: Championships FS2

11 a.m. LIV: Team ChampionshipsFox

Noon PGA: Tour ChampionshipGolf

1:30 p.m. PGATour:Ally Challenge Golf

3:30 p.m. LPGA: CPKC Women’sOpen Golf HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

2:30 p.m. Mater DeiatSt.Thomas Aqui. ESPN

7p.m. St. FrancesatCham-Madonna ESPN2

9:30 p.m. Folsom at Grant Union ESPN HORSE RACING

2p.m. TheTravers Stakes Fox IFL

9:30 p.m. VegasatGreenBay CBSSN

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL WORLD SERIES

11:30 a.m. Chinese Taipei vs.Aruba ABC

2:30 p.m. Conneticut vs.Nevada ABC

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Noon Boston at N.y.yankeeS MLBN

3p.m. Toronto at Miami MLBN

7:30 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at San DiegoFS1

8:30 p.m. ChicagoCubs at L.A.Angels MLBN NFLPRESEASON

Noon Denver at NewOrleans WVUE

Noon L.A. RamsatCleveland NFLN

3p.m. Seattle at Green BayNFLN

6p.m.Jacksonville at Miami NFLN

9p.m.Las VegasatArizona NFLN RODEO

7p.m.Camping WorldTeamSeries CW

WOMEN’S RUGBY

8:30 a.m. Scotland vs.WalesCBSSN

MEN’S SOCCER

6:30 a.m. Tottenham HotspuratMan. City USA

9a.m.Aston Villa at Brentford FC USA

11:30 a.m.Leeds United at Arsenal NBC

6p.m.Cavalry FC at Atletico Ottawa FS2

WOMEN’S SOCCER

3p.m.Washington at BayCBS

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 DOUGFERGUSON

ATLANTA— Tommy Fleetwood is a familiar story hopeful ofa different ending, posting eight birdies in hisround of 7-under 63 to share the lead Friday at the Tour Championship with Russell Henleyinwhat was shaping up as atight race for the $10 million prize.

PGATour championship

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

Maybe it ends with the Englishmanwinningtwo trophies for his first win —the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putter that serves as the Tour Championship trophy

“All Ican do is keep learning,” Fleetwood said. “I actually feel like I’ve played very,very wellwhenI 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. Thepeoplethat win the most are the guys that are in contention the most.

“That’swhere Iwant to be,” he said. “I keep going. Ilove the buzz when Iamincontention, and I’m just excited for the opportunity again.”

The only buzz he gotwrong was the setting on his clippers when he went to trim his beard, prompting questions about whether he shaved.Itbeats the alternative question of when he willwin or whether this will be the week.

TommyFleetwood, of England,waitstoputtonthe third green during the second

Championship on FridayinAtlanta.

But it won’tbeeasy.Russell Henley had another birdie-birdie finish for a66tojoin him in ashare of the lead at 13-under 127, extraordinarily lowscoring except for spells of heavy rain theprevious two days at East Lake and more expected Friday —they moved the tee times forward to avoid astoppage in play.Greens are soft, they run true and preferred liesare in place.

It’sarecipe for low scoring and that’swhat theTour Championship hasprovided Addtothatthe newformat where the top 30 players start at even, instead of the top seed gettingatwo-shot lead and the bottom five players starting 10 shots behind.

Cameron Young bolsteredhis Ryder Cup hopes with a62, which included apar save fromthe 17th fairway when he wisely pitched out from amostawkward lie.He was two shotsbehind.

PatrickCantlay,the FedEx Cup champion from 2021, was on the verge of taking himself outofthe tournament until he shot 30 on the back nine, capped off by abirdiebirdie-eagle finish, thelastone a 7-wood from 249yards to 6feet. He shot 66 andwas three behind, along with BMWChampionship runner-up Robert MacIntyre Scottie Scheffler hit awedge to

afoot on the final hole for a69, not his cleanest round but extending hisstreak of 19 consecutive rounds under par He was five back.

“Just oneofthose days where it seemed like Iwasn’tgetting rewarded for thestuff that Iwas doing,” Scheffler said. “Just atouch off all day.”

Henley opened the round by holingout from abunkerfor birdie, andheplayed the slope on the green from thebunker on the 18th for aclosing birdie.

The course is playing to an averagescore of 67 through two rounds.

“When conditions are soft and there’s been rain, Ithink that leads to abunchedleaderboard, so no surprise there,” Cantlay said. “These 30 guys have playedwell all year,sonot asurprise to see themplaying well here this week.”

That’sespecially true for Fleetwood. He was gutted when he took

aone-shot lead into the final hole at the Travelers Championship, only to take three putts from 50 feet from short of the green and lose by oneshottoaKeegan Bradley birdie.

Twoweeks ago in Memphis, he was two ahead with three to play when he played onechip too firm, failed to get up-and-down on the 17thand wound up one shot out of aplayoff.

There is still plenty of work ahead, with 13 players at 7-under 133 or lower “I know this weekend scoring is obviously going to be very good,” Fleetwood said. “The scoring is really good, but the course actually isn’teasy.You’vegot to play well.Iknow thatI need to justgo out for the next 36 holes —Imean, I’mnot even thinking about36, I’ve got to start tomorrow first —keep committing to my golf shots, keep hitting them,and hopefully play well.”

NASCAR’s Daytonaracetofinalize playoff lineup

BYJENNA FRYER AP auto racingwriter

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. NASCAR returns to DaytonaInternational Speedway to finalize its 16-car playoff lineup, with two spots up forgrabs and awin-and-you’re-in opportunity for any driver yet to visit victorylane this season.

Tyler Reddickand Alex Bowman hold the final two tenuous positions in the Cup Series points standings heading into Saturday night’srace, but neither is locked into the championship chase.

Reddick is last year’sregularseason champion and even made it to the title-deciding finale, and Bowman drives for mighty HendrickMotorsports, ateamexpected to have all four drivers in the playoffs every year

Reddick has a29-point advantage over Bowman and was runner-up to WilliamByron —this year’sregular-season champion —inthe Daytona 500. But there’s no guarantee he will join 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace in the playoff field: afirst-time winner Saturday would claimone of the open spots, and if Bowman outpoints Reddick at Daytona,

Bowman wouldget the second shot.

Reddickhas an average finish of 23rd at Daytona, which ranks as his worst among active tracks, and he was aseason-low 34th at Richmond last week.

Bowman, meanwhile,isthe only Hendrick driver without awin this season and holds a 60-point lead over Ryan Preece of RFK Motorsports for the final spot in the playoff field.

Bowman statistically holds an advantage —hehas four top10s in his last five starts at Daytona and hisaverage finish of 8.6 in the last 10 races is bestamongfulltime drivers —while Preece has finished31st or worse in fourof thelast five races at Daytona. It’snoconsolation to Bowman, who had to defend himself from constant chatter during 2024 that he wasn’t worthy of hisseat at Hendrick.

“I am incredibly stressedout.

Anyonewho knows me knows I stress myself out over everysituation. That’s just me. Ican’tavoid it,” Bowman said. “I think for me, walking out of there Saturday night,aslong as we maximized what we could, did the things

thatwecan control correctly and didn’tmess it up on our side, whatever the result is, I’m sure we’ll have ashot at it.” Bowman has only missed the playoffs once (2023) in eight seasonswithHendrick.

Othercontenders

Front Row Motorsports does not have adriver qualifiedfor theplayoffs but haswon the pole for six of the lastnine races on drafting tracks,which consistsof Daytona and Talladega. For RickyStenhouse Jr., awin would get him intothe playoffs and all four of his Cup Series career victories have come on drafting tracks. He won the 2023 Daytona 500 but has not finished higher than 18th in four Daytona races since. Richard Childress Racing received aboost last week when Austin Dillon wonatRichmond to earn aplayoff spot,but Kyle Busch is still on theoutside Busch was runner-up at Daytona last August, but he doesn’treturn to thetrack with any momentum: Busch has not led alap in the last 13 races, thelongest streak in his career

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.

Chris BuescherofRFK Racing could be aspoiler Saturday with four top10s, including awin, in his last five starts at Daytona. But he’salso battling his boss, team co-owner Brad Keselowski, who must win to make the playoffs. Keselowskihas seven wins on drafting tracks, none, though, since2021 at Talladega. And he’s loggedanaveragefinish of 23.8 at Daytona since his 2016 victory on thesuperspeedway Winand in Only twotimes in this playoff format has adriver won the finalregular-season race to come from below the cutline to claim thefinal spot in the playoffs. Dillon did it at Daytona in 2022 and ChaseBriscoe did it last year at Darlington. Erik Jones thinks it can be done again. Jones,at23rdinthe standings, has to wintomake the playoffs for Legacy Motor Club. He won at Daytona in 2018 when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing and likes thatthe finale is back at Daytona, host from2020 to 2023, beforeDarlingtongot it lastyear

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

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

round of the Tour

AMIS

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN

Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson comes offthe field during agameagainst Vanderbilt on Oct. 5inNashville, Tenn.

Bama LB Lawson ‘has oneshot at this,’ wantstomakeitcount

BY KENNINGTON SMITH Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Deontae Lawson knows he only has one chance remaining.

The linebacker is entering his fifth and final college season, alast ride with the eighth-ranked Crimson Tide that means even more after what he endured last November.Lawson torea ligament in his knee in aloss to Oklahoma and has spent every waking moment since working his way back. Now,nine months later, Alabama’steam captain is on tracktoreturnfor the team’sseason opener at Florida State next Saturday

“He’skind of stayed ahead of every marker that we’ve had forhim,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “Tobeable to come out in fall camp, and we thought maybe we would limit some of hisloads and all that. We’ve really pushed him, and he’shandled it really well.”

Lawson’sbody has changed during recovery as well. He’sdown 11 pounds from last season, now listed at 228, and is playing at an impressive speed, Wommack said. For Lawson, the recovery process has putthe 2025 season into anew perspective.

“It just made me think about alot of things,” Lawson said. “Just how blessed Iamjust to wake up and be able to do this. It just made me realize that you really got one shot at this, to be honest.”

Ahealthy Lawson, particularly early in the season, is ashotinthe arm to an Alabama defensethat finished last season allowing 17.4 points agame —its fewest since 2017.

Alongside Lawson at inside linebacker,Alabama features fellow seniors Justin Jefferson and Colorado transfer Nikhai Hill-Green, an All-Big12selection last season. Amid an experi-

Continued from page1C

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,” Kelly said.

“That doesn’thappen. These guys don’tnormally have long speed. And when I say 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

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By VASHA HUNT

Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson works throughdrills duringapractice July 31 at the Thomas-DrewPractice Fields in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

enced group of defenders, Lawson’sleadership has stood out.

“His leadership is the thing that Ithink has really come out. That’sexciting,” coachKalen DeBoersaid. “I think he feels really good about being out there. Mentally andphysically,I think he’sinareally good spot. But there’sstill progress to be made as we buildtoward the first game.” That progress can’tbe replaced with anythingbut time.

Lawson’sstill working through trusting hisbody and playing without second thought. He carriesarguablythe most responsibility on defense as theon-field play-caller and will be an integral part of Alabama’s pass rush aswell

TheTidedefense recorded 25 sacks last season, ranking 69thnationally,and have placed an emphasisonit during camp. Lawson is Alabama’sreturning sack leader (withtwo) and has spent some of camp working with the outside linebackers in pass-rush drills.

“It’samental thing,” Lawson said. “I just got to trust myself. That just takes time. It’s definitely gettingbetter It’ssomethingthat I’ve kind of pushed to the side alittle

gained about 20 pounds 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 with junior Ashton Stamps, sophomore Florida transfer Ja’Keem Jackson and sophomore PJ Woodland Pickettusuallyhas been seen with the second-team defense during open practices.

Aweek from the season opener against Clemson, LSU has to decide which onewill start. Stamps consistently hasreceivedfirstteam reps during preseason practice after starting17 games over the past two years, butthe competition

Kelly: Tigers spent $18M on 2025 roster

BY REED DARCEY ANDWILSON ALEXANDER Staff writers

Brian Kelly revealed that LSU footballspent around $18 million on its 2025 roster, which is more than triplethe amount theTigers spent last season.

The number is acombination of revenuethe athletic department is nowallowed to share withits 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 million on therosterlast season and$11 million over the previousthree years combined, thegeneral counsel of BayouTraditions previously told The Advocate The Tigers went 9-4 last yearduring Kelly’sthird season As aresult of thelandmark House settlement, teams now have moremoney to spend. Schools across thecountry can share up to $20.5 million withtheir playersduring the2025-26 academicyear,adefacto salary cap thatwill rise annually over thenext10 years.

LSU, like many in the SEC, allocated $13.5million of therevenue-sharing budgetfor its footballprogram. Kellyand LSUgeneral man-

ager Austin Thomas previously said that money will be used on both the 2025 and 2026 teams because revenue sharing operates on the academic calendar Kellymadethe comment while talking about how the salary cap compares to the NFL.

“Look, the NFLis$280 million ayear in salary cap. We’re going to be just about $18 million,” Kelly said.“There’s abig difference between $280 million and$18 million. So, if you can’tsee the difference between the two, then you’re not really understanding that what youwant to develop your son to be is the best version of himself, so he can get the big money in three years.”

Most of the money from Bayou Traditions wasfrontloaded through NIL agreements finalized before July 1, the date the House settlement took effect. At that time, collectives across the country hadtobegin abiding by new restrictions meant to curb pay-for-play deals.

“Wehad aplan that I think was advanced for everybody else and that wasthat we were going to front-load alot of ourplayers prior to revenue sharing,”Kelly said. “And so we wouldn’tbeinaposition where, whenwegot to revenue sharing, we couldn’t compete.

“Pulling fromboth of those resources really al-

lowed us, from acontractual standpoint, to get alittle bit of ajump on thecrowd, if you will, because everybody nowseesthat plan and will be using it. But it gave us areal boomerangeffect in terms of recruiting, and it helped us with our freshman recruiting as well.”

Using NIL money from the collective, LSU planned to payout at least$10 millioninthe first half of 2025, multiple people with knowledge of the plan said. It did not factor into the salary cap. Kelly said LSU then used revenue-sharing funds “to kind of put them over the top.”

Afundraising push for the NIL money beganduringthe 2024 season.It helped LSU sign the nation’s No. 1transfer class, according to 247Sports, creating aroster that Kelly believes can compete for an SEC championship and aCollege Football Playoff berth. Kelly pledged to match $1 million in donations. Thecampaign raised $3.23 million, LSU officials said. The majority of themoney —$1.23 millionfrom fans and$1millionfrom an unnamed booster —went to Bayou Traditions. Kelly’s donation was put into the Tiger Athletic Foundation’s scholarship fund. Before the fundraising, LSU officials said they were behind othertop teams in terms of spending forthe past fewyears.

bitand just focusonwhatI can do.”

Lawson at full throttle is one of the premier defenders in theSoutheastern Conference. Despitethe injury, he’s been named to the Butkus Award watch list. The award is givenannually to the best linebacker in college football. The goal for Lawson is to play at that level and lead Alabama back to theCollege Football Playoff after adisappointing finish in 2024.

