NewOrleans’top highschoollooks to ease overcrowding
BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
The top-ranked highschool in New Orleans is running outofroom.
The cafeteriaatBenjamin Franklin High School overflows at lunchtime, forcing studentstoeat in stairwells, hallways oranywhere theycan find a spot. Some teachers don’thave permanent classrooms, insteadfloating between available rooms. Others teach in leased space that’s a15-minute trek from campus.
Since its founding, Franklin has accepted any studentfrom New Orleans who can meet its stringent admissions requirements. Low scores on the entrance exam might keep astudent from attending, butnot limitedspace.
“There’snoenrollment cap, there’s no waitlist, there’snolottery,” said Alex Jarrell, the school’sCEO. “There’s no waiting on pins andneedles.”
But now,for the first time,the school is considering restricting enrollment due to overcrowding
The school has seena 20%increase in enrollment overthe last decade as more New Orleans students qualify to attend the academically rigorous school. About 1,100 students now
The academically rigorous Benjamin Franklin HighSchool in NewOrleans has seen a20% increase in enrollment over thelast decade as more students qualify to attend,and for the first time, the school is considering acap on enrollment.
attend Franklin, but its building in Gentilly adjacent to the University of New Orleans was only designedtohold about850 students
This year,the nonprofit boardthat oversees the school begandiscussing
ways to expand, including building out the existing facility or working with NOLA Public Schools to find abigger building.
veloperbehind celebrated renovations like The Drifter and HotelSt. Vincent, is tackling his boldest venture yet: a$150 millionrenovationofAspen,Colorado’s legendary Mountain Chalet Known for its Alpine architecture and old-world charm, the five-story ski lodge has been afixture of the downtown Aspen landscape since aDartmouth
University skier named Ralph Melville opened it more than 70 years ago. In the decades since, it hasattracted celebrity guests, hard-core skigroups and interestfromprominentreal estate investors.
“Many people hadtried to buy it over the years, including aformer crown princeofSaudi Arabia and Donald Trump in the ’80s,” said Kupperman. Kupperman and his partnerspurchased the property in 2021, winning over theMelville family with assurances of their plans to restore thehistoric lodge andretain itsstoried ambience rather than replace it with something new.
ä See DEVELOPER, page 4A
Stateagency under scrutiny over wildlife rehabrules
Some legislatorsseek moreleewayfor abandonedanimals
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
From Neuty the NutriatoLittleBuck, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife andFisherieshas sometimes faced criticism that it dealstoo harshly withpeople who take in wild animals. Nowthe department is under renewed scrutiny after it recentlykilleddeer being kept by twodifferent families, and after the Natural Resources Commission proposed even further restrictions on rehabilitating wildlife. Some legislators say the law needs to change to give people more leeway to nurse injured or abandoned animals back to health.
But Wildlife and Fisheries officials say such policies exist forareason: to protect animals and people. Deer taken from the wild may lose their fear of humans andcan become dangerous, according to theagency. They can also spread diseases between herds if theyare takenfar enough from their original location.
By The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan DesperateAfghans clawed through rubble in search of missing lovedonesafter astrong earthquake killed some800 people and injured morethan 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government. The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sundayhit towns in the province of Kunar,near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.
One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar,saidnearly the entire village was destroyed.
“Childrenare underthe rubble.The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under therubble,”saidthe villager,who didnot give his name.
ä See EARTHQUAKE, page 4A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRISGRANGER
NewOrleans developer Zach Kupperman has been tapped to tackle a$150 million renovation of the Aspen, Colo., Mountain Chalet.
STAFF FILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries sought to confiscate Neuty the Nutria, afamily’s pet nutria, in 2023, but came to an agreement with the familyafter public outcry ä See ANIMALS, page 5A
STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIAGERMER
Students
between
Benjamin Franklin HighSchool, the top-ranked highschool in NewOrleans.
Man found dead at Burning Man festival
RENO Nev A man found dead in a pool of blood is being investigated as a homicide at the annual Burning Man art and music festival in the northwestern Nevada desert, authorities say Authorities were alerted about the man Saturday at the gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno.
Deputies along with rangers from the Bureau of Land Management responded and “found a single white adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday
The investigation has included interviewing several participants and cordoning off a perimeter in the area where the body was found in the makeshift encampment called Black Rock City The identity of the dead male was not immediately known, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Small planes collide midair; 1 dead, 3 hurt
FORT MORGAN, Colo. One person was killed and three were injured when two small planes collided midair as they tried to land at an airport in northeastern Colorado, authorities said.
A Cessna 172 and an Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 collided Sunday morning while trying to land at Fort Morgan Municipal Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Both planes — each with two people aboard crashed and caught fire, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said.
The two on the Cessna suffered minor injuries, one of the occupants of the other plane was taken to a hospital, and the other was pronounced dead at the scene, the Sheriff’s Office said.
CDC tells employees to return to office Sept. 15
Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to return to the office by Sept. 15, roughly five weeks after a gunman fired hundreds of rounds at the agency’s headquarters in DeKalb County, according to an internal email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday
In the email that was sent Thursday by the CDC’s new chief operating officer, Lynda Chapman, she stated the agency was taking “necessary steps to restore our workplace” and would “return to regular on-site operations” by that date.
While no employees were struck during the Aug. 8 attack that left DeKalb County police Officer David Rose dead, many have been fearful about returning to the office.
Actress Robin Wright leaves U.S. for England
Robin Wright has left the U.S. for England. “America is a s***show,” the 59-year-old Golden Globe winner told London newspaper The Times. Wright, who played ruthless first lady Claire Underwood in HBO’s “House of Cards,” was reluctant to talk politics in the interview published over the weekend, but said she loved the “freedom” of living in England.
“I love being in this country There’s a freedom of self here. People are so kind,” she said.
According to the Southern California-raised Texas native, she found life in the U.S. to be fast, competitive and filled with often “panicked” people distracted by ambition. Not so with folks in England. “They’re living,” according to Wright.
Wright has been largely working in the United Kingdom for the past couple of years and renting properties, the Times reported.
Boy fatally shot after doorbell-ringing prank
An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank in which he rang the doorbell of a home and ran away, police said Sunday The boy had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday evening, the Houston Police Department said in a statement. Commonly referred to as “ding dong ditching,” the prank involves fleeing before someone inside the home opens the door
International scholars accuse Israel of genocide
Latest strikes across Gaza Strip kill 31
BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and SAM METZ Associated Press
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city, according to health officials. Leading genocide scholars, meanwhile, accused Israel of genocide, allegations the government vehemently rejects.
Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week. On the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp, residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings.
“Another merciless night in Gaza City,” said Saeed Abu Elaish, a Jabaliya-born medic sheltering in the northwestern side of the city
Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group — now largely reduced to a guerrilla organization operates in densely-populated areas.
The world’s leading authority on food crises said last month that
Gaza was in the throes of famine — a crisis driven by ongoing fighting and Israel’s blockade, magnified by repeated mass displacement and the collapse of food production.
A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals. U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them, but hasn’t provided its own toll.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and took 251 people hostage. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.
The largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide said Monday that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel, which was established in the wake of the Holocaust, in which 6 million European Jews and others were killed, vehemently rejects the allegation. It says it takes every measure to avoid
harming civilians and is fighting a war of self-defense after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which Israel says was itself a genocidal act.
A resolution from the International Association of Genocide Scholars — which has around 500 members worldwide, including a number of Holocaust experts said that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The resolution was supported by 86% of those who voted. The organization didn’t release the specifics of the voting.
“People who are experts in the study of genocide can see this situation for what it is,” Melanie O’Brien, the organization’s president and a professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, told The Associated Press.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called it “an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard.” It said the determination was “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies.”
Thousands of Israelis gathered for the funeral of Idan Shtivi, one of two hostages whose remains were recovered in a military operation last week. A private funeral was held for Ilan Weiss, the other captive.
Pope meets LGBTQ+ advocate, vows to keep legacy of welcome
BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
VATICAN CITY Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church and encouraged his ministry, sending a strong signal of welcome in the early months of his pontificate.
The Rev James Martin, a New Yorkbased Jesuit author and editor, said Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy
“I heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the desire to welcome all people, including LGBTQ people,” Martin told The Associated Press after the audience. “It was wonderful. It was very consoling and very encouraging and frankly a lot of fun.”
The meeting, which lasted about half an hour, was officially announced by the Vatican in a sign that Leo wanted it made public. It came just days before LGBTQ+ Catholics participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage to the Vatican in another sign of welcome.
The audience was significant because it showed a strong sign of continuity with Francis, who more than any of Leo’s predecessors worked to make the Catholic Church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Catholics. From his 2013 quip, “Who am I to judge?” about a purportedly gay priest, to his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, Francis distinguished himself with his message of welcome.
During his 12-year papacy from 2013 to 2025, Francis met on several occasions with Martin and named him an adviser in the Vatican’s communications department and a member of his big multiyear meeting on the future of the church. Still,
Francis never changed church teaching saying homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
Leo’s position on LGBTQ+ Catholics had been something of a question. Soon after he was elected in May, remarks surfaced from 2012 in which the future pope, then known as the Rev Robert Prevost, criticized the “homosexual lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.
When he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked Prevost if his views had changed. He acknowledged Francis’ call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis “made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.”
Prevost then underlined that doctrine had not changed. “But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church,” he said.
News of the audience was met with consternation among some conservatives who had criticized Francis’ outreach and had hoped Leo would be less accepting. Taylor Marshall, a podcaster active on Catholic social media, merely posted the official Vatican photo of the encounter on X. John-Henry Weston, cofounder of the LifeSite news site, called the audience a “nightmare scenario.”
Martin helped found Outreach, a ministry promoting LGBTQ+ acceptance, which will participate in a big Holy Year pilgrimage Friday and Saturday sponsored by Italian LGBTQ+ Catholic group Jonathan’s Tent. Significantly, the pilgrimage of about 1,200 people includes a Mass at the Jesuit church in Rome celebrated by the second-highest member of the Italian bishop’s conference.
Trump
says he’s
awarding Giuliani the Medal of Freedom
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Monday he will award former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, two days after his longtime political ally was seriously injured in a car crash.
The decision places the award on a man once lauded for leading New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and later sanctioned by courts and disbarred for amplifying false claims about the 2020 election.
Trump in a statement on social media called Giuliani the “greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot.”
For much of the past two decades, Giuliani’s public life has been defined by a striking rise and fall. After leading New York through the aftermath of Sept 11 he mounted a brief campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and became one of the most recognizable political figures in the country. But as Trump’s personal lawyer, he became a central figure in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Courts repeatedly rejected the fraud claims he advanced, and two former Georgia election workers won a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington for repeatedly making false statements about the election, and he was criminally charged in Georgia and Arizona in connection with efforts to undo Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Giuliani, 81, was hospitalized after the Saturday night collision in New Hampshire. State police said he was a passenger in a rented Ford Bronco driven by his spokesperson, Ted Goodman, when the vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V Giuliani suffered a fractured thoracic vertebra along with multiple lacerations, contusions and injuries to his left arm and leg, according to his security chief, Michael Ragusa. On Monday Ragusa said Giuliani remained in the hospital but was expected to be released “soon.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ARIEL SCHALIT
Friends and relatives mourn over the coffin of slain hostage Idan Shtivi, whose body was recovered in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral Monday in Kfar Maas, Israel.
1.2M immigrants have vanished from U.S. laborforce
BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press
It’stomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California’sCentral Valley She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as ateenager
“The worry is they’ll pull you over when you’re driving and ask for your papers,” saidLidia, who spoke to The AssociatedPressoncondition that only her firstname be used because of her fears of deportation. “Weneed to work. We needtofeed our families and pay our rent.”
As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workersinthe U.S. were held Monday for the Labor Day holiday,experts say President Donald Trump’sstepped-upimmigrationpolicies areimpacting the nation’slabor force.
More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July,according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzedby thePew Research Center. That includes people who areinthe country illegally as well as legal residents Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45%ofworkers in farming, fishing and forestryare immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher StephanieKramer. About30% of
all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, sheadded. The lossinimmigrant workers comes as thenation is seeing the first decline in the overallimmigrantpopulationafter the numberof people in the U.S. illegally reached an all-timehigh of 14 million in 2023.
“It’sunclear howmuchof thedeclinewe’ve seen since January is due to voluntary departures to pursue other opportunitiesoravoiddeportation,removals,underreportingorother technical issues,”Kramer said.
“However, we don’tbelieve that thepreliminary numbers indicating net-negative
migration are so far off that thedecline isn’treal.”
Trump campaignedona promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the U.S. illegally.Hehas said he is focusing deportation efforts on “dangerous criminals,”but most people detained by ICEhaveno criminal convictions. At the sametime, thenumber of illegalborder crossings has plunged under his policies.
Pia Orrenius, alabor economistatthe Federal Reserve BankofDallas,saidimmigrants normally contribute at least 50% of job growth in theU.S.
“The influx across the border from what we can tell is essentiallystopped, and
WASHINGTON President DonaldTrump has plastered tariffs on products from almost everycountryon earth. He’stargeted specific imports including autos, steel and aluminum.
But he isn’tdone yet.
Trump has promised to impose hefty import taxes on pharmaceuticals, acategory of products he’slargely spared in his trade war.For decades, in fact, imported medicine has mostly been allowed to enter the United States duty free.
That’sstarting to change. U.S. and European leaders recently detailed atrade deal that includesa15% tariff rate on some European goods brought into the United States, including pharmaceuticals.Trump is threateningdutiesof200%more on drugs made elsewhere.
“Shock and awe” is how Maytee Pereira of thetax and consulting firm PwC describes Trump’splans for drugmakers. “This is an industry that’s goingfrom zero (tariffs) to the potentiality of 200%.”
Trump has promised Americanshe’ll lowertheir drug costs. But imposing stiff pharmaceutical tariffs risks the opposite and could disrupt complex supply chains, drive cheap foreignmade generic drugs outof the U.S. market and create shortages.
“A tariff would hurt consumers most of all, as they would feel the inflationary effect …directly when paying for prescriptions at the pharmacyand indirectly through higher insurance premiums,” Diederik Stadig, ahealth care economist with the financial services firm ING, wrote in acommentary last month, adding that lower-income households andthe elderlywould feel the greatest impact.
The threat comes as Trump also pressures drugmakers to lower pricesin the United States. He recently sent letters to several companies telling them to develop aplan to start offering so-called most-favored nation pricing here.
But Trump has said he’d delay the tariffs for ayear or ayear and ahalf, giving companies achance to stockpile medicine and shift manufacturing to the United
States —something some have already begun to do Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in aJuly 29 notethatmost drugmakers havealready increased drug product importsand may carry between six and 18 months of inventory in the U.S
JefferiesanalystDavid Windleysaidina recent research note that tariffs that don’tkick in until the back half of 2026may not be felt until 2027 or 2028 due to stockpiling.
Moreover,many analysts suspect Trump will settlefor atariff far lower than200%.
They also are waiting to see whether any tariff policy includes an exemptionfor certain products like lowmargin generic drugs Stadigsays even a25% levy would gradually raise U.S. drug prices by 10% to 14% as stockpiles dwindle.
In recent decades, drugmakers have moved many operations overseas—to take advantage of lower costs in Chinaand India and taxbreaks in Ireland and Switzerland. As aresult, the U.S. trade deficit in medicinal and pharmaceutical products is big —nearly $150 billion last year
TheCOVID-19 experience —whencountrieswere desperate to hang onto their own medicine and medical supplies— underscored the dangers of relying on foreigncountries in acrisis, especially when akey supplier is America’sgeopolitical rivalChina.
In April, the administration started investigating how importing drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients affects national security.Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 permits thepresident to order tariffs for thesake of national security
Marta Wosinska, ahealth policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, says there is arole for tariffs in securing U.S. medical supplies. The Biden administration, she noted,successfully taxed foreignsyringeswhencheap Chinese importsthreatened to drive U.S. producersout of business.
Trump has bigger ideas: He wants to bringpharmaceutical factories backto the United States, noting that U.S.-made drugs won’t face his tariffs. Drugmakers are already investing inthe United States.
TheSwiss drugmaker Roche said in April that it will invest $50 billionin expanding its U.S.operations. Johnson& Johnson will spend $55 billion within theUnited States in the next four years.
But building apharmaceutical factoryinthe United States from scratchisexpensive andcan takeseveral years. And buildinginthe U.S. wouldn’tnecessarily protect adrugmakerfromTrump’s tariffs,not if thetaxes appliedtoimported ingredientsused in the medicine.
Jacob Jensen, trade policy analyst at theright-leaning AmericanActionForum, notes that “97% of antibiotics, 92% of antivirals and 83% of the most popular genericdrugscontain at least one active ingredient that is manufactured abroad.”
“The only way to truly protect yourself from thetariffs would be to build the supply chain endtoend in the United States,” Pereirasaid.
Brand-name drug companieshavefat profit margins thatprovide flexibility to make investments and absorb costs as Trump’stariffs begin. Generic drug manufacturers do not.
Some may decide to leave the U.S. marketrather than paytariffs. Thatcould prove disruptive: Generics account for 92% of U.S. retail and mail-order pharmacy prescriptions.
Brookings’ Wosinska argues thattariffs alone are unlikely to persuade generic drug manufacturers to build U.S. factories: They’d probably need government financing.
“Wehave offshored so much of oursupply chains because we want tohave inexpensive drugs,”Wosinska said. “If we wanttoreverse this, we would really have to redesign our system How much arewewilling to spend?”
that’swherewewere gettingmillionsand millionsof migrants over thelastfour years,” she said.
‘Crops didgotowaste’ Just across the borderfrom Mexico in McAllen, Texas, corn andcotton fields are aboutreadyfor harvesting. Elizabeth Rodriguez worries there won’tbeenough workersavailable for the gins and other machinery once the fields are cleared.
Immigration enforcementactions at farms, businesses andconstruction sites brought everything to astandstill,said Rodriguez, director of farmworker advocacy for the National Farmworker Ministry
“InMay,during the peak of our watermelon and cantaloupe season, it delayed it.Alot of cropsdid go to waste,” she said.
In Ventura County,CaliforniaLisaTatemanagesher family business that grows citrus fruits, avocados and coffee on eight ranches and 800 acres.
Most of the men and women whoworktheir farms are contractor-provided day laborers. There were days earlierthis year when crews wouldbesmaller.Tate is hesitant to place that blame on immigration policies. But the fear of ICEraids spread quickly.Dozens of area farmworkers were arrested late this spring.
Lidia, the farmworker who spoke to the AP through an interpreter, said herbiggest fear is beingsentbackto Mexico. Now 36, sheismarried with three school-age children whowere born here.
“I don’tknow if I’ll be able to bring my kids,”saidLidia “I’m also very concerned I’d havetostart from zero. My whole life has beeninthe United States.”
