The Advocate 08-26-2025

TRUMP REMOVING FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR LISA COOK 2A

Residents can return, but pollution remains

Amid cleanup after Tangipahoa Parish plant explosion, authorities say danger has passed

BY DAVID J MITCHELL, WILLIE SWETT and MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writers

Three days after a lubricants plant in Roseland blew up and turned into a raging fire, forcing nearly 1,000 people to flee, local officials eased a 1-mile evacuation zone as firefighters brought the blaze nearly completely under control.

Crews also worked Monday to keep oily residue from Smitty’s Supply Inc. from flowing down the Tangipahoa River and into Lake Pontchartrain, with around 5,900 feet of boom deployed in total. Soot still covered areas of the town and the air smelled of oil and grease.

Gov Jeff Landry traveled to nearby Amite to meet with local officials in the aftermath of the fire, which covered around 20 acres. There have been no injuries or deaths from the incident, and the State Fire Marshal along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will investigate the cause, which remained unclear

Energy, natural resources chief stepping down

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Gray

Tyler Gray the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, is stepping down on Sept. 2, state officials announced Monday Deputy Secretary Dustin Davidson will take over as secretary Stephen Swiber, the state’s chief resilience officer, will move from the Governor’s Office to fill the deputy secretary position, the agency said in a memo to employees.

“Dustin has been invaluable in his service as

ä See ENERGY, page 5A

Asked about health concerns from people who swim and fish in the Tangipahoa River, Landry said, “What we’ve seen so far does not indicate there is any danger or immediate danger to wildlife or human health.”

While oily substances and soot still covered much of the surrounding area, life slowly began returning to normal in the small rural town in Tangipahoa Parish. Some residents who evacuated started returning home and the Roseland Montessori School planned to reopen Tuesday

Landry’s port plan has early success

Panel works deal for supplying Hyundai Steel plant

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

The $5.8 billion Hyundai Steel plant that’s set to rise in Ascension Parish is a key project for Gov Jeff Landry’s administration. And to make it work, Hyundai and state officials have long known they would need a new port facility to bring raw materials in and send finished goods out to the Korean automaker’s assembly plants.

“What made the deal between Port of South Louisiana and Baton Rouge that much easier to accomplish is that the ports have been meeting regularly since late 2023.” JOE TOOMy, Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission

The answer to that logistics problem came last month, when the Port of South Louisiana was tapped to build and operate a new $25.5 million deepwater dock. The project, however, is on land controlled by the Port of Baton Rouge, which in years past may have raised thorny questions of control and oversight that could’ve turned into a political brawl.

But under the newly established Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission, which has been tasked with directing public funds to important economic development projects, the ports hashed out an agreement.

“From what I have been told, from what I can see, there really is no imminent danger to any life or property, other than we have to clean up a big mess,” Landry said at a news conference on Monday afternoon in Amite.

The evacuation, initially extending to a mile radius, was reduced to a more compact area closest to the plant on Monday, though sections of major highways through the town remained closed, including U.S. 51. The blaze was 98% contained on Monday, but myriad environmental concerns persisted. The contents of the soot were being tested by environmental regulators, but results were not yet available.

ä See POLLUTION, page 5A

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

dozen

A shortage of bus drivers is once again holding back East Baton Rouge Parish in its efforts to improve its much-maligned student transportation system. Superintendent LaMont Cole on Thursday persuaded the parish School Board to approve new incentives to cover the hole:

n A nearly $5-per-hour increase in the rate it pays current drivers willing to run extra routes.

n A finder’s fee of up to $500 for school employees who refer someone to be a bus driver, and that per-

“What made the deal between Port of South Louisiana and Baton Rouge that much easier to accomplish is that the ports have been meeting regularly since late 2023,” said Joe Toomy the shipping industry executive and former chair of the Port of New Orleans who has been overseeing the Waterways Commission’s efforts.

If the Hyundai dock project is

ä See PORT, page 4A

son stays a while.

In a letter to the board, Cole said the latest changes are needed because there is “a shortage of available drivers, leaving several routes unassigned.”

Rob Howle, director of transportation, said the district is short 49 active drivers.

Faced with a similar shortage this spring, the school system hired private school bus giant First Student to take over six routes. Howle said that he reached out recently to First Student about potentially re-upping the contract and said he was told the company was too tied up with finding sufficient drivers for its current clients locally The rate for running extra routes

See

page 4A

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is

STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD

A boom helps stop oil and residue from a Friday explosion at Smitty’s Supply from floating down the Tangipahoa River on Monday

Matthew Allen, executive director of Northshore Riverwatch, collects oil from the Tangipahoa River in Independence on Monday.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Envoy: Officials working hard to end Ukraine war

KYIV, Ukraine President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg said in Kyiv on Monday that officials are “working very, very hard” on efforts to end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, as a lack of progress fuels doubts about whether a peace settlement could be on the horizon.

Officials are “hoping to get to a position where, in the near term, we have, with a lack of a better term, security guarantees” that address Ukraine’s fears of another invasion by Russia in the future, Kellogg said.

“That’s a work in progress,” Kellogg said of the potential security guarantees after attending Ukraine’s annual National Prayer Breakfast along with politicians, business leaders and diplomats.

A week ago, Trump said he had set in motion arrangements for direct peace talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy But Russian officials have signaled that such a summit won’t happen any time soon.

Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled

Lil Nas X pleads not guilty to attacking police

LOS ANGELES Lil Nas X was charged Monday with four felonies after police say he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week, prosecutors announced.

The musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, pleaded not guilty in a court appearance to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer the District Attorney’s Office said.

The charges were far more serious than initial reports that he was being investigated for a misdemeanor, and, with convictions, the counts could collectively bring a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for the singer and rapper whose “Old Town Road” was one of the biggest hit singles in history

Police said officers found the 26-year-old walking naked on Ventura Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the Studio City neighborhood, shortly before 6 a.m. Friday They say he charged at the officers when confronted and was arrested. Police, suspecting a possible overdose, took him to a hospital where he spent several hours before being taken to jail, where he has remained since. He was being held on $75,000 bail, conditional on attending drug treatment. It’s not immediately clear whether he had posted it and been released yet. A message to his attorney, Christy O’Connor was not immediately answered.

Some FEMA staff decry Trump’s cuts in letter

More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.

“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.

The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate before locking heads with the White House. The letter coincides with the 20th anniversary week of Hurricane Katrina, when more than 1,800 people died and profound failures in the federal response prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006.

The letter warns that poor management and eroded capacity at FEMA could undo progress made to improve the agency through that law

Trump fires Fed Governor Lisa Cook

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday an unprecedented move that constitutes a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has been long considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

higher on second homes or those purchased to rent

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences — in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta — in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often

Israel

The firing is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets potentially pushing interest rates higher The independence of the Fed is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables it to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

Legal scholars noted that the allegations are likely a pretext for the president to open up another seat on the seven-member board so he can appoint a loyalist to push for his long-stated goal of lower interest rates.

Fed governors vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions

and on issues of financial regulation. While they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, they are not like cabinet secretaries, who serve at the pleasure of the president. They serve 14-year terms that are staggered in an effort to insulate the Fed from political influence.

No president has sought to fire a Fed governor before. In recent decades presidents of both parties have largely respected Fed independence, though Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson put heavy pressure on the Fed during their presidencies mostly behind closed doors. Still, that behind-thescenes pressure to keep interest rates low the same goal sought by Trump, has widely been blamed for touching off rampant inflation in the late 1960s and ’70s.

The announcement came days after Cook said she wouldn’t leave despite Trump previously calling for her to resign. Senate Democrats had expressed support for Cook.

“The Federal Reserve has tre-

mendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve member banks. The American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, a copy of which he posted online. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

Trump argued that firing Cook was constitutional, even if doing so will raise questions about control of the Fed as an independent entity

The firing is likely to touch off a legal battle and Cook could be allowed to remain in her seat while the case plays out. Cook would have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

It is the latest effort by the administration to take control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington.

strikes Gaza hospital two times

At least 20 killed, including journalists and rescuers

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and SAM METZ Associated Press

DEIRAL-BALAH,Gaza Strip Israel struck one of the main hospitals in the Gaza Strip on Monday and then hit the facility again as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene, killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more, local health workers said.

It was among the deadliest of several Israeli strikes that have hit both hospitals and journalists over the course of the 22-month war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and the assault came as Israel plans to widen its offensive to heavily populated areas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strike on Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis was a “tragic mishap” and that the military was investigating.

Israeli media reported that troops fired two artillery shells, targeting what they suspected was a Hamas surveillance camera on the roof. The Reuters news agency said one of its reporters, who was operating a live television shot, was killed in the first strike, citing hospital officials

It was not clear if he was

Trump

Riyad Dagga, surrounded by relatives and friends,

freelance journalist Mariam Dagga, 33,

in a Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan younis, Gaza Strip.

the target Reporters from different outlets had regularly set up live shots at that location.

The first strike hit an upper floor housing operating rooms and doctors’ residences, killing at least two people, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry

The second strike hit an external stairwell as rescuers and journalists raced to the scene of the first, killing another 18. Around 80 people were wounded, including many in the hospital’s courtyard, al-Waheidi said.

Among those killed was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who had worked for The Associated Press. Dagga regularly reported for multiple outlets

moves

from the hospital, including a recent story for the AP on doctors struggling to save children from starvation.

The strike killed three other journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters and Middle East Eye, a U.K.-based media outlet, most on a contractor or freelance basis.

Video shot from across the street by pan-Arab channel Al Ghad showed people climbing the external stairwell just after the first strike, past walls with chunks shorn off — followed by the boom of the second strike, a huge plume of smoke and a heap of wreckage.

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the army does not target civilians and

to ban flag burning despite court ruling allowing it

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag, an activity that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office acknowledged the court’s 5-4 ruling in a case from Texas in 1989, but said there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words.”

“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month,” Trump said. “You get one year in jail,

and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.”

The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the 1989 ruling, an attempt by Trump to get the issue back in front of the Supreme Court. Today’s Supreme Court is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in 1989 and includes three judges Trump appointed in his first term Civil liberties advocates and constitutional scholars questioned both the legality and the merit of Trump’s action. A lawyer working for a free speech group said Trump does not have the power to rewrite the First Amendment “While people can be prosecuted for burning anything in a place they aren’t allowed to set fires, the government can’t prosecute protected expressive

activity — even if many Americans, including the president, find it ‘uniquely offensive and provocative,’” added Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

In the 1989 case, the justices ruled 5-4 that the First Amendment protects flag burning as legitimate political expression. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative icon whom Trump has repeatedly praised, was in the majority On Monday, Trump described the 1989 court behind the ruling as a “very sad court.”

Trump said burning the U.S. flag “incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before,” with some people “going crazy” over the act of setting it afire and others expressing anger at people for burning it. He did not offer examples.

had launched an internal investigation into the strikes. He accused Hamas of hiding among civilians but did not say whether Israel believed any militants were present during the strikes on the hospital.

Netanyahu’s statement said: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser

Hospital in Gaza. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians.”

The U.N. secretary-general, along with Britain, France and others, condemned the attack. When asked about the strike, President Donald Trump initially said he was not aware of it before offering: “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it.” Trump later said he thought there might be a “conclusive ending” in Gaza in the coming weeks, without elaborating. It was not clear if he was referring to Israel’s coming offensive or to long-running ceasefire talks. Israel has attacked hospitals multiple times throughout the war, asserting that Hamas embeds itself in and around the facilities, though Israeli officials rarely provide evidence. Hamas security personnel have been seen inside such facilities during the war, and parts of those sites have been off limits to the public. The hospitals that remain open have been overwhelmed by the dead, wounded and now by increasing numbers of malnourished as parts of Gaza are experiencing famine.

Cook

PHOTO PROVIDED By FAMILy OF MARIAM DAGGA

prays over the body of his daughter,

during her funeral Monday after she was killed

Abrego Garcia faces new deportation efforts

ICE detains him in Baltimore

BY BRIAN WITTE, TRAVIS LOLLER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY Associated Press

BALTIMORE — Kilmar Abrego

Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s aggressive effort to remove noncitizens from the U.S., was detained by immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday to face renewed efforts to deport him after a brief period of freedom.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys quickly filed a lawsuit to fight his deportation until a court has heard his claim for protection, stating that the U.S. could place him in a country where “his safety cannot be assured.”

The lawsuit triggered a blanket court order that automatically pauses deportation efforts for two days The order applies to immigrants in Maryland who are challenging their detention.

Within hours of Abrego Garcia’s detention, his lawyers spoke with Department of Justice attorneys and a federal judge in Maryland, who warned Abrego Garcia

cannot be removed from the U.S “at this juncture” because he must be allowed to exercise his constitutional right to contest deportation.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said overlapping court orders temporarily prohibit the government from removing Abrego Garcia, and that she would extend her own temporary restraining order barring his deportation.

Drew Ensign, a Justice Department attorney, told the judge that Abrego Garcia’s “removal is not imminent” and that the process often takes time.

Abrego Garcia, a 30-yearold Maryland construction worker and Salvadoran national, spoke at a rally before he turned himself in.

“This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said, speaking through a translator “God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”

Roughly 200 people gathered, prayed and crowded around Abrego Garcia while he walked into the offices for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore, where he was detained. When his lawyer and wife walked out without him,

the crowd yelled “Shame!” Department of Homeland

Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that Abrego Garcia was being processed for deportation

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office that Abrego Garcia “will no longer terrorize our country.”

Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland for years with his American wife and children, and worked in construction He was wrongfully deported in March to a notorious pris-

on in his native El Salvador because the Trump administration believed he was a member of the MS-13 gang, an allegation that Abrego Garcia denies. His removal violated an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that shielded him from deportation to his native country because he had “well-founded fear” of threats by a gang there.

Abrego Garcia’s wife sued to bring him back. Facing a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned him in June. He

was subsequently charged in Tennessee with human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty and asked a judge to dismiss the case on ground of vindictive prosecution.

The allegations stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Abrego Garcia was driving with nine passengers in the car, and officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. He was allowed to continue driving with a warning.

The Trump administration has said it wants to deport

Abrego Garcia before his trial, alleging he is a danger to the community and an MS13 gang member A federal judge in Tennessee determined that Abrego Garcia was not a flight risk or a danger He was released from jail Friday afternoon and returned to his family in Maryland. Video released by advocates of the reunion showed a room decorated with streamers, flowers and signs. He embraced loved ones and thanked them “for everything.”

Federal officials argue Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally and that the immigration judge’s 2019 ruling deemed him eligible for expulsion, just not to his native El Salvador Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lead immigration attorney, told reporters Monday that Abrego Garcia is being held in a detention facility in Virginia.

Trump administration officials have

BY MARK SHERMAN, ASHRAF KHALIL and SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Public schools

reopened Monday in the nation’s tense capital with parents on edge over the presence in their midst of thousands of National Guard troops — some now armed and large scatterings of federal law enforcement officers carrying out President Donald Trump’s orders to make the District of Columbia a safer place.

Even as Trump started talking about other cities and again touted a drop in crime that he attributed to his extraordinary effort to take over policing in Washington, D.C., the district’s mayor was lamenting the effect of Trump’s actions on children.

“Parents are anxious. We’ve heard from a lot of them,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference, noting that some might keep their children out of school because of immigration concerns.

“Any attempt to target children is heartless, is mean, is uncalled for and it only hurts us,” she said. “I would just call for everybody to leave our kids alone.”

As schools opened across the capital city, parental social media groups and listservs were buzzing with reports and rumors of checkpoints and arrests. The week began with some patrolling National Guard units now carrying firearms. The change stemmed from a directive issued late last

BALCE CENETA

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MANUEL

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser center attends a celebration of the first day of school at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School on Monday in Washington.

week by his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Armed National Guard troops from Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee were seen around the city Monday But not every patrol appears to be carrying weapons. An Associated Press photographer said the roughly 30 troops he saw on the National Mall on Monday morning were unarmed. Armed Guard members in Washington will be operating under long-standing rules for the use of military force inside the U.S., the military task force overseeing all the troops deployed to D.C. said Monday Those rules, broadly, say that while troops can use force, they should do so only “in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm” and “only as a last resort.”

The task force has directed questions on why the change was necessary to Hegseth’s office. Those officials have

declined to answer those questions. Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Hegseth said that it was common sense to arm them because it meant they were “capable of defending themselves and others.”

Among their duties is picking up trash, the task force said, though it’s unclear how much time they will spend doing that Bowser reiterated her opposition to the National Guard’s presence “I don’t believe that troops should be policing American cities,” she said.

Trump is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York, saying the situations in those cities require federal action. In Washington, his administration says more than 1,000 people have been arrested since Aug. 7, including 86 on Sunday

“We took hundreds of guns away from young kids, who were throwing them around like it was candy We apprehended scores of illegal aliens We seized dozens of illegal firearms. There have been zero murders,” Trump said Monday

The possibility of the military patrolling streets of Chicago, the nation’s thirdlargest city, prompted immediate backlash, confusion and a trail of sarcastic social media posts.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a first-term Democrat, has called it unconstitutional and threatened legal action. Illinois Gov JB Pritzker deemed it a distraction and unnecessary as crime rates in Chicago are down, as they are nationwide.

Pritzker, often mentioned as a presidential contender, posted an Instagram video Monday of his 6 a.m. walk along a Lake Michigan path filled with runners and walkers.

“I don’t know who in Washington thinks that Chicago is some sort of hellhole, but you may need to look inward,” he said, mocking Trump’s term describing Washington. Others raised questions about where patrols might go and what role they might play. By square mileage, Chicago is more than three times the size of Washington, and neighborhoods with historically high crime are spread far apart.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEPHANIE

successfully funded and built, it would represent thefirst tangible result of Landry’splan to reshape the state’sport system.The strategy,which looks to increase and focus public port investment and cooperation, is also aiming to curb the decades of parochial squabbling that critics say has contributed to the state’s loss of market share to Gulf Coast rivals.

The five Louisiana ports along the lower Mississippi River —the Portof Baton Rouge, PortofSouth Louisiana, Port of New Orleans and the ports in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes —collectively move over ahalf-billion tons annually,accounting for nearly 20% of all U.S. cargo volumes and more than twice as much as nearest rival Houston. The problem, according to many shipping industry players and state economy boosters, is that for all their industrial might, they’ve never worked well together Each is overseen by its own board and represents the interests of theparishes where it has jurisdiction. That has meant that while container shippinghas come to dominate trade, the state has fallen behind, and it has cost other potential investments, too, like manufacturing and distribution

centers. That’sstarting to change, according to port officials.

The Ascension Parish dock investment would be part of approximately $600 million of proposed spendingoninfrastructureand other support efforts for theKorean industrial conglomerate’sproject,which was announced earlier this year for theRiverplex Megapark on thewest bank of the Mississippi River

The facility will be in the jurisdictionofthe Port of BatonRouge though it has ceded the project, via acooperative endeavor agreement, to the Port ofSouth Louisiana, whose territory covers a54-mile stretch along the Mississippi River, from Waggaman in Jefferson Parish to Convent in St James Parish.

The Port of South Louisiana has long planned to establish operationson the west bank as part of its development strategy However,lastyear,itabandoneda bidto buy Avondale Global Gateway —which is in the PortofNew Orleans jurisdiction —after widespreadopposition to the dealfrom state politicians and the shipping industry

Anew commission

The uproar over that proposed deal helped spur renewed talk aboutthe need for astatewide ports plan. That in turn led to the establishment by theLandry administration of theWaterways Investment Commis-

sion, via abill sponsoredby Republican stateRep.Mark Wright,ofSt. TammanyParish, which has been tasked with setting overall strategy and helping to direct state and other funds toward priority projects.

Micah Cormier,Portof South Louisiana’s chief commercial officer,said the Hyundai dock would give the port thewest bank footholdithad been looking for. It could allow them to replicate there its east bank Globalplex multimodal warehousing and manufacturing center as suppliers built to be near Hyundai.

vice chair of the Waterways Commission, said the July resolution should be seen as one of several efforts aimed at making sure thestate’s portsare helping to accomplishthe administration’s broader economicdevelopmentgoals.

million annually forportinfrastructure and waterways dredging projects in order to attract businesses and investment to their states, and to facilitate growth in international trade,” the commission noted.

LITand otherprojects

Bridge and access road, whichlocal officials say are needed to develop Fourchon Island in support of deepwater rig repair and other oil services work. Also includedonthe list is the $70 million Port of Terrebonne project to deepen theHouma Navigation Canalfor oilrelated traffic and the $20 million worth of enhancements at the Central Louisiana Regional Port in support of Fort Polkactivities.

Toomysaid themostsignificant progress is on the Big Five deepwater river ports. In an interview, he pointed to their recent agreement to fund astudy into how best they could jointlymarket themselves to world.

Polaris Analytics &Consulting has been commissioned to come up with a marketing strategy that will sell the ports’ collective strengths, both in terms of the commodities and containers it can move as well as how they can offer abase for manufacturing and logistics.