As Lawson continues progressing, he’sdrawing closer parallels to the 2023 versionofhimself, when he weighed 230 pounds andfinished second on the team in tackles. Theexpectation within the program is that his lighter frame paired with hismaturity producethe best of Lawson thisfall.

“Obviously from an injury standpoint, he hadtocome back from that, and his body is just in aposition to where he’smovingreally fast,” Wommack said. “Helooks good. He’splaying with great anticipation. Hislevel of leadership is taken to another level. He’splaying his best football right now, which is pretty impressive to say,eight,nine months, coming off of aleg injury.”

has not been decided.

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

Delane started29straight 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 fiveyears. 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

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU coach Brian Kelly watches the defenseasthe offense huddles between sessions during apreseason practice at the LSUindoor practice facilityearlier this month.

THE VARSITYZONE

FOOTBALL PREVIEW n DISTRICT 10-4A

Brotherlysupport

McDonogh 35 WR inspired by brother, lookstobuild on breakout season

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer

McDonogh 35 senior Heij Jackson saw from his brother,former St.Augustine standout Damon McFarland, howquickly afootballcareer can end It was McFarland who signedwith Louisiana Tech for the Class of 2020but wound up at aPearl River Community College, where asevere kneeinjury made it so that the former three-star defensive backwas unable to continue his career

Now,asa South Alabamacommitment, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Jackson —also listed as athree-star prospect by the recruiting websites —istrying to make each day count for as long as he can.

“He’smybiggest supporter,to be honest,” Jackson saidabout his brother. “He’salways on me. More of atoughlove type of person.”

Jackson is thetop returning wideout for McDonogh 35 after the first-team all-districtselection caught 42 passes for 547 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.The breakout seasoncame in the first yearafter Jackson transferred from Sarah T. Reed, where he played his first two seasonsofhigh school football. Before then, Jackson played flag football in middle schoolatMorris Jeff Community School, aK-through-12 school that didnot offer tackle football at the time.

TULANE

lights on and done it. The other thingabout Alec is he’sjust agood teammate. He’sbeen great for the specialist room.The chemistry in there has been good because of his presence. He’svery well-liked for the entire roster.”

Clark followed former Marshall coach Charles Huffand his staff to SouthernMiss in January but did not stay in Hattiesburg long. Sumrallhired special teamscoach Johnathan Galante away from the Golden Eagles almost immediately,and it required little arm-twisting to persuadeClark tojoin him.

“I really liked the way coach Galante coached me (at Marshall) and reallybrought me from another country at my first school,” he said. “Assoon as the opportunitycameup at Tulane, Ihad to take it.I’m reallyhappy to be here.” With his heel almost touching the backline of the end zone before Tulane’sfirst preseason scrimmage, Clark launcheda91-

The move to McDonogh 35 came at a timewhen Jacksonbegan to realize he might have the ability to playatthe next level because of the “plays Iwas making in practice” and “plays Iwas makingingames,”hesaid.

“I wanted to take it more serious,”

Jackson said. McDonogh 35 coach Frank Daggs noted how Jackson, the districtchampioninthe long jump (20 feet, 9inches) and triple jump (40-9), can reachover defenders and makecontested catches.

“He’s developingthe leadership skills of aWR1 andtrying to get everyone else to ball-out with him,” said Daggs, whose reigning district championship team also returns all-district running backAveryAnderson and has afirstyearstarter at quarterbackinsophomore Deddrick Peters

Jackson’sfirst football experience came when he was an undersized offensive and defensive lineman on his parkball team at Joe Brown Park, he said, and he stopped playing at age 9, well before thegrowth spurt that helped him reach his current height

But because of his brother,Jackson never strayed far from thesport

“Hewas tough,”Jackson said about McFarland. “He was agood player,a physicalplayer.Hereally motivated me to be areceiver.”

McFarland was atop-level player for St. Aug, ateam captainchosen to wear the coveted No. 7jersey when he was a senior.Hecommonlydefended against

theother team’stop wideout, and when St. Aug faced arunning team, he moved to strong safety.

“I was one of them ones,” said McFarland, whose playing career ended with an ACLand meniscus tear before the season began.

McFarland, who is learning to become aplumber,tells his brother to play for as long as possible but alsotohave a backup plan.

“It’s not meantfor everybody to go on to thenext level and keep going,” McFarland said. “Keepsomething in your backpocket. Go to school andget adegree. Make sure it’s something you want to do. Make sure youlearnsomething from your four years of experience.”

Jackson decided on South Alabama after avisit to theschool to participate in aseven-on-seventournament in June. The school offered him ascholarship in March.

“I was balling,” Jackson said about his play at the tournament. “They saw it in person.After they talked with me,I always knew that was theschool Iwanted to go to.”

Jackson told South Alabama receiverscoach PaulPetrino he was ready to commit. They shared thenews with head coach Major Applewhite.

“Very excited,” Jackson said about howtheyreacted to hiscommitment. “I’mgratefulfor the opportunity.”

Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@ theadvocate.com

yard rocket that went over the returner’s head and rolled all the way inside the 10 on theother end of thefield.

His value is more than just raw numbers. It was no accident he went without ablocked punt at Marshall.

“The most impressive thing about Alecis how efficient he is,”Sumrall said. “Catch to kick, he’s fast. The operation component of

LOOKING BACK

1. McDonogh35

Last year: 7-4 overall (reachedsecond round)

4-0 in district

2. Douglass

Last year: 6-3 (first round),3-1

3. Carver

Last year: 2-8 (missedplayoffs), 2-2

4. McMain

Last year: 1-8 (missedplayoffs), 1-3

5. Abramson

Last year: 1-8 (missedplayoffs), 0-4

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ja’Heim Butler

ATH| Abramson

The two-waystandout will be “that athlete forme,” coach GilbertChartian said.At 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, Butlerwill playrunning back and receiveronoffense and continue at safetyondefense.Heisamong five seniors in the program

TazayDuncan WR/DB |McMain

The 6-foot-2,225-pound do-everything playerhas experience at defensiveend, outside linebacker and safety.Healso will playwide receiveronoffense

Rayheinz Henry DB |Carver

The 6-foot-2,175-pound returning all-district defensiveback and two-yearcaptain had 117 tackles and four interceptions, including threereturnedfor touchdowns.“A ballhawk,”coach Luis Figueroa said.

Heij Jackson

WR/KR |McDonogh 35

The South Alabama commitmentmakes the most of his 6-foot-3 framewith howhecan reach above defenders and catch the football. Jackson had 42 catchesfor 547 yards and 10 TDs last season.

VanceReed

ATH| Douglass

Accounted formorethan 1,000 all-purposeyardsand sevenTDs while playingquarterbackand receiverfor a teamthat reachedthe playoffs fora fourth consecutive season.The speedytwo-waystandout also was astate qualifier in the400 meters.

FIVE THINGSTOKNOW

1. Reigning district champion McDonogh 35 returns all-district performersinJackson, running back Avery Anderson, offensiveguardChase Bolton, offensive tackle Jacob Jones, punter Chason Collins and defensiveback Justin Ross. Sophomore Deddrick Peters will playquarterback.

2. District runner-up Douglass returnstwo all-district performersondefense.Those players are senior linebacker TyrenDonaldson and sophomore defensive back Ronald Gardet.

3. Carver brings back plentyofexperience with Henry and senior linebacker ZhcyeThomas on defense, plus senior wideout ChesneySadler(eight TD receptions) and junior Freddie Barra (nine TDs) on offense Sophomore Leonard Washington will playQB.Alldistrict kicker yair Perezreturns.

4. Abramson hiredChartian as head coach after he wasdefensivecoordinator for12seasons at his alma mater Carver. SophomoreCharlesHenry will play quarterback.

5. For McMain, returning players include AngelGilbert, astate finalist in the hurdles, and Lonnie Bickham arunning back withsomeexperience at QB.Coach Brandon Walters is in his second season. He coached West St.John to astate titlein2017. ChristopherDabe

that punt team can getyou in trouble if it’s slow.Hedoesa phenomenal job time-wise but then also hits really good punts.”

Clark’scollege career began through the mentorship of Darren Bennett, the first famous Australian punter in whathas become aconstantpipelinetoAmerica.Bennett, who was named to the NFL’s all-decade team for the1990s while playing forthe San Diego Chargers,servedasthe middleman between Clark and Galante at Marshall, leading to theclose relationship between coach and player

“I managed his transition to theU.S.and gettinghim acclimated,” Galante said.“He played all lastyear at Marshall andnow he’s takingthat next step.

“He couldhavedonesomethings better, and now we’re trying to iron out those kinks so he can improve, and he’sbeen doing that so far ” Clark, 22, said he grewupanAmerican sports fan while in Perth, where he spent plenty of time camping and goingtothe beach around Australia’s isolated west coast. He became hooked on puntingwhen he saw thesuccessoffellow Aussies MichaelDickson,who is enteringhis eighth

year with the Seattle Seahawks, and Perth product Mitch Wishnowsky,the San Francisco 49ers punter from 2019-24. He bought his first football around age 18. “As soon as Istarted kicking it and seeing how far and high the ball goes, it waslike, yeah,this is reallyfun,” he said. “Thenunderstanding howmanyAustraliankids go on to colleges, Isaw it as an avenue to live on the other side of the world and see all different cultures and places.”

Huntington, Hattiesburg and NewOrleans definitely run the gamut forculture. He has not regretted any of his decisions, returning homeonly once since arriving in the U.S. in August 2023. His highlight came when his dad and brother attended Marshall’swild 35-33 double-overtimecomeback winatJames Madison last November He would love to makemore memories at Tulane andsees his role as astabilizer for the Green Wave.

“I’m trying to be consistent andreliable because the only reason I’mput in the game is because the offense has stalled,” he said. “I don’twantanother negative playontop of what’shappened to the offense.”

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Tulane punter Alec Clark listens to coach Jon Sumrall during practice Friday.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN MCCUSKER

McDonogh 35 wideoutHeij Jackson warms up beforethe team’sscrimmageagainst John Ehret in Harvey on Wednesday. The seniorhas committed to South Alabama.

Battle forBengals starting rightguard continues

BY CHARLIE GOLDSMITH Associated Press

CINCINNATI Bengals coach Zac Taylor doesn’thave atimeline when it comes to naming astartingright guard forWeek1.The position battle between Lucas Patrick, Cody Ford and Jalen Rivers continues as training camp nears its end. Even if Taylor had mapped out a plan for the competition, injuries would have prevented thatplan from taking shape.

“We’ve had guys battling through injuries almost theentire time,” Taylorsaid. “I don’tthink any schedule we would have had on would have been able tostand up because guys have been fightingthrough different stuff.”

Taylor announcedWednesday that Cordell Volson will have season-ending shoulder surgery Volson had been the second-team right guard before he got hurt. He was astarter from 2022through 2024, but he was slated to fill a

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

bench role before he was injured

“All he has ever done is come to work and try to be the best CincinnatiBengalhecan be,” Taylor said. “Not always agreeing with what we are doinginterms of him not being astarter anymore, but just handled it in such aprofessionalway and been ateam player through and through.”

Patrick and Ford are day to day with undisclosed injuries. As aresult, Rivers has been getting firstteamrepsatright guardaheadof Cincinnati’sfinal preseason game on Saturday against Indianapolis.

TheBengalsselected Rivers in the fifth round of April’sNFL draft to be the team’sswing tackle. But when Rivers struggled at that spot early in training camp and multipleguards suffered injuries, Riverslearned he would be playing guardgoing forward.

“They drafted me to be aversatilelinemanfor them,” Rivers said. “I’m showing that Ican do that. Showing that Ican play right guard and that they can trust me

meansalot. I’ll keep working at it.”

Patrick has missed time with two injuries during training camp, but he has received themost first-team reps at right guard. The eight-year veteran has played in 112 NFL games. Patrick has been abackup for most of his career,but the Bengals arehopeful he canraise the floor of the offensive guard group.

Patrick assessed his performance in training camp as up-anddown,but he feelshimself getting more comfortable in anew scheme.

“I’vetried to put my best foot forward and play as good as Ican, but I’m still adjusting to the nuances and really getting those down,” Patricksaid.“I’vegot some work to do. There’salways work to do.”

Fordhad been spending mostof his time at tackle over the last two weeks, but he’sbetteratguard and has started games for the Bengals at that positioninthe past. Taylor said Fordisstill in themix in the right guard battle.

WILSON: Both of these veteransare in tenuous positions after the Saints acquired receiver Devaughn Vele in atrade this week. New Orleans now has five receivers who should comfortably be on theroster 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’sasimilar body type to four of the aforementioned receivers. Wilson has positive prior experience with Moore, having spentsomeofthe best years of his career with him in Dallas, and he brings the added benefitofanother bigbody whocan block. But he’sshown little as apass catcher

WALKER

Continued from page1C

in agame since Sehorn in 2002.

While Price doesn’tknow 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.Hethen played one 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 Whiteteammate he’shad in the cornerback 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 you at corner. The few that do make it in the league, they are aspecialbreed Youlook at Riley Moss and Cooper and they are really, really good.” Saints tight end Seth Green, who first got in the NFL in 2022, was Price’s teammate in the UFL with the Renegades.

“He was one of the hardest workers on the team,” Green said. “He’salways going to show up when he gets the opportunity.” Green, likeYiadom,said Price is the first White cornerback he’shad as ateammate in the NFL.

“He is out there letting the work speak for itself,” Green said. “I love that. He’sagood dude and he always embraces it and jokes

Moreau and Taysom Hill recover from late-season knee injuries, the Saints need to decide who is going to round out their depth at tight end.

Jack Stoll likely will join Juwan Johnson on the 53man roster,but it will be interesting to seehow the Saintstreat the rest of the position room. Welch has closed training camp on astrong note, and he flashed in last week’s preseason game against theJaguars,making a tough 28-yard catch in tight coverage. He spent most of last season with theSaints on the practicesquad.

TheSaints selected Matavao in theseventhround in the spring. He hasn’thad much chance to show what he can do as apass catcher in the preseason, with one catch for 6yards, but he’sa bigbody who can add value as ablocker

Tightends

TREYTON WELCH AND MO-

LIKI MATAVAO: WhileFoster

Edge rusher

JASHEENDAVIS: Barring

something unforeseen, Davis will getcaught up in the numbers game along the edge. New Orleans can only keep so many,and threeofthe spotswillbe locked up by ChaseYoung, CarlGranderson and Cam Jordan.

But Davis is also an interesting case. He had astring of afew practices where he looked nearly unblockable —including one where he recordedatleastthreesacks

Then, likeNeal,hesuffered an injurythatcost him afew weeks of practice and thefirst twopreseason games. Davis recently returned to practice, and this weekend willbethe first time theSaints seehim in alive setting.