Construction,healthcare
Construction sites in and around McAllen also “are completely dead,” Rodriguez said.
“Wehave alarge labor forcethatisundocumented,” she said. “We’ve seen ICE particularly targeting construction sites and attempting to target mechanic and repair shops.”
The number of construc-
tion jobs are down in about half of U.S. metropolitan areas, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of governmentemployment data. The largest loss of 7,200 jobswas in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, area. The LosAngeles-Long Beach-Glendalearealost 6,200 jobs.
“Construction employmenthas stalled or retreated in manyareas for avariety of reasons,”saidKen Simonson, the association’schief economist. “But contractors report they would hire more people if only they could find more qualified and willing workers and tougher immigration enforcementwasn’t disrupting labor supplies.” Kramer,with Pew,also warnsabout the potential impact on health care. She says immigrants make up about 43% of home health care aides.
TheService Employees International Union represents about 2million workers in health care, the public sector and property services. An estimated half of long-termcareworkers whoare members of SEIU 2015 in California are immigrants, said Arnulfo De La Cruz, the local’spresident.
“What’sgoing to happen when millionsofAmericans can no longer find a homecare provider?” De La Cruz said. “Whathappens when immigrants aren’t in the field to pick our crops? Who’sgoing to staffour hospitals and nursing homes?”
Russia suspectedofjamming GPS on EU leader’s planeabove Bulgaria
BY SAM MCNEIL and VALENTINA PETROVA Associated Press
SOFIA, Bulgaria Aplane carrying European Commission President Ursula vonder Leyen was hitby GPS jamming over Bulgaria in asuspected Russian operation, aspokesperson said Monday Theplanelandedsafely at Plovdiv airport in central Bulgaria, saidspokesperson Arianna Podestà. “Wecan indeed confirm thatthere was GPS jamming,” said Podestà.“We have receivedinformation from theBulgarian authoritythattheysuspect that
this was due to blatant interference by Russia.”
Formonths, countries bordering Russia have warned of increased electronic activity interfering with flights, ships and drones. Russian authorities did not immediately reply to requests forcomment.
Vonder Leyen, afierce criticofRussian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’swar in Ukraine, is on afour-day tour of much of the EU’s eastern flank, with stops in Lithuania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria.
“This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission thatthe presi-
dent is carrying outinthe front-linemember states,” Podestà said. Bulgaria issued astatementsaying that “the satellitesignal used forthe aircraft’sGPS navigation was disrupted” during von der Leyen’sflight. She was traveling from Warsaw,Poland,toPlovdiv,Bulgaria’s second-largest city,ona private jet chartered by the European Commission.
“As the aircraft approached Plovdiv Airport, the GPS signal was lost,” the statement said. It said that Bulgaria’sCivil Aviation Authority instructedthe pilots to use backup navigation aids to land the plane.
Trump: Indiahas offeredtocut tariffs
BY SKYLAR WOODHOUSE Bloomberg News (TNS)
PresidentDonald Trump saidIndiahas offered to cut its tariffrates following the U.S. imposition last week of 50% levies as punishment for its purchases of Russian oil.
“Theyhavenow offered to cuttheir Tariffs to nothing, but it’sgetting late They shouldhavedoneso yearsago,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday.It
wasn’tclear when the offer wasmade, or whether the White House plans to reopen trade talks with India
Thenew U.S. tariffsdoubled the existing 25% duty on Indian exports. Thelevieshit more than55% of goodsshippedtothe U.S. —India’sbiggest market —and hurt labor-intensive industries like textilesand jewelry the most. Key exports like electronics and pharmaceuticals are exempt, sparing Apple Inc.’s
massive new factory investments in India fornow India’sMinistry of ExternalAffairs didnot respond to arequest forcomment outside regularofficehours and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests forcomment. Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and Putin are meeting in China,signaling that New Delhi’sties with Moscow remain firm despite pressurefromthe Trumpadministration.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DAMIAN DOVARGANES
Migrant farmworkershead to pick crops on an early morning in July in Fresno, Calif.
A third option would be to lease a nearby building from the University of New Orleans. Franklin leadership offered to pay UNO nearly $6 million to lease and maintain the property, but UNO officials said the building is unavailable and rejected the offer
While capping Franklin’s enrollment is a last resort, it will be unavoidable unless the school finds more space, Jarrell said.
“If we do not solve for this problem in the next year,” he said, “for the first time ever we are going to have to start turning away kids who meet our criteria.”
Crowded campus
Ranked by U.S. News and World report this year as the number one public high school in Louisiana, Ben Franklin is a top destination for New Orleans’ highest-achieving students. Applicants must pass an academic exam and meet a minimum grade-point average to be admitted About a quarter of Franklin’s students come from private schools, such as Newman, while a smaller number recently moved to New Orleans, Jarrell said. The largest share comes from toprated public schools, including Hynes, Audubon, Willow School and Lake Forest.
More than 1,000 incoming freshmen applied to Franklin this year, a record high, said Jarrell, who started as CEO of the school in 2024. Of those applicants, all 365 students who met the criteria were admitted.
“For generations, Franklin’s been a springboard for people in New Orleans who can go to college and find lifelong success,” said Todd Ragusa, who has served on Franklin’s board since 2017. “We want to make sure all students have the opportunity.”
Franklin’s steady growth over the past decade stands in stark contrast to many other schools in New Orleans and across the country where a shrinking student population has led to school consolidations and closures.
Yet Franklin has also become a victim of its own success: It’s running out of space.
Twelfth-grader Ben Blevins said the overcrowding is a serious issue that impacts students. The walk to the school’s leased space off campus cuts into class time and there aren’t enough lockers in the building for every student.
“It’s the No. 1 school and the more students that can go to Franklin the better,” he said, “but it’s just packing in and packing in.”
Kate Youngblood, an English teacher who graduated from Franklin in 2009 has experienced the school “when it’s too empty, versus now when it’s really too full.”
During a beginning-of-the-year
EARTHQUAKE
Continued from page 1A
“We need help here,” he pleaded.
“We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”
The quake hit just before midnight and was centered 17 miles east-northeast of Jalalabad at a depth of 5 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage Several aftershocks followed.
Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a news conference on Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar The quake was felt in parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Home collapses
Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas and the quake has worsened communications Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospitals.
Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built.
pep rally last week, the gym bleachers could only fit a portion of the school’s students. Freshmen and sophomores had to cram cross-legged on the gym floor
“We’re making the best of what we have,” she said, “but we definitely don’t have a facility that meets the needs of our students.”
Searching for space
Adding to the urgency of Franklin’s search for more space is the poor state of its existing campus The district has declared the facility, which has degraded considerably since it was constructed in 1990 to be one of the lowest-quality buildings in its portfolio.
The school has taken some steps in recent years to upgrade its space and mitigate overcrowding. After Jarrell took over, the school replaced the air conditioning and fixed leaky roofs.
This month, the school opened the Katherine Johnson STEAM Center, which included four new classrooms and updated science and technology equipment.
But it’s not enough to alleviate the overcrowding.
Jarrell said the school’s board members have begun considering several options for expansion. They could raise funds to build an extension onto the existing school — which would require financial backing from the school district or the state or ask NOLA Public Schools to place them in a larger building.
But the “most pragmatic” option, Jarrell said, would be to lease a building from Franklin’s lakefront neighbor, the University of New Orleans. The school already leases classroom space in UNO’s Bicentennial Education building more than a half mile from Franklin, but the 15-minute walk can be a problem in bad weather and eats away at class time.
Franklin leadership has eyed UNO’s Human Performance Center, the closest building to the high school campus. They offered UNO $3.75 million for a 65-year lease, as well as about $2 million toward maintenance, but UNO officials turned down the offer
UNO President Kathy Johnson said the university is open to an expanded lease with Franklin, but that the Human Performance Center is “specialized space” used for athletic training, athletics department offices and academic support for student athletes. It’s also where the volleyball team practices and hosts games.
“It would significantly and negatively impact Privateer Athletics to give up this space for Ben Franklin High School,” she said in an email.
Instead, she said the university would be open to Franklin leasing additional space in the Bicentennial Education Building or to adopt Milneburg Hall, which UNO decommissioned last year because it was in disrepair “Everything is on the table,” Jarrell said. “We just need help.”
DEVELOPER
In August, they began construction on their ambitious project, which will include making upgrades and repairs to the building, adding two new restaurants, a full-service spa and amenities like a sports concierge service.
“Our vision is to keep the chalet’s European sensibilities, while also establishing a new benchmark in American luxury adventure travel,” Kupperman said.
Fabled past
The Mountain Chalet has a unique place in the story of Aspen’s emergence as a chic skiing mecca after World War II.
Melville opened the three-room lodge in the winter of 1954, inspired by a family trip to Garmisch, a quaint Bavarian ski town. Over the decades, it grew room by room into a 59-room, five-story chalet that remained in Melville hands for nearly 70 years.
Unlike Aspen’s increasingly polished and high-priced accommodations, the chalet retained the feel of an old-world ski lodge. Guests shared stories over roaring fires sipping cocoa as the snow fell outside — a counterpoint to Aspen’s glitzy resorts. For three generations, the Melville family resisted offers to sell. But with the chalet badly in need of investment, Kupperman and his partners eventually succeeded where others had failed.
“We spent about a year building a relationship with the Melville family and met with all 21 members,” he said. “Some bidders had wanted to tear it down and replace it with condos, but we wanted to preserve what it means to Aspen and keep the legacy That won the day.”
Kupperman is partnering on the project with the same team that worked with him on Hotel St. Vincent — MML Hospitality, cofounded by Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman and Liz Lambert. The Austin, Texas-based group, known for restaurants like Jeffrey’s and Clark’s Oyster Bar will manage the Mountain Chalet, while Lambert McGuire Design handles the redesign.
“It is more than twice the size of our last project together,” Kupperman said. It is expected to reopen as The Aspen Chalet in summer 2027.
Diverse portfolio
The chalet is a step up for Kupperman as a developer, whose projects now range from boutique hotels and Freret Street restaurants to the Uptown Trader Joe’s and a chain of trailer parks.
Having started his professional life as a real estate attorney Kupperman, 42, was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug while still at Tulane Law School.
From selling collegiate poker chips to co-founding the experimental dining venture Dinner Lab — which received national attention before going bust Kupperman developed an appetite for risk
early on. In 2016, he jumped on the boutique hotel bandwagon, starting with The Drifter, which at the time was a no-tell motel on a seedy strip of Tulane Avenue, a few blocks from Orleans Parish Prison.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you start with one that isn’t next to the jail?’ ” said Len Wormser, a hotel broker at Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, whom Kupperman had asked for advice when weighing The Drifter investment.
“But he turned that into a wild success with the design and the hipster vibe and it became the place to go,” Wormser said. “It was the same with the St. Vincent.”
The Hotel St Vincent, which started life in the 1860s as a home for unwed mothers, was transformed by Kupperman and his partners from a shabby hostel into “a country club-style oasis in the Lower Garden District with elevated Southern chic design,” according to Condé Nast Traveller magazine, which last year named it one of the city’s top 20 hotels.
While the 75-room hotel has faced the same ups and downs as the broader boutique market in New Orleans since it opened in summer 2021, the San Lorenzo restaurant and Paradise Lounge cocktail bar have become places to be seen, especially for local politicians, lobbyists and assorted celebrities.
In Condé Nast speak: “The people are urbane and arty just shy of aloof, and it feels like you’ve been invited to a long weekend at a classy, bohemian bolthole.”
Other projects on Kupperman Cos.’ slate now are the revived plan for a ”micro hotel” on Decatur Street in the French Quarter fronted by entertainer Big Freedia.
On Freret Street, Kupperman has partnered with developer Barrett Cooper on a building whose first tenant, Cinnaholic, a pastry brand, recently opened. They are finishing construction on another restaurant and bar there which will be called Sunnie’s and feature “healthy food” and a swimming pool.
Kupperman’s firm also took over the stake in The Whitney on Poydras Street that was sold by Robert
One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help.
Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza
Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him.
“I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Hospital. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived
and pulled me out.” It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said.
‘Numbers may increase’
Rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital, Kabul, have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesperson.
Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesperson, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but road travel was difficult.
“There are some villages where the injured and dead haven’t been recovered from the rubble, so that’s
why the numbers may increase,” he told journalists.
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts.
“This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on X. “Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.”
Search and rescue support
Entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals and 2,000
Thompson when he departed New Orleans. GBX Group, the Cleveland-based real estate group that includes Saints great Drew Brees as a partner, is also a partner in The Whitney and together they are working on a renovation plan for the former bank building.
Puzzle pieces
Kupperman and his partners are making a big reputational bet with their latest venture because of the lodge’s size and historical significance to the town.
Wormser said they paid about $1.2 million per room for the chalet and will invest another $1.5 million per room on the renovation.
“To the naked eye, that seems like a gross amount of money, but for Aspen, it’s market,” he said. The project will include two new restaurants that will be managed by MML, which has built its reputation primarily in Austin, where McGuire and Moorman started out as chefs. They now own and operate some of the city’s best-regarded eateries.
Kupperman said modern flourishes for the chalet will include a full-service spa, ski lockers and a sports program with concierge service that will aim to design and facilitate activities — including but not limited to skiing to cater to the “experiential” element travelers demand these days.
“These kinds of challenging, complicated projects build our development chops and help create credibility for our team,” Kupperman said.
As with the Hotel St. Vincent, the chalet’s restoration, financed by East West Bank and EB5 Capital, has required navigating a labyrinth of historic preservation rules a challenge Kupperman likens to assembling a complex puzzle. He said New Orleans has been a good training ground as it is a place that pioneered historical restoration and the many hurdles that need to be overcome to bring them over the finish line.
“We’ve always leaned in on deals with hair on them that a lot of other developers have passed over,” he said.
Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.
casualties were reported within the first 12 hours, said Sherine Ibrahim, the country director for the aid agency
“Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan,” said Ibrahim. “Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement that immediate needs include search and rescue support, emergency health care and medical supplies, food, clean water, and restoring road access to reach isolated communities. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan. “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are ready to extend all possible support in this regard,” he said on X.
Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans in the past year, many of them living in the country for decades as refugees. At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by UNHCR.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.
The U.N. gave a lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory
Sunday’s latest earthquake was likely to “dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs” caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee.
PROVIDED PHOTO By KUPPERMAN COS
The Mountain Chalet will be renamed The Aspen Chalet when Zach Kupperman and his development group reopen it in 2027.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By WAHIDULLAH KAKAR
Residents walk by a house Monday that was destroyed by an earthquake late Sunday in eastern Afghanistan. About 800 people have been killed.
ANIMALS
In Louisiana, it is generally illegal to keep wild animals as pets, and people cannot rehabilitate animals without proper permits. Some animals, such as deer, are not eligible for rehabilitation at all.
Such rules create circumstances where well-meaning Louisianans who want to help animals find themselves running afoul of the law
That’s what St. Helena Parish resident Kimberly Graham said happened to her in July, when wildlife agents took a fawn named BabyBelle from her property and euthanized the animal
And in December, agents seized and killed a partially blind deer from a family’s property in Livingston Parish. The deer, Little Buck, had lived on the family’s property for seven years, according to WAFB, which first reported the story
Both cases drew the ire of state Rep. Lauren Ventrella, a Republican from Greenwell Springs known for adopting the baby pig Earl “Piglet” Long last year after a good Samaritan found several men throwing it like a football at a Mardi Gras parade.
“This is our tax dollars being spent to kick down people’s doors, euthanize deer,” Ventrella said, adding that Wildlife and Fisheries should keep out of the way of people properly caring for animals.
Ventrella, also an attorney representing Graham, believes the state’s wildlife rehabilitation regulations are too strict. The department has been interpreting the law “without regard to common sense or humanity,” she said, adding that the agency is infringing on people’s freedom.
said. But she gave in after two days, when it became apparent the fawn soon to be dubbed BabyBelle — was without a mother, she said.
Graham used to have a deer-raising license and knew how to care for the fawn, she said. Raising deer is legal in Louisiana with the proper permit, but those animals aren’t released into the wild.
The Wildlife and Fisheries case report tells a slightly
sought to bring criminal charges against Graham for illegal possession of a fawn, but the District Attorney’s Office for the 21st Judicial District Court, which includes St Helena Parish, declined to prosecute the case.
“It was simply someone trying to help a young deer that was in need of some assistance,” said District Attorney Scott Perrilloux. “It seems like discretion could have been better used here by the department.”
“These laws, these guidelines, these standards, they’re not about government overreach They’re about fairness, compassion and respect for both people and animals.”
TyLER BOSWORTH, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries secretary
On Aug. 26, during a news conference in front of the white-tailed deer exhibit at the Baton Rouge Zoo, Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Tyler Bosworth pushed back against such accusations.
“I’m so horribly saddened (Deer euthanized by Wildlife and Fisheries) broke my heart because she was going to make it. The law’s got to change.”
KIMBERLy GRAHAM, St. Helena Parish resident
He described wildlife agents as “fellow Louisianans” who were “doing their jobs, carrying out the laws passed by your elected legislature.”
Such laws followed national standards and were “based on protecting animal health, preventing disease and keeping wildlife and people safe,” he said.
“These laws, these guidelines, these standards, they’re not about government overreach,” he said “They’re about fairness, compassion and respect for both people and animals.”
Controversial enforcement
One day in late July, a wildlife agent showed up on Graham’s property in Greensburg.
A few days earlier, Graham had taken in a sickly fawn that was wandering house to house, she said. Knowing the law, Graham initially wasn’t going to help the fawn, she
different story It says Graham had the deer for 10 days, not four, and that she found BabyBelle off the side of Interstate 12.
Graham said she told the agent she found the deer near the road because she did not want to involve the people who asked her to take in the fawn She never reported keeping BabyBelle for 10 days and does not know where that information came from, she added.
Fawns may appear abandoned because their mothers leave them for hours to draw off predators, according to the Wildlife and Fisheries. That’s one reason not to disturb them, the agency said. Regardless of the circumstances, the outcome was the same: the Wildlife and Fisheries took the fawn and later euthanized her “I’m so horribly saddened. It broke my heart because she was going to make it,” Graham said. “The law’s got to change.”
Wildlife and Fisheries also
In the case of Little Buck, who was also euthanized, the family told WAFB they had not broken the law because Little Buck was free to come and go as he pleased. But Wildlife and Fisheries’ case report said the deer was kept in a fencedin enclosure.
In the report, the responding officer said the deer needed to be killed because of uncertainty about his health and origin, and because he was desensitized to humans.
Why the wildlife rules exist
Officials say taking deer from the wild may inadvertently spread disease between herds, and that deer who no longer fear humans can become dangerous.
“Bucks especially are very dangerous simply because of their change in behavior associated with the breeding season,” said Johnathan Bordelon, Wildlife and Fisheries’ deer program manager “They become much more aggressive.”
