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CAPITAL CARNIVAL

Weather concerns aside, Washington Mardi Gras ready to roll

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Washington D.C., was digging out Monday from a major snowstorm — up to 14 inches in some parts — but the hundreds of Louisiana movers and shakers headed here for the 77th Washington Mardi Gras were hopeful that the show will go on.

The four-day Carnival extravaganza brings business moguls, university presidents, charity leaders and other inﬂuential people together to mingle with state and federal politicians, casually mingling and talking commerce.

“It just continues the focus on improving the brand of the state and leveraging the opportunity to get so many of our state’s business leaders, civic leaders, political leaders, investors — whether they are Louisiana-based investors or they’re investors that are putting their capital to work here — and getting them all in one place,” said W. Gray Stream, a Lake Charles investor and philanthropist who is king of Washington Mardi Gras this year

Paid for by dues tickets and donations, public access to Washington Mardi Gras is restricted and media coverage is limited to foster unguarded conversations that gets business done, participants say

Though most attendees arrive on Wednesday historically many come in Monday or Tuesday to

ä See CARNIVAL, page 5A

Lafayette

sees dusting of

snow Sunday

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

Despite snow not being in the forecast for Lafayette during Winter Storm Fern, the area saw a light dusting Sunday night. It wasn’t a measurable amount of precipitation, but it was enough for people to catch the ﬂurries in videos and for a small layer of snow to

appear on cars and porches

Trump eases off Minnesota crackdown

Some federal agents prepare to leave, including Border Patrol commander Bovino

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI and MIKE BALSAMO Associated Press

said some agents would

The

and that he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go. Among those who are expected to depart was senior Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

Lafayette City-Parish Attorney Patrick Ottinger announced Monday that he would be retiring. His retirement will be effective at the next council meeting, scheduled for Feb. 10, where Mayor-President Monique Boulet will name Robert Mahtook Jr to serve as the next city-parish attorney upon council approval, according to a statement from Lafayette Consolidated Government. Ottinger will continue, on a limited basis, as an assistant city-parish attorney on pending legal matters.

ä See ATTORNEY, page 4A ä See MINNESOTA, page 4A

A light dusting of snow

“We had a weak disturbance overhead and once that moved across, it provided enough upperlevel support that we were able to squeeze out some very light snow flurries, which typically would have been rain,” said Stacey Denson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

“It was just a passing disturbance with that second surge of cold air,” she added. “If you took a look at the radar, you couldn’t even

ä See SNOW, page 4A ä Freezing temperatures forecast for the rest of the week. PAGE 1B

PROVIDED PHOTOS Purple reigns at the 2025 Washington Mardi Gras celebration.

Louisiana festival queens gather with, front row from left, Gov. Jeff Landry, first lady Sharon Landry and 2026 Washington Mardi Gras Queen Sarah Heebe and King W Gray Stream.

covers a car on Sunday in Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTO

ASHLEy WHITE

Trump threatens to hike tariffs on South Korea

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Monday he is increasing tariffs on South Korean goods because the country’s national assembly has yet to approve the trade framework announced last year

Trump said on social media that import taxes would be raised on autos, lumber and pharmaceutical drugs from South Korea with the rate on other goods going from 15% to 25%. The U.S. president previously imposed the tariffs by declaring an economic emergency and bypassing Congress, while South Korea needed legislative approval for the framework announced in July and affirmed during Trump’s October visit to the country “Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to ” Trump said. “We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.”

The threat was a reminder that the tariff drama unleashed last year by Trump is likely to be repeated again and again this year The global economy and U.S. voters might ﬁnd the world’s trade structure constantly being subject to disruption and new negotiations as Trump has already sought to levy tariffs in order to bend other nations to his will.

Russia: Talks with U.S., Ukraine constructive

Negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are yielding apparent signs of progress, but major challenges remain on the path to a ﬁnal settlement, a senior Kremlin ofﬁcial said Monday.

Talks between envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the United States in recent days in Abu Dhabi were constructive and another round is planned for next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. He reported no major breakthrough so far, however, and added: “The very fact that these contacts have begun in a constructive way can be assessed positively but there is still serious work ahead.”

Ofﬁcials revealed few details of the talks held on Friday and Saturday, which were part of a yearlong effort by the Trump administration to steer the sides toward a peace deal and end almost four years of all-out war

While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washington’s calls for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.

Meanwhile, the grinding war of attrition along the roughly 600-mile front line snaking through eastern and southern Ukraine has dragged on, and Ukrainian civilians are enduring another winter of hardship after Russian bombardment of cities in the rear President Donald Trump has set out deadlines for an agreement and threatened additional sanctions on Moscow, but Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently hasn’t budged from his public demands.

At least 18 killed after ferry sinks in Philippines MANILA, Philippines A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines, killing at least 18 people, officials said Rescuers saved hundreds more, while a ﬂeet of coast guard and naval ships searched for those still missing. Coast guard ofﬁcials said the cargo and passenger ferry apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight. The steel-hulled vessel abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people into the sea in the darkness, according to a rescued passenger who lost his 6-month-old baby The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 was sailing in good weather from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members. It sank about a nautical mile from the island village of Baluk-baluk in Basilan province, coast guard Commander Romel Dua said.

U.S. braces for more freezing cold

Winter storm leaves at least 29 dead

BY CHARLOTTE KRAMON and RUSS BYNUM Associated Press

Many in the U.S. faced another night of belowfreezing temperatures and no electricity after a colossal winter storm heaped more snow Monday on the Northeast and kept parts of the South coated in ice.

At least 29 deaths were reported in states afflicted with severe cold Deep snow — over a foot extending in a 1,300-mile swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic, canceled flights and triggered wide school closures Monday The National Weather Service said areas north of Pittsburgh got up to 20 inches of snow and faced wind chills as low as minus 25 degrees late Monday into Tuesday The bitter cold afflicting two-thirds of the U.S. wasn’t going away The weather service said Monday that a fresh influx of artic air is expected to sustain freezing temperatures in places already covered in snow and ice. And forecasters said it’s possible another winter storm could hit parts of the East Coast this weekend

A rising death toll included two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow by police with bloodhounds after she was last seen leaving a Kansas bar In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors in the course of the frigid weekend.

There were still more than 670,000 power outages in the nation Monday evening, according to poweroutage.com. Most of them were in the South, where weekend blasts of freezing rain caused tree limbs and

power lines to snap, inﬂicting crippling outages on northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.

Parts of Mississippi were reeling in the aftermath of the state’s worst ice storm since 1994 Ofﬁcials scrambled Monday to get cots, blankets, bottled water and generators to warming stations in hard-hit areas.

The University of Mississippi, where most students hunkered down without power Monday, canceled classes for the entire week as its Oxford campus remained coated in treacherous ice. Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill said on social media that so many trees, limbs and power

lines had fallen that “it looks like a tornado went down every street.”

A pair of burly, falling tree branches damaged real estate agent Tim Phillips’ new garage, broke a window and cut off power to his home in Oxford. He said half of his neighbors had homes or vehicles damaged.

“It’s just one of those things that you try to prepare for,” Phillips said, “but this one was just unreal.”

The U.S. had more than 11,000 flight delays and cancellations nationwide Monday, according to flight tracker flightaware. com. On Sunday, 45% of U.S. flights got cancelled,

making it the highest day for cancellations since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation analytics ﬁrm Cirium. More light to moderate snow was forecast in New England through Monday evening.

New York City saw its snowiest day in years, with neighborhoods recording 8 to 15 inches of snow Though public schools shut down, roughly 500,000 students were told to log in for online lessons Monday Snow days off from school melted away in New York the nation’s largest public school system, after remote learning gained traction during the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, bitter cold followed in the storm’s wake. Communities across the Midwest, South, and Northeast awakened Monday to subzero weather The entire Lower 48 states were forecast to have their coldest average low temperature of minus 9.8 since January 2014. In the Nashville, Tennessee, area, electricity returned for thousands of homes and businesses Monday, while more than 170,000 others awoke bundled up in powerless homes after subfreezing temperatures overnight. Many hotels were sold out overnight to residents escaping dark and frigid homes.

Israel recovers remains of last hostage in Gaza

BY JULIA FRANKEL and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israel brought home the remains of the last hostage in Gaza on Monday, closing a painful chapter for the country and clearing the way for the next and more challenging phase of its ceaseﬁre with Hamas.

The next step is likely to be the reopening of Gaza’s border with Egypt, enabling Palestinians to travel in both directions and eventually allowing more aid to enter the territory devastated by two years of war The ceasefire’s second phase also calls for deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas, pulling back Israeli soldiers and rebuilding Gaza

The remains of police ofﬁcer Ran Gvili were found in a cemetery in northern Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an incredible achievement” for Israel and its

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAHMOUD ILLEAN

The coffin with remains of

soldiers. He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the ﬁrst to be taken into Gaza.

Dozens of people, including relatives, military officials and friends from Gvili’s police unit, received his cofﬁn at an army post on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza.

Many more Israelis lined nearby roads to pay their respects as a convoy carrying the coffin made its way to Tel Aviv, where it

arrived Monday night

“You should see the honor you’re receiving here,” Gvili’s father, Itzik, said, kissing his son’s coffin, which was draped in an Israeli ﬂag “The entire police is here with you, the entire army is with you, the entire people. I’m proud of you.”

The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, had been a key part of the Gaza ceaseﬁre’s ﬁrst phase. Hamas said it now has met those terms.

Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that once the

Business jet crashes during takeoff in Maine, killing at least six people

BY PATRICK WHITTLE, HOLLY RAMER and JOSH FUNK Associated Press

PORTLAND Maine The business jet that crashed during takeoff as a snowstorm moved in and visibility diminished in Maine Sunday night, killing at least a half dozen people, is a model with a history of crashes caused by ice on the wings.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 ﬂipped over and burned on takeoff at Bangor International Airport about 7:45 p.m. Sunday night as the nation’s massive winter storm was beginning to reach the area.

The airport said Monday afternoon that there were six people aboard, according to the ﬂight manifest, and all of them died. Earlier in the day, the Federal Aviation Administration said seven people died and one member of the crew survived, but a spokesman said those numbers were

preliminary and subject to change. The airport said no one was taken to a hospital. Snowfall was heavy elsewhere at the time of the crash, but accumulation had just started in Bangor Other planes had been taking off safely But about half an hour before the crash, the pilot of a Florida-bound Allegiant plane radioed the tower to abort his takeoff.

“One, our deice ﬂuid has failed and two, I don’t think the visibility is good enough for us to go, so we’re going to have to taxi back to the gate here,” the Allegiant pilot radioed. The controller responded by saying he was just getting ready to warn the pilot that visibility had dropped to about threequarters of a mile.

At about the same time, the pilot of the Bombardier had taxied over to the deicing pad and was radioing in a request to get his plane’s wings and tail treated according to audio posted

by www.LiveATC.net. The plane remained at the deicing pad for about 20 minutes before taxiing to the runway The Bombardier Challenger 600 model “has a history of problems with icing on takeoff” that has caused previous crashes, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said. Even a little bit of ice on the wings can cause serious problems, so the passenger jet would have needed deicing before takeoff, the former federal crash investigator said.

The identities of those onboard won’t be released publicly until they can be conﬁrmed, ofﬁcials said.

The jet was registered to a corporation that shares the same address in Houston, Texas, as the personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, and one of the law firm’s founding partners is listed as the registered agent for the company that owns the plane.

search for Gvili was ﬁnished, Israel would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Palestinians see as their lifeline to the world. It has been largely shut since May 2024, except for a short period early last year

The ceaseﬁre’s next phase will confront thornier issues, including transitioning to a new governance structure in Gaza and disarming Hamas, which has ruled the territory for nearly two decades.

“The next phase is disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. The next phase is not reconstruction,” Netanyahu said Monday while addressing the Israeli parliament.

Palestinians in Gaza were optimistic that opening the Rafah crossing will allow travel to and from the enclave along with the evacuation of people needing medical care.

“We hope this will close off Israel’s pretexts and open the crossing,” said Abdel-Rahman Radwan, a Gaza City resident whose mother has cancer and requires treatment outside Gaza.

Ahmed Ruqab, a father who lives with his family of six in a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp, called for mediators and the U.S. to pressure Israel to allow more aid.

“We need to turn this page and restart,” he said over the phone.

8-5

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PROVIDED PHOTO By JOSH MCCOy/THE CITy OF OXFORD Snow and ice cover trees and streets Sunday as a winter storm passes through the region in Oxford Miss.

Israeli hostage Ran Gvili, last to be recovered from Gaza, arrives Monday at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel.

spoke to AP on condition of anonymity

Bovino has been at the center of the administration’s aggressive enforcement surge in cities nationwide. His departure marks a signiﬁcant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-yearold ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, the second fatal shooting by federal immigration ofﬁcers this month.

Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local ofﬁcials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.

Criticism increased around Bovino in the last few days after his public defense of the Pretti shooting and disputed claims about the confrontation that led to his death.

The border czar, Tom Homan, will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota. Frey said he planned to meet Homan on Tuesday Trump and Democratic Gov Tim Walz spoke in a phone call and later offered comments that were a marked change from the critical statements they have exchanged in the past. Their conversation happened on the same day a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit aimed at halting the federal immigration enforcement surge in the state.

“We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote in a social media post.

Walz, in a statement, said the call was “productive” and that impartial investigations into the shootings were needed. Trump said his administration was looking for “any and all” criminals the state has in their custody Walz said the state Department of Corrections honors federal requests for people in its custody Meanwhile, attorneys for the administration, the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul appeared

ATTORNEY

Continued from page 1A

“I’m calling this a retirement, even though I’m not straying too far,” Ottinger wrote. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served our community and for the trust placed in me by the Mayor-President, the City and Parish Councils, and the many departments and agencies of Lafayette Consolidated Government.

I’m proud of the work accomplished over the past two years and am conﬁdent in the strength, professionalism, and dedication of the legal department moving forward.”

Ottinger served as cityparish attorney from January 2004 until he resigned in February 2011, having served longer than any other city-parish attorney since the creation of LCG in 1996. In 2024, he returned under

SNOW

Continued from page 1A

see anything there; it was so light.” Most of the rain moved through the area Friday and Saturday, dumping nearly 3 inches, according to measurements collected at Lafayette Regional Airport

But in northern Louisiana, residents saw freezing rain, ice and snow

Most precipitation that forms during a winter storm starts as snow according to the National Weather Service, because the top layer of the storm is usually cold enough — freezing or below to create snowﬂakes.

A snowﬂake is a collection

Monday before U.S District Judge Katherine Menendez, who is considering whether to grant requests to temporarily halt the immigration operation

She said the case was a priority, but in an order later Monday she told the federal government’s attorneys to file an additional brief by 6 p.m. Wednesday She told them to address, among other things, the assertion by the state and cities that the purpose of Operation Metro Surge is to punish them for their sanctuary laws and policies.

Lawyers for the state and

Boulet, who sought to stabilize a legal department that inherited a multitude of legal issues from Josh Guillory’s administration, many of which were later dismissed or dropped

“Pat answered the call at a critical moment for the city and the parish of Lafayette,” Boulet wrote. “On day one of taking office, LCG faced a number of legal challenges, including pending lawsuits ﬁled by and against the cityparish, outstanding regulatory and judicial cease and desist orders, and unﬁnished drainage projects, to name only a few

“His leadership, institutional knowledge, and steady hand helped us resolve these complex legal issues, strengthen internal processes, and position us for long-term success.”

A graduate of Lafayette High School, the University of Southwestern Louisiana and LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Ottinger has

of ice crystals that cling together as they fall to the ground. Snowﬂakes can only maintain their composure when temperatures are at or below 32 degrees from the base of the cloud all the way to the ground

Sleet forms when snowﬂakes that fall from a freezing cloud hit a shallow layer of warmer air, causing the ice crystals to at least partially melt, according to the National Weather Service. Then, as the drops reach freezing temperatures closer to the ground, they refreeze creating something like slushy, frozen raindrops. Depending on conditions, sleet can accumulate on the ground much like snow Rain is not in the fore-

the Twin Cities argued the situation on the street is so dire it requires the court to halt the federal government’s enforcement actions

“If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.

The judge questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown and expressed skepticism about a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi recently sent to Walz.

practiced law in Lafayette since 1974. He served as president of the Lafayette Parish Bar Association in 1992 and of the Louisiana State Bar Association in 1998-99.

Mahtook is a managing partner at Mahtook & Lafleur, LLC, with more than four decades of legal experience. His practice has focused on complex litigation, public-sector representation and advising governmental and institutional clients on risk management, regulatory matters and dispute resolution.