DRIVERS

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is increasing from $13.29 to $18.00 per hour

“I think it’sgoing to allow us to cover some of those routes,”Howle said Howlesaid that two years ago,the district increased its hourly rate for summer school routes, and this past summer, there was awaiting list of interested drivers.

The new $500 finder’sfee, described as a“recruitment stipend,”will be paid outin two installments: $250 when the recruiteddriver is trained and has driven30days;and $250afterthe recruited driver “completes 180 consecutivedays of employment.”

“I think it’sgoing to get us some drivers,” Howle predicted.

Howle said he thinks that the person whostands to receive $500 will lean on the recruited driver to ensure they get trained and that theykeep driving for there-

“This could be acatalyst,” Cormiersaid. “Wehavehad atremendous amount of interest since we’ve been looking at building on thewest bank.”

At itslast meeting in July, thecommission identified thePortofSouth Louisiana’s Hyundaidock —dubbed “Project Huey” —asone of sevenpriorityportprojects which would require various levels of state andother public funding.

Julia Fisher-Cormier Landry’scommissioner of multimodal commerce and

Louisiana has 41 portsof various sizes that together support one in five jobs and contribute about 5% of the state’sbudget However,despitethe industry’simportance, critics have said thelack of astatelevel strategy has meant that it haslost ground in recentdecades,especially on the all-important container ship market,toHouston and Mobile.

In its resolution, the commission noted that the Port PriorityProgram, which was establishedin1989, is theonlyprogramavailable to fund port projects.

To date, it has provided less than $1 billionintotal funding —less than $28 million ayear,onaverage for port infrastructure and dredging projectsacross all of Louisiana’sports.

“OtherGulf states provide their ports with over $250

Topofthe commissions priority list is the Louisiana International Terminal the Port of New Orleans proposesbuilding at Violet in St. Bernard Parish. Though it still faces oppositionfrom St. Bernard Parish Council and alarge section of the local population,Landry made it clear in May thathe backs the project when he appointed MichaelHecht, CEO of GNO Inc., the regional economic development agency,topushthe project through. It is expected to begin construction this year if it gets the green light from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with phaseone coming online in 2028.

The project priority list also includes the $95 million Fourchon Island Connectivity and Resiliency Project to build anew Fourchon

The aim is to turn the tide for the region and attract investmentand jobs,like Mobile has done with its nearby Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz plants, as well as the bigWalmartdistribution center there.

There arestill some wrinkles. Plaquemines Port nowcalledLouisiana Gateway Port —isstill pursuing its plan for awest bank containerterminal, which would be built andoperated by APM,though thePort of NewOrleans opposes it. Charles Tillotson, Gateway’sCEO, said that the privately funded project doesn’tconflict with the Louisiana International Terminal and should benefit from the five ports’ join marketing plan.

“This initiative gives us a broader platform to highlightthe strategicvalueof our terminal within aregional framework,” he said. Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate. com.

quirednumber of days

Unassigned routes have doggedthe schoolsystem foryears and were akey cause of the bus crisis that marked thestartofthe 202324 schoolyear. That year,a severe shortage of drivers andworkingbuses resulted in many children being stranded or delayed in getting to and from school.

Thedistrict has made strides to improve its bus fleet since then, making sure almostevery bus is air-conditioned.Thispast summer, buses were outfitted with new security cameras with liveremoteaccess, GPS tracking, motion-sensor activation, as well as cloud-based and onbus video data backup.

Routes were reworked this summer with an eye towardgreaterefficiency with the help of Prismatic, atransportation consulting firmbased in Charlotte, North Carolina. Six schools arepiloting new start times, whichcould expand districtwideover thenextyear Prismaticalso persuaded

leaders to establish uniform spacing of bus stops —0.25 miles between each —as well as eliminating many stopsthatwerewithina mile of school; transportation is not legally required forstudentswho live that closeto their school. Those changes, however, sparked fresh complaints from someaffectedparents, some of whom have said they wereunaware of thechanges Historically, theschool system has had abad reputation in howwellit followed up on such complaints. On Thursday,Cole said arecently adopted new AI-based customerservice platformknown as “Let’s Talk” is making adifference. He said since thestart of school earlier this month, there have been 5,410 “Let’s Talk”dialogues, andabout 91% of those are complaints about transportation. Of allthe dialogues,89% have beenresolved, leaving almost 600 thatare not yet resolved.

Cars in town, as well as the shoulders of U.S. 51 headed north to Smitty’s, still had black soot on them. A Dollar General store had soot covering the bottom half of its sign.

While the full evacuation zone was still in place Sunday night, about 75 people stayed overnight in two hotels, officials said. Only seven homes in Roseland could no longer be accessed on Monday

A few miles south of Smitty’s, a man returned to his house to find the glasses and plates he had on sale in his yard filled with an oily, black water On the other side of Roseland a few miles east of Smitty’s, Jaden Armstrong was pressure-washing soot-covered slides and swings at the playground outside Mt. Canaan Baptist Church.

“Everybody’s cleaning up,” Armstrong said.

Roseland Montessori School was evacuated Friday but federal authorities have now confirmed air quality in and around it is clear, parish officials said. Crews also have cleaned sidewalks, walkways and driveways, as well as inside campus buildings, school officials added. Outdoor areas, including playgrounds, have been sanitized. Airconditioning and heating systems have been checked and serviced to ensure indoor air quality and bottled water will be available for students and staff, school officials said.

“Every safety precaution has been taken to ensure that students are in a safe learning environment,” school officials said in a Facebook post

The following streets remained closed Monday:

n La. 10 from U.S. 51 to East Russell Town Road

n U.S. 51 from La. 1048 to North Street n La. 1048 from U.S. 51 to Mt. Gillion Church Road.

Alternate routes for commercial vehicles included:

Continued from page 1A

deputy to the department, always ready to step in and move us forward,” Gray said in a statement. “He will be an outstanding leader, and Stephen will bring the intellectual curiosity and professionalism needed to continue refining the work we’ve built together for Louisiana.”

Gov Jeff Landry appointed Gray to head up DENR in January 2024, as part of the governor’s new administration. Over multiple legislative sessions, Gray successfully pushed for legislation reorganizing the agency

Having ushered in such changes, Gray said it was time for him to let new leadership take over.

“I am deeply grateful to Gov Landry for the trust he placed in me to lead this department through a historic reorganization,” he said “Together, we built a strong foundation and set a clear direction for the future.”

Now, it will be up to Davidson to shepherd the agency following its overhaul.

In a statement, Davidson thanked Gray for his leadership.

“Having worked with him

n La. 10 west to La. 1058 north

n La. 10 east to U.S. 51 South at Purina Mill

‘Never seen anything like this’

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other officials were grappling with the spill of unknown chemicals and hydrocarbons into ditches, ponds and the Tangipahoa River

Officials announced an emergency closure of the river on Sunday evening A total of 100,000 gallons of material had been recovered so far, an EPA official said.

State Department of Environmental Quality photos also showed a large private pond next to the river with oily contamination.

Smitty’s has the ability to store 8.7 million gallons of flammable liquids and chemicals, including motor oil, lubricants and lighter fluid, state regulatory papers say Officials have not said what was at

closely in the efforts to reorganize this agency and modernize its approach to industry regulation and resource management, I feel confident that the team we have put together will be able to deliver on our shared vision driven by the core principles of transparency, balance and practical solutions,” Davidson said At Gray’s behest, lawmakers last year passed a bill to create the Natural Resources Trust Authority, which is tasked with regulating financial security for Louisiana’s oil and gas wells.

Most well operators are required to obtain such security which could be a promise from a bank or financial institution, to ensure there is money to plug their wells if they go out of business.

The rule is meant to keep wells from becoming orphaned. But in recent years, state audits have found that wells often lack adequate financial security, and that the state failed to properly oversee the Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association, once a major financial security provider The Natural Resources Trust Authority aims to improve the financial security system and ameliorate the state’s orphan well problem. Currently Louisi-

the plant at the time of the fire. Attempts to reach company officials have been unsuccessful.

At a privately run day camp at Serenity Sands beach off the Tangipahoa River on Monday, Matthew Allen, director of the environmental group Northshore River Watch, took a sample of water in a jar

“I’ve never seen anything like this on one of our local rivers,” he said Speaking of the plant, he said: “It looks like they need a better emergency plan with respect to the river.”

He pointed to the thick layer of oil on the water’s surface over 10 miles downriver from the plant.

Above Allen crews stood on the La. 40 bridge over the river sucking oil off the top. Orange boom material was in place just south of the bridge to stop the flow of oil.

Allen noted the plant had a leak in 2022 that required boom in the

ana has over 4,900 orphan wells, which can threaten the environment and public safety

Also last year, lawmakers eliminated the firewall between DENR and the Office of Conservation. Though the conservation office had been part of the larger department, it operated independently and answered to the commissioner of conservation instead of the energy secretary.

Eliminating the firewall helped DENR operate more efficiently, Davidson said.

The Legislature took that change a step further this year when it passed Act 458, sponsored by state Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville. The 227-page law, effective Oct. 1, restructures DENR and eliminates the Office of Conservation.

The law establishes two new offices — one for permitting and compliance, and another for enforcement — that will take up the functions of the Office of Conservation, said DENR spokesperson Patrick Courreges.

That change will allow all permitting and all enforcement employees to work together, regardless of whether they had been part of the conservation office, Courreges said. Currently there

river then.

“We just want to see it cleaned up as best we can and learn how to not let it happen again,” he said.

Neighbor’s lawsuits

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the explosion at the complex that employs about 450 people. It has six months to complete its inspection, OSHA spokesperson Juan Rodriguez said.

Smitty’s has run afoul of OSHA over the past decade with two injuries and one fatality since 2017, amassing more than $58,000 in fines.

The plant has been the focus of regular scrutiny from regulators, including over spills of various chemicals that have made it offsite and into the river, state and federal papers say

The 112-acre Brickyard Farms

are permitting and enforcement employees both inside and outside of that office.

Act 458 also renames DENR, which will soon become the Department of Conservation and Energy

tree farm next door has often been on the receiving end of the plant’s spills, DEQ and legal papers show

Owners of the farm since 1990, the Chollette family of Baton Rouge, have sued Smitty’s three times over alleged spills since 2015 One member of the family, Neal Chollette Jr., said Monday that the latest spill has contaminated his property again, including one of his ponds.

Chollette said he met with EPA officials Sunday to discuss ways to block off the flow of runoff from Smitty’s and prevent it from continuing to flow into the nearby Tangipahoa River

The suits cite DEQ documentation that have included admissions from Smitty’s, including for the most recent lawsuit filed in July

That suit cited agency papers in which the company told DEQ a sizeable spill was preventable, legal papers show Beau Brock, the Chollettes’ lawyer, said in an interview, “our clients have had enough.”

Drainage routes from Smitty’s to the Tangipahoa runs through the Chollettes’ property and its pond. The river also passes through the property

“We are anticipating that there may be more contamination based on past events,” Brock said Saturday

Citing DEQ records and Smitty’s own self-reporting, the Chollettes accused the plant in its latest suit of spilling of 950 gallons of hydraulic fluid in July 2024 after a line burst.

The onsite containment system couldn’t keep the fluid at bay and heavy rains worsened the release by overwhelming oil separating equipment, allowing it to reach the Chollettes’ property and pond.

About a month later, as cleanup and testing was finishing, yellow dye also escaped from the plant and wound up in the Chollettes’ pond again, giving it “an eerie fluorescent green color,” the suit claims.

The company admitted both spills to DEQ, but said the dye was nontoxic and off-site cleanup was limited.

And it creates the Natural Resources Commission, which will be made up of seven representatives of key state agencies, among them DENR, the Louisiana Department of Environ-

mental Quality and Louisiana Economic Development. The commission will coordinate water management planning and statewide flood protection, the law states.

PHOTO PROVIDED By LOUISIANA STATE POLICE

The fire at Smitty’s Supply was contained by Monday.

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Stocks slip on Wall Street after Friday rally

Stocks on Wall Street closed broadly lower Monday, giving back some of the big gains the market notched last week on hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% and remains near its all-time high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.8% lower after setting a record high on Friday The Nasdaq composite closed 0.2% lower

The selling was widespread, with health care stocks among the biggest drags on the market. Pfizer fell 2.9% and Eli Lilly and Co. slid 2.3% Gains for several big technology stocks helped temper the market’s losses. Alphabet, Google’s parent company rose 1.2%. Technology heavyweight Nvidia rose 1%.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market following their big drop on Friday amid expectations that the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate in September Southwest to charge plus-size travelers

Southwest Airlines will soon require travelers who can’t fit within the armrests of their seat to pay for an extra one in advance, part of a string of recent changes the carrier is making.

The new rule goes into effect

Jan 27, the same day Southwest starts assigning seats

Currently, plus-size passengers can either pay for an extra seat in advance with the option of getting that money back later or they can request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the carrier’s new policy, a refund is still possible but no longer guaranteed.

In a statement Monday, Southwest said it is updating some of its policies as it prepares for assigned seating next year

“To ensure space, we are communicating to Customers who have previously used the extra seat policy that they should purchase it at booking ” the statement said.

It marks the latest change at Southwest, which had long been known for letting its passengers pick their own seats after boarding the plane, and for letting their bags fly for free, which ended in May Those perks were key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals.

Southwest says it will still refund a second ticket under its new policy for extra seating if there is at least one open seat on the flight when it departs, and if both of the passenger’s tickets were purchased in the same booking class. The passenger also needs to request the refund within 90 days of the flight.

Google settles YouTube children’s privacy suit

Google has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a long-running lawsuit by parents and their children claiming its YouTube video app collected data from millions of U.S. kids under 13 so it could target them with ads. The Mountain View digital advertising and search giant “manipulated children using their personal information into extending their time on YouTube, which in turn increased the number of targeted advertisements shown to them, and increased the revenue earned by Google,” according to the lawsuit filed in San Jose U.S. District Court.

Google admitted no wrongdoing under the settlement However, in a court filing last year, it argued that the case failed to claim specific losses or allege the YouTube data collection went beyond “routine commercial behavior into highly offensive conduct.” The company, whose annual profits reported to regulators ranged from $12.7 billion in 2013 to $40.3 billion in 2020 during the period covered by the lawsuit, did not respond to questions about the lawsuit and how it currently treats data from YouTube children’s videos.

BY WENDY LEE Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Elon Musk on Monday ramped up his legal feud with OpenAI as his companies filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple, accusing both of anticompetitive behavior in the artificial intelligence industry Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership last year that would allow Apple customers to connect

with OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT on iPhones. Musk’s social media firm X and artificial intelligence company X.AI LLC say that the deal has hindered their ability to compete and has locked up markets to maintain what they describe as Apple and OpenAI’s monopolies

“Plaintiffs bring this suit to stop Defendants from perpetrating their anticompetitive scheme and to recover billions in damages,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Texas on Monday Musk’s companies, Bastrop, Texasbased X and San Francisco-based xAI, are seeking a permanent injunction against Apple and OpenAI.

The lawsuit adds to a long-running fight between Musk and Ope-

nAI’s Chief Executive Sam Altman. Musk was an early investor in OpenAI but later left its board and started a rival AI business xAI. Musk has an ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman accusing them of fraud and breach of contract over OpenAI’s efforts to change its corporate structure.

“This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Musk companies’ lawsuit claims

ChatGPT has at least an 80% market share in the generative AI chatbot market, whereas xAI’s chatbot Grok has just a few percentage points in market share.

“As a result of Apple and OpenAI’s exclusive arrangement, ChatGPT is the only AI chatbot that ben-

efits from billions of user prompts originating from hundreds of millions of iPhones,” according to xAI’s lawsuit. “This makes it hard for competitors of ChatGPT’s generative AI chatbot and super apps powered by generative AI chatbots to scale and innovate.” xAI has asked to integrate Grok directly with Apple’s software ecosystem, iOS, but hasn’t been allowed to do so, Musk’s companies said in their lawsuit While users can access other AI chatbots on iPhones by using a web browser or downloading an AI chatbot’s app, “those options do not provide the same level of functionality, usability integration, or access to user prompts as ChatGPT’s first-party integration with Apple,” the lawsuit says.

Democrats want Trump to resume major R.I. offshore wind project

Construction halted, citing national security concerns

BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future after the Trump administration abruptly halted construction and the states’ Democratic governors, lawmakers and union workers called Monday for the president to reverse course.

The administration said last week that the federal government needs to review the Revolution Wind project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management declined to comment further

The developer, Danish energy company Orsted, is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings. And in addition to hampering the state’s climate goals, losing out on all that renewable power could drive up electricity prices throughout the region, Democratic officials say

“It’s an attack on our jobs,” Rhode Island Gov Dan McKee said. “It’s an attack on our energy It’s an attack on our families and their ability to pay the bills.” McKee and the state’s entire congressional delegation gathered at a beach area in North Kingstown, near the project’s logistics and operations hub

Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, drew applause when he directed a message at President Donald Trump: “We’re going to fight you every step of the way no matter how long it takes.”

Meanwhile, Connecticut Gov Ned Lamont and the state’s U.S. senators spoke at State Pier in New London, where components for the wind farm are kept before being taken out to sea.

The project is 80% complete, with all the underwater foundations and 45 out of 65 turbines already installed.

North America’s Building Trades Unions said Trump “just fired 1,000 of our members” who were working on the project

Several people previously scheduled to go back to work on the wind farm this week were in the audience in North Kingstown. Xiomara Lux said she doesn’t know if she

has a job now Antonio Gianfrancesco is worried about paying his bills and helping his family Lucialino Gomes said this job is the best he’s had.

Tony Vaz, a rope access technician, asked the politicians to fight for the wind farm because “we need to get out there and keep working.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island disputed the administration’s rationale for stopping the work.

The Defense Department was involved in reviewing the project, as with all offshore wind development, to avoid conflicts with military operations and training.

“It’s not about national security It’s about the president’s insecurity,” said Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects.

Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project for New York, although construction was later allowed to resume.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of government plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in East Coast states with large populations and limited land for wind turbines or solar arrays. Revolution Wind is expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. Power would be provided at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, locked in for 20 years. That’s cheaper than the average cost of electricity in New England.

The project site is more than 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

The Trump administration previously stopped work on Empire Wind, the New York offshore wind project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals, although the developer Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits. Construction was allowed to resume in May after two of the state’s Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov Kathy Hochul, intervened.

Dr Pepper to break from Keurig, buys Peet’s for $18 billion

CEO says separate business will help focus on growth

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN AP business writer

Less than a decade after their merger Keurig and Dr Pepper plan to become separate companies again.

Keurig Dr Pepper said Monday it is buying the owner of Peet’s Coffee for $18 billion. Then it will break itself in two, with one company selling coffee and the other selling cold beverages like Snapple, Dr Pepper, 7UP and energy drinks. The agreement unwinds the 2018

merger of Keurig and Dr Pepper

Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell 11.5% in afternoon trading Monday

Investors were concerned about the company’s plan to finance the acquisition with a mix of cash and debt. S&P Global placed Keurig Dr Pepper on a credit watch with negative implications Monday, saying it was concerned about the increase in debt and the complexity of the two-step transaction.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Timothy Cofer said the separate coffee and beverage businesses would be more nimble and better able to focus on growth opportunities in their own markets.

“Following the separation, each stand-alone entity will lead its industry with a sharp strategic focus and with operating models that are

finely calibrated to their unique categories and markets,” Cofer said Monday during a conference call with investors. The combination with Peet’s parent JDE Peet’s, which is based in Amsterdam, significantly expands Keurig’s presence beyond North America, where it’s known for its single-serve coffee machines. JDE Peet’s owns the brands L’OR, Jacobs, Douwe Egberts, Kenco, Pilao, OldTown, Super and Moccona.

Cofer said the combined coffee business will generate $16 billion in annual net sales. The combined buying power will help Keurig and Peet’s compete with other large coffee players like Nestle and Starbucks, especially as rising demand and poor weather conditions push coffee prices near record highs.

Cofer said the coffee company

will also be able to focus on meeting demand, especially in developing markets. Around 40% of the company’s sales will come from North America, 40% from Europe and 20% from emerging markets.

“We like, and I like, the coffee category Why? It’s huge. It’s ubiquitous,” Cofer said. “Obviously, we’ve up to this point focused on North America. But the global data shows coffee is consistently growing on a volume basis above population.”

The merger could also help the company cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff this summer on most imports from Brazil — the world’s leading coffee producer — for an investigation of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally

Trump, South Korean leader meet at White House

President’s warning turns to warm welcome after flattery

BY SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump took to social media before meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday to threaten not to do business with Seoul because of a “purge or revolution” that he claimed was taking place in the country But any prospect of a hostile Oval Office meeting evaporated after Lee heaped praise onto the U.S. president — lauding the decor, beseeching Trump to continue to help with Korean peace efforts and even suggesting a Trump Tower in North Korea.

“We’ve known each other and gotten along very well,” Trump said. After running down the agenda for the summit, Trump added: “It’s a great honor to be with you and congratulations on your election. That was a big one, and we’re with you 100%.”

