The Advocate 01-21-2026 by The Advocate

“I

Letlow to challenge Cassidyfor Senate

Incumbenthas advantageincampaignfunds; challenger hassupport of PresidentTrump

don’t think the crux ofthe campaign willbeabout endorsements.”

U.S. SEN. BILL CASSIDy, R-Baton Rouge

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

U.S. Sen.Bill Cassidy begins the 2026 Senate race with$11 million in the bank, millions of dollars more in asupportive super PAC—and abig problem.

“I have fought alongsidePresident Trump to put America first.”

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow told aBaton Rouge crowd Tuesday morningthat sheischallenging Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, three days after President Donald Trumpsaidhe wouldback her Twohours after her announcement, Letlow,R-Baton Rouge,posted atwo-minute video that included pictures of her two young children and said, “I have fought alongside President Trumptoput America First, standing up for our parents, securing our borders, supporting law enforcement, rooting out waste, fraudand abuse that drives up inflationand fighting to fix an education system toofocusedonwoke ideol-

ogy instead of teaching.”

Nonetheless,Cassidy saysheplans to wage avigorouscampaigntoretain his seat “I don’tthink thecrux of the campaign will be about endorsements. The crux of the campaign will be howtomakeLouisiana andthe United Statesabetterplace,” Cassidy told reporters Tuesday afternoon during ahastily-callednews

ä See SENATE, page 8A

Race to fill Letlow’s Houseseatunderway

BY TYLERBRIDGES Staff writer

The race to win U.S. Rep Julia Letlow’s5th Congressional District —after she announced Tuesday that she is giving up the seat to run for Senate —begins with no clear frontrunner

Several state legislators andothers saidTuesday they willget into the race or are looking closely at it

About half of the district is in metroBaton Rouge after thestate Legislature redrewcongressional boundaries several years ago. The other half includes the Florida Parishesand the parishes up the Mis-

sissippi Rivertothe Monroe area, where Letlow lived when she ﬁrst was elected in 2021.

“It’sa wide-open race,” said Woody Jenkins, aformer state representativewho chairs theRepublican Party in East Baton Rouge Parish.

ä See HOUSE, page 8A

Trumpthreats sparkoutrage from EU

BYWILL WEISSERT,JAMEY KEATEN and EMMA

BURROWS

Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’spledge to provoke asweeping tariff ﬁght with Europe to get his way in taking control of Greenland has left manyofAmerica’sclosest allies warning of arupture with Washington capable of shattering the NATO alliance that had once seemed unshakable.

TheEuropean Union’stop ofﬁcial on Tuesday called Trump’splannednew tariffs overGreenland a“mistake” and questioned Trump’strustworthiness.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU could retaliate by deploying one of its mostpowerful economic tools, known colloquially as atrade “bazooka.” Trump prides himself on ratcheting up pressuretotry to negotiate through apositionof strength. He was leaving

Tuesday—the anniversary of hisinauguration —for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, avenue that offers Trumpthe chance to defuse tensionsasquickly as he stirred them up. ButEuropean leaders— digging in and vowing to defend Denmark and its control over semiautonomous Greenland —may be seeking just as hard to

ä See TRUMP, page 4A

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

Afederal appeals court heard arguments Tuesdayinaclosely watched case centered on Louisiana’slaw requiringpublic schoolstopost theTen Commandments, which couldhave national implications for religious freedom and is expected to end up in the U.S. SupremeCourt. The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered alawsuit brought by amultifaith group of families seeking to block the 2024 law,which requires public K-12 schools and colleges to display the TenCommandments in classrooms. The case wascombined with one related to asimilar law that the Texas Legislature passed last year,provoking alegal challenge by public school parents. The relatively rare review of the cases by the entire court comes after apanel of three 5th Circuit judgeslastyear declared Louisiana’slaw “plainly unconstitutional,”upholding alower court’sruling. The decision by thefull court, which is considered the country’smost conservative federal court of appeals, to rehear the case could signal some disagreement with the panel’s decision, legal observers said.

During Tuesday’shearing, afew judgesasked pointed questions aboutthe laws,including how they could constitutionally requireschoolstopost atext from one religion— speciﬁcally aProtestant Christian version of the TenCommandments —when students’ families practice awide range of religions. But otherjudgesexpressedskepticism about the arguments against the law,noting that other texts allowed in schools such as the Pledge of Allegiance reference Godand saying that theTen Commandments posters fall short of government coercion to practiceaparticular religion.

“Nobody’stelling the kids they have to look up at everything that’sposted on thewalls,”said

APPEALS, page 6A

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByMARKUS SCHREIBER President of the European Commission Ursula vonder Leyen talks during the annual meeting of the WorldEconomic ForuminDavos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER Gov. Jeff Landryand AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill step out fromthe U.S. 5th CircuitCourtofAppeals in NewOrleans on Tuesday.

Vance, wife say they are expecting fourth child

WASHINGTON Vice President

JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, are expecting a son in late July, they announced in a social media post on Tuesday

The couple said they were excited to share the news of their fourth child, who will join their other three young kids: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.

Vance, 41, and his wife, 40, said in the post that both mother and baby were doing well.

“During this exciting and hectic time, we are particularly grateful for the military doctors who take excellent care of our family and for the staff members who do so much to ensure that we can serve the country while enjoying a wonderful life with our children,” the post read.

Hearing delayed for Florida congresswoman

MIAMI A federal judge in Miami yet again rescheduled a hearing on Tuesday so that a Florida congresswoman charged with conspiring to steal $5 million in federal COVID-19 disaster funds could ﬁnalize her legal team.

Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett granted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s request for two more weeks, moving the arraignment to Feb. 3. Prosecutors didn’t object.

Defense attorney David Oscar Markus told the judge that Cherfilus-McCormick’s finances were complicated, but that he was confident they’d be able to reach an agreement to secure legal counsel by next month’s court date. The congresswoman’s arraignment had previously been scheduled for late December but it was rescheduled for Tuesday Markus and Cherfilus-McCormick declined to speak with reporters Tuesday, but she has maintained her innocence.

Syrian military, Kurdish forces announce truce

RAQQA, Syria Guards from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces abandoned a camp Tuesday in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to the Islamic State group, and the Syrian military said that allowed detainees to escape. Hours later the Syrian government and the SDF announced a new four-day truce after a previous ceaseﬁre broke down. The two sides have been clashing for two weeks, amid a breakdown in negotiations over a deal to merge their forces together The al-Hol camp houses mainly women and children who are relatives of IS members Thousands of accused IS militants are separately housed in prisons in northeast Syria.

Syria’s interior ministry accused the SDF of allowing the release of “a number of detainees from the ISIS militant (group) along with their families.” The AP could not independently confirm if detainees had escaped from the camps or how many The SDF subsequently conﬁrmed its guards had withdrawn from the camp, but did not say whether any detainees escaped.

U.K. approves a ‘mega’ Chinese Embassy

LONDON Britain’s government on Tuesday approved a huge new Chinese Embassy in central London, despite strong criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum that it could become a base for espionage and intimidation of opponents.

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed formally signed off on plans for the building near the Tower of London, after years of delays and legal challenges. Critics have long expressed concerns that the supersized embassy, set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe, will heighten risks of Chinese intelligence-gathering as well as amplify the threat of surveillance and intimidation of Chinese dissidents in exile.

DOJ subpoenas Walz, other Minn. officials

Immigration enforcement obstruction probe launched

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas Tuesday to Minnesota ofﬁcials as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded law enforcement during a sweeping immigration operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a person familiar with the matter said.

The subpoenas, which seek records, were sent to the ofﬁces of Gov Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and ofﬁcials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, the person said.

The person was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity

The subpoenas are related to an investigation into whether Minnesota officials obstructed federal immigration enforcement through public statements they made, two people familiar with the matter said Friday. They said then that it was focused on the po-

tential violation of a conspiracy statute.

Walz and Frey, both Democrats, have called the probe a bullying tactic meant to quell political opposition. Frey’s ofﬁce released a subpoena, which requires a long list of documents for a grand jury on Feb. 3, including “any records tending to show a refusal to come to the aid of immigration ofﬁcials.”

“We shouldn’t have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with,” Frey said. Her, a Hmong immigrant and a Democrat, also acknowledged a subpoena, saying she’s “unfazed by these tactics.” The governor’s ofﬁce referred reporters to a statement earlier Tuesday in which Walz said the Trump administration was not seeking justice, only creating distractions.

The subpoenas came a day after the government urged a judge to reject efforts to stop the immigration enforcement surge that has roiled Minneapolis and St Paul for weeks.

The Justice Department called the state’s lawsuit, ﬁled soon after

the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an immigration ofﬁcer, “legally frivolous.” “Put simply, Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement,” government attorneys wrote. Ellison said the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights. He described the armed officers as poorly trained and said the “invasion” must cease. It’s not known when U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez will make a decision.

Ilan Wurman, who teaches constitutional law at University of Minnesota Law School, doubts the state’s arguments will be successful. He said immigration enforcement is clearly a matter of federal control.

Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the Trump administration’s big-city immigration crackdown, said more than 10,000 people in the U.S. illegally have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year, including 3,000 “of some of the most dangerous offenders” in the last six weeks during Operation Metro Surge.

Ukraine’s power grid again struck by Russia

Officials seek momentum in U.S.-led peace talks

BY KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press

KYIV Ukraine Russia bombarded Ukraine with more than 300 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles in its latest nighttime attack on the Ukrainian power grid, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, as Moscow gave no public sign that it’s willing to end the invasion of its neighbor anytime soon.

The attack knocked out heating to more than 5,600 apartment buildings in the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Nearly 80% of the affected buildings had recently had their heating supply restored after a major Russian barrage on Jan. 9 that plunged thousands of people into a dayslong blackout, he said.

Ukraine is enduring one of its coldest winters for years, with temperatures in Kyiv falling to minus 4 F At the same time, Russia has escalated its aerial attacks on the electricity supply, aiming to deny Ukrainians heat and running water and wear down their resistance almost four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are trying to keep up the momentum of U.S.led peace talks. A Ukrainian negotiating team arrived in the United States on Saturday Their main task was to convey how the relentless Russian strikes are undermining diplomacy, according to Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian leader said last week that the delegation would also try to ﬁnalize with U.S. ofﬁcials documents for

a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S and Ukraine could sign the documents at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev plans to meet with some American representatives at Davos.

He refused to name the ofﬁcials Dmitriev would meet with, but media reports said they would include U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said his country needs urgent assistance and additional sanctions on Russia to make Moscow change course. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric strike this morning is a wakeup call to world leaders gathering in Davos,” Sybiha said on X.

U.S. forces seize 7th tanker linked to Venezuela

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON U.S. military forces boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil.

U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta “without incident” and that the tanker was operating in deﬁance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

The military command did not say whether the U.S Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures. Both the Pentagon and Southern Command said they had nothing to add when asked for more details.

The Sagitta is a Liberianﬂagged tanker and its registrationsaysitisownedandmanaged by a company in Hong Kong. The ship last transmitted its location more than two months ago when exiting the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

The tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under an executive order related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The post from U.S. Southern Command indicated the ship had taken oil from Venezuela. It said the capture of the tanker “demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”

The military command posted what appeared to be aerial footage of the Sagitta sailing on the ocean, but unlike in prior videos the clip did not show U.S. forces ﬂying toward it in helicopters or landing on the deck of the ship.

Since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid on Jan. 3, the Trump administration has set out to control the production, reﬁning and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products.

Trumprecaps firstyearbackinof

Speechmarked with winding remarks, paper tossing

BY MICHELLEL.PRICE and MEG KINNARD Associated Press

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump wanted to recap his first year back in ofﬁce. And it felt like he wantedtospendthe next year doing it. For more than 100 minutes, the president held forthTuesday at the White House, wherehewenton awinding journey through his last year,interspersed with plenty of asides,a few impressions of other politicians and critics and, eventually,questions from the media.

Trump riffed on things his administration has done,

starting with an awkwardly quiet stretch of show-andtell in which he heldupphotographs ofpeoplehesaid immigration ofﬁcers had arrested in Minnesota. “I’m goingthroughthisbecause Ithink we have plenty of time,” Trumpsaid. The drawn-out performancecame at amoment of internationalalarm and domestic tension. Trump over the weekend shook the NATO alliance by threatening tariffs on Europeto strong-armhis aim of taking over Greenland At home, tensions were high after his administration ordered 1,500 active-duty soldiers to be readyto possibly deploy to the streetsof Minneapolis as he threatens to impose theInsurrection Act.

Tuesday’snews conference came just hours before Trumpwas settohead to Europefor ameeting with global leaders anxious

to discuss his designs on Greenland, the new international peacemaking body he wants to form anda myriad of other global issues.

Hisfellow Republicans have been urging him to speak more to voters’ concerns aboutaffordabilityas they stare down crucial midtermelections this year

“One of thereasons I’m doing this news conference, Ithink it’simportant —we have taken amess and made it really good,”Trump said “It’sgoing to getevenbetter.”

For morethan 10 minutes, he showed off mugshots of peoplehesaidhad been arrested,remarking on their alleged crimes.Atone point, he asked the reporters in the room, “You’renot getting bored withthis, right?”

Seeming to realize he was losing his audience, Trump told them they were lucky that he only went through “like 100” mugshots, then

Prosecutor whopursued indictments againstTrump foes leavingposition

BY ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON Lindsey Halligan, who as atop Justice Department prosecutor pursued indictments against apairof President Donald Trump’sadversaries,isleavingher position as her monthslong tenure has now concluded, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday night.

Halligan’sdeparture from the role of interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginiacame as multiple judges were casting doubt on her ability to legallyremain in thejob following acourt ruling two months ago that said her appointment was illegal. She was appointed in September to a120-day stint, which concluded Tuesday

“The circumstances that led to this outcome are deeply misguided,” Bondi said on X. “Weare living in atime when ademocratically elected President’sability to staff key law enforcement positions faces serious obstacles.”

The announcement followed dualordersfrom separate judges that marked adramatic new front in an ongoing clash betweenthe Trump administration and the federal court over the legitimacy of Halligan’sappointment. AWhite House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, Halligan was picked for the role by President Donald Trump in September only to have ajudge rule two months later that the appointment was illegal.

In one order,M.Hannah Lauck, the chief judgeofthe Eastern District of Virginia and anominee of President Barack Obama, directeda clerk to publish avacancy announcement on the court’s website and with the news media and said she was “soliciting expressionsofinterest in serving in that position.”

The judge noted that the temporary appointment given to Halligan, who has since been nominated by Trump but not conﬁrmed by the Senate,expired Tuesday

Equal Employment OpportunityStatement

Landmark of BatonRouge is an EqualOpportunity Employer andprohibitsdiscrimination andharassmentofany kind

Theorganization is committedtothe principleofequal employment opportunity for all employees. They arededicated to providingaworkenvironment that is free of discrimination andharassment. Allapplicants will be considered foremploymentwithout regard to:Race or color; Religion;Sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity;National origin; Veteranordisability status

In aseparateorder, U.S. District Judge DavidNovak said he was striking the words “UnitedStates Attorney” from the signature block of an indictmentinacase that was before him, and barred Halligan fromcontinuing to present herselfwiththat

title. He said he would initiatedisciplinary proceedings against Halligan if she violated his order and persisted in identifyingherself in court ﬁlings as aU.S. attorney, and said other signatoriescould be subject to discipline as well.

tossed thestack on the Briefing Room floor next to his lectern.

After futzing with alarge binderclip, remarking on how it could have taken his fingeroff, he assured everyone, “I would not have shownthe pain.” He threw the binderclip on theﬂoor, too.

Not long after, he hoisted intothe airathickstack of

paperwiththe word“Accomplishments” writtenin bold letters on top, alist he said wouldtakehim more than aweek to read.

“It’sbig stuff too. We have thehottestcountry in the world,” Trumpsaid.

And then the president threw the accomplishments onto the floor,where they landed with aloud thud.

Trumphas long said he is

his best spokesman,dating back to hisrealestatedays, when he was knownfor calling reporters to promote projects or pitch ideas. On Tuesday,heseemed to acknowledge that some of his economicarguments weren’tlanding with voters.

“Maybe Ihave bad public relations people, but we’re not getting it across,” Trump said.

In thespringof2025, twolongtimefriends Sherri Utleyand Mary Alvarez, puttogethera smallchurchfundraiserinAscension Parish, Louisiana. On thetable were candles, handpoured,carefully crafted, andscented to spark memories.For Utleyand Alvarez, this wasmore than asale. It wasthe beginningofBlessed Bayou Candles, acompany rooted in faith, friendship andthe simple desire to bringjoy

Theirjourney,however,began decadesearlier

Thetwo womenmet whileworking in emergency management afterHurricane Katrina. They became fast friends,bondedbytheir shared servicemindset.Sherri, aU.S.Navyveteran eventually went to work with theU.S.Marines in Arizonaasacivilian, butshe neverquite lost the desire to make candles. Afterretiringfromthe Corps, shereturnedtoLouisiana to sell ahouse andreconnected with Mary.Whatstarted as a catch-up conversation became abusinessplan.

With Sherri’s artistryand Mary’s marketing

expertise, thetwo cofoundedBlessed Bayou Candles. Theirﬁrstbig event, afundraiserat Mary’s church,conﬁrmedwhattheysuspected: People lovedthe playfuldesigns andnostalgic scents.Customers mistookthe pies forrealbaked goods, sometimeseventryingtocut into them

“We’re agift,”Maryexplains. “Whenyou purchase acandleshapedlikea cupcakeorpie, you’re giving somethingnoone else has.”Those scents evoked powerful memories of family kitchens andholidays.

Theircandles wouldeventuallytravelfar beyond LouisianatoOregon, NewJersey, Denmark, Mexico,and even Scotland,after the twowomenappliedtotheShellLiveWireprogram abusinessaccelerator for entrepreneurs. The programgavethemmorethantraining; it offered community, coaching, andpractical lessonson ﬁnance,marketing,and contingencyplanning.

“Wedidn’t even have ducksyet,” Sherri jokes, “but they taught us howtolinethemup.” Today, BlessedBayou Candlesisstill young, but itsimpactisunmistakable. Each candle carries

thewarmthofSherri andMary’smission.“We’ve spentour liveshelping people in emergencies,” Mary reﬂected.“Nowit’sour time to make people happy.”FromAscension Parish to kitchens across theglobe,their candlesdoexactly that ShellLiveWireLouisiana concentrates on 13 parishes in SouthLouisiana.Applicantsare accepted from Ascension, Assumption,East BatonRouge,WestBaton Rouge, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston,St. Charles, St.James,St. John theBaptist,St. Mary,and Terrebonne Parishes andwelcomesbusinesses from allsectors.Participants in theprogram areselectedbyapplication andaninterview by apanel of judgesfromShell leaders, industry andbusinessrepresentatives,who areexperts in industry andmarketrequirements. Readytogrowyourbusiness?

Applications forthe 2026 ShellLiveWire Louisianaprogram areopenthrough January 26,2026. Learnmoreand applyatwww.shell us/livewire.

meet an extraordinary moment with ashow of their ﬁerceresolve.

That could hurt the chances of Trumpﬁnding aquick way to turn aroundthe crisis. Greenland’sleader insisted on respectfor its territorial integrity and said recognition of international law is “not agame.”

Trump made an unusual appearance in the White House briefing room to mark the one year he’d been in office. When asked how far he’d be willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump said only,“You’ll ﬁnd out.” He also mistakenly referred to Greenland as Iceland at one point.

Still, the president predicted there could be adeal in the makingwith allies.

“I think that we will work something out where NATO is goingtobeveryhappy, and where we’re going to be very happy,” he said, without providing speciﬁcs Trump said he’d been encouraged that NATO had increased military spending, but he also belittled the alliance, saying other members may not protect Washington’sinterests. The presidentsuggested NATO members expect the U.S. to come to their rescue but “I just really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours.”

European Commission

President Ursula von der Leyen pushed backagainst Trump’sannouncement that, starting February, a 10% import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark. Greenland is asemiautonomous territory of Denmark, aNATOmember

“The European Union and the United States have agreed to atrade deal last July,” von der Leyen said in Davos. “And in politics as in business —adealisa deal. And when friendsshake hands, it must mean some-

thing.”

“Weconsider the people of theUnited States not just ourallies, butour friends And plunging us into adownward spiral would onlyaid thevery adversaries we are both so committed to keepingout of the strategic landscape,” sheadded.

She vowed that the EU’s response “will be unﬂinching, united and proportional.”

Taking firmer stances defiedthe approach that many Europeanleaders haveoffered since Trumpreturned to office. Ithad mostly entailedsaying nice things about thepresident to try to stay in his good graces, while working furiously through other avenues to find compromise.

Trumpsays theU.S. needs Greenland to deter possible threats from Chinaand Russia. But hiscontinued insistenceinrecent weeks that anything short of theU.S owning Greenland is unacceptable is testingthe limits of thesofter strategy

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said“the worst may still be ahead of us.” Speaking to parliament, she said “we have never sought conflict. We have consistentlysoughtcooperation.”

Greenland’sPrime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at anews conference in the island’scapital, Nuuk, that “we need to have respect for international law and territorialintegrity.” He saidthose principles should unite Western democratic countries, and expressed gratitude for EU allies’ support

“Internationallaw,it’s not agame,” he said, adding, “Weare willing to cooperate much more, but of course in mutual respect, and if we cannot see that, it will be very difﬁcult to haveagood andreliable partnership.”

Trump’sthreats have sparkedoutrage andaﬂurry of diplomatic activityacross Europe,asleaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the unprecedented use of the EU’santi-coercion instrument

Unofﬁcially known as the “trade bazooka,”the anticoercion instrument could sanctionindividuals or institutions found to be putting unduepressureonthe EU The EU hastwo other major economictools it could use to pressure Washington: new tariffs,ora suspension of the U.S.-EU trade deal. Macron warned in Davos

thatthe additional tariffs could force the EU to use its anti-coercion mechanism for theﬁrst time against the United States.

“Can you imagine that?” he said, arguing that allied countries should be focusing instead on bringing peace to Ukraine. “This is crazy.”

In general, he said, the mechanism “is apowerful instrumentand we should nothesitate to deploy it in today’stough environment.”

Trumpearlier posted a text message from Macron in which theFrench president suggesteda meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering. An ofﬁcial closetoMacron, who spoke anonymouslyinlinewith the French presidency’s customary practices, conﬁrmed the message shared by Trumpisgenuine.

In hislatest threatoftariffs,Trumpindicated that the import taxes would be retaliationfor lastweek’s deployment of symbolic

numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland —though he also suggested he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

CanadianPrime Minister Mark Carney, whose country is afounding NATO member, warned of global ﬁssures beyond Greenland, suggesting it was an “illusion” and “ﬁction” that there remains arules-based international order “Let me be direct: We are in the midst of arupture, not atransition,” Carney said during aspeech in Davos.

Belgian PrimeMinister Bart De WeversaidatDavosthatEurope cannotbea “miserable slave’toTrump.”

Others encouraged NATO leaders to stand up to Trump. Speaking on the sidelinesofDavos, California Gov.Gavin Newsom slammed Europe’sresponse to Trump’stariff threats as “pathetic” and“embarrassing,” andurgedcontinental leaders to unite and stand up to the United States.

“It’stime to stand tall and firm,have abackbone,” Newsom, aDemocrat, told reporters.

Greenland’sEuropean backers have also looked at establishing amore permanent military presence to help guaranteesecurityin the Arctic region, akey demand of the United States, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said. In Moscow,meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov strongly denied any intention by Russia and China to threaten Greenland, while also describing Greenland as a“colonial gain” forDenmark. Trump wasaskedTuesdaywhatwould happen to his tariff threats related to Greenland if the Supreme Courtrulesagainst his abilitytoimposeimporttariffs as part of acase it is considering. “Well, I’ll have to usesomething else,” Trumpsaid. “We have other alternatives.” He didn’trespond when asked about using force.

•See thelatestinkitchen andbathproducts includingcabinetsand countertops.

•Talktocontractors readytobuild your new addition or remake that specialroom.

•Get thebestpricesonﬂoors,doors,rooﬁng, siding,windows,generators andmore!

•Designyourbackyardparadise.

•And dozens of products from kitchen gadgets to thelatestinhealthproducts.

•Freetastings, samples, couponsand recipes fromall your favorite foodsatthe Ralph’s Market Food Fest

•Children’sEntrepreneur Market, auniquemarketplace runentirely by youngentrepreneurs!

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN President DonaldTrump listens to aquestionfrom areporter during apressbriefing at the White House on Tuesday

Judge EdithJones, who was nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan.