An LSU graduate and lifelong Lafayette resident, Mahtook earned his law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law He later obtained an MBA from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Email Stephen Marcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com.

cast for the next couple of days — though there is about a 30% chance of rain on Friday — but the dangerously cold temperatures ushered in by the weekend’s rain remain. Lafayette is expected to see freezing or near-freezing temperatures for the next three nights, Denson said Monday morning.

The cold weather isn’t expected to let up any time soon. A cool pattern is favored to remain in place through the beginning of February, causing temperatures to drop below freezing at night, the weather service said in a Monday morning forecast.

Staff writer Kasey Bubnash contributed to this report.

The letter asked the state to give the federal government access to voter rolls, to turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records, and to repeal sanctuary policies.

“I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation.

Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department attorney, said the government’s goal is to enforce federal law Mayers said one lawful action should not be used to discredit another lawful action.

“I don’t see how the fact that we’re also doing additional things that we are allowed to do, that the Constitution has vested us with doing, would in any way negate another piece of the same operation, the same surge,” Mayers said.

Menendez questioned where the line was between violating the Constitution and the executive’s power

to enforce the law She also asked whether she was being asked to decide between state and federal policies.

“That begins to feel very much like I am deciding which policy approach is best,” she said.

At one point, while discussing the prospect of federal ofﬁcers entering residences without a warrant, the judge expressed reluctance to decide issues not yet raised in a lawsuit before her Menendez made it clear that she was struggling with how to rule because the case is so unusual, and there are few precedents.

“It’s because this is important that I’m doing everything I can to get it right,” she said.

The state of Minnesota and the cities sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, ﬁve days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer The shooting of Pretti by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday added

urgency to the case. Trump posted Monday on social media that Homan would report directly to him. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan would be “the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis” during continued operations by federal immigration ofﬁcers.

In court Monday, an attorney for the administration said about 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement ofﬁcers were on ground, along with at least 1,000 Border Patrol ofﬁcers. The lawsuit asks the judge to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation.

The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, ﬁled a friend-ofthe-court brief supporting Minnesota.

In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, took under advisement a request from the Justice Department to lift an order he issued late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting.

Attorneys for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told the judge they can’t trust the federal government to preserve the evidence, citing the lack of cooperation the state is getting from federal authorities after they said they were blocked from the scene. But the federal government’s attorneys argued that the temporary restraining order should be dissolved because its investigators are already following proper preservation procedures, and they’d object to “micromanaging” from the court what evidence the state can examine while the federal investigation is ongoing.

U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, center walks through a Target store Jan. 11 in St. Paul, Minn. ASSOCIATED

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON U.S. Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick is slated to address the Washington Mardi Gras Economic Development Luncheon & Reception on Friday

The former head of Cantor Fitzgerald, the global financial services firm, Lutnick was a fundraiser and adviser on financial issues during the presidential campaigns for President Donald Trump.

CARNIVAL

Continued from page 1A

take advantage of the easy access to the state’s congressional delegation.

“It’s not just the visitors who come up for the ball and the Mardi Gras-related activities. It’s a whole contingent of leaders who understand that doors are open that week and they make the most of it,” said Marie DesOrmeaux Centanni, a member of the krewe that organizes the event and head of Centanni Communications, a Lafayette-based consulting ﬁrm.

Last year, a once-in-ageneration winter storm in Louisiana kept many people from making it up to Washington Mardi Gras This year organizers are hoping a storm in D.C. won’t do the same thing.

Schools and offices were closed Monday in the nation’s capital as high temperatures sat in the 20s. The area’s three airports, which were effectively closed all of Sunday and much of Monday, were expected to be fully operational — albeit with huge backlogs of canceled ﬂights by Tuesday

The U.S. Senate canceled its session Monday and hopes to reconvene by Tuesday evening to begin considering House-passed budget bills. The upper chamber needs to approve the legislation before Friday ends, or another partial government shutdown will take place.

The Mystick Krewe of Louisianans, which puts on Washington Mardi Gras each year, is monitoring the weather situation and formulating contingency plans. Some staff and senior

More than 300 business, civic and government leaders gather for the luncheon, which last year featured House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and NFL

Commissioner Roger Goodell. The event is generally closed to the public.

As chair of the annual event, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, chose the speaker for one of the key events of the four-day economic development retreat held most years at

the Washington Hilton.

“I wanted to get one of President Trump’s Cabinet secretaries,” Scalise said.

“Howard is very, very involved in a lot of the big economic decisions affecting the economy, both globally and domestically. I work with Howard a lot, and he’s a dear friend. He’s very involved in the Trump economic policy.”

Scalise said Lutnick also has a considerable resume for philanthropy

Mardi Gras luncheon

For instance, Cantor Fitzgerald’s offices were in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when terrorists flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the building and killed 658 of the firm’s 960 employees on Sept. 11, 2001.

Lutnick founded a fund that donates to families of the 9/11 victims with children. Each year, Lutnick raises more money for the fund that now also contributes to people impacted by disasters.

A billionaire, Lutnick is involved in trade deals and tariff negotiations for the Trump administration. The 77th edition of the Washington Mardi Gras begins Wednesday and continues until Saturday night’s formal ball. Hundreds of leaders from Louisiana’s business, university, charitable and other economic development organizations spend the days meeting local, state and federal ofﬁcials to talk commerce.

lieutenants headed up early, said Russell Mosely, a senior lieutenant in the krewe. Production workers building the sets at the Washington Hilton are locals. They have been prepositioning supplies and hurrying their work.

Congressional staffers say their bosses are playing the office meetings by ear with an understanding that schedules won’t be rigidly followed Carnival planners and participants are banking on the dangerous conditions being cleaned up by Wednesday, when most arrive.

The official Washington Mardi Gras events take place at the Washington Hilton But a number of private

King Charles E. Brown and Queen Mary Lyon

to their subjects

organizations hold their own parties.

One of the most soughtafter invites is for Cheniere Energy’s party, which this year is on Wednesday at the National Portrait Gallery Thursday night is the “Louisiana Alive” party that features Louisiana bands and chefs preparing a variety of dishes unavailable in Washington.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is using the occasion to sign Friday morning a memorandum of understanding with universities in the Sultanate of Oman to work together on research and make student exchanges easier

Friday’s main event is the Washington Mardi Gras Economic Development Luncheon & Reception, which gathers more than 300 business, civic and government leaders. It is usually closed to the public. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is slated to address the luncheon.

In between the toasts, cocktail parties and panel discussions, revelers can stroll down the halls of the Hilton visiting a series of hospitality suites sponsored by corporations, charities, universities, trade associations, politicians and their fundraising arms. The drinks are free — it’s hard to find anything nonalcoholic — and food is always available.

The main event is Saturday’s formal ball, hosted by the king and queen, with entourages that include many

of the festival queens.

“Saturday night is just special. Everybody’s in black tie. It’s a true, kind of a dress up, celebrating what’s great about our culture,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who is chair of this year’s Washington Mardi Gras.

“You’ve got the princesses and then you’ve got the king and the queen come out and then the ﬂoats and the whole krewe and everybody from

As chair, Scalise chose the king and queen. For king, Scalise said he tapped Stream because of his long resume of public service activities.

As queen, he chose Sarah Heebe, a sophomore at Yale, where she is majoring in environmental studies with a certiﬁcate in energy studies. Scalise was in the state

Legislature with her mom, Jennifer Sneed Heebe Her father, Fred Heebe, the New Orleans businessman who owns the River Birch landﬁll, was king of Washington Mardi Gras in 2023.

The ball takes place in a large room with seating around an oval-shaped ﬂoor Members of the krewe, including members of Congress, ﬂoats and marching bands circulate, tossing beads.

After the parade, dancing begins in front of the stage.

The krewe has a tradition, the callout dance, in which women members ask five men to dance and the men ask five women. Upon the completion of the callout dance, a gift — bracelets, earrings, etc. is given. Sunday is when everyone heads home, though a few organizations will host breakfasts.

“If you’re working to make Louisiana and the United States a better place for everyone, Washington Mardi Gras is an opportunity to make it happen,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, DBaton Rouge, said: “As a taxpayer, what you get is stronger representation, greater visibility for Louisiana, and opportunities that help bring federal resources, jobs and investment back home. When Louisiana shows up together, we are better positioned to deliver results for our communities.”

the governor on down is going to be a part of that. It’s a lot of fun.”

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, shows off his Louisiana flag-themed cape at the 2024 Washington Mardi Gras Ball.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Johnston wave

at the 1981 Washington Mardi Gras Ball.

Cassidyruns1st TV ad in Senate reelection campaign

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy wants you to know he’sinthe Senate race for the long haul and expects to win reelection.

On Tuesday,Cassidy launched thefirst TV ad of hiscampaign, wasting no time to draw on his pile of campaign cash after President Donald Trump shook up the race last week by endorsingU.S.Rep Julia Letlow.She announced her candidacy three days later

In the 30-second spot, Cassidy trumpets abill he sponsored that aims to crack down on fentanyl by imposing harsher penalties on peoplewho manufacture anddistribute the deadly drug “A hundred-thousand Americans

die from overdoseseveryyear Enough to ﬁll TigerStadium,”Cassidysays, standing outside the stadium.

Viewers then see images of Trumpsigningthe anti-fentanyl bill with Cassidy by his sideasthe senator says thepresident called it “the most important legislation he would sign this year.It puts drug dealers in prison and saves innocent lives.”

“Cassidy has to ﬁnd away to cut into the Trumpbase,” saidJim Kitchens, aDemocraticpollster in Florida whohas worked extensively in Louisiana. “He’strying to align with Trump on an issue where Trump said nice things about him. He has to show he’snot an enemy of Trump.”

The ad provides the ﬁrst glimpseofhow Cassidy plans to address akey question going forward:FollowingTrump’s endorsement of Letlow,will the senator distance himself from the president or try to ﬁnd ways to tie himself to the most popular Republicaninthe country?

Iran-backedmilitias threaten attacksas U.S. carrierarrives

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— TwoIranian-backed militias in the Mideast are signaling their willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to back Iran, as ofﬁcials acknowledged the arrivalofa U.S. aircraft carrier to the region Monday.President Donald Trump ordered the carriers to move to the Middle East as he threatened military action over its crackdown on nationwide protests Yemen’sIranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday hinted they were ready to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. That came just after Iraq’sKataib Hezbollah paramilitary group, long supported by Iran’sparamilitary Revolutionary Guard, issued adirect threat late Sunday towardany attacktargeting Iran, warning a“total war” in the region would be aresult.

The statements cameas theentire region is mired in atense waitinggametosee if Trump will strike. Both the Houthisand Kataib Hezbollah sat out from Israel’s12daywar on Iran inJune that saw the UnitedStates bomb Iranian nuclear sites. The hesitancy to get involved shows thedisarraystillaffecting Iran’sself-described “AxisofResistance” after facing attacks from Israel during its war on Hamas in theGaza Strip Thethreats came as the aircraft carrier USS AbrahamLincolnand otherguided missile destroyersinits strike group arrived in the region to “promote regional security and stability,” U.S. Central Command said Mondayonsocial media.

Trumphas said the ships arebeing moved“justin case” he decides to take action againstIran. He hasalready laid out two red lines

Kitchens noted that Trump has had themilitary blow up boats offthe coasts of Venezuela,boats that he hassaidwere running fentanyl. (Most of the fentanyl in the U.S. actually comes from Mexico, according to the CongressionalResearch Service.)

The Cassidy campaign has said its candidate will report having $11 millionincash through theend of last year when the next campaign ﬁnance reportsare released within aweek.

The campaign said it is spending

ahefty$500,000 on the fentanyl ad. It will air on cable TV statewide, on digital media and on commercial TV stations in the Baton Rouge, NewOrleans and Lafayette markets.

Kitchens said he believes the Cassidy team is broadcasting thead with the thinking, “Let’ssee if we can move the needle by improving ourfavorability rating.”

Kitchensexpects Cassidy will run apoll in earlyFebruary to determine whether the ad in fact improvedhis numbers, whichhave not been rousing so far, other surveys show.The ﬁndings will help determine the senator’sstrategy for the campaign’snext stage.

Cassidy,Letlow and the other would-be candidates for Senate havethree daystoqualify forthe race beginning on Feb. 11.

The candidates whodoqualify will face off in separate Democratic and Republican primaries

forattack —the killing of peaceful protesters andTehran conducting massexecutionsofthose it has arrested in amassivecrackdown over the demonstrations

Asenior Iranian military officialwho spoke anonymously on Iran’sState TV dismissed the American threat as “an exaggeration” andnoted that Iran hadincreased its military presence in response. The ofﬁcial addedthat theLincoln’spresence was not a deterrent but an accessible target

Iran projected itspower across the Mideastthrough the“Axis of Resistance,” a network of proxy militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and other places. It was also seen as a defensive buffer, intended to keep conﬂictaway from Iranian borders. But it has collapsedafter Israel targetedHamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and others during theGazawar.Meanwhile, rebels in 2024overthrew Syria’sBashar Assad after ayearslong, bloody war in which Iran backed his rule.

By The Associated Press

on May16, wherevoters notregisteredwith eitherparty can vote in eitherprimary.The winners of thetwo primaries, assumingnoone captures more than 50%,will face offina June 27 primary runoff. The winners of each party’srunoff will then compete in aNovember general election. The Republican candidate will be heavily favored in astate where no Democrathas been elected to the Senate since then-Sen.Mary Landrieu wonreelection in 2008.

State Sen. Blake Miguez, of New Iberia,state TreasurerJohnFleming, Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmettaand St.Tammany Parish Council member Kathy Seiden are Republicans and have said they plan to run.

Three little-known Democrats have also said theywill qualify,including Jamie Davis, afarmer and former member of the Tensas Parish Police Jury

WASHINGTON The death toll from the Trump administration’sstrikes on alleged drug boats is up to 126 people, with the inclusion of those presumed dead after being lost at sea, the U.S. military conﬁrmed Monday The figure includes116 peoplewho were killed immediatelyinatleast 36 attackscarriedout since early September in the CaribbeanSea and eastern Paciﬁc Ocean,U.S.Southern Command said. Tenothers are believed dead because searchers did not locate them following astrike.

Eight of the presumed dead had jumped off boats whenAmerican forces attacked atrioofvessels accusedoftrafﬁcking drugs on Dec. 30,the military said. The number was not released previously,though

the military said whenannouncing those strikes that theU.S.CoastGuard had searched for survivors. Thetwo otherpeople presumed dead wereonboats that were attacked on Oct. 27 and last Friday President Donald Trump has saidthe U.S. is in “armed conﬂict” withcartels in Latin Americaand has justified the attacks as anecessary escalation to stem the ﬂow of drugs. But hisadministration has offered little evidence to supportits claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Criticshave questioned the overalllegality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafﬁcked to the U.S. overlandfrom Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

PROVIDED PHOTO By SEAMAN DANIEL KIMMELMAN/U.S.NAVy Sailors prepare aBoeing EA-18G Growler on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesdayinthe Indian Ocean. The carrier has been moved to the Middle East.

Jan Risher is on vacation. Her column will return next week.

Foreman Drive gas station gets OK

But many nearby residents object to passage

BY FAITH SCHOLL and STEPHEN MARCANTEL

Contributing and staff writers

A request to build a gas station near a residential neighborhood on the west side of Lafayette was OK’d by the Lafayette City Council last week despite opposition from nearby residents.

Council members voted 3-2 to grant a conditional use permit for the property at 801 Foreman Drive during a Jan. 20 meeting, a move that came after the project was turned down by the Lafayette Zoning Commission in November

Lighting restrictions were placed on the property, including allowing only right-in and right-out movements onto Dulles Drive to minimize congestion on the busy thoroughfare.

Council members Elroy Broussard, Andy Naquin and Thomas Hooks voted in favor of the permit. Liz Hebert and Kenneth Boudreaux voted against it.

The proposal, according to documents ﬁled with Lafayette Consolidated Government, includes demolishing the current Corner Pantry store and building a Grab-N-Geaux convenience store with six fuel pumps along Dulles Drive. The property is zoned commercial mixed, which allows convenience stores but requires a special permit to allow fuel sales.

Several nearby residents came out in opposition to the development, raising concerns about increased crime and traffic in the largely residential area. A

Bitter cold to linger

Freezing temps forecast for most of week

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

Gov Jeff Landry urged residents in north and central Louisiana to stay off the roads and avail themselves of warming centers as freezing temperatures lingered in parts of the state Monday and tens of thousands of households remained without power

“We are still experiencing and going to continue to experience some bitter cold temperatures,” Landry said during a news conference at the Governor’s Ofﬁce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. “The good news is that the rain and the sleet is gone.”