With their powerful hooves, does can cause damage, too, he said.
A deer taken from one location in the wild and released into another could end up spreading disease, Bordelon said.
Holding a deer in captivity can also harm its health and lower its chances of survival, according to Wildlife and Fisheries.
When Wildlife and Fisher-
‘Outlaw quadrupeds
Geymann and Ventrella also harbor concerns about a recent Wildlife and Fisheries Commission proposal that would ban wildlife rehabilitators from caring for nutria as well as “outlaw quadrupeds” — feral hogs, coyotes and armadillos.
Nutria are an invasive species that cause coastal erosion.
ies finds a fawn less than two days after it is taken from the wild, officials can often reunite the animal with its mother, he said.
But beyond that, euthanization may be necessary as the state has limited options for where it can send the deer, he said. Sometimes, the state can place a deer in a zoo or with a licensed game breeder, he said, adding that those cases differ from rehabilitation because the deer do not return to the wild.
State Rep. Brett Geymann, a Republican from Lake Charles who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, said lawmakers should work with Wildlife and Fisheries to look for solutions, including possible changes to the law, to prevent more euthanizations.
“We’re all in a bad spot You have a law that says you can’t have a deer, and somebody has a deer — what are you going to do?” he said.
In 2023, Wildlife and Fisheries’ attempt to confiscate a Metairie couple’s pet nutria, Neuty, caused public outrage. The agency reached an agreement that allowed the couple to keep the animal. The new rehabilitation ban would not impact that agreement, the department said.
Meanwhile, outlaw quadrupeds have “a tendency to be destructive and cause human wildlife conflicts,” state Wildlife Permits Coordinator Bradley Breland said in a statement.
Coyotes prey on cattle; feral hogs destroy crops; and armadillos damage lawns and gardens, he said.
A “USDA Wildlife Services report stated that coyotes were responsible for 68.8% of cattle losses and 81.7% of calf losses as a result of predation in Louisiana” in 2010, Breland said. “A 2022 LSU AgCenter report stated that crop damage to feral hogs totaled $91.1 million a year in Louisiana.”
But the proposal has sparked pushback from re-
A woman nursing a fawn on her property said Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents seized and euthanized it in July. As the agency defends its policies as protecting both humans and animals, some legislators say the law needs to change to give people more leeway to nurse injured or abandoned animals back to health.
PROVIDED PHOTO
habilitators, especially in regard to coyotes. Amy Shutt, director of The Canid Project, a coyote and fox rehabilitation center, said rehabilitators only care for about six coyotes a year in Louisiana.
“How is that small number of coyotes being rehabilitated? How is that going to affect them being a nuisance?” she asked.
Mark Mitchell, director of the Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana, said coyote rehabilitation programs help educate the public about the importance of the animal.
“We want to make sure that we have a stable ecosystem, and coyotes play an important role in that as one of our last big mesopredators,” he said. Mesopredators occupy a middle spot in the food chain. Mitchell would like to see folks on both sides of the issue come together and work toward a resolution, he said. If the commission’s proposal remains as-is, Geymann said he plans to call a meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee, which could reject the rule or recommend changes.
“I want to make sure that we do everything we can to encourage and support the rehabilitation community,” and “that we’re not doing something that we don’t need to be doing,” Geymann said. Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Tyler Bosworth speaks alongside images of illegally kept deer during a news conference at the Baton Rouge Zoo.
Your hearing is an integral part of your overall health and wellbeing. Studiesshow that untreated hearingloss has been linked to many health issues, including cognitivedeclineand dementia.1
We are hosting aSpecial Eventduring the month of March! During this event, we will be offering these FREE services:
•FREE Hearing Consultations
•FREE Video Otoscope Exam: Hearinglossorjust earwax?
•FREE Clean &Check on currenthearing aids
•FREE Baseline Audiogram Assessment
•FREE Familiar Voice Test
•FREE Demo of Audibel’s latest hearing technology!
AreYou or Anyone YouKnow Experiencing the Following?
1. Asking people to speak up or repeat themselves?
2. Turning theTVuploud tounderstandwhat is being said?
3. Ringing or noises in your ears?
Audibelis NOW Offering...
•Hearingaids at NO COST to those who qualify!•
• That’s Right. No Co-Pay!NoExamFee! No AdjustmentFee! If youhavethiscard, youmay qualifyfor free hearing aids! Call today to verifyyour benefits
SEPTEMBER 2025
NOLA.COM | Tuesday, sepTember 2, 2025 1bN
JanRisher
Strutting with the Dancing Dolls
Causeway widening begins
LOUISIANA AT LARGE JeffersonParish projectslated to last 18 months
BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer
Afterdecades of planning, Jefferson Parish will soon begin construction for an additional two lanes of traffic along astretch of NorthCausewayBoulevard measuring alittle over amile.
Theproject will widenthe road between West Napoleon Avenue
and Airline Drive from four lanes to six, at acostofbetween $15 million and$25 million funded throughbonds backed by a1% sales tax renewed by voters in 2016.
Construction is slated to beginin November and last 18 months, according to District 5Parish Council member Hans Liljeberg.
Along with newlanes, the project will also implement drainage upgrades, concrete curbs and gutters, asphalt street work, new decorative lighting and new traffic signals at median crossings.
Therewill be limited, intermit-
tentclosures on Causeway Boulevard during construction, but officialssaid it will continue to have twolanes of southbound traffic available from 5a.m.to7 p.m., and two lanesofnorthbound traffic from 6a.m. to 7p.m.
The parish first began pursuing the expansion of Causeway in 2008, when atraffic study determined the road needed ahigher capacity
NeilSchneider,director of the JeffersonParish CapitalProjects Department, said the need for
Iset up my appointment with the Fabulous Dancing Dolls at Southern University aweek before my home caught fire.
On Wednesday,Ilooked at my calendar and realized Iwas supposed to go to the Dancing Dolls’ practice to learn some dance moves. It seemed like such aridiculous thing to do in themidst of life being so discombobulated, but Idecided to go anyway Boy,was that the right decision.
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more cared for than the 90 minutesI spent with the Dancing Dolls. First, Isat on the floor and talked with three young women whoare the dance team’sleaders. They are all seniors at Southern These earnest young women told me alittle about what it’slike to be aDancing Doll—the poise, grace, effort, talent and time required to be part of theteam They allcome withyears of dance experience, but still, they practice at least three days aweek, starting at 5p.m. and finishing late into the night. They talked about the sisterhood of the Dancing Dolls and the cherished relationships with Forever Dolls who came before them.
Being aDancing Dollisabout a lot more than dancing.
“We’ve all been on other dance teams before, but it’ssomething about this sisterhood,” said Herbreyana Daniels, captain.
Iasked if they had signature dance moves. Danielssmiledas the other two team leaders looked at her and said, “That back.” Isaid, “What about her back?” Daniels stood up and gracefully bent backward as she worked magic with her arms. Shekept bending until her head nearly touched the floor —and then just as gracefully stoodright back up again.
Ilooked at the other two.
Davis, aNew Orleans native, saiditwas her spins —and stood and set to spinning, more timesthan Icould count. Soija Cameron, team assistant, from Racine, Wisconsin, saiditwas her kicks and demonstrated what she meant with legs thatalmost touched the ceiling.
Other dancers began to arrive and we shifted into warmupsfor practice.
Iwas nervous. After all, these women are known around the land as being incredible dancers, but in for apenny,infor apound —here Iwas, Imight as well give it my all. Daniels led like abenevolent sergeant. She stood in front and asked me to stand beside her.Myhead was spinning almostasfast as Davis had earlier We stretched our arms, our shoulders, our necks —mine were the only ones that creaked. Iwas hopeful no one could hear them. Then we went into leg stretches. Iwas feeling pretty good about things until Daniels did some pretzel move —Ithink they all put their nosestotheir toes or some other wizardry. Pilates didn’tprepare me for that. Once we were done stretching, Daniels said, “Now,we’ll strut.” Talk about intimidating, but I was buoyed by the DancingDolls’ spirit. They wanted me to succeed. They wanted me to have fun. The encouragement was palpable.
The first step in struttingis “doll hands” —avery particular
HOLIDAY IN THEPARK
ABOVE: Kennedy Felix and Isabelle Benoit talk in the shade by City Park’sBig Lakeon Labor Day in NewOrleans. RIGHT: Jenna, 5, Layla, 11, Zayn, 2, and Farrah,8,with their mother,Christen Arafeh, hang out by City Park’s BigLake.
Jeffersonschools stillseekFEMA repair money
Hurricane Ida caused $400M in damage 4years ago
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
When Hurricane Ida tore through Jefferson Parish in August 2021, it caused widespread destruction across the state’slargest school system, resulting in an estimated $400 million in damage. But as the fourth anniversary of thestorm arrived Friday dozensofmajor repair projects —from roof replacements to rebuildinganentire school —had yet to get underway, much less be completed. Other projects are finished,but the
federal government still hasn’t reimbursed thedistrict for the cost, according to Jefferson ParishSchool Board member and Facilities CommitteeChair Clay Moise.
District officials mostly blame the FederalEmergency Management Agency’slengthy funding-approvalprocess for the delay.Asofthis month, FEMA has agreed to pay for only 18 of more than 100 projects for which the district has sought reimbursement, Moise said. FEMA did notrespond to a requestfor comment for this story,but an agency representativetoldThe Times-Picayune lastyear that FEMAhas taken steps to simplifythe reimbursement process. Alsoadding to the delay have
BY WILLIESWETT Staff writer
ASt. TammanyParish governmentcommittee hasrecommended the Parish Council have significantly greater power over government departmentsand contracts, amove Parish President Mike Cooper claimed was“taking us back to apolice jury-style system.”
The 11-person Home Rule Charter Review committee, which includes Cooper,Parish Council members andother civic leaders, formally recommended giving thecouncil the power to terminate department heads and the powertoapprove and remove presidential appointments to boards, commissions andcommittees during a meeting Thursday night. It also suggestedrequiring thecouncil to approve professional ser-
vice contracts over $100,000.
“The council is thevoice of the people and the council fields complaints, questions, issues,” said Parish Council ChairJoe Impastato, who is on the committee. “I think it’s importantthat council members have more authority.” Cooper disagreed.“The Home Rule Charter Committee has the chance to effect positive change, but instead, some have focusedongiving theParish Council more power,tilting theweightof checksand balances andtaking us back to apolicejury-style system,” he said in astatement Friday
STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIA GERMER
Cooper
Impastato
ä See CAUSEWAY, page 2B
Victim linked to earlier shooting
Harvey neighborhood scene of homicide
BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer
A man gunned down on a Harvey street in April was killed after he was involved in a shooting 30 minutes earlier that left a 15-yearold boy wounded, according to authorities.
Had Christian Burgau, 20, of Harvey, survived the gunfire that claimed his life on St. Michael Drive, he would have faced an attempted murder charge in the injuring of the 15-yearold, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators said.
Instead, Desmin Chaisson, 19, and Justin Smith,
20, both of Marrero, were indicted Thursday on second-degree murder and obstruction of justice, accused of killing Burgau in a hail of gunfire on April 23, Jefferson Parish court records showed.
Both pleaded not guilty Friday in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court
The morning of violence began just before 9:30 a.m., when the 15-year-old victim was shot in the chest in the 900 block of Justice Court in Marrero. A witness identified Shawn Dubois, 19, of Harvey as the gunman who had been seen firing from the passenger seat of a vehicle that drove down the street, according to authorities.
Burgau is Dubois’ stepbrother and was also linked to the 15-year-old’s shooting, according to the Sher-
iff’s Office. By about 10 a.m., Burgau and Dubois were walking in the 1100 block of St Michael Drive in Harvey, 2 miles from the earlier shooting scene, when someone began firing at them. Residents on the street said it sounded like a war zone with 15 to 20 shots fired.
Burgau made his way to a nearby house, collapsing in some bushes in the front yard with multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dubois was not injured. He was arrested later that same day in the 15-yearold’s shooting, authorities said. Dubois pleaded not guilty after he was charged with attempted second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in the case, court records said.
A motion filed to reduce Dubois’ $300,000 bail states that the teen’s shooting was “the result of an altercation between (Burgau) and others they knew growing up. These individuals ultimately hunted down and murdered (Burgau) ,” court records said.
Detectives identified Chaisson and Smith as suspects in Burgau’s death. Chaisson was arrested May 6 while Smith was taken into custody June 4.
In addition to murder, the two were charged with the attempted second-degree murder of Dubois and obstruction of justice, court records said. Bail for both has been set at more than $1 million.
Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate. com.
Two killed in separate shootings
BY JOSEPH CRANNEY Staff writer
Two men were shot and killed within a span of about nine hours in Jefferson Parish on Monday in what authorities said were unrelated Labor Day homicides.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested 25-yearold Semaj Brown in the first shooting, which occurred around 12:50 a.m. outside a
retail strip on U.S 90.
Deputies found an adult male unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in the 3000 block of U.S. 90 near a Subway and Family Dollar He was pronounced dead on site.
Deputies “encountered” Brown at the scene, who acknowledged “he was involved in the incident,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
Brown was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on a count of second-degree murder Bail had not been set by Monday afternoon, according to jail records
The second shooting occurred a little after 9 a.m Monday
Responding to a report of gunshots in a Harvey neighborhood, deputies found a man unresponsive inside
his vehicle in the 1200 block of Aberdeen Drive He had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The victim crashed into several unoccupied vehicles after being shot while driving, deputies said. A suspect has not been identified.
The Sheriff’s Office also did not identify either victim.
RISHER
Continued from page 1B
way of holding one’s hands and part of most every dance sequence the team makes.
After my hands were as set in “doll hands” as possible, Daniels showed me how to hike up my left hip and take the first step with my left foot — always the left foot first, she explained “Take each step like you’re wearing high heels,” she said. We went through a few
CAUSEWAY
Continued from page 1B
additional lanes has only grown in the 17 years since, particularly as Ochsner Health’s footprint in the area has expanded significantly.
practice runs Then, we lined up in a corner of the room.
Jaheim’s Just in Case” began to play, a song I didn’t know, but even I could recognize that it had quite the beat.
One by one, individuals strutted across the room Each dancer went on the next 8-count. I began to sweat, but Lailah Brown, the young lady from Atlanta in line behind me, truly had my back. She helped me count. She answered questions I could feel her cheering me on. When I was up, Brown and
The parish contracted Metairie-based Design Engineering Inc. in 2018 to conduct an updated traffic study and design the project. Construction was originally set to begin in early 2020, but Schneider said the project was delayed to add additional modifications to the design plan as costs for labor and materials rose sharply in the pandemic.
CONTROL
Continued from page 1B
“Who are they serving, the citizens or themselves?” Cooper questioned. The recommendations are purely suggestions at this stage. The committee is scheduled to meet next in September, when it is expected to discuss what by far will likely be the most controversial recommendation: a reduction in the council size.
MONEY
Continued from page 1B
been repeated revisions of project cost estimates and a dispute over Jefferson’s insurance coverage, officials said. By contrast, some school districts, such as nearby Lafourche Parish, have managed to navigate the federal reimbursement process and are well on their way to completing Ida-related repairs.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Parish students and staff must make do with buildings still damaged by the storm. Around 500 students at Fisher Middle-High School in Lafitte still attend classes at a temporary campus 40 minutes away from the damaged school building.
School Board member Steven Guitterrez worries that the yearslong delay is holding the district back from making other building upgrades that will benefit students.
“I want to look for ways to improve facilities,” he said in an interview, “not still be working on Ida repairs.” What repairs are needed?
Around 700 Jefferson Parish school buildings sustained damage from Hurricane Ida’s 150-mph winds and heavy rains. The fallout ranged from broken windows and mangled roofs to extensive damage at Fisher Middle-High School, which was declared a total loss.
Some schools still waiting for repairs include:
n Hearst Elementary School, which needs cafeteria roof repairs and updated insulation. Estimated cost: $1.3 million.
n Joseph Elementary School requires ceiling repairs in the teacher’s lounge, men and women’s restrooms and some classrooms. Estimated cost: $43,000.
n Woods School needs asbestos treatment in the book room of the administration building and several classrooms Estimated cost: $68,000.
The expected cost of many projects has grown considerably Recently, the School Board approved budget increases for several Ida-related repair projects, including: n Adams Middle School repairs are now budgeted at $1.8 million, up from about $349,000 in 2023.
n Woodland West Elementary School repairs are now budgeted at $1.4 million, up from about $547,000 in 2024.
open in fall 2028. Moise said some less pressing unfinished projects include replacing gas windows, which are made of two panes of glass with gas sealed inside to improve insulation. Construction crews will need to pull out entire walls at one school to replace the seals. Until then, the building can remain in operation, Moise said. Why is it taking so long?
According to Moise, FEMA’s notoriously lengthy reimbursement process and issues with the district’s insurance coverage have set timelines back. Some of the delay is due to cost estimates that increased after additional damage was found, requiring FEMA to reapprove the projects, he said.
Patrick Jenkins, the district’s chief operations officer, said that while higher costs have slowed projects down, they ensure schools get all the fixes they need. “I know we don’t necessarily like to have budget increases,” he said at a recent School Board meeting. But in all cases, “these budget increases are going to benefit students, as well as the district.”
Leaders of other school districts also said that FEMA’s lengthy and complicated reimbursement process, along with staff turnover at FEMA’s regional office, have driven repair holdups. As the Trump administration seeks to downsize or even eliminate the agency, some experts and district leaders say they fear even longer delays.
The entire process is “so complex and overwhelming,” said Jarod Martin, superintendent in Lafourche Parish, which sustained around $150 million in damage during Ida. Yet, his district is nearly finished navigating FEMA’s reimbursement process, receiving funding to complete over 30 projects, leaving only two stalled schools the district deemed to be total losses that need to be rebuilt.
In Jefferson Parish, confusion over Jefferson’s insurance coverage also contributed to project delays, Moise said.
I counted eight beats together — and I did my best strut across the room. Clearly, mine did not compare to theirs, but I strutted nonetheless.
We strutted four times. Then, we began to learn catch ons — little 8-count dance elements. All told, I learned four catch ons and felt quite accomplished in doing so.
When I asked how many catch ons they have, no one knew the answer I said, “Like 15? 20?”
They laughed.
“No, more like over a hundred,” Daniels said.
An hour flew by These ladies had real practice to attend, but the truth is that I could have stayed and danced all night — regardless of the absurdity of my efforts. In all my life, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so uplifted.
The Dancing Dolls gave me more than steps and struts — they gave me joy, grace and a reminder of what true sisterhood looks and feel like. It was, without question, about far more than dancing.
Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.
n Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies repairs are now budgeted at $4.5 million, up from $3.3 million in 2023.