Louisiana’slaw put the state at the vanguard of a movement by conservative activists andlawmakers to promote legislation that, they say,reﬂects the nation’s Christian roots and restores the role of religion in public life. Republicans in several states have proposed their own TenCommandments laws and related measures, such as allowing schools to teach Bible-based reading lessons or hire chaplains

Gov.Jeff Landry,a staunchly conservative Republican who has championed Louisiana’slaw,attended Tuesday’s hearing alongside state Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose ofﬁce is defending the law.Afterward, Landry told reporters that the law reﬂects “the Judeo-Christian principles that this nation was founded upon,” adding that all parents should teach their children those principles

“You either readthe Ten Commandments,” he said, “or your child is going to learn the criminal code.”

But groups such as the American CivilLiberties Unionand AmericansUnited, which advocates for church-state separation,said parents alone should decide what moralcodetoteach their children. The groups, which are representing families in the Louisianaand Texas cases, said religious freedomisthreatenedwhen the government promotes a particular doctrine.

“Americans agree that parents should be teaching theirfamily’sreligion to their kids,” said Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser,“not government officials or public schools.” Louisiana became the firststate in recent years to require public schools to display the TenCommandments when Landry signed the law in June 2024, with

Texas and Arkansassoon passing their own legislation.Kentucky haspassed asimilar lawmore than 40 years earlier,which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in a1980 case called Stone v. Graham.

Louisiana’slaw dictates thesizeofthe posters —at least11by14inches —and the texttheymust feature, a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments that begins with, “IAMthe LORD thy God.Thou shalthavenoother gods before me.” Italso requiresanaccompanying “context statement” explainingthatsomeearly Americantextbooks featuredthe TenCommandments, and says schools “may”display otherhistoricaldocuments alongside theposters.

Agroup of public school parents who identify as Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious quickly sued to stop the law from taking effect.InNovember 2024, U.S.District Court Judge John deGravelles ruled thatthe lawviolates the FirstAmendment’s guarantee of religious freedom,and barred stateofficialsfrom enforcingit.

The5th Circuit panelupheld that ruling, writing that Louisiana’slaw is “plainly un-

constitutional” based on the Supreme Court’sruling in the Stone case. The lower court’s preliminary injunction remains in effect as the full 5th Circuit reviews the case.

On Tuesday,some of the judges noted that the Stone decision relied on an earlier case, Lemon v. Kurtzman, that saida law musthave a primarily secularpurpose to avoid running afoul of the First Amendment’sestablishment clause. But,in2022, the court’snew conservative supermajorityscrapped the so-called Lemon test,saying thenew standard is whether alaw is consistent with the country’shistoryand traditions.

While the Supreme Court hasnot overturned Stone, the judgessaid it now stands on shaky ground.

“If you takeaway Lemon,there is nothingleftin Stone,” said Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, who was nominated to thecourt by President Donald Trump.

Several judges also cited historical documentsthat aretaughtand displayedin schools, such as theDeclaration of Independence, thatinclude language that could be described as religious. They also echoed an argument by Louisiana’s

attorneys that the TenCommandments posters are a “passive display” that does not coerce studentstoadopt aparticular faith.

Jonathan Youngwood, whorepresented the public school families at Tuesday’s hearing, said the TenCommandments laws cross a

constitutionalline because theyrequire studentstobe exposed to the text in every classroom during their entire school career.Healso saidthe lawswould violate some of thenew First Amendment standards set by the SupremeCourt in the Kennedy case.

“If the government is going to put up acentral tenet of areligion as astate-selected scripture, Ithink that is turningthe school in part intoachurch,”saidYoungwood, an attorneywith Simpson Thacher &Bartlett LLP

Afterthe hearing, Murrill said theTen Commandmentslaw does notrun afoul of the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from promoting or favoring aparticular religion.

“It’snot establishing anything,” she said. Instead, it is presenting a“foundational document of one of the foundational lawgivers that is part of ourhistorical tradition.”

ELIMINATE

If youare over35and suffer from thefollowing

• Sciatica •NeckPain•DiscHerniations

•Lower Back Pain •Radiating HipPain •Numbnessinthe Legs andFeet

Theremay be hope! Nowlocal doctorshavewhatmay be the most importanttreatment in helpingthese conditions!

Nothing’sworse than feelinggreat mentally,but physically feelingheldback from life becauseyou hurt andthe pain just won’tgoaway. We understandwhatitfeels like tolive in pain, becausewesee it everyday.Weare Dr.Scott LeBlancand Dr.DanaLeBlanc of LeBlancSpine Center We’vehelpedhundredsofpatientswithdischerniations andsciaticaleave ouroffice pain free

When cushions in your back joints,calleddiscs,get injured or wear out, they beginto degenerate andcause pain Bulgingand herniated discsbegin to form,pressingonthe nerveroots.The most common invasive treatmentfor disc herniationsissurgery

Even with health insurancethe patientisleftwiththeir ownportion of thebill, in excessof$10,000 -$15,000,and sometimesmore.In addition,the recovery time andmissed work canbeanywherefrom3 to 6months, nottomention theobvious severe risksassociated with all surgeries.

Before YougoUnder theknife

AndOpt ForSpinalSurgery

Youshouldseriously consider alessinvasive approach called spinal decompression. Non-surgical spinal decompressionisanew technology that hasbeenproven to helpdischerniations.Itcreatesavacuumeffectonthe disc,which pullsthe disc back into itsnormalpositionand brings in afresh blood supply to promote healing.

ProofThisTreatment Works

Whilenon-surgicalspinaldecompression is arathernew treatment, there’splentyofresearch to back up itsclaims.

Dr.Scott LeBlanc, D.C. Dr.DanaLeBlanc,D.C.

Here’s just ahandful of scientificstudies

“Wethussubmitthatdecompression therapyshouldbe considered first, beforethe patientundergoes asurgical procedurewhich permanentlyaltersthe anatomyand function of theaffected lumbar spinesegment.”

-Journal Of NeuroscienceResearch

“86% of the219 patients whocompleted thetherapy reported immediate resolution of symptoms.”

-Orthopedic Technology Review

“vertebral axial(spinal)decompression wassuccessfulin 71%ofthe 778cases”

-Journal of NeurologicalResearch

“good to excellent” relief in 86%ofpatientswithHerniated discs”

-The AmericanJournal of Pain Management

“decompression therapyreported a76.5% with complete remissionand 19.6%withpartial remissionofpainand disability:

-Rio Grande Hospital,Department of Neurosurgery

Anotherstudy presented at theAmericanAcademy of Pain Management in 2007 showed “Patientsreported amean88.9% improvementinback pain andbetterfunction. No patientrequiredany invasive therapies(e.g. epidural injections,surgery).”

As youcan see, spinal decompressionhas ahighsuccess rate.Whatthismeans foryou is that in just amatterof weeks, youcould be back on thegolfcourse, enjoying your

I first came to LeBlancSpine Center with numbness in my arms andlegs. Iwas also experiencing lowerbackpain andneckpain. I hadbeensuffering with this forover 10 years. Ihad previouslytried one epidural injectioninmylower back andphysicaltherapy,anIwas still suffering with thesesymptoms. Since beginningSpinal Decompression treatments, Ihavehad consistent improvementinmybackcondition, andIamnow 70%improved! I am liftingwithout pain,sleeping better,and Inow have theability to walk withouttiring! Iwould highly recommendDr. LeBlancand LeBlanc SpineCenter!

L. J. Dupuy (College Baseball Coach) Hometown -Addis,LA

Ihad been suffering forabout 8 months with pain shooting down my left armand shoulder. Ihad previously triedinjectionsinmy shoulders,and Iwas stillsuffering

IcametoDr. LeBlancand began Spinal Decompression treatments Iamnow 90%improved! My range of motion hasimproved95% andIhavenomorepain at night. Iamnow able to do anythingI want-all withoutthe pain!WhatI like most aboutmycarehereisthe personal care from thewhole staff andthe Doctor’s What wouldmycommentsbe if askedtorecommend LeBlanc SpineCenter? Iwould say, “Why areyou notthere yet?!”

GeorgMarcum (Retired Consultant) Hometown-PortAllen,LA

IcametoLeBlanc SpineCenter with severe neck pain that radiated from thetop of my head down into my shoulders. Ihad been dealing with it forabout ayear, andthe pain hadgottenunbearable. Before coming here,mydoctorhad only recommendedmassages andTylenol, buttheydidn’tgivemerealrelief. Sincestartingcare, I’mabout 90% improved.The staff here is awesometrulyfriendly andsupportive-and the resultsfromthe treatmenthavemade such adifference in my life.Being able to live withoutthatseverepain is so refreshing.I’venoticed improvements in everything -sleeping, mobility, tension, andjustoverall howIfeelday to day. Idefinitely would, andalready have,recommendedLeBlanc Spine Centertoanyonesufferingwithback or neck pain

Diane Fritts (Retired) Hometown -Baton Rouge, LA

love life,ortraveling again.

CouldThisBeYour Sciatica AndBackPainSolution

It’s time foryou to findout if spinal decompressionwill be your sciaticpainsolution.

For7 days only,weare runninga specialoffer whereyou will find outifyou area candidate forspinaldecompression This offerisnormallypricedat$250.

What doesthisoffer include? Everything. Here’s what you’ll get.

•Anin-depthconsultation aboutyourhealthand wellbeingwhere we will listen .reallylisten. to thedetails of your case

•A complete neuromuscular examination.

•A full setofspecializedx-rays(if clinicallynecessary)to determineifaspinalproblem is contributing to your pain or symptoms

•A thorough analysis of your exam andx-ray findings so we canstart mappingout your plan to be painfree.

•You’llget to seeeverything firsthand. We’llanswerall of your questions aboutspinaldecompression andwill let youknowifthisamazing treatmentwill be your back pain solution,likeithas been forsomanyother patients

We have twooffices located in BatonRouge andKenner, LA.Call225-763-9894, andour amazingstaff will get youscheduled. No charge at alland youdon’t need to buyanything- butyou will find outifyou qualifyfor this revolutionarynew therapy.

chargeatall and youdon’t need to buyanything. Butyou will find outif youqualify forthisrevolutionarynew therapy. Youwon’t leaveour office wonderingifit’ssomething that could have helped youget ridofyour pain

During your assessment,we’ll check outyour:ligamentstability,muscle function,hips, pain levels,reflex response,disccondition,tendons, spinalalignment,pelvicleveling, x-rays,MRI analysis,range of motion, balance&nerve function

OfferExpires 1/29/2026

conference via Zoom.

He believes he is the person doing that, noting billions of dollars he helped secure to prevent ﬂooding and to repair roads and bridges in Louisiana and his efforts to reduce the scourge of fentanyl.

Cassidy was already seen as vulnerable as he seeks his third sixyear term in the Senate so much so that four major Republicans had already announced campaigns to unseat him.

The others are state treasurer John Fleming, state Sen. Blake Miguez of New Iberia, state Rep. Julie Emerson of Carencro and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, whose district covers suburban New Orleans Letlow is little-known throughout the state at this point, political analysts say But Trump so dominates the Republican Party that she threatens to overwhelm Cassidy and his opponents, who are now facing questions of whether they will stay in the race.

“She’s been careful to align herself with the conservative wing of her party while not embracing anything that would be radical,” said Pearson Cross, a politicalscience professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe “She is a sympathetic ﬁgure. When her husband passed unexpectedly, she picked up the torch and carried it forward. She also has the single most important thing, Donald

HOUSE

Continued from page 1A

“People in northeast Louisiana are used to having representation They’ll gravitate to a candidate from there. Anybody from north Louisiana needs to get down here.

It’s a very conservative district.”

President Donald Trump won 67% of the district when he won the 2024 presidential election and 66% in 2020 when he was defeated by President Joe Biden, according to ﬁgures supplied by John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge pollster and demographer

The biggest question is whether former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves will seek to return to Congress.

Trump’s endorsement. In a closed primary, that will make a difference.”

SENATE ELECTION

TIMELINE

Letlow was a top executive at the University of Louisiana at Monroe when her husband, Luke, was elected in December 2020 to represent the 5th Congressional District and then died of COVID-19.

knows who she is She has to spend money to get known in Louisiana and to make the case why she should be elected. He’s sitting with lots and lots of money A lot of it can be used to criticize his opponents. When they talk about his bad vote, he can talk about the bad things the public might not like about her.”

FEB 11 TO 13: Candidates qualify to run

MAY 16: Closed party primary — Republicans and Democrats vote for who will represent their party in the general election

in central Louisiana, said he was torn among the candidates.

“I think the world of Julia,” Martin said. “I like Bill Cassidy as well.

John Fleming is also a good candidate. May the best person win.”

One measure of Letlow’s support will come on Jan. 28 when she holds a fundraiser at the Sazerac House on Capitol Hill as Washington Mardi Gras kicks off.

Julia Letlow then won the seat in 2021, saying she had never aspired to run for the ofﬁce.

Letlow won reelection in 2022 and 2024 and last year moved from Richland Parish, outside of Monroe, to Baton Rouge.

To be sure, some political analysts said Letlow is not assured of winning the Republican primary in a state that typically elects the Republican candidate for Senate with 60% of the vote.

“It doesn’t mean she’s the overwhelming favorite to win,” said Bernie Pinsonat, a veteran pollster and political consultant. “I’m guessing only a third of Louisiana

Graves represented Baton Rouge and parishes to the south until 2024, when he didn’t run for reelection after redistricting gave him a district he didn’t think he could win

That seat is now held by U.S Rep. Cleo Fields, a Democrat. That district now stretches from Baton Rouge to Shreveport and includes majority-Black precincts.

Graves didn’t respond to a text

Tuesday Hehasmorethan$3million in his campaign account left over from the 2024 race he didn’t run.

The “bad vote” was Cassidy’s decision to join six Republican senators and all 50 Democrats to convict Trump of inciting the assault on the Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

JUNE 27: Runoff election for party primaries, if needed NOV. 3: General election Fleming

The Louisiana Republican Party immediately censured Cassidy, and his poll numbers statewide tanked.

Some conservatives are questioning whether Letlow is conservative enough.

Fleming, who spent eight years in the U.S. House representing northwest Louisiana, is also planning to campaign hard for the Senate seat.

He believes that his opposition to carbon capture and sequestration efforts will resonate with voters fearful of the potential water pollution.

“They both have somewhat moderate voting records,” Fleming said of Cassidy and Letlow “They’re both supported by the Washington insider organizations, the big PACs and large corporations. Neither one of them have been vanguards in the MAGA movement.”

Fleming, who helped found the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus in the House, likes to say that

The reconﬁgured 5th Congressional District includes St. George and other majority-White precincts in Baton Rouge, but Graves actually lives in Fields’ district. He does not have to live in the 5th Congressional District to run for the seat.

Candidates will have a three-day window beginning on Feb. 11 to declare their intentions.

State Sen. Stewart Cathey said he will announce “shortly.”

Cathey, 44, is a Republican serving a second term representing the Monroe area, which contains about 20% of the 5th Congressional District’s population.

“My track record — ﬁghting for all areas of the state — proves that geography doesn’t matter,” Cathey said.

A consultant with his father on IT issues, Cathey said he expects to be the only combat veteran in the race, having served two terms in Afghanistan as a member of the Army Reserves. Rick Edmonds, 69, also intends

he was MAGA before MAGA was cool.

Skrmetta said in a text Tuesday that he is remaining in the race and is nailing down the date of his ﬁrst fundraiser Miguez and Emerson did not respond to texts.

Behind the scenes, Letlow was calling donors to line up campaign cash, while Cassidy made stops Tuesday in south Louisiana.

Garry Lewis, an attorney and real estate developer in Livingston Parish who is a major contributor to Republicans, accompanied Cassidy on a visit to Premier Concrete Products in Denham Springs.

“I’m disappointed, I guess,” Lewis said of Letlow’s entry into the Senate race. “I thought they would both keep their same positions.”

Lewis added that he believes both Cassidy and Letlow are big supporters of Trump, who Lewis called “the best president we’ve ever had.”

Roy O. Martin III, another big Republican donor whose family operates a major timber operation

to run. A Republican from Baton Rouge, he is serving his ﬁrst term in the state Senate after two terms in the state House. He is a pastor who served as vice president of the Family Forum, which supports traditional families and opposes abortion.

“The Louisiana Legislature has been a great place to serve to prepare me for serving in Congress,” Edmonds said.

Larry Davis, a member of the Republican Parish Executive Committee of Livingston Parish, announced for the race last week, planning to run against Letlow if she ran for reelection.

Davis, 28, said he owns Red Republic Media, which hosts conservative podcasts and publicizes conservative policies.

With lots of speculation about Cassidy’s path forward, one possible option — to run as an independent candidate this fall no longer exists.

The deadline to submit 2,500 signatures from voters across the state to qualify as an independent was Jan. 14, or 30 days before the ﬁnal day of qualifying, which takes place from Feb. 11 to 13.

Some political insiders believe that the Trump endorsement was timed to take place after the opportunity to qualify as an independent had passed, although Cassidy had never shown a desire to do so.

Letlow, 44, made the announcement at the end of a speech at the Baton Rouge Business Report Leadership Power Breakfast, and it caught most of the room off guard at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Cassidy had RSVP’d for the event, and Julio Melara, whose company publishes the newspaper, announced to the crowd of nearly 700 people that he was there. But Cassidy’s campaign said he didn’t attend the event.

Cassidy said that Letlow called him Tuesday morning to let him know that she would be challenging him.

Davis said he is running “to bring back innovation and actual resources, proper growth to the constituents of District 5.”

State Rep. Daryl Deshotel, RHessmer said he is “strongly considering” getting into the race.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin, RBaton Rouge, said he “most likely” will run for the seat if Graves stays out.

State Rep. Michael Echols, RMonroe, said he is talking with “leaders across the district now” in deciding whether to become a candidate.

Misti Cordell, a Republican from Monroe who was appointed by Gov Jeff Landry to chair the state Board of Regents, is considering getting into the race.

Miguez

Emerson

Skrmetta

U.S. couldlosemeasles eliminationstatus

BY DEVI SHASTRI Associated Press

It’sbeen ayear since a measlesoutbreak began in West Texas, and internationalhealth authoritiessay they plan to meet in April to determine if the U.S. has lost its measles-free designation.

Experts fear the vaccinepreventable virus has regainedafoothold and that the U.S. maysoon follow Canada in losing the achievementof having eliminatedit.

The reevaluation is largely symbolic and hinges on whether asingle measles chain has spread uninterrupted within the U.S. for at least 12 months.

Public health scientists around the country are investigating whether the

now-ended Texas outbreak is linkedtoactive ones in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina.But doctors and scientists say the U.S. and NorthAmerica overall —has ameaslesproblem, regardless of the decision.

“It is really aquestion of semantics,” said Dr.Jonathan Temte, aWisconsin family physician who helped certify the U.S. was measlesfree in 2000.“The bottom lineisthe conditions are sufﬁcienttoallow this many cases to occur. And that gets back to de-emphasizing a safe and effective vaccine.”

Last year,the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention conﬁrmed 2,242measles cases across 44 states —the most since 1991 —and nearly 50 separate outbreaks.

Theproblem hasbeen years in the making, as fewer kids get routine vaccines due to parental waivers, health care access issuesand rampant disinformation. More recently, Trumpadministrationhealthofﬁcials including HealthSecretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.have questioned andsown doubt aboutthe established safety of vaccines at an unprecedented level while also defunding local efforts to improve vaccination rates “The mostimportant thing that we can do is to make sure thepeople who aren’t vaccinatedget vaccinated, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s PandemicCenter.“We have notissued aclear enough message about that.”

Everyone wantstoavoid tax. When people thinkabout avoidingtaxes,theyusually thinkabout avoiding income tax. But, Louisianaresidents have to be concerned with severaltypes of taxeswhentheyare planningtheir estates. FederalEstateTax –Did YouKnow?

Thefederalestatetax applies to estatesofpeoplewho areresidents in anyofthe 50 states. When it applies, it is significant.Essentially, when apersondies,wehaveto add up thefairmarketvalue of everythingthe deceased owned–theirhouse,cars, bank accounts, IRA’s, 401(k)’s, lifeinsurance, stock,businessestheyown,realestate andmore. Effective January1,2026, thefederalestatetax exemptionamount is $15,000,000per person ($30,000,000 formarried couples)for deaths occurring in 2026. Theestatetax rate remainsat 40%.

What About TheSurviving Spouse?

Before 2010, each spouse hadanestatetax exemption. If theestateofthe first spouse to die did notuse their exemption, it wouldbelostand thesurviving spouse couldnot useany of theexemption of the firstspousetodie.However in 2013, “portability”was kept in place –the survivingspousecan nowincrease their exemptionbythe amount of theunusedexemption amount of thedeceased spouse whodiedafter 2010. Butportability must be exercisedtimely.

HowToAvoid CapitalGains Tax

Thetax that often creeps up on people people is capitalgains tax. Capitalgains is paidwhenyousellanassetthathasappreciatedinvalue.Example:youbuyastock for$20,000 andlater sell thestock for$100,000. Youwillhave$80,000 of capital gain, andyou must paytax on this.How youstructure your bequests to your spouse andyourfamilycan have asignificant impact on howmuchcapital gains taxyourheirswill have to pay. When youdie,yourassetswillbe“stepped-up” and your heirswill getanew value.

Giftsof$20,000 PerYearPer Person (UsedTo Be $10,000 PerYearPer Person)

Youmay have heardyou candonateorgive$20,000 each year perpersonwithout gift taxconsequences. Typically, no onepaysgift taxonagift regardlessofthe value of thegift.A sizeablegift will have estate andgift taxconsequences.

YOUARE INVITED TO AFREE Workshop To LearnHow To:

•Minimize or avoiddeath tax;

•Makesureyourestateutilizes theexemption availablefor deaths occurring in 2026;

•Properlysetup your Will or Living Trustsothere will be no taxuponthe death of the firstspouseregardlessofthe size of theestate;

•Ensurethatyourheirsreceive astep-up in taxbasis –not just when the first spouse dies butagainwhenthe survivingspousedies;

•Utilize the2026 annual gift taxexclusiontomakegiftsof$20,000 peryearper person during your lifetimetoreduce your taxableestateatyourdeath…and MUCH MORE!

Yes, knowledge is power,and thechoice is yours. Butyou MUSTACTNOW to put yourestateplaninplace. ItallstartsbyattendingoneofLauraPoche’sfreeeducational events whichmakes it clear that regardless of your networth,ifyou want to preserve your hard-earnedassets or have peopleinyour lifeyou need to protect or havecausesthatyouwanttopromote,EVERYPERSONNEEDSALEGALESTATE PLAN. LetLaura Pocheand herprofessionaland knowledgeable staffmakethis processaseasyaspossiblesoyoucanlivewithPEACEOFMIND.

BatonRouge

Monday,January 26

PocheLaw Office 4960 Bluebonnet, Ste. C 2:00pm- 4:30pm Refreshments ProvidedAfter

BatonRouge

Wednesday, January28

PocheLaw Office 4960 Bluebonnet, Ste. C 5:30pm -8:00pm Dinner ProvidedAfter

BatonRouge

Tuesday, January27

Mestizos 2323 S. Acadian Thruway 11:00am-1:30pm LunchProvidedAfter

BatonRouge Thursday,January 29

PocheLaw Office 4960Bluebonnet, Ste. C 9:30am-12:00pm LunchProvidedAfter

workshops employ strict social distancing standardsfor everyone’s safety Workshops areopentoFIRST-TIMEATTENDEES ONLYand aregeared towards peoplewhowantorneedyourlegalestateplaninplacequickly.(*)Pleasehaveyour personalcalendarhandyat theworkshop soyoucan choosetostart yourplan NOW! Ifmarried,bothspousesmustattendaworkshoptoensurethatalldecision-makersare involvedinyour family’s coordinatedplan. Allpeoplewho attend will receive a FREEcopyoftheupdated2ndeditionofLauraPoche’sBook,“EstatePlanning Advice by aWoman forLouisiana Women:A Guidefor Both Men andWomen About Wills,Trusts, Probate, Powers of Attorney,Medicaid, Living Wills and Taxes.” *Non-Louisianaresidentsmayattendforanominalfee.

McGlinchey Stafford firm announces wind-downplans

Some layoffs beginbyJan.30

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

More than two weeks after McGlinchey Stafford’s leaders voted to dissolve the law ﬁrm after more than50 years in business, the ﬁrm’s wind-down plansare rapidly taking shape.

McGlinchey’sNew Orleans office, its largest, will shut downonMarch 31 with layoffs for its more than 100employees beginning on March 16, accordingto aWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that the firm sent last week to the Louisiana Workforce Commission notifying the agency of the pending job losses.

Those in the firm’sother officeswillbeout of work sooner. In avirtual meeting with employees on Jan. 15, McGlinchey Managing Partner Michael Ferachi said the last day of work for everyone outside of New Orleans will be Jan. 30, which also will be the firm’s last day to practice law

“Thank you for your patience, resilience and grit over the past week,” Ferachi told employees, according to an audio recording of the meeting. “I have been very impressed how you cared for and supported each other.Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Per federal law,companies arerequiredtogive 60 days advance notice and ﬁle letters if they are laying off 100 employees or more.

