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CAPITAL CARNIVAL

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Washington, D.C., was digging out Monday from amajor snowstorm—upto14 inches in some parts—but the hundreds of Louisiana movers andshakersheaded here forthe 77th Washington Mardi Gras werehopeful 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 withstate and federal politicians, casually mingling and talkingcommerce.

“It just continues the focus on improving the brand of the state and leveraging the opportunity to get so many of ourstate’sbusinessleaders, civic leaders,political leaders, investors whether they are Louisiana-basedinvestorsor they’re investors that are putting their capitalto work here —and gettingthemall in oneplace,” said W. GrayStream, aLakeCharles investor and philanthropist whoisking of Washington Mardi Gras this year

Paid for by dues,tickets and donations,public accesstoWashingtonMardi Gras is restricted and media coverage is limited to fosterunguarded conversations thatgets business done, participants say

Thoughmost attendees arrive on Wednesday historically many comein Mondayor Tuesday to

ä See CARNIVAL, page 5A

N.O. targetingunpaidparking tickets

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

Trump easesoff Minnesota crackdown

Some federalagentsprepare to leave, includingBorderPatrol commanderBovino

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI and MIKE BALSAMO Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS— President Donald Trumpsoftened his tone Monday on the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, touting productive conversations withthe governor andMinneapolis mayor as he sent the border czar to take chargeofmuch of the enforcement effort. Some federal agents were expected to leave as soon as Tuesday Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he spoke by phone with Trump, whopraised the discussion and declared that “lots of progress is being made.” Frey said he asked Trumpinaphone call to end the immigration enforcement surge and that Trumpagreedthe presentsituation cannot continue.

The mayor said some agents would soon leave andthathewould keep pushing forothers involved in Operation Metro Surge to go. Among those who are expected to depart was seniorBorderPatrolcommanderGregBovino, aperson familiar with the matter toldThe Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of theoperation and

ä See MINNESOTA, page 4A

establishments on Bourbondraws backlash

BY BEN MYERS and SOPHIEKASAKOVE Staff writers

The New Orleans City Council on Tuesday is expected to reversecourseand abandon newrestrictionsfor BourbonStreet stripclubs,weeks after members quietly passed atemporary ban on newclubs thatdrewbacklash from industry workers. On Jan.8,the council passedrulestorestrict newclubs from opening unless they metcaseby-case requirements set by the council. The ban wouldhave been in place foraslong as twoyears, while city planners studied the clubs and considered whethertoextendthe restrictionspermanently But council memberFreddie King, who

ä See STRIP, page 4A

“I think with theamnesty program ending, they’re booting people and saying, ‘You have to pay

ä See PARKING, page 4A

New Orleans officials are crackingdown on acostly backlog of unpaid parking tickets to help thwart an expected multimilliondollar budget deficit this year Mayor Helena Moreno’sadministration plans to hire 50 new parking enforcement officers tohandle violations and attack $100 million in unpaid fines andfees, Chief Administrative Officer Joe Giarrusso said last week at thefirst City Council BudgetCommittee meeting under the new administration. Thecity has already begun tackling violations. Treme resident Jolie Gautreau woke up earlier this month to find aboot on her car parked outsideher home, and a notice saying she owned$1,400 in tickets. Her car was later towed, and an OrleansParish Civil DistrictCourtworker toldher it was largely school zone camera tickets that triggered the boot.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Purple reigns at the 2025 Washington Mardi Gras celebration.

Louisiana festival queensgather with, front rowfrom left, Gov. Jeff Landry, first ladySharon Landryand 2026 Washington Mardi Gras Queen Sarah Heebe and King W. Gray Stream.

Apolice

PHOTO By MATTHEW PERSCHALL

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.

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.

“My wife lost hold of our baby and all of us got separated at sea,” a distraught Mohamad Khan told a volunteer rescuer, Gamar Alih, who posted a video of Khan’s remarks on Facebook.

He said he and his wife, who had been holding their child, were rescued, but the baby drowned. His wife wept by his side as Khan recounted their ordeal.

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.

Rescuers saved at least 316 passengers and crew members retrieved 18 bodies, officials said.

Snowboarder pleads not guilty to drug trafficking SANTA ANA, Calif. — A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder pleaded not guilty to running a billion-dollar drug trafficking ring and orchestrating multiple killings, as one of the FBI’s top fugitives made his first U.S. court appearance Monday since he was arrested in Mexico last week and ﬂown to California.

U.S. authorities say Ryan Wedding, who competed in a single event for his home country in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City had been hiding in Mexico for more than a decade. He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list last March when authorities offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Authorities say Wedding moved as much as 60 tons of cocaine between Colombia, Mexico, Canada and Southern California and believe he was working under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful drug rings. His drug trafﬁcking group was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, according to a 2024 indictment.

U.S. braces for more freezing cold

Winter storm leaves at least 30 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 30 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 arctic 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 that killed teenagers 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 over the frigid weekend. There were still more than 560,000 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. Officials warned that it could take days for power to be restored.

In Mississippi, officials scrambled to get cots, blankets, bottled water and generators to warming stations in hard-hit areas in the aftermath of the state’s worst ice storm since 1994. At least 14 homes, one business and 20 public roads had major damage, Gov Tate Reeves said Monday evening.

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.

“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 12,000 ﬂight delays or can-

cellations nationwide Monday, according to flight tracker flightaware.com. On Sunday, 45% of U.S flights got canceled, making it the highest day for cancellations since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The impact extended far beyond the storm’s reach because such major hubs as the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were clobbered by the storm, stranding planes and flight crews.