While Lafayette and Acadiana were spared the freezing rain that hit central and northern Louisiana, the region did see a few snow flurries Sunday night and will face a bitterly cold week starting Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

Light snow was reported in Lafayette and Youngsville on Sunday night Areas north of Interstate 10 were expected to see the worst of wintry weather with anticipated ice accumulation of between a tenth of an inch and a quarter of an inch.

The extreme weather prompted Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet to declare a state of emergency Sunday morning because “immediate emergency actions are required, or are anticipated to be required, in order to minimize the effects of this weather event.”

Most K-12 schools in Acadiana were closed on Monday, and University of Louisiana at Lafayette students transitioned to remote learning. Lafayette city-parish ofﬁces were closed, and transit services were suspended. Schools and services were expected to resume normal schedules Tuesday

An extreme cold warning began at 6 p.m. Sunday and will remain in effect until 11 a.m. Tuesday

Freezing temperatures began around 10 p.m Sunday, reaching a low of 23 degrees, and are expected to remain until noon.

A dangerous wind chill is forecast to accompany those cold temperatures. The wind chill is expected to dip to 21 degrees Tuesday morning. A wind chill is how the temperature feels to exposed skin. Early Wednesday temperatures will

hover around 25 degrees, with a 50-degree high around 1 p.m., then back to freezing overnight.

Thursday will continue the trend of below-freezing mornings, with a low of 29 degrees, reaching the low 50s by 1 p.m. Overnight lows are expected to be in the low 40s. The Friday work day will begin in the high 30s, with an afternoon high of 49 degrees. Overnight temperatures will see a return to freezing. State ofﬁcials said there have been at least three deaths related to the extreme weather, which brought snow and ice to parts of Louisiana over the weekend. Two people died of hypothermia and a third man died of carbon monoxide poisoning,

Finalists for the 2025-2026 Education All-Stars will be honored during the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’s basketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

Southside custodian uplifts students

‘I try to show them the right thing’

In the year Wilton Allen has worked as a custodian at Southside High School, he’s made sure to keep a smile on his face as he interacts with students, teachers and staff.

“I remember how when I was coming to school (as a student), we just had nobody to talk to. The story was just do your work,” he said. “I started thinking how good it would be to talk to the kids about whatever.”

The positive attitude Allen brings to Southside High every day is one of the reasons he believes he was selected as one of three Lafayette Parish school system support staff ﬁnalists for the Education All-Stars awards, overseen by nonprofit Love Our Schools.

Allen noticed the fanfare while district rep-

resentatives, Southside administrators and Love Our Schools representatives surprised other finalists at the school. But he never thought he’d be one of those recognized. “I was shocked,” he said. “I’m fortunate.” Allen, who worked as a custodian at a local ch art er school be fo re moving to Southside in February 2025, said he loves working with the students and his coworkers at Southside. He said he appreciated what each person wrote in his nomination letters and is thankful that they recognize the bit of sunshine he brings to work with him each day

“I try to show them (the students) the right thing,” he said. “I tell them that

Carencro counselor supports students

‘They are why I do it’

Carencro “Bob Lily” Elementary School counselor Katy Twiner’s goal for every student she interacts with is to make their learning experiences as healthy as possible. She supports their mental well-being, advocates for them and does whatever it takes to help them succeed, she said.

Twiner was surprised at her school earlier this month by district staff, school administrators and Love Our Schools representatives who burst into a conference room, announcing she was one of three Lafayette Parish school system support staff ﬁnalists for the Education All-Stars awards.

“Aside from the shock and awe, the gravity of the honor was pretty big at that point,” she said.

“Just getting the documentation of what those who nominated me had

to say was so much more than I could have ever asked for It was so meaningful to be seen.”

A licensed professional counselor, Twiner has been at Carencro Elementary for six years. She works with third, fourth and fifth graders, and with students who feel more comfortable chatting in Spanish. They process feelings and complex emotions, such as grief or how to handle big transitions. She has an open-door policy with students, something she hopes they always remember and reiterates if they ever think she’s too busy

“I said (to a student), ‘I am never too busy for a student who needs me and you are a student

BY ASHLEY

Milton counselor helps students where they are

‘It’s not important to try and be like someone else’

During the more than 20 years Ali Cantrell spent as a classroom teacher, she discovered her favorite part was the relationships she built with students.

With that realization, Cantrell obtained her master’s degree, which she called the “greatest gift I gave myself.” Her ﬁrst interview after graduation was for a counselor position at Milton Elementary-Middle. She put her name out there with “a hope and a prayer” and has been at the school for the last four years.

While working in her ofﬁce earlier this month, Cantrell was surprised by district staff, school administrators and Love Our Schools representatives announcing she was one of three Lafayette Parish school system support staff ﬁnalists for the Education AllStars awards.

“I know at my school, and I can say across the parish in

Lafayette, there are so many phenomenal people in education,” she said. “Everyone feels so deserving, so it caught me off guard. It was so honoring and so humbling.”

Cantrell works with second, third and fourth graders, building relationships to help identify a student’s niche. And she works with families to ensure everyone is working together to raise the most wellrounded and holistic child possible, she said. “It’s about supporting my students exactly where they are,” she said. “Not everybody’s going to be an honor roll student, not everybody’s going to play sports. Not all girls want to dance and cheer So let’s ﬁnd what you love, and let’s build on that.” Helping students identify the things that uniquely make them happy and successful is part of what Cantrell hopes

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK Icicles hang from a fountain Monday in front of the State Farm office on West Congress Street in Lafayette.

Allen Twiner Cantrell

WHITE Staff writer ä See CANTRELL, page 4B

See TWINER, page 4B

See ALLEN, page 4B

ä See COLD, page 4B

ä See FOREMAN, page 4B

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Time to pause immigration crackdownthat is costinglives, tramplingrights

We support enforcementofour nation’simmigration laws and the removal of violent criminals from our streets. We believethat’s what most Louisianans and Americans understood President Donald Trump’sadministration wanted to do.

But following Saturday’stragic death at the hands of federal Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, we cannot deny thatthe actionsofthe federal agencies tasked withthese dutieshave taken avery different and much moreominous turn. Not only are they not keeping us safer, but they are also directly threateningour mostsacred rights as Americans.

We call for an immediatepause of theoverly aggressive crackdown in Minnesota andacross our country and for law enforcementtotake actiontode-escalatethe tensesituation on our streets.

An outcry erupted after agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, aU.S. citizen andICU nurse, and administration ofﬁcialsbranded Pretti a“terrorist” who was intent on harming agents.But video and news reports soon emergedthatcontradict those statements. Pretti’s deathcame two weeks after another Minnesotaresident, ReneeGood, wasalso killed by federalimmigration agents.

In cases like these, Congress would normally be united in insisting on itsoversightrole. In our hyper-partisan times,that has been slowto occur,with one notable exception being Louisiana’sSen. BillCassidy,who overthe weekend describedthe shooting “incredibly disturbing” and called for an immediate joint investigation by federal and local authorities that may be gaining traction among Republican lawmakers. Whenfederal agents descended on the New Orleans area in December,wecalleditdeeply troubling that Gregory Bovino, commander-atlarge of theU.S. Border Patrol, and others in charge would not answer basic questionsabout their activities.Weurged federal authorities to be transparent and explain how theirtactics serve their statedgoal of removing the worst of theworst from our streets. We’restill waiting.

Any large-scale law enforcement operation should be carefully targeted to address astated problem, not cause chaos, creatememeson social media and sweep up peoplewho arenot rightfully suspectedofwrongdoingorintimidate those who defend their rights. It must not cause massive disruption to businesses, schools andother areasofpublic life.

And it must be carried out by agentsproperly trained in policing and public safetyprotocols, andinaccord withthe constitutional rights of all involved.

Those rights are clear and inalienable

They mean that all Americanscan nonviolentlyprotest the actions of federal agents operating on our streets. They mean that observers who are not interferingwiththe actions of federal agents can ﬁlm without thethreatof being labeled domestic terrorists. Theserights mean that those like Prettiwho lawfully carry ﬁrearms cannot have that used as apretext for state violence.

These rights, as outlined in theConstitution, are ones that members of Congress havesworn an oath to uphold.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter,ata hearing in NewOrleans on Monday,said local authorities welcome partnershipswithfederalauthorities, but not “occupation”or“unlawful search and seizure based on how someonelooks.”

We also note that U.S. Sen.JohnKennedy,ina TV appearanceFriday before Pretti waskilled, urged that enforcement be in orderwith due process and equal protection.

And we call on other Republicans in thedelegation—fromHouse Speaker MikeJohnson andMajorityLeaderSteveScalise to ClayHiggins,whose background is in local lawenforcement, and newly declared U.S. Senate candidate JuliaLetlow —tomake similar statements

We point to the invaluable role that journalists on the scene play in gettingatthe facts. It hasnever been more important foreveryone to seek out independent, veriﬁed information Yet, polls show most Americansdon’t like what they’ve seen so far.IsCongress listening?

Greenlandneeds to decide itsown future

Despite its immense land mass, Greenland has generally been outside thepublic eye —until this past year

An autonomous territory that belongs to Denmark, the people of Greenland aspire for their land to eventually becomeanindependent country.Itis now threatened tobetaken over by the U.S. The motivation for this remains murky The argument is that Greenland is essential for U.S. national security

Butsince Greenland is already partof NATO, it is not clear what difference it would make if it became American territory.Unlike what has been claimed, there is no evidence that Russia or

China are eying Greenland, and this is why: It would be an attack on NATO territory.Conversely,the U.S. taking over Greenland would mean the end of NATO as we know it. It would crumble theWestern world and makeAmerica less safe.

Iconducted two months of ﬁeldwork in West Greenland between 1987 and 1991. Iwas mostly based near the U.S. Air Force BaseinKangerlussuaq, until recently the only international gateway by air to Greenland. Beyond the incredible natural beauty,mymany fond memories include witnessing the peaceful cooperationinatight-knit community of Americans, Danes and

La.cannotaffordtolosemomentumonhealth

Louisiana’splacement at the bottom of the 2025 America’sHealth Rankings is sobering, but the full story includes signs of real progress that should not be overlooked.

The report shows that Louisiana now ranks 12thinthe nation for cancer screening, withrising rates of breast and colorectal screening. These gains mean morecancers are being detected earlier,when treatment is more effectiveand lives can be saved.

The data also show that moreLouisianans have aregular health care provider,acornerstone of managing chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. These conditions contribute to the risk of several cancers and other serious illnesses if left unaddressed.

These improvements demonstrate that prevention, access, and community-based care workwhen properly

supported.

At theLSU LCMC Health Cancer Center,our pursuit of National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation is designed to strengthen these systems. Bringing federal investment, research-driven strategies, and communitypartnerships to improve health outcomes across Louisiana will contribute to improving the health of all Louisianans, as well as the economy of our state.

The drive to NCI designation is about building theinfrastructure needed to improve prevention, early detection and care for the cancers that have the most impact in our state, and the chronic conditions that increase the risk of these cancers.

We have begun to movethe needle. Now we must keep pushing.

LUCIOMIELE, M.D

LSU LCMCHealth Cancer Center

director,

OneJan.6rioterdid endupwithaplumposition

In aletter in the Opinion page of Jan 6, the writer asks whether any Jan. 6 rioters are employed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That answerishard to ﬁnd, but one of rioters, Jared Wise, who stated at trial while underoath that he screamed to his fellowrioters to

“kill them” repeatedly,referring to the Capitol Policeofﬁcers, while he breached theCapitol building, is now employed as asenior adviser at the Department of Justice. Strange days indeed GLENJACKSON NewOrleans

Climatemay determinewhere tunnelsworkbest

In response to David Rubenstein’s question of why not build atunnel under theMississippi River in Baton Rouge rather than build abridge: Onereason very close to Louisiana is Mobile, Alabama. Has Rubenstein ever tried to drive through the Mobile tunnel on aSaturday or Sunday during the summer?That in itself is one good reason not to build atunnel in Baton Rouge. BYRON CASEY NewOrleans

native Greenlanders. This military facility was dismantled in 1992 after the end of the Cold War, but it never changed the close ties between these nations. We saw this after 9/11 when Denmark immediately came to our side and mademajor sacriﬁces. Ihave no doubt that Denmark, as one of the mostcommitted NATO members, is open to expanding the U.S. military presence in Greenland in these geopolitically uncertain times. There is simply nothing to gain from taking over Greenland. But there is a lot to lose.

TORBJÖRN TÖRNQVIST NewOrleans

Do president’s wordsembody what we want to be?

Iwould like everyone who reads this letter to take asimple test: Listen to the president of the United States ﬁve or 10 times. Listen to his words. In almost every statement he makes, he does one of four things: He brags. He insults. He whines. He lies. He brags: Highest poll numbers? Greatest economy? Won Minnesota three times? Aced the cognitive test? (A test for senility)

He insults: Low ratings. Low IQ.Moron. Scum.Vicious. Traitor.Very nasty.Animals, etc. He whines: Not very nice to me. Treated me very unfairly.I don’tthink he liked me. Didn’t support me.

He lies: Toomany to list. Politifact has documented that only 10% of his statements it checked are true or mostly true. That meansthat he lies 90% of the time. Oh yeah! They’re eating the dogs! Cancer and windmills? Like it not, our president represents whoweare. It’s timewe listen to the president and decide if this is whowewant to be. Take the test and let me know what you think.

DANNY KLIN Kentwood

YOUR VIEWS

Collegesportsenter thecynicismera

The most notable thing about the sprawling indictments earlierofmore than two dozen basketball players for point-shaving wasn’t the scale of the investigation. It wasn’tthat it includedplayers on two different continents, or those at multiple schools includingthree in Louisiana.It wasn’tthe details: players paid thousands for underperforming on purpose so bettors could proﬁt.

about money is no longer pretending to be about something else.

Faimon Roberts

The most notable thing was how the news provoked barely aripple in the news and cultural zeitgeist. There are plenty of potential reasons for this,but one is clear: College sports fans have ﬁnally accepted that college sports are as dollar-driven as theirprofessional counterparts.

In decades past, ablockbuster announcement that implicated dozens of college athletes in amoney-related scandal would have prompted endless pearl-clutching and tut-tutting from the public and the media.

Serious people would have written long think pieces; ESPN anchors would have delivered solemn-tonedcommentaries. Some would have bemoaned the harm to such ideals as “amateurism” and “fair-play.” The “integrity” of the game would have been at stake Not anymore. There was little of that in the lastfew weeks. Most of the sportsworld —and the broader world —justmoved on to the next thing. Fans, if they took note of it at all, made ajoke or smiledwearily, and then forgot aboutit.

With the advent of the NILand revenue sharing, the facade hasbeen ripped off college sports. What has long been

In thepast, college athletes getting money wereoften left to shady characters like bagmen, bookies and thelike. The “respectable” sportsfan believedthese werestudents ﬁrst,athletes second. Money- or gambling-related scandals were outliers, we told ourselves.

Thatnaiveté is why the massivecollegesportsscandals of yesteryear, suchasTulane’spoint-shaving scandalinthe mid-1980s or theSMU “death penalty” caseinthe same era, were such blockbuster news stories. They forcedus, as college sportsfans, to grapple with the grim reality behind the scenesoncampus:Playerswho work hardand make lots of money for othersalso like to be paid themselves. And sometimes, they don’tcarewhere the cash is coming from.

Now,someofwhat wereonce scandalous practices have moved from the shadowsinto the light.Throw in the proliferationoflegal sportsgambling, andweassports fans and news consumershave become accustomed to the idea that college sports, like theircounterparts in the professional realm,are really about the almightydollar Looknofurther thanthe now-legal sports transactions over the last few weeks. LSU and new coach Lane Kifﬁn competed in apublic way for big-time college transfers, many of whom were pitting LSU against other schools to see who wouldoffer the best contract Thereare plenty who hate this new reality and wish college sportscould go backtothe way it was It’snot anditshouldn’t.

The players should be paid. They should getall theNIL money they can get. Schools should share themillions in merchandising and television revenue theyget with the playerswho train for years and put theirhealth on the line everygame.

Paying playerswhat they’reworth as partofNIL and revenue-sharing creates income inequality.Some players, like high-proﬁle quarterbacks,are going to get millions.Other players, perhaps just afew lockersdown or in adifferent sport,are going to get tiny fractions of that.

It is not hard to seehow the infusionofNIL and other legal money into sports creates added allurefor players not making big salaries.