The largest and most expensive project is rebuilding Fisher Middle-High School. In May, FEMA approved nearly $70 million for the project, which came after representatives from the district and School Board took several trips to Washington, D.C., to appeal to Louisiana’s congressional delegation for help moving the approval process along, Moise said. The new building is expected to
Agency policy requires districts to carry insurance plans that meet minimum requirements to be eligible to receive FEMA money after a disaster Like many Louisiana school districts, Moise said that Jefferson Parish couldn’t afford the required level of coverage, so the district appealed to the state insurance commissioner, who approved an abated $45 million to make up for the gap in coverage. But years later, FEMA changed its stance and said the district had failed to follow a stipulation that had required the agency to sign off on the insurance commissioner’s decision. After district officials again asked federal lawmakers for help, FEMA dropped the issue, Moise said.
“We were in limbo for months and months, wondering if they were going to deny the entire claim,” Moise said. “It was really frustrating.”
The parish previously tried to pursue a Causeway widening project more than 25 years ago in partnership with the Causeway Commission. Those efforts were paused after nearby residents voiced opposition to the plan, which originally called for removing the service roads.
Once the committee wraps, its recommendations will be sent to the full Parish Council, which could decide to send them to voters, shoot them down, or defer them.
Balance of power
When St. Tammany went from a police jury form of government to a councilpresident government in 2000, the parish president gained significant authority over the workings of parish government. Thursday’s recommendations could give some
Residents now also have criticized the plan on so-
power back to the legislative branch.
For instance, while the Parish Council now approves the budget for contracts, the contracts themselves are approved by Cooper and his administration. Initially on Thursday, the committee debated requiring all contracts to by approved by the council, but it later agreed to set a threshold at $100,000. That would include contracts like engineering work for a Bayou Bonfouca detention pond and a master plan
cial media, commenting under a June post by Liljeberg that the additional lanes might create traffic bottlenecks at the Airline overpass and Interstate 10. Several added that not enough was done to engage with the public or raise awareness to the upcoming construction.
Liljeberg’s office hosted a public hearing for the project at the East Bank Regional Library in June, which he said was only attended by one married couple.
for the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds, both of which were approved by Cooper in July, according to Council Administrator Mary Burckell. Impastato argued “it’s more transparent” to have the council approve the contracts. But Gina Hayes, the Cooper administration’s chief administrative officer who stood in for Cooper Thursday, said approving the contracts is “not a legislative function” and that such a requirement could delay the approval of
He said that bottlenecks won’t be an issue, as the segment of Causeway in question includes most of the entrances and exits for that portion of the road.
Liljeberg said the parish will try to minimize traffic impacts during construction as much as possible.
“Like every road project, we’re asking for patience from the public,” Liljeberg said.
“The fact of the matter is that’s where you gain and lose most of the traffic, so it’s going to help either way,” Liljeberg said.
contracts by months.
Another committee member, Scott Delacroix, a lawyer, questioned whether having the council approve contracts would open council members up to lobbying efforts. The Jefferson Parish Council, where council members are heavily involved in the selection of contractors, sometimes sees political battles over contracts.
“The same people are going to be giving campaign contributions whether it’s for that or something else That’s a bogus excuse. Everything
we do is political,” Impastato said in an interview Friday In the end, only Hayes voted against the recommendation to require council approval for contracts worth more than $100,000.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Columnist Jan Risher third from left, follows the lead of Herbreyana Daniels while learning one of the Southern University’s Dancing Dolls’ catch ons Wednesday at the Horace W Moody Intramural Sports Complex in Baton Rouge.
NewOrleans Area Deaths
Ancar III,Bienville
Dave,Vimal
Lawrence,Rose
Summers,Viola
White-Merrell, Myesha
NewOrleans
Charbonnet
Lawrence,Rose
White-Merrell, Myesha
West Bank
DavisMortuary
Summers,Viola
Obituaries
Ancar III, Bienville'Bee'
Bienville G. "Bee" Ancar, III, age 72, entered eternal rest on Thursday, August 21, 2025. He was born on October 27, 1952. Bee graduated from Joseph S. Clark High School in 1970 and went on to study at Delgado Community College of New Orleans Bee was preceded in death by his son, BienvilleAkeem Ancar; parents, Bienville G., Jr., and Helen Dejan Ancar; his mother and father-in-law, Jeanette and Jimmie Williams, and a host of uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends. Bee will be sadly missed by his beloved wife, Galatea Davis-Ancar; 1son, Andrae'Davis, Sr (Andranisha);4 grandchildren, Akia Ancar, Andrae', Jr., Antin Cooper, and Jermaine Quellians; 1great -grand daughter, Aubree Powell;Godchildren, Brandy Alexander, and Irvin Jackson; 3siblings, Lynn Evans (Albert, Jr.), Sharon Ancar (Malcolm), and Lisa Alexander (Marvin); siblings in-law, Jeanel MonConduit, Gentri (Elizabeth), and Jimez (Gail) Williams and ahost of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend his Celebration of Life Service on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 10:00 AM at Abundant Life Tabernacle Church, 1701 Franklin Ave., NOLA. Visitation 9:00AM until service. IntermentSt. Louis Cemetery #3.
Lawrence,Jr. andLionel Nelson. Survivorsinclude seven children,Micheal, Carnell andAlexander Lawrence, Fredrick and SheliaSmith,Micheal Hum‐blesand HenryMorgan, Jr; ten grandchildren, six great grandchildren, ahost ofnieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives and friends. Relatives, friends andstaff of Bridge Point Health Care,The SanctuaryatPassages Hospice andSanctuary Hospice areinvited to at‐tendthe funeral. ACele‐bration servicehonoring the life andlegacyofthe lateRoseMaryLawrence willbeheldinthe Chapel ofCharbonnet Labat Glapion FuneralHome, 1615 St.PhilipStreet,New Orleans,LA70116 on Thursday,September 4, 2025 at 10 am.Interment HoltCemetery. Visitation 9 aminthe Chapel.Please signonlineguestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion,Directors (504)581-4411.
ViolaJ.Summers,age 75, enteredpeacefully into eternal rest at JoEllen Smith Living Center on Monday, August 25, 2025 She wasa native of PlaquemineParishand a residentofHarvey, LA Viola wasproud graduate ofL.B.LandryHighSchool Class of 1967, andshe con‐tinuedher studiesatthe UniversityofNew Orleans. She wasemployedasReal EstateAgent with Gardner Realtors. Violawas also a memberofthe Eastern Stars.Lovingmotherof Michele (MarkA.) Rucker and Angie (Aaron Jr.) Black.Devoted grand‐motherofAshleigh Michele McGill and Melvin Aaron Black. Greatgrand‐motherofLux McRae and TaylinAaron Black. Daugh‐ter of thelateAndrewJ Summers,Jr. andViola
JuanitaSummers.Beloved sisterofDeborah Radcliff Lois(Donnie)Duncan, Jan‐ice (Robert, Jr.) Fields MaxineJames,Andrew Summers III, andthe late EmmanuelSummers and Eunice Summers.Niece of Velma Miller Davisand Eva Summers Flowers. Sisterin-lawofCarolyn Sum‐mers, JamesDavis,Horace Davis III, JoyceCotton, Janet Certain, andthe late Andre Radcliff, Dwight Joseph, andClifton James. Viola is also survived by a hostofnieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives and friends. Relativesand friends of thefamily, also pastors,officers,and members of Asbury United Methodist Church andall neighboring churches; members of L. B. Landry Class of 1967 areinvited to attend theHomegoing Cel‐ebrationatDavis Mortuary Service,230 Monroe Street, Gretna, LA on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at 10:00a.m. Rev. EmilyL.Car‐roll, officiating. Visitation willbegin at 8:30a.m. until service time at theparlor. Interment: McDonoghville Cemetery-Gretna,LA. To viewand sign theguest‐book,pleasegotowww davismortuaryservice.com. Face MasksAre Recom‐mended.
Myesha Sandrill WhiteMerrell, enteredheavens gates on Friday,August15, 2025 at theage of 33. A graduateofCapitol High School in BatonRouge LA Myeshawas employed as a ParaprofessionalatSouth‐downs Pre-KCenter, where she passionately assisted withautisticchildren. She isthe proudwifeofDarron Silas Merrell; amazing motherofNaomi,Neko, Naija andher bonus ba‐bies, Kaleaand Dalton;lov‐ing daughter of Lisa White, Brian Cyrus(stepfather) and Mervin Warmington Sr;devoted sister of Alice
(DJ) Robinson,Mervin Warmington, Jr Brian Whiteand Bri'ironna Cyrus;lovingaunt of Bray‐den Sharperand Bailei Cyrus;devoted best friend ofAisiEgharevba;loving Godmother of Ja'mari Archieldand Amere Thomas; loving daughter in law of Sharon andDallas Merrell; loving sister-inlaw of DaynaMerrell. Mye‐sha is preceded in death byher grandmother, BessieWhite anddear friend, Frelisha Carr. In ad‐ditiontoher immediate family, Myesha also leaves tocherish hermemory, a hostofother relatives, friends,aunts, uncles cousins,niece,nephew and thosewho's livesshe touched in some special way.Pastorand members ofBeaconLight Baptist Church,Baton RougeLA, New Home Ministries, Baton RougeLAand 2nd Baptist Church,6th Dist., New Orleans, LA;Relatives, friends andco-workersof Southdown Pre-KCenter and LSUPerformance Nu‐trition Center,are invited toattend thefuneral.A Celebration servicehonor‐ing thelifeofthe late Mye‐sha S. White-Merrellwillbe heldinthe Chapel of Char‐bonnetLabat GlapionFu‐neral Home,1615 St Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Thursday,Sep‐tember4,2025 at 1pm, PastorRobinson, Officiat‐ing.Interment Resthaven MemorialPark, 10400 Old GentillyRoad, NewOr‐leans,LA70127. Visitation 12noon in thechapel. Pleasesignonlineguest‐book at www.charbonnetf uneralhome.com. Charbon‐net LabatGlapion,Direc‐tors(504) 581 4411.
Summers,Viola J.
White-Merrell, Myesha Sandrill
Coordination amongLa. portsislong overdue
It is good to see that the move byGov.Jeff Landry andthe Legislaturetoimprove coordination between Louisiana’sbalkanizedportsystemisbearing some initialfruit. In July,the Port of South Louisiana,which has jurisdiction overaroughly 50-mile stretchof the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and NewOrleans,signed an agreement to build a new $25.5 million deepwater dock inAscension Parish to serve the planned HyundaiSteel plant. The catch? The dock is on land owned by the Port of Baton Rouge.
For decades, amove byone Louisianaport to establish abeachhead in another’sjurisdiction would have spurred aheaded reaction that would have turned into apolitical fightatlocal and state levels. Louisiana’sports havelong been answerable only to local leaderswho ferociously guarded their parochial interests. But that is changing. Anew board,called the Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission,was created last yearbythe Legislatureand backedbyLandry.The commission’s job is to help the state’sports, especially the five major ones on the Lower Mississippi River, work together in acohesiveeffort to keep Louisiana at theforefront of thecargoindustryin the United States.
This is avery welcome development.The Port of New Orleans, Port of Baton Rouge, Portof SouthLouisianaand portsinSt. Bernardand Plaquemines parishes move almost one-fifthof the cargo that passes through the UnitedStates every year.That’sfar more than anyother Gulf Coast port. But that advantage is not assured. Increased competition from Houstonand other ports along the Gulf Coast has grown, especially as containershipping has increased in popularity and Louisiana has fallen behind. The hope is thatwith improved coordinationand dedicated statewide prioritizing, investment can be directed in astrategic way that helps maintain Louisiana’splace at thetop of thepecking order
Thenew dock in Ascension is the first indicator of the new arrangement’sworkability.The project was one of seven key ones identifiedby the commission for public investment. Others include a$70 millionplan to deepen the Houma NavigationCanal at the Port of Terrebonne and $95 million to improveroad infrastructure around Port Fourchon.
That doesn’tmean all is smoothsailing:The plan to put amassive container terminal runby the Port of New Orleans in St.BernardParish has spurred significant opposition fromresidents and local governmentofficials.Another play,byPlaquemines Port officials,toput a container facility in thatparish,isopposed by officials at the Port of NewOrleans. And there are many other related concerns thatstill need addressing Nevertheless, these first fewsteps toward a better strategy areagood sign. ForLouisiana to move forward as akey cog in the nation’scargo infrastructure, the old, fragmented port system needs to be in the rearview
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE
WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence
TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.
TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE
Iwriteonbehalf of Second Harvest Food Bank, joined by past chairs Elizabeth Adler,Skye Fantaci, Andrew Favret,Jan Hayden, Ben Johnson, Robert Marks, Patricia Weeks, Bert Wilson and Roy Zuppardo, whose service coversmuch of its40-year history
Stephanie Reigel’sreport that the archdiocese plans to use $60 million from nondebtor groups, including Second Harvest,tosettle alleged sexual abuse by archdiocesan employees is shocking, considering Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s Feb.23letter to thefaithful, stating “no donor funds from Second Harvest have been used or will be used to fund …the bankruptcy proceedings.”Hereiterated this commitment in aMarch 5letter to stateRep.Aimee Adatto Freeman, promising that “no donor dollars have been or ever will be used for anything other than their intended purpose.” Every dollar donated to Second Harvest is for buying, storing and distributing food and investing tosustain those operations. Alldonations, whether from businesses, founda-
Every time Isee an article that compares the incomes of high school graduates against college graduates, Icringe. Most people believe college is worth it to be qualified for betterpaying jobs. The truthisthat no one knows themonetary value of college because no one has done theappropriatestudy
The appropriate study would be to select asizable group of people who can get into college, say 100 graduating high school students with suitable SATscores. Then give everyone $80,000. Now,randomly divide this
About the Israeli war with Gaza, most people either don’tknow or have forgotten aboutHamas attacking peaceful people at amusic festival, whereover 1,000 people wereattacked by terrorists whoparachuted over them. They shot everyone until they ran out of ammunition, then they pulled out the knives. The people of Gaza
tionsorindividuals —from the $25 million donation from MacKenzie Scotttothe $5 giftsfrom good people of Louisiana and elsewhere —were given to support themission of feeding the hungry.Noone has ever given money to Second Harvest to help settle thechurch’sbankruptcy claims or bail thearchdiocese outofits obligations. While we share theoutrage over the church’srecord of abuses, the funds held by Second Harvest are to alleviate hunger and cannot and should not be used to pay thearchdiocese’sobligations. Diverting one penny from Second Harvest is contrary to donors’ intent, Second Harvest’smission and ethical principles. Any attempt to do so ignores thearchbishop’spledges to his faithful community,todonors and to friends and neighbors whorely on Second Harvest Archbishop Aymondshould know our community is watching, hoping and expecting that his actions will be as good as his word.
NICK KARL boardchair,Second Harvest
group intotwo groups of 50 each. Onegroup can only spendthe money on college while the other group can spend themoney on anything but college. Follow thesepeople forseveral years and check their incomes. My guess is that the people who put theentire sum into the S&P until retirementwould do the best financially.Yes, some people go to college because they really want to study art history or play football or find a spouse.
JAYWIERIMAN
Metairie
elected Hamas as their leadership. So they are to blame. Hamas has been stealing the food that other countries have been sending there. Israel is defending itself from unspeakable crimes andviolence. They arejustified in whatever they do.
DAVID BASSHAM Houma
Iamconfused.A recent edition sported this headline:“Audit:Medicaidpaidfor dead patients.” Ithink amore appropriate headlinewouldhave been: Audit: Insurance companies kept themoney It appears LouisianaMedicaidmade routine payments to private insurers Seems to me that blamingMedicaid alonefor theoverpayment problemis unfair.I know, having experienced this following thedeathsofboth parents,that medical bills do come in several months after aperson dies, andinsurance claims mustbefiled. Thus,Medicaidnot throwing someone off rolls immediatelyseems reasonable WhatI findegregious is theprivate insurance companies keeping themoney Why are our politicians not outraged aboutthat? Why is Medicaidthe sole culprit?Adding additionalsources to identify deceased clientsand automatically contacting insurers to recoup overpayments is probablyano-brainer forMedicaid. Every penny of thecurrentand futureoverpaymentsshould be returned by theinsurers withnodelay once identifiedbyMedicaidand insurers are notified. Politicians are painting Medicaidand its recipients as villains, claiming fraud andwaste, trying to pushpeopleoff by making theprocess arduous,ifnot impossible,for many,and forcing Medicaid employees intoa losing position by slashing staffand curtailing theirabilityto interact withclients. Most fraudidentifiedhas been perpetrated by providers Followthe money
ROSANNA MARINO Baton Rouge
Silly me. Iused to think allthe crazies wereonthe LeftCoast. Surprise, surprise, thecommies are taking over The BigApple.The transformation of the major political parties is quiteaswap of priorities andagenda
Thank goodness Ilive in south Louisiana, andhavea governor andcity-parish president withtheir heads screwed on tight.Too badI live in St.George, where people are moreinterested in free public schoolsthaninrighteousChristian schools, so that they can afford those fancybass boats instead of paying fora proper education fortheirkids.
CLIFF
MUGNIER St. George
COMMENTARY
‘Katrina Babies’
As akid, normally,the first week back to school after summer break is full of excitement.Ican still picture myself carefully laying out myuniform on the bed, placing my brand-new tennis shoes underneath and staring at them in admiration,eager to reunitewithfriends. That week in 2005 began justlike any other: my cousins,friends andI were thrilled to be back. We walked intofreshly decorated classrooms, met ournew teachers and heard what theschool year would hold.
By Wednesday,everything shifted. News reports warned that ahurricane named Katrina had entered the Gulf, and we were suddenly in itspath.
It was my first year taking geology, and my teacher,Mr. Lewis,loved science. After the Katrina news broke, hescrapped his lesson plan and began teaching about hurricanes, specifically from New Orleans’ perspective. Onedetail from that lesson has stayed with me all these years: It was the first time Ilearned our city sat below sea level
Mr.Lewis compared NewOrleanstoa bowl. “If the right hurricane ever comes andthe levees don’thold,” he said, “this bowl will fill up like cereal.” The classroom erupted withnervouslaughter, but he ended on an optimistic note: “That’ll never happen. Don’tworry about it.” By the weekend,New Orleansnatives felt asense of relief when we learned the hurricane wasn’t coming ourway after all.Ispent that Saturday theway I usually did, at my cousin Tina’s house in the7th Ward, the hangout spot forall the kids in our family.Theyhad justmoved into anew house down thestreet, and it didn’ttake long for my cousinsand me to break into the neighborhood,running around and exploringfor hours. That night, as we waited for our parents to pick us up,we said goodbye to one another without realizinghow literalthat word would become in just afew days We never made it back forthe second week of school. Mr.Lewis’ geologylessonhad become areality. The levees broke, and New Orleans filled like abowl of cereal, just as hehad warned.At13, I was abruptly uprooted from everything Iknew.Ispent therest of my teenage years separated from my family,many permanently displaced to Shreveport,
aboutfive hours away from home, while Icame of age in apost-Katrina New Orleans, searching for identity and purpose
At 24, after ahard and emotional conversation with CousinTina about her and herkids’ Hurricane Katrina experience, Ibegan my journey making “Katrina Babies,” exploring thenarratives of the children who lived through the storm. At the time, Iwas in adocumentary class where thetopic of “global appeal” came up often.Wewere constantly challenged to thinkabout how our work could reach notonly our own communities but audiences around the world.