Only McGlinchey’sNew Orleans ofﬁce is large enough to meet the threshold. McGlinchey’sequity members,agroup of partners that own the firm, voted on Jan. 5toshut down the mid-sized law ﬁrm, once apowerhouse in the region, sending shock waves across

Louisiana’slegal community Avariety of factorscontributedtothe decision, including the recent departureofseveral high-profile attorneyswiththe firm, delinquent collections, internal disagreementsand steep overhead costs in far-flung offices, according to sources familiar withthe situation and thefirm’s public statement In the days since, individual lawyers and groups of attorneyswithin McGlinchey have left for other firms, accordingtorecentannouncements.

Dozens, however,remain, according to the notice filed with thestate. The document shows that the New Orleans office alone, which is located on the 12thfloor of the Pan AmericanLife Center on Poydras Street, has 111 employees, including34 attorneys.

The attorneys include 2 equitymembers,17no-equity members, 11 associates andfourof-counsel.

The officealso has eight secretaries, sixparalegals, four e-billing coordinators and more than 40 others in accounting, IT,finance, compliance and back office departments. Ferachi and thefirm declined to comment More departures At the time McGlinchey announced its votetodissolve, the firm had around 160 attorneys and hundreds of support staff in 18 offices aroundthe country from SeattletoBoston,though its New Orleansand Baton Rouge officeswere its largest.

In the wake of the announcement, aprominent group ofattorneysfrom the Baton Rouge office moved their corporate and real estate practice, including nine attorneys and four staffers,

to Adams and Reese. On Friday,a36-person team, including 19 attorneys from several of McGlinchey’soffices outside of Louisiana, saidtheywould be joining Womble, Bond, Dickinson, atrans-Atlantic firm with 1,300 attorneys and home offices in London and Baltimore, according to an announcement from the firm AM Law,anindustry trade publication, reported Jan. 16 that talks between the group, headed by apartner in McGlinchey’sCleveland office, and Womble began on Dec. 8and concluded Dec. 26, lessthan 10 days before thevote to dissolve.

Around the same time, McGlinchey lostfour attorneysfrom itscorporate litigation group in NewOrleanstoJones Walker. Another four attorneys from the firm’sWashington, D.C., andFloridaoffices that specializeinconsumer financial services defense announced their departure for Chicagobased Hinshaw

In remarks earlier this month, Ferachi acknowledgedthe ﬁrmhad experienced several high-proﬁle departuresbut said no single move had contributed to thedecision to dissolve.

Those remaining at the ﬁrm have less than 10 days now, accordingtoFerachi’s remarks last week.Atthe meeting,hesaidthe ﬁrm’s goal was to continue meeting payroll “aslongaswe can,” though he acknowledgedthis would “require ongoing bank approval.”

“Inservice of that goal, however,there is not room in thebudget to issue retroactive2025 bonuses or 2026 salary increases,”said Ferachi, which he called“a difﬁcult decision.”

Email StephanieRiegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

BY MORGAN LEEand SAVANNAH PETERS TheAssociated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A judge hasordered that actor Timothy Busﬁeld be released from jail during adetention hearing on child sex abuse charges.

Theorder Tuesday by state districtcourt JudgeDavid Murphy is linkedtoaccusations that Busﬁeld inappropriately touching aminor while working as adirector on theset of theseries“The Cleaning Lady.”

The judge ordered him released on his own recognizance, pending trial. Busﬁeld will be supervised upon release, and can leave the state to live at home.

Busﬁeld, an Emmy Awardwinning actor who is known forappearancesin“TheWest

Wing,”“FieldofDreams” and “Thirtysomething,” was ordered held without bail last week at hisﬁrst court appearance.

Busﬁeld called the allegations liesina video shared before he turned himself in.

At the hearing

Tuesday,hewas handcuffed and dressed in an orange jailuniform at thehearing in aNew Mexico state district court, while his wife, Melissa Gilbert, watched fromthe court gallery Gilbert wastearful while exiting the courtroom after thejudgeorderedBusﬁeld’s release.

Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the 1970s to ’80s TV series “Little House on thePrairie,” is on thelistof

potential witness submitted ahead of thehearing Albuquerque policeissued awarrant for Busﬁeld’sarrest this month on two counts of criminal sexual contact of aminor and one count of child abuse. Acriminalcomplaintalleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady.”

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported Busﬁeld touched him on private areas over his clothing on oneoccasionwhenhewas 7 yearsold andanother time when he was 8. The boy’s twin brother told authorities he wasalso touched by Busﬁeld, butdid notspecify where.

Busfield

Your hearing is an integral part of your overall health and wellbeing. Studies show that untreated hearinglosshas been linked to many health issues, including cognitivedeclineand dementia.1

We are hosting aSpecial Eventduring the monthof During this event, we will be offering these FREE services:

•FREE Hearing Consultations

•FREE Video Otoscope Exam: Hearingloss or just 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 Experiencingthe Following?

1. Asking people to speak up or repeat themselves?

2. Turning theTVuploudtounderstand what is being said?

3. Ringingornoisesinyour ears?

4. Hearing but not understandingcertain words?

Audibelis NOW Offering...

•Hearing aidsat NO COST to those whoqualify!•

• That’s Right...No Co-Pay!NoExamFee! No Adjustment Fee! If youhavethiscard, youmay qualifyfor free hearing aids! Call today to verifyyour benefits

Simply call one of our ofﬁcesbelowtoschedule yourFREE hearing test.

Appointments areavailable on afirst-come, first-served basis and thereisNOCOST fortheseservices

Stevens, Walter Randall 'Randy'

Walter Randall Stevens, 76, "Randy", aresidentof St. Francisville, LA, died on Saturday,January 17, 2026. He was retired, after over 30 years at Tembec Paper Mill. There will be avisitation on Wednesday,January 21,2026 at the St. FrancisvilleUnited Methodist Church,9862 Royal Street, St. Francisville, LA, from 10:00 am until funeral services at 12:00noon, conducted by Rev. Allison Sikes, and assisted by Rev. Jan Curwick and Rev. Brandon Sikes. Burial will be at Star Hill Cemetery.Heissurvived by hiswife of 35 years, Theresa Roy Stevens; one daughter, Jennifer Stevens of St. Francisville; two step -sons, Bryan Chemin and wife Tracie of Prairieville, LA; Brandon Johnson and wife Brittany of Monroe, LA; one sister, Karen Howard and husband Mike ofLaurel, MS; seven grandchildren: Blake Chemin Lauren Chemin, Britni Johnson, Bailee Johnson, Kinidy Johnson, Addison Johnson, and Bralynn Johnson. He is also survived by his precious pet, Brownie. He was preceded in death by his parents: Walter Hurley Stevens and BillieJoyce Stevens Applewhite. Pallbearers willbePhil Curwick, Robert Honeycutt, Butch Jones, Mike Howard, Harry Short, and Jerry Stevens. Honorary Pallbearers will be Bryan Chemin and Brandon Johnson. He attended Jones County Junior College, East Jones High School, and Powers Elementary. He was amember of the Feliciana Masonic Lodge. He served as aWest Feliciana Police Juror. He enjoyed time in the outdoors, hunting and fishing. Memorial donationscan be sentto St. Francisville United Methodist Church or Hospice of Baton Rougeor charity of your choice. The family wishes to thank the

Turk, Milan Joseph

Milan Joseph Turk, November 25, 1938 -January18, 2026

Milan J. Turk, age87of NewCanaan, CT. died on January 18, 2026, in Danbury, CT.surroundedby his loving family after a brief hospital stay. Milan was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,attended Baton Rouge High School and graduatedfromLouisiana State University -BSChemicalEngineering (1960); MBA (1962) and Harvard's Advanced Management Program. While at LSU he was Presidentofthe College of Engineering.

In 1961, he marriedthe love of his life, Margot Genre, in Port Allen, LA and together they raised four children: Lori,Milan Jr Margot,and Richard. He began his career in Baton Rouge at Exxon followed by many successful years with StaufferChemical Company. He worked for MobayCorporationin Pittsburgh for two years before returningtoConnecticut, retiring from International PaperinPurchase,NYin2000. Over the years, the familymoved from Baton Rouge, to Houston, to Westfield, NJ, to FairfieldCT, toGeneva Switzerland, back to Fairfield, to Sewickley, PA. and then toNew Canaan, CT

Milan was aman of faith and alifelong Catholic, his illegible handwriting atestamenttohis early Catholicschoolyears. He was amember of St. Pius X in Fairfield and since 1990,

St Aloysious in New Canaan.

He lovedmodelairplanes, tennis, shooting sports,hunting dogs, fishing,lemon meringue pie, oatmeal cookies with lots of raisins, photography, Sunday newspaper comics, ginrummy, fine wine, and ice cream. He truly enjoyed buildingand fixing things and appreciated beautiful wood. He collected and shared many things which brought him joy.

Most of all, he lovedhis family and invested significant personal time and energyinfamily time.He shared all his passions with his childrenand grandchildrenand supported their endeavorsin many ways. Aregularfeature of every family gathering was an attempt at a full family photographwith Milan setting thetimerand running intohis spot in the picture combing his hair as he ran. Pictures of family gatherings filltablesand albums in Milan and Margot's home.

Milan is survivedbyhis wife of 64 years Margot G. Turk, NewCanaan, CT; his children -LoriBrown Murphy(Mark) of Laurinburg, NC,Milan J. Turk, Jr.(Beth) of Hendersonville, NC,MargotTurk Newkirchen (Lance) of FairfieldCT, and Richard P. Turk (Becky) of SantaMonica, CA;Grandchildren -Mary Kate Murphy(Ken), MatthewTurk (Kenzie),Madeleine Turk Zylberman (Justin) Kathryn Turk,Brandon Turk,and Avery Newkirchen, and onegreat -grandson Noah Joseph Zylberman; siblings -Susan Orr (Don), Carol Tisdale, Mary Frances Faul, sisters-in-law Jeanne Genre Lorio and Marilyn Turk;brother-in-law Lawrence Mercier; and many nieces and nephews.

Milan was predeceased by hisparents Frank Paul and Zdenka CopTurk, his in-lawsRichard and Marguerite Crozat Genre, siblings Frank Turk Jr. and Margaret Turk Mercier, and brothers-in-law Dr. Phil Lorio and Michael Tisdale.

Visitation willbeheldat Hoyt FuneralHome, 199 MainStreet, NewCanaan on Friday, January23, from 4to6 pm.and therewillbe aCatholicFuneral Mass

celebrated at St.Aloysius 21 CherrySt, NewCanaan CT 06840 in NewCanaan, on Saturday, January 24 at 10 AM. Interment willbea laterdateatRoselawn Cemetery in Baton Rouge.

In lieu of flowers, please consider agift to thingsMilan supported: Parkinson'sBody& Mind (https://www.parkinsonsb odyandmind org)and St. Aloysius Parish (https://starcc.com)

Walker, EMyrei DKaiya

The light that was E'Myrei D'Kaiya Walker was born on January22, 2008, thefirst borntoher Mother, Royeshia Nicole Keller,eldest sister of 4 childrentoher siblings Kyiveon Keller (B), Jermani Selders (S) and Jai'Rein Keller (B). She and her sister/cousin Ri'DajaCastle were an inseparablepair whose storycan't be told without theother.She was amember of Living Faith ChristianCenter since birth. E'Myrei received her crown on January10, 2026 at theage of 17 years old. Celebrationoflife service willbeheldonJanuary 22nd at 11am. Living Faith ChristianCenter, 6375 Winbourne Ave.,B.R,LA70805.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

THEADVOCATE.COM | Wednesday, January 21, 2026 1Bn

School enforces policy on hair color

Students respond with petition at Walker High

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

After Walker High School ofﬁcials enforced a dress code policy allowing only “natural colored” hair, students created a petition to change the rule, garnering over 400 signatures in a week

Students started the online petition after the Livingston Parish high school posted a “natural hair color notice” on social media Jan 14.

Severe weather coming to BR

Freezing rain a possibility

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

This weekend and early next week will bring extremely low temperatures and chances of freezing rain to Baton Rouge, but snow or accumulated ice are not anticipated, according to the National Weather Service.

Little information is available for certain right now, but the weather system headed toward Louisiana is being closely monitored, and forecasts will be updated later this week, according to the weather service.

“If we do take winter precipitation, I’m sorry to say it’s not going to snow It likely won’t be sleet; it would likely fall in the form of freezing rain,” a weather service spokesperson said.

Freezing rain occurs when rain stays liquid through a warm layer of air and then freezes on cold surfaces. It can coat power lines and roads with a glaze of ice, causing outages and making travel dangerous. As of Tuesday Baton Rouge has a 14% chance of freezing rain between Friday and Sunday evening. This amount of freezing rain would most likely only affect overpasses and bridges, according to the weather service.

The biggest threat will be exposure. The weather service expects overnight temperatures in Baton Rouge to drop in the low 20s starting Sunday night and last at least until next Wednesday Highs throughout the day are not expected to go above 40 degrees.

Northern Louisiana, central Mississippi and central Alabama are expected to have a severe winter storm with freezing rain that will impact roads and power lines. Baton Rouge and everywhere south of the city will experience bitter cold temperatures. According to the weather service spokesperson, if freezing rain does reach Baton Rouge, it would mostly affect bridges and overpasses rather than main interstates and highways.

“We’ll have a better idea on Thursday and especially Friday as we get closer,” the NWS spokesperson said. “Our heavy hitting, our most powerful data guidance will not come in until we get closer to the 48-hour period prior to or the

“Per the student handbook for Walker High School, hair must be of a natural color,” the school said.

“Beginning Jan. 26, any student with hair that is not a natural color will receive consequences.”

According to the student handbook, dress code violations can result in a variety of consequences from detention to suspension.

Livingston Parish Public Schools spokesperson Delia Taylor said in a statement released Friday that the district-wide policy is not new

and has been around since at least 2022.

“Student expectations, including dress and grooming standards, are in place to help maintain a structured orderly learning environment that supports instruction and minimizes distractions,” Taylor said. “LPPS values our partnership with families and appreciates their understanding that our schools are responsible for enforcing policies.”

However, students claim the

school, and other parish schools, have always been lenient on the hair color policy, and that the announcement was a shock to them.

“Why is Walker’s hair all of a sudden a problem?” asked Amelia Johnson, whose daughter, Kitiar’a, is a sophomore at Walker High.

“Wouldn’t they have started (enforcing) that from day one?”

Kitiar’a has blue hair She has been dying her hair a variety of colors for over a decade.

“Everybody’s talking about (the ban). It’s the main topic of conversation,” the sophomore said. “I just think it’s so unfair Hair color isn’t

Early bloomer

a crime.”

Johnson said she had always heard that the school was lenient about its hair color policy, until now

Walker High School has about 2,000 students enrolled for the school year, according to the Louisiana Department of Education data.

The online petition, as of Tuesday afternoon, had more than 400 signatures.

“We ask the school to update the policy so students can choose bright hair colors without punishment,” the petition said.

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

HILARy SCHEINUK

Officials say home that burned had no smoke alarm

Three killed in Denham Springs fire

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

There was no working smoke alarm in a Denham Springs house where a ﬁre killed three people Saturday, according to new details from investigators

The State Fire Marshal is still investigating the ﬁre and has not ruled out the possibility of electrical-related contributing factors, according to a Monday news release.

James Garrett, 96, his greatgranddaughter Kirsten Vidrine, 21, and her best friend, Danielle Ricard, 20, died in the fire on Wanda Avenue, ofﬁcials said. Fire crews were dispatched to the scene about 6:20 a.m.

Amanda Broussard Vidrine’s aunt and Garrett’s granddaughter, said Saturday the three were trapped as the house burned.

CHANGES

Continued from page 1B

missed screenings, about 67 additional cancer cases, approximately nine excess late-stage diagnoses, and an estimated ﬁve preventable deaths from these cancers over that period. Five preventable deaths, oncologists say, is only the beginning. The true toll of coverage losses is often felt through delayed diagnoses and more advanced disease rather than immediate shifts in mortality, said Dr Adrian Diaz, a surgical oncologist and coauthor of the study

LSU

Continued from page 1B

university of stacking the Title IX process against him and denying him a fair appeal. The previouslyunreported Title IX probe ended with LSU suspending Toviano after finding him responsible last fall for “sexual exploitation” of a former girlfriend, according to his lawsuit.

LSU’s Title IX office which handles complaints of sexual misconduct and gender-based violence, handed Toviano a one-year suspension after concluding the investigation in October, according to the suit. His complaint asks a judge to bar the Board of Supervisors from enacting that punishment through a temporary restraining order.

Toviano’s former girlfriend filed a complaint with the Title IX ofﬁce in August 2024, records show, weeks after a grand jury dismissed Toviano’s criminal video voyeurism case. In both the criminal and Title IX case, the woman alleged that Toviano ﬁlmed them having sex without her consent.

Toviano’s attorneys, however say in new court ﬁl-

“There was no way for them to physically get out,” Broussard said.

Vidrine’s father, James Vidrine, was able to crawl to safety out the house’s back door He was taken for treatment at a hospital burn unit, his family said.

Investigators confirmed the homedidnothaveaworkingsmoke alarm, according to the news release.

“It is critical that the people of Louisiana understand how much of a difference smoke alarms can make when it comes to surviving a fire,” State Fire Marshal Bryan J. Adams said in the release. “It’s not the ﬂames that kill, it’s the smoke. Smoke alarms give families early warning of an emergency and valuable time to escape safely.”

Staff writer Quinn Coffman contributed to this report

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

“Patients don’t receive a cancer diagnosis and then succumb to their disease weeks later,” Diaz said. “If you were to extrapolate this out over time, I expect the numbers to be much, much larger.”

The analysis relied on historical data from Arkansas’ short-lived Medicaid work requirement experiment and the nationwide Medicaid eligibility “unwinding” that followed the end of pandemic-era protections. New requirements

The new requirements are part of President Donald Trump’s budget and tax package approved by Congress this year, which

ings that the former girlfriend’s allegations were later proven false, leading a grand jury to decline to bring criminal charges.

The complaint filed late last year in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge does not directly name Toviano as its plaintiff. After LSU’s attorneys asked to move the case to federal court this month, they included in their filing an affidavit identifying Toviano as the person bringing the case.

Toviano’s attorney, Philip House, did not immediately return a phone message left with his ofﬁce Tuesday LSU Athletics spokesperson Zach Greenwell said they do not comment on legal matters.

LSU Board Chair Scott Ballard did not return phone messages.

Toviano has played for the past three seasons for the Tigers, but recently entered the NCAA transfer portal as a coveted prospect. After his initial arrest in 2024, he was suspended from playing football for a little more than a week before being reinstated shortly before the season began.

The freshly public court records shed new light on a winding dispute between Toviano and the former

mandates that states verify Medicaid enrollees’ work or school status at least every six months, though states may check more frequently The changes are projected to reduce Louisiana’s Medicaid rolls by 190,000 to 300,000 people, according to recent estimates. About 1 in 3 Louisianans is enrolled in Medicaid — one of the highest rates in the nation.

Supporters of the changes say the rules are intended to rein in rising Medicaid costs and encourage employment. Critics warn they could lead to widespread administrative churn, causing people who remain eligible to lose cov-

girlfriend after his arrest and initial brief suspension. The revelations of the Title IX ofﬁce’s probe of Toviano add to a lengthy list of accusations of alleged sexual misconduct against athletes at the state’s ﬂagship university, after a law firm’s 2021 review found widespread failures from LSU on responding to complaints of sexual misconduct and partner-based violence among students.

Detectives with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce arrested Toviano on July 21, 2024, on a single count stemming from the former girlfriend’s allegations.

An arrest warrant said Toviano admitted to using a hidden camera to record the pair’s sexual encounters But days later, the criminal charges were “dismissed and no-billed” legal parlance for a grand jury’s decision not to charge a potential defendant — after Toviano produced proof that both the sexual activity depicted in the recordings and the recordings themselves were “consensual,” his attorneys say.

The lawsuit offers few clues as to what evidence Toviano may have provided investigators to bolster that

erage after missing paperwork deadlines or reporting windows.

Surgeries, harsher chemo Cancer mortality in Louisiana ranks among the highest in the nation, with an overall cancer death rate of about 218 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with roughly 146 per 100,000 nationally Lung, breast and colorectal cancers account for the largest share of those deaths.

Dr Shalini Kulasingam, a cancer screening researcher at Tulane University, said disruptions in screening tend to compound over time.

claim, though it describes how he had given the former girlfriend passwords to his iPad and iCloud account, which his attorneys say she used to access the videos.

The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Ofﬁce, “after review of the case, declined to proceed with prosecution,” prosecutors wrote in a 2024 court filing. They ordered the Sheriff’s Office to return belongings to Toviano’s former girlfriend that investigators had seized as evidence.

The former girlfriend submitted her complaint to the university’s Title IX ofﬁce later that August. Toviano learned the investigation was underway four months later, in December 2024, his lawsuit says.

As the investigation pressed forward over the next year Toviano’s suit accuses the Title IX ofﬁce of “hand picking” members of a panel that weighed the allegations against him.

The panel found Toviano responsible for “sexual exploitation” on Oct. 20, 2025, and issued him a one-year suspension from the university, the lawsuit says. Toviano appealed, but the appeal was denied a month

“We would still expect to continue to see the ramiﬁcations of this decision well beyond those two years,” Kulasingam said.

The analysis did not include other cancers Louisiana has high incidence rates of, such as cervical cancer, she noted.

“They only looked at the big cancers breast, colorectal and lung — but there will be others that are impacted by this,” Kulasingam said.

Catching patients at a later date through symptoms rather than screening will also lead to treatments that are harder on patients: more invasive surgeries and harsher chemothera-

later It’s unclear whether Toviano is currently serving the suspension.

His complaint contends that the Title IX process left him without an opportunity for “further review of deprivation of his property rights and reputation.”

A top-100 high school recruit who was highly touted coming out of Arlington, Texas, Toviano has played a variety of positions for the Tigers’ defense. He logged 50 tackles in his three seasons on the team, 33 of them in his freshman campaign.

Staff writers Matt Bruce and Wilson Alexander contributed to this report.

Email James Finn at jﬁnn@theadvocate.com.

LOTTERY

MONDAY, JAN. 19, 2026

PICK 3: 8-9-9

PICK 4: 7-6-6-9

PICK 5: 4-5-5-2-8

POWERBALL:

py, Diaz said. Oncologists are “preparing mentally” for harder conversations and bleaker outcomes, he said.

“We’re almost certainly going to see an influx of patients present at a more advanced stage with cancers that are manifesting with physical exams that otherwise would have been caught on surveillance,” Diaz said.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTO By QUINN COFFMAN

A car chassis sits completely charred in the driveway of James Garrett’s house on Wanda Avenue on Saturday. The home burned down about 6 a.m. Saturday morning, killing Garrett, his great-granddaughter and her best friend, officials said.

BRIEFS

St. Mary manufacturer to launch expansion

A St. Mary Parish manufacturer will launch an expansion project in a move that will create 14 new jobs.

Viking Attachments will invest $160,000 to expand its domestic production of its VMW Series vibratory pile drivers at its Morgan City headquarters, ofﬁcials with Louisiana Economic Development announced Tuesday

The project advances its transition from pilot to full-scale operations, strengthening its ability to meet demand from marine and infrastructure contractors nationwide, LED ofﬁcials said.

The facility will serve as Viking Attachments’ primary manufacturing and testing site for the pile drivers, supporting engineering, welding, assembly painting, testing and spare-parts warehousing.

The work is expected to be completed by March.

It will also support expanded inventory and the addition of a demonstration fleet as operations scale, strengthening production capacity and service response.

“Viking Attachment’s expansion is a true point of pride for St. Mary Parish,” said Evan Boudreaux, St. Mary economic development director “A local, home-grown business expanding into full-scale, national manufacturing right here in Morgan City afﬁrms that we are a place businesses can start, scale and compete on a national stage.”

EU plans phase out of telecom suppliers

LONDON The European Union said Tuesday it plans to phase out gear supplied by companies based in “high risk” countries from critical infrastructure such as high-speed telecom networks, in a move seen as targeting Chinese companies including Huawei and ZTE. Brussels’ proposed measures to tighten up cybersecurity come amid rising concerns that the bloc’s 27 member countries are vulnerable both to the dominance of Chinese high tech manufacturing and U.S Big Tech services.

Under the draft legislation released by the EU’s executive commission, telecom equipment from so-called high risk suppliers in third countries would be phased out within three years. The proposals don’t mention any countries or companies by name, but the term “high risk” has been previously used to refer to countries like China, home to tech giant Huawei. The company is the world’s biggest maker of networking equipment but has long been banned from the United States. U.K. considers teen social media ban

LONDON The British government says it will consider banning young teenagers from social media as it tightens laws designed to protect children from harmful content and excessive screen time.