He still faces an uphill climbtomakethe roster— withveteran Chris Rumph and draft pick Fadil Diggs likelyaheadofhim —but he will be an interesting onetowatch

Linebackers

JAYLAN FORD,NEPHI SEWELLAND ISAIAH STALBIRD: Linebacker has becomeone of the more interesting positions on the roster With Demario Davis and Pete Wernersitting outthe first twopreseason games, theSaintshavedisplayed their depth at the position. Rookie Danny Stutsman has made some plays, and he’sbeen lined up next to D’Marco Jackson with the first team The rest of thegroup has popped as well. Ford made akey interception last week and also pressured the quarterback several times while blitzing. Sewell has been acore special-teamer forseveral seasons now,but the rookie Stalbird is pushing him there, making four special-teams tacklesinthe preseason so far.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com

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

“It’scrazy.I

think when you’re agood White athlete, they just automatically put you at slot receiver or safety.They don’teven think to put you at corner.”

ISAACyIADOM,

aboutit. He knows it’s rare, but he also knows hiswork is going to show.” While cornerback ishis primary position, Price can contribute elsewhere. Kellen Moore has used him in the return game, where Pricehad a31-yard kickoff return anda13-yard punt return in Sunday’s preseason gameagainst the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had a25-yard kickoff return in the preseason opener against theLos Angeles Chargers.

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

Pricemade sure of that whenhegot to collegeat North Dakota State. He playedquarterback inhigh school in his hometown of Derby, Kansas, right outside of Wichita. He started playing some cornerback hissenior year sincehe was beingrecruited as an athlete.

He got scholarship offers from North Dakota State, severalschoolsin theMissouri Valley Conference andalate offer from Tulane.

He shunned the Tulane offer,decidingtostick with hiscommitment to North Dakota State, where he was on three FCS national championship teams.

Saints cornerback

“Once Igot to college and switched to the defense side, Iwas trying to finda way to keep theballinmy hands,”Price said. “So I started being areturner andadaptedtothatand it helpedmygame alot. I addedsome value to myself, so Ilovedoing it because Ilovethe ball in my hands.”

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

Price knows he’sgoing to stand out in whatever cornerback room he’sin, but he also wants to make sure he stands out on the field so he can earn one of those 53 precious roster spots. It won’tbeeasy,but Price knows what he needs to do in Saturday’sfinal audition.

“Anything and everything,” Price said. “Just go out there and make plays, fly around and play fast and play confident.Hopefully afew plays go my way and Ican show that Ican make abig play and I’ll feel good going intonext week. Anythingand everything can help my case.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@theadvocate.com

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

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

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones.

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

Askabout

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Saints linebacker Jaylan Ford is tackled by Jacksonville Jaguarstight end Patrick Herbertafter Ford’s second-half interception on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By KyUSUNGGONG

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOBySTEPHANIE SCARBROUGH Bengals coachZac Taylor speaksduring anewsconferencefollowing a preseasongame against the Washington Commanders on Mondayin Landover, Md. Taylor has yettoname astarting right guard for Week 1.

VIRGO (Aug.23-Sept. 22) Something unexpected is heading your way. Before you dismiss what's coming, consider how youcan parlay it into something useful

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll be torn between what youshould do and what youwanttodo. Stopprocrastinating; choose what offers gratitude andsatisfaction. Let your imagination help you gain insight into self-improvement

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Pick up knowledge, skills and qualifications that will help youraise your earning potential. Mix business with pleasure, and you'll charm people whocan help you advance.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Lookatyour environment,set abudget and reconstruct your surroundings to suityour needs. Examineyoureating andexercise habits to ensure better health.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) When in doubt,step back,weigh the pros and cons and don't be afraid to take apass. Trust yourself over someone putting on abig show to convince youtobecome a follower.

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

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

ages positive input and spending time with people whoaccept you forwho you areand love you unconditionally.

ARIES(March 21-April19) Intelligence is your ticket forward. Joint ventures, expenses or spaces requirepatience, common senseand compromise. Overreacting will not help you resolve matters. Lead the way.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Do what you must do and keep moving. Making excuses will prolong the agony of doing something you findtaxing. Balanceis the key 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-July22) Acivil conversation will be more effective than a shouting match. Take the time to sort out your thoughts and lay out alternatives andcompromises that willminimizearguments

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Use your swagger and your intelligence to win favors. Offerfacts, demonstrations and proof thatyour 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 andrews mcmeel syndication

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothat each row, each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Bernard Pivot,a French journalist, interviewer and host of cultural television programs,said, “Youget the feelingthat many of my guestsfeel that the French language gives them entry into a more cultivated, more intelligent world, more highly civilized too, with rules.”

Several decades ago, French was the diplomaticlanguage,but it hasbeen replaced by English. But it still is abeautiful language. If abridgeplayeriscarefulwithhis 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?

South doesn’t like to respond one notrump, but suchislife occasionally at the bridge table. (Some Souths would respond three clubs, aweak jump shift, but Iamnot afan of leaping into the stratosphere with no known fit. Here, it is true, it worksfine because East is unlikely to find the testing heart lead against three no-trump.) North,with a good five-card suit, three aces and one king, is worth the jump-raise to three no-trump.

Southhas only five top tricks: two spades, two hearts(given theopening lead) and one diamond. Five more winners can come from the club suit, but assuming thedefender with the club acewill duckthe first round of thesuit, declarer will need ahand entry —which is where? His onlywinner outside clubs is in hearts.

wuzzles

To guarantee that hand entry, South must take the first trickwith dummy’s heart ace. Then he drives out theclub ace and will eventually come to 10 tricks: two spades,two hearts, one diamond and five clubs.

©2025 by nEa, inc dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

EachWuzzleisaword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

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

toDAY’s WoRD ZooPHYtEs: ZO-uh-fites:Invertebrate animals resembling plants in appearance.

Average mark 31 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Canyou find 47 or more words in ZOOPHYTES?

YEstERDAY’sWoRD —oMIssIBLE

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato mallard

dIrectIons: make a2-to 7-letter word from the lettersineach row. add pointsof each word, using scoring directionsat right.Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter havenopoint value. allthe words are in theOfficial sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition

ken ken

Puzzle Answer

WiShinG Well

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

the

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

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HOME | DESIGN | GARDEN | REAL ESTATE

Astorm,ahomeand itslegacy

GREENTHUMB

It’s TLCtime forKnock Outroses. PAGE 4

IN DETAIL

Playing defense in the front yard. PAGE 7

ONEINAMILLION

An award-winning home along the 17th Street Canal levee was brought back after Hurricane Katrina. Today,it shelters another generation of its famed designer’sfamily.Jyl Bensontells the story on Page 12.

Step inside an amazing English Countryhomein Mandeville.Located in The Sanctuary subdivision, this

one is large andluxe,soluxe in fact that it includesapool and aputting green.Victor Andrews givesusasneak peek on Page 8.

In Inside Sources, ourfeatureonlocal services and trends, woodworker Kenny Watson tells howtospotsolid wood over veneer furniture Also, getalook at his custom tables. That’sonPage10.

A$1.85Mhome in Mandeville’s The Sanctuary.PAGE8

INSIDE SOURCES

Custom furniturecrafted from fine woods. PAGE 10

INSIDE INFO

Home and garden happenings. PAGE 11

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

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

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Victor Andrews, Jyl Benson, Dan Gill

COVERDESIGN: AndreaDaniel

COVER PHOTO: LizJurey

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

COVERSTORY

Home defies hurricanes to stay in the family. PAGE 12

REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS

Recent transactions in the metroarea. PAGE 17

InsideOut’smission is to give readers peeks inside themany different waysthat peopleinthe NewOrleans area live. We profile spaces that are opulent, or just offbeat; sophisticated or simple; functional or light-hearted;historicorbrand-spanking new. And anything in between.

Please help us by sending informationand JPEGphotos of your home, or specific spaces inside it, to insideout@theadvocate.com. We love gardens and outdoor spaces, too. Andwe’re waiting to hear from you.

Karen Taylor Gist

2265 Highway39•Braithwaite

$1,600,000

Completely renovated, 3,968SFhomeon84.75 acresjustone-halfmile off of Highway39. Huge storagespace forboats,tractors, ATVs,trailers or workshop.Sellerhas 34 oneacrelotsplotted betweenhighway andhouse.Just5minutes from theBelle Chasse Ferry.40minutes from New Orleans. Perfectasinvestmentorgreat weekendgetaway EleanorFarnsworth504-669-0211

LATTER &BLUM| COMPASS•GardenDistrict504-891-1142

2621 Metairie HeightsAvenue•HeartofMetairie$519,000

Tastefully decorated3Bd,3.5Ba,2,603sf home on 100x120dblelot w/ convenient access to I-10.Designedw/entertaining in mind,open flrplanw/ 2expansive family rms. Rearydretreat w/ cov’dpatio,newly resurfaced pool, stylishcabana w/ full bath &outdoor kit& bararea. Pluscov’d carportfor 2+ vehicles, +add’l off-stprkgfor 6+ cars,spaciousgarg/wrkshopatrearoflot

ChaseDenny 504-717-1751 or 504-231-4906

RE/MAX Living 504-475-1011

7523 Garnet Street •Lakeview/ West Lakeshore$865,000

Arrive at this elegant4Bd,3Full&2 Half Bas, 3,034Sfold brickcolonialhome, only 3housesfromthe levee& Lake Pontchartrain! Living Rm openstoFamily Rm ovrlkg patio&pool. Dining Rm leads to bkfstarea& GourmetKit.Bonus rm couldbestudy/gym.All beautifullylandscaped. Att’ddbl carporthas long strg rm w/ half bath.Whole houseGenerator.X Flood Zone.Great forentertaining!

ffi

heartofN.O.historicUptownneighborhood- arare find!Steps to manytrendyrestaurants,shops &local grocerystore.Newly renovated, gleamingorighdwd flrs,tallceilings, decorativefrplcs& an abundanceof naturallight.Stylish &updated kitchen, spacious bkyd &lrg strg shed.3bdrms areall ensuite. Off-stprkg. Don’tmissyourchancetomakethis gemyours!

78656TurnpikeRoad•Folsom$950,000

A22-Acre PrivateSanctuary at theCrossroadsofSt.Tammany &Tangipahoa. This 4Bd, 3.5Ba, 2,868SqFthome is designed to embraceits surroundings. Wraparound porches, chef’s kitchen,beautiful hdwd flrs,luxury primarysuite + whole-housegenerator.Stepoutside &the magiccontinues:artesian-fedpond, privatebeach, trails& so muchmore! Perfectblend of seclusion& accessibility. AprilBrown Aprilgo1@gmail.com504-606-0466 HospitalityRealtywww.hospitalityrealty.net

TO K

Tenacious KnockOut roses aregreat

landscapeadditions.

Here’s howtocarefor them.

The Knock Out rose is likely the most planted rose in southeast Louisiana landscapes. Since its introduction in 2000, the Knock Out rose hasushered in awhole new way to look at roses and use theminour landscapes. Itscharacteristics are well documented —excellent disease resistance, more frequent reblooming, showy clustersofsingle, cherry-red flowers (there are also dark pink, light pink, yellow,orange, white, red and double Knock Out varieties), dark green attractive foliage and a shrubby growth habit thatworks well in the landscape.

(like the smallergrowingDrift roses), tend to be used in landscape plantings likeany other shrub rather than isolated in special rose gardens. Andtheyplaythatrole very well.

Because of their easier care and attractive growthhabit, Knock Out roses, along with otherlandscape roses

Like allthe repeat-flowering roses we grow in Louisiana (hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda,China, noisette, tea, Bourbon, landscape roses, miniature roses andothers), Knock Outroses should receive a majorpruning twiceayear.The first pruning is done from late January through mid-February,and thesecond is done in late Augustthrough thefirst week in September.So, it is appropriatetofocus on pruningroses now. The time we prune repeat-flowering

ä See ROSES, page 6

GARDEN TIPS

MITESAND FLIES,OH

MY: Spider mites and white flies are abundant now, and manygardeners are experiencing heavy outbreaks. Makeseveral applications of yearRound Spray Oil or All Seasons Spray Oil before theyget too out of hand. Be sure to spraythe undersideofthe leaves for best control, and spray in the early morning when it is cooler.

FOCUS ON BUTTERFLIES: Small, yellowaphids on

your butterflyweed or milkweed will not damage the plantsoraffect the feeding of adult and larval monarch butterflies. Do not use insecticides.

THINK BULBS: Begin to order spring-flowering bulbs from catalogs for fall planting.Weplant most bulbs in November Refrigerate tulip and

hyacinth bulbs for eight weeksand plant in late December or early January.

CUTBACKS: Many summer beddingplants that were planted months agowill continue to bloom throughthe fall butmay be leggyand overgrown by thistime. Cut them back by about one-third to one-halfto producestockier,fuller plants.This is often done to beddingplants such as impatiens, begonia, lantana, bluedaze,

Because of theireasier care and attractive growth habit, KnockOut roses tend to be used in landscape plantingslike anyother shrub rather than isolated in specialrose gardens.

GETTy IMAGES

verbena, pentas, salvia, periwinkle and others.

PICK YOUR PEARS:

Harvest pears by late August.Thebest fresh eating qualityisproduced when the fruitare ripened off the tree. Pick firm pears that have begunto showyelloworblush red. Wrap them individually in newspaper and place them in paperbagsor cardboard boxes.Theywill soften in about 10 days. This is not necessaryif youintend to cook and freeze or canthe pears.

Dan Gill GREEN THUMB

GREENTHUMB

Wasps help control insects in the garden

BY DAN GILL

Contributing writer

I’d like to get some information on wasps.Should I automatically destroy any nests I find? I seem to remember that wasps pollinate flowers.I’ve also read that some wasps eliminate garden pests.— Steve Wasps feed in two different ways. Adults feed on nectar or pollen. Although wasps are not considered as important to plant pollination as bees, they do aid in the pollination of plants. Adults are also excellent predators that catch and kill other insects. Wasp stingers are not strictly for defensive use, as in honeybees. Wasps use their stinger to sting and paralyze insects that they bring home to feed to their larva.

The wasps we most commonly encounter are paper wasps, named for the honeycombshaped paper nest they create. Because they are excellent predators, when a nest is not located in a spot that poses a problem to people, you may choose

mushroom up by the roots hoping that they will not come back,but they always do.Is there something that I can spray or, perhaps,a lawn fertilizer that would eliminate this problem?Thanks.— Sharon

to leave them alone.

However, paper wasps are very protective of their nests and will readily sting people who disturb them. Nests in locations close to where outdoor activities take place may be destroyed using commercial wasp and hornet killers. There are many other species of solitary wasps and mud daubers that share our gardens. They rarely sting people and benefit our gardens by controlling insect pests.

I have a problem with mushrooms growing all over my lawn.My neighbors don’t seem to have as bad a problem.I pull the

The mushrooms in your lawn are being produced by saprophytic fungi. These fungi are critical to the health of our landscapes. Saprophytic fungi consume and digest (decay) dead organic matter. They help keep dead organic matter from building up in nature. Saprophytic fungi benefit lawns by breaking down organic matter (grass clippings, dead stems and leaves) and preventing excessive thatch buildup that could otherwise impede the growth of lawn grass.

Saprophytic fungi are always present in our lawns and gardens, quietly decaying organic matter. We just don’t usually see them (although you may occasionally see the white threads of saprophytes when you move decaying mulch or compost).