The cordial display showed how world leaders are taking notes from previous meetings between Trump and heads of state, who’ve largely chosen the route of praise and adulation rather than confrontation as they seek favorable trade terms and continued military aid from Washington. It was one

of the first big foreign policy tests for Lee, who took over a country in a state of political turmoil since its former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law. Lee, elected in June, began by praising one of Trump’s pet projects: presidential interior design.

“I heard that you recently redecorated the Oval Office, and I would like to say that it looks very bright and beautiful,” Lee said through an interpreter “It has the dignity of America, and it symbolizes the new future and prosperity of America.”

He noted that the Dow Jones index has reached record highs (although Lee made sure to add the caveat that “it went down a bit”) and asked Trump, who has

been on a mission to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, to reunify the two Koreas and even perhaps see the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea accompanied by a round of golf Lee also agreed with Trump’s assertion that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would not have continued to enhance his nuclear capabilities the last few years had Trump remained in office.

Noting a “renaissance” that is taking place, Lee said “I believe you are the only leader who has made such accomplishments.”

The tone was a far cry from Trump’s confrontational social media post earlier Monday He later elaborated that he was referring to raids on churches and on a U.S. military base by the

new South Korean government which they “probably shouldn’t have done.”

“I heard bad things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday morning. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’ll be finding out.” Trump did not identify specific raids. But earlier this month, South Korean police conducted a raid on a church led by a conservative activist pastor who authorities allege is connected to a proYoon protest in January that turned violent, according to Yonhap news agency A special prosecutor’s team that is investigating corruption allegations against Yoon’s wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, also raided the facilities of the Unification Church after allegations that one of its officials gave

Kim luxury goods. Meanwhile, Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by the United States and South Korea, was also the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Yoon’s activation of martial law transpired, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper South Korean officials have insisted the raid was in the areas controlled by Seoul.

Asked about his assertions by a reporter in front of Lee, Trump declined to confront the South Korean president and instead said the two will discuss it later

“It didn’t sound to me like South Korea,” Trump said.

Lee explained that the special prosecutor was tapped by the country’s National Assembly to investigate the actions of Yoon, who Lee said staged a “self-coup.”

At that point, Trump interjected, “Is his name Deranged Jack Smith, by any chance?” He was referring to the special prosecutor who led two criminal cases against Trump before the Republican president was reelected to a second term.

Yoon, who was elected to a five-year term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to try to forge a bond with him. Lee led the South Korean parliament’s efforts to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree while impeaching him. The nation’s Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon in

April. The first in-person meeting between Trump and Lee could further flesh out details of a July trade deal between the two countries that has Seoul investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. The agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15% after Trump threatened rates as high as 25%.

Seoul has one of the largest trade surpluses among Washington’s NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, and countries where the U.S. holds a trade deficit has drawn particular ire from Trump, who wants to eliminate such trade imbalances.

Trump also said Monday that he’d like to scrap the U.S. lease with South Korea that covers Osan Air Base and instead get ownership of the land.

Ahead of his visit to Washington, Lee traveled to Tokyo for his first bilateral visit as president in a hugely symbolic trip for the two nations that hold longstanding historical wounds. The summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was interpreted by analysts as a way to show unity and potential leverage as Japan and South Korea face new challenges from the Trump administration.

Elected in June, Lee was a former child laborer with an arm deformity who rose his way through South Korea’s political ranks to lead the liberal Democratic Party and win the presidency after multiple attempts.

Long-elusive Mexican drug lord ‘El Mayo’ pleads guilty in U.S.

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK Former Mexi-

can cartel kingpin Ismael

“El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico.

“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the

people of the United States, of Mexico, and elsewhere,” he said through a Spanishlanguage interpreter “I take responsibility for my role in all of it and I apologize to everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.” Under Zambada’s leadership and that of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization

in the world, prosecutors say “Culpable,” Zambada said, using the Spanish word for “guilty,” as he entered his plea in a Brooklyn courtroom, about 2,200 mile from Mexico’s Sinaloa state. He acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw importing cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and smuggling the

drug across the U.S.-Mexico border He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely.” U.S. Attorney General

Pam Bondi heralded Zambada’s guilty plea as a “landmark victory” and said he “will die in a U.S federal prison, where he belongs.” Zambada was arrested in Texas last year, at the end of the Biden administra-

tion, when the drug lord arrived in a private plane at a Texas airport with one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Zambada has said he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the U.S.

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the estate of the late Jeffrey Epstein on Monday as congressional lawmakers try to determine who was connected to the disgraced financier and whether prosecutors mishandled his case. The committee’s subpoena is the latest effort by both Republicans and Democrats to respond to public clamor for more disclosure in the investigation into Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019. Lawmakers are trying to

guide an investigation into who among Epstein’s highpowered social circle may have been aware of his sexual abuse of teenage girls, delving into a criminal case that has spurred conspiracy theories and roiled top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.

The subpoena, signed by Rep. James Comer the Republican chair of the oversight committee, and dated Monday, demands that Epstein’s estate provide Congress with documents including a book that was compiled with notes from friends for his 50th birthday, his last will and testa-

ment, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.

Comer wrote to the executors of Epstein’s estate that the committee “is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials.”

Oregon wildfire destroys 4 homes

BY TAMMY WEBBER and JULIE WALKER Associated Press

Ten structures — including four homes have been destroyed by a wildfire sweeping through central Oregon, where thousands of residents remained under evacuation orders on Monday while a blaze in Northern California wine country has so far spared some of the state’s most famous vineyards.

Officials said Oregon firefighters working in rugged terrain amid dry, hot weather saved hundreds of other buildings from the 34-square-mile Flat Fire spanning Deschutes and Jefferson counties It was 15% contained.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of homes and personal property and extend our sympathy to those affected,” Deschutes County Sheriff Ty Rupert said in a statement.

Flames still threatened nearly 4,000 homes, fire spokesperson Gert Zoutendijk said Monday He said crews were taking advantage of slightly cooler temperatures that dipped into the high 80s, and even some scattered rain.

“A little bit of rain does some good right now, but later, if the sun comes out, it doesn’t take long to dry everything out again,” Zoutendijk said.

A heat advisory was in place through Wednesday, and forecasters warned that potential thunderstorms could create erratic winds that would challenge firefighters.

Meanwhile, the Pickett Fire in Northern California has charred about 10 square miles of remote Napa County, known for its hundreds of wineries. It was 13% contained on Monday.

Flames spared the home and adjacent vineyards of Jayson Woodbridge of Hundred Acre wines, but he said it was a close call on Thursday when the fire broke out and raced along nearby slopes.

He and his son grabbed hoses and futilely began spraying down the steep hillsides. “The water was evaporating as fast as we were spraying it out there,” Woodbridge recalled Monday “It was just a hot funnel of air Fire was just engulfing everything.”

Before long, crews with bulldozers and air support arrived to protect the property Water-dropping helicopters continued their flights on Monday, keeping the flames contained to canyons about 80 miles north of San Francisco.

With about a month to go before harvest, Woodbridge said his grapes won’t be damaged because of the “pure luck” of wind direction.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President Donald Trump, right, meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

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Saving bees onehive at atime

Kevin Langleyisaman on a mission —tosave bees,one hive at atime. Truth be told, he’sonmultiple missions, but Ijoined him in helpingtorescue and move alarge beehive from atree limb.

If you’re curious, bee colonies rarely settle on exposed tree limbs. Langley suspects back in March, the bees got caughtin the rain or something else and, for whatever reasons, latched on to the tree in acul-de-sac in the sprawling Jefferson Place Condominiums in the Bocage area of Baton Rouge.

When Iarrived, Langley had extensive scaffolding set upto reach the limb about 25 feet off the ground Langley grew up in Baton Rouge butspent years traveling the world trying to make it abetter place, working with people in other countries to create safer environments. He also hasowned acommercial constructioncompany

One day,about 20 years ago, he was in Geneva and got aphone call from his wife in Baton Rouge saying there was abeehivenear their backdoor.Langley and his wife were parents to preschoolage triplets.

“The kids were runningaround and it’skind of dangerous—orat least she thought it was,” he said. “I said, ‘Look, Ican’tdomuch when I’m overseas.Can you find someone to take care of it?’” Apest control company came out and killed the bees.

When Langley got home ,the chemicals the company used to kill the bees were above the backdoor of his home, where his kids were playing.

“My joke is that Iwas outtrying to save the world, but Icouldn’t even do it in my own backyard,” he said. “Now Ihad achemical spill Ihad to deal with because thosechemicals last for eightto 10 years and my kids are on the back porch playing. So Ikind of made avow myself that anybody that needed help rescue bees, I would help.”

That moment changed him. Since then, Langley has been a walking, talking save-the-beesand-our-food-system evangelist —passionate to explainthe importanceofbees to the Louisiana ecosystem.

“Like the California almond pollination, there’s tens of thousands of acres of almonds and each individual almond has to be pollinated by an individual bee,” he said.“So with no bees, no almonds.” No apples. No blueberries. No cherries. No cucumbers. No pumpkins. No squash. No avocados. No cashews. Plus many other plants

Within minutes, Iwas readyto join Langley on his mission. Ialready knew that bees matter,but this man is inspiring Not only is Langleyanurban beekeeper.Healso rescues and relocates bees and educates people about the importance of bees. These days, he has 13 bee yards in the BatonRouge area. He’salso the president of the Capital Area Beekeepers Association

We chatted for about 10 minutes before he gave me abeekeeping jacket and mask to put on, as he put one on, too. He explained that he planned to cut the limb, which was tied to arope. He asked me to stand on the ground beneath the hive and hold the rope so that when he cut the limb, it wouldn’t fall to the ground. He uses his backgroundinconstruction to have the right equipment and gear to save the bees. Atop his platform perch, Langley had placed abrood box, which

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Budget passes afterdeadlock

Gonzales council, mayor in conflictovercityhires

BY HALEYMILLER and CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writers

At acharged meetingMonday night,the Gonzales CityCouncil approved Mayor TimRiley’s$22 million general fund budgetfollowing months of deadlock.

Thebudget passed4-1 after an amendment from CouncilmemberKirk Boudreaux to exclude thesalaries of four new roles and twoexisting positions thatwere

part of the mayor’sproposal positions that several council members said Riley never had the authority to create.

“If theadministration deems that these positionsare important andneeded, comebackand ask for them,” council member Terri Lambert said.“It’sjustthat simple.”

The city was been operating with aroughly $11 million general fund formorethan100 days, as state law requires munici-

palities to use half the previous year’sbudget if anew one is not ratified. Rileysaid he would have to start making cutsinNovemberifnobudget was approved by then. The budgetstandoff concerned howmuchpower the Gonzales mayorshould wield Several council members said thecouncil must approve creating new roles within the city government, citing aGonzales ordinance created roughly two

decades ago. Riley argued the ordinance violates the Lawrason Act, which states that no “ordinance may limit the authoritygrantedtothe mayor by this Paragraph.”

He has asked the attorney general foranopinion on whether theordinanceunlawfully infringes on his mayoral powers.

The positions at the heart of the dispute included achief of staff positionpaidaround $94,000 annually and aDepartment of Public Works secretary

SCHOOL SPIRIT

ABOVE: The Golden Band fromTigerland performsdown Victory Hill fora final run-through before thestart of the seasononSundayinBaton Rouge LEFT: LSU cheerleaders run down behind them

BR mantakes plea,gets20years in slaying

Victim luredto fieldand was robbed,killed

BYMATTBRUCE Staff writer

Aman accused of usingdrugs to lure aman to aScotlandville field, where he was robbed and killedhas pleaded guiltyto charges tied tothe slaying. ABaton Rouge judge sentenced Keith AndreBrown, 35, on Thursday to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commitseconddegree murder andobstruction of justice, according to 19thJu-

dicial District Courtrecords. District JudgeBradMyers imposed 20-year prison stints for both charges and ordered Brown to servetime on both sentences concurrently Brown wasindictedonseconddegree murder andwas scheduledtostand trialthis week. He couldhavefaceda mandatory lifesentence if he’d been convicted of themurdercharge, whichstemmed fromthe March 2020 killingof36-year-old Joshua Roberts Prosecutors allegedBrown lured Roberts to an open field in anotorioussectionofScotlandville known as “The Avenues,” andcalled an accomplicetorob the victim of $140 he planned

to payhis landlord. When Robertsrefused to give up the cash, authorities said agunman shot Roberts one time in the abdomen andhedied from the wound. Chadwick Lajean Alexander, 29, the alleged shooter,was triedfor second-degreemurder and armed robbery earlier this year. But Brown scuttled the state’scase on the opening day of testimony when he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination andrefused to take thestand. Without his testimony corroborating key portions of the state’s case, prosecutors dismissedthe charges against Alexander,and he was released from custody afternearlyfive yearsbehind bars

awaiting trial. Thestate originally intended to prosecuteBrown and Alexander together at trial on the same charges. In January,Myers granted Alexander’smotion to be tried separately Courtrecords show Brown was initially indicted on second-degree murder and armed robbery charges. Prosecutorscharged him in June with obstruction of justice and did away with the armedrobberyindictment. The killing happened the afternoon of March 11, 2020, according to Baton Rouge police reports. Roberts wasshot and killed in the 700 block of

STAFFPHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON

$370M microchip facility planned for Ruston

State boasts partnership with La. Tech will create jobs

BY LIZ SWAINE Staff writer

A $370 million microchip production facility is coming to north Louisiana.

Gov Jeff Landry stopped in Ruston at Louisiana Tech University to announce the business expansion, which will include a partnership with Radiance Technologies, the university and Louisiana Economic Development.

Radiance Technologies, an employee-owned company headquar-

tered in Huntsville, Alabama, intends to build a 40,000-square-foot facility that will house research and development, design and fabrication of the chips.

Landry said the project will lead to 150 jobs with average salaries of over $85,000. LED estimates an additional 146 indirect jobs. The project is expected to break ground in spring 2026 and be completed by summer 2027.

LED said Ruston, Louisiana Tech and the Tech foundation all played key roles, and the agency will be matching $20 million through the foundation on a performance-based grant Funding is intended for the purchase of equip-

ment and will be tied to project milestones.

In addition, $17 million will flow to Louisiana Tech to upgrade research equipment and create chip training programs.

Tech President Jim Henderson said the university’s faculty will play a “significant role” in Radiance’s research and development, students will benefit through learning experiences and “our graduates will provide the highly skilled workforce.”

Radiance has locations in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and Ruston.

“We’re gonna make this good. It’s going to leave something much, much bigger than just Radiance,” Radiance Technologies CEO Bill Bailey said.

Pregnant teen hurt in gunfire

Tangipahoa officials: Attack result of road rage

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

A Tickfaw man is accused of shooting a teenager who was seven months pregnant during a road rage attack, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The 17-year-old victim remains hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot wound to her head. The baby was delivered in an emergency C-section and is doing well, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Barry West, 54, was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish jail on Sunday

on four counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice, authorities said.

The Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release that the 17-year-old victim was inside a Ford Expedition on Hoover Road in the Ponchatoula area with two other people about 9 a.m. Sunday West was driving a Dodge pickup behind them on Hoover

The Sheriff’s Office said the two vehicles were tailgating and brake-checking each other, and that West fired one gunshot into the Expedition, hitting the victim who was in the front passenger seat.

The driver of the Expedition called 911 and drove the victim to an area hospital.

The Sheriff ’s Office

GONZALES

Continued from page 1B

role. The budget also allocated roughly $194,000 for four new jobs: a purchasing manager, a warehouse associate a business license clerk and a human resources clerk Riley said people working at City Hall have asked for those positions and that the jobs would “be able to get the city running more efficiently.”

“By our ordinance, if you create a position, it should be voted on by the City Council,” council member Tyler Turner said after the vote.

Jan

beehive.

and Kevin

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

and I had a new appreciation for their quiet power The hive has since been delivered to a Houma Indian community in Houma who Langley planned to teach beekeeping and how to harvest honey

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

Minus those positions, the amended budget is the same and fully funds the departments supported by the general fund, Turner said.

Residents expressed relief that the budget was passed and outrage over the months spent debating it. During public comment,

several attendees referenced the increased media attention toward Gonzales and the embarrassment they felt for their city “Talk to each other,” resident Maria Tiuett said. “And remember that you are working for us.”

Email Haley Miller at haley miller@theadvocate.com.

said West believed the occupants of the vehicle in front had shot at him first. But there was no evidence of a gunshot coming from the Expedition and there was no weapon found in the vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

West also called 911 and pulled over to await a deputy’s arrival, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ashley Rodrigue said.

“This is a senseless tragedy on Sunday morning with no logical reason for this family to be experiencing this heartbreak right now,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker said in the news release. “The public has to be patient and considerate when driving, at all times, and if there is a concern for your safety, call 911 and report the concern.”

Central Road. His body was found on a bike trail near an open field just south of Interstate 110, just off Scenic Highway Police reports said Brown implicated Alexander whom he knew as “Murda Man,” as the shooter when detectives questioned him. Brown told investigators he accompanied Roberts, his neighbor to buy marijuana. But when they made it to the Blue Store parking lot on Mills Avenue, where Roberts usually purchased the drug, his regular dealer wasn’t there Someone pointed the two men to another dealer near Central Road, and that’s where they encountered Alexander in an open field.

Brown told police Alexander pulled out a gun and demanded money from him and Roberts as they approached. Brown said he gave up $5, but Roberts refused and appeared to be getting ready to run when Alexander opened fire on him.

But police determined Brown was part of the robbery and enticed Roberts to go to the open field, then called Alexander to come take his rent money at gunpoint. Authorities alleged in their reports that Alexander shot and killed Roberts when he refused to give up the $140 in cash he intended to pay his landlord. When officers found the man dead, the rent money was gone and all he had on him was $8, according to reports.

Surveillance footage at a nearby church showed Brown running down Central Road minutes after police said he used Roberts’ cellphone to call 911 and report the shooting. He was seen moments later smashing the victim’s phone in the church parking lot. Detectives found the broken phone in a concrete drain at the back end of the wood field days later, according to reports.

One witness said they saw Brown standing over Roberts’ body just after the gunshot rang out. Another heard Brown arguing with Alexander on a cellphone afterward, telling Alexander, “Yeah, I got your gun and it’s going to be $500 to get that (expletive) back,” police said That witness told detectives they also overheard Brown and Alexander exchange verbal `threats.

“We done killed this man,” Brown said at one point, according to the witness. “Chad, if you snitch on me, ole (expletives) boy, you are going to have to shoot me,” a police report stated.

Alexander’s trial attorney said Brown’s statement to detectives was the only thing that tied him to the crime as the alleged shooter

Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAN RISHER

Risher

Langley stand beneath a large Baton Rouge

Kevin Langley, of Baton Rouge, climbs to the top of scaffolding to rescue a large beehive from a tree.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Gonzales Mayor Timothy Riley leads a meeting on Aug. 11 at the Gonzales City Hall that ended in a deadlock. The City Council approved Riley’s $22 million general fund budget Monday following months of deadlock.

Martin,Bettye CharletFuneral Home,4230High Street,Zacharyat11:00am

Schneider,John O'Donnell FuneralHomeat11AM.

Obituaries

Marilyn Tregre Allgood, 93,a nativeofand lifelong resident of Baton Rouge passed on to her eternal reward at her residence on August 21, 2025. She is survived by her sons Jamie Furrate (Bernadette), Dallas,Tx., Jeffrey Furrate (Connie), Denham Springs; sister Jimmie Carol Atkinson(D.R.), Baton Rouge; grandchildren Kristin Furrate Pavle (John),Frisco, Tx, James Tregre Furrate Jr. (Erica), Frisco, Tx, Shannan Smith (Gary), Pineville, Brandon Furrate (Elizabeth), Denham Springs, Drew Furrate, Denham Springs; nine greatgrandchildren and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.Marilyn wasa 1948 graduate of St. Joseph's Academy and worked in the insurance industry for atrade association and subsequently as a realtor before becoming a full-time housewife. Later in life she earned aparalegalcertificate from LSU for the learning experience. Marilyn loved parties and any kind of gathering with family and friends. She was always there to help a friend or family member in need. Marilyn enjoyed traveling and particularly liked trips to Europe, and traveled to Israel, Egypt and Turkey among other countries. She was an elegant and gracious lady that possessed asassy tongue anda quick wit. Her grandchildren have legendary stories from spending time with her. She was along-time member of Trinity Episcopal Church where she enjoyed the fellowship and church functions until herfailing health prevented her from attending. She was preceded in death by her parents, James Ulric Tregre and Orlea Meuret Tregre; husbands Charles W. Franklin F.A. Barner and Glen I. Allgood; sister GloriaTregre Wurst; grandson Joseph Ryan Furrate and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth Furrate. Services willbe held at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St, on Tuesday,August 26th with visitation from 9:00am till 10:30am, followed by the rosary and funeral services at 11:00am officiated byDeacon Richard Grant with interment at Roselawn Memorial Park Pallbearers willbeTregre Furrate, Brandon Furrate, Drew Furrate, Michael Atkinson, Stephen Wurst, Paul Chargois, Will Grubbs and Paul Wong. The family would like to extend aspecialthanks to Ashley Franklin, Diana Franklin and Vickey Hooks(my girls) who gave Marilyn tender loving care at the end of her life. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Joseph's Academy, 3015 Broussard St., Baton Rouge, La. 70808, Catholic High School, 855 Hearthstone Dr., Baton Rouge, La. 70806,ora charityofyour choice.