The government said it would consult with parents, young people and other interested parties about the safe use of technology amid growing concern that children are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.

“As I have been clear, no option is off the table, including looking at what age children should be able to access social media and whether we need restrictions on things such as addictive features like inﬁnite scrolling or streaks in apps,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on Substack.

As part of their investigation, government ministers will travel to Australia to learn about the country’s recent move that requires major social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X to bar children under 16 from their platforms. More than 60 lawmakers from Starmer’s center-left Labour Party earlier this week wrote to the prime minister calling on the government to introduce an Australia-style ban in Britain

Tariff threats sink Wall Street

Trump targets eight European countries over Greenland

BY DAMIAN J. TROISE Associated Press

NEW YORK Stocks slumped on Wall Street Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to hit eight European countries with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland. The losses were widespread, with nearly every sector losing

ground. Major indexes in the U.S. extended losses from last week in what has been a wobbly start to the year The S&P 500 fell 143.15 points, or 2.1%, to 6,796.86. It is the steepest drop for the benchmark index since October The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 870.74 points, or 1.8%, to 48,488.59. The Nasdaq composite fell 561.07 points, or 2.4%, to 22,954.32.

Technology stocks were the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, plunged 4.4%. Apple fell 3.5%.

Retailers, banks and industrial companies also fell sharply Lowe’s fell 3.3%, JPMorgan Chase fell 3.1%, and Caterpillar lost 2.5%.

European markets and markets in Asia fell. Long-term bond yields in Japan rose to record levels on concerns over the government’s ﬁscal policy, adding to anxiety in global markets.

Trump’s trade policy has roiled markets since the start of his second term. Stocks have sold off on the threat of steep tariffs, then rallied when Trump delays or cancels a tariff, or negotiates a lower rate.

Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax

starting in February on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The annual combined imports from European Union nations are greater than those from the top two biggest individual importers into the U.S., Mexico and China. Gold prices surged 3.7% and silver prices soared 6.9%. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The trade tensions apparently short-circuited a recent rally in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency rose above $96,000 late last week but has dropped back to around $89,700.

China meets soybean commitment

But Trump’s shifting trade policy could disrupt deal

BY JOSH FUNK Associated Press

China has fulﬁlled its initial commitment to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S., but it’s not clear if the trade agreement announced in October can withstand President Donald Trump’s ever-shifting trade policy as American farmers are still dealing with high production costs.

Earlier this month, Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on any country that buys from Iran, which would include China. Then last weekend he threatened to impose 10% tariffs on eight of America’s closest allies in Europe if they continue to oppose his efforts to acquire Greenland.

So the administration’s trade policy continues to change quickly, and Iowa State University agricultural economist Chad Hart said that could undermine the trade agreement with China and jeopardize the commitment by the world’s largest soybean buyer to purchase 25 million metric tons of American soybeans in each of the next three years.

“Those new tariffs — what does that mean for this agreement? Does it throw it out? Is it still binding? That’s sort of the game here now,” Hart said

Beijing paused any purchase of U.S soybeans last summer during its trade war with Washington but agreed to resume buying from American soybean farmers after Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in South Korea and agreed to a truce.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the purchasing milestone China has met in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business on Tuesday from the sidelines of a major economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Bessent met with his Chinese counterpart, Vice President He Lifeng. Bessent said China remains committed.

“He told me that just this week they completed their soybean purchases, and we’re looking forward to next year’s 25 million tons,” Bessent said. “They did everything they said they were going to do.”

Last fall, preliminary data from the Department of Agriculture cast doubts on whether China would live up to the agreement because it was slow to begin purchasing American soybeans and there is a lag before the purchases show up in the ofﬁcial numbers.

On Tuesday, the USDA data showed that China had bought more than 8 million tons of U.S. soybeans by Jan. 8, and its daily reports indicated that China placed several more orders since then, ranging from 132,000 tons to more than 300,000 tons.

China has shifted much of its soybean

purchases over to Brazil and Argentina in recent years to diversify its sources and ﬁnd the cheapest deals. Last year Brazilian beans accounted for more than 70% of China’s imports, while the U.S. share was down to 21%, World Bank data shows.

Trump is planning to send roughly $12 billion in aid to U.S. farmers to help them withstand the trade war, but farmers say the aid won’t solve all their problems as they continue to deal with the soaring costs of fertilizer, seeds and labor that make it hard to turn a proﬁt right now Soybean farmers will get $30.88 per acre while corn farmers will receive $44.36 per acre.

Another crop hit hard when China stopped buying was sorghum, and those farmers will get $48.11 per acre. The amounts are based on a USDA formula on the cost of production.

That and uncertainty about trade markets and how much farmers will receive for their crops has even some of the most optimistic farmers worried, said Cory Walters who is an associate professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Agricultural Economics. Soybean prices jumped up above $11.50 per bushel after the agreement was announced, but the price has since fallen to about $10.56 per bushel on Tuesday So prices are close to where they were a year ago and aren’t high enough to cover most farmers’ costs.

Netflix intensifies $72 billion bid for Warner Bros.

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP business writers

Netflix is now offering to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business in all cash — in an effort to win over the Hollywood giant’s shareholders for its $72 billion merger and potentially thwart a hostile bid from Skydance-owned Paramount. Back in December, Netflix struck a cash and stock deal with Warner valued at $27.75 per share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. But on Tuesday, the companies announced that they would be revising the transaction to simplify its

structure, provide more certainty of value for Warner stockholders and speed up the path to a shareholder vote — which they said could arrive by April.

The all-cash transaction is still valued at $27.75 per Warner share. Warner stockholders will also receive the additional value of shares of Discovery Global, which would become a separate public company following a previously-announced separation from Warner Bros. Warner leadership has repeatedly backed a merger with Netﬂix — and the boards of both companies approved the all-cash deal announced Tuesday In a statement, Warner CEO David Zaslav said the revised agreement “brings us

even closer to combining two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world.” A spokesperson for Paramount declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday Unlike Netﬂix, Paramount wants to acquire Warner’s entire company including networks like CNN and Discovery — and went straight to shareholders with all cash, $77.9 billion offer last month. Warner stockholders have until 5 p.m. ET Wednesday to tender their shares in support of Paramount’s bid, which has an enterprise value of $108 billion including debt But that deadline could be pushed back further While

Paramount declined to share further details on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the company was planning on another extension.

Beyond its tender offer, Paramount has promised a proxy ﬁght. Last week, the company said it would nominate its own slate of directors before the Warner’s next shareholder meeting, the date of which has still not been set. Paramount also filed a suit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to compel Warner Bros. to disclose to shareholders how it values its bid and the competing offer from Netﬂix. But a judge on Thursday denied Paramount’s request to expedite that proceeding.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARLIE RIEDEL

Austin Rohlfing harvests soybeans on his family’s field near Boonville, Mo., in November

Stevens, Walter

St.FrancisvilleUnitedMethodist Church,9862Royal Street,St. Francisville,LAat12pm.

■ Wednesday, January21, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Funerals Today passion allthe waytothe very end. Pallbearers willbeSkipper Rawls, Billy Hymel, Sammy Muffoleto, Kenny Landry, Bert Tugwell,Ryan Richard, Kevin Lastrapes and BradLindley.Honorary Pallbearersare Jerril Musso, RJ D'Agostinoand Dr. Abelardo "Jay"Arizpe. Both visitation and funeral serviceswillbeheldat GreenoaksFuneral Home 9595Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA. Visitation will be on Thursday, January 22, 2026from4:00pm to 7:30pm and Friday, January 23, 2026from10:00am to 11:00am. Funeral services willbeonJanuary23, 2026, beginningat11:00am with graveside servicestofollow

Obituaries

Canella, Joseph 'Jay'

Joseph "Jay" Canella, a native of Baton Rouge, LA and prominent business man, passed away on January 15, 2026 at the age of 85. Jay was born on August 31, 1940 as agrandson of Sicilian Italianimmigrants. At ayoung age, he sold hot tamales on the streets of downtown Baton Rouge for his family's business, "Muffoletto's Hot Tamales", founded by his maternal grandmother. He was aproudgraduateof Baton Rouge High School and later served with honor in the Army Reserves. He also served as areserve deputy sheriff for the East BatonRougeSheriff's Office. As ateenager, Jay began laying floors and turned that into alifelong career, eventually starting his own flooring company "Jay's Commercial Carpets", which delivered top quality flooring and service to customers throughout the Baton Rouge area for 25 years. After retiring, he got involved in the Louisiana Institutional Boxing Association (LIBA) where he served as areferee,judge,and eventually became the commissioner for anumber of years. Later in life, Jay enjoyed traveling all over the world which included visiting all 7continents,48states and special VIP trips to the Pro Football Hall of Fame with his good friend, Jim Taylor He hada passion for giving to children's charities, including St Jude's Children's Hospital and the Shriner's Hospital. He also helped many children in Mexico gain their smiles by donating to the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic (CLAYPA) and sponsoring children for surgeries performed by his lifelong friend, Dr. Abelardo "Jay" Arizpe. Jay is survived by his daughters, Kelly Lastrapes (Kevin) and Melissa Canella, son, Joey Canella, and granddaughter, Kirby Lastrapes. He is also survived by his sisters, Mary Williams, JoAnn Falgoust and Donna Canella. He is preceded in death by his mother, Mary Muffoleto Canella, and father, Joseph J. Canella, Sr. The family would like to thank the staff at the Claiborne of Baton Rouge and Hospice of Baton Rouge for the loving care they gave Jay at the end of his life. Special thanks to his loving sitter, Cleuza Helena de Abreu "CiCy" who cared for him with much love and com-

Paul Richard "Snowman" Covington passed awayonJanuary 18, 2026. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visitation at Live Oak Baptist Church inDenham Springs, Friday, January23, 2026, from 12:00 PM until servicesbegin at 2:00PM. Burial will follow in Vicker'sCemeteryinWalker. Arrangements are entrustedto McLin Funeral Home.A full obituarymay be viewed at www.mclinfuneralhome.co m

Davis, Charles Edward

CharlesEdward Davis, Sr age84, passed away Saturday, January 3, 2026, in Richardson, TX. Services willbeheldThursday, January 22, 2026, at 11:00am at First Baptist Church of Richmond Park, 3115NewtonSt., Baton Rouge, LA, with visitation from 9:00am to 11:00am. Internment will immediately follow at Greenoaks MemorialPark. He is survived by hiswife, JoyceOby Davis;fourchildren;three grandchildren; one brother; and otherrelatives. He was agraduate of Capitol Senior High, Class of '59.

Billy Joe

BillyJoe Dendy, 81, passed away peacefully on Friday, January 16, 2026, surrounded by his family he lovedsodearly. Born in Stewart,Mississippi, Billy Joeproudly served in the United States Army Reserve and spent hisworking years as acrane operatorwith Local 406, taking prideinthe lowering of the nuclear reactor at theEntergyplant in St. Francisville,Louisiana. BillyJoe was happiest when he had arod and reel in hand, sitting on the water, sharing his love of fishing with his childrenand grandchildren.Those fishing trips togetherwillalways be some of thefamily's most treasured memories.Billy Joeloved nothing more than ahouse fulloffamily and friendstocookfor. He was known for cooking some of the best BBQ chicken,fried fish, and boiled crawfish. He enjoyed gardening and loved to sharehis tomatoesand cucumbers with everyone. He was married for56 years to theloveofhis life Suzie,and remained devoted to her always. He is survivedbyhis sister, Rachel "Ann" Chandler; his children,Bruce Dendy(Rhonda), Robynne Broussard (Craig), and ChristyWallace (Johnathon); eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He waspreceded in death by his wife, Suzanne Watson Dendy; his parents, Houstonand Era Luetta "Criss" Dendy; his brother-in-law, Keith Chandlerand his sister-in-law, Patsy Watson who he helpedtakecare of forover fortyyears. Visitation willbeheldonFriday, January 23, 2026, from 1:00pm -3:00pm at Resthaven Funeral Home, 11817 JeffersonHwy, Baton Rouge. AGravesideservice willstart at 3:00pm in Resthaven's Gardenof King Solomon. In lieu of funeral services,a celebration of life will be announced at alaterdate. The family wishes to expresstheir deepest gratitude to The LodgeNursing Home and The Hospiceof Baton Rouge,and to allthe kind and compassionate caregivers who helpedBilly Joealong theway. In lieu of plants/flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be madetoThe Hospice of BatonRouge, 3600 FloridaBlvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, in loving memory of Billy Joe Dendy.

Barbara was lovedbya largecircle of friendsand family attracted by her warmth, wit,and interest in their lives. Born August 31, 1935, in Baton Rouge, Barbara attended University HighSchool and graduated LSUwith aBSinBusiness. Active with Chi Omega and several other campus groups, Barbara was elected LSUFreshman of theYear. Barbara'slifelong interest in people, organizing gatherings, and servingothersnever ceased. She was abeacon of light and joytomany. After college, Barbara worked in budget and finance rolesinseveral industries, most notably at a historicand activesugar cane plantationand the LSUAGCenter.Barbara met theloveofher life, William J. Hughes Jr., on a blind date and they married in 1980. Barbara'slove forpeople,events and history coupled withher husband's witand enthusiasm for design, engineering, and flying were aperfect match that ledtomany adventures. They traveled extensively, ofteninher husband's plane forleisure and business, and developed many friendships abroad.Barbara was also a greatpartner in her husband's architect and engineering projects. Barbara is precededindeath by her husband, William J. Hughes Jr; parents, Etheland MarvinVastine;and sister, Sandra Dennis and husband, Jack. Barbara is survivedbyher brother, Boone Vastine and wife, Carolyn; daughter, Cheryl Jones and husband, Rowley, and their children, ShelbyNeuman and husband, Nick, and Grayson Jones; son, Richard Wood and wife, Dr. Rebecca Adcock; step-daughter, Nancy Readinger and her children,AlexaAlexanderand Andrew Readinger; stepson, Jeff Hughes and wife, Tammy, and his children, Jessica Stewart and husband, Chad,Campbell Hughes and wife, Amy Paige. In addition, Barbara is survivedbyfivegreatgranddaughters, afuture great-grandson, and several nieces and nephews. Familyand friends are invitedtoattenda funeral servicetobeheldatUniversityUnited Methodist Church, 3350 Dalrymple Drive, Baton Rouge LouisianaonFriday, January 23, 2026, at 11:00 AM Visitation willbeheldfrom 10:00 AM until service time. Graveside burial willtake

place afterward at ResthavenGardens of Memory, 11817 Jefferson HighwayinBaton Rouge.In lieu of flowers, donations canbemade to University United Methodist Church Baton Rouge,Louisiana. Familyand friends may sign theonline guestbook or leave apersonal note to thefamilyatwww.resthav enbatonrouge.com.

Essie MaeAnthony Johnson,a native andresident of Clinton, LA, was born on February 9, 1939, to the lateMatildaAnthony.Essie departedthislife on January 13, 2026. Essie acceptedJesus Christ at an early ageand wasbaptizedatMt. Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Ethel, LA, whereshe sanginthe seniorchoir for many years andservedasPresidentofthe choir. She workedata jewelrystore in Clintonfor afew years andatClinton DrugStore for several years. Essie leaves to cherish herpreciousmemories: two daughters: Barbara Washington CollinsofClinton, LA; Angela (John)Johnson of Clinton, LA; four sons: ClarenceJohnson of Zachary, LA; JamesRobert (Shirley) Johnson, Jr.of Baker, LA; Michael (Theresa) JohnsonofPortAllen, LA;Gregory(Joyce) Johnson of Raeford, NC; anda host of grandchildren great-grandchildren,greatgreat-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, andfriends. Essie wasprecededindeathbyher mother, MatildaAnthony; husband, JamesR.Johnson, Sr.; two sons: Jessie Johnsonand Jamie Lee Johnson,Sr.,one brother, fivesisters, aunts, anduncles. Visitation will be held at Mt.Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 9654 LA-10, Ethel,LAonSaturday, Jan-

uary 24, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. untilreligiousservice at 11:00 a.m., officiated by Rev. L. L. Harris. Interment in Mt.Hope Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery Ethel, LA. Funeral arrangements entrusted to RichardsonFuneral Home of Clinton, LA.

LeBlanc, Lois Hoffmann

Lois HoffmannLeBlanc, 84, passed away peacefully surroundedbyfamilyon Saturday, January17th. ShegrewupinSt. Gabriel, graduating from high school in 1959 with 18 total students. Oneofthosestudentsturnedout to be the love of herlife, Stan. The story goesthattheymet in strollers at Aunt Dot's house. Buttheir real love began in the6th grade when Stan returned to St Gabriel. Andthe rest is history with 59 years of marriage. SheattendedLSU where she earned abachelor's degree in French education andmaster's in libraryscience.Upon graduation she workedatEnoch Pratt Free LibraryinBaltimore,MD. Shereturned to Louisiana and workedasa librarian at Ethyl Corporation.She later opened the first St.Gabriellibraryand thebookmobile to serve the women's prison. She then spent hercareer in theEast Baton Rouge Parish School System,the majority of whichwas at McKinley High School. Shefound joyintravelingand exploring new places. As atruefoodie, she loved discoveringnew cuisinesand inventing her owndishes, whichshe referred to as "food fun!". Shewas avoracious reader andcould always be foundwitha book she checked outfromthe library in hand or on her Kindle. Oneofher favorite topics for reading was gardening.Ifshe wasn't readingabout gardening,she wasinher gardenbringing to life vegetables, herbs andflowers,especially irises. Some of herhappiest

Many Americans arefortunate to have dental coveragefor their entire working life,through employer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement, payingdental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock,leading people to put offoreven go without care. Simply put —withoutdental insurance, there may be an important gap in yourhealthcare coverage.

Whenyou’recomparing plans

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

That’sright.AsgoodasMedicare is,itwas never meanttocover everything. That means if youwant protection,you need to purchase individual insurance.

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones

Thebest way to preventlarge dental bills is preventive care. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkupstwice ayear

Previous dentalwork canwear out

Even if you’ve hadqualitydentalwork in the past, youshouldn’ttakeyourdentalhealth forgranted. In fact, your odds of havinga dentalproblem only go up as youage.2

Treatment is expensive especially theservicespeople over 50 often need

Consider these national average costsof treatment. $274for acheckup $299 for afilling $1,471 fora crown.3 Unexpected bills likethiscan be areal burden, especially if you’reonafixed income

Dendy,

Johnson,Essie Mae

Covington, PaulRichard

days were spent at her family camp in Grand Isle, where she enjoyed long, peaceful hours on the beach, crabbing, and searching for beach treasures in the Gulf. Those simple moments watching the sunsets at the beach or on the porch of Blue Moon were her favorite.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Stanford E. LeBlanc; her children, Anne T. LeBlanc (David Lee) and Chip (Morgan); brother Tom Ed Hoffmann (Suzette); sister Sue Huff (Dan); brother-in-law Jimmy LeBlanc (Sarah) and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and family members.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Louis G. Hoffmann, Sr. and Jenny; bother L.G. Hoffmann and wife Elaine; in laws Melvin J. LeBlanc, Sr. and Sadie; brother-in-law Melvin J. LeBlanc, Jr. and wife Audry, Paul Cashio; and nephews Dale, Myles and Mike LeBlanc.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 2025, at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church (3625 Hwy 75, St. Gabriel, LA 70776) from 9:30 AM until the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM. Entombment will follow at the St. Gabriel Catholic Cemetery. Following, areception will be held at Chatsworth Plantation (5755 Hwy 74, St. Gabriel, LA 70776)

Inlieu of flowers, those who wish many make a memorial donation to the Baton Rouge Food Bank at brfoodbank.orgor St. VincetdePaul Society at svdpbr.net in honor of Lois H. LeBlanc. Thank you for remembering her with your kindness.

Amemorial service celebrating the life of Ben Mayfield will be held on Saturday, January 31 from 10:00 to noon at Asbury United Methodist Church, 101 Live Oak Blvd, Lafayette, Louisiana 70503. Ashort program will begin at 11:00.

compassion, leaving behind aprofoundlegacy of generosity and love toward others.

Shewas preceded in death by herfather, CharlesAddisonRiddle,Jr. and hermother, Rita Gremillion Riddle. BJ is survived by her devotedhusband,Adrian KellMcInnis III; her son, John Taylor Bennett, Jr.(Ginger);her beloved grandchildren, John Taylor Bennett III and Grace AddisonBennett; hersisters, Mary Ann Riddle(Sedric Banks), Janet Riddle, and Kathy Catanzaro(Mike);her brothers, CharlesA.Riddle III (Jamie) and Robert Stuart Riddle (Lisa). Additionally, BJwas deeply loved by many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends, allofwhom she held dear

BJ was adevoted and lovingwifetoher husband, Kell, and aproud caring mothertoher son, Taylor. Herlove for her two grandchildren knewnobounds, and theybrought her immeasurable joy. Above all BJ's family and friends wereher greatest happiness. She was aconstant source of support, encouragement, and warmth, alwaysprioritizingthe needs of others over her own.

Born in Marksville, Louisiana on April7,1947, shegraduatedfrom MarksvilleHigh School in 1965. Following her high schoolyears, she spenta year at Centenary College in Shreveport before earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Louisiana StateUniversity in Baton Rouge in 1969.

In the early yearsofher career,BJworkedfor Ethyl Corporation beforetransitioning to the East Baton Rouge City Parish government. For 30 years, she devotedherself to public service as an Administrative Assistant, supporting several District Attorneys and Judges in the 19th Judicial District Court until herretirement.Throughout her career,BJtouchedthe livesofcountless citizens with hercompassionate demeanor,and she became well-known among hercolleaguesfor her warmth, friendly nature, and her infectious smile that brightenedevery room

BJ wasa very active gardenerand faithfully attendedMassatvarious churchesthroughout the Baton Rouge area. Shewas also involved in the ModernReviewers Book Club for many years, whereshe served as an officer

Inaddition to her love for gardening, BJ was dedicated to staying healthy. ShepracticedYoga and Pilates for many years. Her passion for fitness extended to walking,swimming, and working out at the Baton Rouge CountryClub, whereshe and her husband, Kell, remained active members throughouttheir marriage.BJand Kell were also avid travelers, exploringEurope several times and embarkingonhunting trips to Canada, Mexico, and variousdestinations across the United States.

Generous and warmhearted, BJ hadatrue gift for entertaining. She loved hosting events in their home,and her hospitality knewnobounds—she was the ultimate hostess! Together with Kell,they were devoted participants in their supper club. They enjoyedworking as ateamto planand preparegourmet meals pairedwithwines

for theircircle of friends.

BJ was an extraordinary woman whose kindness left an indelible mark on thelives of everyone she encountered.She lived with purposeand an unwavering dedication to serving others. Her passing creates aprofound emptiness in the heartsofall who had theprivilegeof knowing and loving her. BJ's warmth and generosity radiated throughevery interaction, and she possessed agift of making others feel truly valued and loved. May she rest in peace, knowing that her legacy of compassionand kindness willcontinue to live on in theheartsofher family and friends

The family wouldliketo thank her care takersCherylCollier, Mandi Jo Smith, Patricia Day, Tia Simms, and Monique Knighten, alongwithher nurse, DebbieSparacello and her team from Hospice of Baton Rouge

Visitation willbeheldon Friday, January 23, 2026, at 10:30am, followedbya Funeral Mass beginningat 12:30pm, at St.Aloysius CatholicChurch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Honoring BJ as pallbearers are her sonTaylorBennett,John TaylorBennett III, Charles Riddle,and Robert StuartRiddle.Honorary pallbearers are Lou Daniel, John Barton, Dwight Singer, Henry "Chick" Miller, and Mac Bullock.

In lieu of flowers,the family asks that donations be madetoHospice of BatonRouge or thecharity of your choice

Arrangementswiththe care of Church Funeral Services &Crematory.

NedPaul Rabalais, age 84, anativeofPlaucheville LA,passed away on Sunday, January 18, 2026 at the Butterfly Wing Inpatient Unit of BatonRouge General Mid-City.

Nedwas aretired Chief Deputy Constablewith the Baton Rouge City Constable. He was an avid vegetablegardener, enjoyed cooking,politics and traveling around theworld.He was adevout lifelong Catholic and prayedthe Blessed Rosarydaily.Ned was always working on a "project" in his garage workshop

NedissurvivedbyRebecca Wright Rabalais, his loving wife of 64 years, daughter, Melinda RabalaisNewman (Steven), and son, James "Jim"Rabalais(Jill), grandchildren, Matthew Rabalais(Courtney), PerryNewman, and Jessica Rabalais, and greatgrandchildren, Marley and Asa Rabalais.

Nedispreceded in death by his parents, Lester and Rose Lemoine Rabalais, and siblings, Ryan Rabalais, DonaldRabalais,Nedra Lemoine Merey, and Terrance "Terry" Rabalais.