Fans,who aresophisticated consumersthemselves, now seem to understand this. The average ticket holder pays for parking, tickets,atailgate spot, aseat licenseand myriadother fees and charges. Somebody who constantly sees the university with its hand out is not surprised when they hear of a player doing thesame thing.

But there is aline between earning an NIL or revenue-sharing deal and agreeing to play poorly for afew grand at the request of gamblers.The former is now legal and right;the latter is properly a criminal matter Nonetheless, when dozens of players face criminal charges as part of agambling scandal, thecollective outrage is minimal. Athletesand coaches have long known that college sportsisabout money Now fans clearly do, too.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Speech at DavosovershadowedTrump’s

With executive powerrampant, exactlythe right book hasarrived

The nation has long needed, but never more than now,what it now has. The new biography of aSupremeCourt justice, “Robert H. Jackson: ALife in Judgment,” by University of Virginia law professor G. Edward White, arrives amid disputes involving judicial review of governmental, and especially presidential, actions presented as urgent fornational security.Concerning this, Jackson believed judicial deference should be high, but not unlimited. In 1940, before Jackson joined the court, it ruled, 8-1, that aPennsylvania school district could makesaluting the ﬂag mandatory.Some Jehovah’sWitnesses objected to this as idolatry The court’sopinion was written by Justice Felix Frankfurter.Hethought coercing the Jehovah’s Witnesses wasmistaken, but he generally favored judicial restraint, and considered the school district’sobjective had arational basis: “National unity is the basis of national security.”

In 1943, Jackson’ssecond year as ajustice, the court repudiated this, 6-3, in an identical case involving Jehovah’sWitnesses. Writing forthe majority,Jackson said:

It is doubtful “that the strength of government to maintain itself would be impressively vindicated by our confirming power of the state to expel ahandful of children from school.” So, national security does not justify“officially disciplined uniformity.” And: “The very purpose of aBill of Rights wastowithdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy,toplace them beyond the reach of majorities and officials,” as “legal principles to be applied by the courts.” And: “Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.”

Biographer White considers Jackson’slanguage “overbroad,” given what wartimeexigencies sometimes require governments to do. But in what White calls 1943’s“atmosphere of enhanced patriotism,” Jackson’swords wereapposite. A year later,Jackson was wary about bending constitutional principles to accommodate claimed national security imperatives.

Kathleen Parker

People who made it all the way through President Donald Trump’s comical address at the World Economic Forum were rewarded with relief when he said amilitary invasionofGreenland was off the table. For now.Healso said U.S. ownership of Greenland wouldn’tbeathreatto NATO. (That’scomforting!) But first,hebragged abouthis many accomplishments aspresident: ending wars, imposing tariffs and using the office to enrich himself to the tune of more than$1.4 billion (he left that out). He also made his argument for taking Greenland which he said the United Statesreturned to Denmark after defending the island in World WarII. “How stupid were we to do that?” he askedhis restless audience. But really,folks, all he was asking for was asimple handover ofa largely uninhabitable, “big, beautiful piece of ice.” Greenland, Trump told the crowd, is essential to national security (America’sand, by his ownextrapolation, the world’s). The only viable deterrent to “potential enemies” would be an American military occupation and construction of “the greatest golden dome ever built” over the slab of ice thatactual human beings call home. Though Trump’sspeech offeredsome reassurance to other world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, his overlong performance paled in comparison with others, chiefly that ofCanada’sprime minister.MarkCarney’s elegant speech was Beethoven’sFifth Symphony to the monotonous strains of Trump’sswaggering ditty.Eloquent but direct, Carney basically endedTrump with gentlemanly clarity and poetic innuendo.

In an era of superpowerrivalry,Carney said, hoping that complacency will buy safety is no longer an option.

“Weare in the midst of arupture,not atransition,” he said,referring to the once-trusted, if sometimesfictional, rules-based international order.The fiction was useful for atime.American hegemony,hesaid, helped provide public goods, such as open sea lanes, astable financial system, collective security andsupport forframeworksfor resolving disputes. “This bargain no longer works,” he said. Rules today are onlyfor the little guys. Superpowers, including the U.S., nowdowhat they wantwhen they want Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine, he goes in. China wants Taiwan, it’sonly amatter of time. The U.S. took Venezuela and now wants Greenland. Howlong

beforeTrump chooses another target on awhim?

Carney’ssuggested remedy is greater strategicautonomy in energy,food, critical minerals, ﬁnance and supply chains.“When therules no longer protectyou,” he said, “youmust protect yourself.”

But middle powers, as he described Canada and Europe, building fortresses of self-sufﬁciency while competing againsteach other would be lesseffective againstaggression thana coalition of nations with sharedvalues and an acceptance of realityasthe world is, notas one wishes it to be. Negotiating bilaterally with ahegemon would be to negotiate fromweakness.

“Wecompete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty.Itisthe performance of sovereigntywhile accepting subordination.”

The audiencewent wild —cheering, stomping and leaping to their feet to applaud. Thiswas nothing like the tepid response to Trump’smischaracterizations and fantasies. It was arelief, ﬁnally,tohear astatesman articulate the sense of rupturesomany Americans have feltbut been loathorunable to express. Complacency in the hope of safety doesn’t workand never has.

Everyone understood, especially whenCarney noted Canada’ssupport forGreenland and Denmark. His remarks essentially were acall to arms and aplea to liveintruth,”tobuild strength athome and act together

“That is Canada’spath …and it is a path wide opentoany countrywilling to take it with us.” It has been along while sinceanyone

has given agranderspeech, inspiring memories of Winston Churchill, which brings to mind Harry Hopkins, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’semissary to the British prime minister in 1941. As told by Erik Larsonin“The Splendid and the Vile,” based on historical records and diaries,Churchill sought to persuade Roosevelt to joinBritain in its defense against Germany.Hopkins, amild-mannered man of “death’s-door appearance,” was alsocharming and had been sent to hear Churchill’scase and speak for the president

Overbrandy and cigars, Churchill launched intoamonologue describing the war thus far,proffering avision of the United States of Europe, explaining England’srule of law and free speech values, and his wish only to protect themagainst tyranny

“Whatwould the president say to all this?” he asked Hopkins.

Aftera long pause, Hopkins drawled, “I don’tthink thepresident will give a damn for all that.” Another long pause. “You see, we’reonly interested in seeing thatthe Goddamnsonofabitch Hitler gets licked.”

Speaking of reality.Hopkins was surely moredirect than Carney,but circumstances were vastly different.Hitler had just bombed Britain in the Blitz, and the country’sinvasion seemed imminent. Yetbothinstances —then and now —required arecognition of reality and an embrace of what mustbedone. Carneydidn’tsay Trump must be “licked,”but few could have missedhis point.

Email KathleenParker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

During World WarII, the existence of large West Coast populations with “Japanese ancestry” prompted the government to require people like Fred Korematsu, aU.S. citizen, to leave the area and submit to relocation in concentration camps. The military report justifying this was, as White says, saturated with racist suppositions, such as: All persons of Japanese ancestry are “subversive” and belong to “an enemy race” whose “racial strands are undiluted.” In 1944, the court ruled 6-3 against Korematsu’s challenge. Dissenting, Jackson held that courts should not review military ofﬁcials’ wartimedecisions. The internment policy,although “very bad as constitutional law,” was,Jackson wrote, promulgated by amilitary commander implementing amilitary program,“not making law in the sense the courts know the term.”

Jackson saw imprudence in the court evaluating the order’sconstitutionality: “Once ajudicial opinion rationalizes such an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution …the court forall timehas validated the principle of racial discrimination in criminal procedure and of transplanting American citizens.” Then: “The principle …lies about like aloaded weapon ready forthe hand of any authority that can bring forward aplausible claim of an urgent need.”

In 1952, the court and Jackson again confronted the task of reconciling constitutional principles and apresident’sclaim of urgency.With the Korean Warraging, Harry Truman said an impending nationwide steelworkers strike would “jeopardize national defense,” so he issued an executive order forgovernment to seize and operate mostmills. The companies sued, arguing that no act of Congress or constitutional provision validated Truman’s action.

Truman’slawyers argued that his authorization “could be implied from the aggregate of his powers under the Constitution,” especially as commander in chief. The court disagreed, 6-3.

Concurring, Jackson said that Truman’saction ﬂowed from neither an express nor implied authorization by Congress, and was against Congress’s will as expressed in a1947 labor relations law that madenoprovision forsuch presidential action. It would be “sinister and alarming” to say that the president, enjoying vast discretion regarding foreign affairs, can by “his own” foreign commitment “vastly enlarge his mastery over” the nation’sinternal affairs. This way, the president “of his own volition” can give himself “undeﬁned emergency powers.” Truman’sseizure of the mills originates in his “individual will” and “represents an exercise of authority without law.”

Today,the nation is inured to presidential claims of urgent needs —“emergencies,” “existential” dangers —being used forevasions of the Constitution. Said Jackson, our institutions forkeeping the executive under the law might be “destined to pass away,” but “it is the duty of the Court to be last, not ﬁrst, to give them up.”

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

George Will

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SEAN KILPATRICK

Canada PrimeMinister Mark Carneydelivers aspeech at the WorldEconomic ForuminDavos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20

N.O. hearingusedtoquestionraids,shootings

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Democrats on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee used ahearing Monday in New Orleans to excoriate Republican colleagues for failing to reinin federal immigration raids, days after U.S. Border Patrol agentsfatally shot a Minnesota nurse, sparking blowback across political lines.

Congressional Democrats convenedthe hearing in the New Orleans City Council chambers to hear testimony from residents and ofﬁcialsonthe effectsofa recent immigration enforcement operation in south Louisiana, whichfederal ofﬁcials called “Catahoula Crunch.”

That U.S. Border Patrolled operation, launched in early December,lasted several weeks and yielded fewer arrests and quieter protests than in other cities targetedbyPresident Donald Trump’simmigration crackdown. U.S. Department of Homeland Security ofﬁcials said they made 560 arrests in the Louisiana sweeps, though the vast majority of detainees did not have criminal records.

The operation, though, slowedbusiness at some Hispanic businesses in New Orleans, owners said, while attendance at some schools and churches waned.Weeks later,many immigrants remain fearful that agents could returnin force, local officials, advocates and attorneys testified Monday Early in the hearing, the congressional officials invoked the killing of nurse Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot Saturday in Minneapolis while filming Border Patrol agents. His death, they said, underscores how tactics used by federal agents in Louisiana as well as Minnesota,have gone too far.

“It became very clear from the start of Catahoula Crunch that the mode of operation was for agents to find and target groups of predominately Hispanic

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handful of residents spoke in favorofthe development,arguing that less desirable businesses might end up at the location and that Grab-N-Geaux stations are generally wellrun.

“Building aconvenience store with gas in this location, an immediate proximity to residential homes of be-

Magaziner,D-R.I., who joined Monday’shearing. “When we take the majority back next year,we’re goingtodothe jobofreining in ICE, reining in this lawless administration and restoringthe rights of the people.”

An honor student at aJefferson Parish high school, the young man remains in one of Louisiana’snine ICE-contracted private detention facilities, López said.

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things will work out andto put asmile on their faces.

“I know things are sometimes bad, but Itry to tell them to have agood attitude and there’sstill good to come.”

individuals,and thenﬁgure out who they were later,” NewOrleans MayorHelena Moreno said.

“Thishas causedwidespread fear throughout our cityand region,” she said. Monday’shearing came as Trump’sadministration faces mounting protests over Pretti’s death, which followed another fatal shooting weeks earlier of a Minneapolis resident by an Immigrationand Customs Enforcementagent.The latest fatality has drawn flashes of dissent from some Republican ofﬁcials —including in Louisiana —who had previously remained in lockstepwith the president’simmigrationenforcement agenda.

BorderPatrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who led the agency’soperations in Minneapolisand Louisiana has defended theshooting of Pretti, saying he was trying to “massacre” federal agents. Federal officials said Pretti was carrying ahandgun when he was killed, but video analyzed by news organizations showed agents removing the gun from his waistband and beating himwith ateargas canister before shooting him dead.

While DHS ofﬁcialshave said Pretti “violentlyresisted” attemptsto disarm him, Pretti’sfamily has said he was trying to protecta woman nearfederal agentsand described DHS’

fore andafter care, aplace filledwith kids, adance school and ahigh school, wouldbeprofoundlydamaging for the community,” resident Angela Jeannice said. Boudreaux appeared to oppose the permit on the basisofwhatimpacta gas station could have on a neighborhood years down the line, erring on the side of the Lafayette Zoning Commission’sdecision and disagreeing with Grab-NGeaux’suse of adeveloper to apply for the permit.

account of his death as “sickening lies.”

Monday’s field hearing was called by U.S.Rep Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, amember of the Homeland Security Committee who decried “shock and awe” and “political theater” he saidthe administration’s immigration enforcement agenda has employed.

Carter called thehearing before Pretti waskilled. Republicanswerenot involved in planning thesocalled “shadowhearing” apractice used by minority parties in Congress to draw attention to party priorities in part because they cannot callofﬁcial hearings or issue subpoenas

The Homeland Security Committee’sRepublican chair,Rep. AndrewGarbarino,ofNew York, on Saturday called for ofﬁcial oversight hearings in the wake of Pretti’skilling. “Congresshas an importantresponsibilitytoensure thesafety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” he said.

In New Orleans, though, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and the panel’s rankingDemocratic member,criticizedRepublicans forfailingtomoveswiftly enough to schedulehearings.

“Republicans in Congress are not doing their jobs,”said U.S. Rep. Seth

“I have aproblem then, and Ihave aproblemnow,” Boudreaux said. “Wegot an applicant who don’town the property, which turns us not into legislaturesoflocal government,itturns us into realtors. Becauseifwedon’t change the zoning, the sale don’thappen.”

The practice of adeveloper applying on behalf of a prospective propertyowner is common in many jurisdictions.

Naquin, whose district is adjacent to the proposed

Abundled-up cyclist crosses throughthe intersectionofBertrand Driveand West Congress Street on MondayinLafayette.

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said Bruce Greenstein, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. The agency is awaiting word from the coroner to conﬁrm that two additional people died of hypothermia, he said. The man who died from carbon monoxidepoisoning was running agenerator in-

side hisgarage, Greenstein said, warning Louisianans to keep generators at least 20 feet away from their homes. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that is present when fuel is burned. Officials said they typicallysee an increase in fire-related deaths during extreme cold weather.They urged residentstotake care when using itemssuchas space heaters. Thestate is investigat-

ingits 13th fire fatality of the year,saidBryan Adams, Louisiana’sstate fire marshal. Adams said it was unprecedented to have that number of deaths this early in theyear and reminded Louisiananstoplugspace heaters directlyinto power outlets andkeepthem3to 5feet away from flammable items such as blankets and curtains.

Staff writers Ashley White and Meghan Friedmann contributed to this article.

Department of Homeland Security officials have touted immigration sweeps in New Orleans and elsewhereastargeting the “worst of the worst,” highlighting people with serious criminal allegations in their records. By federal officials’ tallies, though, fewer than10% of detainees around New Orleans have alleged criminal backgrounds.

Carter on Monday invoked several high-proﬁle Louisiana immigration cases from the past year: aHonduran child deported while undergoing cancer care, aBaton Rouge-area woman ejected from the country withher 2-yearold U.S. citizen child, and a Honduran-born oysterman whodrowned ﬂeeing federal agentsnear Hopedale.

Along withMoreno, City Council President JP Morrelland immigration advocates andattorneys testiﬁedMonday about the impacts of the operations around New Orleans Moreno recounted making demands of federal ofﬁcials for “basic” communication andtransparency withlocal leaders.

“I never directly received aresponse to my letter,”Moreno said, “but as Bovino walked through the nearby city of Kenner with maskedagents,he wasaskedbyareporter about my demands, and his responsewas,‘Thisisas transparent as it gets.’”

Homero López, aformer immigration judgeand immigrationattorney who testiﬁed before the partial committee, describeda client who had immigration protections granted by the federal government to young people who’ve suffered abuses, but was still detained by immigration agents in December

development, argued that an even worse development could come to the area or thatthe locationcould become ablighted vacant lot if thegas sales permit were not approved. The request was thethird of itskind in recent years to go before thecouncil.

Alocation at 1927 W. UniversityAve. recently opened as aconvenience storewithout gas sales. Construction neverstarted on aproject planned for 1803 W. University Ave.; thesite is listedfor

Louisiana’sRepublican congressional leaders, too, have grappled in recent days with how to respond to Pretti’sshooting and mounting voter discontent with the administration’s immigration tactics,according to nationalpolling.