Sadie Mae Landry Angeron, abeloved wife, sister,mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend,passed away peacefully on Friday, August 22, 2025. She was born onOctober 18, 1938, in Centerville, Louisiana and was number two of thirteen

children. Sadielivedmost of herlifeinBerwick, Louisiana and graduated fromMorgan CityHigh School in 1957. Sadie moved toBaton Rougein 1987whereshe resided until she went to be with our Lord Jesus.

Sadie is survived by her loving husband of 68 years, Donald Angeron, Sr. She was the proud mother of fourchildren, daughters Sherrill"Sherry" Sons (Greg)and Judy Kraemer, and two sons Donald Jr., andTy(Sara); eleven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. She is also survivedbythree siblings: Harold A. Landry, James D. Landry, and Crystal Landry Proctor.She was preceded in deathby her parentsStephen Joseph Landry and Sadie MargaretBudd Landry, as well as nine of her siblings: Stephen J. Landry,Jr., Floyd Landry, Ray D. Landry, Asher Mark Landry, Elaine Landry Mayon, Gertrude Landry Lang, Daniel Gene Landry, Dewey St. Patrick Landry, and Barnabus A. Landry; and two grandchildren: Daniel Angeron and Donald Lloyd Joseph Angeron.

Sadie willbelaidtorest in MorganCitybyTwin City Funeral Home on Friday,August29, 2025. Visitationwillbefrom10amto 12pm with funeral services to be held at 12pm. Burial to follow at the Morgan City Cemeterythenreturn for aRepastatTwinCity FuneralHome.

The family wouldlike to thankeveryone from Pinnacle Hospice in Baton Rouge for the lovingcare and attentionSadiereceivedathome overthe last fewmonths.

Howard Ray Betz, 85, was born March11, 1940 and passed awayAugust 23, 2025, surrounded by his daughters. He spent his entire life in Baton Rouge and was alifelong cattleman. He was adevoted husbandtothe late Mary Evelyn McKey Betz for 51 years, and proud father to Missy Betz Martin, Traci Betz Gardner, and Amy Betz Russell (Mike). He was blessed with eight grandsons, Matthew(Angela) and Michael Martin; Garrett and GreerGardner; Noah (Blake), Andrew, Asa, and LukeAbadie; greatgrandchildren,Betsy, James, and Matthew Abadie.Hesharedhis love for Christ and God'sgrace with allwho wouldlisten. Known for his generosity, humor, and strong work ethic, he found joyinraising livestock and caringfor others. He is survived by his threedaughters, eight grandsons, three greatgrandchildren, sisters, Katie MaeMyers (Jerry), and Emmalen Betz; sistersin-law, Peggy Betz,Edith Betz,Maxine Compton, and LindaRogillio; numerous niecesand nephews,and a host of friends. Alsosurvived by AlanMartin,Jeff Gardner,and Jimmy Abadie. He is precededin death by his wife, parents, Ferdinand and Katie Dixon Betz;siblings, F.S. Betz, Jr., Donald Lee Betz, and Rita Mautner; and dear friends, Milton Harelson and Henry Castello. His grandsons will be pallbearers. The family wouldliketoinvite allwho knew and loved Howard to join them as we commemorate his life. A visitation willbeheld on Tuesday,August26, 2025, from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Resthaven Funeral Home,11817 Jefferson Hwy. in BatonRouge, Louisiana.Visiting hours willresumeonWednesday at 9:00 am,untilfuneral services at 10:00am, with graveside servicestofollow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.

Burris, Shirley Jean Williams

ShirleyJean Williams Burris,97, died August20 in Jackson, Mississippi.A memorial service is scheduledat11:00amon September 5, 2025, at FondrenPresbyterian Church, 3220Old Canton Road in Jackson. Her fullobituary is online at sebrellfunderalhome.com.

Hallman,Milton

LSUProfessorEmeritus MiltonHallman,born on April15, 1937, in Columbia, SC, passed away on August 21, 2025 at his residence in Mableton, GA at theage of 88. He was the son of thelateTheusand Marie Hallman of Columbia. He is survived by his wife, Penelope CowellHallman,his daughters Ashley (Mrs. David Roberts)and Jennifer(Mrs. Michael Morrissey), and threegrandchildren, Nathan Roberts, and Ava and Gavin Morrissey.

Dr. Hallman was ProfessorofMusic at Louisiana StateUniversity from 1966 to 2000, where he taught piano,music history,and music appreciation. A1959 graduateofFurman University, he met his wife at FloridaStateUniversity where he earnedhis Master's and Doctorate degrees.

During his career, he performed withthe LSU and Baton Rouge Symphonies and played numerous recitals and lecture-recitalsatuniversities and musicconventions around thecountry. He also played concerts abroad in London,Munich, and Paris.

His CD, "Ernst von Dohnanyi,MiltonHallman, Piano"was releasedby Centaur Recordsand reviewedfavorably in the NewYork Times, airing on WQXR as "Recording of the Week" in July1988. His textbook"Facing the Music" was publishedin1996 by Simon &Schuster and has been used by thousandsofstudents at LSU where, during his last year of teaching,hereceived theAlpha LambdaDelta Honor Society's Award for Superior Instructionof FreshmenStudents.

Afterretiring fromLSU, Dr. Hallman wrote his autobiographyand alengthy series of personalessays He introduced his family members to many classic movies, invented thehandwavemethod of blowing out birthday candles,continued to practice the piano,and performed for his family,especiallyPenny, his wife of 62 years.

Acelebration of Dr. Hallman's life will be held on Friday, August 29, 2025, at Dunbar Funeral Home at 3926 Divine Street in Columbia, SC. The family willreceive friendsfrom1 pm until 2pm, followedby agraveside service at 3pm at Elmwood Cemetery, 501 Elmwood Avenue in Columbia. Avisitation will be held from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM on 2025-08-29 at Dunbar Funeral Home, 3926 Divine Street

Jeanette “Yvette”LeBlanc, 70, aresidentof Zachary, LA,diedonFriday, August 22, 2025. Therewill be avisitationatCharlet FuneralHome, Inc. in Zachary, LA on Wednesday, August 27, 2025 from 10:00 am until funeralservicesat 12:00 noon,conducted by Rev. Luke Walters. Burial will be at MasonicCeme‐tery in Clinton, LA.She is survived by onedaughter, TonyaAlleman; twosons, DouglasMcGowanand BillyLeBlanc Jr.; five sis‐ters:Kay Parden andhus‐band Rodney;BrendaGard‐nerand husband J. D.;Sue Tynesand husband Tommy; LindaBraud and husband Joe; Stephanie Wicker;one brother, Den‐nisBerthelot andwife Dena; five grandchildren: Serenity Ash, Nicholas Alle‐man, Johanna Alleman, Ju‐lianaLeBlanc,and Hayley LeBlanc; andseven greatgrandchildren. Shewas preceded in deathbyher husband BillyLeBlanc Sr.; sister Virginia Garraway; grandchildrenTyler Gibson andCaleb LeBlanc. Pall‐bearerswillbeAiden Ash, Nicholas Alleman, Rodney Parden Jr Harper Baucum AaronLenzo,and Dennis Berthelot. Sharesympa‐thies, memories,and con‐

Moore, Glenda Lambert

GlendaLambert Moore, born July21, 1942, in St. Amant passed away surrounded by her family on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at theage of 83. She was thebeloved wife of Wayne Moorefor 64 years. Visitation willbeheldatSacred Heart CatholicChapel (45049 Lake Martin Rd.St. Amant,LA70774) on Wednesday,August 27, 2025 from 9am until Mass of Christian Burial at 11am. Interment will follow in church cemetery. Please see full obituary at www.churchfuneralserver ices.com. Church Funeral ServicesofSt. Amant entrusted with arrangements.

Shirleywas born on February 24, 1937, in Clarks, LA.and diedonAugust 23, 2025, in Baton Rouge, LA at theage of 88. She was precededindeath by her twohusbands: Don Bradley, and Henry "Cassie"Nettles, as well as her daughter Charlene Whiddon. Survived by her sister, CarolynPope,brothers, CliffordLee Allen, and Richard Allen, herdaughters SharonSanchez (Russell), and SheilaHogan (Danny), grandchildren Nathan Whiddon (Erica), Dr. Rebecca Whiddon (Dr. Isaac Marin-Valencia), Allison Martin (Andrew), Dr. Adam Hogan(Jennifer), AaronHogan (Jency), BridgetteEdwards (Tyler),Sonin-law,Terry Whiddon, and 8great-grandchildren. Services willbeheldatRabenhorstFuneral Home 825 Government St. Baton Rouge, LA. on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, with avisitation from 9:30 AM until thefuneralservice at 10:00 AM followedbyinterment at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.

Nittany Lion Inn. Duringthe late1960s and early 1970s, Richard—a huge sportsfan andlover of theCleveland Indians—found time to coachLittle Leaguebaseballand won3 championships in 5years, eventuallycoachinghis oldest son to aLittle League Championship in Erie, PA in 1973.

Shortlyafter graduating from Penn State, Richard began workingfor AO Smith in Erie, PA—an opportunity which ledtothe life-changing decision to move hisyoung familyto SingaporeinSoutheast Asia. Richard opened an industrial instrumentation office in East Asiaand traveled throughout Asia, Australia, NewZealand, andeven to Mainland China.Asa guest lecturer in Beijingin1975, Richard wasone of theveryfirst American businessmen to visit Chinaand introduced theChinese to advanced flow measurement. Followingthree incrediblysuccessful years in Singapore, Richard, Judy, C.T. andJeffreturnedtothe United States in 1977 and settled in Houston, Texas. After GeosourceIncorporated acquiredAOSmith, Richard wasnamed Vice PresidentofInternational Sales.Richard continued to travelthe world, solving flow measurementchallenges for companies across six continents.

In 1980, Richard moved to Baton Rouge to join the industrial instrumentation firmLuMac Incorporated as theVice Presidentof Sales,where he eventually becamePresident. In 1986, Richard—with his muse Judy Nice by his sideand on thephones—launched Nice Instrument Sales,an engineeringtechnology firmselling technical equipment andsolutions for chemical plants, refineries, and engineering firms. The firmwas headquartered in Baton Rouge andcoveredthe entire Gulf Coast.

During the next 18 years, Nice Instrument Sales became an industry leader in Baton Rouge,distributingacross the south from East Texas to the PanhandleofFlorida. Nice Instrumentsservedhundredsofcustomers and hadasmanyas75employeesacross 7offices throughout thesouth.Nice Instrumentsreceivedthe DowChemicalQuality ChampionAward in 1994 and set numeroussales recordsasone of theindustry'stop instrument technology firms. In 2004, after selling Nice Instruments to Rawson, Inc. of Houston, Richard retiredto begin thenextchapter of hiswonderfullife.

During his retirement Richard became president of thePropertyOwnersAssociation at the Country ClubofLouisiana, worked for SCOREasanadvisor to fledgling businessesand entrepreneurs, andplayed as much golf as humanly possible.HejoinedThis ManisYou andparticipated everyweek. Every day, he teed it up with acontingent of hisgroup of twenty plus friends at theCountry ClubofLA. He made (at least) 6holes in oneand traveled across the US, Scotland, and Ireland, playingthe world'sgreat courses with hisfriends from CCL. Judy and Richard also enjoyed cruising, travelingacross all 4 oceans— andeven venturingtoFijionJanuary 1, 2000, thefirst spot on Earth to welcome the millennium.

started"the men's table" andinfusedthe daily meal periodswithjoy and laughter. He endeavoredtoinvolveeveryone,was kind andgracious to all,and of course... he sang the wordstoall thesongs. He wassimply ajoy to all who knew him there—andfull of life untilthe end.

Thefamilywould like to thankMaria Yiannopoulos of DedicatedSitters and theBarclay HouseofBaton Rouge for thewonderful care Richard receivedthis year. Andfinally, theLord sent thefamilyMs. Andrea Parker, whodeservesthe most heartfelt thank you for taking exceptional care of Richard duringhis final months. Andreaprovided thefamilytremendous comfortinthe knowledge that he waslovingly cared for. Richard is survived by Judy Nice, hisamazing wife of 64 years, sons C.T. Nice andJeffNice, daughters-in-law Nancy Nice (née Milligan) andLisa Nice (née Herring), and grandchildrenConner Thomas Nice, Casey Taylor Paul(néeNice),Aubrey Madison Nice, andRhiannonElisabeth Nice Conner is marriedto Emilie Nice (née Merck), andtheyhave two boys, Christian Thomas Nice and Caden Taylor Nice,Richard andJudy's great grandchildren.Casey Paul(née Nice)ismarriedtoDarren PaulofPoole, England. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Richard's honor to theSt. Jude Children's ResearchHospital, acharity thefamilyhas supported for over 45 years (stjude.org). Serviceswill be held Wednesday, August 27th at St.George Catholic Church (7808 St George Dr, Baton Rouge,LA70809), with visitation from 8:30am until Mass of Christian Burial at 10am, celebrated by Rev. PaulYi. Entombment will follow in thechurch mausoleum.

Randy Womack, a belovedhusband, father, andgrandfather,passed away unexpectedly on August 21, 2025, at age 73. Born June 23, 1952, in Bastrop,LA, he wasa resident of Walker,LA.

Randy retiredfromboth Home Depot andLAWorkforce Commission. Known for hiskindheart anddeep love forfamily, he will be dearlymissed.

He wasprecededin death by hisparents, JamesH.and SaraWomack; stepmother, Bess Womack; and brother, Mack Womack.

Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Nancy Womack; daughters Lauren(Richard)Pierceand Stacy (David) Bizjak; son Robert (Betsy) Bruner; grandchildrenRicky, Carter,and Ryleigh Pierce; Heather,Brandon, and Matthew Trevathan;and many otherloving relatives andfriends.

PerRandy'swishes, no formal funeral will be held

Richard Eugene "Dick" Nice, of BatonRouge, LA, passed away on August 23, 2025, after an inspiring journey with Alzheimer's disease. He was surrounded by family and peacefully went to theLord. Richard, adevout Catholic, receivedhis Last Rites shortly before his passing Richardwas bornin Meadville,PAin1942. He grew up as aprecocious and industrious youngster helping his father Eugene Nice and mother Dorothy Nice (née McClimon) by working in their auto-body shop.Richard always dreamed big and met his future wife, JudithAnn Zuver, in first grade. They married12years later in June of 1961. Richard went to night schoolatAlliance College in Meadvilleand then at Gannon College in Erie, PA Afterworking two jobs and havingtwo children, sons Christopher Thomas "C.T." Nice (1963) and Jeffrey Scott Nice (1967), he graduated with abachelor's in mechanical engineering from Gannon in 1968. Richard continued his educationatPennStateUniversity, where he graduated with amaster's degree in engineering in 1972. Judy, C.T., and Jeff attended Richard'sgraduation and enjoyed aspectacular celebratory dinner at the

Richard was adevout Catholic and became aEucharistic Minister at St George Catholic Church, alongside thelove of his life hiswonderfulwife Judy. They served mass everyweekend for almost twodecades. Richardwas ahugesportsfan and lovedhis Penn State NittanyLions, his LSUTigers, and hisBoston Celtics. Richard lovedmusic of all kinds andcould sing the lyrics to anysongonthe radio

From asmall town in WesternPennsylvania to thecapital of Mainland China—from 13 years of nightschool to president of oneofthe South'smost successfulinstrumentation companies—Richard wasa man of many talents andworkedhard every day. He made many friends, wasintensely devoted to hisfamily, and woulddojust aboutanythingtohelp someone in need.Heinspired countless people, sharing wisdomand perspective rooted in hisworldwide experiencesand hisdeep faith.

Thefinal chapterin Richard's life wasjust as special as those prior. Richard became thedearest of friends with theresidentsand caregiversof Barclay House. In the monthsatBarclay, he was thelifeofthe party, the "NICEST" resident, andan inspiration to everyone. He d h bl

Womack, William R.

Betz, Howard Ray

Nettles, ShirleyBradley

Allgood, MarilynTregre

Nice,Richard E. 'Dick'

Angeron, Sadie Mae Landry

LeBlanc, Jeanette 'Yvette

OUR VIEWS

Don’tforget what’s at stakein search fornew LSUpresident

The search for anew LSU president began in earnest last week with the naming of aconsultanttovet candidatesfor the top job at the state’sflagship university. Thesearch committee says it hopes to have adecision by December.While we are happy to see asense of urgency in filling this vacancy,wewould also hopethe committee and all the LSU community take the time to understand fully what the university needs at this juncture.

LSU is coming off aparticularly successful period in its history with aboom in research that saw anearly 70% jump in grantssecured by the university.Itislogging record growth in enrollment at all its campuses around the state. And on its main campus in Baton Rouge, it has launched into abuilding spree withanew library,new dorms, anew arena and morein the works. Its athletic programs have added to the school’sluster with national championships and stars in the new world of NIL. Yetthere are challenges on the horizon. The unpredictability surrounding federal funding to higher education led the universityinMarch to implement atemporary hiring freeze, which ended July 1. Recent controversies surrounding outspoken professorshave prompted concerns from faculty about whether academic freedom is being curtailed. Rising student debt is fueling increasing competition from universities in nearby states to lure Louisiana’stop students. And finally,the troubled University of NewOrleans is now set torejoin the LSU system and will need focused attention to get backonits feet. It should be obvious then that LSU will need astrong and independentleader tohandle all that’sontap. And we hope that the search process will truly be anationwide one, looking for aperson who has the qualities tosucceed and the connections to bring other top academics to LSU.

SSA Consulting, afirm with tiestoLSU, has beenchosen to lead the search and some rumored front-runners who hail from Louisiana have potential. Yet, we would urge the committee to cast awide net. It’snoexaggeration to say as goes LSU so goes the state. So this job, while undeniably aplum one, shouldbe about more than politics and cronyism. We want to see full transparency in the search andall stakeholders having avoice. We were not encouraged that the committee announced some of the search would take place outside of public view There is acrisis of confidence among many in higher educationasuniversities face attacks from many fronts. The next LSU president needs to be able to stand up for the university whether perils come from near and far.LSU is on an upward trajectory.This decision will determine whether that continues. Forever LSU.

OPINION

What conditions arelike inside ICEdetention center

Recently,Ihad the opportunity to visit three of the nine immigrant detention facilities in Louisiana. Twoofthe three wererepurposed Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.Those kidnapped by ICE are imprisoned there awaiting deportation.They are known as “processing centers.” The third was at the decommissioned England Air Force Base, which is known as a“staging center.” It is the transport hub for outgoing deportation flights. The two sites that are detention prisons (Basile and PinePrairie) are repurposed facilities previously operated by theBureau of Prisons They are bound by chain-link fence topped by razor wire. The interiors are partitioned into dorms for sleeping and divided by locked gates that segment pathways into small areas. There is an open area, also surrounded by achain-link fence, within the building boundaries that offers some shelter and exercise equipment. The average stay is nine days. The facilities have medical staff, libraries and acafeteria. The on-

sitemedical staff is augmented by expertswho visit as needed. The libraries (that will take book donations) are minimally stocked with reading material. They do house-bound legal references. The detainees have access to computers in the library,schedule permitting, which gives them access to LEXUS/ NEXUS, alegal app, translated into their native language. Iwas told that thedetainees receive 2,200 calories of food daily,prepared on-site from both frozen and fresh products with menus designed by dietitians. Food is American-centric with no attempt to serve native meals.Medically determined dietary restrictionsare honored.

The facility at theretired England AFB in Alexandria is a“ship ‘em out” facility where the stay is mandated tobefive days or less. Sometimes from atransport bus to the plane. There are medical facilities andfood service provided. Detainees are housed in dorms where segregation is done by risk assessment.

EARL PRATZ Metairie

The Louisiana Senate race is shaping up to be an exciting one —achoice, not between aRepublican or aDemocrat, but between President Donald Trump’s lapdogs. The Democratic Party,ona state level, is irrelevant. The leading candidates, incumbent Bill Cassidy,John Fleming, Blake Miguez and Eric Skrmetta, can’treally tell you what they stand forsince they are compliant to all of Trump’swhims. As an example, recently the candidates reliably lauded Trump’s decision to shoot the messenger when a jobs report offended. All it takes to be a Trumplapdog is moral flexibility.Look how Cassidy has allowed the destruction of Health and Human Services with little awhimper Back in the day,Republican candidates were pro-business, ensured astrong national defense, professed to be deficit hawks (although not really in practice). Today,with fewexceptions, party members are no longer Republicans but instead do and say whatever they can to curry the favor of the president. Their constituency consists of one person, the president. We need areal Republican, whowill represent Louisianans, to run forthe Senate. That would be amazing. DAVE WHIDDON NewOrleans

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

In his letter dated July 24, Adrian Bruneau, chair of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee, indulges the same false narrative that currently plagues theRepublican Party.Republicans consistently show their contempt for everyday Americanswhile enriching thewealthy.It’snowonder that their base is becoming disenchanted.