Arrangementsare as follows:

Visitation willbeatImmaculateConception

CatholicChurch, 865

HatchellLane, Denham Springs, LA on Thursday, January22, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m., followed by afuneral mass at 12:00 p.m. Pallbearersare Everette Rabalais, Odie Lemoine, Steven Newman, Perry Newman, Micah Watts, and AndrewKimball.Burial willtakeplace at alater date at St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery,French Settlement, LA

The family wouldliketo acknowledgethe staff of Hospice of Baton Rouge for thewonderful care and support providedto Nedduring his final days. Donations in his memory can be madeto Hospice of Baton Rouge, www.hospicebr.org Church Funeral Services is in charge of funeralarrangements.

Roy, Katherine

Springs, Colorado.Her grandchildren, numerous otherrelatives, and friends. Kathy waspreceded in death by herhusband, WalterRoy;her only son, John A. Jett,Jr.; brother,RobertEarl Bridges; sister, Barbara AnnMageeJohnson; andher nephew, ClarenceSmith, Jr Throughouther life,Kathy demonstratedremarkable strength andgrace, even as shefaced thechallenges of Alzheimer'sin herfinal years. Herresilienceand positive outlook remained an inspiration to all.Visitationwill be held at FaithA.M.E. Zion Church,3919 Groom Rd., Baker, LA on Thursday, January22, 2026 at 9:00 AM untilfuneral service at 11:00 AM.Burial will be held at Louisiana National Cemetery,Zachary, Louisiana.

Mrs. Katherine Roy, passed away peacefully on January 13, 2026, at the age of 88. Born June 2, 1937, in Clifton, Louisiana, Kathy's kindness touchedthe hearts of all whoknewher Shewas alicensed practicalnurse employed by Hood Memorial Hospital in Amite for24years. Kathy leaves behindher daughter, VickiL.Breaux (William) of Baton Rouge, hersiblings: Barbara Smith of Amite, Gregory Bridges (Patricia) of Baltimore, Maryland, Ricky Temple, Sr.(Sharon) andJackie Liggins both of Baton Rouge HerTemple familybrothersand sister,Cornelius Alton of Galveston, Texas; Robert Jr of Amite; and Carolyn Essex of Colorado

Featherweight Scooter

Pamela B.,Veriﬁed Customer “Freedom

Rabalais, NedPaul

Mayfield, Ben

Stateshould startplanning forfuture with less federalhelp

As the statehas faced recurring storms over the years that have affected largeswaths of our housingstock,many homeowners havecome to relyonabackstop that, in thefuture,may not be as readily available. That has become clear as the state winds down theRestore Louisiana program institutedtorebuild homes after Hurricanes Laura and Ida for people who didn’t have enough insurance coverage. If the federal government pullsbackfrom itsdisasterrelief efforts, we would like to seethe state begin to build on what it has learned abouthelping Louisiana residents to recover after storms. Restore is administered bythe Louisiana Office of Community Development,which was responsible for distributingfederalfunds the state was awarded after thehurricanes in 2020 and2021. The state received $3.1 billionfor the recovery,and about athird of it went to Restore Gina Campo, headofthe office, told ourreporter Sam Karlin that the office had provided aid to 13,000 people. But that’sout ofnearly40,000 surveys submitted by individuals seeking aid Restore, which started afterthe 2016 floods that inundatedareas of southLouisianathathad never seen serious floodingbefore,aimedtobe an improvement on the much-malignedRoad Home programtoassist homeowners in rebuildingKatrina.

Andwhile Restore Louisiana,like the Road Home,sufferedmyriad delays at thefederal level —funds for Laura and Ida werenot even appropriated by Congress until 2022—and was stymied by red tape in determiningwho was eligible for aid, state ofﬁcials say some efforts to streamline the processofgetting assistancethe hands of homeowners were successful. Campo notedthat Louisiana disbursed aid fasterthan other states that receivedfederal fundsaround the same time.

All projects related to theRestore program for the 2020-2021 disasters are slated forcompletionbySeptember.The funds left over will go to affordable housing projectsthatwerepart of the recovery package in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and other places. Local infrastructure projects are also on tap once an application and reviewprocess is put in place.

But we urge the stateHouse panel that is charged with oversight of disaster recovery efforts to look closely at theRestore program and what it tellsusabout what thestate needs to do to prepare as storms become more frequent and stronger due to climatechange.With the Trump administration vowing to movemoreof thedisasterrecovery load to thestates, it’simperative that Louisiana develop aplanbased on experience.

Campo said that relocation could be an option that thestate will be more activeinasking some residentswho live in storm-prone areas to consider.While we understandthe need to tread carefully here, all options needtobeon thetable.There’s no bettertime than now to preparefor the next storm —evenaswehope it nevercomes

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.

Bibletells us howwe should treatimmigrants

Iwent to Lowe’sona recent weekend, and as Ipulled up outside, it seemed abit eerie, quieter and different. Then, it dawned on me it was because Border Patrol andPresident Donald Trump’simmigration ofﬁcials had captured or run all the immigrants away Iguess to someofusitwas agood thing,but Iactually missed seeing those guys. They were always smiling and in good spirits, waving to see if you have any work for them. It made me think of when Iused one afew monthsback to ﬁx aplumbing issue that popped up on aSunday when my normal plumber wasn’tavailable. It also made me recall how those immigrant guys helped me removeatree off my home and repair my fence and roof after Hurricanes Katrina and Ida when labor was in high demand and

short in supply The sudden eeriness of them missing and thrown into detainment camps like criminals made me think about and reach for my Bible when Ireturned homefrom Lowe’s. There in Leviticus 19:33-34, where God wasspeaking to Moses and theLevites whowere God’spriestsonhow to be holy,was this mostrelevant scripture: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.The alien living with you must be treated as one of your nativeborn. Lovehim as yourself, foryou were aliens in Egypt. Iamthe Lord your God.” Ihope in the end the truly holy and Christ-like people win out and we see those guys back outside Lowe’sseeking agood day of work.

KEVIN

E. WILLIAMS NewOrleans

Damage caps hurt victimsofautowrecks, reward industry

As we move into 2026, the citizens of Louisiana need to takeahard look at thereality of the “No Pay,No Play” expansion enacted under Act 16. While proponents claim this is “tort reform” designed to lower our skyrocketing insurance rates, the actual result is apredatory “poverty penalty” that targets Louisiana’smost vulnerable families.

Under the new 2025 thresholds, an uninsured driver —often someone forced to choose between apremium payment and groceries —is now barred from recovering the ﬁrst $100,000 in bodily injury and $100,000 in property damage. This applies even when they are 0% at fault. If areckless driver hits a working mother,totaling her car and leaving her with$80,000 in medical bills,our state law now saysshe deserves nothing. Worse, if shedares to seek justice in court and is awarded anything less than $100,000, sheis

forced to pay thecourt costs for the person who hit her This isn’tbalance; it’sanembargo on the courthouse doors foranyone living below thepoverty line.Weare creating atwo-tiered justice system where your right to medical recovery depends entirely on the size of your bank account.Gov.Jeff Landry’sadministration has handed the keys of thecastle to the insuranceindustry, leaving “thegood people of Louisiana” to be preyed upon by an industry that takes ourpremiums but ﬁghts every claim. It is time for our local leaders to standupagainstthese unethical barriers. We need representatives who understand that acar accident shouldn’tbealife sentence of debt just becauseafamily couldn’tkeep up with thehighest insurance rates in thenation.

JOHNPAULPIERRE Baton Rouge

High schoolersgetting paid to play erodes valueofeducation

The front-page story on Jan. 2about highschool athletes being paid is further proof of our collective priorities Ourstudentsare not,for the most part, getting astrongenough education as it is as we continue to move our focus elsewhere.

Do you really think our workforce or economic development will be enhanced by high school students getting compensated for sports activities?

MARYANN STERNBERG Baton Rouge

What’s offlimits forIran’srulers should be off limitsfor ours

The recent headline on Iran should read, “Irony is dead.” The American president from one side of his mouth issues threats to the rulers of Iran should they violently suppress the regime’sopponents. Simultaneously employing the other side of his mouth, this same American president has unleashed his armyofgoons, granting all of them license to brutalize and even kill American protesters. Naturally,the 79-year-old American president does not perceive the irony of his divergent positions, for the ability to appreciate irony requires asubtlety and perspicacity of intellect the American president as failed to achieve, his 79 years of life experience notwithstanding.

MICHAEL RUSSO Baton Rouge

Congress needsto standwithcitizenson immigration enforcement

After the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agentJonathan Ross, tensionshaveheightened in American cities where ICE is present.

Recently, twohorrendous actions by ICE agents standout andshould be addressed by ourlawmakersimmediately.

OneinvolvedICE agents in Minneapolis using tear gastoattack avan which carried sixchildren,including a six-month-old baby.The children were allhospitalized

Theother involved an ICEshooting of ayoungCalifornia protestorinthe head with“less lethal”ammunition, literally taking outone of his eyes. This hastostop.

Congress can stop this carnage on our streets.

President Donald Trump has hired thugs to intimidate people who disagree with him and to harm them at will, withimpunity

When will Congress act to protect Americans from Trump and the barbarians whoare shooting and killing Americansfor him? When?

LENORA MEAUX Lafayette

La.can be Voting Rights Act leader.Willweaccept challenge?

Will Sutton

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has guaranteedthat all eligible citizens of the United States have thesame opportunities to register and cast ballotsas all other eligible people once they’vereached 18 years of age. I’d love to see larger numbers of people who share my political and social change desires, perspectives andviews register and vote in ALL elections. Andasan American who gets excited when we have large numbersofpeople engaged, Iwant to see as many people participate as possible.IfIand others can’t swaythem to be engaged,toregister to vote and to vote my way,that’sonwe who share certain kinds of views.

These days it seems some politicians are more interested in keeping their seats, limiting others from getting equal footing within governmentand suppressing the number of votersby putting things in place to make it less likely that they will vote. Rather than encouraging people to sharecommunity and parish concerns that can be addressedbylocal, state and federal elected leaders, we have too many people discouragingactive engagement and participation.Some want to discourage votingbypeople who they don’tthink share their views. Rather than expand votingsigniﬁcantly with automatic ballot mailings and all-mail elections, as California, Oregon and afew other states have done, they want to limit voting as much

whenever the court decides, they can’t stop the ﬁght to hold ontothe voting rightsthey have and toﬁght for more.

During aMartin Luther King Jr scholarship brunch at United Christian Faith Ministries, she announced that theLegal Defense Fund she heads will work with thePower Coalition for Equity and Justice and other justice seekers topush to add Louisiana as one of afew states with its own Voting RightsAct.

According to theNational Conference of State Legislatures, California, Connecticut and Colorado have their own VotingRightsActs, and others are close or working toward that goal.

Realitymaking acomebackin America

In Trump World, wherealternative facts rule, reality is starting to makecomeback.

as possible. That includes limiting or eliminatingmail ballots and reducing thenumberofdays and ways people can vote.

Ican’tbecertain, but Ithink alarge numberofour registered Louisiana voters who don’tvote regularly might be moreinclined to voteiftheyautomatically received an ofﬁcial ballot in themail.

Janai Nelson, who argued the nowfamous Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case before the U.S. SupremeCourt in October,spoke at aBaton Rouge church Monday,asthe statewas still awaitingthe highest court’sdecision on whether Louisiana’scurrent congressionaldistrict map featuringtwo majority Black districts will stand. She told thecrowd that whatever and

What that legislation would look like and what voting protections might be pursued are yet to be determined as conversations continue. Nelson said stateSen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, has agreed to help develop the bill and bring it before theLouisiana Legislature.

The spring legislative session will be important and interesting for anumber of reasons. It’sabout to becomeeven moreimportant, as we thepeople have aLouisiana VotingRightsAct considered by our elected legislative leaders.

“It’s going to takeall of us to get that act passed,”Nelson told the audience at United Christian Faith Ministries. ALL of us. As in nomatter what political party, what philosophy,what background.

Allmeans all.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

Amid turmoil, dazedbut notconfused

As anew year of tormentcommences underthe administrationofPresident DonaldTrump, the only consolation for non-MAGA Americans is, well, nothing. Sorry.For the most part,the only refuge can be found in ashared reality: No, you’re not crazy.Ifeel the same way Ireceive daily calls and textsfrom friends and family searching for answers, as though Isit atop a mountain of insight Who, me? I’m sitting in a pit of despair

Kathleen Parker

Whether it’sthe unsanctioned usurping of Venezuela’s government with the nighttime kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro or the fatal shooting in Minneapolis of a37-year-old U.S. citizen by an Immigration andCustoms Enforcement agent, life feels out of control. And dangerous My contacts want to know if others areasfreaked out as they are. Yes, yes and yes. But what can you do? This is where the conversation usually stalls. And what’snext? Are we going to war with Mexico? Trumphas said that drugs are pouring through Mexico so “we’re going to have to do something.” Are we going to invade Greenland? Trump says annexing Greenland is anational security necessity. And what about NATO? Are we abandoning Europe? In his pursuit of hemispheric hegemony,Trump isn’t just isolating the United States from our allies; he’s creating apolitical divide at home that is becoming an irreparable chasm. Social media brimswith commentssuch as “I voted for this,” as Trump does the next worst thing. At the end of last week, it was Trump’swithdrawal of U.S. support for more than 60 international organizations. Meanwhile, more rational Americans feel paralyzed in ahellish limbo. Trump is making them feel crazy because no one who can do something is saying anything. To its credit,the Senate did just advancealargely symbolic measure to block further military action in Venezuela by Trump. We’ve watched afull year of Trump 2.0 with no reprieve in sight —and he’sgot three more years? It always starts with the small stuff —renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, paving over the Rose Garden, demolishing the East Wing and, recently,adding his name to theKennedy Center.It’sall designed to dazzle and confuse, numbing us for bigger stuff to come.

The Republican-controlled Congress ought tobeashamed. If the cat’sgot their tongue,they need to go home and hug their blankies.Toparaphrase Mayor Jacob Frey (D), who told ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis,” your presence is no longer required. My fear is what Trump’sRasputin, Stephen Miller,will come up with next. He recently told CNN’sJake Tapper: “We’re asuperpower.And under President Trump, we aregoing to conduct ourselves as asuperpower.” Tapper later said:“Idon’teven know, honestly,what you’retalking about right now.” I’d translate it as:Stay out of our way As in ReneeNicole Good, thewoman who tried to drive away but was shot to death by ICE? Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem defended theagent as doing his job,contrary to what we can see with our own eyes. Witnesses say there was no threat. Democratic MinnesotaGov.Tim Walz urged people not to buy thegovernment’s“propaganda,” while the president accused Good of trying to “run over” the agent. Trump, we’ve been told,is second to none in supporting lawenforcement. But then why did he pardon or commute the sentences of more than 1,500 criminals who attacked and traumatized Capitol police ofﬁcers in the Jan.6riot?

Swooping into Venezuela ostensibly to stop the ﬂowofdrugs to America, only tocommandeer the country and its oilsupplies, is equally farcical

when just last month Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced to 45 yearsinprison for conspiring withtraffickers to funnel at least400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. If democracy suddenly erupts in Venezuela, I’ll runacorrection. So, yes,I’m dazed but not confused. My only consolation has come, not surprisingly,from acomedian. Dave Chappelle, in his Netflix special “The Unstoppable,” which was performed in October in D.C., makes one feel briefly sane. Apart political rant mixed with some gratuitous raunch, the75-minute show featured achainsmoking Chappelle delivering brutal truthsabout today’s world.

Iwas impressed by an empathetic moment of solidarity with the audience. If you’re feeling like things are weird now,hesoftened his tone, “you are not alone.” Well, thanks for that, Dave, and also for reminding us that humor is the antidote to horror which perfectly explains why Trump, after attacking the“fake media” through his ﬁrst term, seized on comedians in 2025. For what it’sworth, you’re not alone if you feel like the worldiscrashing around you. Andifyou’ve read this far,you’re probably not crazy.Our only recourse will soon be within our sights— theNovember midterms. Email Kathleen Parker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

For months, the president has hammered JeromePowell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, denouncing him as a“numbskull” and demanding that he lower interest rates morerapidly Powell kept his course, but also kept quiet, until federal prosecutors threatened to bring criminal charge against him forlying to Congress.

Finally,Powell fought back. In a highly unusual two-minute video, he branded the criminal probe a“pretext” and asserted: “The threat of criminal charges is aconsequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions —orwhether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

This is aparadigm momentthat crystalizes a central tension in the political universe. Trump’s view is that “Reality is what Isay it is,” as the historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat put it, and what serves his interests. But his opponents, epitomized by Powell, say no: Reality is based on evidence, on facts, on independent observation and calculation.

Trumphas embraced “alternative facts” (a phrase coined by his former adviser Kellyanne Conway) his entire career.Heclaimed, without evidence, that his inaugural crowds werelarger than his predecessor’s. That the 2020 election had been stolen. That tax cuts pay forthemselves. All false. All lies.

Even moreinsidiously,Trumphas gotten rid of government officials whostand forprofessional integrity and could contradict his prejudices inspectors general, career prosecutors, climate scientists. He fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer,charging again, without evidence —that her figures were “RIGGED” against him

Trumphas also assailed other experts and institutions that can challenge his definition of reality —federal judges, law firms, universities and media companies. Many have folded in the face of his pressure, terrified of his power to sue them or regulate them or simply denounce them on social media.Almostall Republicans have gone along as well, impressed by the fervorofhis followers, but also fearful of his wrath.

Lately,thatunity has shown signs of splintering. Republicans in the Indiana legislature rejected his demands to redrawCongressional boundaries. Five Republican senators voted for awar powers resolution, rebuking Trump’s actions in Venezuela, and so infuriating the president thathedeclared they “should never be elected to ofﬁceagain.” Awhopping 17 Republican House members broke ranks andsupporteda measure to restore expiredsubsidies for health insurance premiums.

The attempt to intimidate Powell really hit a nerve,because it threatened the basic independenceofthe Federal Reserve, one of the central principles thathas made the American economy the strongest in the world. And it challenged the essentialconceptthat“evidence and economic conditions” should guide the Fed’sdecision-making, notpolitical pressure or self-interest.

“Powell investigation backﬁreswith Hill Republicans,” headlined the news website Semafor One of the strongest denunciations camefrom Sen. ThomTillis of North Carolina, whose decisiontoretire hasfreed him to be far more critical of the White House.

“If there were anyremaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the FederalReserve,there should now be none,” said Tillis. He vowedtoblock any replacement for Powell, whose term as chairends in May, “until this legalmatter is fully resolved.”

Sen. JohnKennedy of Louisiana said he would be “stunned” if Powell had done anything wrong, adding: “Weneed this like we need aholeinthe head.” Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, chair of the House FinancialServices panel, warned that the threat by federal prosecutors “could undermine this andfuture administrations’ ability to make sound monetary policy decisions.”

Abipartisangroup of economists, including former Fedchairs and treasury secretaries, issueda stern warning: “This is howmonetary policyismadeinemerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inﬂation andthe functioning of their economies more broadly.Ithas no place in the United States, whose greateststrength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.”

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an adviser to two Republican presidents, summarized the general reaction: “This strikesmeasa really unwise and boneheaded move. This is really stupid.”

Trump will certainly continue his waronreality, but he is nowlosing some battles

Email Steve Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com.

Steve Roberts

STAFF PHOTO By WILL SUTTON

Janai Nelson, president and directorcounsel of the Legal Defense Fund, announced Mondaythat the group will advocate for aLouisiana Voting Rights Act.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yUKIIWAMURA People march Sunday during aprotest in Minneapolis

Baton Rouge Weather

INDIANA MIAMI 27 21

Lucky for 13

Cignetti laid foundation with James Madison players who followed him

BY EDDIE PELLS and MAURA CAREY AP sportswriters

MIAMI He had to start somewhere. So, when coach Curt Cignetti started his rebuilding project at Indiana, he turned to what he knew Cignetti recruited 13 players from his old school, James Madison, over to his new program with the Hoosiers. They formed the backbone of what he called “one of the greatest sports stories of all

time” the rise of college football’s losingest program into a national champion.

Former James Madison players Elijah Sarratt, Kaelon Black, Aiden Fisher and Mikail Kamara were among the baker’s dozen some call them “Cignetti’s Dozen” — who contributed to Indiana’s undefeated season and the national title.

The players came in dribs and drabs, starting shortly after Cignetti accepted the job on Nov 30, 2023.

“They understood the program, the culture, and they had that championship at-

titude,” Cignetti said. “They were able to answer questions for the guys to decide to return and the right guys returned. And the new transfers, too they could answer their questions and lead, and they were good players.”

In a testament to what Cignetti built during his five years at James Madison, it was the Dukes of the Sun Belt Conference who snagged the ﬁfth and ﬁnal automatic bid to this year’s College

ä See CIGNETTI, page 4C

Fischer narrates perfection 50 years apart

Voice of Hoosiers was also behind mic for Indiana’s 32-0 basketball season

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP sportswriter

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Don Fischer never saw this coming.

The play-by-play voice of Indiana basketball and football was behind the microphone a half-century ago when the Hoosiers

the basketball Hoosiers, coached by Bob Knight — won the 1976 national title with a perfect 32-0 record.

And Monday, he described for listeners how the football team matched that feat of becoming an undefeated national champion. Indiana beat Miami 27-21 at Hard Rock Stadium for the College Football Playoff national championship, with the Hoosiers becoming the ﬁrst 16-0 team in major college football since Yale in 1894.

“From my perspective as a broadcaster that’s the ultimate — to be a part of something, a national champion,” Fischer said in the Hoosiers’ radio booth a couple of hours before kickoff Monday “And now I’ve got a chance to do the same thing in football. I mean, it’s a special night for me.”

It got more special a few hours later, when Fischer got to make the call he’s waited 50 years to say “The rags-to-riches story for Indiana football comes to conclusion and they are the

ä See FISCHER, page 4C

‘Sky

is not falling’ on LSU gym, Clark says

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clark is channeling his inner Flau’jae Johnson after the Tigers’ ﬁrst loss of the season.

Johnson said the sky wasn’t falling after the LSU women’s basketball team opened Southeastern Conference play with back-to-back losses.

Clark said the same thing after his Tigers’ uneven 197.200196.850 loss Friday to open SEC competition at Georgia.

“The sky is not falling. We’re fine,” Clark said Tuesday. “We’ve got a great group of kids. We knew going into this year there may be some growing pains.

“We just don’t want to self-destruct.”

Coming off an impressive season opener, a tie for first with Oklahoma at 197.500 in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad, the Tigers stumbled at Georgia with ﬁve scores of 9.65 or lower LSU was forced to count two of them, which proved to be the difference in the dual meet.

It’s the fourth straight year LSU has lost its SEC road opener The previous three seasons, the Tigers reached the NCAA ﬁnals in 2023, won the SEC and NCAA championships in 2024, and were SEC champs and the No. 1 overall NCAA seed in 2025.

“Dual meets mean a lot to us internally, but they really don’t mean a whole lot” overall, Clark said. “As long as we don’t count a score out of range.”

To afﬁrm what Clark said, the Tigers only slipped from a tie for second to No. 4 in this week’s RoadtoNationals.com rankings, which are based on a team’s average score. Florida is No. 1 (197.575), followed by Oklahoma (197.463), Alabama (197.375), LSU (197.175), then UCLA and Georgia in a tie for fifth (197.100).

Clark said it will be good to get home in a real meet for the ﬁrst time Friday The Tigers host Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

“Now we get to come home, feed off that energy and hit the reset button,” he said.

Individual rankings

Kailin Chio is tied for second in the nation on balance beam (9.95) and tied for fourth on vault (9.912). Konnor McClain is fourth on vault (9.938) and Amari Drayton is tied for eighth on balance beam (9.925).

Kentucky, which has struggled in its ﬁrst two meets after being ranked No. 9 in the preseason coaches poll, is ranked 39th (194.625) after failing to break 195.000 in its ﬁrst two meets.

ä See LSU, page 3C

Gators clean glass with Tigers in blowout win

Florida routs LSU despite Thomas’ return from leg injury

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

LSU basketball’s on-court leader, Dedan Thomas, returned from an injury Tuesday against No. 16 Florida.