Time andagain, my professors and even producers suggested Itake on a projectthe rest of the world would care about because “Katrina Babies”felt “too local.” But Iwas adamant: Iwas makingthis film for New Orleans. Ididn’t care whether it would resonate globally Ieven accepted that if the film never gainedfame or wasn’tconsidered a“success” because it was too New Orleans, then so be it. Iwas still going to makeit for us.
Three years ago, Idebuted that student projectonHBO as “Katrina Babies.”
Sincethen,the film has lived on anational platform, screened nearly 100 times across theUnited States and around the world, in places like Brazil, Puerto Rico andthroughout Europe. Despite what some professors and producers once thought, this journey has shown methat “Katrina Babies” isn’tjust aNew Orleans story. It is, in fact, aglobal one.
As Cierra Chenier,aBlack New Orleanshistorian and subject in the film once said when asked why the rest of the world should care about Katrina: “Because if it can happen in New Orleans, it can also happen in your backyard.”
In recent years, climate change and environmental disasters have dominated the headlines. Forestfires, tsunamis, hurricanes,Ihear echoes of Katrina in nearly everycrisis —especially when they affect marginalized communities. And in those moments,mydocumentary hasbecomeatool for education and reflection.
At thebeginning of 2023, Iwas invited to deliver akeynote address at the University of Michigan during asymposium
honoring Martin Luther King Jr., themed “The (R)evolution of MLK: From Segregation toElevation.” My task wasto draw parallels between my process of making “Katrina Babies” and King’smission. In that speech, Ishared: “IfIdidn’t know what racism looked like before Katrina, Idefinitely knew then. The reality is that hurricanes and other disasters only exacerbate theinequalities that already exist. As Dr.King once said, ‘We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together.’” I’d been eager to get to Flint, Michigan, to learnmoreabout thewater crisis. Afterward, theorganizers brought me to a small independent play aboutthe crisis, centered on mothers and children. Isat in the front row.During theQ&A, one of thecreators suddenly paused mid-sentence, pointed at me, and said, “You’re the‘Katrina Babies’boy? Y’all werethe first!Y’all werethe first with thewater crisis.” She went on to explain how watching my film pushed her to draw connections between Hurricane Katrina and Flint.
Not long after that, Princeton Universityhosted aconversationbetween me and anonprofit organization working to care for their youth in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Later,I was invited to screen “Katrina Babies” in Brazil, where organizers told me: “The film is of particular interest to us as we’re organizing aspecial program on colonization and racism (and one of its consequences: environmental racism). It brings very important issues that need to be discussed in Brazil, which suffers from structural racism.” Soon after,they asked to license thefilm andintegrate it into their national education curriculum. Ioften thinkback to that film class, when Ifelt anxious and discouraged to even pursue “Katrina Babies.” Ithought it wouldn’tsucceed, that it wouldn’t resonateoutside of New Orleans. But the opposite has proven true. The film has sparked conversations around the world. It wasn’twhat Iplanned when Ifirst picked up my camera. But as climate change and environmental injustice continue to devastate vulnerable communities, I’ve cometoaccept the responsibility.
NewOrleans filmmaker Edward Buckles highlights the culture and traditions of the city in hiswork He receivedwidespread acclaim forthe 2022 documentary, ‘Katrina Babies,’inwhich he featured the stories of young peoplelikehim whohad survivedthe storm.
Throughout August and September,weare featuring reflections on the 20th anniversary of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two storms that changed Louisiana forever
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
NewOrleans filmmaker EdwardBuckles ontop of theMississippi River leveeinAlgiers. He made adocumentary years agocalled ‘Katrina Babies.’
For five decades, Arthur Hardyhas beenour neighbor,our guide,and thekeeperofour Carnival memories. From hisGentillykitchen tablein1977 to receiving thekey to thecityin 2024, Hardytransformed himselffromaBrother Martin band directorintothe manall aboutMardi Gras.His annual guide hasreached over 3million readers, butfor us locals,Arthurisfamily, the trustedvoice whogets it right, whorodewithRex after documentingthemfor decades, whostood with us throughthe police strikeof’79, Katrina’s aftermath,and everymagical moment in between. This 112-pagecelebration brings together the stories only Arthur couldtell, filled with photographs that capturethe parades you remember,the krewes youcheered for, andthe momentsthatmadeyou proudtobeapartof MardiGras.
Arthur Hardyhas preserved thesoulofwhat makesusNew Orleanians,making this theperfect holidaygift foranyonewho bleeds thepurple, greenand gold of MardiGras.
Booksshipintime for holidaygift-giving!
SPORTS
SADSACKS?
BY MATTHEW PARAS
Staff writer
Just two daysinto training camp, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks found himself getting frustrated.
After apass breakup in the back of the end zone, cornerback Rejzohn Wright celebrated the play, taunted theveteran and engaged in just enough trash talk to get under Cooks’ skin So, in the sweltering heat,Cooks threw apunch. Akerfuffle broke out, with teammates quickly interveningtobreak up the action. Later,aftertensionsdied down, Cooks revealed he had another reason for starting the fight
“Everybody’sdoubtingus,” Cooks said, “so that’sthe type of fire we need.
Doubting the 2025 Saints is apopular trend these days.
Read any offseason prediction, listento any football podcast or check any gambling odds and the Saints arepredictedto be one of the worst —if not the outright worst —teams in theNFL.
ESPN ranked the Saints’projected starting lineup as theleague’sworst, and the franchise was dead last in the outlet’s future power rankings pollthatexamines
Saints fans enjoypartofthe game against the
every team’sthree-year outlook.
According to oddsmakers,the Saints notonly have thelongest odds to win the Super Bowl but their win total of 41/2 wins also is the team’slowest sincebefore 1989, the last year records are available.
At DraftKings,the Saintsare themostbetteam to finish with thefewest regularseason wins —and 91% of the handle has been on the Saintstohave under 51/2 wins
External expectations aren’t high for coach Kellen Moore’sfirst season. But worst team?Are theSaints really going to be that bad? Is it going to get so ugly that paper bags are broken out at the Caesars Superdomeagain?
Factoring in ayoung quarterback room, arookie head coach and aroster
Some QBsinNFL endupaslatebloomers
BY DENNIS WASZAK JR.
Justin Fields would seem to have the numbers —and odds stacked against him. The New York Jets quarterback is on his third team inas many years,learninghis third offensive systeminthatspan and being coached by afourth coordinator during an NFL careerentering onlyits fifth season. There have been plentyof struggles, adjustments and criticisms along the way.But sometimes success as anNFL quarterback isn’taseasy as hut, hut, hike. It might take achange of scenery. Or two. Maybe eventhree or more before aQBputs it all together and plays the way many expected earlier in his career Baker Mayfieldcan relate. So can Sam Darnold and Geno Smith.
“I do believe Justin canbe one of those guys,” Jets general manager Darren Mougey said recently.“I’ve seen the progress during this camp and look
with 45 touchdowns and 31 interceptions, alongwith 2,509 yards rushing and 19 TD runs. The Jets are banking on Fields joining ahandful of other latebloomer quarterbackswho thrived on their third —ormore —NFL teams
SamDarnold
1-0.
That’sall youheardduring this offseason concerning LSU football. That’sall yousaw around the football complex.
forward to seeingthe progress throughout the season as they all cometogether.Obviously,it’s histhird stop in three years with three different coordinatorsand alot of moving parts, so it does taketime.”
Fields, who’sstill only 26, was the 11th overall pick by Chicago out of Ohio State in 2021 and deemed the future franchise
quarterback —until inconsistency and strugglessent him to Pittsburgh after three seasons. Fields opened lastseason as the Pittsburgh starter, going 4-2 in place of an injured Russell Wilson, but wentback to thesideline when Wilson got healthy The Jets signed Fields to a two-year,$40 millioncontract. He has thrown for 7,780 yards
Firststop:New York Jets. No. 3overall pick, 2018. Had some promisingmoments but struggled withconsistency.38games, 38 starts. 8,097 yardspassing, 45 TDs, 39 INTs. Second stop:Carolina.Traded to Panthers in 2021. 18 games, 17 starts. 3,670 yards,16TDs, 16 INTs. Third stop:San Francisco. Signed as backup in 2023. 10 games, 1 start.297 yards, 2TDs,1INT Fourth stop:Minnesota. Signed as freeagent in 2024 and became starter when rookie J.J. McCarthy went down with a knee injury in preseason.Darnold thrived,making first Pro Bowl and garnering votesfor MVP andComeback Player of
Newyork Jets QB Justin Fields throws during the first half of a preseason game against the Green BayPackers on Aug. 9inGreen Bay, Wis. ä See NFL, page 4C
ä Louisiana Tech at LSU, 6:30 P.M. SATURDAy,ESPN+
There was a1-0 sign on thebig videoboardatthe indoor practice facility. There were 1-0signs in theweight room. Andthere were thepurple 1-0T-shirtsLSU players wore during pregame warmups at Clemson on Saturday, alldesigned to hammer home one critical point: Find away to start theseason witha victoryfor thefirst time since2019. Missionspectacularly accomplished. No.9 LSU gotthe 17-10 win at No. 4Clemsoninthe first true top-10road opener in LSU football history.It’sonly LSU’ssecond season-opening top-five win, joining a2011 win by No. 4LSU over No. 3Oregon 40-27 in Arlington, Texas. Everyone, including this writer,questioned Brian Kelly’smotivational tactics. Everyone doubtedeverything fromthe rebuilt offensive line to the previously porous defense. It wasanenormous gamble for Kelly and his Tigers, and he knewit. “Weput ourselves outthere for criticism andridicule if we didn’t” win, Kelly said Mondayon“The Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network. Whenthe doomsday drumbeat meets an unexpectedlypositive result,it’sa reaction like molten lava from aHawaiianvolcanotumbling intothe coldwatersofthe Pacific Ocean.Suddenly,everyone is singing theTigers’ praises, andthe 1-0 mantra hasbecome apartofLSU lore ESPNcollege footballanalyst Heather Dinich said Mondaythat theTigers should be No.1inthe country when thenew polls come outTuesday(they won’t, but LSU may be in thetop three). LSUquarterback GarrettNussmeier, named Mondayasthe SEC offensive player of the week, is suddenly the Heisman Trophy betting favorite.CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm now projects LSU to notonly be in the College Football Playoff but also to get abye into the quarterfinals in the Rose Bowl.
It’sheadystuff, but the Clemson game is over.Now LSU must look to the rest of the season. It was agreat achievement forthe Allies to successfully establish beachheads in Normandy on D-Day.But if they hadn’t advanced from there across Europe, theywouldn’thavewon the war Where do the Tigers go from here? Kelly is convinced he hasthe answer.
“You keep moving on anddoing your job,” he said. “That’swhat we’ll do. We’ve gota good football team, and we’ve got to keep them focused on the next week.” This week,frankly,doesn’thold amajor fear factor. LSU opens its home schedule Saturday in TigerStadium —excuse me, THE Death Valley—against aLouisiana Tech team projected to finish middle of the pack in Conference USA. The Tigers are a
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Saints wide receiver BrandinCooks(10) scuffles after aplayduring training campinMetairie on
AP FILEPHOTO By BILL FEIG
Rams while dressed in paper
Saints lost 30-14.
Rabalais
AP PHOTO By MIKE ROEMER
6p.m.U.S.Open, Quarterfinals ESPN WNBA
9p.m.Indiana
Osakaousts Gauff at U.S. Open
Shereaches her first majorquarterfinal since2021
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK Naomi Osaka smiled before her U.S. Open showdown against Coco Gauff began Monday —and after it ended. Between points, Osaka patted her left thigh and quietly told herself, almost in awhisper: “Come on. Come on.”
Once the ball was in play, Osaka’sstrokes were loud and on-target, producing the sortof confident, consistent and powerswinging tennis that carried her to four Grand Slam titles and the No. 1ranking.
In the biggest statement yet that she is back at theheight of her game, and arealcontender for the sport’shighest honors, Osaka eliminated Gauff 6-3, 6-2 in Arthur Ashe Stadium to reachher first major quarterfinal in more than 41/2 years.
“I was super locked-in, to be honest. Iwas reallylocked in,” said Osaka, a27-year-old who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. with her familyatage 3.“I felt like everyone wanted to watch areally great match, and Ihope that’swhat you got.”
From her side, it certainly was.
The No. 23-seeded Osaka was better throughout than No. 3 Gauff,whose repeatedmistakes during atournamentthat’s been anear-constant struggle for her really made the difference. And Gauff’s body language was quite acontrast to Osaka’s. Gauff repeatedly would put her palms up or cover her face with ahand or gesture toward her team in the stands, looking confused or upset
On Wednesday,Osaka will face No.11Karolina Muchovaofthe Czech Republic for aberth in the semifinals. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up anda semifinalist in New York thepast two years, advancedwith a6-3, 6-7(0), 6-3 victory No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
It was Muchova who got past 45-year-old Venus Williamsin three sets in thefirst roundofthis U.S. Open. Against Gauff, Osaka displayed thedemeanor —and, importantly,the booming serve and other strokes —that carried her to hard-court Slam championships at the U.S. Open in 2018 and2020, and at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. It was at the French Open later
in 2021 that Osaka helped spark a global conversation about mental health by revealing she felt anxiety anddepression.She then took aseries of breaksfrom the tour
That most recent trophy at Melbourne Parkwas the last time Osaka had even madeitasfar as the fourth round at any major until this match against Gauff, a21-year-oldfromFlorida who ownstwo major trophies. The first cameatFlushing Meadows in 2023 and thesecondatthe French Open this June.
Osakareturned tothe tourlast season after a17-month maternity leave. Her child, Shai, was born in
July 2023. “I’ma little sensitive, and Idon’t want to cry,but,honestly,Ijust hadsomuch funout here,” said Osaka,who first playedGauff back at the 2019 U.S. Open, also in Ashe, and won that one, too. Swiatekrolls into quarterfinals In other action, Iga Swiatek also rolledinto thequarterfinals, rallying from down 3-1 in the first set to beatEkaterinaAlexandrova 6-3, 6-1. “Atthe beginning, Ifelt like she was playing really fast,” said Swiatek, who is seeking her second U.S. Open title and seventh in a
Grand Slam. “I wanted to find my rhythm, but later on Ireally felt like Iwas in my bubble and in my zone.”
Up next for Swiatek is either American Amanda Anisimova or Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
Sinner advances
On the men’sside, Jannik Sinnerdominated the only player other thanCarlos Alcaraz who has defeated him this season, routing Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-1, 6-1toreturntothe U.S. Open quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Sinner’svictory tookjust1 hour,21minutes, the second-shortest completed match in the tournament. Afirst-round victory forTomas Machac wasa minuteshorter No.25-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassimeadvanced by defeating Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in amatch in Arthur Ashe Stadium that took just over two hours. Auger-Aliassime won for just thesecondtime in nine career matchesagainstRublev, theNo. 15 seed whoslammedhis racket after losing apoint in the second set
“AsIwon the first set, Ifelt like Iwas in control of the match,” said Auger-Aliassime, who at age25isinthe quarterfinals of a GrandSlam tournament for the fourth time. ”Good win considering our head-to-head, considering how good he is as aplayer.”
Briscoe, JGR, Toyota make bigstatements
BY PETE IACOBELLI Associated Press
DARLINGTON,S.C. ChaseBriscoe
made abig statement Sunday night with his second straight Southern 500 victory that he’sa serious contender for the NASCAR Cup Series title.
Briscoe’steam, Joe Gibbs Racing, and his manufacturer,Toyota, also made statements at Darlington Raceway that thispostseason would not be aPenske-paloooza runaway like the past few
“I think anight like tonight really gives Chase the confidence that he belongs,” crew chiefJames Smalls said of thefirst-year JGR team.
That was obvious to anyone who watched the crown jewel race.
Briscoe, who qualified second, moved in front early and rarely left thefront, leading for309 of 367 laps and outlasting Tyler Reddick to back up lastyear’s surprise victory at the track nicknamed “Too ToughToTame” that gothim into theplayoffs at the last possible moment.
The win ayear ago gave soon-tobe-closing Stewart-Haas Racinga final shot at playoffparticipation. Briscoe wantedtoset astrong tone early this time around and did just that on perhaps the most difficult of NASCAR’s 10 postseason tracks.
“I’ve always justloved highpressure situations,” he said. “I feel like Ijust perform better for whatever reason. Ifeel likemy whole career has always been a high-pressure situation, right?
There was no backup plan. You might only get one race (and)
you’ve got to perform, show your worth.”
Now,that’sontop of theplayoff standings as powerhouse JGR looks to win its first NASCARCup Series crown since formerGibbs racer Kyle Busch did it in 2019.
Since then, Rick Hendrick Motorsports won titles in 2020 and ‘21, with Team Penskecapturing the past three.
JGR owner Joe Gibbs said Briscoe showed upasstrong as any of past Cup Series winners. “Starting up front,then to kind of dominate therace,”Gibbs said. “I think what heshowedisgreat speed.”
Just like many of the highestprofileToyotas. Briscoe’s teammate, Denny Hamlin, edged him out for the
pole in qualifying Saturday,then overcameproblemsinthe pits to rally for seventh. Hamlin,considered by many to be the best driver without atitle, is second in playoff standings and in strong position to advance. Hamlin alsosaw his playoff drivers Reddick andBubba Wallace —Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan —finish secondand sixthinToyotas. Both areinthe top five in theplayoff standings and poisedfor strong runs. In all, there were sixToyotas among the top sevenfinishers. It was the manufacturer’sthird topfoursweep since it came to the Cup Series in 2007. As far as the other power play-
FSUlinebackerincritical condition after shooting
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. AFlorida State linebacker is in critical but stable conditionafter being shotwhile visiting family,the Seminoles said Monday
Ethan Pritchard, a6-foot-2, 224-pound freshman from Sanford, wasinintensive care at a Tallahassee-area hospital. He was shot Sunday evening while inside avehicle outside apartments in Havana, according to the Gadsden County Sheriff’sOffice.
“The Pritchard family is thankful for the support from so many people,aswellasthe carefrom first responders andmedical professionals, and asks that their privacy be respected at this time,” FSU said in astatement. “Further updates will be provided as they are available.”
Alabama WR remains in concussion protocol
TUSCALOOSA,Ala Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams couldmiss the team’s homeopener because of aconcussion.
Coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday that Williams remains in concussion protocol and is considered “day to day” as the No.8Crimson Tide (0-1)prepares to host ULMonroe (1-0) on Saturday Amember of thepreseason AP All-America team,Williams was helped off the field midway through the fourth quarter of a31-17 loss at Florida State on Saturday after his helmet slammed into the ground following his third dropped pass of the game. Florida State safety Earl Little was flagged for targeting on the play,but the penalty was overturned after review Williams finishedthe game with five receptions for30yards.
49ersreceiver Jennings returns to practice
SANTACLARA, Calif. San Francisco 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings returned to practice Monday forthe first time in morethan amonth in asign that he will be ready to start the season.
Jennings leftpracticeearly witha calfinjuryonJuly 27 and hadn’tbeen on the field foranofficial practice with the team since then.Jennings wasalso seeking a new contract,but hasapparently returnedtothe field without thatin place as the team prepares forthe opener on Sunday at Seattle. Jennings is entering the final year of atwo-year,$15.4 million contract and is seeking alongterm extension before the regular season after coming offthe best season of his career
Vanderbilt women’shoops loses guard before season
NASHVILLE,Tenn.— Vanderbiltcoach Shea Ralph announced Monday that guard MadisonGreene will miss the season due to an injury suffered during practice last week.
ers? Defending champion and three-time series winner Joey Logano is 13th and among the first four out without an improvement at WorldWideTechnologyRaceway outside of St. Louis next week or at Bristol MotorSpeedway on Sept.13. 2020 serieschampionChase
Elliott finished well behindthe leaders, and when asked about his chances of abetter run next race said, “Well, Ijust finished 17th.” Wallace, the 23XI racer,thought he, Reddick andthe Toyota drivers came through when it mattered most. He’sconfident that will continue throughout the playoffs.
“Toshow up here and put together two solid races for our team, got to keep that going. Check that off thelist. Nine more to go,” he said.
Briscoe insisted he thought little of thebig picture before,during and after hishuge weekend at Darlington. His crew chief was focused enough forthe whole team.
Smalls was asked if the No.19 team hadthe pieces to take the trophy this year in Briscoe’sfirst season in the cockpit after taking over from Martin Truex Jr “Oh,100%,” he said. “It was difficult, new situation foreverybody.Wehad alittlebit of learning to do, some new people on the team, as well. We had somespeed. Just took alittle bit to jell and get everybody on the samepage, understanding of what we’re trying to achieve every week.”
If Briscoe’sJGR Toyota keeps stacking performances like this, the result couldbeNASCAR’sbiggest prize.
“Madison is in great hands with our medical team,and we will fully support her through the recovery process andher returntothe court,” Ralph said in astatement.
The 5-foot-6 guard fromColumbus, Ohio, started four of 33 games played last season and led theCommodores in scoring off thebench in 15 games. She averaged 6.8 points and 1.2 steals over 20.4 minutesplayedper game.As afreshman, she played 11 games before aseason-ending injury Vanderbilt went22-11 last season and lost to Oregon in overtime in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Boxer who faced Ali and Frazier dies at age 75
CARDIFF,Wales Joe Bugner, a heavyweight who took boxing greats Muhammad Ali andJoe Frazier the distance in fights in the 1970s, has died. He was 75.
The deathofthe Hungary-born Bugner,who was also aBritish citizen, was announced Monday by the British Boxing Boardof Control, which said he died at his care homeinBrisbane, Australia. Bugner was the European champion when he fought Alifor the first time, in 1973, in anon-title fight in Las Vegas. Ali won on points, and Frazier did the same five months later in afight in London.
Acareer spanning 32 years ended in 1999, by which time he had relocated to Australia —where he spent the final years of his lifeina care home after being diagnosed with dementia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT KELLEy
Chase Briscoe, center,celebrates with his son Brooks in victorylane after winning aNASCAR CupSeries race at Darlington Racewayon SundayinDarlington, S.C.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KIRSTy WIGGLESWORTH
NaomiOsakacelebrates after winning amatchagainst Coco Gauff during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday in Newyork.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM HUNGER
Jannik Sinner holds his racquet in the air after defeating Alexander Bublik during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on MondayinNew york.
THE VARSITYZONE
NEWORLEANS AREA FOOTBALLTOP 10S
Edna Karrplayers celebrateafter defeating Alexandria,53-8, in the DivisionIselect
tops the large-school rankings this week
CLASS5A-4A
1. Edna Karr: The reigningstate championshave four power-conference commitments on defense, including LSU-bound defensivelineman Richard Anderson and safety Aiden Hall.
2. Destrehan: The Wildcats return plenty of firepower, including LSU commitmentJabariMack on offense from ateam that reachedthe state semifinals.
3. St.Augustine: Another team with an experienced quarterback and dynamic receivers Ray’Quan Williams and MiguelWhitley, whoeach scored on big plays in ajamboree
4. Brother Martin: Junior wideout Easton Royalis the main offensivethreat on ateamthat has four wideouts receiving interest from colleges.
5. Rummel: The Raiders have plenty of experience on defense from ateam that finishedsecond behind Karrinthe district last season.
6. John Curtis: The Patriots have all-district linebacker JeffreyCurtis back from ateamthat reached the state semifinals last season.
7. Jesuit: The Blue Jays are experienced at theskill
positions with all-district selection Roman Larre back, along with state champion hurdler Ja’ir Burks.
8. Shaw: The Eagles returnninestarters on defense from ateam that wonthe DivisionII select state title last season.
9. Chalmette: The Owlsreturn five all-district players from ateam that reached the state quarterfinalsfor the first timesince 1968.
10. Lakeshore: The Titans have 14 starters backfroma team that lost by one point in the quarterfinalsagainst aFranklinton team that reachedthe Dome.
CLASS3AAND BELOW
1. Kennedy: The Cougars returnall-state defensive lineman Dominick Ruth fromateam that reached theDivision II select quarterfinalsfor the third year in arow
2. Riverside: TheRebelswill be astrong title contender in DivisionIVselect after reaching the Dome for astate runner-up finish twoyears ago.
3. De La Salle: The Cavaliers are strong on the offensivelinewith the versatile Cedric McDonald leading theway
Newadditions make positive
to account forall of No. 10 Miami’s scoring in its 27-24win over No. 6 NotreDameonSunday nightinthe opener for both teams. The Hurricanes likely will rise abit in the AP Top25 poll thatcomes outTuesday.
4. Newman: The Greenies have running back Jake Randle (Tulane),wideout GeorgeLoop (Dartmouth) and defensivetackle HenryJackson (Cornell) as collegecommits
5. NorthlakeChristian: Leading rusherKameron Casnave will help the Wolverinesbuild on their recent success of winning aplayoff game.
6. Pope John Paul II: The Jaguars look to reclaim the district title theyearned in 2023 beforethey lost last season against Northlake.
7. L.B.Landry: The Buccaneers have all-state selectionKristerphor Griffinasa standout at receiver and safety
8. South Plaquemines: The reigning state champion in DivisionIVselect returns fifth-year starter Roderick Parker at quarterback.
9. Haynes: The yellowJackets return plentyof production from ateam that went undefeatedin the regular season last year
10.West St. John: The resurgentRamshaveKalon Gardner back afterherushed formore than 1,100 yards as afreshman.
Christopher Dabe
Martin’s
Fields,
hands the balltoJack Melancon during the Ed Daniels ClassicJamboree against John Ehret in Marrero on Friday.Brother Martinreceived votes in the LSWA Class5Apollbut did not crack the top 10.
BY TIM REYNOLDS AP sports writer
CORAL GABLES,Fla. Miami’s new faces made quick first impressions. At this time last year, Miami quarterback CarsonBeck was at Georgia. Wide receiver CJ Daniels —heofthe spectacular onehanded grab for atouchdown Sunday —was at LSU. Running back Marty Brown was at North Dakota State, kicker Carter Davis was at Florida Atlantic and widereceiver Malachi Toney was in high school. They didn’twaste any time making an impact for the Hurricanes, allplayingbig rolesand combining
RABALAIS
Continued from page1C
hefty 371/2-point favorite. But the obstacles will come quickly on Louisiana Tech’s heels. There are six more ranked teams on LSU’sschedule: Florida in two weeks, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and,probably,Alabam-ah-haha-ha (sorry,but the Crimson Tide’ssmackdown by Florida State on Saturday was pretty amusing). There’salso the trip
“Now theyknow,” Beck said. “I tried to tell people,but they don’t tend to believe what Isay.That’s fine.Actionsspeak louder than words.”
Beck passed for 205 yards and twotouchdowns. Daniels and Toney hadscoringcatches. Brown hadMiami’slonerushing touchdown, and Davis —who missedsix of hislasteight fieldgoal tries at FAUoverthe past two seasons was 2for 2onfield goals in his Miamidebut,including the47-yarder with 1:04 left thatprovided thefinal margin. He became thefirst Miami kicker to deliver agamewinner against Notre Dame. Brown shared team-high honorsincarries with returnee Mark
to Vanderbilt. Potholes on LSU’s road to the CFPare everywhere.
Speaking of Alabama and the coach itsfans wish they still had, Kelly quoted Nick Saban to describe what his Tigersmustdo next
“We’ve heard for many years about the rat poison from Nick,” Kelly said. “You can’teat the rat poison. To me, more than anything else, you address that with your team. Yousay,‘Look, here’s the deal:The challenge will be us.The challenge is us each and everyweek. That’sstaying with our process, staying locked in
Fletcher,bothgetting15handoffs from Beck.Brown’s first Miami touchdown put the Hurricanes up 21-7 midwaythrough the third quarter,and he got all sixcarries —for 22 hard-earned yards and two first downs that kept theclock moving —onthe drive that set up Davis’ winning kick.
Brown hadbeenpart of big games before: NorthDakota State won its 10th FCS national crown lastseason and he hadwhat basicallywas thetitle-sealing TD run with 2:41 left in that 2024 championship game.Ona bigger stage Sunday,helooked right at home.
“I felt confident,” he said. “It was nothing new to me.”
Toney reclassifiedtobepart of Miami’s2025 high school signing class,and he led theHurricanes with six catches (on 10 targets) for 82 yards against the Fighting Irish, ateam with what is generally considered to be an elite defense.
on the things we have done so well.’ ” Kelly said staying within themselves andstaying in control were part of Tigers’ successfulformula on Saturday The result was an offense that overcame two first-half turnovers anda defense that held Clemson to 31 yards rushing. It was thefewest rushing yards allowed by the Tigers since they gave up 6ina loss at Bama in 2021, andthe 10 points were the fewest allowed to aranked team since a37-10 winover No. 4Georgia in the 2019 SEC
“Weweretrying to keep hima secret,” Miamicoach MarioCristobal said. “But it didn’ttake long, right?” There weretons of questions about Miami coming into Week 1.
In the transfer portal era,big holes on rosterscan be filledquickly,and Miamiexcels in the portal. Beck was the biggest get, but the Hurricanesknewtheyneeded players to catch his passes and Daniels —who started at Liberty, then went to LSU for2024 —was ahuge part of the shopping spree there.
“I’ve been chasing CJ for two years,” Cristobal said. “Every time he enters the portal, man, Imiss him. We finally gothim.And what aplay he made. Unbelievable.”
Daniels was hurt when he got to Miami and needed timetorecover from afoot injury.But he began making an immediate impact anyway
championship game.
“Our team didn’tplayangry” at Clemson, Kelly said. “They played aggressive.They could have been angry andemotional and outofcontrol,doing crazy things based on what people were saying aboutthem, but they didn’t do that. Andthey can’t do that when they’resaying great things aboutyou.You have to remove that andfocus on what’simportant, which is your preparation on your opponent so you can go 1-0(again).” LSU showed it assembled talentwith this year’s $18 million
roster. The Tigers showed they could playlike ateam. They also showed maturity to deal with the pressure of ahuge game in one of the most hostile environments in college football. Thatmaturity nowhas to carry LSU through the rest of the season.Expect to win, but don’t believe youhavearrived. Given allofthe doubters the Tigers have had, thatmay not be so difficult of atask.
For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter
Hudson
right,
AP PHOTO By PETER JONELEIT Miami wide receiverCJDaniels makes aone-handed catch for a touchdown on Sunday in Miami.
that
Loss to Ohio State puts preseason No. 1 Texas under the microscope
BY MARK ROSNER Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian have shared a spotlight, the prodigy quarterback from football’s royal family and the coach often complimented for his tutelage of players at that position along with his prowess at designing offense.
Now both men are under a microscope after No. 1 Texas’ inability to generate sufficient offense during a 14-7 season-opening loss at No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday Manning, the sophomore grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli, made his first start against an elite opponent after taking a redshirt season as a freshman and serving as backup to Quinn Ewers in 2024. Manning completed 10 of 17 passes for 170 yards with a touchdown, an interception and sometimes a look of befuddlement.
Manning completed 67.8% of his passes filling in for Ewers But he wasn’t ready to navigate a talented defense directed by Matt Patricia, a three-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots, two of those seasons as defensive coordinator
“There wasn’t much to like,” Manning said on Monday “I’ve got to play better for us to win.”
Sarkisian, meanwhile, has answered questions about not calling more short passes early in the game so Manning could establish a rhythm. The coach said he probably should have ordered some running plays for Manning before the second half.
“I think I didn’t call a quarterback run maybe until the start of
Continued from page 1C
the Year 17 games, 17 starts. 4,319 yards, 35 TDs, 12 INTs
Fifth stop: Seattle. Parlayed success in Minnesota into three-year deal worth $100.5 million in March.
Second stop: Washington. Traded by Vikings before 1993 season. 8 games, 4 starts. 704 yards, 3 TDs, 7 INTs.
Third stop: Kansas City After having shoulder surgery and sitting out a year, Gannon signed with the Chiefs in 1995 as a backup. 27 games, 19 starts. 3,997 yards, 23 TDs, 11 INTs.
Fourth stop: Oakland. Signed with Raiders as free agent in 1999 and excelled in Jon Gruden’s offense Gannon was the MVP of the 2002 season when he led the Raiders to the Super Bowl. He made four straight Pro Bowls and was an AllPro twice. Gannon played six seasons with the Raiders to end his career 74 games, 74 starts. 17,585 yards, 114 TDs, 50 INTs.
Baker Mayfield
First stop: Cleveland. No. 1 overall pick by Browns in 2018. Had some early success and led team to its first playoff win since 1994 in 2020, but issues with turnovers and injuries affected consistency 60 games, 59 starts. 14,125 yards passing, 92 TDs, 56 INTs.
Second stop: Carolina. After Browns traded for Deshaun Watson in 2022, Mayfield asked to be dealt and was sent to the Panthers. 7 games, 6 starts 1,313 yards, 6 TDs, 6 INTs.
Chiefs new O-line awaits a big test
Protecting Mahomes is a top priority
BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs will be starting a new left guard and tackle, the latter coming off a major knee injury, when they travel nearly 12 hours to play their season opener on foreign soil against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
If that sounds like a nightmare for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, how would you describe last season?
the second quarter and then incorporated a few more into the second half when it presented itself,”
Sarkisian said Monday “I think I could have incorporated that a little bit earlier, just for him to get that first hit out of the way.”
Manning missed some open receivers, throwing high, low and then behind Ryan Wingo on the Longhorns’ final possession, an incompletion as the receiver crossed the middle on third-and-5 at midfield with two minutes left. Wingo had room to run had he caught the pass.
In the third quarter, Manning released a pass from the left hashmark to the right sideline that was late and underthrown, resulting in an interception. Wingo was open on the play
Manning at times exhibited issues with mechanics.
“There was a couple times where we had some crossing routes where I didn’t feel like he brought his feet to where he wanted to throw the ball, which, in turn, forced kind of a little bit more of a side-arm delivery, which isn’t his style of throwing,” Sarkisian said. “I think if he can get his feet aligned and get his shoulders aligned, that can help with some of his accuracy.”
Manning knows that, as well.
“You are always trying to get better each week, go back to square one, fundamentals,” Manning said.
“Obviously I’ve got to hit Ryan late in the game. I kind of looked back for him.”
Manning had some deft completions, but he said “there weren’t enough good ones.”
Perhaps his best was a 30-yard completion to tight end Jack
Endries along the left sideline with two defenders near him on Texas’ final possession. Manning’s touchdown pass, 32 yards to Parker Livingstone with 3:28 left in the game, was well thrown.
“I think Arch in the second half, I thought we started to see the glimpses of what he’s capable of,” Sarkisian said.
Texas rushed for 166 yards and averaged 4.5 yards a carry, a strong effort against a top-notch defense. But the Longhorns failed on four of five fourth-down plays, including Manning getting stuffed at the 1-yard line in the third quarter
That play evoked the Longhorns’
final possession against Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal game last season. Texas needed just a yard on four plays to tie the game but failed to score.
Red-zone scoring is an issue for the Longhorns, who ranked 100th nationally in that area last season. Penalties are another issue. They ranked No. 86 last season with 6.4 per game.
Texas had six penalties against Ohio State, including two that helped facilitate Ohio State’s first touchdown drive.
“It wasn’t so much the amount of penalties; it was the timing of the penalties,” Sarkisian said.
Texas gained 257 total yards in the second half, which encouraged Sarkisian, whose Longhorns host San Jose State on Saturday “I was saying on Saturday let’s not judge this book by chapter one,” Sarkisian said. “Let’s read the whole book before we make an assessment, a judgment, on this passing game and on (Manning), on what this team can be as the season unfolds.”
Third stop: Los Angeles Rams. Mayfield was benched by Carolina late in 2022 season and asked to be released. He was claimed off waivers by the Rams and led them to win over Las Vegas as a backup after just two days of preparation. 5 games, 4 starts. 850 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs.
Fourth stop: Tampa Bay Mayfield credited his run with the Rams for re-energizing him, and he signed with the Buccaneers in 2023. He has led Tampa Bay to consecutive playoff appearances and was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons. 34 games, 34 starts. 8,544 yards, 69 TDs, 26 INTs.
Geno Smith
First stop: New York Jets. Secondround pick in 2013. Smith became starter as a rookie when Mark Sanchez injured a shoulder in the preseason. Mostly struggled in his first two seasons and was replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015 when his jaw was broken by punch from a teammate in locker room dispute. Smith tore an ACL the next season while making a spot start. 33 games, 30 starts 5,962 yards, 28
TDs, 36 INTs. Second stop: New York Giants. Signed in 2017 to back up Eli Manning and then found himself at the center of controversy when thencoach Ben McAdoo started Smith midway through the season to end Manning’s 210-game starting streak. Smith went back to sideline the next week. 2 games, 1 start. 212 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs. Third stop: Los Angeles Chargers. Signed in 2018 to back up Philip Rivers. 5 games, 0 starts. 8 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs. Fourth stop: Seattle. Signed with the Seahawks in 2019 and served as the backup to Russell Wilson for most of his first three seasons with them. Smith won the starting job over Drew Lock before 2022 season after Wilson was traded to Denver He won Comeback Player of the Year after breakout season and made first of two consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. 54 games, 52 starts. 12,961 yards, 76 TDs, 36 INTs. Fifth stop: Las Vegas. Smith was traded in March to the Raiders and is reunited with Pete Carroll, his former coach in Seattle.