U.S. Rep.SteveScalise, R-Jefferson and the House’s majority leader,in a“Face the Nation” interview Sunday blamed the unrest in Minneapolis on local leaders.

“Weall just feel sorry aboutwhathappenedin Minneapolis,and thishas happened over andover again,”Scalise said. “I’m not just talking about regardingICE;I mean,they have got some failed local leadership. Theylet their city burndown years ago. Theyhavechaos, it seems like, all the timeinplaces where othercitiesdon’t.”

Pressedinaninterview withlate night host Bill Maher,Sen. John Kennedy,RMadisonville, defended the administration’spush to enforce immigrationlaws but called for agents to afford people due process.

“I supportenforcing our immigration laws,” Kennedy said in theSaturday interview. “Now, howyou enforce them matters. You have to do it in accordance with dueprocess, equal protectionand reasonable suspicion.”

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, offered a starkermessage

“The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” Cassidy,who faces aprimary challenge fromaTrumpbacked opponent, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,said on social media.“There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”

Email James Finn at jﬁnn@theadvocate.com.

sale.

Thelatterwas approved by CityCouncil members but later vetoed by MayorPresident Monique Boulet.

“What do we still have?A flower shop that is falling apart,” Naquin said. “We can’tkeep turning our backs on newbusiness coming in wanting to do something good for Lafayette, and this will be good.”

Email StephenMarcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com.

Allen and the other ﬁnalists for the 2025-26 Education All-Stars will be honored during theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’sbasketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

TWINER

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whoneeds me,’ ”she said. “(I want them to know) that they are worthy to be here There is always asafe place in my office. Theyare the part of my job that Ilove. They are whyI do it.”

Seeing students— and even teachers —model what they learned from Twiner is one of the things that gives her joy,she said.

“Whenthe skills transfer from my room to elsewhere, that’sit. That’sthe impact Ican have,” Twiner said. “When it’simplemented, it createsadifferent environment, oneﬁlledwith empathy,one ﬁlled with connection.”

Twiner and the other ﬁnalists forthe 2025-26 Education All-Stars will be honored during theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’sbasketballgame Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

CANTRELL

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students take away from meeting with her.She wants each student to realize that whothey are is enough. “It’snot important to try andbelike someone else,” she said. “For my grade levels, it’sreally about instilling conﬁdence and independence exactly as you are right now.”

Cantrell and the other ﬁnalists forthe 2025-26 Education All-Stars will be honored during theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’sbasketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

LOTTERY

SUNDAY,JAN. 25, 2026

PICK 3: 2-6-4

PICK 4: 7-6-8-2

PICK 5: 3-2-6-5-2

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIEWESTBROOK

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

NewOrleans MayorHelena Moreno testifies during a OperationCatahoula Crunch hearing at NewOrleans City HallCouncil chambers in NewOrleans on Monday.

DARNOLD’S DRIVE DR

BY ROBMAADDI AP pro football writer

Sam Darnold will be startinginthe SuperBowlbefore LamarJackson,JoshAllen and the rest of the NFL’s Classof2018 quarterbacks.

It took Darnold ﬁveteams and eight seasons to get here.

Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to a 14-3record,a division title, the No. 1seed and was at his best in theNFC championship game Despitean oblique injury,Darnold threw for 346 yards and threetouchdowns in Seattle’s 31-27 victory over theLos Angeles Rams on Sunday.Hecompleted 25 of 36 passes and had no turnovers.

“He just shut alot of people up,”Seahawks coach MikeMacdonald said. “Reallyhappy for him.”

Labeled abust early inhis career,Darnoldwas still doubtedbycritics afterhis impressive turnaround. Now he’sone win away from hoistingthe Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Seahawks are 41/2-point favoritesover the NewEngland Patriots on BetMGM Sportsbook

Darnold was pickedNo. 3overall by the New York Jets in 2018. Baker Mayﬁeld wentﬁrst to theCleveland Browns.Allen went to the Buffalo Bills at No.7.Josh Rosen waschosen 10th by theArizona Cardinals. The BaltimoreRavens select-

ed Jackson with the ﬁnal pick of the ﬁrst round at No. 32. Jackson has won two MVP awards and is 0-1 in the AFC championship game.

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

ä Pelicans at Thunder, 7P.M.TUESDAy, GCSEN

BY SCOTTRABALAIS Staff writer

After posting oneofthe top two scores in the nation in the2026 season, the LSU gymnastics team returned Monday to the top two in the national rankings.

LSU’s 198.050-195.775 romp over KentuckyonFriday lifted the Tigers’ season averageto 197.467, behind only Oklahoma. TheSooners hada 198.425 in a win Friday over Georgia andare at 197.783 for theseason Former No. 1Florida is tiedfor third withAlabama(197.417). Missouri, whichLSU faces on the road Friday (6:45p.m., SECNetwork), is No. 7at197.069. Individually, Kailin Chio is No.1 nationally on balancebeam (9.967 average) after the season’sﬁrst perfect 10 on beam against Kentucky,just oneoffour10.0 scores so far nationally.Chio is also the nation’sNo. 4-ranked all-arounder (39.467) afterposting a39.775 againstKentucky,the second-best all-around score nationally,and tied for third on vault(9.925). Konnor McClain is tiedfor fourth on unevenbars (9.925) while Courtney Blackson,who haswon two bars titlesinthree meets, is seventh (9.917). KaliyaLincoln is ninthonﬂoor

BY ROBMAADDI AP profootball writer

Drake Maye vs.Sam Darnold. Two stingy defenses. Asecond-year head coach vs. aveteran coach in his second act.

Super Bowl 60 is set: TheNew England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks.

The Patriots will seek theirNFL-record seventh Super Bowlvictory when they face the Seahawks on Feb. 8at

Levi’sStadium in Santa Clara, Calif

Led by Maye, coach Mike Vrabel and astiﬂing defense, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the ﬁrst time since TomBrady and Bill Belichick won their sixth ring together seven years ago.

The Patriots (17-3)beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 on Sunday in the AFC championship gametoadvance to their 12th Super Bowl.

Darnold, Mike Macdonald and asuffocating defense have led the Seahawks to the big stage for the fourth time in franchise history.They’re seeking their second Lombardi.

Darnold, aNo. 3overall pick in 2018 nowwithhis ﬁfthteam, playedone of his best games to lead the Seahawks to a31-27 victoryoverthe Los Angeles Rams in theNFC title game.Hethrew for 346 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers.

“That doesn’tmatter to me,” Darnold said aboutthe doubters he’s proven wrong. “I just come to work everysingle daywiththese guys. These guys in the locker room, that’swhat it’sabout to me, man.The way we’ve come to workever since April in OTAs, training camp, one day at atimeand we’re here. We did it.”

It wasa wacky ﬁnish when Brady and the Patriots beat Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll’sSeahawks 11 years ago. Brady threw four TD passesand ralliedNew England froma10-point deﬁcittowin the fourth of his seven rings when Malcolm Butler intercepted Wilson’spassfromthe 1-yard line to secure a28-24 victory on Feb. 1, 2015. Seattle fans still lament whyMarshawn Lynch didn’tget the ball on ahandoff at the 1. “Wedid not care,” Macdonald said aboutcoming intothe season as underdogs in the NFCWest behind the Rams and 49ers. “It’sabout us. It’s always been about us and what we do and now we’re going to the Super Bowl.” Maye scored on a6-yard touchdown

(9.908) and Amari Drayton is tied for 10th on beam (9.925). Changing thelineup LSU coach JayClark wasasked abouthaving Madison Ulrich,the junior transfer from Denver,do

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LINDSEyWASSON

Seattle Seahawks quarterbackSam Darnold celebrates nexttoMichael Strahan, left, after

Angeles Rams in the NFC championshipgame on Sunday in Seattle.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GODOFREDO A. VÁSQUEZ

Seattle Seahawksquarterback Sam Darnold throws during the first half of the NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams on SundayinSeattle.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERICGAy Pelicans center yves Missi reactsafter scoring againstthe SanAntonio Spursduringa game in SanAntonio on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU gymnast Konnor McClain starts her routine on the balance beamduring the home opener against Kentucky on Fridayatthe Pete Maravich AssemblyCenter

McDaniel joins Chargers as offensive coordinator

LOS ANGELES Mike McDaniel has agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator

The Chargers announced the hiring Monday of McDaniel, who spent the past four seasons as the Dolphins’ head coach. McDaniel was fired less than three weeks ago after going 35-33 at Miami, which missed the playoffs in the past two years.

Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez celebrates after scoring against South Carolina during their game on Thursday in Norman, Okla.

The Sooners won 94-82 in overtime and vaulted six spots in the AP Top 25 poll to No. 10.

ADAMS

SEC sets record with 10 ranked teams

BY DOUG FEINBERG

Associated Press

NEW YORK The Southeastern Conference set a record with 10 teams in The Associated Press women’s Top 25 basketball poll released Monday Georgia entered at No 23 after its win over then-No. 11 Kentucky to give the conference the most teams ever in a single week in the 50-year history of the poll. Last season, the SEC had 10 teams in the men’s Top 25 for a few weeks. UConn remained the unanimous No. 1 choice from the 31-member national media panel. The Huskies are the lone undefeated team left in women’s college basketball. They have won 37 straight games dating to last season. UCLA moved up to No. 2 after South Carolina lost in overtime to Oklahoma, which jumped six spots to No. 10. The Gamecocks fell to third, leading a quartet of SEC squads. Texas was fourth, Vanderbilt ﬁfth

and LSU sixth. The Commodores suffered their ﬁrst loss of the season, falling at South Carolina on Sunday Louisville and Iowa were seventh and eighth. Michigan dropped two spots to ninth after losing to the Commodores in the Coretta Scott King Classic last week.

Ranked Georgia

The Bulldogs are in the Top 25 for the ﬁrst time since 2022. They started the season 14-0 in nonconference play for the ﬁrst time in 16 years and already own victories over No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 18 Kentucky The team was a staple in the Top 25 for years under former coach Andy Landers. Georgia replaced Nebraska, which fell out of the poll.

Leading the way

The four teams that played in the Women’s Champions Classic at Barclays Center in December haven’t lost a conference game

yet. No. 15 Tennessee leads the SEC, Iowa is atop the Big Ten, Louisville is in front of the ACC and UConn tops the Big East. The four are a combined 35-0 in league play through Sunday Conference supremacy

After the SEC’s 10 ranked teams, the Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 has four teams in the Top 25. The Atlantic Coast Conference has two while the Big East and Ivy League each have one.

Games of the week

No. 15 Tennessee at No. 1 UConn, Sunday The Lady Vols will try and spoil the Huskies’ undefeated season when the two teams get together This will likely be the ﬁnal ranked opponent that UConn will face before the NCAA Tournament.

No. 8 Iowa at No. 2 UCLA, Sunday First place in the Big Ten will be on the line when the Hawkeyes visit the Bruins. UCLA has won 13

BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press

Arizona remained the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll ahead of Monday night’s showdown at No. 13 BYU, while fellow unbeaten Nebraska climbed to a program-best ﬁfth ahead of its big week in the Big Ten.

The Wildcats, riding their best start since the 2013-14 season, received all 60 ﬁrst-place votes from the national media panel to easily outdistance second-place UConn and third-ranked Michigan, whose places remained unchanged from last week’s poll.

Arizona was 20-0 going into the week, just the third 20-game win streak in program history.

“We’re just trying to win one game every week, or however many games we have, and I think we’re doing a good job of it,” Wildcats freshman star Koa Peat said “Just keep doing what we’re doing, and keep getting better as a team.” Duke remained No. 4 ahead of the Huskers, who also are 20-0 and climbed two more spots from last week. Nebraska has won 24 in a row dating to last season, the longest win streak by any Big Ten team since Ohio State won 24 straight to start the 2010-11 season. Just like Arizona, the path to stay perfect is perilous. The Huskers visit Michigan on Tuesday night and play No. 9 Illinois on Sunday Gonzaga moved up two spots to sixth after narrowly avoiding an upset loss to San Francisco. The Bulldogs were followed by Michi-

gan State, Iowa State, the Illini and Houston, which remained in the top 10 for a 23rd straight poll despite its loss to Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders were right behind at No. 11 following wins over Baylor and their 90-86 triumph over the Cougars on Saturday Purdue tumbled eight spots to No. 12 following back-to-back losses to UCLA and Illinois. BYU stayed put at No. 13, Kansas climbed five spots to No. 14 ahead of its matchup with BYU on Saturday, while Arkansas also moved up five spots to round out the top 15. St. John’s, the preseason No. 5, returned to the poll for the first time since dropping out in midDecember following wins over Seton Hall and Xavier, the latter giving coach Rick Pitino his 900th win. Georgia dropped out after a lopsided loss to Texas.

Rising and falling

North Carolina made the biggest climb this week, moving up six spots to No. 15 after wins over Notre Dame and then-No. 14 Virginia. Kansas and Arkansas were just ahead of the Tar Heels after moving up ﬁve spots apiece.

Purdue’s eight-spot fall to No. 12 dropped the Boilermakers out of the top 10 for the ﬁrst time this season. Alabama fell six spots to No. 23 following its loss to Tennessee, while Houston and Clemson each fell four spots. Update on the NET

The NET rankings released Monday, which the NCAA uses to help with its tournament selection, largely mirrors the Top 25, though with a few exceptions. It ranks UConn six spots lower at No. 8, Texas Tech seven down at

18th and Arkansas ﬁve lower at 20th, while Illinois is three spots better at No. 6, Vanderbilt is ﬁve spots better at 13th and Florida is three better at 16th.

Top 25 voters put Miami of Ohio at 24th amid its perfect start to the season, while the NCAA ranking has the RedHawks at No. 48. Conference watch

The Big 12 and the Big Ten continue to dominate the Top 25. Arizona leads three top-10 teams for the Big 12 and six in the Top 25, while Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State and Illinois give the Big Ten four in the top 10 while Purdue makes it ﬁve in the Top 25.

The ACC also has five ranked teams, the SEC four, the Big East two and the West Coast, Atlantic 10 and Mid-American one apiece.

After interviewing for multiple head coaching jobs this month, McDaniel has agreed to join Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers, who ﬁnished their second straight 11-6 season under their veteran head coach with another playoff exit in the wild-card round.

Harbaugh and the Chargers spent the past week hoping to lock down McDaniel, who is widely considered one of the top offensive minds in football.

Rivers withdraws from consideration for Bills job

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y Philip Rivers called timeout, informing the Buffalo Bills he is withdrawing from consideration for the team’s headcoaching job, two people with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday

The 44-year-old quarterback, who came out of retirement last month and started three games with the Indianapolis Colts, interviewed with the Bills on Friday Buffalo’s search process began on Wednesday, two days after Sean McDermott was ﬁred.

Rivers was considered one of Buffalo’s more intriguing candidates, despite having no previous NFL coaching experience. After ﬁrst retiring after the 2020 season, he spent ﬁve years coaching a high school team in his native Alabama.

Bucks have no timetable for hurt Antetokounmpo

MILWAUKEE Giannis Antetokounmpo’s potential return date remains uncertain as the Milwaukee Bucks forward recovers from a calf strain that he had predicted might keep him out for four to six weeks.

The two-time MVP also said after the Bucks’ 102-100 loss to Denver on Friday that an MRI would determine whether he had a calf or soleus strain in his right leg. Bucks coach Doc Rivers conﬁrmed the calf strain diagnosis Monday but didn’t speculate on when Antetokounmpo might return.

“There’s really no timetable,” Rivers said.

Antetokounmpo’s injury means he won’t be playing when the NBA trade deadline arrives Feb. 5.

Alabama C to play after judge postpones hearing

TUSCALOOSA,Ala. — Alabama center Charles Bediako will play against Missouri on Tuesday night after a judge delayed a hearing in his eligibility case against the NCAA. Judge James H. Roberts of the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court on Monday extended a temporary restraining order regarding Bediako’s request for a preliminary injunction because a winter storm would not allow one of the NCAA’s attorneys to get from Tennessee to Alabama.

Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said Saturday that Bediako will “continue to play as long as he’s eligible to play.”

Bediako is the ﬁrst player with collegiate experience to sign an NBA contract and get the chance to return to college basketball.