The recent Republican “Big Ugly Bill” has cut taxes for the wealthy and raised them for everyone else. Americansofall political beliefs will lose health care benefits beginning this fall, when income-based subsidies on privatehealthinsurance lapse. Starting in 2026 —after themidterm elections —working Americanswill lose additional access to healthcare and food assistance. Children will go hungry,hospitals will close and all to help billionaires. In contrast, Democrats believe in lifting up everyone who needs ahand, not depriving them of the

very assistance they need.Every day,Democrats fight for quality public education, not closing public schools. Democratsfightfor access to healthcare and food forfamilies in need. Democrats believe in equality for all regardless of background or sexual identity,asour Founders intended when they said that we are all “endowed with certain unalienable rights.” Democrats believe that tellingthe truthabout ourpast —including the parts we’re not proud of —and helping those in need are the essence of American greatness. By their actions every day,Republicans show that they care about the privileged, rather than all Americans. Democrats believe that everyone deserves an equal chance, including those in need of additional support. It is Democrats who believe in the promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

LESLIE BOUIE chair,Orleans

Parish Democratic ExecutiveCommittee

Itotally agree with the opinion expressed by Kenneth Perret about the unfeasibility of the locations foranew bridge forBaton Rouge. Alocation by the Interstate 10 and Interstate 12 crossing is much morelogical. The experts have probably never been caught in the daily gridlock experienced by Baton Rouge drivers and interstate trucking. The locations they selected are totally absurd. It would save money and exasperation to cancel those sites and start over foramore useful location. It is totally possible to cancel such aproject as seen with the mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project which has been made void. This suggestion will probably fall on deaf ears.

ANDREASMITH Baton Rouge

Decrepit TrumpisDems’ fantasy

TheMSNBC anchor Lawrence

O’Donnell believes he’sontoascandal

—the U.S. president who held asnap summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and then immediately after, hosted a spontaneousmeeting with Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and major European leaders atthe White House, is so debilitated that he can barely function.

His evidenceisthat

Donald Trump hada light public schedule acouple of daysafter this flurry of in-person, high-stakes diplomacy

This would be alittle like acritic of Charles Lindbergh accusing the landmark aviatorofbeing alayabout because, after landing in Paris upon the completionofhis historic trans-Atlantic flight, he didn’tdo anything except sleep at the American ambassador’sresidence.

AccordingtoO’Donnell, Trump’s absence might have been becausehe couldn’tstand up for very long orspeak coherently Apparently,hebelieves Trump after Alaska was basicallyinthe samecondition as an exhausted, very ill FDR after Yalta.

Perhaps the secretly enfeebled Trump is going to be thenext biganti-Trump fantasy,replacing the notion from the first term that he must be aquasi-Russian agent.

There’salready acottage industry in anti-Trump opinion piecesraising the alarm about the president’salleged decline, and Democrats made aserious, if abortive, attempt to make Trump’sage an issueinthe 2024 campaign.

AWashington Post pieceretailing this line of attack during the election wondered: “The man who would (once again) be the oldest president in history hasreportedly scaled back his campaign due to fatigue. So who would run his White House?” It’d be better if Trump were 49 years oldinstead of 79, but of all the criticisms to make of him,thathe’sfrail and easily fatigued is the mostpreposterous.

It was clearly alie when then-White

President Donald Trumpexhibits some bruising on his handsduring his meeting withSouthKorean PresidentLee JaeMyung on Monday in Washington.

House press secretaryKarine JeanPierre saidshe hadtrouble keeping up with JoeBiden. But would anyone be surprisedifTrump aides half his age really didfind it difficult keeping his pace?

There’sthe late-night social media posts, the never-ending interactions with themedia, the constant stream of incoming and outgoing phone calls, the attention to matterslarge (tradedeals) andsmall (a new WhiteHousepatio) and,above all, theceaselesseffort to impose his will on our domestic politics and, literally, the world.

Trump must be our most relentlessly high-spirited president sinceTeddy Roosevelt, who was inaugurated as the youngest president whereas Trump was inaugurated as theoldest.

AliceRoosevelt famously said, “My father always wanted to be thecorpseat everyfuneral, thebride at everywedding and the baby at everychristening.”

Trump surely would have been determinedtotry to push aside the Rough Rider at the coffin, alter,orfount.

Trump was the instigator of the highstakes diplomacy withPutin and the Europeans,and displayed in his session with our alliesasenseofpersonalcommand —making the Europeans play by

his rules —that had many commentators comparing his counterparts to schoolchildren.

Anyone who thinks Trump is decrepit mustbelieve theoppositeofthe famous “SaturdayNight Live” sketch thatdepicted Ronald Reagan as an amiable dunce in public but aruthless mastermind behind the scenes Trump, to thecontrary, must be pretending to be adynamo in public, while in private he retires to arocking chair and dozes off while watching “The Price is Right.”

The irony is that thesamepeople who looked away from,orlied about, Biden’s decline are desperatetoinsist Trump is in the same reduced state.But Biden’s struggleswereplain for everyone to see, while his White House undertook measures to protect him and minimize his public exposure.

Whatever Trump is doing, it certainly isn’thiding or deferring to others. He may not be in theprimeofhis life, but he’satthe apex of his power and his ability to command attention, and he’s taking advantage of bothwithanobvious zest and boundlessenergy RichLowry is on X, @RichLowry

In aclassic cartel move,college sports begfor federalhelp

Athletic competitions mesmerize because, being unscripted, their outcomes are unpredictable. Butascollege football season lumbers forward, there is occurring apredictable but nonetheless entertaining event associatedwith college athletics: Government and large, mostly state-run universities are collaborating to reestablish the cartelthat for decades enabled the schools to reap billions from the negligibly compensated labor of “studentathletes.”

That phrase, which has become risible regardingthe best revenue-generating athletes (principally male football and basketball players) centralto today’sdrama, is clungtobythe cartel that coined it. It puts apretty patinaonabusiness model that until 2021 suppressedwhat all cartels everywhere exist to minimize: costly competition.The cartels are the NCAA’s four “power conferences” that generate the lion’sshare of collegesports’billions.

playinducements.”

It is axiomatic: Whenanindustry begs government to regulateit, assume that it is seeking protection from threatsto the status quo with which theindustry is comfortable. The universities are pleading with Congress, which you might think has moreurgent priorities, to protectthem from twin terrors: athletes being paid their market value,and antitrust litigation resulting from the cartels collaborating to stifle this.

President Donald Trump’senergy policy is utterly screwedup—ifyou assumeAmerica’s interests, andnot pleasing his fossil fuel friends, is the objective.

This came to the fore when trade adviser PeterNavarro hollered at India for buying Russianoil. Navarro calledthe purchases“opportunistic anddeeply corrosive” of efforts to isolate Russia andcurb Vladimir Putin’swar machine. Oh, is Trump isolating Putin? Could fool us.

Navarro is right thatRussia’s oilwealth is funding Putin’s savage attacksonUkraine. If so,thenwouldn’titbeinour interests to speed the move away from fossil fuels? That’sthe path Western Europe took shortly afterthe Russiantanks rolled into Ukraine.

On the contrary,Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is now demanding that projects“relatedtowind and solar energy facilities” go through new layers of political review. In otherwords, slow or kill them.

Energy SecretaryChris Wright hascanceled afederal loan guarantee to build an $11 billion transmissionline through the Heartland. The Grain Belt Express wastosendelectricity generated by Kansas wind farms acrossfour states.

The statesinvolved —Kansas, Missouri, Illinois andIndiana —had all approved the project.For reasonseasy to guess, Missouri Sen. JoshHawleysidedwith Trump against the venture Invenergy,the Grain Belt Express developer,calledHawley’sopposition “bizarre.” Writing on X, the company accusedHawley of being against an infrastructure project “alignedwith the President’senergy dominanceagenda.”

As though Trump hasanenergy dominance agenda,asopposedtoaslogan. Does even Trump believe that, well into the 21st century, fossil fuels arethe golden-brick road to energy dominance? If he does, thatwould be most concerning of all.

Trump clearly hasn’tread China’splan for “energy dominance.”

China nowdominates in electric vehicles, solar, wind andbatteries. Electricity now accounts for30% of its energy consumption versus only 20% in the U.S. The Financial Times reports thatChina is on its way to becoming the first “electrostate.”

Electric vehiclesrepresent both the presentand future of transport. Trump is actively handing the EV market to China. He startedby pushing Republicans to kill federaltax credits incentivizing Americans to buy or leaseelectric vehicles. (They end on Oct. 1.)

The conferenceswant, in effect, federal price controls, lest athletesinsome states be able to earn morethan those in other states— anightmare for recruiters. Andlesttoo much money flowstothe athletes the money-spenders pay to see.

The serpent (which is not the villain in this story) slithered into big-time college sports’ Edenicparadise in 2021 when NIL payments to players were authorized for the use of their names, images and likenesses. Such is the spontaneous creativity of markets; “collectives” quickly sprung up. These private groups of well-heeled boosters collaborate with schools’ athleticdepartments in the recruitment and retention of talent.

The “transfer portal” is aeuphemism used, as euphemisms usually are,to obfuscate. The candid name for what the portal created, but might soon be severely circumscribed, is free agency —athletes selling their servicestothe highest bidders. This is what Donald Trump targets when he calls for prohibitingthe “third-party market of pay-for-

Trump, who cannot seeaparade without jumping in front of it,has issued (whatelse?) an executive order,saying that federal action is needed to “restore order.” Translation: to suppress thedisorder that resultswhen society’slower orders (here, athletes suddenly allowed serious compensation) acquire rights andaspirations.This has happened now that athletes with lucrative skills enjoy free agency,the ability to sell theirservices to the highest bidder The president’sordersays the post2021 system “risks exploiting studentathletes.”His sense of irony deserts him when he says athletes now face exploitationasthey finally gain leverage, akafreedom, regarding thewealth they create. The college sportsindustry is hurriedly improvising institutions empowered to give the schools cost-certainty,and handsome profits. Becauseofalawsuit settlement, there will be a$20.5 million cap forall schools, distributed across all sports. Do notexpect “equity” to dictate that quarterbacks and gymnasts must

be paid equally.Moreimportant, NIL payments, sometimes of sevenfigures, thatathletes negotiatewiththird parties (collectives)donot count againstthe cap, so far.Weshall see what Congress devises to prevent this from largely nullifying the cap. Anew body,N.I.L. Go will scrutinize third-partyNIL contracts worth morethan $600, which means mostcontracts Scrutinize by what standards? For whosebenefit?Staytuned. And bear this in mind: Most college football players, even from the big conferences, are notgoing to play in theNFL.Their marketvalue will end when their college careersdo. The fortunate few who, for afew college years, translate theirtalents into large third-partypayments are, before their mid-20s,done monetizing their skills. Nevertheless, betonthe cartel concocting measures to minimize thirdparty payments. To be fair: All sportsleagues,including the college football conferences, impose measures that regulate the resources memberscan deploy,lest competitive balance be lost. And it is refreshing that post-NIL developments have finally ended tiresomegenuflections at the altar of “amateurism.” And of “tradition”: The scramble for television dollars has jettisonedmany old rivalriesbyreshuffling conference memberships. Although big-time college sportsare strange appendages to higher education, theyare,momentarily,educational. They are teaching how government collaborates withsociety’sbig battalions to resist disruptions. Even if you have no interest in football, pay attention and seehow tirelessly big government defends the strong.

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Ford CEO JimFarleyrecently called China’s rise in the EV market the “most humbling experience”ofhis career.“Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior to what Isee in the West.”

Also gone aretax credits for wind and solar power. As aresult, dozens of EV or clean energy projects—investments totaling $27 billion—havebeen canceled.

OverhalfofIowa’selectricity now comes from wind power. And on sunny and windy days in Texas, wind and solar power can supply over 60% of the ERCOT grid’sfuelmix. (ERCOT manages about90% of the electricity flowinTexas.)

Trump’stariff mania, meanwhile, has thrown wrenches in the ability of both green and fossil fuel energy to plan their investments. Interestingly,itishurting oilmore than clean energy

SinceApril 2, when Trump launched his trade war“Liberation Day,” S&P’smain index for oilstockshas fallen 4%. By contrast, the S&P indextracking clean energy companies is up about18%

Trump continues to bellowabout the “energy dominance” thing, by whichhe’sclearly shown means helping fossil fuels andhurting the green alternatives. He also goes on about cheaper gas, which is notwhatthe oilbusiness wants forobvious reasons.

Want to defang Putin andsave the heating planetfromenvironmental collapse?Trump is totally offthatcase. Only America’senemies could crafta more damaging energy policy. Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

Froma Harrop

George Will

Rich Lowry

SPORTS

Deathbecomeswhom?

When LSU and Clemson square off Saturday night in the first regular-season meeting between these twoold south college footballpowers, there will be more atstake than national rankings and early positioningfor the College Football Playoff. Somethingmuchmore important.

Whose Death Valley is the more Death Valley-er Both schools calltheirstadiums Death Valley.Both say theirs is thedefinite article. And both get alittle worked up about the other’scounterfeit (to them) claims.

LSU coach Brian Kellyfired the first salvo this year,tweaking Clemson’s nose in July at the Baton Rouge Rotary Club meeting in, it must be noted, the south stadium club lounge at hisschool’s Death Valley

“You want great habits whenthey’re needed, when you’re on the road, and you’re playing in Death Valley Junior, not THE Death Valley ”Kelly said Clemson’sout-of-jointnose took notice.

“They can have their opinion,” Clemson defensive end TJ Parker said at ACC media dayafew days later.“We’regoing

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints began the process of meeting the53-man roster limit Monday, cutting 14 players from their 91-man roster Running back Cam Akerswas the most notable name on thelist, aformer second-round pickwho was looking to revitalize his career in New Orleans. The Saints also waived undrafted rookie punter James Burnip, clearing the way for Kai Kroegerto securethe job New Orleans currently has 77 players on its roster.Itlikelywon’t have to waive or release 24 more to get to 53 —neither Taysom Hill nor Foster Moreau have practiced yet, and both may open the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Offensive tackle Landon Young is also acandidatetoopen the season on injured reserve. Several times in the preseason, coach Kellen Moore said every one of his running backs had a legitimate case for the53-man active roster,which meant difficult choices loomed. TheSaintsmadeone of those during the first wave of rostercuts Monday morning, releasing Akers

“Difficult one, because he’sa really good running back in this league,” Moore said. Akers joined the team after a successful tryout this summer,but he struggled to separatehimself from apack that includedKendre Miller,Clyde Edwards-Helaire,

to handle allthatonAug. 30.”

Clemson’sclaim haslongevity.It’s beencalling its stadium, officially known as Memorial Stadium, Death Valley since1948. However,Tiger Stadium is 18 years older,having hostedits first game in 1924 while Clemson’s stadium opened in 1942.

LSU also can claimits Death Valley is bigger.TigerStadium seats 102,321 while Memorial Stadium seats 81,500 (the Savannah Bananas drew81,000 for agame there in April, in caseyou’re interested).

Youwould think the matter would have been settled five years ago, when LSU beat Clemson in the CFPchampionship game in the CaesarsSuperdome, 42-25. That gave LSUfour wireservice era (since 1936) national championships

to Clemson’sthree. Just within the last hour,however,Auburn hasclaimed a nationaltitle from each school as well as the 1973 Triple Crown from Secretariat, so Isuppose it’sfun andfortunate that the debate goes on Both Death Valleys have interesting twists to their stories.

WhenClemson’sstadium was being planned, its departing coach, Jess Neely, considered it amistake “Don’teverlet them talk you into building abig stadium,”Neely said in 1939 as he was leavingClemson for Rice (yes, Rice). “Put about10,000 seats behind the YMCA. That’sall you’ll ever need.”

Clemson officialsdidn’tlisten, constructing what was at first a20,000-seat facility in avalleyonthe west side of the campus. The structure was staked out by two footballplayers, A.N. Cameron andHugh Webb. Cameron, according to Clemson, became acivil engineer and later moved to Louisiana.

Clemson’sfirst victimin1942 was Presbyterian College by a32-13 score.

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

VelusJones androokieDevin Neal

The Clinton, Mississippi, native carried the ball eight times for 16 yards in three preseason games, addingfourcatches for 15 yards. Miller hasseemed to secure a spot as Alvin Kamara’sprimary backup. He led theSaints with 51 yards rushing this preseason, many of which were hard-fought yards

“Kendre did aphenomenal job this entire offseason,” Moore said. “... We’ve got anumberofother guys that we feel like can provide some roles, so we’ll finalizethe rest of this runningback group, but we

feel like we’re going to have areally competitive group there.” Burnip signed with the Saintsafter thedraft, offering some competition forMatthew Hayball. New Orleanscut ties with Hayball earlier this month shortly after bringing Kroeger into themix In three preseason games, Burnip punted five times for 188 yards witha37.6net average. Kroeger had sixpuntsfor 276 yards with a 42.3 yard net average. Here

BY ROBMAADDI AP

pro football writer

Saquon Barkley,SuperBowl

MVPJalen Hurtsand thePhiladelphiaEaglesare builtfor arepeat championship. Canthey do it? That’sone of the top storylines entering the 2025 NFL season. Barkley is coming off arecordsetting season;Hurts proved doubters wrong; and coach Nick Sirianni earned redemption when the Eagles dominated Patrick Mahomesand the KansasCity Chiefs, preventing athree-peat to securethe franchise’ssecond SuperBowltitle. But winning the division will be

the first challenge. No team has repeated in the NFC East since the 2001-04 Eagles. Jayden Daniels led Washington on an amazing turnaround as a rookie, taking the Commanders to the NFCtitle game. They’ve added playmaker Deebo Samuel, left tackle Laremy Tunsil

Scott Rabalais

Keys upset in U.S. Open 1st round

Australian Open champion doomed by 89 unforced errors

BY HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press

NEW YORK — Pretty much from the get-go at the U.S. Open on Monday, Madison Keys could tell she wasn’t hitting the ball well or feeling very much at all like the self-confident player who claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January After 89 unforced errors, including 14 double-faults, the No. 6-seeded Keys was gone from Flushing Meadows in the first round with a 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 loss to 82nd-ranked Renata Zarazua of Mexico.

“For the first time in a while my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” said Keys, the runner-up in New York to good friend Sloane Stephens in 2017 and a semifinalist in 2018 and 2023. “I felt like I was just slow. I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”

Her first U.S. Open with the status of major champion — thanks to defeating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final at Melbourne Park — was over just as it began

“You always kind of feel firstround jitters and, as the day is getting closer, feeling a little bit more and more nervous,” said Keys, who played with her left thigh heavily taped. “But I feel like for whatever reason, today I just couldn’t separate myself from feeling like winning matters just way too much.”

She made so many mistakes off the spin-laden shots coming her way that Zarazua needed to produce just eight winners to earn the biggest victory of her career Zarazua lost in the first or second round of all eight of her previous Slam appearances. Yet somehow it was Zarazua who managed to deal with any nervousness better, even though she was competing in cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time and had only had a chance to hit there

once a couple of days prior

The 5-foot-3 Zarazua came into the day with a 0-6 record against opponents ranked in the top 10.

“I’m a little bit small in height, so coming in here, it was like: ‘Oh, my God. This is huge,’ ” Zarazua said about the largest stadium in tennis, which holds nearly 24,000 spectators.

When the match ended with Keys missing a forehand, Zarazua smiled as wide as possible, held her racket atop her head, then placed a hand over her face.

This one certainly was memorable, in part because it did not come easily and lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes.

Zarazua trailed by a set after frittering away five chances to take the opener and 3-0 in the second.

Quite a daunting deficit. But she never went away

“Kudos to her for making me play a lot of balls today,” Keys said. “I mean, she’s a tricky player.”

While Keys was one of 25

American players in the women’s singles draw, the 27-year-old Zarazua is Mexico’s lone entrant in the bracket. She moved to San Antonio as a teen, and is now based in Florida.

“In Mexico, yeah, it’s probably not the most famous sport,” Zarazua said about tennis, which she picked up after starting out in gymnastics and diving.

“I got into tennis,” she explained, “just because my brother was playing, and he was like, ‘I think this is a bit safer sport.’”

In other action, Brazilian teenager João Fonseca, who turned 19 on Thursday, won his U.S. Open debut, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in front of a raucous crowd of his countrymen. Another precocious player, 18-year-old Canadian Vicky Mboko, who was seeded 22nd, was eliminated by two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who is 35, played her last match before retirement,

losing to Diane Parry 6-1, 6-0, and 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia, 31, also exited the final tournament of her career, eliminated 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 by Kamilla Rakhimova. Frances Tiafoe, a two-time semifinalist in New York, beat Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets.

Williams falls in 3 sets

Even at age 45, even after two years away from Grand Slam tennis, Venus Williams displayed some big serves and powerful groundstrokes at the U.S Open on Monday night in front of a supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to Karolina Muchova.

Williams was the oldest singles player at the hard-court tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981.