The Chiefs pondered a half-dozen options back then in trying to protect his blind side, ultimately giving up on second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia and secondyear pro Wanya Morris. The result was predictable. Mahomes was sacked 36 times, eight more than any other season in his eight-year NFL career His sack rate was a career-worst 5.83% of drop-backs, and that translated into a net yards-per-attempt of fewer than 6 for the first time in his career
The whole mess culminated at the Super Bowl, when the Philadelphia Eagles not only sacked Mahomes six times but hit him on 11 occasions in a 40-22 loss that never seemed as close as the final score might suggest.
“We knew we had to get better,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach acknowledged.
Whether they did will be revealed on Friday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the Chiefs open the season against the Los Angeles Chargers. They will be starting first-round pick Josh Simmons at left tackle against a defense that features pass rushers Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu, while Suamataia — now converted to guard — will be lining up next to him on the left side. The duo solidified starting roles early in training camp along an offensive line that includes AllPro center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith — who just signed a four-year, $94 million extension — and veteran right tackle Jawaan Taylor
“I think every step of the way so far, they’ve done a great job of getting better and better, and kind of checking those boxes,” Mahomes said. “This will be a great test for them. This is a pro-
lific D-line with Khalil Mack and really all throughout. They have great depth at edge, at D-tackles, and they were one of the best defenses in the league this past year
“It’ll be another test for these guys,” Mahomes said, “and I’m excited for them to go out there and accept the challenge.”
What other choice do they have?
Simmons has been a revelation in the preseason, perhaps even surpassing what the Chiefs expected of him when they selected him No. 32 overall in the April draft. The biggest reason he slid so far in the first round was that Simmons tore his patellar tendon last season at Ohio State, and many teams were uncertain when he would be ready to play Simmons wound up attending every optional workout, mandatory minicamp and training camp practice, and he excelled when he got an opportunity in preseason games. Never once did it look as if his knee was causing him any problems.
“I took preseason with a grain of salt,” Simmons said. “It’s kind of backups here, maybe a guy who doesn’t play this position here, so I just kind of took it with a grain of salt. How was my technique? Did I take the right footsteps? Etcetera.”
He certainly made a believer of his most important critic: Andy Reid.
Daboll mum on QBs, Giants lineup, injuries
BY STEPHEN WHYNO Associated Press
NEW YORK Coach Brian Daboll on Monday refused to reveal whether rookie Jaxson Dart or veteran Jameis Winston will serve as the New York Giants backup quarterback for their season opener Sunday at Washington. Russell Wilson is set to start against the Commanders. Dart, the first-round pick who is being groomed as the QB of the future, impressed in training camp and preseason games, though Winston has more than 100 games of NFL experience and was listed second with Dart third on the first unofficial depth chart released during camp.
“Any roster decisions based on who’s going to be the backup, we’ll have that out there on Sunday,” Daboll said on a video call with reporters. He also declined to announce whether Deonte Banks or Cor’Dale Flott will start as the No. 2 cornerback opposite free agent addition Paulson Adebo, or whether Greg Van Roten or converted tackle Evan Neal won the competition for the starting right guard position Van Roten took the first-team snaps and is
expected to get the nod.
“We have a good idea of how we’re going to play, with the players we’re going to play with,” Daboll said. “That’ll all come out on Sunday.”
The depth chart still lists Banks or Flott among the starters in a new-look secondary that also includes safety Jevon Holland. The Giants aimed for standout left tackle Andrew Thomas to be ready for Week 1 after opening camp on the physically unable to perform list and not playing in any of their three exhibition games while rehabbing from foot surgery last October It’s not clear if that will happen, with Daboll saying only that he expected everyone to participate in a walkthrough Monday That would also seemingly include top receiver and former LSU star Malik Nabers, who has been dealing with a toe injury and did not participate in the preseason. Nabers is coming off catching 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven TDs as a rookie. The league does not require teams to share injury information until the regular season, and Daboll repeatedly has said he would not talk about why players were not on the field.
New york Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart yells after scoring a touchdown against the New york Jets on Aug. 16 in East Rutherford, N.J
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By PAUL SAKUMA
Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon passes in front of a San Francisco 49ers player in the first quarter during their exhibition game on Aug. 14, 2004, in San Francisco.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAy LAPRETE
Texas quarterback Arch Manning, right, hands the ball off to running back Quintrevion Wisner during a game against Ohio State on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Manning said Monday
he has ‘got to play better’ to win.
AP PHOTO By CHARLIE RIEDEL
Chiefs offensive tackle Josh Simmons walks between drills at training camp on Aug. 5 in St. Joseph, Mo. Simmons is tasked with protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Saints cutspecial teamsace Gray
BY LUKE JOHNSON and MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers
The New Orleans Saints made asurprising move less than one week before theykick off the2025 season, releasing veteran special teams standout J.T. Gray
“There’snothing easy about this one,” coach Kellen Moore said Monday.“It’sahard one for all of us.”
Gray had been with the Saints since 2018, making himone of the longest-tenured players on the roster.Hecarved out an important role duringhis seven seasons in New Orleans, makingone Pro Bowl and three All-Pro teams as a special teams ace.
Moore said his release came down to roster flexibility.Gray was acore special-teamer whorarely saw the field on defense.
With several players on both the physically unable to perform list and injured reserve, Moore said the fluidity of the rosterinthe early weeks of the season led to the move.
“Weknow the high-quality player that he is, the impact he’shad on thisorganization,” Moore said.
“He’sareally goodplayer.But as you play the roster management part of this over the course of this season and throughout the next few weeks, there’s alot of challenges associated with that.Itwas areally tough one for us to do.”
SAINTS
Continued from page1C
in transition, the reasons forpessimism are easy to see. But to gain a deeper understanding of thesituation, The Times-Picayunespoke to awide range of experts on why or whynot —the Saints could be in for abrutal season when they begin Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
The outlook wasn’trosy
“I think they’re going to be bad,” said Seth Walder,who specializes in sports analytics for ESPN. “I don’thave aton of optimism about this team. Even when you lookatit, if thingsgoright, Ithinkthe best thing they have going forthem is the division they play in, theschedule that they face.
“But man, Idon’t—it’shardto feel optimistic about this team.”
Thequarterback
Thebiggest reason people don’t believe in the Saints centers on the most important position in sports.
Johnny Avello, leadoddsmaker for DraftKings, said the sportsbook’sline for the Saints suffered atwo-game swing in terms of their projected win total (from61/2 to 41/2) after Derek Carr unexpectedly retired in Maywitha shoulderinjury “It certainly was abig adjustment,” Avello said.
Carr’sdecision left theSaints with aquarterback competition between Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough —withneither option inspiringconfidence to the outside view.Rattler won the jobcomingout of camp,and thesecond-yearquarterback will look to get into the wincolumn after going 0-6 last year as astarter
“I don’tthink you can be overly enthusedabout it,” Robert Mays of The Athletic said. “When you’re putintoapositionlikethis where you have acertain plan of howitwas going to go, and then you’re forced to adopt adifferent plan, the answer is never goingto be very good. It’snever going tobe something you’re excitedabout.”
The Saints are turningtoRattler initiallybecause he seemed a step faster than Shough throughout camp. Moore praisedRattler’s ability to balance his aggressiveness with sound decision-making. He also said Rattler is abetter player after undergoing a“challenging” rookie season.
Still, conventional thought suggests Shough will find his way into thelineup at some point this seasonsothe Saints fully can evaluate the playerthey drafted 40th overall. Even if Shough does play, Mays pointed to the “checkered history” of second-round quarterbacks as another reason to taper expectations. For every Carr andAndy Dalton to emergeassolid starters out of the round, there’saWill Levis. Drew Brees is the outlier,not the norm.
“Whether it’sRattlerorShough, Ithink you’re in the conversation for worst starter in theleague,” Walder said. Not every pundit views the
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIAGERMER
Saints safetyJ.T.Graycatches aball during trainingcampinIrvine, Calif., on July 31, 2024. The Saints released Gray on Monday after he spent sevenseasons with the franchise.
“There’snothing easy about this one. It’sahard one forall of us.”
KELLENMOORE, Saints head coach, on releasing J.T. Gray
Gray was afour-time team captain. He has led theteam in special teamstackles every year since
2019,recording 89 on thoseunits
Gray also was credited with two kick blocks and threefumble re-
coveries on special teams.
Saints add3 players
The Saints added three players on Monday.
The Saints signed undrafted rookiedefensive lineman CoziahIzzard to the practice squad, Moore said. Izzard, 24, spent the summer with the Kansas City Chiefs and played college football at Penn State.
Later in the afternoon, the Saints also reportedly came to terms with former Pittsburgh Steelerslinebacker Eku Leota and former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tommy Mellott.Both also weresignedtothe practice squad.
Leota, now in his third NFL season, has appeared in 11 career games. The 26-year-old spent his first seasonwith the Carolina Panthers and spent last year with the Panthers and Steelers.
Mellott, 23, moved from quarterback to wide receiver after he was drafted in the sixth round by the Raiders in the spring, potentially giving the Saints a Taysom Hill-like option on the practice squad.
Izzard is listed at 6-foot-3 and 294 pounds. He played defensive tackle in college, appearing in 50 games with seven career starts, 78 tackles and nine sacks.
The Saints added another defensive lineman after minor injuries upfront. Khristian Boyd,who made the 53-manroster,isdealing with
Saints offensivetackle Kelvin Banks lines up during apreseason game against the
Aug. 23 at the Caesars Superdome.
quarterback situationashopeless. Louis Riddick,a former safety and current ESPN analyst whowas also afrontofficeexecutive for two NFLteams, said there shouldn’tbearush to judge Shough. He said Moore hasthe coaching background to help his quarterbacks succeed
Riddick said even with the unknowns,he’s“more optimistic” than mostonthe Saints
“Kellen—being so even keellike he is, havingplayed the position at asuper-high level when he wasin collegeand having tutoredthese guys in the league like he has —I think if you’re ayoung quarterback, you’re like, ‘That’s exactly what Iwant,’ ”Riddick said. Theoffensive line
The Saints essentially aremaking three big bets along theoffensive line.
They are countingonfirst-round rookieKelvin Banks to pan out at left tackle, Trevor Penning to benefit from aswitch to guard, and 2024 first-rounder Taliese Fuaga to thrive by movingback to right tackle, the spot he dominated at college.
“The floor is reasonably high,” said Brandon Thorn, an offensive line expert.“Ithink thetalentis prettygood. And then their ceiling, Ithinktheyhave alot of room to grow.”
“I look at the tackles andI think, ‘Here’sareal swing point forthis team,’ ”Walder said.
Walder said rookie tackles, even those picked in thetop 10, areoften “below average” starters, pointing to how even Andrew Thomas of the New York Giants struggled at first before developing into an All-Pro.
Even Fuaga, who left the Saints encouraged by hisdebut season, ranked 57th out of qualifyingtackleswithapass-block winrateof 84%, according to ESPN. Could Banks be the exception? His preseason was promising. He shut down premier pass rushers such as Josh Hines-Allen and
Travon Walker of Jacksonville.
According to ProFootball Focus, the 21-year-old didn’tallow apressure on 31 preseason pass-rushing snaps.
Depth is aconcern.DillonRadunz is already starting at left guardin place of an injuredPenning, whose turf toe injury may keep him out of Sunday’sopener. TheSaints also havetraded for two backupsand claimed another guard off waivers after injurieshit their depth hard in the preseason Riddicksaid he’sconcerned aboutthe offensive line, in part because he wonders whether it can protect the quarterback andmake his life easier by beinga factor in the run game. TheO-linehas to help New Orleans avoid beingonedimensional, he said
“They’ve gottofind away to make that unit be atop-10 unit,” Riddick said. “Theyjust have to. Otherwise, you have no shot, especially with aquarterback situation that’sasuncertain as theirs.”
Thedefense
The hiring of Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator hasbeen generally well-received. Defensive linemenhaveraved about the“freedom” his scheme allows. Defensive backs believe Staley’suse of match-zone principles better suits theirstrengths. And pundits seeStaley as asharp defensive mind, dating to the2020 season when he coordinatedthe league’sNo. 1defensewith the Los Angeles Rams
But does Staley have the pieces to execute this system?
“I just don’tknowhow many building blocksthisteam hasdefensively thatare also suitedfor this defense,” Mays said.
The Saints invested asignificant amount of resources this offseasontoretool their defense. They traded for Davon Godchaux, giving Staley abig nose tackle. They signed safety Justin Reid (three years, $31.5million) and re-signed edge rusher ChaseYoung (three
ahand injury after getting hurt in the final preseason game against the Denver Broncos. John Ridgeway also landed on injured reserve with apec injury,though he’seligible to return after he misses the first four games. With three expected signings, the Saints will have to open up a space on their practice squad. The team also has an open roster spot after releasing Gray Gold is back
The Saints will begin anew-look era forthe 2025 season with anew look.
The Saints announced Monday they’ll wear theiralternate gold uniforms forSunday’snoon kickoffagainst the Arizona Cardinals at the Caesars Superdome.
The look includes the “Gameday Gold” that’slighter than the Saints’ traditional gold pants, paired with black numbers and trim and black pants. Thehelmets arealsoblack, with the gold fleur de lis on the sides —plus dozens of mini fleur de lis forming the stripe downthe middle.
It’s the first timeinrecent memory the Saints haven’tworn either their traditional homeorroad uniformsfor their opening game. Saints editor Zach Ewing contributed to this report.
Email Luke Johnsonat ljohnson@theadvocate.com.
pick. The New York Giants, New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts have murky answers at quarterback, even if pundits see their rosters as betterthan the Saints. Still, how often does the team thought to be the league’sworst actually endupfinishing as such? It’sa mixedbag. Walder said three of the last fiveteamsthat started the season ranked last in ESPN’sFootball Power Index finished there: The2024 Carolina Panthers, the 2022 Chicago Bears andthe 2020 Jaguars.
ButWalder called thatan“unlucky” sample size.And even in thatcase, those ranked last in FPI didn’talways land theNo. 1pick. Last year’sPanthers, for instance, finished 5-12,earning theeighth pick.
The betting market isn’talways aguarantee, either. According to Pro Football Reference, those picked with the lowest over/under win totalendedupwith the worst recordonly twice— the 2020 Jaguars andthe 2016 Browns —over the last 10 drafts. Every so often, ateam blowsexpectations out of the water.Just askthe Saints.
years, $51 million) to notable contracts. Five of the team’snine draft selections wereondefense.
Safety Julian Blackmon was a late addition after Tyrann Mathieu retired.
But the Saints have seven— eight if the defense opens in abase look —ofthe same 11 defensive startersreturning from last year. That was aunit that ranked 30th in yardsallowed,27th againstthe pass and 31stagainst the run.
“ChaseYoung is asolid pass rusher,but you’renot reallyexpecting aton elsewhere,” Walder said. “It’s prettyhard to look at this defense andfeel like, ‘Oh wow,that’sgoing to be super disruptive to opposing quarterbacks.’ ” Mays said thedefense is in transition in scheme and personnel.
Last year,according to FTN Fantasy,the Saints had the NFL’s fourth-oldest defense in terms of snap-weighted age. This season, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry and defensive lineman Bryan Bresee are the only starters under26— unless rookieslike Quincy Riley,Danny Stutsman andVernonBroughton canbecome starters. That experience is not necessarily anegative. Just look at past Saintsdefenses that were considered oldand dominated theleague Butage is still afocal point given the unit’sstruggles last year and Staley’stakeover of the group.
“It’sundeniably going to feel a little bit uneven, and it’snot even close to being the full or final picture of what it’ssupposed to (be),” Mays said. “It’sagroup where you can get by,but it’snothing that you canget excited about.”
Otherfactors
Arethe Saints really going to be theworst teaminthe league?
The answerdepends on other teams,too. TheCleveland Browns have as much—ifnot more —of an unsettled quarterback situationasthe Saints, seemingly putting them in the mix forthe No.1
The 2006 season, with Brees and SeanPayton arriving andleading NewOrleans to the NFC championship game, is aprime example. But don’toverlook 2000. JimHaslett, also afirst-time head coach, ledthe Saints to aworst-tofirst finish.
“Sometimes youcatch lightning in abottle,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said, noting the importance of chemistry and buying in. “Teams can do that. That all happens during the course of the offseason and training camp. And then you havetostay healthy, too. Listen, health is areally important factor.”
TheSaintswere hit so hard with injurieslast year that perhaps New Orleans’ talent is overlooked. Mays, despite his lack of optimism on theseason,saidhe sees the offense’s “infrastructure”asunderrated. Waldersaid he feelspeople have “forgotten” how good Chris Olave is after several concussionskepthim outfor most of last year
On paper,the Saints also have one of the easiest schedules, as theiropponents combined fora .419 win percentage last season. Avello said that, plus an open NFC South, could be why the Saints exceed expectations.
The Saints mainly have avoided setting expectations. Loomis, who often resists the idea the franchise is rebuilding, did acknowledge his team is in “transition” with afirstyear coach andnew quarterback. He saidhesees adifference between“expectations” and“aspirations,” the latter of whichstill involvesstriving to win the division andasmanygamesaspossible. ButwhatdoesLoomismakeof so manypeople being down on the Saints?
“I don’tpay attentiontothat,” Loomissaid. “That’sother people, most of themunqualified, making those comments.”
Email Matthew Parasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByTyLER KAUFMAN
Denver Broncoson
WWII Museum marks 80th anniversary of V-J Day
Staff report
Tuesday marks the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Japan, and The National WWII Museum will commemorate the event with a presentation about the end of the cataclysmic war
“The Surrender of Japan: Orchestrating the End of the War” will be a presentation by retired Army Col. Michael S. Bell, Ph.D. who serves as the executive director of the museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy
The presentation will take place in the museum’s Freedom Pavilion at 11 a.m.
Though the hostilities ended Aug. 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito addressed his people via radio the official surrender (V-J Day) was Sept. 2, ending two weeks of tense negotiations with the Japanese military The formal surrender occurred on the deck of the USS Missouri.
The events saw the end of the war responsible for the deaths of more than 400,000 American servicemembers and an estimated 65 million people worldwide. It also ushered in the use of atomic weapons.
Bell will recount stories of the protocol and procedures orchestrated by U.S Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allies, offering a behind-thescenes look at the official end of the last remaining theater of war
Black Cowboy JOY
Beyoncé performs during halftime of an NFL
Houston.