Despite his presence, LSU couldn’t keep up with the Gators, losing 79-61 at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Florida

Mike Nwoko led LSU (13-6, 1-5 SEC) with 17 points, six rebounds and three turnovers before fouling out in 23 minutes. Thomas had two points on 1-of-8 shooting, three assists and zero turnovers in 17 minutes. Florida center Rueben Chinyelu had 15 points and 21 rebounds with 11 on the offensive end, in 23 minutes. The Gators had 50 rebounds to Tigers’ 30, and Florida (14-5, 5-1) had 24 offensive boards to LSU’s seven. “Think the rebounding was the

story of the game. We were able to keep the tempo the way we wanted it in the first half,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said on the LSU sports radio network. “They just mauled us on the glass.” Thomas played for the first time since Dec. 29. The 6-foot-1 junior missed the previous five games after suffering a lower leg injury on Jan. 2, the day before the team’s SEC opener against Texas A&M. Thomas came off the bench for the first time this season, checking in after the first media timeout with 15:37 left in the first half. While he missed his first two field goals before exiting at the 13:09 mark, he appeared to be moving normally with and without the ball Nwoko was aggressive offensively to start. After winning the opening tip, the Tigers executed a set play that resulted in Nwoko finishing an alley-oop dunk from Pablo Tamba. When Nwoko set screens,

he often short-rolled to a soft area in the paint and made push shots. In the ﬁrst half, the Mississippi State transfer had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and three rebounds. He ﬁnished the game 7 of 10. Thomas’ cold start continued when he re-entered, as he missed two more runners around the paint. He had two assists in eight minutes as LSU trailed 38-26 at halftime.

“He feels good,” McMahon said about Thomas. “Just, you know, frustrated he didn’t make some of those ﬂoaters in the lane, but we’ll learn from it.” Before the point guard got injured, he was averaging a teamhigh 16.2 points on 49.3% shooting, an SEC-high 7.1 assists and only 1.8 turnovers per game.

Crashing the glass was among the biggest priorities for LSU Florida is one of the biggest teams and is

ä See TIGERS, page 3C

Fischer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LyNNE SLADKy

Indiana defensive lineman Mikail Kamara blocks a punt by Miami punter Dylan Joyce during the second half of the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Miami Gardens, Fla. Kamara, voted the game’s defensive MVP, is one of 13 players who followed coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana two years ago.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NOAH LANTOR

LSU guard Dedan Thomas drives on Florida center Micah Handlogten during the first half on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla. Thomas returned from an injury but it wasn’t enough in a 79-61 loss.

6p.m. Pittsburgh at Boston College ACCN

6p.m. Maryland at Illinois BTN

6p.m. MurraySt. at DrakeCBSSN

6p.m. Notre Dame at North CarolinaESPN2

6p.m. ETSU at ChattanoogaESPNU

6p.m. Xavier at Creighton FS1

6p.m. Georgetown at Villanova PEACOCK

6p.m. Texas at Kentucky SECN

8p.m.Virginia Tech at Syracuse ACCN

8p.m. Washington at Nebraska BTN

8p.m. Fresno St. at NewMexico CBSSN

8p.m. N. Iowa at IllinoisSt. ESPNU

8p.m. Cincinnati at Arizona FS1

8p.m. West Virginia at Arizona St. PEACOCK

8p.m. Mississippi St. at TexasA&M SECN

10 p.m.NorthwesternatSouthern Cal BTN

10 p.m.Oregon St. at Saint Mary’sCBSSN

10 p.m.San DiegoSt. at Grand CanyonFS1 WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

7p.m. Marquette at St. John’sPEACOCK GOLF noon Bahamas Great AbacoClassicGOLF NBA 6:10 p.m. Cleveland at Charlotte ESPN

7p.m.New Orleans vs.Detroit WAFB

8:35 p.m.Oklahoma City at Milwaukee ESPN NHL

6p.m.Detroit at Toronto TNT 8:30 p.m.N.y.IslandersatSeattle TNT MEN’S SOCCER 11:15 a.m.Al Nassr at Damac FC FS2

11:40 a.m.MadridatGalatasarayCBSSN

1:55 p.m.PSV EindhovenatNewcastle CBSSN TENNIS

8p.m.AustralianOpen ESPN2

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

7p.m.AustinatMadison USA

Beltrán, Joneselected to Hall of Fame

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

NEW YORK

CarlosBeltránand

Andruw Jones, center ﬁelders who excelledatthe plate and with their gloves, wereelectedtobaseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday

Beltrán, making his fourth appearance on the ballot, received 358 of 425votes for84.2% from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, 39 above the 319 needed for the 75% threshold.

Jones, in the ninth of 10 possible appearances, waspicked on 333 ballots for 78.4%

Beltrán moved up steadily from 46.5% in 2023 to 57.1% the followingyear and 70.3% in 2025, when he fell 19 votes short as Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected.

Beltránwas hiredasthe New York Mets manageronNov.1, 2019, then ﬁred on Jan. 16 without having managed agame, three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report by Major League Baseball regarding the team’sillicit use of electronics to stealsigns during Houston’srun to the 2017 World Series championship.

Jonesreceivedjust 7.3%inhis ﬁrst appearance in 2018 and didn’t get half the total until receiving 58.1% in 2023.Heincreased to 61.6% and 66.2%, falling35votes short last year

They will be inducted at Cooperstown, New York, on July 26 along with second basemanJeffKent, voted in last month by the contemporary era committee.

BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years in the organization were eligible to vote.

ChaseUtley (59.1%) wasthe only other candidate to get at least half the vote, improving from 39.8% last year.Hewas followed by Andy Pettitte at 48.5%, an increase from 27.9% last year,and FélixHernándezat46.1%, up from 20.6%.

Cole Hamels topped first-time candidatesat23.8%. The other ﬁrst-time players were all under 5% and willbedroppedfrom future votes.

Steroids-tainted players again were kept from the hall. Alex Rodriguez received 40%inhis ﬁfth appearance, up from7.1%,and Manny Ramirez 38.8% in his 10th and ﬁnal appearance. There were 11 blank ballots.

Anine-time All-Star,the switchhitting Beltrán batted .279 with 435 homers and1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons withKansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, ’17), theMets(2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the

HALL OF FAME VOTING

Votingforthe2026BaseballHallofFame class.Playersneed75%ofthevotetobe elected.Playersgettingatleast5%of thevotecanstayontheballotforupto 10years.Therewere425votescast;319 needed

Carlos Beltrán358 (84.2%), Andruw Jones 333 (78.4),Chase Utley 251 (59.1),Andy Pettitte 206 (48.5),Félix Hernández 196(46.1) Álex Rodríguez 170 (40.0), MannyRamírez 165 (38.8), BobbyAbreu 131 (30.8),Jimmy Rollins 108 (25.4), Cole Hamels101 (23.8) Dustin Pedroia 88 (20.7),Mark Buehrle 85 (20.0), Omar Vizquel 78 (18.4), David Wright 63 (14.8), FranciscoRodríguez 50 (11.8),Torii Hunter 37 (8.7) Received fewer than 20 votes (lessthan 5): Ryan Braun 15 (3.5), EdwinEncarnación 6(1.4), Shin-Soo Choo 3(0.7),Matt Kemp 2(0.5), Hunter Pence 2(0.5),Rick Porcello 2(0.5), Alex Gordon 1(0.2), Nick Markakis 1(0.2), Gio González 0, HowieKendrick 0, Daniel Murphy0

New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016). He had 311 homers hitting left-handedand 124batting right, Beltrán was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year and wonthree Gold Gloves, also hitting .307 in the postseason with 16 homers and 42 RBIs in65games. Jones batted .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (19962007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). He ﬁnished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’sPaciﬁc League from 2013-14. His batting average is the second-lowest for aposition player voted to the HallofFame, just above the .253 of Ray Schalk, a

superior defensive catcher,and just below the .256 of Harmon Killebrew,who hit 573 homers. Afive-time All-Star, Jones earned 10 Gold Gloves.

In the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium, Jones at 19 years, 5months became the youngest player to homerina

Series game, beating Mickey Mantle’sold mark by 18 months. Going deep against Pettitte in thesecondinningand Brian Boehringer in the third of a12-1 rout, Jones became the second player to homer in his ﬁrst two Series at-bats after Gene Tenace in 1972.

Sinner beginswithanticlimactic win

BY JOHN PYE AP sportswriter

MELBOURNE,Australia Twosets and just over an hour of tennis wasn’t what Jannik Sinner wanted at Rod Laver Arena for the start of hisbid for an AustralianOpen three-peat. In hisfirst competitive match since beating Carlos Alcaraz at theATP Finals in November, Sinner was leading 6-2, 6-1 when No 93-ranked Hugo Gaston suddenly retired from their match Tuesday night with an undisclosed injury.

“I sawthat he was notserving with avery high pace,” Sinner said, but “it’snot the way you want to win the match.”

Wimbledon andﬁnishing runnerup at Roland Garros and theU.S Open, as theso-calledSincarazrivals extendedtheir dominanceof GrandSlam tournaments to asecond full year

Sinner isn’tcontent with evenly splittingthe titles with Alcaraz, though. He usedhis time off to concentrate on adjusting hisservice motion and tweaking other parts of his gameinthe search for incremental improvements

“I’ve put in many,many long days in the off-season trying to becomeabetter tennis player,” No.

The four-time major winner went on to beat Antonia Ruzic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Keys opener

Madison Keys had atough start to hertitle defense, struggling early against theoffbeat styleof Oleksandra Oliynykova beforeadvancing 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Ninth-seeded Keys, playing in her 50thGrand Slam tournament, trailed 4-0 before finding her rhythm.

10 BelindaBencicadvanced in straight sets, but twowomen’s seeds were ousted in straight sets early on Day 3, with Janice Tjen upsetting 2021U.S.Open ﬁnalist Leylah Fernandez and Tereza Valentova beating Australia’sMaya Joint SloaneStephens, the 2017 U.S Openchampion who had to qualify for the season-opening major,lost to Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2.

Warriors guard Butler out for season with ACLtear

SAN FRANCISCO Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler will require surgery and miss the remainder of the season after tearing theACL in his right kneeduring the third quarter of a135-112 victory over his former Miami team Butler was hurt Monday night moments after catching apass in the paint when he wentdown hard andawkwardly following acollision with the Heat’sDavion Mitchell —who was called forafoul. After the play,Butler was asking for twofree throws, apositive sign to coach SteveKerr that his spirits weregood.

Butler is Golden State’ssecondleading scorer behind Stephen Curry,having averaged 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists entering the week.

Vikings receiver Addison’s trespass charges dropped TAMPA, Fla. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison will not be charged with misdemeanor trespassing, after the case against him was dismissedone week following his arrest.

Florida state attorney Susan Lopezissueda termination of prosecution notice in Hillsborough County court on Tuesday,ordering therelease of Addison’s $500 bond. Addison wasdetained by Seminole Indian Police at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at 3:46 a.m. on Jan.12and was released from jail later that day Addison served athree-game suspensiontostart the 2025 season forviolating the NFL’spersonal conduct policy,stemming from his drunken driving arrest in Los Angeles the year before.

Falcons make veteran Callahan newO-line coach FLOWERYBRANCH,Ga. TheAtlantaFalcons hired veteran offensive line coach Bill Callahan on Tuesday,making one of the NFL’s most-experienced coaches theﬁrst offensive assistant added to new coach Kevin Stefanski’s staff. Theaddition of Callahan, 69, comes one day after the team announced defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will return. Callahan was theTennesseeTitans’ offensive line coach the past two years, including time working forhis son, Brian Callahan, who was ﬁred as coach on Oct. 14. Bill Callahan hascoached 48 yearsincollege and the NFL. He has had 14 offensive linemen earn 35 ProBowl selections in his 27 yearsinthe NFL.

Packersrelease CB Diggs 3weeks afterclaiming him GREEN BAY, Wis. CornerbackTrevon Diggs was released by the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday,three weeks after they claimed him off waivers from the Dallas Cowboys. General manager Bri an Gutekunst announced the move. The Packersclaimed Diggs on Dec. 31, aday after the Cowboys waived him.

Diggshad an NFL-leading11interceptions and earned All-Pro honors in 2021. He made the ProBowl again in 2022 but his performance hasdeclined since, in part because of two major knee surgeries. Diggs, 27, joined thePackersjust before their final regular-season game.Heplayednearlyhalfof Green Bay’s defensive snaps in his Packersdebut as theteamrestedits starters in a16-3 lossatMinnesota

Alberto Mendoza transfers from Indiana to Georgia Tech

After signaling he had to quit, Gaston went to acourtside chair and bowed his head into his hands. Sinner wenttoconsole him,putting ahand on the Frenchman’sshoulder and wishing him aspeedy recovery For Sinner,itwas an anticlimacticreturntoMelbournePark’s main arena 12 monthsafter clinching back-to-back Australian titles withawin over Alexander Zverev in the ﬁnal. He played Alcaraz in the ﬁnalsof the other three majors, winning at

2-ranked Sinner said. “But at the endof the day the most important part is to go on court andtoenjoy, no?It’sveryspecial to startthe season in anight session match here in aGrand Slam, the packed stadium, justtrying to do your best.”

Sinnerisaiming to becomethe fourth player to win three consecutive men’stitlesat the Australian Open

Osaka’sfashion statement

Less than 24 hours after being crowned anational champion with Indiana, AlbertoMendozahas announced his transfer to Georgia Tech. He announced his decision Tuesday in ajoint Instagram postwith the On3 transfer portal account. Mendozawas Indiana’sprimary backup underhis older brother, Fernando, as aredshirt freshman in 2025. He appeared in nine games and completed 18 of 24 passes for ﬁve touchdownsand an interception.Headded 190yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Alberto played in one gameasa true freshman in 2024 behind sixthyear quarterback Kurtis Rourke. He joins the Yellow Jackets, who gotoff to their ﬁrst 8-0 start since 1966under coach BrentKey and quarterback HaynesKing in 2025. On TV MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Wearinga wide-brimhat, veil andholding awhite parasol as she walked ontoRod LaverArena for the last night match,Naomi Osaka made agrand entrance.

“Obviously Iwas verynervous at the start,” Keys said. “As nervous as Iwas ...I’m really glad to be back, and that Igot through that match.”

Oliynykova’sunorthodox shotmaking andstrongdefensekept Keys off balance in the ﬁrst set.

“I feel like thatmade things alittle extra tricky,” Keys said. “I felt likeatthe end of thetiebreaker I really kind of foundmygame and thenwas abletocarry that into the second set.”

Oliynykovagained alot of attention with herunique body art and ink, and aprinted message for Ukraine on aT-shirt she worein her post-match news conference. No.5Elena Rybakina and No

Sheltonadvances In amatch between left-handers, BenShelton, asemiﬁnalist ayear agoinAustralia, overcame Ugo Humbert 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5).

Shelton said it was one of the toughestfirst-round matches he could have faced, with No. 33 Humbert having the highest ranking of the unseeded players. He’ll next face Australian qualiﬁer Dane Sweeny,who ended the 20thand final Australian Open campaign for 39-year-old Gael Monﬁls. Also advancingwere No.5Lorenzo Musetti, No. 9Taylor Fritz, 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and Eliot Spizzirri,who beat 19-year-old Joao Fonseca 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TONy GUTIERREZ TexasRangers slugger Carlos Beltran follows throughonatwo-run home runasLos Angeles Angelscatcher Carlos Perezwatches in the fifth inning of agameonSept. 21, 2016, in Arlington, Texas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMARK LENNIHAN Atlanta Bravesoutfielder Andruw Jones watches his home runinfront of Newyork yankees catcher Jim Leyritz in the second inning of the WorldSeries on Oct. 20, 1996, in Newyork.

VARSITYZONE

St.Amant ﬁnishes strong to edge EA

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

In agame that proved to be atypical battle between parish rivals, St. Amant snatched avictory away from East Ascension on Tuesday nightat the Gold Dome.

Kaleb Leblanc made four free throws in the ﬁnal minute, and St. Amant scored the last six points to pull out a6562 win. The game didn’tcount in theDistrict5-5A standings, but it counted plenty for bragging rights for the time being. The teams will play again at East Ascensionon Feb.10.

“Every time we play EA we know what we’re in for It’sjust away,” St. Amant coach Travis Uzee said after his team improved to 20-3. “I thought both teams played really good at times, and both teams weren’tverygood at times. That’swhat to expect at this time of year.” St. Amant was good in the ﬁnal minute.

Gavin Rann’srunner gave East Ascension(13-7) a62-59 lead with 50 secondsleftto play.Leblanc then wasfouled on adrive to the basket and made both free throws. St. Amant pressed on the inbounds, andJermichaelMillien made akey steal and fed D.J. Schonberg for abasket that gave St.Amant a63-62 lead.

Dwayne Mitchell, who led all scorers with 19 points, misseda3-pointer for East Ascension from the right corner, and St.Amant took possession after ajumpball with ﬁveseconds left. Leblanc madetwo more free throws, andMitchell’slastgasp 3-pointer wasoff the mark as St.Amant won.

“Wegot into our trapping series and tried to speed them up,” Uzee said of Millien’ssteal. “Lucky forus, we got into the right passing lane and made abig layup.” Schonberg picked up two offensive fouls in the first minute, thensat outthe rest of the first half. He came

PREP REPORT

Friday’s games Baker at Central Private, 5p.m.

Port Allen at Glen Oaks, 6p.m Denham Springs at Walker, 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s game Peabody Magnet at Southern Lab, 1p.m. Boys basketball Monday’s scores Woodlawn 65, Southside 43 Parkview Baptist 65, St. Thomas Aquinas51 Vandebilt Academy52, Tara 49 Scotlandville 50, L.B. Landry 42 John Curtis 50, Zachary 45 Brusly 79, AscensionCatholic 51 West Feliciana 74, Walker 73 Tuesday’s scores Dunham 68, St. Charles 41 St. Amant65, East Ascension 62 Family Christian Academy39, Port Barre27 Episcopal 56, Southern Lab 41 Collegiate Baton Rouge 47, CatholicPC 34 Belaire62, Ascension Christian 55 Port Allen 61, White Castle 31 Central 60, Plaquemine 45 East Feliciana 68, North Iberville 47 Donaldsonville 78, Pine51 Central 60, Plaquemine 45 Plaquemine910521—45 Central2081319— 60

SCORING: PHS: Jakyves Jenkins 19, Rodrick Bongham 12, Isaiah Georgetown 6, Damien James 3, Tyren Henderson 3, Jerome Royal2;CHS: Jace Conrad15, Jalen Thomas 9, Eli Cutrer 8, Gavin Douglas 8, Sam Giles 6, LukeComeaux5,Keith Womack 5, Sean Washington 4 3-POINT GOALS: Plaquemine: 4 (Georgetown2,Bongham, Jenkins); Central: 5(Cutrer 2, Douglas, Comeaux, Giles) RECORDS: Plaquemine13-8, Central 15-3

back in the third quarter and scored 16 points before ﬁnishing with 18. Millien totaled 15 and Leblanc added 14.

In addition to Mitchell, East Ascension solid scoring production from Curtis Joseph with 14 points and Roshaun Munson with 11.

East Ascension heldthe lead for most of the first quarter, andRann’s 3-pointer from the left corner helped the Spartans take a13-9 lead into the second. Mitchell’s three-point play boosted EA to a22-15 lead with four minutes left in thehalf, but Leblanc’s3-pointer helped the Gators rally to force a 24-24 tie.

Joseph scored on aputback, and Mitchell made a 3-pointer to boost East Ascension to a29-26 halftime lead.

“Thisenvironment is tough,” Uzee said. “Wehave agood group of seniors. We asked them to make the plays at the end and they executed.”

SU adds two, including former Cajuns receiver

BY TOYLOY BROWNIII Staff writer

Southern has gained commitmentsfrom acouple of former FBS players in the transfer portal. FormerSMU offensive linemanBlessed Adewumi and UL wide receiver CharlesRobertson both announced their commitments on social mediato join newcoach Marshall Faulk and theJaguars.

Adewumi, whoannounced his commitment to Southern on Sunday, spent his true freshman year at SMU in 2024, where he didn’tappear in agame. After that season, the 6-foot-3, 325-pound offensive lineman transferred to Division II Bowie State, where he was aredshirt freshman during the2025 season. Adewumi played his prep footballatCyFairHigh School in Cypress,Texas. Robertsonisaredshirt junior who announced his commitmenttoSouthernon Sunday.The 6-1, 180-pound receiver redshirted during histrue freshmanyear in 2022and satout hisredshirt sophomore seasonin2024. The Zachary native had 15 catchesfor 250yards receiving and atouchdown

TIGERS

Continuedfrom page1C

STAFFFILE PHOTOByBRAD KEMP

UL wide receiverCharles Robertson scores against Marshalldefensive backJosh Pierre-LouisonSept. 27 in Lafayette. Robertson, aformer Zacharystar,had 15 catches for 250 yards and atouchdown last season. Blacksonupdate

Seniortransfer Courtney Blackson was alate scratch

on vault at Georgia because she “tweaked” herlower calf just above her Achilles, Clark said He stressed it was not a long-term injury

“She has ahistory of it on her other leg,” he said. “It’s not as bad as it’shappened

JUNIOR VARSITY: Plaquemine 41, Central 30 Wednesday’s games Rayne at St. John, 4p.m. West Feliciana at Central Private, 5p.m. Slaughter Community Charter at Ascension Christian, 5p.m. Parkview Baptist at Denham Springs, 5:30 p.m. North Iberville at False RiverAcademy, 5:30 p.m. University High at Walker, 5:30 p.m. ThriveAcademyatNortheast, 6p.m. Covington at LiveOak, 6p.m. Liberty at Dunham, 6p.m. Hammond at Glen Oaks,7p.m. Thursday’s games Collegiate Baton Rouge at Dutchtown, 5:30 p.m. BerchmansAcademyatNorth Iberville, 6p.m. Friday’s games Zachary at MadisonPrep, 5p.m.

Istrouma at McKinley at Kenilworth Old Gym, 5p.m. JS Clark Leadership at Catholic-PC, 5p.m. Prairieville at St. Amant, 5p.m. BelaireatWest Feliciana, 5p.m. North Iberville at EastIberville 5p.m. Tara at St. Michael,5 p.m. Slaughter Community Charter at Capitol, 5p.m. Central at Denham Springs, 5p.m. Broadmoor at Brusly,5p.m. Ascension ChristianatAscension Catholic,5p.m. Plaquemine at Port Allen, 5:30 p.m. White Castle at St. John, 5:30 p.m. Family Christian AcademyatEpiscopal, 5:30 p.m. University High at GEONext Generation, 5:30 p.m. Woodlawn at SouthernLab, 5:30 p.m. East Feliciana at Northeast, 6p.m. Jehovah-jireh Christian at Collegiate Baton Rouge, 6p.m. Saturday St. John at FalseRiver Academy, 2p.m. Ascension CatholicatHelix Mentorship Academy, 6p.m.

before. She’sday to day, especially on vault. But on bars, she’ll be ﬁne.”

Blackson won the bars event in the Sprouts Collegiate Quadwith a9.95.

On McClain, Drayton

It’sbeen arough start to

in 13 games last season. He had the third-most receiving yards on the team.

Robertson wasathreestar recruitinthe 2022 class and the No. 61 player in Louisiana,according to 247Sports. At Zachary, he led the team to aClass5Astate title in 2021. That season as asenior, he had63receptions for1,183 yards and 13 touchdowns. Robertson had offers fromFlorida State, Tulane, LouisianaTech, McNeese State and South Alabama when coming out

the best rebounding group in the country, averaging 15 more boards per game than its opponents. The Gators returned their fourbest frontcourt players, who helped themwin the SEC Tournament and theNCAA men’sbasketball championship last year.Florida used itssize advantage to hurt LSU relentlessly, leading by as manyas24points

The most dominant player wasChinyelu, a6-10, 265-pounder. He manhandled the Tigers’ bigs in the paint. In the ﬁrst sixminutes of the second half, he collected nine rebounds, including ﬁveonoffense.

“Itwas just adominant performance from Chinyelu,” McMahon said. “I mean, Idon’t know if anyone’s ever gotten arebound a minute, but that’s basically whathedid here today.”

Nwoko, on one occasion,felta need to hook and hold Chinyelu’sarm to preventa rebound. The ofﬁcials calleda Flagrant 1 foul on Nwoko.

LSU keptthe scorewithinsingle digits for the first 16 minutes as both teams missed a bevy of field goals. But Florida got reboundingproduction from backup center Micah Handlogten, whorippeddown sixrebounds in his first eight minutes. He had four on the offensive end.

Florida caught ﬁrefrom the 3-point line to wrap up the ﬁrst half. After starting1 of 10 with alittle under four minutes left in thehalf, it went on to make 3ofits next 4. Backup guard UrbanKlavzargaveLSU is-

theseason for two of LSU’s most talented gymnasts, Drayton and McClain. Drayton has had afallorserious breaks in three of herfive events,while McClainhas had them in twoofher five performances. Clarksaidhis confidence

of high school. Southern is in the process of creating aroster forthe ﬁrst year underFaulk. The Jaguars previously added players withSEC experience in former Arkansas offensive lineman Zuri Madison and Texas A&M running back Ronnie Crosby Madison left the Razorbacksafternot appearing in any games and spent his 2025 season at Arkansas State. Crosby spent three seasons at Texas A&M and had one carry

LSUguard Max Mackinnon falls as he drivesbetween Florida forward Thomas Haugh, left,and center Rueben Chinyelu on TuesdayinGainesville,Fla

sues, ﬁnishingwith 18 points on 5of9from beyond the arc.