But after a generous period of rainfall, many of these fungi make their presence known by sending up mushrooms, lots and

lots of mushrooms. The mushroom is simply a growth from a fungal organism. Their role is to produce spores and release them. You can remove the mushrooms you see, but the organism producing them is still there in the soil. Removing the mushrooms, then, doesn’t keep them from coming back.

Saprophytic fungi and the mushrooms they produce are not harmful to your lawn, so there is no need for concern in that regard. Because it is possible that some of the mushrooms may be poisonous, however, some caution is appropriate. Mushrooms should be removed

HILARy SCHEINUK

GREENTHUMB

ROSES

Continued from page 4

roses is linked to their primary blooming seasons. The late winter pruning prepares them for their blooming period from April to early June, and the late summer pruning prepares them for their October through midDecember blooming season. Although repeat-flowering roses bloom through the summer, it is during these two blooming seasons that mild weather produces the highest quality flowers.

The major reason we prune shrubby repeat-flowering roses is to stimulate vigorous new growth. Roses bloom on the new growth encouraged by cutting them back. Lots of vigorous new growth means lots of beautiful flowers.

In addition, we prune roses to control their size and shape. Rose bushes can become too large for the location where they are planted. Pruning twice a year helps keep them the desired size. Pruning also encourages the bushes to be shapely and full and keeps them from getting leggy. When pruning, we take the opportunity to remove any badly diseased or dead canes as well.

Use sharp bypass-type hand pruners when pruning roses. They make clean cuts and minimize damage to the stems. Make your pruning cuts just above a dormant bud, leaf or side shoot. Wear sturdy leather gloves and long sleeves because no matter how careful you are, thorny roses can painfully puncture or scratch your

ADVICE

Continued from page 5

before pets or children are allowed in the area where they are growing.

There are no practical treatments to kill the fungi that produce the mushrooms. The fungicides available for controlling pathogenic fungi that attack our plants will not be effective.

hands and arms. Should you need to cut canes larger than one-half inch in diameter, use loppers.

Keeping things light

We do not prune Knock Out and other repeat-flowering roses back hard during the summer They are stressed by the intense heat, and you will typically notice that flowers are smaller, the colors are faded, and they do not last as long. However, where size control is needed, it is possible to manage the size of rose bushes to some degree during the summer

After a cluster of flowers has faded, it should be removed to keep the bush looking more attractive and to encourage additional flowering. This is called deadheading

When we deadhead roses, we typically cut just above the fiveleaflet leaf closest to the flower cluster (the first five-leaflet leaf you come to as you move down the stem from the cluster of flowers).

To control size during summer, however, you may cut back to just above a leaf farther down the stem — down about 6 to 8 inches below the faded flowers — when you deadhead. Taking a longer stem when you deadhead will help control the bush’s size.

Now’s the time

Now through early September, it is time to do the late summer pruning. Again, you do not have to be too fussy about this. This pruning is generally not as severe as the late winter pruning. Plants are normally cut back by about one-third of their

As you encounter mushrooms over time, remember they are generally harmless and can be ignored. They are a nuisance, not a catastrophe.

Dan Gill is a retired consumer horticulture specialist with the LSU AgCenter. He hosts the “Garden Show” on WWLAM Saturdays at 9 a.m.

Email gardening questions to gnogardening@agcenter.lsu. edu.

height, more or less, depending on how much size control is needed. Don’t forget to remove any spindly and dead canes when you cut the bushes back. While cutting back these roses stimulates vigorous new growth and improves flowering, fertilizer also helps encourage vigorous growth. Fertilize the bushes immediately after this pruning.

In a situation where you want your rose bushes to grow large (to screen a view, for instance), you might decide not to cut the roses back so hard and just remove one-third to one-quarter their height.

In a situation where the bushes have grown too large, cut the bushes back about onehalf their current height. In late winter, you could cut them back even farther, but you should not cut them back shorter than 2 feet tall.

When winter comes

We do the first pruning of the year anytime from the last week of January to midFebruary. Pruning any later will delay the spring and early summer flowering season. For the late winter pruning, we reduce the height of the bushes by about one-half to maintain their size. Also, remove weak, spindly canes and any dead material. Fertilize in March.

Knock Out roses and other repeat-flowering roses are colorful additions to our landscapes. They generally don’t require a great deal of care throughout the year. But pruning them is an important, and often neglected, part of caring for them properly

INDETAIL

Defensive LINES

The main reason for fences is to perform a role in defending the home, but isn’t it a wonderful perk that they also can be beautiful works of wood or iron and meld so beautifully with landscapes?

— Karen Taylor Gist

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN McCUSKER

Luxe Mandeville home has a pool and a putting green for $1.85M

BY VICTOR ANDREWS Staff writer

In one of Mandeville’s most sought-after sectors, a prime example of French country elegance sits with beaucoup amenities and a feeling that evokes the name of the gated community: The Sanctuary

At 43 Cardinal Lane, the sixbedroom, four-bath home is more than 4,600 square feet of sanctuary on almost a halfacre lot, blending a vintage European flair with contemporary style and ease of living, all for $1.85 million.

Located within easy distance of major thoroughfares like Causeway Boulevard and La. 22, the home rests in a section of St. Tammany Parish that still exudes the pastoral atmosphere that has been the calling card of the northshore.

Manicured beds frame a generous auto court in front of the house, with water features

and a strong semblance to French gardens.

An arched front doorway, mimicked by flanking windows with matching shutters, leads into the home through a pair of glass-topped doors.

Inside, heart of pine floors flow freely throughout the main public areas. To the right, a home office occupies a spot behind French doors with an arched glass transom. Builtin storage provides discrete space for supplies. The room could easily serve as an additional bedroom.

Across the hall, a large arched floor-length window provides warm light to the dining room, accessible through a matching arched opening. Another opens into the home’s great room. Access is also available to the kitchen.

Past the stairs leading up to additional bedrooms, the great room of the home is a gleaming space anchored by a

ABOVE: An Old Worldstyle fountain is part of the manicured landscaping around the home in The Sanctuary in Mandeville.

LEFT: A central island is the focus of the kitchen, with seating for four while the chef prepares meals on the professional-grade stove

PROVIDED PHOTOS

An upstairs den is a family-friendly space with cabinetry and room for gathering and games.

Heart of pine floors stretch throughout the primary spaces of the home, including the treads on the stairs to the upper floor.

The great room of the home is brightly lit by a wall of windows that overlook the backyard.

With practice, ahole-in-one is as easy as walking out the back door to this putting green behind the pool.

ONEINAMILLION

two-sided fireplace withglazed white and gold tiles and apronounced mantel. Built-in cabinetry provides open shelving and cabinets for equipment andadditionalstorage. Across the back, awall of windows looks out overthe rear landscape.

Past the fireplace, an arched opening leads into abright tile-floored breakfast room that shares the fireplace and has two walls of windows overlooking the back andside yards.

The kitchen, open to the breakfast room (large enough for asitting area), captures many of the home’ssignature elements, including theprevalent arches, abundance of windows and gleamingdetails that include asubstantial islandwith seating and cooking Stainless appliances counterbalance the elements of gold spotted throughout theroom, creating aclean image. Access to apowder room is located closeby, as is an additional bedroom with an en suite.

The primary suite of the home, along the back opposite the kitchen, is centered on a large sleeping chamber with trayed ceiling and rich wood floors. Asitting area takes advantage of the plentiful windows along the back and side, making it aprime nook for reading or relaxation

Evoking the feeling of a European spa, the primarybath is atiled territoryofgenerous counters,anovalsoaking tub and aglass-walled shower.

With overtones offine European spas,the primary bathfeatures an oval soaking tubnestled under apair of windows,while the shower hastwo walls of glass to let in

natural light.The gold touches of the kitchen reappear in the fixtures of the room.

Twoadditional bedroomsare located on the first floor as well and share aJack and Jill bath.

Upstairs are two morebedrooms, along withaden and an office space.

Outside, a50-foot gunite pool (with chiller and heater) serves as the focal point.Ahot tubadds to theaquatic adventures and provides great seating for the area.

Speaking of seating, acabana withfireplace and entertainmentelectronics is located at the end of the pool, providing acovered area picture-perfect for al fresco dining, made easy by theoutdoor kitchen located just steps away

Andfor those not inclined to dive away,how about puttering away on the custom put-

tinggreen?

The exteriors are also “lightscaped” in the front and backyards for evening enjoyment.

Acabana is a great spot for conversation, cocktails and culinary exploration in the backyard of the home.

The homeislisted by Kristen Simpson, of Keller WilliamsRealty Services, (504) 343-8238.

INSIDESOURCES

With thegrain

Fine custom wooden tables made in NewOrleans

BY JYL BENSON

Contributing writer

Kenny Watson Jr.executes orders forcustom furniture, including increasingly elaborate dining room tables crafted from fine woods— often black walnut, mahogany or spalted maple —withresin insets and/or live edges. His client base, which also includes bars and restaurants, has grown beyond local boundaries to include clients in Mississippi, Tennessee andBaton Rouge.

The seeds for Kenny Watson Woodwork and Designwere planted when Watson picked up his father’swoodworking craft during the pandemic lull in 2020, creating custom upright wooden keyboard stands for musicians.

Advertising on Etsy quickly led to an abundance of orders for the sleek midcentury-modern design with legs that could easily be removed fortransport and quickly reassembled.

It caught on among musicians across thecountry.

“But Igot pretty tiredof making the same thingagain and again,” saidWatson, a Texasnative who grew up in Louisiana.“So,I eventually pulled the Etsy page down.”

That urge forchangewas no surprise for Watson, aRenaissance man who is the full-time bar manager at Toups Meatery in Mid-City.Healso sings, plays guitar and writes music for local bandMidriff, dabbles in culinary photography and is working on apilot’s license.

After the musicstands, Watson segued to designing and executingopen wooden bookcases, also with aclean midcentury aesthetic, with varyingsizes of built-in cubbies for storing anddisplaying avariety of objects. He made these primarily from his backyard on his daysoff. He solicited orders throughFacebook Marketplace, Instagram, Craigslist andword-of-mouth

Today,Watson works on

timeless look and versatility Fine woodfurniture endures forgenerations, gaining warmthand character with age. It’s often moreeco-friendly than synthetic options, especially when madefrom reclaimed or sustainably harvested wood. Unlike other materials, it can be repaired and refinished to extend its life.

custom orders out of Fugu Design, aco-working space in Mid-Citythat serves craftspeople working in woodworking and turning, ceramics, blacksmithing, welding and jewelrymaking.

He creditsthe New Orleans culinary community for the growthofhis woodworking business. “The food com-

munityinNew Orleans is so much morethan food,” he said. “There is alot of support for everything Ido—music, woodworking, my wife and our young daughter.It’sreally a big family.”

Here’ssome of what he had to say about wood furniture.

WHYSOLID WOOD?: Solid wood offers durability,aclean and

WHY CUSTOM FURNITURE?: Custom furniture can be tailored to specific styles, lifestyles and space requirements, with options in wood type, finish and size to create aunique look. Mass-produced pieces are moreaffordable, quickly available and come in many designs, but may lack durability and individuality

SOLID VS.VENEER: Solid woodis asingle piece of wood, whereas veneer is athin layer of wood glued onto acore material, such as particleboard.

SOLID

n Is it heavy? Real wood is generally heavier than veneered furniture.

n If there are drawers, are they constructed withdowelsor dovetailjoints? If so, it’s solid.

n No grainonany edges, only thetop?It’ssolid.

n The pattern,grainorcolor of thetop matches that of the bottom?It’ssolid.

n Real,solid wood that’sunfinishedwill always have grain that can be felt.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER

The dining room of chef Isaac and Amanda Toupsispunctuated by KennyWatson Jr.’s10-foot table of exotic spalted mapleinlaidwith black resin to resemble ariver

PROVIDED PHOTO Watson built thisdark walnut bar for arestaurant in Nashville, Tenn.

INSIDEINFO

Pontchartrain Home show this weekend

The annual Pontchartrain Home Show and Langenstein’s Food Fest is from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

The show will feature ahost of vendors with items related to renovation, restoration and remodeling as well as construction, fromthe outsideto the inside.

The food fest includes samples, tastings and couponsfor many brands, plus new products and achance to win $500 in groceries.

Tickets are $8. Visit jaaspro. com.

Get atour of Notarial Archives

Visitors check out the various vendor booths during aprevious Pontchartrain HomeShowatthe Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

What to know more aboutthe historyofaproperty?

New Orleans’ Civil District Court Clerk Chelsey Napoleon is offering atour of the Notarial Archives Research Center,1340 Poydras St., Suite 260, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

WOODWORKER

Continued from page 10

n Imperfection in the pattern and grain is anatural property of wood,soapiece with imperfections is likely solid.

n Desktops or dining room tabletops made from solid wood should have glue lines 10 inches apart.

n Solid wood tables have adjacent boards running in opposite directions to prevent warping.

VENEER

n Grain on the edges that goes in adifferent direction than the top? That’sveneer

n Can you see apieceglued or attached to the back? That’s veneer.

n The pattern or grain runs in acompletelydifferent direction and doesn’tmatch the top at all? That’sveneer

n Flawless,perfect patterns and grain? That’saveneer.

n Antique or new? Lowerquality veneers tend to be more easily noticeable in modern furniture.

n Veneer cannot be carved.

Tuesday.

For information, email civilclerkresearchctr@orleanscdc. com or call (504) 407-0106.

Registration open for tree school

Registration is open for the 25th annual Tree School in Jefferson Parish to be held Oct. 7.

The Carey Hammett Tree School, hosted by Friends of Jefferson theBeautiful, looks at the care and preservation of theparish’stree canopy

The one-day workshop will feature Diane Jones Allen, professor and program director of landscape architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Admission is $12.50 and free to professionals in thelandscape and building sectors. The school is from 8a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and includes lunch at

HOWLONGWATSON’SWORKTAKES:

Watson approaches his craft with care and professionalism. Depending on the project’s scope, apiece will take between one and sixmonths to produce. THE COST: Customfurniture typically involves greater expense andextendedproduction timelines. Watson’sformula for determining the pricefor acustom piece of solid wood furniture is materials doubled plus labor.A

clientrecentlypaid$9,000 for an 8-foot by 3-foot spaltedmaple table with resininlays.

VISITKENNYWATSON JR.: On Instagram, @kennywatsonjr; via email, midriff.nola@gmail.com

Inside Sources is a column that tracks trends and provides consumer information from expertsin theirhome and gardening fields.

theJefferson Performing Arts Center,6400 Airline Drive, in Metairie.

Visit friendsofjeffersonthebeautiful.org.

Volunteer projects

abound at City Park

Avariety of cleanup days and initiatives are on tap at City Parktoimprove and maintain theextensive urban green space. Those coming up include:

n Urban Forest SupportInitiative: 9a.m. Saturday.Volunteer Center,1031 Harrison Ave.

n PelicanGreenhouse Summer Volunteer Series: 8a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.2Celebration Drive.

n Litter Cleanup Krewe: 9a.m. Tuesday,Thursday.Volunteer Center.

n Native Plant Management: 9a.m. Wednesday.Volunteer Center

n Graffiti Cleanup Krewe: 9a.m. Thursday.Volunteer Center

n Couturie Forest Trail Team Zoom Info Session: 9a.m. Thursday.

n BigLakeNative Plant Trail Restoration Project: 9a.m. Friday.Big Lake Native Trail near 7Friedrichs Ave.