Pitcher Ryan, Twins agree to $6.2 million contract

MINNEAPOLIS Pitcher Joe Ryan and the Minnesota Twins avoided salary arbitration, agreeing Monday to a one-year contract that guarantees $6.2 million. Ryan gets $6.1

PELICANS

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momentum heading into Tuesday’s game against the Thunder A Pelicans team that often struggled closing out games all of a sudden has ﬁgured out how to do so In their latest win, the Pelicans scored 13 unanswered points late in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Spurs for a 104-95 victory at Frost Bank Center

In the game before that, the Pelicans got clutch baskets down the stretch from Saddiq Bey and outscored the Grizzlies 40-26 in the fourth quarter

“What I’m most proud of is the defense down the stretch,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said after Sunday’s win over the Spurs. “Down the stretch, we’ve been able to ﬁnd some rhythm here defensively Same as Memphis in the last game. It was our defense that brought us home.”

Now the Pelicans take on an Oklahoma City team that thrives on defense. The Thunder has the NBA”s best record (37-10) and leads the league in defensive rating. The Thunder looked invincible after starting 24-1. Since then, the record is 13-9. OKC has lost three of its last five games including back-to-back losses to the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors in the last two games. OKC has been a thorn in the Pelicans’ side, though. The Pels have lost 12 straight games to the Thunder That includes the sweep in the ﬁrst round of the playoffs in the 2023-24 season. The last win against OKC was on Nov 1, 2023. To end that drought, they will need a similar all-around effort like the one in Sunday’s win over the Spurs.

Zion Williamson and Bey ﬁnished with identical stat lines: 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Yves

Continued from page 1C

all his gymnasts

“Mad Dog,” Clark said, referring to Ulrich, “is in the thick of it on every event. I told her when she came here she’s an allarounder, but I don’t want anyone to have to compete all-around every single week. That’s not a good place to be. I worry about Chio as we go into the latter part of the year Do we need to find her a place where we can get her some rest?”

It’s a similar reason that LSU has used McClain in only two or three events per meet after offseason wrist surgery

“We’re pacing her,” Clark said “Konnor wants to do it all. But we’re picking our spots right now. I’m not going to do anything that I can control that puts her at risk of not being fully ready to go at her best in March and April. We have not had that yet (from her). That’s my aspiration.”

On Brock, Jeffrey

Fifth-year seniors Chase Brock and Alexis Jeffrey have yet to compete this season as they slowly work back from injuries.

Clark said Brock’s Achilles injury which ended her season in early February last year, continues to ﬂare up.

“It was going perfectly,” he said, “but she’s had some setbacks. She’s got some ankle pain. It’s structurally safe, but it’s uncomfortable. There’s just a lot of mileage on her ankles.

“I know she’s frustrated. She’s progressing. But the timetable is hard to read. There are weeks

SUPER BOWL

Continued from page 1C

Missi came off the bench and also had a double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds). Missi grabbed 10 of his boards in the ﬁrst half. Trey Murphy ﬁnished with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Herb Jones, in his second game since returning from an ankle injury ﬁnished with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Since Borrego took over as interim coach 12 games into the season, the Pelicans are 7-6 when Jones plays and 3-20 when he doesn’t.

They are 2-0 with the new starting lineup of Williamson, Murphy Jones, Bey and rookie Derik Queen.

Borrego’s team had to scrap for this latest win. The Pelicans led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter before the Spurs rallied to tie the game 88-88 midway through the fourth. The Pels normally would have found a way to lose.

This time, they did the opposite.

“By understanding that this this

is a game of runs,” Williamson said. “We had a lot of runs earlier in the game. They are one of the best teams in the West for a reason. They made a run. We responded well.”

Two nights after beating the second-place team in the Western Conference, the Pelicans take on the team at the top of the West. They’ll depend on the same formula to try to beat last season’s NBA champions as they used Sunday to beat the Spurs.

“We talked about winning the possession game, and we thought that’s where it would be won for us,” Borrego said about beating the Spurs. “We could turn them over and keep our turnovers down and obviously win the boards. We were crashing the boards (Sunday). Second-chance opportunities. Just great effort tonight on both ends.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

when it looks like she’s getting close and there’s weeks when we can’t push a whole lot.” Jeffrey, who underwent offseason back surgery, could return to the lineup soon, Clark said. “Jeff is ready on bars,” he said “It’s a tough competition on that event. We’re doing really well on bars (But) it’s something that I anticipate her doing. It could be as early as this week. She’s in the mix and is in consideration every week. She’s just gotten where she’s added her ﬁnal skills on balance beam and will be relevant on

that event as we go.” Clark said their experience is a huge asset to the squad even when not competing. “They’ve been on a championship team,” he said, referring to LSU’s 2024 NCAA title squad. They know what that feels like Their presence, voice, maturity, emotional intelligence is imperative When things aren’t going well for them, others see that and they’re handling it perfectly.”

Email Scott Rabalais at srabalais@theadvocate.com

run in the second quarter in Denver after a critical turnover by Jarrett Stidham, who made his ﬁfth career start ﬁlling in for injured Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.

“The Pats are back, baby,” Maye said. “Now gotta win one.”

Playing through a snowstorm in the second half, Maye only threw for 86 yards and ran for 65. Stidham had 133 yards passing and one TD, one interception and one costly fumble.

The 23-year-old Maye, a ﬁnalist for NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, will become the second-youngest QB to start a Super Bowl behind Dan Marino. He’s the fourth second-year QB in the past seven years to lead his team to the NFL title game. Patrick Mahomes (2018) won it while Joe Burrow (2021) and Brock Purdy (2023) lost.

Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a linebacker for the Patriots in the 2000s, turned the team around in his ﬁrst season as coach. New England went from 4-13 last year under Jerod Mayo to 14-3.

Vrabel is trying to become the ﬁrst person to win a Super Bowl as a head coach and player for

the same team. Tom Flores, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Doug Pederson won Super Bowls playing for one team and coaching another

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be associated with these guys and this organization,” said Vrabel, who is a ﬁnalist for NFL Coach of the Year “I won’t win it. It’ll be the players that’ll win the game, I promise you. It won’t be me that’ll win it and I promise you I’ll do everything that I can and our staff to have them ready for the game.”

No team has played in the Super Bowl more than the Patriots, who are 6-5 They’re tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most wins.

It’s been a long road back to the top for New England, which came off consecutive four-win seasons and only had one winning season after Brady’s departure in 2020. The Patriots have averaged just 18 points per game in the playoffs, the fewest by any team to make the Super Bowl since the 1979 Rams, who averaged 15. The New England defense has allowed just 26 points in the three games, an average of just 8.7 per game. The only team to allow fewer points in three playoff games before a Super Bowl appearance was the 2000 Ravens, who gave up 16.

DARNOLD

Continued from page 1C

Allen is the reigning MVP and twice lost to the Chiefs in the AFC title game.

Mayfield led the Browns to their only playoff victory this century and has won two division titles and one playoff game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his fourth team.

Rosen was traded by Arizona after going 3-10 as a rookie and is out of the NFL after starting just three more games.

Darnold’s success doesn’t make others failures. Football is a team sport and there are several reasons why Allen, Jackson and Mayfield have come up short. Both Allen and Jackson saw their coaches ﬁred this month because their teams didn’t live up to expectations.

Darnold’s story is about perseverance and redemption. It’s another clear example why coaching matters.

Darnold struggled mightily during three seasons with the Jets playing for coaches Todd Bowles and Adam Gase, and offensive coordinators Jeremy Bates and Dowell Loggains. His 78.2 passer rating during that time ranked third worst among 53 QBs with at least 500 attempts.

Darnold went to Carolina and played two seasons for coaches Matt Rhule and Steve Wilks, and coordinators Jeff Nixon, Joe Brady and Ben McAdoo.

None of them could unlock his potential. He didn’t have the right coaching or supporting cast, and his teams lacked stability Then he spent a season with Kyle Shanahan and assistants Klint and Klay Kubiak in San Francisco in 2023. Darnold backed up Brock Purdy on a 49ers team that reached the

Super Bowl. He got a chance to watch, learn and study in an environment that fostered growth. Shanahan praised Darnold’s arm talent, his ability to read defenses and run the offensive scheme.

Darnold went to Minnesota and thrived under coach Kevin O’Connell. He had a breakthrough season in 2024, throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 TDs while having a 102.5 passer rating and leading the Vikings to 14 wins. But Minnesota chose to stick with J.J. McCarthy, whose injury opened the door for Darnold to play and ﬂourish.

Based off his success with the Vikings, the Seahawks gave Darnold a three-year, $100.5 million contract to replace Geno Smith. He became the ﬁrst quarterback in NFL history to lead two different teams to 14 wins in consecutive seasons. Tom Brady did it with the Patriots–.

“We believe in him. The building believes in him. The city believes in him. It’s awesome to run out onto the ﬁeld with him,” AllPro wide receiver Jaxon SmithNjigba said.

Darnold has come a long way since telling coaches he was “seeing ghosts” during a lopsided loss to the Patriots in his second season.

“There was a lot that I didn’t know back then, so I’m just going to continue to learn and grow in this great game,” Darnold said. “There is a lot of stuff that I can get better from today even. I feel like I missed some throws out there that I shouldn’t miss. There were some things offensively that I feel like we can do better. So, we’re always looking to get better I’m always looking to get better

That’s the great part about this game is you win an NFC championship and you win games throughout the season, but there is always ways that you can look to get better.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy

Pelicans guard Saddiq Bey grabs a rebound over San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, center, during

game in San Antonio on Sunday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ASHLEy LANDIS

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks with quarterback Drake Maye after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Denver.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GODOFREDO A. VÁSQUEZ Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, right, celebrates with fans after the NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in Seattle.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU gymnast Madison Ulrich ﬂips between the bars during her routine on the uneven bars at the home opener against Kentucky on Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRANDON DILL Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson, right, in a game on Friday in Memphis,Tenn.

Inexperienced STM girls soccer not backing down

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

St. Thomas More girls soccer coach Katie Breaux knows things are different than what people have become accustomed to when watching the Cougars.

But that doesn’t mean the Cougars aren’t playing well.

“I think the season has been going great,” Breaux said. “I think we are playing really good soccer.”

Sure, the Cougars, who are 10-4-5 on the year, have lost four games in the regular season for the ﬁrst time since 2021 when they went 18-5-4. But whom the Cougars have lost to says more about their strength of schedule than it does about the talent level on the roster

The Cougars’ losses have come against some of the state’s best, who have a combined record of 47-13-11.

Three of the Cougars’ four losses have come against Division III top-ranked Hannan, No. 3-ranked Academy of Sacred Heart of New Orleans and No. 8-ranked St. Louis, while the fourth was against Division IV No. 3-ranked Loyola Prep.

“We haven’t panicked,” said Breaux, whose Cougars will travel to face the Southside Sharks at 7 p.m. Tuesday. “We started the season with the expectation of not thinking about the record. I don’t think we have looked at the record and compared it to previous seasons The record isn’t something that we have had to address because there is no panic.”

Breaux admits the Cougars have had to win differently this year, stiﬂing opponents with stellar defensive play and being opportunistic offensively

PREP SOCCER SCHEDULE

Boys soccer Ascension Episcopal at Lafayette, Episcopal of Acadiana at Lafayette Christian, Lafayette Renaissance at Washington-Marion, St. Michael at Acadiana Renaissance, Erath at St. Martinville, Opelousas at Dunham, Beau Chene at David Thibodaux, Acadiana at Zachary Girls soccer

Ascension Episcopal at Catholic-NI, Plaquemine at Lafayette Christian, Cecilia at Comeaux, Beau Chene at David Thibodaux, Erath at St. Martinville, Kaplan at Opelousas, North Vermilion at Teurlings, Westgate at Morgan City

goalkeepers Scarlett Coles and Ava Dugas.

“For freshmen, playing against the top teams in the state, they are doing great,” Breaux said. “Of course, we have got to continue to work on things. But they are doing everything we have asked of them and then some. So, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

While the regular season winding down, Breaux is confident the Cougars have what it takes to make another run at state.

Pegula takes down reigning women’s champion Keys

BY JOHN PYE AP sportswriter

MELBOURNE, Australia — Jessica Pegula knocked podcast pal and defending champion Madison Keys out of the Australian Open on Monday to secure a quarterﬁnal against Amanda Anisimova, another all-American match.

Their fourth-round wins on Day 9 mean four Americans have reached the women’s singles last eight in Australia for the first time since 2001, when Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport made it through.

It is also the ﬁrst time the topsix seeds in the women’s and men’s singles have all qualiﬁed for the last eight of a Grand Slam event in the Open Era.

“Sucks that one American has to go out in the quarterfinals,” Anisimova said.

No. 6-seeded Pegula had a slightly different take: “At least one of us will get through and I think that’s great for American tennis. Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy how well the women have been doing and how many top-ranked girls there are. I’m just happy to be a part of that conversation.”

Pegula and No 4 Anisimova advanced a day after No. 3 Coco Gauff and 18-year-old Iva Jovic earned their places on the other side of the draw

“There were a lot of fans from China today but, honestly, it made the atmosphere great.”

No. 2 Iga Swiatek continued her quest to complete a career Grand Slam with a 6-0, 6-3 win over home qualiﬁer Maddison Inglis, giving the center court crowd little to cheer on the Australia Day national holiday Swiatek next meets No. 5 Elena Rybakina, runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka here in 2023.

Pegula is in the quarterﬁnals for the fourth time in Australia but has never previously gone further at the season-opening major Anisimova is in the last eight here for the ﬁrst time.

“I have been seeing, hitting, moving, I feel very well this whole tournament, and to be able to keep that up against such a great player as Maddie and defending champion was going to be a lot tougher of a task today,” Pegula said. “I was still able to do that really well.” Pegula and Keys had played three times previously, and Keys had won the last two. But on Monday it was Pegula who dominated, racing to 4-1 leads in both sets.

“I felt if I didn’t hit a really good ball immediately, she was in charge of the points,” Keys said. “I was kind of struggling to kind of get that dominance back.”

Pegula’s best performance in a major was reaching the U.S. Open ﬁnal in 2023.

“So, I think because we’ve been blessed with almost automatic goals in a game in the past, they learned that we just have to work harder (for goals) this year,” Breaux said. “We knew losing some high goal scorers from last year that we would struggle to (score) some goals. In a few games that we lost, we actually outshot our opponents. So, it is just a matter of putting the ball in the back of the net.”

High school basketball

Boys basketball

Tuesday’s schedules St. Thomas More at Carencro, Southside at Northwest, Beau Chene at Breaux Bridge, Opelousas at Cecilia, Church Point at Comeaux, Morgan City at North Vermilion, LaGrange at Teurlings, Acadiana Renaissance at Abbeville, Crowley at DeQuincy, Erath at St. Martinville, Iota at Midland, Kaplan at Notre Dame, Loreauville at Catholic-NI, Delcambre at West St. Mary, Lake Charles Prep at Lafayette Christian, Woodlawn-BR at Lafayette Renaissance, Iota at Midland Highland Baptist at Ascension Episcopal, Westminster-LAF at Gueydan, Jeanerette at Covenant Christian, Sacred Heart at JS Clark, Catholic-PC at North Central, Westminster at Opelousas Catholic, St. Edmund at Berchmans, Bell City at Episcopal of Acadiana. Girls basketball

Carencro at Acadiana, Lafayette at Sulphur, New Iberia at Southside, Beau Chene at Breaux Bridge, Opelousas at Cecilia, Westgate at Comeaux, David Thibodaux at Rayne, North Vermilion at Northside, St. Thomas More at Teurlings, Acadiana Renaissance at Abbeville, Ville Platte at Church Point, Erath at St. Martinville, Northwest at Iota, Catholic-NI at Central Catholic Delcambre at West St. Mary, Lake Arthur at Lafayette Christian, Midland at Lafayette Renaissance, Highland Baptist at Ascension Episcopal, Westminster-Lafayette at Gueydan, Jeanerette at Covenant Christian, Sacred Heart at JS Clark, Catholic-PC at North Central, Westminster at Opelousas Catholic.

Betting

Defensively, the Cougars are led by Katherine Bell, Sydney Babineaux, Ella Crochet and Skylar Stutes, all of whom are returning starters. But the biggest surprise has been the play of freshman

“This team can be as good as they want to be,” Breaux said. “I’m on them all of the time about pushing themselves and when you think you’ve played your best, that is the bar, so you have to push further, and they are doing that They’ve proven to themselves that they are just as good as the No. 1 team in the state on any level.”

Pegula’s 6-3, 6-4 win at Rod Laver Arena ended Keys’ first Grand Slam title defense in a tough section of the draw Anisimova, runner-up at the last two majors at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, advanced 7-6 (4), 6-4 over Wang Xinyu as the temperature started rising at Melbourne Park and organizers triggered the heat stress policy which that allowed for extra cooling breaks.

“What a battle out there. Tough conditions against a really good opponent,” Anisimova said.