“I do think Klavzar’s3-point shootingoff the bench on top of the offensive rebounds ledto our demise here tonight,” McMahon said. Max Mackinnon, who made 4of6shots for 10 points,struggled to getopenand lost the ball fourtimes, primarilyondrives Marquel Sutton struggled with his outside shot, missingsix 3-pointers andgoing 4of 14 overall for 10 points

“I thought their defensive physicalityreally bothered us on the offensiveend of the ﬂoor,” McMahon said.

Thomas, who started to open the second half, wasn’tabletoﬁnd hisshootingstroke. His only ﬁeld goal was arunner with 9:21 left in the game.

in both gymnasts remains high.

“They’reshowing great things in practice,”hesaid.

“My message is to keep doingwhatyou’re doing. The challenge is to keep moving forward.

“Don’tever look back-

ward, even if the result is great.”

Bothalso had encouraging scores in the Georgia meet with McClain tiedfor first place on bars with a 9.95,while Draytontied for secondplace on beam with a9.925.

Indianatops ﬁnal AP

Top25football poll

BY ERIC OLSON AP collegefootball writer

Indiana achieved one more first to end its magical season full of firsts: The national champion Hoosiers areNo. 1inthe final Associated Press Top25college football poll.

After beating Miami in the College Football Playofftitle gametocap a16-0season that was unprecedented in the modernera, the Hoosiers on Tuesdaybecame thethirdstraight Big Tenteam to ﬁnishontop of the rankings. Indiana’schampionship and No.1ﬁnal ranking followedthose of fellow Big Ten teams OhioState in 2024 and Michigan in 2023.

No. 2Miami (13-3) moved up eight spots and ended with its highest ranking since the 2002 season,when it was second behind Ohio State. The 2003 Miami team had been the most recent to ﬁnish in the top 10.

Ole Miss (13-2), which lost to Miami in the CFP semifinals after it beat Tulane and Georgia following coach Lane Kiffin’sdeparture for LSU, was No. 3, its highest final ranking since 1962.

No. 4Oregon (13-2) finished in the top 10 for athird straightyear andNo. 5Ohio State wasinthe final top 10 for the 12th straight year.The Big Tenhad three teams in the final top five for thesecond straight year

Georgia (12-2), Texas Tech (122), Texas A&M(11-2), Alabama (114) and Notre Dame (10-2) rounded out the top 10.

The Bulldogs were No. 6inthe ﬁnal poll for the second straight season and have ended in the top 10 every since since 2017. Texas Tech is aseason-ending top-10 team for the first time. Texas A&Mhadn’tbeenrankedina final poll since Jimbo Fisher’s 2020 team was No. 4. Alabama, which had ended every season between 2008-23 in thetop 10, was back afterslippingtoNo. 17 last year

Notre Dame won 10 straight games following an 0-2 start, was left out of the playoff and opted to not play in abowl game. Notre Dame slipped one spot and was ranked in aninthstraight ﬁnal poll.

TheHoosiers were No.20in the preseasonpoll aftergoing 11-2 in Curt Cignetti’sﬁrst season. They earned their thenhighest ranking ever at No. 3 after they won at Oregon to go 6-0. They moved up to No. 2the following weekand stayed there for seven straight polls. Their

CIGNETTI

Continued from page1C

FINALAPTOP 25 POLL

The Top25teams in The Associated Press college football poll,with ﬁrstplace votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 19, total points based on 25 points for a ﬁrst-place vote through one point for a25th-place vote, and previous ranking: RecordPts.Prv. 1. Indiana (66) 16-0 1650 1 2. Miami (Fla.) 13-31584 10 3. Ole Miss 13-2 1492 6 4. Oregon 13-2 1429 5 5. Ohio St. 12-2

abowl winoverVanderbilt. No. 22 Houston beatBaylor and LSU to end the seasonand wasranked for theﬁrsttime in four polls. No.25 TCU,whichhad been 18 spots out of the Top25, was rankedfor the ﬁrst time sinceSeptemberafter beating Houston, Cincinnati and USC.

n Arizona (21), Georgia Tech (24) and Missouri (25) dropped out n TheSEC hadseven teams in the finalTop 25 forthe second straightyear.Last season was the ﬁrst time that had happened since 2013.

n No. 15 Vanderbilt has itshighestfinal ranking since the1948 team was No. 12.

n No. 19 James MadisonNo. 24 North Texasare in the ﬁnal poll for theﬁrst time.

Conference call

SEC(7ranked teams): No. 3Ole Miss, No. 6Georgia, No. 8Texas A&M, No. 9Alabama, No. 12 Texas, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 15 Vanderbilt

Big Ten(6): No. 1Indiana, No. 4Oregon,No. 5Ohio State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 20 Southern California, No. 21 Michigan.

Duke ﬁles suit to keep QB Mensah from transferring

BY AARON BEARD AP sportswriter

Duke has ﬁled alawsuit against quarterbackDarian Mensah seeking to block his efforts to transferand reach acontract with another school to play elsewherenext season.

The university filedits complaint in Durham County Superior Court on Monday,three days after Mensah reversed his previously announced plan to return to the Blue Devils after leading themtothe ACC title. Ahearing is now listed forthe case on Feb. 2, according to thecourt system’s online portal.

Theschool argued that its twoseason contract with Mensah —signed in July and running through 2026 after he transferred to Duke from Tulane paid himfor exclusiverights to market Mensah’sname, image and likeness tied to playing college football. It sought atemporary restraining order from the court to prevent Mensah from entering the portal along with blocking him from taking additionalsteps in the process of reaching adeal with anew school, arguing that the contract requiresparties to go through arbitration before any dispute can be resolved.

“This case arises out of the decision of astar quarterback in the increasinglycomplex world of college athletics,” the complaint statesinits opening. “Butatits core, this is asimple case that involves the integrity of contracts.”

In an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon, sports attorney Darren Heitner, who hasworkedwith Mensah, said Duke’s request for atemporary restraining order preventing Mensahfromentering the transfer portal had been denied. In alater social-media post, however, HeitnersaidMensah “is not, for the time being” allowed to enroll or play football elsewhere before adecision by ajudge set to preside over the next hearing.

Mensah finished second in the FBSbythrowingfor 3,973 yards while ranking tied for secondwith 34 passingtouchdowns.

The Mensah-Duke caseis thelatest in what is becoming amorefrequent occurrence in the revenue-sharing era of college sports —legal ﬁghts over contracts between schoolsand playersseeking to transfer Earlier this month, Washington quarterback Demond Williams announced plans to transfer before changing his mind twodayslater,coming amid multiple reports that the school waspreparedtopursue legal options to enforce Williams’ NIL contract.

And in December, Missouri pass rusher Damon Wilson ﬁled alawsuit claiming the athletic department at Georgia was tryingtoillegally punish him for entering the portal in January 2025.

13-10win over Ohio State in the Big Tenchampionship game pushed them to No. 1heading into theplayoff.

Poll points

n No.17Iowa was rankedfor the first timethis seasonafter winning three straight,including

Big 12 (5): No. 7Texas Tech, No. 11 BYU, No. 14 Utah, No. 22 Houston, No. 25 TCU.

American (3): No. 18 Tulane, No. 23 Navy,No. 24 North Texas.

ACC(2): No. 2Miami, No. 16 Virginia.

Independent (1): No. 10 Notre Dame. Sun Belt (1): No. 19 James Madison.

in Charlotte, N.C.

FISCHER

Continued from page1C

“I’ve seen alot of bad football.”

DON FISCHER, voice of Indiana football, basketball Playoff under his successor,Bob Chesney. Chesney recently got hired away by UCLA, and at least seven players from the playoff team have followed him to Westwood, California.

The Indiana story is asuper-charged versionof what’shappeningacross college football. The transfer portal has allowed players whodon’t getlooks from the big programs in high school achance to start small, get better,thenmaybeget their chance at the big time.

Regarding Indiana’slackoffour- and ﬁve-starrecruits, Cignetti said, “I’ve never looked at astarin my life.”

Some refer to the smallerprogramsthe unheralded players start with as “feeder schools.” The oneat JamesMadison helped theHoosiers become champions. In this case,Cignettihad arole in both —ﬁnding the players out of high school, then luringthem to the Big Ten.

“You take those 13 guys, Idon’tthink any of them had great offers coming out of high school,” Fisher said. “Wehad acoach that took achance on us once, and then the opportunity rose to doit again. For me, it changed my life.”

Here’s alook at “Cignetti’s Dozen”: Mikail Kamara:The defensivelineman’s blockedpunt resulted in atouchdownthatgaveIndiana a17-7 lead in thethird quarter againstMiami

Kaelon Black:The running back ledthe Hoosiers with 81 yards rushing against the Hurricanes. Thisseason, he formed aone-two punch with RomanHemby.Both ﬁnished with 1,000-plus yards.

D’Angelo Ponds:The lockdown cornerback had five tackles in the championship game.His pick-six of Oregon quarterback Dante Moorehelped theHoosiers get off to afast start in the Peach Bowl. He was named defensive MVPinthe Roseand Peach bowls. TyriqueTucker:The junior defensive lineman hasbeen astrong presence on the defensive line.His six sacks ranked third on the roster behind Rolijah Hardy (eight) and IsaiahJones (seven). Tucker alsofinished theseason with 38 tacklesand twopassdeflections

Aiden Fisher:One of Indiana’sstar linebackers, Fisher ﬁnished second on the roster with95tackles.Healso had 41/2 sacks for aloss of 25 yards, apass deﬂection, aforced fumble, afumble recovery and two interceptions, one of which was apick-six. He had fourtackles

Indiana

and asack against Miami.

Solomon Vanhorse:The senior added depth to the Hoosiers’ running back room andﬁnished the season with nine carries for48yards. He had aseason-long 12-yard rush in Indiana’s63-10 win against Illinois.

Elijah Sarratt:The seniorreceiverled theHoosiersand FBSwith 15 receiving touchdowns and had 830 yards receiving.Hehad threereceptions for 28 yards on Monday night

James Carpenter:After leavingIndiana afterthe 2024 season,the defensive lineman signed with theJacksonville Jaguars in April. He recently was picked up by theBirmingham Stallions of the UFL.

Jailin Walker:The linebacker signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in thespring. In January,hewas drafted by thenew UFL franchise, the Columbus Aviators. NickKidwell:The former offensive lineman is now the offensive line coach at Shepherd University. Zach Horton:The tightend signedwiththe Detroit LionsinApril. He spent the season on thepractice squad. Tyler Stephens:The former offensive lineman is happily engaged and enjoying post-graduate life in Virginia.

Ty Son Lawton:The running back played in 13 games with sixstarts during his ﬁnal year of eligibility in 2024. He was akey contributor with668 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on 141 carries.

the national champions of 2026,” Fischer said after Heisman Trophy-winningquarterbackFernando Mendoza hit the ground forthe ﬁnal play.“What afootball team!What afootball team! And this crowd goes crazyhere tonight.The confetti starts to ﬂy.” Fischer has seen some things in his time as the voice of Indiana football. Most of those things were, well, bad. There wasa stretchof24seasons during which theHoosiers managed exactly one winning record —and thatwas just a7-6 mark in 2007. There was an 0-11 year.There wasan83-20 lossat Wisconsin.There was a62-0 loss at Iowa. There was a28-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

“I’ve seen alot of bad football,” Fischer said. Then came Curt Cignetti, who is now 27-2 in his two seasons at Indiana and anational champion. Fischer gotintroduced to Cignetti during the coach’sinfamous“Purdue sucks so does Michiganand Ohio State! Go IU!” speech that he gave during an Indiana-Marylandbasketball game. Fischer’sbroadcast aired Cignetti’sremarks live frommidcourt during atimeout.

“I just started laughing,” Fischer said. “Nobody’sever said that in Indiana before, you know? And Isaid, ‘This is something different.’ So, from that point forward, Iwas intrigued by the guy.” Cignetti, for his part, loves the Knight comparisons. Cignetti isn’tafraid to saywhat’sonhis mind,with little concernfor repercussions. Knight was the same way. They aren’tcarbon

copies —tothe best of all knowledge, Cignetti has not throwna chair across aﬁeld —but it’seasy to see parallels. Also, they both win.

“I was abig Bob Knight fan as alittle kid,” Cignetti said. “I liked sort of the shenanigans and the facesatthe press conferences andthrowingthe chairacrossthe court. Ithought that waspretty cool. And the guy Ibought my house fromwas abig friend of Bob Knight, actually.” Fischer started going to Cignetti’spracticesshortly after thenew coachcametoIndianatowatch what makeshim tick. He saw Cignetti was spending as much time, if not more, coaching his assistantsthanhedid coaching players. He was the CEO, which is what he learned in four yearsworking underNick SabanatAlabama. Fischer would getasked how he thought Cignetti would do. He predicted Cignetti would win big.

“I knew he was going to win. I could tell,”Fischersaid. “You can tell if you’ve been around long enough that the coach has got it or if he doesn’tgot it.Icould see after watching those practices in the spring that he had it.”

And after morethan 2,000 games, his voiceechoing across the state of Indiana, Fischer had achance at relivingthose perfect memories of 1976.

“How do you get to thisplace in twoyears’ time andget to the playoff both years and get to the nationalchampionship game in thesecondyear?”Fischer said. “It’samiracle.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REBECCA BLACKWELL

Indiana coach CurtCignetti holds the trophyafter his team’s win against Miami in the CFPchampionship game on MondayinMiami Gardens, Fla

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO By JACOB KUPFERMAN

Duke quarterback Darian Mensah lookstopass the ball against Virginia in the first half of the AtlanticCoast Conference championship game on Dec.6

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REBECCA BLACKWELL

running back Kaelon Black is tackled by Miami defensivebacks BryceFitzgerald and Keionte Scott during the

rst half of the College Football Playoff national championship game on Mondayin Miami Gardens, Fla.

Saints re-sign safety Blackmon

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints resigned safety Julian Blackmon to a one-year contract extension, making the move after the veteran missed all but one game this past season with a shoulder injury

The move, announced Tuesday by the team, essentially gives the Saints and Blackmon a chance at a do-over after the veteran’s season was cut short. The Saints and Blackmon initially were excited about the ﬁt. Blackmon earned the starting spot opposite Justin Reid and appeared to be a great ﬁnd for the Saints after Tyrann Mathieu’s unexpected retirement in July

The question for Blackmon is whether he can stay healthy He has missed 28 games in his sixyear career because of injuries. He suffered a torn Achilles in 2021, dealt with an ankle issue in

2022 and suffered a shoulder injury in 2023 that lingered into the next season.

In 2025, Blackmon played all of the Saints’ season opener only to realize a day after that he had suffered a torn labrum during the game. The injury required season-ending surgery, causing the Saints to turn to rookie Jonas

Sanker

Sanker was a pleasant surprise, but now it remains to be seen whether he’ll retain his starting role or have to compete for it during training camp.

Blackmon, a 2020 third-round pick out of Utah, spent his ﬁrst ﬁve seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

The terms of Blackmon’s new contract were not announced. He joined the Saints last season on a one-year, $3.1 million deal.

Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate.com

Source: Tennessee hires Saleh as coach

BY TERESA M. WALKER

AP pro football writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans agreed to hire Robert Saleh as their coach on Monday night, hoping he can speed up their rebuild and end the franchise’s skid of four straight losing seasons, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced Saleh spent this season as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, his second stint in that job after spending threeplus seasons as head coach of the New York Jets. He did not have a winning season with the Jets and was ﬁred after a 2-3 start in 2024, going 20-36 overall.

But the 46-year-old Saleh still had a strong reputation around the league and was a sought-after candidate in this busy coaching cycle.

“Playing for him was such a blessing. He’s a defensive mastermind,” 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said earlier Monday “I think he’s one of the best to do it.” Tennessee went 19-49 over the past four seasons under Mike Vrabel — who was fired after the 2023 season and Brian Callahan, who lasted just 23 games before being ﬁred on Oct 13 after a 1-5 start. That made the Titans the ﬁrst team with a coaching vacancy only to wind up as one of 10 NFL teams looking for a coach and the fourth to hire one.

The Titans interviewed 15 candidates for the job before paring down their ﬁnalists to Saleh,

Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Haﬂey who was hired earlier Monday as the Miami Dolphins coach. Of that trio, only Saleh had yet to interview with the Titans until an in-person session Monday

This was the first coaching search run by general manager Mike Borgonzi, who was hired on Jan 17, 2024 Borgonzi knew he was walking into a franchise needing a major rebuild, and he made clear he had no timetable for making his biggest move yet. Borgonzi started the renovation by taking quarterback Cam Ward

at No. 1 overall. His first draft class featured Ward, who started every game and set the single-season rookie passing record with 3,169 yards. He also threw 15 touchdown passes with seven interceptions. Chimere Dike became an All-Pro punt returner, and All Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had a career year Simmons shared a googlyeyes emoji on social media as news broke of the Titans ﬁnding their coach Ward, who had said he wanted to be involved in the team’s search, was in Florida watching his alma mater, Miami,

lose the College Football Playoff national championship game to Indiana.

The Titans go into this offseason with the fourth overall draft pick, about $100 million in salary cap space with the chance to free up more room and an enclosed stadium opening in 2027.

Saleh is the seventh coach the franchise has had since moving to Tennessee in 1997 and the ﬁfth since 2014.

Before his ﬁrst stint as the Niners defensive coordinator that began on 2017, he worked as an assistant with Houston, Seattle and Jacksonville.

McDermott refutes call that led to Bills’ loss

BY ARNIE STAPLETON

AP pro football writer

Sean McDermott went down ﬁghting for Buffalo, both at the postgame lectern in the Mile High City and from 35,000 feet on the ﬂight home, insisting that it was a catch and the Bills should be the ones moving on.

Brandin Cooks had a step on his defender and was hauling in Josh Allen’s 44-yard pass at the Denver 20 when Ja’Quan McMillian wrested the ball from the wide receiver’s grasp as the pair tumbled to the ground. McMillian came up with the ball and the NFL ruled it an interception, which set up Denver’s game-winning drive and a trip to the AFC championship Sunday against the New England Patriots (16-3).

Twenty-four hours after Wil Lutz’s 23-yard field goal ended Buffalo’s season short of the Super Bowl once again, McDermott was out of a job, the 10th head coach to join the NFL’s crowded unemployment line.

After angrily disputing the call at his post-game news conference, McDermott called Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News to argue anew that it was not an interception: “That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way,” McDermott told Skurski, adding that fans deserved an explanation.

Which they’d already gotten via a pool report from referee Carl Cheffers, who explained, “The receiver has to complete the pro-

view process in New York, so the timeout essentially just gave McDermott an opportunity to get an explanation, which he didn’t like.

“It’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled,” McDermott said. “And if it is ruled that way then why isn’t it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right? That would have made a lot of sense to me because that’s a pivotal point in the game. We have the ball at the 20 maybe kicking a game-winning field goal right there — but I’m saying it because I’m standing up for Buffalo, damn it, I’m standing up for us.”

He wasn’t alone. Among those who had McDermott’s back were former star cornerback Richard Sherman and ESPN analyst and former QB Dan Orlovsky, who argued, “This is a catch every time.”

because McMillian was already running away with the prize held high and the ofﬁcial who was right there ruling it was Denver’s ball.

“We were both ﬁghting for the ball,” McMillian said. “I just made a play and basically took it out of his hands and came up with it.”

Cooks said he thought it was a catch at ﬁrst but knows he needed to do more: “The way I think about it is, you know, make it in a way that it doesn’t have to be in an ofﬁcial’s hands; that’s always gonna be my mindset. I’m never gonna cower away from that. It’s the man I am. That’s the player I am. You know, I own it.”

Told that his counterpart had just disputed the interception ruling at his postgame news conference, Denver coach Sean Payton said well, what about the safety that wasn’t called earlier in that drive?

Harbaugh embraces the Giants challenge

Former Ravens head coach is excited to turn New york into playoff contenders

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AP sportswriter

EAST RUTHERFORD

N.J John Harbaugh has done plenty of winning in the NFL, including 12 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title.

The New York Giants for much of the past decade have done very little of it

That is not stopping Harbaugh from dreaming big Taking over as Giants coach, he has plenty of power in shaping their future and a visible eagerness to turn them back into a contender sooner than later

“I wanted this job,” Harbaugh said Tuesday at his introductory news conference “I wanted this job and to be on the biggest stage in the biggest sport. I know the challenges, I understand the expectations, I know that the fans are hungry for a winner We’re here with one mission, to become to earn the right — to be called the world champions in New York. And that’s what we plan to do.”

Harbaugh after 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens faces a challenge in bringing success to a storied franchise that has gone 45-1051 and not made it past the divisional round since 2016.

As part of his arrangement to accept the gig, the 63-year-old reports directly to ownership rather than general manager Joe Schoen, so Harbaugh will get to mold the organization in his image around the core led by young quarterback Jaxson Dart.

“He’s going to be the most important cog in the wheel,” said Chris Mara, the longtime executive who led the coaching search along with brother John and co-owner Steve Tisch. “But in terms of final say, this is going to be a collaborative effort between ownership, general manager and coach.”

There are plenty of fresh success stories around the NFL of teams pairing a new coach with an established QB and winning right away New England, Chicago and Jacksonville all made the playoffs this season following that recipe, and the Patriots are in the AFC championship game.

“That’s what we’re going to be chasing,” Harbaugh said. “It’s going to be about how we play It’s going to be about us every single day, just becoming as good as we can be.”

The Giants were 4-13, costing former coach Brian Daboll and other assistants their jobs but also giving them a long runway to map out the options available. The moment Harbaugh became available in early January, he immediately became their top candidate.

“I didn’t think he’d be available,” Chris Mara said, adding that twotime Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Coughlin put him in touch with Harbaugh and urged a meeting. “But for us, it was a home run.” Mara, Harbaugh and Schoen all downplayed the chain of command and tried to talk up just how strong the rapport already is between the new coach and the GM back for a ﬁfth season. Harbaugh anticipates the working relationship being “phenomenally great,” though the coming weeks and months building out a staff, signing free agents and making important decisions in the draft will tell that tale.

cess of a catch. He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defender is the one that completed the process of the catch, so the defender was awarded the ball.”

McDermott couldn’t challenge the ruling because of the league’s overtime rules, so he called a timeout to give the officiating crew and replay ofﬁcials a chance to take an extended look. The play already had been conﬁrmed through the NFL’s expedited re-

No it isn’t, countered Hall of Fame tight end Sterling Sharpe, who, on his popular podcast with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, said it was absolutely the correct call, and Johnson agreed.

“Let me explain it to you, it’s called the Calvin Johnson rule,” where receivers have to secure the catch through their landing, not just grab it in the air, Sharpe said. “If a receiver catches a football and he goes to the ground he must maintain possession of the football throughout the entirety of the catch.

“He goes to the ground, he needs to get his ass up and hand the ball to the ofﬁcials.”

Which Cook certainly didn’t do

D.J. Jones was clearly held by center Connor McGovern, who wrapped both arms around Denver’s nose tackle with Allen two steps deep in the end zone. But it’s not a certainty that the hold were it called — would have been ruled a safety, as well. If ofﬁcials deem it a hold initiated outside the end zone, the half-thedistance penalty would have kept the game going. Either way, it’s a certainty there would have been some consternation over the call just like there was with McMillian’s interception.

“A phenomenal play by J-Mac,” Payton said. “But it should’ve ended, really, with a safety.”

“We need to work together, and we’re going to come to the final conclusion and it’s always going to be able what’s best for the New York Giants,” Schoen said. “I have no problem with that, and I’m looking forward to working with him.” Harbaugh ﬁgures his role will be similar to how he and Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta operated with the Ravens: evaluating players, giving input and contributing to the vision of the organization. Brother Jim, who just ﬁnished his second season coaching the Los Angeles Chargers after winning the national championship at Michigan, hyped up what it will be like in a new place.

“He said, ‘You’re going to be really excited to walk into that room for the ﬁrst time with a different team’ — a team that you haven’t been around — and you start fresh from the beginning and kind of build it up the way you want to,” John Harbaugh said. “I just can’t wait.”

AP PHOTO By RJ SANGOSTI

Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott responds to questions during a news conference after a game against the Denver Broncos on Saturday in Denver.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

New Orleans Saints safety Julian Blackmon runs a drill during training camp in Metairie on July 24.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SCOT TUCKER San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh stands on the sideline during a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 3 in Santa Clara, Calif.

UNO at Nicholls, 6:30 p.m.

James Madison at UL – Monroe, 6:30 p.m. LSU at Texas A&M, 8 p.m.