“She’s such a legend of our sport,” 2023 French Open runnerup Muchova said about seventime Grand Slam singles champion Williams, adding that it was an honor “to share a court with her.”

Players divided on chaos at U.S. Open

BY HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press

NEW YORK There are some tennis players, such as Frances Tiafoe or Madison Keys or Ben Shelton, who can’t wait for the U.S. Open to come around each year, with its boisterous crowds, its bold-faced names in the stands, its music at changeovers, its buzz. To them, the louder, the better Start the show and bring the noise.

“I operate well in chaos,” said Tiafoe, twice a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows.

Sometimes, it all can get out of control, as happened during a match that ended early Monday There was a delay of more than five minutes while spectators booed and shouted egged on by 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, who was angered by chair umpire Greg Allensworth’s ruling after a photographer interrupted play by going on court, of all things.

“They didn’t want to stop,” Medvedev said about the fans. “So, whatever.”

Chaos is always there

Not everyone is able to shrug off that sort of mayhem at a Grand Slam tournament famous — some would say infamous — for the over-served fans, airplanes roaring overhead, the Manhattan-Queens commute and the odors of everything from marijuana to food being grilled.

“It’s something you really can’t train the brain to kind of deal with,” 1991-92 champion Monica Seles said. “You just adjust to it.” There also are those, such as 2024 champion Aryna Sabalenka or 2014 champion Marin Cilic or Petra Kvitova, who didn’t start

McLaurin, Commanders agree to $96M extension

The Washington Commanders and top wide receiver Terry McLaurin have agreed on a threeyear contract extension worth $96 million, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday McLaurin initially did not show up to training camp and then landed on the physically unable to perform list once he reported. After asking for a trade when negotiations were at a standstill, he recently had been activated in the hopes of being available for the season opener on Sept. 7 against the NFC East rival New York Giants.

Co-owner Magic Johnson said he was thrilled the Commanders re-signed McLaurin to a deal that reportedly includes a $30 million signing bonus

Raiders top wide receiver

Meyers requests a trade

HENDERSON, Nev Wide receiver

Jakobi Meyers has requested a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders after failing to reach an agreement on a contract extension, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday

Meyers, who had his first 1,000yard season in 2024, has one year left on a three-year, $33 million contract. He caught 87 passes last season for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns Meyers was the only NFL receiver with at least 85 targets and no dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Raiders, however, made receiver a priority in this year’s draft, selecting TCU’s Jack Bech in the second round and Tennessee’s Dont’e Thornton in the fourth.

Texans’ Mixon to miss at least 4 games with injury

HOUSTON Running back Joe Mixon will miss at least the first four games of the regular season after the Houston Texans announced Monday that they’ll place him on the reserve/non-football injury list this week.

Mixon has been on the active/ non-football injury list since the start of camp after he sustained a foot injury this offseason while away from the team.

The team said Monday that they would move the veteran to the reserve/non-football injury list Tuesday afternoon when rosters must be cut down to 53 players.

Earlier Monday, coach DeMeco Ryans refused to give an update on Mixon’s status.

Angels manager recovering from quadruple bypass

out with an affinity for the anar-

chy — “Really confusing,” was Sabalenka’s initial impression but grew to be OK with it.

Love it or hate it

And there are even some whose opinion shifted the other way, from embracing to despising.

“In my 20s, I loved coming here. There was so much to do.

But the older I get, the less I enjoy being here. It’s a little bit chaotic. There’s always a lot of noise. A lot of smells everywhere. I’ve visited most of the places in New York; I don’t need to go to Central Park for the 1,003rd time,” said

Adrian Mannarino, 37, a Frenchman who began his 15th U.S. Open on Sunday by upsetting 29th-seeded Tallon Griekspoor

“It used to be fun,” Mannarino said about the tournament, “but sometimes I’m like, ‘Gosh, I wish I could concentrate a little bit more.’”

Not like Wimbledon

The hushes that envelope Wimbledon’s Centre Court or the French Open’s Court PhilippeChatrier — which hold nearly 10,000 fewer spectators than 23,859-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium — are harder to come by in New

York.

“Wimbledon, for example — it’s proper, it’s elegant, it’s elevated. People are definitely more quiet and respectful, I guess you could say,” said Emma Navarro, an American who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year “U.S. Open, it feels a bit more casual. Casually rowdy, I guess I would call it.”

There is a constant hum at Ashe and other arenas.

That’s just fine with Shelton, whose first of two major semifinals came at the 2023 U.S. Open.

“I guess I find peace in the chaos,” he said, “because I feel more uncomfortable at the quiet tournaments.”

For the retired Agnieszka Radwanksa, the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2012, nothing ever came as easily at the U.S. Open, where she went 0-5 in fourth-round matches.

“Everything takes so much energy from you and just sucks it up Everything is loud All the smells around, like the hamburgers. Everything is really noisy The traffic,” Radwanska said. “I respect the players that don’t see the difference and don’t feel that and can play like nothing is happening.”

Strong smell

Some find the Big Apple itself as problematic as the tournament site.

Casper Ruud, the 2022 U.S. Open runner-up, felt “overwhelmed” the first time he came to the event as a junior While he’s come to enjoy New York, particularly the restaurants, there’s one thing that bothers him about the city: “I’m not a big fan of the smell of weed when you walk around. Every corner of every street, you smell it.”

ARLINGTON, Texas Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington said Monday he is recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery It’s the first time he has publicly addressed the health issues that have sidelined him since late June. Washington, 73, made the announcement while visiting the Angels for the first time since the operation eight weeks ago in California, calling it a day he had been looking forward to while recovering at his home in New Orleans. He is not returning to manage this season, but hopes to have that opportunity next year. He said he should be fully recovered by December Washington said he has quit smoking, changed his eating habits and is sleeping better

Texas teen runner turns pro, signs with Nike Cooper Lutkenhaus, the 16-yearold record-breaking sensation in the 800 meters, became one of the youngest U.S. runners to turn pro by signing with Nike on Monday

The junior at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, reached the decision after long talks with his family The idea wasn’t really even on the radar until earlier this month at nationals when he ran in 1 minute, 42.27 seconds to finish second. It was an under-18 world record and the fourth-fastest of any age by an American. It also earned him a spot for world championships next month in Tokyo.

Another route young athletes are going these days is through name, image and likeness. But Texas has rules governing NIL deals for

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG

Renata Zarazua smiles in relief after defeating Madison Keys during the first round of the U.S Open on

Monday in New york

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM HUNGER

Daniil Medvedev raises his arms during a match against Benjamin Bonzi in the first round of the U.S. Open on Sunday in New york.

AP PHOTO By GENE J PUSKAR

Burns eyes Ryder Cup berth

BY ROY LANG III Staff writer

A birdie on the 72nd and final hole of the Tour Championship on Sunday lifted Shreveport native and former LSU golfer Sam Burns to the best FedEx Cup finish of his career Will it mean a date with the U.S Ryder Cup team next month?

Burns closed with a final-round

67 at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta and wound up seventh at 13 under His previous best FedEx Cup finish was ninth (2023).

Tommy Fleetwood’s much-ballyhooed PGA Tour win drought came to an end as he topped Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley by three strokes. Fleetwood finished at 18 under for the week

The Tour Championship did not feature a stroke handicap to start

like it had the past several years.

The order of the tournament’s finish was how the FedEx Cup money was distributed. Fleetwood cashed in for $10 million while Burns earned a little more than $1.12 million.

Burns made more than $6 million this season, which he has now done for four straight years. He’s made at least $5 million for five straight years.

Now he will wait for American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley’s decision on the six wild-card selections for the matches against Europe at Bethpage in September Bradley will unveil his picks Wednesday.

“It’s huge. (Ryder Cup) was definitely my No. 1 goal coming into this year,” Burns said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t put myself in a position to be an automatic qualifier I tried to fo-

cus on coming into the playoffs and trying to play some solid golf, and hopefully it’s enough.”

It will be a win-win for Burns as he awaits the decision.

“It’s going to be a long 24 hours or 48 hours, whatever it is, but it’ll be nice to go home,” he said “I’m definitely looking forward to being home and spending some time with (wife) Caroline and (son) Bear, and just relaxing and resting. It’s been a long three weeks, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Burns said he trusts Bradley “100 percent” with the Ryder Cup selections.

“Whatever decision he makes is going to be one that he thinks is best for the team,” Burns said. “Ultimately, I’m Team USA. If I’m on the team, awesome. I would love nothing more. If I’m not, I’ll be rooting for them.”

Realignment talk causes stir

Discussion is about market sizes, potential MLB expansion

BY NOAH TRISTER AP baseball writer

Commissioner Rob Manfred

caused a bit of a stir recently when he said during an ESPN telecast that expansion and realignment could be on the table soon

That led to a number of suggestions and ideas about what baseball’s league and divisional structure might look like in the future, with geography and traditional rivalries driving much of that discussion.

But there’s another factor that, in theory, can be used to reorganize the sport: market size.

With a collective bargaining fight looming, competitive balance — and how to improve it — is likely to be a major point of contention.

If owners pursue a salary cap, that could lead to particularly nasty negotiations and even the possibility of a work stoppage. But what if you could achieve greater competitive balance through realignment — by having two divisions of large-market franchises and two of small-market teams?

Consider the following proposal, which attempts to divide teams into geographic conferences, with divisions based mostly on market rankings from baseball’s current

collective bargaining agreement.

Let’s assume for the sake of this exercise that the new expansion teams would be in Nashville, Tennessee, and Salt Lake City We’ll start both of them in a small-market division.

Eastern Conference

Big-Market Division: Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Nationals, Phillies, Red Sox Braves, Twins

Small-Market Division: Rays, Tigers, Marlins, Orioles, Guardians, Cardinals, Pirates, Reds

Western Conference

Big-Market Division: Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, White Sox, Giants, Rangers, Astros, Mariners

Small-Market Division: Athletics, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres, Royals, Brewers, Nashville, Salt Lake City

The top three teams in each division could make the postseason with division champs earning byes. Now even if the Mets outspend the Marlins by a huge margin, it’s still not clear which you’d rather be if the goal is to make the playoffs on a regular basis.

There would certainly be drawbacks. Wealthier teams would complain the small-market teams have it too easy And if teams play more games within their divisions, the small-market teams might face an attendance drop if New York and Los Angeles don’t come to town as often. Also, at least on paper, this format could lead to more playoff mismatches. But we’ve seen enough postseason baseball to know that anything can happen in a short series — and if you’re a team like Pittsburgh or Kansas City, this setup could provide a bet-

Zurich Classic sets

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans set another milestone for charitable giving at this year’s tournament.

The annual PGA Tour event produced a record $3.6 million in proceeds to be donated to local and regional children’s charities, Zurich officials announced Monday

Boosted by the return of superstar Rory McIlroy and playing partner Shane Lowry, the 2025 Zurich Classic set records for attendance and sales at the April 24-27 tournament.

Proceeds from those record numbers will be directed to nonprofit children’s service organizations in the New Orleans-Baton Rouge region by the Fore!Kids Foundation, which operates the event for the PGA Tour The foundation donated $3.3 million to nonprofits last year and has donated more than $54 million since its inception.

“Our record-breaking charitable contribution this year brings the total we have generated for charities in Baton Rouge and New Orleans over the last 10 years to $24.6 million,” said Steve Worthy, the tournament director and CEO

of Fore!Kids Foundation. “Helping kids through golf is our mission and our passion.”

Louisiana Hospitality Foundation; Manning Family Children’s; First Tee of New Orleans; First Tee of Baton Rouge; St. Michael Special School; Educare New Orleans; Heart Gift Louisiana; Boys and Girls Clubs; and Baton Rouge General arethe main beneficiaries of this year’s grants.

Forty-five other charitable organizations in the metro New Orleans area will also receive donations

“We are successful as a nonprofit because of the more than 200 volunteer members, our staff, our hundreds of tournament volunteers and our many non-profit partners who share the passion for raising much needed funds for children’s charities in our region,” said Mark Romig, chairman of the Fore!Kids Foundation Board. “Their commitment continues to inspire our efforts and models the way for effective and sustainable philanthropy.”

The 2026 Zurich Classic will be played April 23-26 at the TPC of Louisiana in Avondale.

Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@ theadvocate.com.

ter path to contention, without a divisive push for a salary cap.

Trivia time

The last major realignment took place after the 1993 season, when baseball went from four divisions to six. That mostly involved moving teams from the East and West into the newly created Central divisions but one club switched divisions without moving into the Central. Who was that?

Line of the week

Philadelphia left-hander Ranger Suárez allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 11 in a 3-2 win over Washington on Sunday It was just what the Phillies needed after losing ace Zack Wheeler for the season because of thoracic outlet syndrome. Philadelphia leads the NL East by seven games.

Comeback of the week

Down 10-4 in the seventh inning Tuesday night, Atlanta scored five runs in that inning, then took the lead on Drake Baldwin’s tworun single in the eighth and beat the Chicago White Sox 11-10. The Braves had a win probability of 1.4% at the start of the seventh, according to Baseball Savant.

Trivia answer

The Braves moved from the NL West to the NL East — although it may have been more accurate geographically to leave Pittsburgh in the East and put Atlanta in the Central. Part of the reason the Pirates were willing to move to the NL Central was to be with teams of comparable market size.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announces that Wrigley Field will host the 2027 All-Star Game as Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts looks on during a news conference Aug. 1 in Chicago.

AP PHOTO By ANDREW SELIGMAN

Ex-Little League star returns to diamond

BY ALANIS THAMES Associated Press

WASHINGTON A small crowd of people gathered around the bullpen at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball academy to watch Mo’ne Davis pitch on the first day of the Women’s Professional Baseball League tryouts.

Their phones were raised to capture the moment as the former Little League World Series sensation called out “two-seamer!” before firing a fastball toward the catcher a few feet away Davis hasn’t pitched in front of an audience in years, but she’s grown accustomed to attention. At 13, she made history as the first girl to pitch a victory — and a shutout — in the 2014 Little League World Series. Her performance instantly turned her into a household name. She landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated, won an ESPY and starred in a commercial directed by Spike Lee. With a catalog of accomplishments before she even reached high school, there was a point in her life that Davis was content with walking away from sports. But after a brief hiatus and a nagging competitive itch — she’s returning to the game that made her famous. Last month, Davis signed with the WPBL, a six-team circuit launching in May 2026 that is set to be the first U.S. pro league for women since the AllAmerican Girls Baseball League folded in 1954. The goal of the league is to offer a sustainable professional path for women’s baseball players, who have often had few playing opportunities beyond youth competition. For Davis, the WPBL represents an opportunity to build on what she accomplished in her childhood and chart a new path for herself — one that follows the advice her longtime baseball coach Steve Bandura once gave her

“He said, ‘Don’t let 13 be the peak of your life,’ ” Davis said. “There’s more in store for me. I just have to go find it, and go get it.”

Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Hampton University and recently received a master’s degree in sports management from Columbia.

She has pursued different professional avenues over the past few years, including providing commentary on ESPN for Little League games and interning with MLB Network and the Los Angeles Dodgers in video production. At the time, it didn’t seem like a pro playing career was an option.

“Baseball was not on the horizon at all,” Davis said, adding that not knowing her next steps wasn’t easy but gave her the freedom to figure out what she truly wants to do.

Baseball culture for women in the U.S. has been largely dormant since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded more than half a century ago though its players were immortalized in the classic 1992 film “A League of Their Own.”

When Davis saw that other prominent female baseball players like U.S. women’s national team star Kelsie Whitmore commit to the new league, the idea of finally competing in a women’s circuit intrigued her

After a call with Justine Siegal, WPBL co-founder and the nonprofit organization Baseball For All, Davis decided to take a chance.

“This league is about her,” Siegal said. “She was a star, a star player, and dreamt of playing professional baseball just like her teammates. But instead of being encouraged to go after her dreams, she was told that she should be playing softball.

This is a league for Mo’ne, and all of the girls and women who have dreamt of playing this great sport.”

Sam Burns lines up a putt on the 14th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13 in Oakmont, Pa.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Mo’ne Davis, center, and other players warm up during the third day of tryouts for the Women’s Professional Baseball League on Sunday at the Washington Nationals youth Baseball Academy in Washington.

ALL EYES ON 18

1

It’s hard to believe that Garrett Nussmeier will be the Tigers’ first starting quarterback to wear No. 18 since Matt Mauck in 2003. Mauck started the No. 18 tradition as a mark of leadership, and Kelly said it “sends a great message” to have the quarterback wearing that number again. Great teams typically have great leaders at quarterback. Nussmeier has exhibited leadership since he started the Reliaquest Bowl in place of Jayden Daniels two seasons ago and seems an excellent choice.

DOES MORE MEAN LESS?

2

Kelly said LSU was likely to play a rotation of seven or eight offensive linemen against Clemson. Depth is good for most position groups, but this sounds like the Tigers are going backward here. LSU seemed set on a starting five for most of preseason camp, but lately the competition has reignited at left guard with DJ Chester Paul Mubenga and Coen Echols, and at right tackle with Weston Davis and Carius Curne. It’s not what you want against Clemson’s formidable defensive front.

3

‘THE RIGHT GUYS’

The focus on LSU’s top-ranked transfer portal class has been on the amount of talent the Tigers brought in (considerable) and how much it cost (a lot).

Kelly made the compelling argument Monday that the mettle of the players LSU acquired is also important. Players such as center Braelin Moore, who started against Clemson in 2024 at Virginia Tech. “It’s not just about talent acquisition,” Kelly said. “I like the make up. (I want to say) that we played the right game and played with composure.”

Michigan names Underwood its starting QB

BY LARRY LAGE AP sportswriter

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Bryce Underwood was expected to take the first snap for No. 14 Michigan this season after being the nation’s top-ranked recruit last year and flipping his commitment from LSU.

When Sherrone Moore officially named Underwood the team’s starting quarterback on Monday, the second-year coach insisted the job was not handed to the freshman.

“He’s earned the opportunity,” Moore said. “It was not given to him.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Underwood said he plans to “shock the world” this season.

“I feel like nobody’s seen a freshman like me,” he said in an interview with the Big Ten Network.

Michigan opens Saturday night against New Mexico, and Underwood said his goal is to close the season with the school’s second national title in three years.

“Do whatever it takes to get my team to where they want to be, which is a national championship,” he told BTN. “Of course, beating Ohio State is one of those (goals) as well.”

Underwood was originally committed to play for LSU, but the two-time state champion from Belleville High School chose to sign with a school 15 miles from home. Jay Underwood told The Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million over the next three seasons. He flipped following a sales pitch that included a FaceTime chat with former Michigan quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, along with Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, getting involved with the recruitment.

Underwood participated in practices with last year’s team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and benefited from 14 practices and a spring game at Michigan Stadium.

He prepared for college football by adding 15 pounds of muscle.

“It’s made me more explosive,” Underwood told two reporters earlier this summer “I feel way more faster.” Moore said Underwood earned

the nod halfway through training camp, particularly when he made eyebrow-raising throws in a scrimmage at the Big House.

“You can put him in adverse situations and he responds, and he doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” Moore said.

Underwood’s competition for the starting job included Jadyn Davis, who will be Underwood’s backup. The depth chart at QB also includes transfers Mikey Keene and Jake Garcia along with Davis

Warren, who started nine games last season during an inspirational comeback from cancer and is recovering from knee surgery Michigan has had just three quarterbacks start as true freshman: Rick Leach in 1975, Chad Henne in 2004 and Tate Forcier in 2009.

Underwood won’t have to look over his shoulder when he makes mistakes.

“We’re going to be patient with him and let him play,” Moore said.

like this year we were in a place where we could invite people into our locker room, transfers, if you will.”

With the veteran additions from the portal, Kelly hopes that LSU displays a greater sense of maturity and composure from the start.

He wants to see his team play with poise Instead of celebrating every pass breakup or touchdown, he’d rather see his team hand the ball to the referee and get ready to make another play

“Now, I’m not against any of that (celebration) stuff. I don’t want to sound like the old guy here that doesn’t like excitement,” Kelly said. “What I see when a guy does that, when he hands the ball to the official, he truly believes he’s coming back in the end zone.”

Taking down Clemson won’t be easy Coach Dabo Swinney’s team enters Saturday with a third-year starting quarterback, two potential first-round picks on the defensive line and multiple starters returning at linebacker, wide receiver cornerback and on the offensive line.

It’s a monumental challenge, but Kelly believes his team is ready for it.

“Any goal that you put out there, it’s not worthwhile unless it’s a challenge,” he said. “And so this will be a great challenge that our kids are excited about.”

Injury update

Kelly anticipates the Tigers will have “everybody available to us” for Saturday’s game, despite multiple starters sitting out practice last Saturday

Kelly said Monday that LSU has had “a couple of bumps and bruises” this preseason, but nothing serious enough to threaten anyone’s status for this weekend’s game.

During Saturday’s practice in Tiger Stadium, Oklahoma transfer wide receiver Nic Anderson and Virginia Tech transfer center Braelin Moore did not play Nussmeier and Weeks were also limited participants.

Nussmeier did not throw Saturday because of load management Leading up to this week, LSU has monitored his throws in practice and kept him on a “pitch count.”