SCOREBOARD

Alvarado

Fears 0-3, Peavy 0-3) Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers:

Blocked Shots: 5 (Jones 2, Missi

Williamson). Turnovers: 10 (Queen 4, Fears 2, Matkovic, Missi, Murphy III, Williamson) Steals: 3 (Bey, Missi, Peavy) Technical Fouls: Murphy III, 6:27 fourth; Queen, 5:55 fourth. FGFTReb SA Min M-A M-A O-T

Chmpgne29:14

Wmbnma31:21 6-16 2-6

Percentages: FG .395, FT .594. 3-Point Goals: 12-44, .273 (Fox

Vassell 2-8, Wembanyama 2-10, Barnes

Bryant

Johnson 1-5, Champagnie 1-7, Castle 0-2) Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 5 (Wembanyama 4, Kornet). Turnovers: 11 (Fox 4, Wembanyama 3, Castle 2, Harper, Vassell) Steals: 2 (Castle, Vassell) Technical Fouls: Fox, 12:00 third New Orleans2531262

San Antonio2819212

A_18,363 (18,581). T_2:14 Pro football Wild-card Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 10 L.A. Rams 34, Carolina 31 Chicago 31, Green Bay 27 Sunday, Jan. 11 Buffalo 27, Jacksonville 24 San Francisco 23, Philadelphia 19 New England 16, L.A. Chargers 3 Monday, Jan. 12 Houston 30, Pittsburgh 6 Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 17

Three Italian men started Day 9. Only two could advance. Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner beat compatriot Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (2) two days after admitting he felt lucky to survive the third round. The Italian star next faces No. 8-seeded Ben Shelton, who beat No. 12 Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a night match. Sinner has won his last eight meetings with the 23-year-old American, including last year’s semiﬁnal here.

Elena Rybakina (5), Kazakhstan, def. Elise Mertens (21), Belgium, 6-1, 6-3. Iga Swiatek (2), Poland, def. Maddison Inglis, Australia, 6-0, 6-3. Men’s Doubles Third Round Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz, Brazil, def. Yuki Bhambri, India, and Andre Goransson (10), Sweden, 7-6 (7), 6-3. Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans, Australia def. Li Tu and James McCabe, Australia, 6-4, 6-4. Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Marcelo Arevalo (4), El Salvador, def. Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek (16), United States, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7). Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza, Czechia, def. Harri Heliovaara, Finland, and Henry Patten (2), Britain, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6). Women’s Doubles Third Round Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Ena Shibahara, Japan, def. Asia Muhammad, United States, and Erin Routliffe (6), New Zealand, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Jelena Ostapenko (3), Latvia, def. Laura Siegemund, Germany and Soﬁa Kenin (13), United States, 6-3, 6-2. Kimberly Birrell and Talia Gibson, Australia, def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Hanyu Guo (16), China, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Mixed Doubles Third Round Anna Danilina, Kazakhstan, and James Tracy United States, def. Nick Kyrgios, Australia, and Leylah Fernandez, Canada, 6-3, 6-1. Katerina Siniakova, Czechia, and Sem Verbeek, Netherlands, def. Zhang Shuai, China and Tim Putz (6), Germany, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8. Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, and Mate Pavic (5),

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

St. Thomas More’s Ella Crochet and the Cougars are hoping to make another run at a state championship, despite more losses than usual.

Root out

Arolling stone gathersnomoss, butyourtrees might. This kind cancause problems

Editor’snote:This is the ﬁrst in athree-part “What’sonmy tree?” series about organisms that are commonly found growing on trees in Louisiana

GARDEN NEWS

HereinLouisiana, we’re all familiar with Spanish moss those charming, lacy veils that cascade from our belovedlive oak and bald cypresstrees and blow gently in the wind. In recent years, however,you’ve likely noticed another,less elegant type of moss creeping into trees around the state.It’scalled ball moss and, as its name suggests, it grows in acompact, spherical form afﬁxed to tree bark. Put plainly,ball moss isn’t pretty.While Spanish moss can look like asophisticated adornment, greenish-gray clumps of ball moss are quite the opposite, often giving the impressionthat something is wrong with the tree to which they are clinging. Although unsightly,ball moss itself isn’tdirectly harmful to trees —and, contrarytopopular belief, it’snot aparasite. Just like Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata) is an epiphyte, meaning it gets nutrients and water from the air not its hosts. (As an interesting aside, both speciesare related to bromeliads as part of the Bromeliaceae family.)

LSU AGCENTERPHOTO

By OLIVIA McCLURE

Ball moss is an epiphyte that derives water and nutrientsfrom the air,not itshosts.

What can cause problems is heavy infestations. Excessive ball moss growthcan weigh down and snap smaller branches. It can even restrict fluid exchangeand airflow in trees, affecting their health. Ball moss attaches itself to hosts usingholdfasts,which are rootlike projections that allow it to latch onto just about any surface. It prefers deciduous trees with rough bark but won’t hesitate to colonize other types of trees and shrubs. (It loves crape myrtles even though they have smooth bark!) Ball moss also can grow on utility poles and cables, traffic lights, building walls and fences. Ball moss thrives in humid environmentsand can be found from Georgia to Arizona and Mexico. It spreads by seeds that are released and dispersed by wind in late winter and early spring. If ball moss has taken over trees or structures around your home, winter —before those seed capsulessplit open —isagood time to take action Thebest way to get rid of ball moss is picking off the growths by hand and throwing them away.They’ll be easier to see right now on deciduous trees while there are no leaves in the way Unfortunately,manual

LIVING

Bringitems to Friends of LPB’sAntiquesAppraisal fundraiser

FRIENDS OF LPB’S ANTIQUES APPRAISAL EVENT

10 a.m. to noon or noon to 2p.m

Saturday, Feb.7 l LPB studios, 7733 PerkinsRoad, Baton Rouge l General admission, $75 (includes appraisal of twoitems) l VIP,$125 (includes appraisal of three items, skip-the-line access, and reservedseating forthe seminar) l Avalid ticket required to enter;all tickets nonrefundable; children under 18 must be accompanied by aparent or legal guardian. l bontempstix.com

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

The Friends of LPB’sAntiquesAppraisal Event will be Olivia Helmer’s ﬁrst charity event as an appraiser,althoughshe hasyears of experience in theﬁeld.

“I’m excited to help LPB in any way that we can. We’re so deﬁnitelyhappy to support them,” she said fromAlexandria last week.

Helmer,36, curator at the Alexandria Museum of Art for ﬁve years, began telling folks how much their prized possessions were worth soon after gettingher master’s of art degree in 2013. She has worked in the ﬁeld on and off since then, having stintsinMiami, New

ä See APPRAISAL, page 6C

ä See MOSS, page 6C

La.antiquesevent

BYJOY HOLDEN

Staff writer

Hurst

The 26th annualPetite Antiques Forumpresentedbythe FriendsofMagnoliaMound will bring 18th century fashion expertise to Baton Rouge.Each year aguest speaker offers fresh appreciation of periodfurniture, textiles, fashion or decorative objectsofthe past This year,guest speaker Neal Hurst, the curator of theDepartment of Tex-

tiles and CostumesatThe Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia, will present “The Art of Dressing: Clothing of Menand Women 1770-1820” on Thursday. Attendees will learn about thehistorictextile collectionin Colonial Williamsburg as well as clothing of the period in general Women’sfashions usually getthe attention,but Hurstisalso an expert on gentlemen’sfashion. He received his master’sdegreefromthe Winterthur

Program in American Material Culture from the University of Delaware. In addition to his academic qualiﬁcations, he apprenticed as ahistoric trades tailor at Colonial Williamsburg and rose to be the master tailor He knows clothing fromthe inside out. Catherine White, the chairman of the 2026Petite Antiques Forum, says that Hurst’sexpertise will bring unique insight forforum attendees.

ä See FASHION, page 6C

Roland

Vizard

Acceptingsuggestions fora gender-neutral honoriﬁc

Dear Miss Manners: Ithink the reason that people think using “ma’am” or “sir” is offensive stems from the idea that you have to assume someone’sgenderidentity in order to use them.

There are many people whose appearance doesn’t match their identity.Assuming one knowsthat information basedonlooks, or even voice, can cause distress for people, especially if they are early in atransition or if they are gender nonconforming.

to be respectful,but because Ido.

I, like you, was raised to be polite. “Ma’am” and “sir”were my normal ways of addressing people. It has been difﬁcult toshift how Italk to people, but Ihave done so, not becauseIdon’twant

MOSS

Continued from page5C

Igenuinely wish there were auniversal, gender-neutral honoriﬁc to useinthe English language. Iwant something that showed I respect people enough to be polite, but also enough not to assume Iknow (possibly private) information about them. Iknow gender-neutral honoriﬁcsdoexist in other languages, butEnglish is sadly lacking. Even a typically polite and well-mannered individual such as myself maychoosetoforgo theuse of “ma’am” and“sir.”

Gentle reader: It would be useful, Miss Manners agrees, to have such aword,and thereby dispensewith oneofthe limitless

removal isn’tpractical for large trees or severeinfestations. In these situations, try acopper-containing fungicide labeled for ball moss control or abaking soda solution. Spraying in winter while trees are bare will ensure better contact with themoss andavoid the possibility of leaf burn.

For more information on ball moss and control strategies, check out the LSU AgCenter’s new fact sheet at www LSUAgCenter.com/ ballmoss.

FASHION

Continued from page5C

“I think he’ll giveusabehind-the-scenes look at the collection,” White said. “Not only does he have an interesting academic background on the subject, buthealso served in an apprenticeship as atailor in the department of historic trades for seven years. Ithink he may talk about the construction, whichwillbea little different.”

She also said that part of the 50-year span Hurst will be discussing relates to the time period that Magnolia Mound is restoredto. He’llbe showing some of the clothing that they would have wornin Baton Rouge or NewOrleans. Lunch will follow the lecture. Then attendeeswill tour threehistoric properties that are not often open to the public.

This year,groups will be able to visit LiveOaks plantation built in 1838, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity built in 1859 and Valverda Plantation built in 1842.

“It’safull day,”says White.

Pat Bacot, alate professor of art at LSU and curator of the LSU Museum of Art, found and procured many of

APPRAISAL

Continued from page5C

Orleans and Seattle. She moved back to Louisiana in 2019 to start her own appraisal company,but now she’sfocused on themuseum job in Alexandria. Helmer will join sixother appraisers from around the state at the Saturday,Feb.7, event at the Louisiana Public Broadcasting studios in Baton Rouge. They include Michael Wynne, historicalresearcher and preservationist; George Clark, president of Taylor Clark Gallery and aveteran appraiser; Melanie Lilesand PamWood,longtime owners of Traditions on Trenton in West Monroe; and Vizard and her daughter Rebecca Vizard. The station hosted ﬁlming of PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” at the LSU Rural Life Museum in 2023, but hasn’thad its own appraisal eventinabout 15 years, said Friends ExecutiveDirector Terri Crockett. Eventgoers have achoice of two timeslots: 10 a.m. to noon or noon to 2p.m. General admission, $75, includes appraisal of two items,while VIPtickets ($125) includeappraisal of three items, skipthe-line access, and reserved seating for the noon seminar.

causes at which people takeoffense. So would you and other Gentle Readers please give it atry and suggest one?

Afew warnings: It should be digniﬁed and easy tosay.Aword already in use is preferable, if it is not too confusing, because people do not takeeasily to madeup words. For example, partner” is confusing when used for a nonmarital romantic alliance, as opposed to abusiness partnership —or, for that matter,tennis or bridge partners —but it won out over “signiﬁcant other,” which was not only an invention, but also silly

Butplease do try Dear Miss Manners: When should one respond to an RSVP request if not planning to attend?

LSUAGCENTERPHOTO By

OLIVIA McCLURE

Ball moss growsina compact, spherical form.

PROVIDED PHOTOSFROMTHE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG MUSEUM PURCHASE 1775-1785 silk brocade and linen gown made by Anna Maria Garthwaite; textile made in Englandand worn in Rhode Island

the antique piecesoffurniture and decor in Magnolia Mound. He was instrumental in starting the Petite AntiquesForum. Having hosted forums at LSUfor years, Bacot calledthe forum “petite” because it was only one day,White said Proceeds raised bythe forum will be used by the Friends organization to continue to maintainthe collection of furniture andother

STAFF FILE PHOTO

Unusual, texturedand antique textiles canbe used to bring in atouch of personalityand pops of color to neutralspacesin interior design. The pillows are by RebeccaVizard, who’ll be speakingand appraising at the LPB event.

1770 broadcloth coat, part of Colonial Williamsburg collection.

artifacts displayed in the mainhouse andoutbuildings of Magnolia Mound in Baton Rouge.

The eventwill begin at 9a.m. andwill last until 4p.m. at the LouisianaState Archives building, 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge. Tickets are $150 each.

Advance registration is required due to limited seating. To register for the forumpleaseemail friendsofmagnoliamound@gmail.com or register online at friendsofmagnoliamound.org.

Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.

your house rather than like a ﬂashy price.”

When people approach the appraisal table with their treasure, the appraisers only have asmall window of time to conduct research on thespot to offer amonetary value estimate.

“Wedon’tknow what’s comingahead of time. Thankfully,I’m amaster at Google,” Helmer said.

Her mostmemorable moment as an appraiser was one of the firstthings she worked on in Miami with another appraiser

“Weappraiseda Marc Chagall painting that had been damaged,” shesaid.

“That was interesting because it was the loss of value,because it’sbeen restored. But it was themost beautiful painting I’ve seen in person. That wassuch a crazy ﬁrst thing, to have a million-dollar painting.”

Ihave been sending regrets for small (less than 20 people) group invitations, but am not sure what is expected and mosthelpful when included in amass mailing such as for afundraising event.

For example, Ireceived an invitation that wenttohundreds of donors for ameet-the-staffevent with appetizers and drinks.

Does it matter if one knowsthe sender from previous personal contacts (in this case, with the organization’sdonor coordinator)?

Does it matter if each guest’s attendance requires extra preparation and investment, such as a meal?

Gentlereader: Does the invitation have alittle price list forbuying tickets to attend?

Far be it from Miss Manners to suggest that any invitation go

Dear Heloise: Being ashort person, Ihave asked alot of taller people for help withgetting products off the topshelf when shopping and have never been turned down. Most of the help has come from taller men as Iamanolder person withgray hair besides being short. Don’tget me wrong, there hasbeen a lot of help thathas come from women and younger people. That being said, these are the young ones who are being or have been taught to pitch in when needed. I, for one, have been very thankful. —Barbara,inVirginia

unanswered. But someitemsthat use the form of invitations are actually ticket sales slips, and may be ignored by those not planning to buy.Asking forthe pleasure of your paid company,whether to a fancy dinner or amattress sale, does not qualifyasaninvitation. But it is courteous to answer all real invitations, even to mass events. No one may be heartbroken at your refusal to attend, but it may be helpful to the planners to assess numbers.

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

company subject line, then Ilist his actual nameand enter the phone number Under the notes in this listing, Ican add any additional info, such as the date of the last service. Often, Ihave difﬁculty remembering the actual repairperson’snameifIenter his contact info as Idowith my other contacts, so this allows me to quickly locate him. —Judy Peterson, in Boerne,Texas

Flowersinlife

Findingcontactseasily

Dear Heloise: In arecent column, Leo G. said thathe lists acompany’sinfo in his notes. This requires that you search through your notes each timetolocate the info. When arepairman completes ajob for me, and I wish to contact him in the future, as an example, I enter “electrician” rather than his name. Under the

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2026. There are 338 days left in theyear

Todayinhistory: On Jan. 27, 1945, during World WarII, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz and Birkenau Naziconcentration camps in Poland.

Also on this date:

In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

In 1880, Thomas Edison received apatent for his incandescent electric lamp.

In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on ﬁre during theﬁlming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial

Dear Heloise: Like the mom whowanted ﬂowers while she was still alive, my neighbor’skids gave their mom abig party forher 90th birthday.There were ﬂowers, abig cake, and gifts. Relatives came from all over the world. Iwas invited as her neighbor She lived twomore years after this. —Patricia Roberts, in Bellaire,Texas Dryerlinthint

Dear Heloise: Isee the different ways people get dryer lint off and just wanted to share how Ido it: Isimply use the dryer

TODAYINHISTORY

at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

In 2002, aseries of explosions rocked an armory in Lagos, Nigeria, starting ﬁres in nearby neighborhoods and killing hundreds of people. Many of those whodied werearea residents whodrowned in a canal in darkness while ﬂeeing the blasts.