‘Boots on the Ground’ line dance has quickly become a staple at African American reunions, weddings, parties and cookouts
BY GARY GERARD HAMILTON
Associated Press
NEW YORK When Tre Little twostepped in his cowboy boots at the BET Awards preshow this summer, he was overcome with joy and gratitude.
“I used to watch this on TV every year, and I’m now performing,” said the 22-year-old Atlanta-area resident. “I started crying tears of joy.”
He joined Southern soul singer 803Fresh to perform his massive viral hit, “Boots on the Ground.” Released in December the trail ride-inspired song and accompanying line dance have become an anticipated moment at African American gatherings, like family reunions, weddings, graduations, parties and cookouts.
The “Boots on the Ground” dance, which includes the rhythmic clacking of folding hand fans as the South Carolinian belts “Where them fans at?,” was created by Little during a work lunch break. After hearing a snippet on TikTok, he played around with a routine and posted it, without much thought
“I usually get my little six views from my family I took a nap and when I woke up, it was at 100K,” said Little, who is now in demand nationwide teaching line dance classes and hosting events. He has even been approached to create new dances. “It’s bringing people together to do a dance and share laughter.”
Beyoncé incorporated the dance into her record-breaking “Cowboy Carter” tour, and former first lady Michelle Obama and Shaquille O’Neal have publicly participated. Popular line dances are not a new phenomenon, but several factors made this song, which hit No. 1 on both Billboard’s adult R&B airplay and R&B digital song sales charts, spread at an unprecedented pace.
“With the new energy toward country music and trail ride music and African Americans’ presence in it, I think that opened up America’s eyes to what we’ve been doing down in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi and Alabama for years,” said recording artist Cupid, known as the Line Dance King and creator of the popular “Cupid Shuffle”
Massive mountain park celebrates dog-human bond
BY AMANDA SWINHART Associated Press
ST JOHNSBURY, Vt. — Anne Pace has been hearing about Dog Mountain for years, but until earlier this month, had never made a trip to the park.
“I really wanted to see this place,” she said, during a visit to the grounds with her 1-year-old border collie, Tam. “I put a note up for my previous border collie. He was my best buddy.” Set on 150 acres tucked away on a hillside in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Dog Mountain has become a destination for dog lovers looking to explore nature, take in art, or pay tribute to a pet. The park was created 25 years
ago by Vermont folk artist Stephen Huneck and his wife, Gwen, and features hiking trails, swimming ponds, an art gallery and a Dog Chapel where visitors can add to the thousands of photos and notes to pets that cover the chapel walls.
“It is absolutely breathtaking. That’s a lot of love when you think about each picture that’s here,” said Vanessa Hurley, who was visiting with her husband and two dogs from Ohio. “Dogs and cats both, they just bring so much enjoyment to our lives,” she said. Inspired by the bond he shared with his dogs, Huneck wanted to create a space where other animal lovers could celebrate their beloved pets, gallery manager Pam McCann said.
“Dog Mountain is really a pilgrimage place and a sanctuary,” she said.
Huneck’s sculpture, prints and furniture are featured in the gallery and scattered throughout the park, including inside the chapel he built himself. With black labs and golden retrievers carved into the ends of each pew and images of his own dog, Sally, in the stainedglass windows, his love of dogs is evident in every detail. Scott Ritchie and his wife, Julie, have been traveling the country in an RV with their three large dogs and thought Dog Mountain would be the perfect place for them to stretch their legs They enjoyed
AP FILE PHOTO By ERIC CHRISTIAN SMITH
football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans on Dec. 25 in
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER
Bryson ‘Cupid’ Bernard, a native of Lafayette, is known as the Line Dance King and creator of the popular ‘Cupid Shuffle.’
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AMANDA SWINHART Visitors enter the Dog Chapel at Dog Mountain, a 150-acre dog park created by Vermont folk artist Stephen Huneckin in St. Johnsbury, Vt.
FILE PHOTO
In this Sept. 2, 1945, file photo, then Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs Japanese Instrument of Surrender, a document signed on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE Michael S Bell here giving a tour of the Liberation Pavilion at The National WWII Museum, will present ‘The Surrender of Japan: Orchestrating the End of the War’ at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Allthe single ladies aresickofthisquestion
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday,Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2025. There are 120 days left in the year
Todayinhistory: On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay,ending World WarII. Also on this date: In 1666, the Great Fireof London began, which would destroy more than 13,000 homes and hundreds of additional structures, including St Paul’sCathedral, over the ensuing three days.
In 1789, the United States Treasury Department wasestablished.
In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’sforces occupied Atlanta.
In 1935, aCategory 5hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys on Labor Day,claiming more than 400 lives.
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act, which provided aid to public and private education to promote learning in such fields as math and science.
In 1963, Alabama Gov George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encirclingthe building with state troopers. In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California Los Angeles, passed test data through a15-foot cable.
In 1998, aSwissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.
In 2005, aNational Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four daysafter Hurricane Katrina.
In 2013, on her fifth attempt, U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the helpofa shark cage.
In 2018, ahuge fire engulfed Brazil’s200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, as firefighters and museum workers raced to savehistorical relics.
In 2019, afire swept avessel carrying recreational scuba divers that was anchored near an island off the Southern California coast; the captain and four other crew members were able to escape the flames, but 34 peoplewho were trapped below died.
Today’sbirthdays: Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman and former Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth is 88. Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshawis77. Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Archibald is 77. Actor Mark Harmon is 74. Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 73. Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is 65. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is 63. Actor Keanu Reeves is 61. Boxing Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis is 60. Actor Salma Hayek is 59.R&B singer K-Ci is 56. Electronic music DJ/producer Zedd is 36.
PARK
Continued from page1D
itsomuchontheir first visit, they decided to come back the next day
“It’svery rare you see something like this anywhere. We’ve been traveling all over theU.S. for five and ahalf months. Just abeautiful area,” he said McCann says the park was made for visitors like Ritchie “That’swhat it’sfor,people who reallycare and people who are very connected to everything around them,” she said. “Including the animals that they arethe guardiansof.
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Dear Miss Manners: I’m asingle woman who is frequently asked aboutmy plans for marriage. The individuals making these inquiries have no business asking this question,let alone hearing the answer Itypically smile andchange the subject without answering their question.A few times, when particularly startled, Ihave responded with, “I begyourpardon.” Is there amore polite way to handle this highly impertinent question?
Gentle Reader: “If this is aproposal, Iam sorry tohave to disappoint you.”
Dear Miss Manners: I’ve been collecting silver flatware in various patterns when Isee pieces at really great prices.
Ialso love to entertain, bothcasually and semi-formally.Inboth cases, Ilove to mix up theplace settings withall of my different patterns At this point, I’vedonated all my stainless steel flatware and only use thereal silver Is it gauche for me to be using all these silver patterns together? My china is also apattern wherein every piece is adifferent floral. My tablescape looks like alovely English garden, and to me, it’s very beautiful. Ihope you tell me I’m not committingahorrible faux pas.
GentleReader: Well, you are leaving the impression that you have descended from well-stocked families,and inherited silver from various branches. As long as you do not actually say so,Miss Manners cannot count this as a faux pas.
Dear Miss Manners: Ireceived an
invitation to a60th wedding anniversary party and it states: “ABSOLUTELYNOGIFTS.”
What can Idofor the lovely couple, with whom Ihave been friends for many, manyyears? I really wanttogive them something!!!
GentleReader:Then give them something priceless: aletter of appreciation about them and their friendship.
Dear Miss Manners: For many years, Ihave been friends with a person whoisintellectually disabled. Ibecame acquainted with him and hissister,who cared for him;his sister has now died, and he is living independently
Itake him on family camping trips, takehim to lunches and dinners andvisit with him often, as does the rest of my family He and my son have developed a solid friendship. After hissister died, his sister’s
longtimebest friend becamehis legal guardian. She thanks me forthe things Idofor and with him —e.g., “Thank you fortaking (name) camping,” etc. Iknew him foryears before I ever met her.Isitwrong or petty of me to resent her thank-yous? Idonot feel they are necessary, as my friendship with this man is something Ichose, not something Iamdoing out of “the goodness of my heart” or any other such sentiment.
How do Ihandle this?
GGentle Reader: By responding each time with, “No, no, it is Iwho am thankful to have such agood friend.”
Send questions to Miss Manners to heremail, dearmissmanners@ gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners,Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO64106.
BOOTS
Continued from page 1D
(2007) song and choreography
“Their eyes havebeenopenedtolinedancing and the unity that it brings,”the Lafayette native said.
Anew take on an oldtradition
Line dancing features individuals gathered to performsynchronized, repetitive dancemoves, generally in lines, and is popular for both socializing and exercise.A major appeal is thatthere is no age limit or skill requirement, anddances can belearned in realtime.
There is no consensus on theorigins of line dancing. Some historianstrace it to African celebratory tribaldances, which extended to enslaved Black Americans who sangormoved in unison during field work. Other scholars trace it to European immigrantswho brought traditional folkdances fromtheir nativelands. The country western styleisperformed to country tunes,while soul linedancing is backed by R&B, souland hip-hop. Along with the “Cupid Shuffle,”routines to DJ Casper’s“Cha ChaSlide” (2000) andV.I.C.’s “Wobble” (2008) arecanonized in soul line dancing, as well as the most recognized 1972 song, “Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide)” by Marcia Griffiths. But “Boots on the Ground”has introduced trail rideline dancing to many Americans outsideofthe Southeast Trail rides are socialized horseback processionalstraveling to adesignated location. In Black Southern culture, it is apartyatmosphere with foodand dancing, including niche music genres likezydeco andSouthernsoul, which blends R&B, blues, gospel and country “People didn’treally know about it.…When something is trending, it makes everybody get
on thebandwagon,” said 28-year-old Jakayla Preston, who goes by the handle @_itsjakaylaa on TikTok.A professionaldancer,the Houstonian began teaching line dance classes this year after persistent requestsfromher followers, whichintensified following the “Bootson the Ground” boom.Leading classes across the country, she discovered attendance was about morethanfoot-taps and turns.
“I havepeople whoare struggling andbattling with alot of things …they’ll even sometimes cryand thankmefor hosting theclass there, or just giving them theexperience to be able come and express,” she said. “It’safeeling that’sindescribable.”
Line dancewiththe Beyoncéeffect
“Beyoncé probably had alot to do with that, as far as her‘Cowboy Carter’ album,’”said Preston,referring to theattention on trail ride line dancing.
TheGrammy’sreigning album of theyear sparked conversations about African American contributions to countrymusic and Black cowboy culture, with “Cowboy Carter” tourgoers frequently dressing thepart. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of the city’s marquee events, broke its attendance record this year,and while there were several factors, many first-timers and social media users said they visited Queen Bey’s hometown to experience what she sang about.
“I never seen —ever —that many people that was out there line dancing,” said Preston, who grewupattendingthe rodeo. “It’sanamazing sight to see.”
Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir,chair of African American and DiasporaStudies at Xavier UniversityinNew Orleans, said Beyoncé’simpact extends beyond music.
“Country westernmusic: the sound, the banjo, the violin, allthose things are African instruments,” said Sinegal-DeCuir,who grew
up in Lafayette, line dancing and listening to zydeco. “She’sbringing it to the world to let the world know,no, we’re not just getting into country —weare country.”
Thepolitical line (dance)inthe sand
Sinegal-DeCuir believes the political climate may have indirectly contributed to the success of “Bootsonthe Ground” and interest in line dancing. She notes the 92% of Black women who votedagainst President DonaldTrump, whose policiesare disproportionately affecting Black Americans, including eliminating DEI programs, federal agency mass layoffs, and cuts to SNAP benefits, Medicare and Medicaid. “Weknowhow to survivethesethingsbecause we leanonfamily,welean on community,and this joy,” said Sinegal-DeCuir.“The world is burning down, andwe’resitting here learning anew line dance because we’re tired of the political atmosphere …it’sa form of resistance.”
Cupid remembers apivotal momentduring the social justice movement, sparked by the 2020 killing of George Floyd, aBlack man who was murdered by aMinneapolis police officer He saw avideo of atense exchange between protesters and law enforcement at arally,and “CupidShuffle”began playing to ease tensions. More social videos were uploaded during that era showing his song played at protests across America.
“I realized the importance of it, as farasconnecting two people thatdon’t even see eye to eye,” saidthe “Flex”artist, who is readying a new album next month that he says will be the first all-line-dance album.“If you had to pick three songs that could bring people on two opposite sides of the fence together for amoment, then line dancing is definitelythosetypesof songs.”
“I don’tthink there’sany other genre more powerful than line dance,” he added.
Dear Heloise: Ifound that atoothbrush is agreat tool to clean thedryer lint filter
It saves my fingernails from getting ruined and doesagreat job to remove thelint from thefilter It does not harm thefilter either —Delia Elliott, via email
I’ma hugger
Dear Heloise: Whydosome people thinkit’scutetosay,“I’m ahugger,”while coming at you for a hug?
Not everyoneisa hugger,and it’snearly impossible to graciously back away when they have their armsout afoot in front of you It borders on being rude when aperson feels trapped like this. Thanksfor letting me have my
say —Denise, in Pearland,Texas Anothervase-giftingidea
Dear Heloise: Iliked the idea of reusing ajar to gift flowers to a host/hostess. Irecently reused a jar when going to afriend’sfor dinner,and instead of aribbon, I dressed it up this way: Ihave alarge amount of peeland-stick chalkboard labels on hand for leftovers/storage containers. Isimply put one of these labels on the jar and write amessage. Then therecipient can wipe off the message and keep thejar regift it,orrecycle it. It’sa fun way to jazz up an old jar and repurpose it! —Starshine, in New Jersey Phototrick fortravel
Dear Heloise: We took apicture of our hotel before our tour of Rome began. After thetour,wewere left on our own to return to our hotel. We just showed the picture to thecabbie, and he immediately
got us there. —Pat Small, in College Station,Texas Ironingtrick
Dear Heloise: As aformer road warrior,I had afew mishaps with hotel ironsearly on. NowIfill theiron with water,turn it to the highest setting, use alot of steam, andiron oneofthe hotel’stowels before using it on my clothing. Also, Ialways pack acouple of sheetsofwhite tissue paper and put it over theitem before ironing. —Melinda, in Missouri Melinda, instead of tissue paper,use parchment paper.It’s safer to use with ahot iron than tissue paper —Heloise Aquick steal
Dear Heloise: Please makesure your readers are aware that a man on abicycle or amotorcycle can ride by you in acrowd, grab your purse right out of your hand, andbegone in aflash! Hang on
tight to your bag and keep it zipped always. —Melanie T.,inIllinois Back-to-school clothes
Dear Heloise: When it’stime for back-to-school shopping, I bring my kids along to shop for clothes. Iallow them to have a say in what is purchased. If they don’tlike it, they won’twear it. Of course, there are boundaries. Short shorts, crop tops and muscle shirts are a“no,” but we compromise on aT-shirt with afavorite band on it. —Jessica M., in Ohio Whitepeppervs. blackpepper
Dear Readers: Have you tried white pepperinstead of black pepper when cooking? White pepper is more intense and hotter.But hold on to your wallet; white pepper can be three times the price! —Heloise Send ahinttoheloise@heloise com.
Hints from Heloise
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Ablack Lab carvedinto a wooden pewispictured in the Dog Chapel at DogMountain, aparkcreated by Vermont folk artist Stephen Huneck.
AP FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL DWyER
Levis Martin, left, and his brother Daniel join the line dance with fans during aJuneteenth celebration in Portsmouth, N.H
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Updating your space or skills to suit your needs will require specific details to lessen your chance of facing setbacks or rejections. Follow the rules and regulations and forge ahead.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Explore the possibilities, but don't go overboard. Too much can cost you or cause you to miss the point Create what's essential to your success and direct your skills accordingly.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Put all your efforts into work, money, and your health and well-being. Say no to anyone who pressures you to participate in something that doesn't interest you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23-Dec. 21) If you are waffling, stop, look, listen and retrace your steps until you feel confident with your decision. If you accomplish what's possible, you will feel good about yourself.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan. 19) Home improvements will cost more than anticipated. Evaluate what's necessary and determine how to achieve your goals at a price you can afford. Expanding your interests will increase your popularity.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) A lifestyle change will point you in a direction that excites you. Say no to those trying to use you to their advantage, and start using your talents to support and promote yourself.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Question everything and everyone. Reach out
to those able to contribute to your cause. Opportunities will develop through networking functions. Keep an open mind, but don't lose sight of your goal.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Check the fine print. Nothing will be as it appears. Focus inward, pay attention to your needs, and avoid intense discussions with people who don't share your perspective or approach.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Speak up, and you'll gain respect and ensure that you get what you want. Equality is the best route forward, so don't give in to appease someone who is trying to bully you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Don't buy into someone else's plans if you have an agenda. Taking responsibility for your happiness eliminates the possibility of others taking advantage of you.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Pare down instead of overextending yourself. An innovative approach to balancing work and your personal life will help counter depression. Live life your way.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Take nothing for granted Do the legwork and make things happen. Be the one to lead the way and to grandstand your talents for all to see. Market and promote with confidence and charisma.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
TODAy'S CLUE: D EQUALS F
CeLebrItY CIpher
For better or For WorSe
peAnUtS
zItS
FrAnK And erneSt
SALLY Forth
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
SherMAn’S LAGoon
Sudoku
InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge
Carrie Underwood, whose singing career started when she won “American Idol” in 2005, said, “If something can be said to make an awkward moment even worse, I’m going to say it.” Somebridgebidsareintendedprimarily to make the next player’s position awkward. And in this deal there were several uncomfortable moments. How would you critique the auction? What should happen in five spades after West leads the diamond ace?
After North’s one-diamond opening, South, with a game-going hand, planned to bid first clubs, then spades, then spades again to show his 5-6. Next, West made a three-heart weak jump overcall when four hearts would have been better. If East had a heart fit they would have taken a lot of tricks; if East was very short in hearts, West was already in trouble.
It was sensible for North to rebid four clubs; South rated to have at least five. And the singleton heart looked good.
NowEastmadeareallyaggressivebid with five hearts. However, South continued with five spades, strongly suggestingatleast5-6intheblacksuits Andthat silenced everyone. West led the diamond ace, but then did notknowwhattodo.IfSouthhadthelast diamond, West could continue with the diamondtwo,asuit-preferencesignalfor clubs. But with this layout, West had to shift to the heart two (again, suit preference) to get the key club ruff.
Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD = gOOD aFTErnOOn
Previous answers:
word game
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by
toDAY’s WoRD — BEAcons: BE-kuns: Sources of light or inspiration.
Average mark 17 words
Time
Can you find 22 or more words in BEACONS?
YEstERDAY’s WoRD — cAPIcoLA
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.
GramS Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
ken ken
InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 - The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 - Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a