Register forthe programs and find out moreabout what to bring at friendsofcitypark. volunteerhub.com.

Have ahome and garden eventcoming up? Send it to events@theadvocate.com.

Wide Craftsman doubleinfun area. Live on one side-collect $1500+ rent orall rental units.

SS appls. 2bds-2 bathsperside 60 X109 lotw/2 drvwys. Wood floors, Chef’sKitchen& CentralA&H.

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LindaBabineaux 504-957-8014(c) J. Babineaux 504-813-8460 (c) At Latter &Blum-Compass Uptown-Maple Ofc, 7934 Maple St N.O.,LA70118 |504-861-7575 (O)

COVER STORy

Sellers Meric ‘thought of everything’

This exterior photo, taken shortly after the home was first built, shows how the construction encompasses three separate ‘pods.’

Tossed and tumbled furniture sits beyond a water line-marked wall in a photo taken shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Architect’s mid-mod gem survived Betsy and Katrina, and it’s still the height of chic

BY JYL BENSON Contributing writer

In 1965, when he was 12 years old, Tommy Meric Jr. rode out Hurricane Betsy huddled under the stainless steel staircase in the foyer of his family’s new Lakewood South home with his father, T. Sellers Meric. “It was a very, very solid house,” Tommy Meric said. “My dad designed it, and my uncle, Robert Kuebel, had built it.”

The house emerged relatively unscathed, except for the loss of two large, floor-toceiling plate-glass windows. Fast forward 40 years. As Hurricane Katrina approached, Tommy Meric, his wife, and their children had already evacuated their home a block away Sellers Meric, 77, and his wife, Anne, 76, reluctantly evacuated at the last minute to be with family in Oscar, a small town in Pointe Coupee Parish near False River.

Despite the many accolades Sellers Meric had gar-

nered throughout his lengthy career as an architect — his body of work included the LSU Medical Center, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the New Orleans International Airport, Charity Hospital and the Lakefront Airport — his pride and joy was his midcentury-modern home.

It would always be his legacy, his greatest achievement. Leaving it to face the Cat 5 alone was excruciating. He’d soon be rebuilding, even as the city remained mostly underwater.

Not just another house

Sellers Meric and his celebrated New Orleans architectural firm, Cimini & Meric & Associates, in 1970, had received the American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for the masterful, stylish feat accomplished in designing his large family’s home on a 40-by-200-foot lot in what ultimately became

ä See MID-MOD, page 14

PROVIDED PHOTO By TOMMy MERIC JR.

A steel bridge, left, overlooks the living room from the second floor of the home. Sellers Meric personally restored much of the home’s iconic modernist furniture, including pieces from legendary architects and interior designers Mies van de Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen and Warren Platner Above is the room after Katrina damage was remediated.

Current owners are Blair and Hartley Crunk, with children, from left, Meric, Mina and Elise.

PROVIDED PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

PHOTO By LIZ JUREy | PRC

An abundance of glass throughout the home affords views of the many patio gardens.

MID-MOD

Continued from page 12

the Lakewood South subdivision.

The long, narrow lot backed up to the 17th Street Canal that divides Jefferson and Orleans parishes. At the time, cows from a nearby dairy farm grazed on the levee behind the lot.

A brief submitted to the AIA for consideration for the award read: “The basic problem was to design a large residence on an extremely narrow site for a family of seven with three girls: 8, 12, and 14; a boy, 11; and a widowed in-law.”

To circumvent what the award submission called a “box car” appearance, Sellers Meric designed his family’s home “in three two-story units with sleeping and family activity on the second floor and living and entertaining on the ground floor.”

The eye-catching contemporary home was constructed in 1965 on a concrete slab with wood framing on steel columns It was sided with cedar plywood topped with 2-by-2 cedar battens spaced 6 inches apart. The windowfilled interior space was 3,800 square feet, with an additional 1,500 square feet of covered

Due to the elevation at the rear of the property, Sellers Meric’s studio and workshop, located against the 17th Street Canal levee, sustained no flooding following the post-Hurricane Katrina levee failures. The abundance of tools and equipment in the workshop was used to rebuild the house. Today, the Crunk family’s three young children use the space as a playhouse.

An abundance of covered outdoor areas, complete with operational awnings and ceiling fans, makes outdoor living comfortable in the summertime. The brick flooring, original to the home, was restored after Katrina.

outdoor space. “I remember this was the entertaining house, where the

family gathered,” said Hartley Crunk, granddaughter of Sellers and Anne Meric,

daughter of Tommy Meric and a banker with HancockWhitney. “It was a major entertaining space because it doesn’t get so blazing hot because of the awnings and various outdoor seating areas.”

Save for the living room, where the ceiling rises 18 feet to meet the dramatic roofline,

Portraits of Sellers Meric and his wife, Anne, were rehung after Katrina.

PROVIDED PHOTO

the home has 8-foot ceilings.

“He took the things he had and built around them,” said Tommy Meric, today an architect and partner with the firm Duplantier & Meric. “The 8-foot doors precisely fit into the 8-foot ceilings. There are no baseboards. The absence of unnecessary trim, combined

PHOTO By LIZ JUREy | PRC

PHOTO By LIZ JUREy | PRC

PHOTO By LIZ JUREy | PRC

The dining table, whose base is anchored into the home’s foundation, survived Katrina, as did the brass and Austrian crystal Maria Theresa chandelier.

Portraits of the four Meric children, on the wall at left, also survived, as shown in this photo taken after the home’s restoration.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

with the fact that all the doors rise to the ceiling, makes the space feel taller.”

Upstairs, there were three “pods.” One, for the family’s three daughters, had a central shared closet and a shared bath, he said.

The second pod was a large den and bedrooms for Tommy Meric and his widowed grandmother, who shared a bath.

A steel bridge overlooking the open living room led to the third pod, the home’s primary suite, which spanned the width of the property

It included a private balcony overlooking the 15-by-30-foot Gunite swimming pool, the rear garden, Sellers Meric’s studio/workshop, and the levee beyond.

Sneaking back to town

Less than a week after the levees failed, with New Orleans under lockdown, Sellers Meric and his son-in-law Terry Ford (spouse of Debbie Meric Ford), who’s now a retired engineering firm executive, talked their way past a checkpoint at River Road and Interstate 310 under the auspices of being on company business.

A cocktail bar made of fine Sierra White marble, a source of great pride and thousands of memories for Sellers Meric, was unsalvageable. It was replaced with a simple, elegant one of walnut

tag on

The two made their way to a parking lot on Veterans Boulevard, where it meets the 17th Street Canal. Ford recalls flat boats loaded down with rescued pets in cages docking on the Orleans Parish side of Veterans Highway, where the pets were handed off for transport out of the city. The men ditched the car and set out on foot, heading south

atop the levee in the blazing heat.

“It was the most shocking thing I have ever seen in my life,” said Ford, now 77. “The Orleans Parish side of the levee was just a sea of water and treetops. It was horrible.”

At one point, the men were obliged to climb over the massive drainage pipes that run over the levee where it passes under the Interstate 10/610 interchange. They pushed on until they were staring down at Sellers Meric’s home. It was filled with 8 feet of fetid green water

“I can’t do this. I can’t build it again,” Meric had said.

“Yes, you can, and you will,” Ford replied. “I will help you. We need a lot of plastic bins, and you need to get a truck.”

This trip, despite all its awful revelations of death and damage, would lay the groundwork for Sellars and Anne Meric to be the first residents back in their neighborhood.

A job for Clorox

On Sept. 13, the duo returned to the house. Pumps had taken out the water, but a bathtub ring of scum remained atop the waterline. They could hear portable pumps still pulling the stinking water from the neighborhood streets.

Inside, Ford used a spray

ä See MID-MOD, page 16

of

A look at the postKatrina restored kitchen, with plenty of counter space and glass-front cabinets

An early photo of the home’s first kitchen

A view

the back of the house taken from the levee gives hints at the destruction inside. Sellers Meric and his son-in-law Terry Ford were back in the house working within a few weeks.

A

the door by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sept. 13, 2005, indicates no bodies had been found inside the Meric home.

At look at the back patio and pool after its post-Katrina repairs.

MID-MOD

Continued frompage15

bottle filled with bleach to saturate the walls above the waterlinetokeep mold at bay. Still,the first floor had to be stripped down to the studs.

Spotting muddy footprints leading up the staircase,the men feared they hadunwanted company.Then they saw the Federal Emergency Management Agency tagon the front door,indicating no bodies had been found inside.

Meric was relieved to see his workshop —which had beenbuilt up against the levee in 1965, before zoning laws made such athing impossible —was fully intactwith no water damage. The workshop would be used to rebuild the house.

“The rear of the yard is higher than the frontofthe lot, and highest of all where it met the levee,” explained Tommy Meric, whoseown home in the neighborhood was acomplete loss.

Wherenomolddared to grow

The two men returnedfor athird time on Sept. 22, as Hurricane Rita was threatening. The house was filled with mold—right up to the line where Ford had saturated the walls with bleach. He had saved the second floor

As soon as Rita was out of the way,the hard labor began. With afew hired helpers,

generator set in the home’s open patio near the front door. As they painstakingly rebuilt the house, they salvaged much of the original brick flooring.

“When they came to tear out the beautiful marble bar he haddesigned, Sellers had to go upstairs. He just couldn’t watch it,” Ford said. “It was at that barthat every evening at 5o’clock,hewould mix either martinis or old fashioneds for himself and Anne. They would sit on the sofa holding hands, listening to music and drinking their cocktails.”

Sellers Meric ultimately replaced the marble bar with a simple, elegant one of walnut.

At the end of each day, Meric made the50-mile drive back to Lacombe,where he and his wife were living on the High Tide, their 43-foot Hatteras powerboat moored in Lacombe Harbor.Hethen arose at dawn the next day to pick up Fordathis home in Metairie, and resume work on the house.

The home’soriginal dining table, the six-petaled steel star topped with glass, remained stalwart in the home’s foundation, as did an adjacent sideboard, which was similarly secured.

Six months afterKatrina made landfall, the Merics had returned to their home, completewith electricity.

legendary architects and interior designers, such as Mies van de Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen, Warren Platner and Sellers Meric himself.

“As crazy as it sounds, I loved every minute of working on that house with Sellers,” Ford said.

Anew chapter

When Sellers Meric died in 2023 at the age of 95, his large, extended family was uncertain what would become of the architectural jewel.

But with alifetime of happy memories built around the home, plus ahusband and three young children, Hartley Meric Crunk bought the house, its original iconic modernist furniture and asubstantial part of her family’shistory from her grandfather’s estate.

In July 2024, she and her husband, Blair Crunk, an attorney with Entergy,moved into the house with Elsie, Mina and Meric.

The only physical change the couple has made to the home is the removal of the carpet in the living and dining rooms and the upstairs spaces and its replacement with 5-inch-wide walnut hardwood planks.

the men attacked the home’s sodden Sheetrock and insulation with crowbars and

sledgehammers.

When the time came, they powered their tools from a

The brass and Austrian crystal Maria Theresa chandelier over the dining table hadbeenrestored, as were the enviable furnishings from

The home’ssleek kitchen features Sierra White marble countertops and abacksplash that rises to meet the hardwood cabinets, the uppers of which have glass fronts.

“My mother kept the dishes in there arranged impeccably,” said Thomas Meric, playfully ribbing his daughter while eyeballing the jumble of children’ssippy cups and assorted cookbooks in his daughter’scabinets. She, in turn, shot her father asideeye glare.

Acovered terrace leading to averdant garden is located just outside the breakfast area. In addition to awalk-in pantry,adoor from the kitchen leads to aroom where all the home’smechanical equipment is housed.

“Sellers thought of everything,” said Hartley Crunk. “He even embedded the ductwork under the slab.”

PHOTO By LIZ JUREy |PRC

REALESTATETRANSFERS

NEW ORLEANS

TRANSFERS ISSUED AUG. 12-16

DISTRICT 1

POEYFARRE ST. 920, UNIT 360: $245,000, Kevin Jacob LaVie to Traci Abraham.

ST. CHARLES AVE. 1750: $365,000, Elaine Wolfe Dimiceli to Patricia Cunningham Levy and Stephen Michael Levy

ST. CHARLES AVE. 731: $835,000, 731 St. Charles Ave LLC to James Walter Cochran Jr. and Melissa Vernaci Cochran.

S. CORTEZ ST. 436: $450,000, Lelia Abigail Gowland and Thomas Cole Newton to Grace Ellen Hebert and Sunny Nguyen.

DISTRICT 2

CANAL BLVD. 6130: $500,000, Succession of Kenneth Campbell Tobin and Poppy Tooker to Deandra Nicole De Napoli Ruiz and Jose Rafael Ruiz.

GEN. DIAZ ST. 6910: $400,000, Taylor Suzanna Nicks Maumus to Andrew Robert Pierre II and Olivia Valenti Kerth.

MARSHAL FOCH ST. 6249:

$280,000, My A. Tran Le to Danos Construction LLC.

N. GALVEZ ST. 1015, 1017: $118,000, Latasha Toya Ratleff to Black Bean Properties LLC.

ST. ANN ST. 3311: $615,000, Caroline Rickert and John Rickert to

Andrew Alan Cooper and Anica Gentry Cooper.

ST. ANN ST. 3337: $290,000, Andrea N. Sensley Leblanc and Madonna Marie Shannon to Grace E. Germano O’Grady and Sean M. O’Grady.

URSULINES AVE. 1824: $314,800, James A. Dunson III to William David Wilkins.

DISTRICT 3

ADVENTURE AVE. 7631: $6,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to D Smith Properties LLC.

CHARLENE DRIVE 4688: $8,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Damien Roby.

CLOUET ST. 1004: $475,000, Marne A. Jones, Dwight A. Jones and Jolene A. Ostwinkle revocable living trust to Sam T. Blankenship and Tracy Ann Curran Blackenship.

DEVINE AVE. 7401: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to 3030 BSP LLC.

DORGENOIS ST. 6319: $6,485, Daintry Connerly to Marquette Phillip Tolbert.

DUELS ST. 1757-89: $25,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Connie Whitfield Fitch and Dwight A. Fitch Sr.

EDGE ST. 2728: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Howard Gross.

EDWARD ST. 8006: $14,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Derrick Varnado.

EDWARD ST. 8014: $19,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Premier Fifth Properties LLC.

FLOOD ST. 1719: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Bienvenu 1723 Flood LLC.

FRENCHMEN ST. 3430-3432: $163,000, Clifford J. Foster, Dwight Foster, John A. Bidol III, John A. Bidol Jr. Estate, Juanita Foster Bentley, Lisa Foster Teubner and Tommy A. Foster to Terence M. Foster.

GALLIER ST. 2320: donation, no value stated, Donielle Alyce Strickland Addison to Byron Addison.

HERITAGE DRIVE 10450: $36,000, Hazel C. Pitts to Jones Property Group LLC.

HICKERSON DRIVE 4858: $9,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Great Heights Properties LLC.