“We want to take our quarterback’s load off,” Kelly said. “We were done with installation, so this was more throwing. We wanted to wait and get into Clemson and game week. He’ll be out there on Tuesday practicing in full.” Weeks’ practice workload has been limited since returning from offseason ankle surgery and a broken fibula, two injuries the star linebacker suffered in the Texas Bowl.

Sophomore defensive tackle Dominick McKinley and freshman offensive lineman Carius Curne also did not practice. McKinley has earned some firstteam reps this preseason, and Curne is in a competition with redshirt freshman Weston Davis for the starting spot at right tackle.

Moore will start at center against Clemson. Anderson is a key part of LSU’s deep rotation at wide receiver Virginia Tech transfer cornerback Mansoor Delane and South Florida transfer defensive tackle Bernard Gooden were also limited participants at practice. Delane is in line to start at cornerback while Gooden is expected to do the same on the defensive line. Both veterans have had strong preseasons.

Why Nussmeier earned 18

LSU is bringing the No. 18 jersey back to its roots.

The Tigers announced Sunday that Nussmeier will wear the number this season, becoming the first quarterback to be awarded the jersey since Matt Mauck in 2003.

On Monday, Kelly explained the significance of the decision, noting that Mauck was also the first player to begin the tradition.

Death Valley What is probably a point in Clemson’s favor is that Tiger Stadium once had a similar nickname: Deaf Valley There was a service station known as Deaf Valley Shell that sat for years just north of the campus on the corner of Highland Road and East State Street, where the original Raising Cane’s now is located.

LSU fans wrote to late Advocate columnist Smiley Anders confirming the Deaf Valley moniker

“When I was in LSU Law School in ’56-’58, we definitely referred to the stadium as Deaf Valley,” Ray Cox of New Roads wrote in 1999. “That isn’t hard evidence, but everyone’s ears would be ringing for a couple of hours after the game.”

“It will always be Deaf Valley to me,” Jim Welsh of St. Francisville wrote in 2003, “and to many of the real, old-time Tigers.”

Local journalist and Tiger Rag publisher Jim Engster said the Death Valley nickname really didn’t take off until Bob Brod-

head (who quarterbacked Duke in Tiger Stadium against LSU in 1958) became the LSU athletic director in 1982.

“Brodhead, despite his faults,” Engster told The Advocate in 2023, “was a savvy marketer.”

Both schools likely will always claim their stadium is the real Death Valley and nothing will change that. However, they are playing a home-and-home series, with Clemson opening the 2026 season at LSU on Sept. 5. LSU currently leads the series between the schools 3-1. If Clemson can somehow even the series by winning the next two years, then they can talk about who has the real Death Valley

“Matt Mauck and what he represented in 2003, coming out and leading (LSU) to a championship,” Kelly said, “bringing it back to a quarterback, I think, sends a great message about the history and tradition of 18.”

LSU’s No. 18 jersey is handed to the player — or players — who best represent the program as a strong teammate and leader Running back Josh Williams and linebacker Greg Penn were awarded the jersey last season. Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo wore the number in 2023. The year Mauck wore the number, he led LSU to its first national title since 1958 and completed 64.8% of

PHOTO By BLAZE WATSON, CLEMSON ATHLETICS

AP FILE PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood throws during a spring game in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 19.

Payton,Broncos honorFatsDomino

Team made trip to musician’s grave

BY JEFF DUNCAN, LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton didn’tcelebrate his team’s preseason win against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday Instead, he took the time after the 28-19 victory against his former team to celebrate one of New Orleans’ favorite sons.

On the way to the airport after leaving the Superdome, Payton took the Broncos’ entire six-bus, 180-person travel party to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Gentilly to recognize Fats Domino and pay respects to the music legend, who died in 2017atage 89 Broncos playersand coaches visited Domino’stomb on the first floor of the mausoleum and displayed afloral arrangement, highlighted with flowers in the team’s orange and navy bluecolors.

The visit wasthe offshoot of a Broncos’ game-weektradition. To set the tonefor the week ahead, the Broncos play music representative of the city of the Broncos’ upcoming opponent. Payton playedtwo of Domino’sbiggest hits, “Ain’tThat aShame” and “Blueberry Hill,” and asked his players andcoaches how many of them had heard ofthe legendary pianist, who was born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Only ahandful of people in the room raised theirhand, spurring Payton to schedule the visit forthe Broncos’ trip to New Orleans.

“It hit me, but it also upsetme, relative to this iconwho wasborn in this city,” Paytonsaid to the playersand coachesatthe cemetery in avideo of the visitposted on his social media account. “We should know who Fats Dominois.” The visitoriginally was scheduled to occur on the day before thegame, but it was delayed until Saturday

NFL

Continued from page1C

contract situation.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is the future for the New York Giants,althoughRussell Wilson is thepresent.The teamhas to win enough games to save general manager Joe Schoen andcoach Brian Daboll’sjobs

NFCNorth

The high-octane Detroit Lions arechasing their firstSuper Bowl appearance after their 15-win season ended with athudinthe playoffs. They’vegot star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson back to help a defense that was the team’sweakness.

The Minnesota Vikings aretrusting J.J. McCarthy to lead the team after Sam Darnold helped them win 14 games last season Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have the pieces on offense to challenge the Lions in the NFC North. Their defense has to step up. Bears rookie coach Ben Johnson looks to guide Chicago to awinning season.Ifhecan get the most out of Caleb Williams as he did withJared Goff in Detroit, the Bears will beon their way

NFCSouth

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seek not only their fifth straight NFC South title but a deeper run in the playoffs

The Atlanta Falcons are Michael Penix’steam with Kirk Cousins serving as ahighly paidbackup quarterback. Running backBijan Robinson is ready to shoulder the offensive load whilePenix settles in The Carolina Panthersare aiming to build off late-season success behind energetic coach Dave Canales, whomadeprogress developing Bryce Young. New coach Kellen Mooreisrebuilding the New Orleans Saints. The decision of who will start at quarterback between SpencerRattler and Tyler Shough is lingering.

NFCWest

Matthew Stafford’sbackissues are concerning for the reigning NFC West champion LosAngeles Rams,who nearly knocked off the Eagles on asnow-soakedfieldin the playoffs. Darnold replaces GenoSmith in

afternoon after the team’scharter flight to New Orleans on Friday afternoon arrived later than expected.

Dominoisone of several notable New Orleanians buried at Mount Olivet, amongthem pianist HenryRoeland“Professor Longhair”Byrd,saxophonist HerbertHardesty,hip hop artist Soulja Slim and baseball player Walter Wright Payton is in histhird year as the head coachof theBroncos. He coached theSaints from 2006-21, leading the club to its only Super Bowl championship in 2009.

Tackle hurt

LandonYoung left the field on an injury cart Saturday against theBroncos, anditmay be awhile before he’sable to return forthe NewOrleans Saints Withoutofferingany specifics, coach Kellen Moore said Young “may take alittle bit of time” to recover fromhis injury.Mooredid not rule outthe possibility of injured reserve forYoung. Young likely was going to be the swingtacklethis season, serving as the primary backup at both left and right tackle. The other player the Saints have tried in that role, Dillon Radunz,iscurrently the starting left guard while Trevor Penning

Seattle,and theSeahawks hope to improve offa 10-winseason. The defense creatingmore turnovers —only 18 last season —would be abig help.

Arizonaloaded up on defense in the offseason,adding SuperBowl hero Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and 18-year veteran Calais Campbell to bolsterthe front seven.

Brock Purdy got paid in San Francisco, Christian McCaffrey is healthy,and the 49ers are expectingtorebound after alosing season. Butthe defenselost keyplayers, though Robert Saleh is back as defensive coordinator.

AFCEast

Theroadthrough theAFC East goes throughBuffalo, which has won thedivision fivestraight years since TomBrady left New England. Anything short of aSuper Bowl won’tbeconsidered asuccess for NFLMVP JoshAllen and theBills. They’ve been eliminated by the Chiefs four timesinthe past five seasons.

The Miami Dolphins haven’twon aplayoffgame since the 2000 season, the longest drought in the NFL. Coach Mike McDaniel and TuaTagovailoahave afourth —and maybe finalchance together —tosnap that streak.

Aaron Glennisthe new man in charge for theNew York Jets, who haven’tmade the playoffs since the 2010 season. The Jets have some talented players, including Justin Fields, who gets another chance to prove he’sa No. 1quarterback.

Mike Vrabel is back in New England asacoach this time. He’s looking to restore winning to a once-proud franchise. At least the Patriots seem to have their QB in DrakeMaye

AFCNorth

JohnHarbaugh,Lamar Jackson andthe Baltimore Ravens are still trying to get to the SuperBowl after falling short again. They have the most balanced roster in atough AFC North but it all comes down to January.

Aaron Rodgers has teamed with Mike Tomlin to try to get the Pittsburgh Steelers back to winning in theplayoffs. DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay are among the new faces joining RodgersinPittsburgh. Joe Burrow and theCincinnati Bengals need abetter September to get achance to playinJanuary. The

Bengalsgiveone-year raisetoDEHendrickson

BY JOE REEDYAND ROBMAADDI AP sportswriters

All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson andthe Cincinnati Bengals have agreed on anew oneyear contract, ending his hold-in, three people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated PressonMonday Hendrickson will receive a$14 million raise for this season,increasing his salary to $30 million. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after theseason. “I’m afirm believer that hard work works. WhatI’vedonein thelast four years, fiveyears, eight years in the NFL is done. I can’tdoanymore at this timeto rush the passer on Sundays. The hay is in the barn,” Hendrickson said last month after reporting to training camp and ending his holdout.

Cincinnati

Trey Hendrickson will geta$14 million raise thisseason after ending hishold-in.

recovers from aright toe injury.

TheSaints alreadylostveteran backups Will Clapp (foot) and Nick Saldiveri (knee) to season-ending injuries during training camp.

“It’sone of those goofy things that happens,” Mooresaid. “You’ve got to navigatedifferent challenges —and certainly on the offensive line we’ve lost anumber of guys there —the severityofthat can be alittlebit challenging. We’ll see how this thing goes over thenext 48 hours as we build theroster.”

No QB news

Stop if you’ve heardthis one before: The Saints aren’tready to nametheir starting quarterback.

Moorereiterated Monday the team has not decided on its Week 1 starter ahead of theSept. 7season opener against the ArizonaCardinals, telling reporters the clubhas instead been focused on roster cuts

Mooreagain said it won’ttake much longer. TheSaints arescheduled to practice Wednesday and Thursday

“We’ll talk through that stuff and then we’ll get there,” Moore said.“Obviously we’re pretty close. (The)time is coming up. We’re getting ready for Arizona. And so it’ll happensoon.”

offense is stacked but the defense needs to improve. Solving acontract dispute with star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson on Monday was agood start

The quarterbackcarousel continues in Cleveland withveteran Joe Flacco returning to theBrowns Shedeur Sanders is getting plenty of attention,though fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel outplayed himin thepreseason. The one man the Browns can count on is gamewrecking edge rusherMyles Garrett.

AFCSouth

C.J. Stroud has arevamped offensive line trying to protect him in Houston. Atalented defenseled by Will Andersonand All-Pro Derek Stingley should help keep theTexans on topofthe AFC South.

Daniel Jones —not Anthony Richardson— gets thefirst chance to lead Indianapolis at the quarterback. The Colts areplaying this season for late owner Jim Irsay. If new coach Liam Coen can improve Trevor Lawrence’sgame the way he did with Mayfield in Tampa Bay, the Jacksonville Jaguarscould be back on track. They have possibly themost exciting player in the league in two-way rookie Travis Hunter

The Tennessee Titans are hoping No. 1overall pickCameron Ward is the answer at QB. Hisdevelopment is the team’stop priority this season.

AFCWest

The Chiefs have owned the AFC West since 2016. They’ve reached theconference championship in each of their seven seasonswith Mahomes. Afourth Super Bowl title for Andy Reid, Mahomes and Travis Kelce is the goal. Howdo they respond after alopsided loss to the Eagles?

JimHarbaugh ledthe LosAngeles Chargers to the playoffs in his first season. Gettingpast theChiefs is thechallenge. Losing left tackle Rashawn Slater for the season was abig setback. Bo Nixhelped turn theDenver Broncos into aplayoff team in his rookieseason. With AP Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II leading the secondary,Sean Payton’ssquadalso takes aim at the Chiefs. Pete Carrollisbackonthe sideline in Las Vegas, looking to turn afour-winteam into acontender.

Hendrickson missed the first seven days and five practices of camp, accumulating $350,000 in fines. He also received atotal of $104,768 in fines for not attendingthe threedays of theBengals’ mandatory minicamp in June, according to theNFL’s collective bargainingagreement with the NFLPA.

Hendrickson led the league with 171/2 sacks last season, becoming the fourth player since sacks becameanofficial statistic in 1982 to have two straight years with at least 171/2.His 57 sacks since joining the Bengals in 2021 are third most in the NFL over thepast four seasons.

Hendrickson is avaluable piece to adefense looking to improve with Al Golden in his first season as coordinator. The Bengals(9-8 last season) finished 25thinthe league in total defense (348.3 yards allowed per game) and lost four games last season in whichthey scored at least30points.

“In theshort time I’vebeen in these meetings, it’sbeen encouraging,”Hendrickson said about Golden.“Ithink he’savery wise coach. He’sbeen here before. Nothing but respect for him and moving forward we’ll see what transpires.”

Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said during the scouting combine in Febru-

arythathesaw aroad where Ja’Marr Chase, TeeHiggins and Hendrickson would all be under contract.

Cincinnati was able to accomplish that. At leastfor this season.

In March, Chase’s$161 million contract made him thehighestpaid non-quarterback in the NFL at thetime, and Higgins’ $115 million deal made him one of the league’s top 10 highest-paid receivers.

“Wehavealot of really good football players, fantastic football players. And we’re fortunate to be in aposition where we can fit them all in. We’ve managed ourcap well,” Tobinsaid. “We wantahigh payroll and low dead money, so thepeoplethatare in Cincinnati playing foruscan get all the money “Wewant to re-sign these guys, reward them for theirabilitylevel and add to the football team. It’s atall task, but we think we’re up to it.”

Hendricksonisgoing into his ninth season.Hewas drafted in the third round by New Orleans in 2017 before signing with the Bengals in 2021.

With Hendrickson undercontract, Dallas pass rusher Micah Parsons remains the last highprofile player who is in acontract dispute. Parsons remains aholdin while both sides try to reach an extension.

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

Akers wanted to revive his career in NewOrleans, joining the team after atryout this summer Theformersecond-round pick neverfound his footing in training camp. Burnip was an undrafted free agent out of Alabama, but he did not win the Saints’ punting battle.

TE Seth Green joined the Saints afterparticipating in the UFL. He caught twopasses for11yards in thepreseason.

DE Jeremiah Martin joined the team late in training camp. Both of his preseason tackles cameonspecial teams, and he also recorded aquarterback pressure and a batted ball.

TE MichaelJacobson has been with the Saints for parts of the last two years on thepractice squad. He caught three passes for 21 yards in the preseason.

WR MoochieDixon was buried on thedepth chartafterjoining the team as an undrafted free agent out of SMU OL Kyle Hergel hadbeen with the Saints sincelast season. After primarily playing guard as a rookie, he spent considerable time at center this training camp.

DE Jasheen Davis showed flashes as apass rusher in camp, but a late, unspecifiedinjury slowed hisprogress.

TJosiah Ezirim wasconsidered a

“Kendredid aphenomenal jobthis entire offseason. We’ve gota number of other guysthat we feellikecan provide someroles, so we’ll finalizethe rest of this running back group, but we feel like we’re going to have areally competitivegroup there.”

KELLENMOORE,Saintscoach

rawprospect whendraftedin the seventh round in 2024. He has now been cut twoyears in arow

TJonathan Mendoza played college football with quarterback TylerShough at Louisville.That wasn’tenoughtoearn hima spot on the roster LB Tyreem Powell had atoughpath to the roster with linebacker arguably the deepest position. He got lost in the shuffle as an undrafted free agent outofRutgers.

DE OmariThomas,at6-foot-4 and 325 pounds, has good size, but there wastoo muchcompetition along the interior defensive line.

GMikePanasiuk was alate addition in camp after aslew of injuries to the offensive line.

WR Roderick Daniels wasadded to the roster after injuries at wide receiver.Now,he’sbeen let go. Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints punter James Burnipkicks during training camp on July 27. Burnip was one of 14 cuts the team made Monday

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

DenverBroncos coach Sean Payton greets NewOrleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson before apreseason game in NewOrleans on Saturday

AP PHOTO By JEFFDEAN

Bengalsdefensiveend

Sore spots

Leaves fallingoff crapemyrtles and hydrangeas?A common disease maybethe culprit

Take alook outside, and you might see that your crape myrtle’sleaves are turning shades of yellow,orange and red and falling to the ground. Is thisa sign that autumn is near?

Not quite. This time of year, it’smore likely you are witnessing something called Cercospora leaf spot.

“This is a very common disease we see late in the summeroncrape myrtles,” said Clark Robertson, an LSU AgCenter horticulture agent in Livingston Parish. “It tends to be worse in yearswhere we get alot of rainfall and humid conditions.”

Cercospora leaf spot is a fungal disease that lurksin gardens year-round, waiting for the warm, wet conditions in which it thrives to attack crape myrtles. It releases toxins that cause small, yellow-to-brown spots to form on leaves.These infected leaves then change colors before falling prematurely

“If you’re seeing your tree dropping leaves in August with lots of fall color,that’sagood indication that you have Cercospora leaf spot,” Robertson said

Some crape myrtle cultivars are more susceptible to the disease than others. While defoliation can be unsightly and even severe in some instances, the good news is that Cercospora leaf spot usually won’t kill crape myrtles.

The best thing you can dois rake up any fallen, diseased leaves and dispose of them in the trash, not your compost pile, Robertsonsaid. This will reduce the number of fungal spores in your landscape, helping prevent futureinfections.

“Treatment can be done, but it needs to be done early in the seasontoprevent infection from occurring,” he said.“If you see the disease, it’salready too late to spray.” Crape myrtles aren’tthe only plant affected by this disease. If you’ve noticed dark blotches or defoliation on hydrangeas

ä See SPOT, page 2D

STAFFPHOTOSByMARGARETDELANEy

Kim Pitre makes amood boardofcurtainsamples and trimmings likeshe does for countless customers at P.Tree Designs,Textiles andFabrications.

After23years in thebusiness, this Louisiana designer knows hercurtains, what’s trending

BY MARGARETDELANEY Staff writer

Kim Pitre usedtodesign and installwallpaper.When that business was slowly going out of style in the1990s, she moved to amore specialized craft: textilesand curtains.

Notonly are curtains important in design spaces to pull a room together andadd depth, window treatments also serve a practical purpose. Curtains are vitaltoprotect furniture like couches, rugs and chairs from UV rays, sun damageand moisture —extending the lifespan andmaintaining the appearance of pieces.

Window treatments alsocontroltemperature, making indoor spacesmore comfortable by blocking heat and adding a layer of privacy.ManyLouisianahouses have large windows, andcurtains can keep homes cool during thesummer Pitre opened P. Tree Designs,

to

When choosing apatterned

Newhalal smashburgerfoodtruck

Smash City hot dogs features all-

dogs with multiple toppings.

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

food

curtain, it’s important

work with the fabrication to make sure the folds bring out the right colors in the room, according to Kim Pitre.

AGCENTERPHOTO

Cercospora leaf spot causes premature fall color and leaf drop in crape myrtles.

ByThe Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,Aug. 26,the 238thday of 2025. There are 127 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Aug. 26, 1944, French Gen Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipersashe led avictory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazioccupation.

Also on this date:

In 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were broadcast on experimental station W2XBS: adoubleheader betweenthe Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Reds won the firstgame, 5-2, and the Dodgers the second, 6-1.

In 1958, Alaskans wenttothe polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 1968, the Democratic NationalConvention opened in Chicago; the four-day event that resulted in the nomination of Hubert H. Humphrey for president was marked bya bloody police crackdown on antiwar protesters in the streets.

In 1972, the summer Olympics opened in Munich, West Germany

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff, who took the name Pope John Paul I, died just over amonth later In 1980, the FBI inadvertently detonated abomb planted at Harvey’sResort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, while attempting to disarm it. (The hotel had been evacuatedand no injuries were reported but the blast caused significant damage.)

In 1985, 13-year-oldAIDS patient Ryan White began “attending” classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via atelephone hook-up at his home, as school officials had barred White from attending classes in person due tohis illness.

In 2009, kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard was discovered alive in California after being missing for more than18years.

In 2022, an affidavit released by the FBI showedthat 14 of the 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump’sFlorida estate contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines and personal correspondence.

Today’sBirthdays: FormerHomeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 80. R&B singer Valerie Simpson (Ashford &Simpson) is 79. Broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 74. Puzzle creator/ editor Will Shortz is 73. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 65. Actor-singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 59. Actor MelissaMcCarthy is 55. Latin pop singer Thalia is 54. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 45. Actor Chris Pine is 45. Comedian/actor/writer John Mulaney is 43 Country musician Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line) is 40. NBA guard James Harden is 36. Actor Dylan O’Brien is 34. Actor Keke Palmer is 32.