Women’s national scores

Tuesday’s games

EAST Seton Hall 73, Providence 57 Temple 86, South Florida 83

SOUTH Charlotte 77, Florida Atlantic 56 North Texas 72, UAB 59

MIDWEST Creighton 82, Xavier 64

Eastern Michigan 76, Toledo 71 Tennessee-Martin 67, Southeast Missouri State 56 Wichita State 66, Memphis 59

Tennis

Australian Open Results

Tuesday At Melbourne Park Melbourne, Australia

Purse: AUD111,500,000

Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Tuesday from Australian Open at Melbourne Park (seedings in parentheses): Men’s Singles First Round Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, def. Carlos Taberner, Spain, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. Luciano Darderi (22), Italy, def. Cristian Garin, Chile, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (3) Ethan Quinn, United States, def. Tallon Griekspoor (23), Netherlands, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Lorenzo Musetti (5), Italy, def. Raphael Collignon, Belgium, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2, ret.

Sebastian Baez, Argentina, def. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, France, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3. Ben Shelton (8), United States, def. Ugo Humbert, France, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5). Eliot Spizzirri, United States, def. Joao Fonseca (28), Brazil, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Karen Khachanov (15), Russia, def. Alex Michelsen, United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Nishesh Basavareddy, United States, def. Christopher O’Connell, Australia, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3. Jakub Mensik (16), Czechia, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Yibing Wu, China, def. Luca Nardi, Italy, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Dane Sweeny, Australia, def. Gael Monﬁls, France, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. Rafael Jodar, Spain, def. Rei Sakamoto, Japan, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3. Jannik Sinner (2), Italy, def. Hugo Gaston, France, 6-2, 6-1, ret. Taylor Fritz (9), United States, def. Valentin Royer, France, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Vit Kopriva, Czechia, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Tomas Machac, Czechia, def. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Hubert Hurkacz, Poland, def. Zizou Bergs, Belgium, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3. James Duckworth, Australia, def. Dino Prizmic, Croatia, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Stefanos Tsitsipas (31), Greece, def. Shintaro Mochizuki, Japan, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Women’s Singles First Round Katerina Siniakova, Czechia, def. Panna Udvardy, Hungary, 6-1, 6-2. Ashlyn Krueger, United States, def. Sara Bejlek, Czechia, 6-3, 6-3. Tereza Valentova, Czechia, def. Maya Joint (30), Australia, 6-4, 6-4. Taylah Preston, Australia, def. Zhang Shuai, China, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Varvara Gracheva, Russia, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Janice Tjen, Indonesia, def. Leylah Fernandez (22), Canada, 6-2, 7-6 (1). Madison Keys (9), United States, def. Oleksandra Oliynykova, Ukraine, 7-6 (6), 6-1. Wang Xinyu, China, def. Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-3. Karolina Pliskova, Czechia, def. Sloane Stephens, United States, 7-6 (7), 6-2. Linda Fruhvirtova, Czechia, def. Lulu Sun, New Zealand, 6-3, 7-5. Julia Grabher, Austria, def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italy, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Elena Rybakina (5), Kazakhstan, def. Kaja Juvan, Slovenia, 6-4, 6-3. Anna Kalinskaya (31), Russia, def. Sonay Kartal, Britain, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Jelena Ostapenko (24), Latvia, def. Rebecca Sramkova, Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Eva Lys, Germany, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Belinda Bencic (10), Switzerland, def. Katie Boulter, Britain, 6-0, 7-5. Laura Siegemund, Germany, def. Liudmila Samsonova (18), Russia, 0-6, 7-5, 6-4. Naomi Osaka (16), Japan, def. Antonia Ruzic, Croatia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Nikola Bartunkova, Czechia, def. Daria Kasatkina, Russia, 7-6 (7), 0-6, 6-3. Maddison Inglis, Australia, def. Kimberly Birrell, Australia, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9), 6-4. Men’s Doubles First Round Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Argentina, def. Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-4. Francisco Cerundolo and Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Argentina, def. Edouard RogerVasselin, France, and Hugo Nys (8), Monaco, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Jean-Julien Rojer, Netherlands, and Marcelo Demoliner, Brazil, def. Alexander Bublik Kazakhstan, and Alexander Shevchenko, Russia, 6-3, 6-2. Lucas Miedler, Austria, and Francisco Cabral (9), Portugal, def. Fabian Marozsan, Hungary, and Mattia Bellucci, Italy, 7-6 (6), 6-2. Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza, Czechia, def. Alexandre Muller and Terence Atmane, France 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-2. Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar, Spain, def. Pruchya Isaro, Thailand, and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha, India, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz (5), Germany, def. Arthur Rinderknech, France, and Valentin Vacherot, Monaco, 6-4, 6-4. Luke Johnson, Britain, and Jan Zielinski, Poland, def. Rinky Hijikata and Tristan Schoolkate, Australia, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4. Women’s Doubles First Round Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (2), Italy, def. Maia Lumsden, Britain, and Qianhui Tang, China, 6-3, 6-2. Olivia Nicholls, Britain, and Tereza Mihalikova (12), Slovakia, def. Jaqueline Cristian, Romania, and Anna Bondar, Hungary, 6-3, 6-2. Victoria Mboko, Canada, and Iva Jovic, United States, def. Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway and Ingrid Neel, Estonia, 7-5, 6-3. Emiliana Arango, Colombia, and Elsa Jacquemot, France, def. Venus Williams, United States, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Olga Danilovic, Serbia, and Anastasia Potapova, Russia, def. Iryna Shymanovich, Belarus, and Solana Sierra, Argentina, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, and Clara Tauson, Denmark, def. Lyudmyla Kichenok, Ukraine, and Katie Volynets, United States, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4. Magda Linette, Poland, and Shuko Aoyama, Japan, def. Ingrid Martins, Brazil, and Alexandra Eala, Philippines, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NOAH LANTOR

LSU forward Mike Nwoko drives during the first half of a game against Florida on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla. Florida beat LSU 79-61.

LIVING

Nibbles,4631Perkins Road, filed its alcohol and beverageapplication for2026. Lauren

Soji: ModernAsian,5050 Government St., BatonRouge, hasnew hours. The restaurant is now open 3p.m. to 9p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 3p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3p.m. to 9p.m. Sunday Happy hour is 3p.m. to 9p.m. everyday Thai food pop-up:5p.m. to 9p.m. Friday at Rally Cap Brewing Company,11212 Pennywood Ave., Baton Rouge For one night only,Pranom Pop Up will be at Rally Cap Brewing Company.What began 13 years ago as aone-man bike delivery servicefrom a Los Angeles apartment has grown into PranomPop Up —a traveling Thai food experience that travels to cities across the United States.

Newfood on theblock

Trythe king cake strawberry cheesecake eggrollsat Roul’s Deli,with locations in Baton Rouge at 3327 Highland Road, 5230 Plank Road and 1210 O’Neal Lane. The specialty eggrolls willbeavailablefor purchase Feb. 2-8

Wednesday burger nights are back at Restaurant 1796,7747 U.S 61, St. Francisville. The smashburger and fry combo is $17.96 and is made with aSt. Bruno Bread Co. bun, Gouda cheese, Russian dressing, caramelized onion and Parmesan trufﬂe fries. The Jell-O shots arebackat Luna Cocina,3109 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, in two ﬂavors for $5 each: espresso martiniand margarita.

Mark your calendar

Galentine’sDay girls dinner:6 p.m to 8p.m. Thursday,Feb. 12, at the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge Mix, mingle, and buildyour own “girl dinner” with local restaurant bites, martinis, music,photo opportunities and shopping. If you have afavorite menu iteminBaton Rouge, email aimee@shawcenter.org to send arecommendation of what you’d like to see offered

Tickets are $55.20 per person, available for purchase at eventbrite.com. Participants must 21 years or older

If you have an upcoming food event or akitchen question, email lauren.cheramie@ theadvocate.com. Cheers!

‘I NEVERFORGOT THIS PLACE’

Celebrities, tourists andLouisiananstravelfar and wide

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

It was almost 30 yearsago when Gary Braddock, 70, saw aﬂyer for Poor BoyLloyd’swhen he wasat an LSU football game against Kentucky.This year,heﬁnally got to trythe Baton Rouge restaurant

“Been waiting tocome here,” Braddock said, witha Southern drawl.“It came so highlyrecommended, Inever forgot this place.”

The West Monroe resident drove nearly 200 miles with his wife and Boston terrier to the LSU VeterinaryTeaching Hospital. Staying in oneofthe downtownhotels, Braddock walked to the restaurant last week to grab sometakeout.

“When they’re fallingout of the sandwichlike thatright there,” Braddock said, pointing to apo-boy one table over.“Yougot ashrimppoboy. Whenyou got to chaseitaround to ﬁnd the shrimp, that’snogood.” Five minuteslater,manager Rachel Taylor brought him his order Braddockgrabbed the bag with asmile,shook one of the owner’s hands, Fred Taylor,and took off.

The restaurant at 201 Florida St. has sat beside the Mississippi Riversince 1967,eversince origi-

nalowner LloydLaurent opened the spot. High school sweethearts Fredand Shirley Taylor,both born andraisedinNew Iberia,bought the business in 1985 andhaverun it ever since with their daughter,Rachel Taylor,and son, Dean Taylor Louisiana flavors

The menu at Poor BoyLloyd’s features Louisiana dishes like red beans and rice, fried pickles, seafood plates,and as the name suggests, po-boys. Out of the20types of po-boys on the menu, the most popular itemsare the fried shrimppo-boys andthe hotroast beef po-boys amessierdish, but people like it, Fred Taylor said. Each comes dressed on Leidenheimer bread. When it comes to choosing what

STAFFPHOTOSByJAVIER GALLEGOS

Daughter Rachel, mother Shirley and father Fred Taylor pose for apicture in front of Poor BoyLloyd’s on Jan. 13.

pickles areonthe menuatPoor BoyLloyd’s.

Former criminal can’t shakecrime’s shadow

Dear Miss Manners: Nearly three decades ago, my husband committed aserious crime. He faced the consequences, served his sentence, and has since built aquiet, responsible life. He has taken full accountability and has worked hard to be adevoted husband and Christian. Yeteven afterall these years, whenever his past comes up —whether whispered by neighbors or bluntly raised by acquaintances —people seem to see onlythe crime, not the person he has become. Some act as if it is their right to questionme about it, whileothers avoid us altogether

has built since?

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2026. There are 344 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

bloody power struggle that would lead to the rise of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

How can Irespond with dignity when peopleinsist on deﬁning my husband by amistake from decades ago, instead of by the life he

Gentle reader: It perplexes Miss Mannershow many peopleadore “Les Misérables” without beingupsetbyits central accusation: that it is the rankest hypocrisy for society to equate serving one’stime with forgiveness. But even if society were genuinely forgiving,there are many types ofseriouscrimes. Being forgiven by society and being forgivenbyone’s victimsare different matters. It is asimple matter to preserve your dignitywith former victims of your husband’scrime who now wish to maintaintheir distance: Respect that wish.For those whowish to confront you, depending onhow they do so,itmay be necessary to create some distance—

with as much respect and humilityasyou can muster This does not apply to the merely curious. They are simply being rude, which meansthat it is time to excuse yourself from the conversation.

Note the fundamental difference in what Miss Manners is saying from what you asked: While it is laudable that your husband’sbehavior has changed, there is no need to invite people to judge your husband on his behavior,past or present and Miss Manners is cynical enough to think that no good will comeofdoing so.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners. com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail. com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO64106.

On Jan. 21, 2020, the U.S. reported itsﬁrst known case of the2019 novel coronavirus circulating in China, saying aWashington state resident who had returned theprevious week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle.

Also on this date:

In 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, with adramatic farewell speech, resigned his U.S. Senate seat after his state and others seceded from the Union. He would later be elected president of the Confederacy shortly before the Civil Warbegan.

In 1924, Russianrevolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53, setting off a

In 1950, former State Department ofﬁcial Alger Hiss, accused of being part of aCommunist spy ring, wasfound guilty in New York of lying to agrand jury.(Hiss, who proclaimed his innocence, served less than four years in prison.)

In 1976, British Airways and Air France inaugurated scheduled passenger service on the supersonic Concorde jet.

In 2010, adeeply divided U.S. SupremeCourt, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the inﬂuence of big business and labor unions by allowing unlimited contributions to political campaigns.

In 2017, aday after Donald Trump’sﬁrst presidential inauguration, an estimated 3million to 5million people rallied at Women’s

March demonstrations across the U.S. to support civil rights and to protest Trump’srhetoric and policies. In 2023, agunman opened ﬁre and killed 11 people at aballroom dance hall in Monterey Park, California, during the city’sLunar NewYear festivities. The gunman killed himself as police closed in on him. Today’sbirthdays: Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 86. Opera singer Plácido Domingo is 85. Singer-song-

Dear Harriette: Ithink my wife is having bladder issues, but Iimagine that may be asensitive topic, so I’m not sure how to bring it up. Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed a change in how frequently she needs to use the restroom and the urgency she experiences. There have also been some instances where it seems like she didn’t make it to arestroom in time. For example, sometimes she’ll run into the house from running errands, but Ican see that she’salready leaked abit (or more than a bit). Idon’twant to embarrassher by pointing out

BEST

Continued from page1D

something that she may alreadyfeel insecure about, but Idowanther to know that some of these changes come with ageand arenothingtobeashamedof. I’ve looked up some solutions (likeadultdiapers orincontinence underwear),but I’m notsure ofthe best way to share them with my wife without bruisingher ego. Any advice? —Can’t Hold It Dear Can’tHold It: Tell your wife you need to discusssomething sensitivewith her.Mention that you have noticed thatshe seems to need to urinate more frequently andsometimes has little accidents.

Tell her what you have found in your search for solutions; you might even buy someofthe incontinence underwear for her

Recommendthat she see her internist to ﬁnd out if she can do anything else about this issue. It could be that she has atemporary condition that can be addressed. Apologize if you have embarrassed her.Explain that you love her and want to make sure she is comfortable.

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

The meal also came with rice and refried beans, although Irequested black beans instead. As aCubanAmerican, Iknow good black beans. Those were very good black beans.

—Maddie Scott, features reporter

Chicken ramen

n Hikari Ramen,7474 Corporate Blvd., Baton Rouge

As temperatures plummet in Louisiana, soup is the answer to my woes.

This week, Ihad the Hikari Chicken ramen at Hikari Ramen across from Towne Center

The ramen had chicken chashu,ramen noodles, half an egg, bean sprouts, spinach, bok choy,green onions and fried onions. For an extra crunch, Irecommend getting an extra side of fried onions. The more, the better in my opinion.

—Margaret DeLaney health section coordinator Fried chicken lunchspecial n Sharks, Fish &Chicken, 312 Jefferson Blvd., Lafayette

Achain restaurant that opened in Lafayette had lots of buzz, so Ifinally decided to giveitatry.Known for their fried seafood and chicken,Itried the fried chicken lunch special, alongwith catfish andfried shrimp, paired withfries and aflavored frozen lemonade.

Everything arrived hot, fresh and fried to golden perfection with their sig-

nature “Shark seasoning,” that has aﬂavor blend of lemon pepper and herbs. The pina colada frozen lemonade was the perfect addition. Lunch specials can be mixed andmatched with a varietyofsides, including macaroniand cheese, hush puppies, okra, red beans and onion rings.

—Jakori Madison, breaking news reporter

writer Billy Ocean is 76. Artist Jeff Koons is 71. Actor-director Robby Benson is 70. Actor Geena Davis is 70. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota is 65. Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 63. Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 50. Actor Luke Grimes is 42. Mixed martial artist Ilia Tuporia is 29. Singer-songwriter Em Beihold is 27.

Harriette

LLOYD’S

Continued from page1D

type of po-boy to order,Fred Taylor said it boils down to preference,like choosing ice cream ﬂavors. And Fred Taylor’spersonal po-boy order?

“Oyster po-boy and abottle of beer,” he said.

Themenualsoincludes desserts like Mississippi mud pie and bread pudding, thelatter beingarecipefrom Shirley Taylor’smother Poor Boy Lloyd’sserves specials every weekday,and on Thursdays, it’s chicken and dumplings, arecipe from aformer employee of the old Brunswick Restaurant that was on Third Street. After it shutdown, the employee started working at Poor BoyLloyd’sand brought the recipe with her Benjamin Jones, aregular of 15 years, orders the chicken and dumplings special nearly every Thursday, and it’sone of his favorites at the restaurant along with the oyster po-boy Like clockwork, he was sitting and chatting with a friend on Thursday after ﬁnishing the special, about to begin working on aplate of apple crunch, adessert he said is “to die for.”

The restaurant is down the streetfrom Jones’ office,makingeach visita convenient stroll away Most times, he sits at one of the outside tables, but Thursday’schilly weather prompted him to sitinside.

“For most of the year,I can sit outside and look at the river,” Jones said. “Now how many restaurants do you know where youcan go sit down and watch the Mississippi River? That’sa real asset.”

Timeshavechanged

About half of Poor Boy Lloyd’scustomers,like Jones, are regulars, usually people who work downtown or at the Capitol, Fred Taylor said. The rest of the customers are mostly tourists.

Jason Placke has beena regular for the past year ever since he started working at the StateCapitol, but he’sknown of the spot for 15 years. He usually orders ashrimp po-boy,but sometimes changes it up with a lunch special. Everythingonthe menu is fresh and priced well,

Placke said.

“I always like to ﬁnd the local places anywhere Igo because that’swhereyou’re usually going to ﬁnd the best food,” Plackesaid Acommon customer experience at Poor Boy Lloyd’sis gettingtointeract withFred Taylor,since he’susually stationed at the checkout counter.From his post, he hands customers apeppermint on their way out.

“Got to clean the palate after you eat,” Placke said with alaugh Although Thursday’slunch rush ﬁllednearly everytable, FredTaylor said business isn’twhat it used to be

“Years ago, used to be aline out the door,” he said. “But here lately,thingshavereally deteriorated downtown.”

The downtown Baton Rouge scene has changed throughoutthe years, he said. He attributed the decrease in sales to fewer ofﬁces being rented, amajor point of business that drew foot traffic throughout the area. With thepandemic,decreased sales became asigniﬁcant concern for all businesses, particularly small or family-owned businesses like Poor Boy Lloyd’s. That’s whyRaisingCane’s owner andCEO Todd Graves stepped in to help. Graves featured the seafood restaurantonhis show, “RestaurantRecovery,” in 2021. The goalwas to help restaurantsthrough slow sales brought on by thepandemic. Gravesremodeled theinterior and exterior of Poor BoyLloyd’s, added new tables and chairs and secureda radio marketing package.

“We’re so grateful for what he did forus,” Shirley Taylorsaid about Graves. “He helped us out andmade

theplace look nice.”

Notablenames

Therestauranthas away of attracting big names, from politicians to movie stars toathletes.

Former President Barack Obama visited in 2016 with a teamofSecretServiceagents, and he ordered oyster, shrimp androast beef po-boyswith red beans and rice, according to an Advocatearticle.

Other politicians have visited, Rachel Taylor said, like Al Gore,BernieSanders and Mike Johnson.

Therestaurantalsogets recommendations fromShaquille O’Neal, Rachel Taylor said, andshe knows this becausecustomers often come in, saying the basketball star sent them.

Apo-boyreview

Twodays after Braddock’s

ﬁrst visit to Poor Boy Lloyd’s, he saidheenjoyed his meal so much thathewould recommendthe restaurant to the governor,adding that the portionswere sizeable —a bonus to asolid po-boy

“It was very good, and the wife really enjoyed her roast beef also,” Braddock said.

“And there was so much,we actually ate half andthenate theother half thenext day.”

Braddockended up staying in thecityfor another day,saying he hoped to grab another bite at the restaurant before leaving. Hopefully, anotherpo-boywas in store forthe West Monroe resident, maybe another handshake with Fred Taylor and a peppermint for theroad.

Poor Boy Lloyd’s, 201 Florida St., Baton Rouge. Open 7a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7a.m. to 9p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.to9 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays

Dear Heloise: I’ve been having issues withmyunderwear gettingstained, and I’ve tried bleach to get thestainsout. The bleach would damage theelasticity and render them too loose to wear,so from now on, Ijust use asmaller bowl and only soak the stained portion. JohnnyB., in Long Beach, California AverylongtriptoEarth

space. If there is, whocan say whether or not they’ve been visiting us? Just keep an open mind. The universe is full of strange things. —Heloise Shower safely

Dear Heloise: In response to Jerry,inNebraska, who saw aUFO: impossible! The closest star is Alpha Centauri, which is about 4 light years away.Traveling at adecent speed meansa trip of afew hundred years. How can anyone make such atrip without food, water or sunshine? —AnthonyT.,via email Anthony,Idon’tknow if there’slife out there in

DearHeloise: For those who are remodeling or building their home, I suggest incorporating the traditional small shower stall into your plans. The new larger open designs are spectacular,but they can also be more dangerous for elders who experience dizziness or balance issues. Having anearby wall to lean on or abar close by to grab onto can be alifesaver.Thanks from an 81-yearold dizzy elder —Jim, via email Jim, there are also shower stools so that people can sit downand shower They can be bought online or from amedical supply store. —Heloise Butter bell

Dear Heloise: Ihavekept my butter in abutter bell (French butter crock)for years. Ilovehaving softbutter anytime that Iwant. All Ihavetodoisreplace the water several times aweek —Sandy R.,inTucson,Arizona

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Manager Rachel Taylorchats with customer GaryBraddockwhile takinghis orderatPoor Boy Lloyd’sinBaton Rouge. Therestaurant has been open since 1967.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

PHOTO By CAROLyN KASTER

President BarackObamavisits withpatrons of Poor Boy Lloyd’sinBaton Rougein2016.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Do your homework, follow the proper protocols and stay within budget. Do what you can yourself, but when an expert is essential, don't scrimp

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) When in doubt, say no. Pursue facts, get the lowdown, enforcerulesandregulations,andrefuse to spend a penny on anything that you think is unnecessary.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Keep your thoughts to yourself and avoid joint ventures and shared expenses. Look out for your best interests and say no to temptation. Focus inward. Make clarity, adaptabilityandgettingthingsdoneyour goals.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Keep moving. The more time you spend mulling over whattodoandhowtodoit themorefrustrating and unproductive your day will become. Just wing it

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Open your mind, try something new and put your energy into new beginnings, creative imagination and making a difference. Fight the battles that mean the most to you instead of working tirelessly for someone else.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Keep track of your money, possessions and important documents. You'll need to make payments or adjustments to avoid penalties. A disciplined mindset and unique approach will pave the way to satisfaction.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Initiate change. Keeping an open mind and finishing what you start will pay off. Partnerships

WonderWord

help you address concerns and make a difference in your community. Keep a level head and your eye on your target, and something good will transpire.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Keep moving. What you achieve will depend on how much time, money and effort you are willing to put into your pursuit. Reach out and join forces with other hardworking individuals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Use your charm to get others to pitch in and help. A lifestyle change that soothes the soul will get you back on track and ready to take a new direction. Personal growth will broaden your awareness.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Wait and watch. Time is on your side, and avoiding premature changes will position you for success. Attend events that spark your imagination. Start conversations, listen intensely and observe what others do.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Get the ball rolling, ask questions, promote and market your skills, and focus on what's possible. You owe it to yourself to follow your heart and to pursue your dreams.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Tone down emotional rhetoric. If you act on gut feelings, you'll end up backtracking. Refuse to participate in emotional mayhem and instead project a positive attitude. Say less and do more.

FAMILY CIrCUS

TODAy'S

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

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

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

There is an old saying that real bridge playersdon’tneedBlackwood.Ofcourse, before bidding aslam, Blackwood of one ilk or another is often used.But on some deals it will not help, andthe partnership needs to employ control-bidding (cue-bidding). Look at this deal. South openstwo clubs; North responds two diamonds, not being quite strongenough for atwoheart positive with thatrelatively weak suit; South rebids two spades; andNorth raises to three spades, promising asmattering of points.(Some playerswould make afour-club splinter bid, showing thesingleton,but Ilikefour-cardspade supportfor that action.)

NowifSouthusesBlackwood,helearns thathispartnerhasoneace—buthedoes not know if it is the useless heartace or the invaluable diamond ace. Instead,he makes afour-club control-bid, showing afirst-round club control (ace or void), expressing slam interest, andasking partner if he has asuitable hand. North, with aterrific hand, makes afour-diamondcontrol-bid.NowSouth,wondering abouttheclubsituation,control-bidsfour hearts.AndwhenNorthcontrol-bidsfive clubs to show his second-round control (king or singleton), South leaps majestically to seven spades.

Southruffs the heart lead,cashes his club ace, ruffs aclubinthe dummy, returnstohis hand with atrump,ruffs theclubqueen, carefully ruffs aheart in hishand (does notplay adiamond!), draws the last trump andclaims. ©2026 by NEA, Inc dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzleisaword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying,

Previous answers:

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAY’s WoRD ouTRIGHT: OUT-rite: Instantaneously.

Averagemark 17 words

Timelimit 35 minutes

Can youfind29ormore words in OUTRIGHT?

YEsTERDAY’s WoRD —REALMs