HICKERSON ST. 4943: $6,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to D Smith Properties LLC.

JASMINE ST. 2704-06: $165,000, Cane Ventures LLC to Ryan A. Lewis and Shakahn Williams Lewis.

JASMINE ST. 2704-06: $275,000, Ryan A. Lewis and Shakahn Williams Lewis to Tiron Barr and Tony Barr.

LAINE AVE. 4560: $113,000, Kaprena Bartee Abram and Susan

Bartee Guy to Gary Jerome Shine and Jacqueline Kennedy Shine.

MAYO ROAD 6871: $129,000, Maurice C. Winston and Patricia James Winston to Mendez Rental 180 LLC.

NEW CASTLE ST. 7610: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Rodney Cordova Jr. CHEF MENTEUR HIGHWAY 13100: donation, no value stated, Trason New Orleans LLC to Charitable Adult Rides & Services Inc.

DALE ST. 4915-17: $14,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Safe Care Services LLC.

N. JOHNSON ST. 4818: $11,000, Ronald Summers to Rasaan Holdings LLC.

N. VILLERE ST. 6014-16: $160,000, Cornelius Johnson Jr. to Mikayla Thomas.

N. VILLERE ST. 6427: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to B Dazzle Investments LLC.

ODIN ST. 4033: $162,000, Modish Interiors LLC to Ronald Brady

PARRY ST. 7821: $245,000, Bon Marche Properties LLP to Carissa Caples.

PAUGER ST. 3013: $199,900, Federal National Mortgage Association to Stephen Anthony Cavaliere Jr. and Tavega Lamar Jackson.

PAULINE ST. 2321: $10, Asianeen Norma Cantillano to Mark Alsay Jr.

See ORLEANS, page 18

heartofthe home is acustom-designed ItalianPoliformcontemporarykitchen,amasterpiece of both functionalityand technicalexcellence. Theluxurious firstfloorprimary suiteoffersatranquilretreat,featuring beautiful travertine flooring andcustomdraperies.Coppergutters and downspoutsfurther enhancethe home’s timeless appeal.

This AHaysTowninspiredhome is theperfect combinationofcharm &impeccablecraftsmanship. From itsgracious 2-storyentry &11-foot ceilings to individually handpickedbrick forthe kitchenroomfloor,this 4bedroom/3.5 bath main home with bonus1bedroom/1 bath guestquarters. Thechef’skitchen featuresstainless steelappliances,formallivingspace with fireplace, dining space, &primary suitewithwhite marble bathroom & clawfoot soakingtub.The second floorishome to 3 additional bedroom/2bath, &oversized walk-inclosets. Therearincludesacovered patio, serene pool,guest house with bed &bath&accesstoyourtwo-car garage.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

ORLEANS

Continued from page 17

PAULINE ST. 2327: $243,000, Asianeen Norma Cantillano to Mark Alsay Jr.

PELOPIDAS ST. 1946, 1954: $260,000, Romain A. Duronslet Jr. to Dillard University.

PRIMROSE DRIVE 7717: donation, no value stated, Shelby Michael Orticke to Brandon Matthew Orticke and Juwan Michael Orticke.

REPUBLIC ST. 3619: $248,500, Karen Briscoe Stevenson and Rodrick Stevenson to Abigail Ginn and Ryan Ginn.

REYNES ST. 1018: $150,000, Malcolm D. Wylie to Jeffrey S. Fletcher and Shirley Jean Fletcher.

SAIL ST. 7802: $54,000, Carlton Capital Management LLC to Adey

LLC.

ST. CLAUDE AVE. 5131: $275,000, Chikita Blanchard Foucha and Stephen G. Foucha to Food Laboratory LLC.

ST. MAURICE AVE. 1629-31: $150,000, Cojoe Investments II LLC to Kymuan N. Victoran.

ST. ROCH AVE. 2131: $260,000, Amarino Dimenta Da Silva Pimenta to Kain Gill and Shaun Kamakea Young.

SELMA ST. 2125-27: $370,000, Luis E. Ortiz and Sarah G. Ortiz to Jose Manuel Ortiz.

TRICOU ST. 2405: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to John Celius.

TRICOU ST. 2536-38: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Arthur Joseph Williams III.

TULIP ST. 4617: donation, no value stated, Lisamarie Cordier to Michelle West.

URQUHART ST. 5918: $9,000, Willie David Mason Jr. to Elias Noe Reyes Ugarte.

URVILLE ST. 6421: $4,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Kingdom Life Ministries Inc.

WARRINGTON DRIVE 501: $310,000, Kathryn Davis Wampold and Morgan Lee Brand Wampold to Garo Van Gordon and Tiffany Samantha Brooks.

WISTERIA ST. 2516: $160,000, Chris Breaux and Deborah Panzeca to Erin Hansen and Jacob Udell.

YORKTOWN DRIVE 7220-22: $11,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to Chukwuemeka Ogbuokiri.

DISTRICT 4

BRAINARD ST. 2124: $305,000, Succession of Donya Lee Knudsen and Gordon T. Causey to Rachael Myers Littell and Samuel E. Littell.

HARMONY ST. 918: $517,525, Jenny Lee Hoel Garrison and Kirk Darrel Garrison to Gary Weill Brandt and Iiana Rachel McQuinn Brandt.

JACKSON AVE. 548, ST. THOMAS ST. 2206-2216: donation, no value stated, Thanh Hiep Tran and Thi Nguyen Tran to Phi Phuong Tran, Phuc Phi Tran and Phuong Thanh Tran.

ROUSSEAU ST. 2117: $465,000, James A. Hogberg and Lori Ann McBride Hogberg to Angela Asprelli Marroquin and Roberto A. Marroquin.

ST. CHARLES AVE. 2833: $230,000, James H. Wilson and Sarah C. Ahmad Wilson to Nola Sabbae LLC.

SIXTH ST. 1325-31, UNIT 1325: $289,000, Brittany Lathan Bailey

to Redbud Farm LLC.

S. LIBERTY ST. 2113-15: $228,500, 3716 LLC to RT Development LLC.

DISTRICT 5

CUMBERLAND COURT 2456: donation, no value stated, Antonio Perez to Misae Perez.

GRAND CANYON DRIVE 7: $295,000, Chris Matteo Kahn and Marc J. Kahn to Brigitte Gael Karmona and Helene Denise Karmona.

N. TEAK AVE. 3867: $250,000, Faye Cunningham Turk to Kim Ross Davis.

NORLAND AVE. 105: $180,000, Barry J. Webber to Julio Cesar Arteaga Bautista.

NORLAND AVE. 5630: $297,000, Erin Edmonson Williams to Justine Smith Bartlett and Marc Landan Bartlett.

OPELOUSAS ST. 435-437: donation, no value stated, Pearl Kennedy to Cedrick Wesley Kennedy Sr.

PIN OAK AVE. 3501: $380,000, Hernan Asuncion Adames Gonzalez and Maria Auxiliadora Incer Obando Adames Gonzalez to Raymond Lara.

PLYMOUTH PLACE 3211: $130,000, Tanya Marie Lacey to Francisco Robinson.

RIVER OAKS DRIVE 405: $134,000, Cynthia Lambert Pitre and Travis Lambert to Amber Beth Calamia and Lance William Kabel.

DISTRICT 6

AMELIA ST. 2035-41, NAPOLEON AVE. 3300-02: donation, no value stated, Marilyn Chimera Kelly to M&J Kelly revocable trust.

ARABELLA ST. 1636-38: $100 and other valuable consideration,

Albert C. Hoffmeister III and Eileen Roy Hoffmeister to Erica Lee Cortizas and Richard F. Cortizas.

CADIZ ST. 1015: $1,330,000, 1023 Cadiz St. LLC to Adam D. Voth and Anna Buening Voth.

COLISEUM ST. 3325: $100, Joan Gillis Inman and Richard Parke Ellis Jr. to Damion Kamiel Heersink and Emily Ramee Heersink.

HENRY CLAY AVE. 317: $667,000, Kathryn Z. Gonski and Ryan M. Gonski to Audrey Bernish and Taylor Mullen.

MILAN ST. 2738: $143,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Project LLC to CBA Assets Inc. and Wise Work Happening LLC.

MILAN ST. 2800, 2804, 2808: $390,000, New Orleans Redevelopment Project LLC to CBA Assets Inc. and Wise Work Happening LLC.

S. CLAIBORNE AVE. 7310: $191,000, Dushaf Holdings LLC to Etienne D. Devlin.

DISTRICT 7

38TH ST. 324: $375,000, Clifford A. Guidry Jr., Janet A. Guidry, John L. Guidry, Karen Guidry Comstock and Laura Guidry King to Edgar Gilberto Avila Jr. and Roxanne May Craven Avila.

BURTHE ST. 8422: $760,000, 911 Joliet Street LLC to 8422 Burthe LLC.

CAMPHOR ST. 3418: $189,000, Tracy D. Nash to Tyson G. Dimig.

CHEROKEE ST. 321: $961,500, Meghan Andre Dupre Montgomery and Zachary Taylor Montgomery to Alexandru Firan and Alice Teresa Zic Firan.

EDINBURGH ST. 8521: $235,000, Bryan E. Bruns and Melinda W. Bruns Marchand to Kenneth Charles Youngblood, Nia Nicole Youngblood and Stacy Williams Youngblood.

FAIRWAY DRIVE 324: $821,000, Charles H. Zeanah Jr. and Paula Doyle Zeanah to Collin Constantin and Katherine Constantin.

FAIRWAY DRIVE 450: $10 and other good and valuable consideration, Clayton Cooke Geary and Wendy Hooker Geary to Jay A. Schwall and Terry McLaughlin Schwall.

JOLIET ST. 2429-2431: $95,000, Victoria M. Geeck Held to Cognac Enterprise LLC.

OAK ST. 8523: $115,000, Sheila Marie Apffel Ory to Our Key Lot LLC.

STROELITZ ST. 9211: donation, $10, Mithra Street Investments LLC to Bernette Joshua Johnson.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

EAST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FOR AUG. 9-15 HARAHAN

DONELON DRIVE 111: Michael K. Castenada to Gregory J. Mcdonald, $305,000.

ELAINE AVE. 14: Henry J. Bauer IV to Barry F. Lemoine, $285,000.

GROVE AVE. 557: Paul Soufas to Sherry M. Davis, $215,000.

ROSELAND PARKWAY 809: Mei K. Lu to Jonathan B. Rivero Jr., $345,000.

JEFFERSON

TUCKER AVE. 545: Nicole Dendinger to Chad A. Whitaker, donation, no value stated.

KENNER

26TH ST. 2305: John H.J.M.

Dendinger to Iliana Regalado, $240,000.

29TH ST. 709: Zo Enterprise LLC to Dt Home & Maintenance LLC, $190,000.

ARKANSAS AVE. 3621: Charles W. Huffman Jr. to Liyong Y. Sung, $60,000.

BAYOU GENTILLY LANE 217: Christine Harpster to Amanda A. Stewart, $555,000.

EMERSON ST. 217-19: Aster

WEST JEFFERSON

n TRANSFERS FOR AUG. 9-15 AVONDALE

BISHOP DRIVE 121: Delores W Banks to Grace B. Derkins, donation, no value stated.

CAPITOL DRIVE 316: Green Homes Rem LLC to S Crosby, $199,000.

DOME DRIVE 317: Lenard D. Lawson to Garvey Realty LLC, $35,000.

LINDSEY COURT 4136: Dsld LLC to Keshawna Mitchell, $269,675.

RUTH DRIVE 804: Leos La LLC to Michelle A. Vedros, $80,000.

VALENTINE DRIVE 140: Rental Property Services LLC to Jordan R. Hernandez, $189,900.

BRIDGE CITY

BRIDGE CITY AVE. 1312: Kimberly Luque to Llantera Elceibeno 2. LLC, $500,000.

GRAND ISLE

ABADIE LANE 111: Dh &

Investment LLC to Two Hundred Seventeen Two Hundred Nineteen Emerson LLC, $214,000.

FORSTALL AVE. 15: Juan R. Dubuoe to Salvador J. Salone, $315,000.

GEORGETOWN DRIVE 415: Rebekah J. R. Batte to Sidley L. G. Canales, $175,000.

IDAHO AVE. 2000: Sebastian Dematteo Jr. to Zeplynn Slattery, $162,000.

IDAHO AVE. 2477: P. M. Kelly III to Edward C. Rosario, $90,000.

INDUSTRY ROAD 820: Triple Mbm Properties LLC to Cap2 LLC, $705,000.

MESA ST. 26: Allen R. Jaeger to Mina Khoobehi, $235,000.

TULANE DRIVE 3241: Rmh 2023 3. Trust to Damian A. Defrancesch, $145,000.

W. LOUISIANA STATE DRIVE 3676: Quynh Nguyen to Huong C. Le, $160,000.

METAIRIE

ACKEL ST. 6200: Nadia L. Abed to Ahmed A. A. Hamed, donation, no value stated.

ATHANIA PARKWAY 526: Maria E. H. Bateman to Scott B. Whittington, $305,000.

CARNATION AVE. 929: Karen Burns to Tina Fey, $272,500.

CRAIG AVE. 4525: Stanley J. Fleming Sr. to Christopher H. White, $335,000.

DREYFOUS AVE. 4513: Ali Ziadi to Israa A. A. Abbas, $300,000.

FOCIS ST. 1213: Edward F. Sens IV to Matthew Cranfield, $418,000.

FRANKEL AVE. 1800: George C. Pursell Jr. to Amanda L. Munson, $170,000.

GLENDALE ST. 4733: Ingrid V. Hudson to Miracle Realty Solutions LLC, $97,093.

GRAMMAR AVE. 4612-14: Loretta A. Suhor to Huan P. Wu, $210,000.

HASTINGS ST. 4713: Michele Harang to Frank Vonhoven III, donation, no value stated.

JADE AVE. 421: Servbank S.B. to Sercovich LLC J., $140,300.

KENT AVE. 1112: Kh Flip LLC to Christopher D. Mcmahon, $219,900.

LAFRENIERE ST. 6208: Jillian Olivero to Derek A. Robichaux, $311,000.

LAKE VILLA DRIVE 2920: Bettie J. Duverney to Caspian Properties LLC, $150,000.

LESLIE ST. 6200: Tiffany G. Bridevaux to Glenn A. Caston, $272,500.

MILLER LANE 1: Hbgno LLC to Nahid Ahmad, $630,000.

MISSOURI AVE. 2408: Alfred Y. K. Hew Jr. to Scott S. F. Hew, donation, no value stated.

MORALES ST. 4700: Dennis A. Carson to Quinlivan Homes LLC, $283,000.

N. ARNOULT ROAD 3320 UNIT 239: Dian M. Kelly to Junbo & Lin Investment Management Limited Liability C.O., $80,000.

N. TURNBULL DRIVE 1901: Alexis Panquerne to Collin J. Ligori, $328,000.

NURSERY AVE. 1225: Albert J. Hernandez to Justin Y. Brown, $397,000.

RICHLAND AVE. 3501: Thuy N. Ngoc to Vu Bros Holding Investment LLC, $235,000.