SMASH CITY

Continued from page1D

new food truck with open arms

“Weknow that LSU students are coming back intoschool this week,” said Jacobs, “and we really wanted to target that population because college is expensive, and students are always lookingfor something more affordable. We offer deals and discounts throughout the year.” For more information, visit smash-city-burgers.com.

Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.

SPOT

Continued from page1D

lately,Cercospora leaf spot is probably the culprit. As is the case with crape myrtles, Cercospora leaf spot is rarely fatal to hydrangeas nor does it typically interfere with blooming, Robertson said. Treatmentisthe same, too: If you want to spray afungicide to ward off infection, do so in the spring. At this point in the year, just stay on top of removing affected leaves that have fallen to limitthe disease’sspread.

Theengagementringselection ballet

Dear Miss Manners: I’ve seen young menwith their mothers picking outaring that the young woman of his choice is supposed to love andwear forever What if they picked something shereally didn’t like?

Iwould liketopropose a newtradition: The proposal is madeand accepted, but instead of aring, the proposer offers ajewel boxthat contains adiamond, or astone that the newlyminted bride-to-be likes, andanappointment time at ajeweler to select the setting that suits the wearer andthe proposer’s budget

theprice is discounted by the cost of the original stone.

her that she would not risk losing it, therefore wearing it only on special occasions.)

Gentlereader: Pointtaken. But rather than send those gentlemen around evaluating stones they know nothing about,Miss Manners would like topropose therevival of an older tradition.

Martin MISS MANNERS

Theproposer should have alreadyfoundout what type of stone is desired andthe shape of thestone. Theproposer can then choose thestonethat fitsthe budget andwill please its wearer

Often jewelers allow thestoneto be replaced with alarger one and

Dear Heloise: There is no time to put grease oroils down asink with old or new pipes! Youpour off what you can as noted in apreviouscolumn, then wipethe pan with gently usedpaper napkins or towels that have been set aside. Throw thenapkins away afterward.The little residue left on the pan is handled by detergentand hotwater.You won’thave anymore pipeworries this way Twoasides: Do not throw floss in the toilet. If yourpipes are old, thefloss gets caught, builds up, and eventually causes ablockage.

Beforearing became a prop in performance art proposals, it was not considered necessary to present one at the time —orat all. The offer of marriage was thought to be exciting enough.

Besides, what was the gentleman supposed to do with an expensive purchase if he were notaccepted?

Presuming success,hemight offer her afamily ring, if he were fortunate enough to have one. (Admittedly,that would be hard to decline, but thelady could always say later that it was so precious to

Absent afamily ring, however, theaccepted suitor would makea privatevisit to ajeweler beforehand and set aside aselection of rings in hisprice range. Presuming success, there would then be adelightful excursion when he brought her to makeher choice.

Dear Miss Manners: We have an older live-in nanny forour two young children. During the week, she stays in our basement, where she has abedroom, bathroom and living area, and she goes homeon theweekends. She has expressed to us that she feels uncomfortable when we have guests stay in her quarters over the weekend.

It seems odd to me that the basement should be permanently “hers” even when she is not there.

Areweinthe wrong?

Gentle reader: By your own descrip-

tion, yes. She is alive-in employee, not atransient guest among other possible guests. Those are her living quarters, regardless of where she spends her time off. Presumably,she keeps her clothes and other personal possessions there. Leaving them out foryour guests to see must be disconcerting, and packing them away would be anuisance.

Miss Manners suggests you think of this arrangement the wayyou would arental property: Yes, it is still yours, but you do not have the use of it forthe term when you have installed someone there.

Send questions to Miss Manners at herwebsite,www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

Hints from Heloise

In thetrash it goes! The second is to please ask your plumbing expert about pouring boiling water down thesink. Ihave read that either we can do this or should never do this,but no reasons have been given. So, Icontinue to be curious. To do or not to do? Thanks. —Emilie Webb, via email

Give it agood shake

Dear Heloise: When an item comes out of the washer and is in atight ball, it takes the dryer’stime and energy to warm up theitem enough to return it back to its reg-

ular shape as part of the drying process. To shorten the overall time for drying and to save energy,give the item agood shake before you put it in the dryer This action will return the item back to its original shape and allow the dryer to workondrying theclothessooner,thus saving energy as wellastime. —Sue Flynn, via email

An applecider bath aday

Dear Heloise: Is bathing in apple cider vinegar agood idea forskin care? —Helen B.,inArizona Helen, apple cider vinegar (ACV) has somegood skin care

applications and somethat are not as good.

n Good to treat with ACV:eczema, dandruffand dry skin. n Notaseffective: sunburn and athlete’sfoot.

To draw an ACV bath: Fill the tub with warm water and add 2 cups of raw apple cider vinegar Stir and soak for20minutes. FYI: To get rid of hair product residue, rinse your hair with 1tablespoon of white vinegar added to 1cup water.Your hair will be clean, fluffy and shiny —Heloise Send ahinttoheloise@heloise com.

CURTAINS

Continued from page1D

Textiles and Fabricationsin2002 andhas built ateam of trusted and highly-skilleddesigners to help her Baton Rouge customers design, stylize and bring life to their homespaces

“It’salmost like designing on the spot,” Pitre said. “It can be as little as pillows, or it canbeasmuch as avery expensivehouse in another state.”

However,ashome design trends move fromone extreme to the other,sodocurtain preferences

“Weare seeing more young people see the need for custom window coverings,” Pitre said. “And more people appreciated upholstery andthe little details.” Here’s howtogivehomespaces apick-me-up. Sometimes, custom is best

While ready-made curtains can work, ready-made curtain lengths often do not fit theshape andsize of windows.

Atip from Pitre: makesure the rods purchased online can hold the weightofthe curtains. Oftentimes the hollowed-outcurtain rods, like

telescope rods, can cave in on the middle and be difficult to draw

Ideally,curtainsshouldbehung above the start of the window (eitheratceiling height or halfway between the ceiling and top-ofwindow).

“With ceiling heights getting taller and taller in newer homes,” Pitre said, “most ready-made curtainlengths will look awkwardin homespaces.”

If ahome’swindows are the perfect fit forready-madecurtains, there are waystoincorporate style into thespace.

Little touchestoexistingcurtains

Somecustomersbring in plain whitecurtains into Pitre’s shop and customize trim colors to match other spaces.

“This is wherewecan have fun and get creative,” Pitre said.

In P. Tree’stextile design shop, the store has an entire wall devoted to different bitsand bobs and trims that can be used to jazzupwhite curtains. Fromrufflesand pink butterfliestomodernolive geometric patterns, the adornmentscan bring life to aplain curtain.

Fightthe fear of patterns

When lookingthrough ahome style magazine,most rooms look

unique, well-curated and designed to perfection

“Thenext time you’re flipping through thepages, count the number of patterns the designers used in that space,” Pitre said. It’s probably going to be morethan you think.”

Onething to look outfor when

finding the perfect pattern for a space is to look at thepatternwhen it’sfolded like the curtain. The patternand colors of thecurtain may change when adjusting the way the fabric folds.

Combining many colors, textures andpatterns is agreat way to createaunique, personalized space.

Although wallpaper is also on the rise again (as it was popular in the ’90s),Pitre dubs this era of interior design as “new,old-fashion” —a combinationoftraditional silhouettes with modern touches.

“Millennials areinsearch of warmth,especially in more modern homes,” Pitre said. “Bringing in some personality and color withouthavingtopaint walls or replace furniture.”

Cafe curtains,windowtreatments

It’snot just classic draping on the rise, says Tracy Burns, an interior design professoratLSU Cafe curtains androman shades

are also becoming morepopular in homes, especially apartments.

“These shade styles are the perfect waytobring character to smallerspaces,” Burnssaid. “More subtle patterns work better here, like stripesorlargegraphics.”

Thetrends areleaning to grounding spaces with window treatments. One waytodothis without purchasing large curtains is to look at linen cafe curtains or pull-downroman shades.

“Somepeople are even bringing curtains to the bathroom,” Burns said. “Custom showercurtains to bring moodiness to the washroom.”

Don’tforget to make sure the curtains are lined properly,Burns warns.

In the nearly 23 years of business, Pitre has seen manyphases of interior design trends come and go (including theon-and-off-again relationshipwith Pitre’sformer profession, wallpaper). But the new designs and trends aren’texactly “new,” Pitre says.

“Almost anything goes, as long as its madewell.”

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

Kim Pitre selects fromanarray

Judith

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Consider money management and how you can lower your costs by doing some of the legwork yourself. Indecisiveness or acting in haste will be your downfall. Get the facts and formulate a plan that checks off the necessary boxes.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Emotions will get you in trouble. Overreacting or acting in haste will backfire. Let your creative imagination help you dream and bring about the lifestyle you desire.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Establish what's important to you before you start. Distance yourself from negative people and one-sided partnerships. Treat yourself with respect and expect the same from others.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23-Dec. 21) Declutter your life. Expect someone to criticize you and your lifestyle if you ask for input. Listen, absorb what you hear and work out a plan that fits into your schedule.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Refuse to buy into someone else's dream. You perform best when you commit to your vision. Simplify your life by sticking to the people and pastimes that bring you joy and fulfillment.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Align your budget with your plans and enforce change. How you embrace personal growth will also encourage you to connect with people who can match you every step of the way.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Take a moment to review your schedule, lifestyle and

where you see yourself heading. Finding an outlet for anxiety through social events, physical activities or the arts will help you revise how you spend your downtime.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Consider any limitations you face, and devise a plan that will help you eliminate setbacks Staying one step ahead of everyone else is your calling and your way forward.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Don't waste time or energy on something you cannot change. A change may not be wanted, but letting go and moving on will prove beneficial if you look ahead instead of backward.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) You'll crave change and excitement. A friendly encounter with someone will lead to a work-related opportunity. Do your research and present what you can contribute in a colorful manner.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Proceed with caution. Taking on too much will cost you. Make home improvements, domestic situations and personal partnerships an intricate part of your plans.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Communication is your key to success. Let your imagination wander and your ideas dazzle those you encounter. Embrace the future with a passionate attitude, and something good will happen.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy'S CLUE: K EQUALS T

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Michel de Montaigne, a 16th-century French essayist, said, “My trade and art is to live.”

A bridge player should live with the “trade” acronym in his mind, whether as declarer or a defender. The second letter stands for read the lead. Third hand should use the information being supplied by the opening lead to guide his defense — as in this example deal.

South is in four spades. West leads the heart two. What should East do after declarer calls for dummy’s three?

Note that South’s jump to four spades almost guarantees at least a five-card suit. Since North can raise to two spades with only three-card support when he has a singleton somewhere, if South has only four spades and sufficient strength at least to try for game, he should rebid in no-trump or another suit. If North has four spades, he will commit to that suit.

(Well, if he is exactly 4-3-3-3 with four weak spades, he might pass out three no-trump.)

There seem to be two ways to try to gain four defensive tricks: one heart and three clubs, hoping declarer has king-third of clubs and West ace-third; or three hearts and one black-suit trick. First, though, what was West’s lead?

His lowest heart, and when a defender leads an unbid suit (at any trick), low from length guarantees at least one honor in that suit. And given the board, what honor must West hold?

Right — the king. So East should play his jack, expecting to win the trick, cash his heart ace, and play

toDAY’s WoRD — sIGnIFIED: SIG-nih-fye’d: Represented.

Average mark 12 words

Time limit 35 minutes Can you find

or more words in SIGNIFIED?

loCKhorNs

This

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard

y holding apublic hearing andmustcontain the name andcontact infor‐mation of therequester Beloware thereferenced application(s): OCM; P. O. Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA 70804-4487; Phone: (225) 342-7358; Email: ontario. james@la.gov;OCM Re‐viewer:Ontario James; CUPNUMBER: P20250497

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE theLa. Dept. of Energy andNatural Re‐sources, Office of CoastalManagement (OCM)has received the followingapplication(s) fora CoastalUse Permit (CUP)inaccordancewith theState andLocal CoastalResources Man‐agementAct of 1978, as amended, (La. R.S. 49:214.21-214.41),and the rulesand regulationsof theCoastal Resources Program.Applications forthe proposed work maybeinspected at 617 North3rd Street,Room 1078, BatonRouge,LAor on theOCM webpageat: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/ index.cfm?md=pagebui lder&tmp=home& pid=591. Copies maybe obtained upon payment of cost of copying. Writ‐tencomments, including suggestionsfor modifi‐cationsorobjectionsto theproposedworkand statingthe reasons thereof, arebeing so‐licitedfromthe public Commentsmustbere‐ceived within 25 days of thedateofpublication of this notice.Comments should be uploaded to ourelectronicrecord, but maybemailedor emailedtothe desig‐natedOCM Reviewer.All comments must contain theappropriateapplica‐tion number andthe commenter'sfullname andcontact information. Anypersonmay request, in writing, within the commentperiodspeci‐fied in this notice,that a StateorFederal public hearingbeheldtocon‐siderthisapplication.Re‐quests forpublichear‐ings shallstate,withpar‐ticularity,the reasonsfor h ldi bli h i

Name:Louisiana LngIn‐frastructure LlcAnd Driftwood PipelineLlc c/oPerennial Environ‐mental Services,Llc 13100 NORTHWESTFREE‐WAYSUITE 150 HOUSTON, TX 77040 Attn:Marshall OlsonLocation: Cal‐casieu,Cameron Parishes,LA; Project Start: Lat. 30-6-9.9, Long 93-19-55.04; ProjectEnd: Lat. 30-37-14.90, Long.921514.56 (see platsfor addi‐tional coordinates):Sec‐tion 24, T11S-R10W;inthe vicinity of theCalcasieu River, Carlyss, LA.De‐scription: LouisianaLNG Infrastructure LLC (LALNG)and Driftwood PipelineLLC (DWPL) pro‐pose to continue con‐structionofthe Wood‐side LouisianaLNG and Driftwood PipelinePro‐ject (Project). Construc‐tion consists of the LouisianaLNG Facility (Facility) anda 96-mile pipeline(Pipeline).The Project, previously knownasthe Driftwood LNGand PipelineProject wasauthorizedunder CoastalUse Permit (CUP) P20170501 and U.S. Army CorpsofEngi‐neers- NewOrleans Dis‐trict(USACE-MVN) per‐mitMVN-2016- 01501-WII. LALNGand DWPL submit this applicationtoobtain anew CUPfor thepor‐tionsofthe Projectlo‐catedwithinthe LouisianaCoastal Zone priortothe expiration of P20170501. Except for a minormodification to thebeneficial useof dredgedmaterials cells7 and8 (i.e theinclusion of additional decant structures to aidinthe dewatering process) and themodification to the diameter of themooring pilesthatwillbein‐stalledatthe northern berth(i.e.,Berth One) from 48 inches to 54 inches,the overallPro‐ject scopeisthe same (see Supplemental Infor‐mation Document in step 13 of theapplicationfor additional details).Ap‐prox,64,513,040 cy to be excavatedand placed onsite.Approx.250,000 cy of concrete required Approx.1,652,298 cy of crushedstone or gravel required.Approx.60,000 cy of rock required.Ap‐prox.80,000 cy of sand required Approx.2,000,000 cy of hauled in topsoil/dirt re‐quired.Approx.acreage of dredge channelarea within Coastal Zone boundaryis21acres.Ap‐prox.dredgematerial within existing Coastal Zone boundaryis1.2 mil‐lion cy.* ***OCM; P. O. Box44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487; Phone: (225) 342- 4766; Email: bryan.alleman2@ la.gov;OCM Reviewer: BryanAlleman; CUP NUMBER:P20250656 Name:Tri-StatesNgl Pipeline, Llcc/o Morris P Hebert,Inc.8724 JEFFER‐SONHWY BATONROUGE LA 70809 Attn:Timothy RobertsonLocation: SaintCharles Parish,LA; Lat.:30-03-41.01N,Long.: 90-25-14.24W (see plats foradditionalcoordi‐nates);approx.3.6 miles SE of Laplace. Descrip‐tion:Proposaltorelocate 871' of theTri-StatesNGL 12" Pipelinetoaccom‐modate theWestShore Lake Pontchartrain (WSLP) Leveerequiring ~340 cy of excavation to h i i i

3235

Attn:Sandy

-90-12-44W;Section

T23S R22E;499 A.J. Estay Road Port Fourchon 70357 Description: Con‐structionofimproved bulkhead stabilizingem‐bankment of industrial waterfront site along BayouLafourcheand ESlip in Port Fourchon whichwillrequire ~6,170 cy of fill material NOTICE theLa. Dept.of Energy andNatural Re‐sources, Office of CoastalManagement (OCM)has received are‐questtoextendfor the referenced CoastalUse Permit in accordance with theState andLocal CoastalResources Man‐agementAct of 1978, as amended, (Louisiana R.S. 49:214.21-214.41),and the rulesand regulations of theCoastal Resources Program. Applicationfor theproposedworkmay be inspectedat617 North 3rdStreet,Room 1078, BatonRouge,LAoron theOCM webpageat: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/ index.cfm?md=pagebui lder&tmp=home& pid=591. Copies maybe obtained upon payment of cost of copying. Writ‐tencomments, including suggestionsfor modifi‐cationsorobjectionsto the proposed work and statingthe reasons thereof, arebeing so‐licitedfromthe public Commentsmustbere‐ceived within 10 days of thedateofpublication of this notice.The sole rea‐sonfor notallowingex‐tensionbased upon pub‐liccomment shallbethat therehas been achange in theconditionsofthe area affected by theper‐mitsince thepermitwas originally issued.Com‐ments should be up‐loaded to ourelectronic record,but maybe mailed, faxed or emailed to thedesignatedOCM Reviewer.All comments must containthe appro‐priate applicationnum‐berand thecommenter's full name andcontact in‐formation. OCM, P.O. Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA 70804-4487, Phone: (225)

q referenced Coastal Use Permit in accordance with theState andLocal CoastalResources Man‐agementAct of 1978, as amended, (Louisiana R.S. 49:214.21-214.41),and the rulesand regulations of theCoastal Resources Program. Applicationfor theproposedworkmay be inspectedat617 North 3rdStreet,Room 1078 BatonRouge,LAoron theOCM webpageat: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/ index.cfm?md=pagebui lder&tmp=home& pid=591 Copies maybe obtained upon payment of cost of copying. Writ‐tencomments, including suggestionsfor modifi‐cationsorobjectionsto theproposedworkand statingthe reasons thereof, arebeing so‐licitedfromthe public Comments must be re‐ceived within 10 days of thedateofpublication of this notice.The sole rea‐sonfor notallowingex‐tensionbased upon pub‐liccomment shallbethat therehas been achange in theconditionsofthe area affected by theper‐mitsince thepermitwas originally issued.Com‐mentsshouldbeup‐loaded to ourelectronic record,but maybe mailed, faxed or emailed to thedesignatedOCM Reviewer.All comments must containthe appro‐priate applicationnum‐berand thecommenter's full name andcontact in‐formation. OCM, P.O. Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA 70804-4487, Phone: (225) 342-4515, Email: selena brown@la.gov,OCM Re‐viewer:SelenaBrown, CUPNUMBER: P20230877 (Extended) Name:Texas PetroleumInvestment Co,101 La RueFrance Suite406 Lafayette,La 70508 Attn:Cypress Melville Location: PlaqueminesParish, LA; Well &POB of lines- Lat 29-34-37.88N,Long89-0525.97W andPOE of linesLat29-34-56.52N,Long8905-37.89W;Block 22, Bre‐tonSound Area.Descrip‐tion:Proposedwellloca‐tion,shell pad, structures & flowlines(2" &4"lines

PUBLIC NOTICE

LDEQ Public Records Center at 602 NorthFifth Street,Baton Rouge, LA 70802, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Theavailable informationcan also be accessedelectronically on theElectronicDocu‐ment Management Sys‐tem(EDMS)onthe LDEQ public websiteat www deq.louisiana.gov 155566 Aug. 26, 1t $255.11 PUBLIC

TheDepartmentofNat‐ural ResourcesOffice of CoastalManagementis currentlyreviewing the followingproject forCon‐sistency with theState andLocal CoastalRe‐sourcesManagementAct of 1978, as amended(La R.S. 49:214.21-214.41),and theregulations of the LouisianaCoastal Re‐sourcesProgram (LCRP) Pursuant to Section306 (d)(14) of theCoastal Zone Management Actof 1972, as amended (CZMA),the public may submit commentson proposed projects to OCMConsistency Sec‐tion,P.O.Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA708044487. Applications may be inspectedduringOCM business hoursat617 N. 3rdStreet,Baton Rouge, LA.Commentsmustbe received within 15 days of this notice to be con‐sidered. Formoreinfor‐mation,contact Mark Hoganat(225) 219-9530 or (800) 267-4019 Direct FederalActions: C20250090COE-NOD MaintenanceDredgingof BayouTeche at theEast andWestClumetFlood‐

LOUISIANA