In 2013, aﬁre started by pyrotechnics in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, killed 242 people and injured over 600.

In 2017, President Donald Trumpbarred all refugees from entering the United States forfour months, declaring the ban necessary to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the country

sheet from each load that Ijust dried. Itake it and slide it down, and it wipes every bit of lint off. Thanks forall that you do! —Paula, via email

Pumpkintrick in dogs

Dear Heloise: Ihave ahint on how to stop diarrhea in dogs. Aveterinarian friend told us to use atablespoon of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie ﬁlling) for our 65-pound Weimaraner female, which we mixed into her dog food. Larger dogs, of course, need more pumpkin, and smaller dogs need less. It works! —John G., Kihei, in Maui, Hawaii Cleaning pictureframes

DearHeloise: Ihave afancy picture frame that’scarved from wood, and Ihave a terrible time keeping dust out of the deep areas of the frame. What can Iuse to clean it? —Loretta V.,inMarietta, Georgia Loretta, try using ahair dryer on high to blow out the dust or adry,clean paintbrush to clean out the frame. —Heloise Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

In 2023, aPalestinian gunman opened ﬁre outside an east Jerusalem synagogue during Jewish observances of the Sabbath, killing seven people and wounded three others before he wasshot and killed by police.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor James Cromwell is 86. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 82. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 78. U.S. SupremeCourt Chief Justice John Roberts is 71. Political and sports commentator Keith Olbermannis67. Actor Bridget Fonda is 62. Actor Alan Cumming is 61. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 58. Rock singer Mike Patton is 58. Rapper Tricky is 58. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 57.

Rebecca Vizard of B. Viz Design and Laura Roland of Fireside Antiques will lead theantiques and design session. Vizard is atextile artist and designer,and Roland is athird-generation owner of the family’santiques shop. “They will share their expertise, insights and stories from working with collectors and designers nationwide.Attendees will gain tips onidentifying, appreciating and incorporating antiquesinto their own spaces,” arelease states. Meanwhile,Helmeroffered advice forthe appraisees.

Lastweek at the small museum in Alexandria,Helmer and the other seven full-time staffers were preparingfor theendeavor of switching out exhibits.

Helmer noted that appraisees should bringany documentation they have on an item,asit helps the organizers to get theprocess going. “Pick things that you really love, not necessarily things that you think are goingto be the mostvaluable,” she said. “Sometimes it’snice to just have alittle bit of history about thethingsthatare in

One of thecurrentshows at the Alexandria Museum of Art, “EMERGE: New Orleans Artistsfrom the Saratoga Collection,” will hang through Saturday,Feb 14, when it will be replaced with athree-personexhibition, “Now YouSee Me Contemporary Portraiture in Louisiana,” by Louisiana artists Aron Belkaand Gina PhillipsofNew Orleans, and VitusShell of Monroe.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Hints from Heloise

YE ARS

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take pride in who you are and what you accomplish. Push for positive change and set a good example for others. High-energy objectives will encourage others to pitch in and help. Set high standards.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Exploit your skills, knowledge and awareness, and do your part to bring about positive change. Put yourself first without guilt. Recognize your worth and reward yourself.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Reach out, promote and present what you can do, and you'll draw positive attention from people in a position to help you achieve your potential. Work your magic.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Do your part and reach out to authority figures, government agencies or institutions if it will help resolve issues. Opportunity comes from doing things, not from making empty promises or listening to hearsay.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Learn, evaluate, assemble and execute your plan. Handle paperwork first to avoid delays Use your intelligence and savvy to outmaneuver any negativity you encounter CANCER (June 21-July 22) Put in the time and reap the rewards. Opportunity is close by if you open your eyes and embrace new beginnings, positive changes and a chance to flirt with fate.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Take the road that resonates with your mood and desires,

and see what unfolds. Pay attention to things that contribute to your highs and lows, and be sure to gravitate toward what lifts you up.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You'll require time and patience to get things done. You may not like how others do things, but it's in your best interest to farm out some of your less meaningful tasks.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Don't make promises or exaggerate the possibilities. You may be excited about something or someone, but you'd best keep your plans and feelings to yourself.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) You have two choices: Run and hide, or embrace what comes your way. You are overdue for an overhaul, and by drawing on your experience and intuition, you can turn negatives in your life into positives.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Money management makes a difference. Review your subscriptions and cancel what you don't need. Tidy up unfinished business and consider how to use the time and money you save.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take advantage of any opportunity to network or discuss changes you want to initiate. Being open with others will put your mind at ease. Personal change will enhance your appeal and help build partnerships.

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy'S CLUE: U EQUALS F

CeLebrItY CIpher

better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

nea CroSSwordS

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

This week we are looking at the 2013 International Bridge Press Association awards. The Yeh Bros. Best Bid of the Year was given to Peter Bertheau from Sweden. The journalist prize went to Micke Melander from Sweden. Bertheau had the North hand, playing in the2012 World Mind Sports Games (formerly WorldTeam Olympiad) final against Poland in Lille, France. (This event took place toolate for inclusion in thatyear’s awards.)

Southopenedtwohearts,whichshowed asix-cardsuitand10-13high-cardpoints. Westovercalledfourdiamonds,Leaping Michaels,indicatingatleast5-5inspades and diamonds. Bertheau now set out to try to buy the contractatanylevel.Herespondedonly four hearts.

East jumped to five spades to invitea slam, but West was not interested, having aweaker hand in high-cardterms thannormal for Leaping Michaels. Bertheau continued his plan with six hearts. And when East took asafety-bid withsixspades(itseemedthatbothsides had adoublefit), Bertheau moved on to sevenhearts.Certainthatthiswasasacrifice,Eastdoubled.Butthecontractwas laydown for plus 2,470.

At the other table, North-South had amisunderstanding, eventually stopping in six hearts. Eastsacrificed in six spades,doubledanddownone.Thisgave Sweden20internationalmatchpointsen route to the title. The Swedish Bridge Federation website calledthisBertheauvenlymusic ©2026 by NEA,Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD PERFoRcE: per-FORSE: By forceofcircumstances

Average mark17words

Timelimit 25 minutes

Can you find 22 or morewords in PERFORCE?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —ItALIcs

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

BRIEFS

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Stocks on the rise, gold prices top record

NEW YORK U.S. stock indexes ticked higher Monday, while other markets made louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 313 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%.

Baker Hughes helped lead the way and rose 4.4% after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The energy technology company said it’s benefiting from strong momentum in demand for liquefied natural gas, among other things.

CoreWeave climbed 5.7% after Nvidia said it invested $2 billion in the stock and will help accelerate the buildout of CoreWeave’s artiﬁcial-intelligence factories, which use Nvidia chips, by 2030 to advance AI adoption. Nvidia slipped 0.6%.

Much of the rest of Wall Street was relatively quiet. That included mixed performances for airlines, which had to cancel thousands of ﬂights due to the winter storm that swept much of the United States over the weekend. Delta Air Lines lost 0.7%, and Southwest Airlines added 0.2%.

The action was stronger in the gold market, where the metal’s price rallied another 2.1% and brieﬂy topped $5,100 per ounce for the ﬁrst time to set another record. Silver surged even more and settled 14% higher

Prices for precious metals have been soaring as investors look for safer places to park their money amid threats of tariffs, still-high inﬂation, political strife and mountains of debt for governments worldwide.

U.S. invests in another rare earth miner

The U.S. is taking a minority stake in an Oklahoma rare earth miner, the latest government investment in the sector as it seeks to minimize its reliance on imports of a material used prevalently in smartphones, robotics, electric vehicles and many other high-tech products

China processes more than 90% of the world’s critical minerals and has used its dominance in the market to gain leverage in the trade war with Washington.

USA Rare Earth said Monday that the U.S. Commerce Department is investing $1.6 billion in the company to advance work on a mine in Texas and to build a magnet manufacturing facility in Oklahoma.

Shares of USA Rare Earth jumped more than 13% before U.S. markets opened.

The agreement with the Commerce Department’s CHIPS program includes $277 million in proposed federal funding and a $1.3 billion senior secured loan The Commerce Department will get 16.1 million shares of common stock in return, as well as rights to buy 17.6 million more.

“USA Rare Earth’s heavy critical minerals project is essential to restoring U.S. critical mineral independence,” Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a statement.

“This investment ensures our supply chains are resilient and no longer reliant on foreign nations.” Calif. Post brings brash tabloid news to West Coast LOS ANGELES Aiming to shake up the Golden State’s media landscape, the California Post launched on Monday with a new tabloid newspaper and news site that brings a brash, cheeky and conservativefriendly ﬁxture of the Big Apple to the West Coast.

The Los Angeles outpost of the New York Post will be “digital ﬁrst” with social media accounts and video and audio pieces — but for $3.75 readers can also purchase a daily print publication featuring the paper’s famously splashy front-page headlines. Perhaps most memorably: 1983’s “Headless Body in Topless Bar.”

“The most iconic thing about the New York Post, and now the California Post, is that front page,” said Nick Papps, editor-in-chief of the LA newsroom. “It has a unique wit, and is our calling card, if you like.” Monday’s inaugural edition goes straight at Hollywood during awards season with the full-page headline: “Oscar Wild — Shocking truth behind director Safdie brothers’ mystery split.”

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

Minn. CEOs issue joint letter

State, federal officials urged to de-escalate tensions after shooting

BY MAE ANDERSON AP business writer

NEW YORK More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies, including Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth, signed an open letter posted on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce website on Sunday calling for state, local and federal ofﬁcials to work together, as businesses grapple with how to address tensions in the state and across the country following two fatal shootings by federal agents amid a massive immigration enforcement operation that has

spurred protests.

“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to ﬁnd real solutions,” the open letter reads.

CEOs that signed the letter included 3M CEO William Brown, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening, Target incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke, UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, and others.

Before the letter most of the biggest Minnesota-based companies had not issued any public

statements about the enforcement surge and unrest. But the issue has become more difficult to avoid. Over the past two weeks, protesters have targeted some businesses they see not taking a strong enough stand against federal law enforcement activity, including Minneapolisbased Target. Earlier in January a Minnesota hotel that wouldn’t allow federal immigration agents to stay there apologized and said the refusal violated its own policies after a furor online.

Meanwhile, the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities cited

Working with AI?

Poll reveals 12% of employees use chatbots daily

BY MATT O’BRIEN and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press

American workers adopted artiﬁcial intelligence into their work lives at a remarkable pace over the past few years, according to a new poll. Some 12% of employed adults say they use AI daily in their job, according to a Gallup Workforce survey conducted this fall of more than 22,000 U.S. workers. The survey found roughly one-quarter say they use AI at least frequently, which is deﬁned as at least a few times a week, and nearly half say they use it at least a few times a year That compares with 21% who were using AI at least occasionally in 2023, when Gallup began asking the question, and points to the impact of the widespread commercial boom that ChatGPT sparked for generative AI tools that can write emails and computer code, summarize long documents, create images or help answer questions.

Home Depot store associate Gene Walinski is one of the employees embracing AI at work.

The 70-year-old turns to an AI assistant on his personal phone roughly every hour on his shift so he can better answer questions about supplies that he is not “100% familiar with” at the store’s electrical department in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

“I think my job would suffer if I couldn’t because there would be a lot of shrugged shoulders and ‘I don’t know’ and customers don’t want to hear that,” Walinski said.

While frequent AI use is on the rise among many employees, AI adoption remains higher among those working in technology-related ﬁelds.

About 6 in 10 technology workers say they use AI frequently, and about 3 in 10 do so daily

The share of Americans working in the technology sector who say they use AI daily or regularly has grown signiﬁcantly since 2023, but there are indications that AI adoption could be starting to plateau after an explosive increase between 2024 and 2025.

In ﬁnance, another sector with high AI adoption, 28-year-old investment banker Andrea Tanzi said he uses AI tools every day to synthesize documents and data sets that would otherwise take him several hours to review Tanzi, who works for Bank of America in New York, said he also makes use of the bank’s internal AI chatbot, Erica, to help with administrative tasks.

In addition, majorities of those working in professional services, at colleges or universities or in K-12 education, say they use AI at least a few times

a year Joyce Hatzidakis, 60, a high school art teacher in Riverside, California, started experimenting with AI chatbots to help “clean up” her communications with parents.

“I can scribble out a note and not worry about what I say and then tell it what tone I want,” she said. “And then, when I reread it, if it’s not quite right, I can have it edited again. I’m definitely getting less parent complaints.”

Another Gallup Workforce survey from last year found that about 6 in 10 employees using AI are relying on chatbots or virtual assistance when they turn to AI tools. About 4 in 10 AI users at work reported using AI to consolidate information or data, to generate ideas or to learn new things.

Hatzidakis started with ChatGPT and then switched to Google’s Gemini when the school district made that its ofﬁcial tool. She has even used it to help with recommendation letters because “there’s only so many ways to say a kid is really creative.”

The benefits and drawbacks

The AI industry and the U.S. government are heavily promoting AI adoption in workplaces and schools.

More people and organizations will need to buy these tools in order to justify the huge amounts of investment into building and running energyhungry AI computing systems. But not all economists agree on how much they will boost productivity or affect employment prospects.

“Most of the workers that are most highly exposed to AI, who are most likely to have it disrupt their workﬂows, for good or for bad, have these characteristics that make them pretty adaptable,” said Sam Manning, a fellow at the Centre for the Governance of AI and co-author of

devastating economic impacts in a lawsuit ﬁled this month, imploring a federal judge to halt the immigration operations. The lawsuit asserted that some businesses have reported sales drops of up to 80%.

“In this difficult moment for our community, we call for peace and focused cooperation among local, state and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future,” the letter reads.

EU opens probe into Grok

Musk’s company sparked backlash over sexual deepfakes

BY KELVIN CHAN AP business writer

Joyce Hatzidakis, above, an art teacher in Riverside, Calif., uses the artificial intelligence tool Google Gemini, left, in her high school classroom. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By DAMIAN DOVARGANES

new papers on AI job effects for the Brookings Institution and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Workers in those mostly computer-based jobs that involve a lot of AI usage “usually have higher levels of education, wider ranges of skill sets that can be applied to different jobs, and they also have higher savings, which is helpful for weathering an income shock if you lose your job,” Manning said.

On the other hand, Manning’s research has identiﬁed some 6.1 million workers in the United States who are both heavily exposed to AI and less equipped to adapt Many are in administrative and clerical work, about 86% are women and they are older and concentrated in smaller cities, such as university towns or state capitals, with fewer options to shift careers.

“If their skills are automated, they have less transferable skills to other jobs and they have a lower savings, if any savings,” Manning said ”An income shock could be much more harmful or difficult to manage.”

A separate Gallup Workforce survey from 2025 found that even as AI use is increasing, few employees said it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that new technology automation, robots or AI will eliminate their job within the next ﬁve years. Half said it was “not at all likely,” but that has decreased from about 6 in 10 in 2023.

Gallup’s quarterly workforce surveys were conducted with a random sample of adults age 18 and older who work full-time and part-time for organizations in the United States and are members of Gallup’s probability-based Gallup Panel. The most recent survey of 22,368 employed U.S. adults was conducted from Oct. 30-Nov 13, 2025. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 1 percentage point.

LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform. European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would switch to Grok’s AI system to choose which posts users see. The scrutiny from Brussels comes after Grok sparked a global backlash by allowing users through its AI image generation and editing capabilities to undress people, putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing. Researchers said some images appeared to include children. Some governments banned the service or issued warnings.

The 27-nation EU’s executive said it was looking into whether X has done enough as required by the bloc’s digital regulations to contain the risks of spreading illegal content such as “manipulated sexually explicit images.”

That includes content that “may amount to child sexual abuse material,” the European Commission said. These risks have now “materialized,” the commission said, exposing the bloc’s citizens to “serious harm.” Regulators will examine whether Grok is living up to its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s wide-ranging rule book for keeping internet users safe from harmful content and products.

In response to a request for comment, an X spokeswoman directed The Associated Press to an earlier statement that the company remains “committed to making X a safe platform for everyone” and that it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual exploitation, nonconsensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.

The X statement from Jan. 14 also said it would stop allowing users to depict people in “bikinis underwear or other revealing attire,” but only in places where it has been deemed illegal.

“Nonconsensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice president at the commission, said in a statement.

The problem began snowballing late last month when Grok, launched by Musk’s company xAI in the summer, seemingly granted a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others. The problem was ampliﬁed both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative with fewer safeguards than rivals, and because Grok’s responses on X are publicly visible and can therefore be easily spread.

The EU investigation covers only Grok’s service on X, and not Grok’s website and stand-alone app.