RIDGEWAY DRIVE 324: Oster Developers LLC to Jarrett Mcneely, $400,000.

RIVERSIDE DRIVE 6200 UNIT 538: Qi Ji to Jason G. Beasley, $70,000.

RUE BURGUNDY 800 UNIT 223: George G. Meyer III to Rosary Oneill, $349,000.

SATSUMA ST. 1913: Ann M. Poche to Jordyn M. N. Credeur, $305,000.

SCHOUEST ST. 7201: Rasmeieh

Khaameh to Superior Commercial Capital LLC, $138,600.

STELLA ST. 107: Edward B. Edrington to Michael L. Garvey, $670,000.

SYLVIA AVE. 1307: Thomas J. Sims Jr. to Hannah C. Parden, $1,300,000.

TAFT PARK 4013: Yong M. T. Lu to Irma D. Campos, $38,500,000.

THIRBA ST. 509: Eunice C. Blanche to Andrew Cousin, $190,000.

THIRBA ST. 900: Darren Allo Jr. to Sheridan A. Russo, donation, no value stated.

RIVER RIDGE

CAMILLE DRIVE 9005: Alexis N. Hughes to King Me Flips LLC, $169,388.

DEBRA DRIVE 9800: James N. Breaux to Jennifer J. Watson, $580,000.

prise LLC to Kimberly M. Austin, $67,000.

ANGELA LANE 8000: Kirk D. Stpierre to Blue Bug Properties LLC, $18,500.

ANGELA LANE 8002: Kirk D. Stpierre to Jena M. Agosta, $18,500. BOUDREAUX LANE 132: Casey A. Marionneaux to Terrance J. Fonseca Jr., $230,000.

CYPRESS LANE 216: Cheramie Brothers Investments LLC to

REALESTATETRANSFERS

WEST

Continued frompage19

Benjamin Ortego, $190,000.

PLUM LANE 149: AmyM.Dempster to Lisa J. D. Ourso, $60,000.

TAHITI EAST LANE 111: Gay Hutchinson to Dale T. Hutchinson Jr., donation, no value stated

TOURO LANE 120: JenniferB.Ensign to AlexaJ.Ott,$270,000.

GRETNA

BEAUREGARD DRIVE 9: AmyH Hutzler to Marcella Jallu, $232,500.

BEHRMAN HIGHWAY 532-534: Farrell Lemoine to JmlReal Estate Services LLC, $35,000.

BROOKMEADE DRIVE 545: Justin A. Ziegler to ArgenisR.R.Feliz,

$243,000.

N. CARLISLE DRIVE 2755: Dann D. Guidry to Jamal Saad,$180,000.

CLAIREAVE. 2711: DaisyLeon to Arcip Evolution LLC, $75,000.

DERBES DRIVE 89: Peak Real Estate LLCtoChristianA.Athas, $335,000.

FAIRFIELD AVE. 387: RobinJones to Derick R. Mendoza,$335,000.

GRETNABLVD. 38: Juan Teranto TimothyN.FlanaganJr., $224,000.

HUEY PLONG AVE. 2603: Jacob Small to Brenda N.Becerra, $140,000.

OAKWOOD DRIVE 585: Robert E. Ocker to Kevin Hill, $250,000.

WILLOW DRIVE 216: Regions Mortgage to Federal National Mortgage Association, $190,000.

HARVEY

BREAUX AVE. 2460: TwoThou-

sand Four Hundred SixtyBreaux LLCtoA1Electrical Contractors Inc., $425,000.

DOGWOOD DRIVE 1529: Manuel Gonzalez to Imelda D. Lagunzad, $155,000.

LAFAYETTE AVE. 2300: George Petty Jr. to Km Homes Real Estate LLC, $40,000.

LAKESALVADOR DRIVE 1728: Agustin ArreolaJr. to SAhmad, $399,000.

N. WOODBINE ST.4053: Phyllis Penn to Dung K. T. N. Doan, $215,000.

PRIMWOOD DRIVE 3152: Patrice W. Thomas to PatrikaWilliby, $215,000.

S. VILLAGE GREEN ST.2239: Han N. NgotoDel M. Mosby,$255,000.

STALL DRIVE 1909: Terri Welborn to Fadi A. Elabed, $182,000.

TIMBERLANE WAY3320 UNIT 134:

ST.TAMMANy

n TRANSFERS FORJULY28TO AUG. 1

ABITASPRINGS

BOSSIER CITY SUBDIVISION, LOT 11A, SQUARE 64: Adam S. Payne and Cameron S. Payne to Glen A. Burmaster and Jeanne T. Burmaster, $360,000.

EIGHTH ST.22236: Sean K. Young and ShannonL.Young to Joshua M. Abene and Dana C. Case Abene, $343,740.

FORD DRIVE, LOT131: Anthony J. Dazet and Donna B. Dazet to Jason V. Ruffino and Rebecca Ruffino, $14,000.

FUCHSIA ST.70247: Louis M. Jar-

Jeanne R. Wildey to NewWorld Realty LLC, $112,900.

LAFITTE

JEAN LAFITTE BLVD.1266: Juanita C. Mcginity to Al J. Henry Jr., $430,000.

MARRERO

BARATARIA BLVD.2925: Seecharran SantokeSr. to Brandon Collura, $255,000.

CARRIE LANE 2433: Vietquynh H. Pham to Yoselin Gonzalez, $250,000.

GAUDET DRIVE 1540: Craig A. Strong to Frances B. A. Manazanares, $90,000.

LINCOLN AVE. 1347: MarieW GilberttoSheffieldCapital Solutions LLC, $40,000.

NATURE DRIVE 3208: Al J. Henry

rett and Winifred M. Jarrett to Madison L. Stierwald and Danny J. England Jr., $240,000.

HILLCREST COUNTRYCLUBESTATES,LOT 8, SQUARE 68: Wallber De OliveiraLLC to Fabiola A. Maldonado and Aurelio V. Lopez, $18,000.

LIONEL COURT719: Stephen Lotspeich to Crystal E. Mergist and Alyssa R. Pierce, $336,375.

LITOLFF SUBDIVISION,LOT 19, SQUARE 11: Brian C. Hebertto Gregory M. Brown, $45,000. MILL ROAD 72158: Crystal E. Mergist to TimothyPuckett, $247,000.

NEAR ABITASPRINGS,PORTION OF GROUND: DorothyP.Frederick, Ralph F. Frederick and others to DavidP.Martino and Jarme C. Martino, $178,350.

Jr. to Peter La, $235,000.

ST.ANN ST.560: Norman J. Leblanc to RayJ.BergeronJr., $58,000.

TAFFY DRIVE 2640: Emelie R. G. Jenefer to Austin Boudreaux, $220,000.

WESTWEGO

AVE. E651: Grady Bell III to One Thousand Thirty One Industries LLC, $80,000.

CHIPLEYST. 725: William G. Bumgarden to IrenaEitelmann, $153,000.

FELICIA DRIVE 156: ByronF.Deakle to Sharon Tolbert, $156,000.

ROSALIE DRIVE 133: Ternisha E. Paige to Jassamine P. Everage, donation, no value stated.

WEST DRIVE 610: Brett M. Lindsey to DestinPitre,$159,000.

NEAR ABITASPRINGS,PORTION OF GROUND: William L. Wood and Sharon B. Wood to Heather N. Wood Watters, donation, no value stated.

NINTH ST.22101: Brett T. Bisceglia and EllenJ.Hauck Bisceglia to Jimmie E. Cain Jr. and Betty S. Cain, $515,000.

S. DUNDEELOOP 3037: Richard M. Troxclair and Jaye L. Davenport Troxclair to Jeffery Curtis, $205,400.

SANDERS ST.71131: Dupont Quality HomesLLC to Mary A. Schippers, $388,800.

COVINGTON

ABITARIDGE SUBDIVISION, PHASE 3B, LOT65: Abita RiverPark LLCto Vanne ConstructionLLC,$100,000. AMERICAST. 621: Joseph Richardsonand GailRichardsonTrust to Patrick S. Richardson, $386,224. BARRINGTON DRIVE 1212: DSLD HomesLLC to Alan F. Wilsonand Pauline Wilson, $365,285.

COVINGTONPOINTDRIVE 808: Loretta Young Best-Laurent to Patrick B. Brady andStacey S. Brady,$225,000.

CRESTWOOD BLVD.910: Joann M. Cook andMichelle M. Goff to Randall Pulley andSandraHart, $286,500.

DIVISION OF NEW COVINGTON SUBDIVISION, LOTS 11, 12, SQUARE 3101: Succession of Louis E. Galloway andSadieGalloway to West 30’s RedemptionCo. Inc., $32,500. GARLANDST. 20301: Marjorie K. Peytral to Dominick M. Vega and Gabrielle C. Vega, $190,000. IST. 70305: Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing LLCtoKevin Mulvhill,

See

$137,000.

JOYCE DRIVE 75537: DSLD Homes LLC to Benjamin Luton and Carmel A. Luton, $274,735.

JOYCE DRIVE 75556: Varun Gupta to Anindya Poddar and Vani Verma-Poddar, $242,500.

LOWE DAVIS ROAD 22154: Tyson E. Bordelon to Christopher R. Percy, $290,000.

LOWE DAVIS ROAD 24344: Stephen P. Roan and Susan S. Roan to Douglas B. Hill and Rebecca B. Hill, $360,000.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

WILKINSON ST. 72462: Andrew L. Levin and Courtney A. Levin to Emily Moise-Fontenot, $248,700.

WOODSPRINGS COURT 855: Rose C. Corkern to Guy Johnson, $325,000.

FOLSOM

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTION OF GROUND: Connie D. Jenkins to Randy S. Dawsey and Tammy L. Sharp Dawsey, $27,500.

NEAR FOLSOM, PORTION OF GROUND: Diana D. McMillan Estate to Justice Arceri, $120,000.

SIMALUSA ESTATES, LOT 42: Wanda Russell Martinez to CDC Management LLC, $247,500.

LACOMBE

sion of George L. Verret Jr. and Angelle A. Verret to Kenneth A. Torregano Jr., $20,000.

MARKHAM DRIVE 66349: SMB Construction LLC to Tyrone C. May Jr. and Julia Schroder, $225,000.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DRIVE 59788: GMFS LLC to Cathy Alvarez, $57,000.

NINA DRIVE 30173: Martin Castjohn and Terri Castjohn to Christopher R. Myers, $20,500.

ROWLEY DRIVE 30849: DSLD Homes LLC to Susan M. Dendinger, $256,020.

U.S. 190 30333: Edmond J. Langhetee III, Leslie M. Langhetee and others to Courtney R. Chabreck and Savannah R. Chabreck, $85,000.

District No. 2, $75,000.

NEAR MADISONVILLE, PORTION OF GROUND: Santa Maria III LLC to Santa Maria Interest LLC, $374,400.

PALM BEACH BLVD. 130: Christopher Harbiston and Laci L. Harbiston to Matthew C. Sharp, $80,000.

PINE ST. 1010: Kelly J. Richards and Tracie Richards to Kristine W. McGuire, $550,000.

RIVER OAKS ESTATES, PHASE 5, LOT 291: JMA Real Estate Investments LLC to Gibson Design Build LLC, $190,000.

SECLUDED OAKS LANE 213: Succession of Meredith R. Herndon and Kenneth L. Herndon to James D. Carson and Tori C. Durand Carson, $327,000.

SPIKE DRIVE 71696: DSLD Homes LLC to Brady Aguillard, $215,165.

MANDEVILLE

ADAIR ST. 641: Julie M. Agan to Shannon L. Anderson, $340,000.

BEAU CHENE DRIVE 660: Theresa Jean Keller irrevocable trust to Charles A. Bunting and Kori D.G. Bunting, $637,500.

CHATEAU PAPILLON 225: Dale P. Zeringue and Elis Eschete Zeringue to Thomas Vanderheyden, $625,000.

COLONY TRAIL DRIVE 10: Sean P. Louviere and Amy Louviere to Alexis H. Engelhardt, $485,000.

Continued from page 20 ä See TAMMANY, page 22

MAISON DU LAC SUBDIVISION, PHASE 2, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, PORTION OF GROUND: WBB Realty LLC to Maison Du Lac Homeowners Association Inc., donation, no value stated.

NATCHEZ COURT 153: Fouquet Living Turst, Brett N. Fouquet and Maria A. Fouquet to Darlene M. Delesdernier, $590,000.

NEAR COVINGTON, PORTION OF GROUND: Brenda Dillon to Kali Holmes, donation, no value stated.

NORTHRIDGE DRIVE 187: James M. Guiberteau to Christopher E. Marshall, $250,000.

PELLEGRIN ROAD 18361: Marcella L. Wall Courtney to Jon P. Dorignac, $40,000.

RIVER CLUB SUBDIVISION, PHASE 4A, LOT 60: Kristin Ingram to Hayden Roy Ingram and Hayden Reed Ingram, $495,000.

RIVERLAKE DRIVE 13462: Joseph T. Dohm to Bradley M. Pregeant, $294,000.

S. MASSACHUSETTS ST. 726: Forward Estates LLC to Dustin Rogelstad and Katherine Rogelstad, $445,000.

SEVENTH ST. 70408: Thomas G. Ballinger to Susan N. Day and Summer T. Sherene Baker, $253,500.

SHADOW BEND DRIVE 21273: DSLD Homes LLC to Thomas G Ballinger, $306,600.

SHADOW BEND DRIVE 21370: DSLD Homes LLC to Daniel J. Miller and Anne M. Miller, $330,175.

TERRACE LAKE DRIVE 502: Kerstan J. Stuckey Jr. to Stephen K. Davis, $325,000.

TOWN OF COVINGTON, LOTS 2, 3, SQUARE 2312: Michele P. Belloni to Joseph R. Lindley Jr. and Martha F Lindley, $305,000.

W. 32ND AVE. 907: West 30’s Redemption Co. Inc. to Juanita Stewart and Dale Stewart, $95,000.

WALNUT PLACE 64: Eric Baul Sr. to Amy Wall and Jon Wall, $740,000.

AQUA ST. 60420: Fallon Investments LLC to Carla B. White, $241,400.

BAYOU MELON ESTATES, LOTS 14, 15: Randall J. Guerin, Patsy Y. Hudson and others to Giselle L. Hellemn, $30,000.

BROWNSTONE DRIVE 30217: Kelby C. Wuertz and Madison S. Wuertz to Chad E. Stone and Samantha L. Stone, $302,500.

CRESCENT DRIVE 26346: April M. Campbell, Marsha M. Zettler and Steven A. Montz to Bradley D. Rogers, $50,000.

CYPRESS PARK SUBDIVISION, LOT 40A, SQUARE 8: Solita & Ardest LLC to Brookeshire Property Development LLC, $11,800.

DIXIE RANCH ROAD 65473: James F. Boudreaux Jr. and Victoria Boudreaux to Christopher Gorbach, $174,500.

EAST ST. 30136: Kristie V. Chabreck to Jenna E. Labruz and Alex J. Konnerup, $240,000.

FARWELL DRIVE 2 9386: Succes-

VERMILLION DRIVE 60399: Brookeshire Property Development LLC to Solita & Ardest LLC, $148,000.

MADISONVILLE

BLACK OAK LANE 217: Brent A. LeBlanc and Wendy E. LeBlanc to Benjamin R. Parker and Christina C. Parker, $757,000.

BLACK RIVER 308: Michael A. Lang and Lisa B. Lang to John Day and Moriah Day, $625,000.

CEDAR ST. 501: 501 Cedar St. LLC to Finding Feathers LLC, $223,000.

DEL OAKS SUBDIVISION, LOT 58: Walter A. Scheuermann to Christian A. Scheuermann and Aimee D. Scheuermann, donation, no value stated.

KELLY LAKE LANE 4013: Alvarez Construction Co. LLC to Errol E. Riggins II and Michelle A. Riggins, $438,817.

LA. 1085, PORTION OF GROUND: Philip M. Peter, Lizabeth S. Peter and others to St. Tammany Fire

SPIKE DRIVE 71541: DSLD Homes LLC to Gillis E. Cure III, $230,060.

SPIKE DRIVE 71545: DSLD Homes LLC to Stephanie Mixon, $212,531.

DAWN COURT 413: Bryson B. Graham and Tiffany I. Graham to Bryan E. Schexnayder and Donna Schexnayder, $915,000.

Continued from page 21

DOVE PARK SUBDIVISION, LOT 178A, SQUARE 6: Anthony J. Guciardo and Samantha J. Guciardo to Mark J. Posseno Jr. and Sararose Finesilver-Saunders Posseno, $50,000.

DUPARD ST. 1929: Jeanne M. Bergeron, Lawrence W. Bergeron and others to Fortege LLC, $170,000.

E. PINERIDGE ST. 314, UNIT 314: Martin M. Bartels to Robert Andrews and Denise Cortez, $245,000.

GISELLE DRIVE 22008: Joseph G. Naquin Jr. to Jacob Clarke and Alexa N. Durham, $305,000.

GOLDEN WOOD ST. 234: Anthony C. Bologna to Melissa A. Bologna, donation, no value stated.

HAZEL DRIVE 1771: Copper Ridge Development LLC to Tyrone R. Williams, $106,500.

JASMINE ST. 1529: Michael P. O’Neal and Lynnsay J. O’Neal to Olvin O. Mendoza Sr. and Donna E. Garrick Mendoza, $30,000.

JOHN WEST MOORE AVE. 3347: Nicholas P. Young Jr. and Wanda G. Young to Nola Direct Home Buyer LLC, $130,000 LA. 59 4011: APTP Properties LLC to Durga Enterprises Inc., $583,000.

MILAN DRIVE 1148: Alison E Shipley to KM Real Estate Group LLC, $180,000.

MULBERRY AVE. 110: Thomas P. Trimble to Linda S. Orth and Mary E. Garner, $1,050,000.

N. VILLAGE LANE 260: Webb W. William to Teresa A. Treuting, $207,000.

REALESTATETRANSFERS

NEAR MANDEVILLE, PORTION OF GROUND: Watercross Development LLC to Watercross Owners Association Inc. Estates, donation, no value stated.

ROWELL ST. 69268: Fairview Property Solutions LLC to Seth Kramer, $171,000.

RUE WELLER 2215: Bradley Doucet and Taylor F. Doucet to Andrew Laskody and Tracey Fox Laskody, $239,400.

SILVER MAPLE DRIVE 225: Patrick Vest and Grace W. Vest to Stephen P. LeBlanc and Brittany T LeBlanc, $435,000.

SYCAMORE PLACE 1449: Robert E. Wood and Jennifer M. Wood to John A. Foxworth Jr., $350,000.

UNIVERSITY DRIVE 1927: Constance Long to Demelo Team LLC, $275,000.

VIREO DRIVE 351: Joshua L. Netherton to NAF Cash LLC, $425,500.

PEARL RIVER

FARMING COURT 64820: DSLD Homes LLC to Cory Foil, $312,210.

FARMING LANE 39728: DSLD Homes LLC to Christopher Shelton, $335,805.

FOURTH ST. 436: Bernadine A. Gilmore to Ronald R. Gilmore Jr., donation, no value stated.

HOLMES ST. 65118: Lena M. Haire Smith to Melissa Scott, $195,000.

SIXTH WARD

BOB LEVY ROAD 76121: Carmen Z. Luton and Benjamin S. Luton to Kerry Ponthier and Brittany G. Ponthier, $284,000.

SLIDELL

ARROWHEAD DRIVE 3738: Steven J. Miller to Devon Edwards and

Lexus Edwards, $168,000.

BARRYMORE ST. 1544: KG Realty Investments LLC to Jada N. Lewis, $220,000.

BELAIR DRIVE 57264: Louis J. Ochoa Jr. to Justin L. Bulris, $215,000.

BELVEDERE DRIVE 1002: Felisha M. Coffey to Laurie L. Justus, donation, no value stated.

BELVEDERE DRIVE 1002: Michael J. Thurber to Felisha M.Coffey, $200,000.

BRUGIER SUBDIVISION, LOTS 10, 12, SQUARE 46: Glenn A. Dunaway Sr. to Glenn Dunaway Jr. and Lauren Dunaway, donation, no value stated.

CAMPANA LANE 34308: DSLD Homes LLC to Robert A. Reyes, $254,775.

CARA MAE ST. 40435: D. R. Horton

Inc.-Gulf Coast to Lakeisha M. White, $280,900.

CARA MAE ST. 40439: D. R. Horton

Inc.-Gulf Coast to Aaron J. Knox and Kelly C. Varnado Knox, $210,000.

CARR DRIVE 329: Thomas G. Fierke and Debra C. Fierke to Steven Pharis, $482,000.

CARR DRIVE 427: Richard C. Meyer and Catherine M. Meyer to Ernest F. Snellings and Mary L. Landrieu Snellings, $275,000.

CHERRY ST. 1556: Calamari Family irrevocable trust to Shantell Stewart, $205,000.

CHIMAERA LANE 122: Tuyet N. Thi Lam to Kalych E. Padro and Carla M. Santos Padro, $460,000.

CUMBERLAND ST. 472: Anita P. Johns to Rosalyn J. Taylor, $142,000.

DONNIS DRIVE 36325: Oscar J. Zuniga Salvadore and Luz I. Banegas Poveda to Jesus L. Lujan, $18,000.

E. LAKESHORE VILLAGE DRIVE 447:

D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Monique M. Griffin, Dexter R. Rhodes and Jeffrey N. Ross, $229,900.

FORNEA GLEN WAY 5485: D.R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Aaron R. Causey, $258,795.

FORNEA GLEN WAY 5489: D.R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Jason Franklin Jr., $256,900.

FORNEA GLEN WAY 5493: D.R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Benjamin Brooks, $259,900.

FREMAUX AVE. 454: James B. Mitchell and Tammy M. Mitchell to Arena Real Estate Slidell LLC, $240,000.

GRANTHAM COLLEGE DRIVE 34633: CRS Properties LLC to E.J. Milligan Construction Co. LLC, $237,000.

HOWZE BEACH ROAD 805: Cornelia Cyprian to Gerard J. McClelland, $90,000.

INDIGO COURT 1124: Successions of Linda M. Alford Cummins and Louis A. Cummins Jr. to Warren Jackson Jr., $250,000.

LAKESHORE BLVD. 1120: Jeffrey B. Bartlam revocable trust to Troy D. Williams and Jody S. Williams, $2,575,000.

LONDONBERRY COURT 1201: Joseph G. Carriere to Zonda Gooden, $189,000.

MARAIS RIVER DRIVE 4539: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Sean M. Strahan and Felicia A. Strahan, $264,900.

MARAIS RIVER DRIVE 4559: D. R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast to Mohamad A. Alabsa and Mandolin S. Alabsa, $278,900.

MARY DRIVE 1755: RBO Custom Home Builders LLC to Richard W Buckley, $210,000.

MEADOWLAWN ST. 1433: Earlene B. Taylor and Jimmie L. Taylor to Harry Wilson, $220,000.

MORGAN SUBDIVISION, LOTS 46,

47, 48, SQUARE 8: Juan C. Lara and Olga M. Alvarez Velasquez to Evelyn A. Teruel-Espinal, $12,108.

NEAR SLIDELL, PORTION OF GROUND: April V. LaGasse to Chad M. Palen and Daniele L. Palen, donation, no value stated.

NEAR SLIDELL, PORTION OF GROUND: April V. LaGasse to Brenndon P. LaGasse and Jessica G. LaGasse, donation, no value stated.

NEAR SLIDELL, PORTION OF GROUND: April V. Lagasse to Andrew R. Morse and Melissa G. Morse, $90,000.

ORIOLE DRIVE 349: John S. Schwarzwalder to Donald E. Dahl and Heather D. Dahl, $68,000.

PARK DRIVE 2142: Richard N. Harrison Jr. to Virgie M. Daniel, $175,000.

PINE FOREST DRIVE 414: C Squared Renovations LLC to Meredith Porter, $100.

PORTSMOUTH DRIVE 204: Donald S. Esslinger to Michael Eschete, $170,000.

RIVER GARDENS SUBDIVISION, LOTS 10, 11, SQUARE 10: Dragonfly Enterprises Inc. to Helgin G. Guerra Gallardo and Magdalena De Jesus F. Hernandez De Guerra Gallardo, $25,000.

SLIDELL AVE. 3029: Kathleen D Arriola Troullier to George Scott Jr., $210,000.

SNEAD COURT 532: George H. Kendrick Jr. and Jennifer K. Wiley to Danielle M. Walker, $340,000.

SUGAR MILL DRIVE 101: Cesar A. Tamayo and Briciela T. Tamayo to Jose L. Feliz, $179,740.

TAYLOR’S TRAIL 40145, UNIT 304: James M. Hearty, Susan F. Hearty and Jeanne A. Hearty to Thomas G. Lott Jr. and Lori Carroll Lott, $175,000.

TEAL ST. 2216: PennyMac Loan Services LLC to Gayle Macomber, $105,000.

TRACEY LANE 320: Lawrence A. Likes and Mary M. Likes to Stephen Nelson and Rachel Lamendola, $240,000.

W. HALL AVE. 1313: Carole Oliverio, Dera Grush and others to Jeffery S. Lindsay and Miranda C. Lindsay, $178,000.

W. LAKE CATAHOULA COURT 400: Ruth M. Bush to Colin J. Heter and Jewel M. Heter, $290,000.

W. QUEENS DRIVE 110: Successions of Carolyn L. Robertson and Michael P. Robertson to Tanner Manor LLC, $95,000.

WESTLAWN DRIVE 1339: Bernadette K. Daniels to Racchelle Brown, $145,500.

Robert J. Rathe Jr. to Ruben’s Rub LLC, $425,000.

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 American colonies to be in a state of “open and avowedrebellion.”

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1927, amid worldwide protests, Italian-born anarchists 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 Saccoand Vanzetti had beenunfairly 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, killingall 143 people aboard.

In 2003, former priest John Geoghan, the convictedchild molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in aMassachusetts prison.

In 2011, amagnitude 5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia, the strongest on the East Coast since 1944, caused cracks in the Washington Monument and damaged Washington National Cathedral.

In 2013, amilitary jury convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that claimed 13 lives;the Army psychiatrist was later

sentenced to death.

In 2020, aWhite police officerinKenosha, Wisconsin, shot aBlack man, Jacob Blake, seven times as officers triedtoarrest Blake on an outstandingwarrant;the shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and triggered severalnights of violent protests.

In 2022,ajury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnapMichigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmerin2020, avictory for prosecutors in aplot that wasbrokenupbythe FBI and describedasarallying cryfor aU.S. civil war by anti-government extremists. Today’sBirthdays: Actor Vera Milesis96. Actor Barbara Eden is 94. Football Hall of FamerSonnyJurgensen is 91. BallerinaPatricia McBride is 83. Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello is 81. Singer-songwriter Linda Thompson is 78. Author and motivational speaker Rudy Ruettiger is 77. Actor Shelley Long is 76. Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 76. Noor al-Hussein (Queen Noor of Jordan)is74. Film composer Alexandre Desplat is 64. Actor Jay Mohris55. MichiganGov.GretchenWhitmer is 54. Actor Ray Park is 51. Actor Scott Caan is 49. Rock singer Julian Casablancas (TheStrokes) is 47. Actor JoanneFroggatt is 45. Olympic goldmedal swimmer Natalie Coughlin Hall is 43. MusicianLil Yachtyis28.

Caring formyhusband,battlinghis family

Dear Annie: Imet my husband three years ago, about eight monthsafter he losthis first wife of 20 years. Their marriage was often toxic, and she was very abusive toward him.After she passed, he was ready to move on.

Right away,Iknew something wasn’tright withmyhusband. In his mid-50s,hewas having short-termmemory issues, falling frequently and struggling with his mental health. After seeinghis healthcare provider and enrolling in the VeteransAffairs health care system,wediscovered he had suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries during his time in theArmy. That diagnosis led to him becoming a100% serviceconnected disabled veteran and allowed him to receive the care he needed for abetter quality of life.

His family,however,waged a war against me for helping him, accusing me of manipulating and “brainwashing” him. My husband has distanced himself from them, andwe’re no longer on speaking terms. My husband hasalot of anger toward them as he suffered for decades without their help or support.

His parents, who live in another state, are elderly and in poor health. Ifear that if he doesn’t reconcile withthem beforethey

pass, he will resent me.Ilove my husband with all my heart, and this has been ahard road. I just want the very best for him, unconditionally.Any advice? —

Wife on the Defensive

Dear Wife on the Defensive: You’ve been an incredible source of support for your husband. You recognized he was suffering and helped him getthe care he so clearly needed. That’snot brainwashing; that’sbeing a spouse through good and bad, in sicknessand in health.

It’sunderstandable to worry he might one day regret cutting ties with his parents, but reconciliation isn’tsomething you can or should force. That decision is up to your husband. If he ever expresses interest in reaching out to them again, support him gently.Ifnot, trust that he’s madepeace with that choice and knows what’sbest for him, even if it’spainful.

Dear Annie: Ihave afriend who was diagnosed with lymphoma She’sundergone treatment and is now in remission.

She has changed, or at least I’ve started to see another side of her —one that constantly putsmedown, uses me to complain about everyone and be-

lieves she is always right. She tells people she only has five years to live and uses that to manipulate family and friends to get what she wants. It got to the point that I cringed every timeshe called. Ifinally got to the point where Ijust couldn’ttake it anymore, and to keep my sanity and get my self-esteem back, Icut her out of my life. Am Iwrong to feel this way? —Exhausted by Her Cancer Card

DearExhausted: It sounds like you stood by your friend through alot, and it certainly couldn’thave been easy for her to face that diagnosis and all that camewith it. But being sick isn’tanexcuse to be mean. Youdidn’tcut ties because your friend hadcancer; you steppedback because she wasn’treciprocating therespect youwere givingtoher.Atacertainpoint,weall reach ourlimit. Walking away from aone-sided, draining relationship isn’t wrong. Youwere in survival mode, and you did what it took to protect your peace.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators. com.

Annie Lane DEAR ANNIE