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 The nation’s largest public school system saw snow days stripped away 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.

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 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, in-

cluding 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

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

BY PATRICK WHITTLE, HOLLY RAMER and JOSH FUNK Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine Six people died when a business jet crashed during takeoff as a snowstorm moved in and visibility diminished in Maine Sunday night

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.

An audio recording of air traffic controllers posted by www.LiveATC.net includes someone saying “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down,” about 45 seconds after a plane was cleared for takeoff. First responders arrived less than a minute later, airport director Jose Saavedra said.

Experts say the weather and questions about whether ice accumulating on the wings kept the plane from getting airborne — as has happened at least twice before on that plane model —

will likely be an initial focus by the National Transportation Safety Board. However, the agency will consider all possible factors.

“You can count on the fact that NTSB is going to look very closely at this,” said John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

The airport said Monday afternoon there were six people aboard, according to the ﬂight manifest, and all died. Earlier in the day, the Federal Aviation Administration had said seven died and one was injured but warned the numbers were subject to change, and the agency defers to local authorities.

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 caused previous deadly crashes in Birmingham, England; and Montrose, Colorado, more than 20 years ago, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said. Even a little bit of ice on the wings can cause serious problems, so careful inspections and de-icing are a crucial step before takeoff, the former federal crash investigator said. And there is a time limit on how long de-icing remains effective. It could last only about 20 minutes.

“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 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.

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAHMOUD ILLEAN

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

Cassidyruns1st TV ad in reelection campaign

Commercial

spot includes Trump

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,R-Baton Rouge, launched the ﬁrstTVadof hiscampaign, wasting no time to draw on his pile of campaign cash after President DonaldTrump shook up the race last week by endorsingU.S.Rep.Julia Letlow, RBaton Rouge. She announcedher 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

popular Republican in the country?

“A hundred-thousand Americans die from overdoses every year Enough to ﬁll TigerStadium,”Cassidysays, standing outside the stadium.

Viewers then see images of Trump signing the antifentanyl bill with Cassidy by hissideasthe senator says the president called it “the most important legislationhewouldsignthis year.It puts drug dealers in prison and saves innocentlives.”

Cassidy

The ad provides the ﬁrst glimpse of how Cassidyplans to address a key question going forward: Following Trump’sendorsementof Letlow,will thesenator distance himselffrom thepresidentortry to ﬁnd ways to tie himself to themost

“Cassidy has to ﬁnd away to cut into theTrump base,” 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.” 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 candidatewill report having $11 million in cash through the end 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, New Orleans 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

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

BY LISA MASCARO, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MARYCLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON The shooting deaths of two American citizens during the Trump administration’sdeportation operations in Minneapolis have upended the politics of immigration in Congress, plunging the country toward another government shutdown.

Democrats have awakened to what they see as a moral moment for the country,refusing funds for the Department of Homeland Security’smilitary-style immigration enforcement operations unless there are new restraints. Twoformer presidents,Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, have brokenfromretirement to speak out.

At the same time, Republicans whohavechampioned President Donald Trump’s tough approach to immigration are signaling second thoughts. Agrowing number of Republicans want a full investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti andcongressional hearings about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

“Americans are horriﬁed &don’twant their tax dollars fundingthis brutality,”Sen. Chris VanHollen, D-Md., wrote on social media. “Not another dime to this lawless operation.”

The result is arapidly changing political environment as the nationconsiders the reach of the Trump administration’swell-funded immigration enforcement machinery and Congress spirals toward apartial federal shutdown if no resolution is reached by midnight Friday.

“The tragic death of Alex Pretti has refocused attention on the Homeland Security bill, and Irecognize and share the concerns,” said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the GOP chair of the Appropriations Committee, in brief remarks Monday Still, she urged colleagues to stick to the funding deal and avoid a“detrimental shutdown.” As Congress seeks to defuse acrisis, the next steps are uncertain.

The White House has indicated its own shifting strategy,sending Trump’s borderczarTom Homanto Minneapolis to take over for hard-charging Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, which many Republicans see as apotential turn-

ing point to calm operations.

“This is apositive development —one that Ihope leads to turning down the temperature and restoring order in Minnesota,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune postedabout Homan Behind thescenes, the White House is reachingout to congressional leaders, andevenindividual Democraticsenators, insearch of away out of anothergovernment shutdown. At stakeisasix-bill governmentfunding package, not just for HomelandSecurity but for Defense, Health and other departments, making up more than 70% of federal operations.

Even though Homeland Securityhas billions from Trump’sbig tax break bill, Democrats arecoalescing around changes to ICE operations. “Wecan still have some legitimaterestriction on how thesepeopleare conducting themselves,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. But it appears doubtfulthe Trump administration would readily agree to Democrats’ demands to rein in immigration operations. Proposalsfor unmasking federal agents or limiting their reach into schools, hospitals or churches wouldbe difﬁcult to quickly approvein Congress WhiteHouse presssecretary KarolineLeavitt said that while conversations are underway, Trump wants to seethe bipartisanspending package approved to avoid thepossibility of agovernment shutdown.

“Weabsolutelydonot want to see that fundinglapse,” Leavitt said.

The political climate is a turnaroundfromjustayear ago,whenCongress easily passed the Laken Riley Act, theﬁrst bill Trump signed into law in hissecond term. At the time, dozens of Democrats joined theGOP majority in passing the bill namedaftera Georgia nursing student who was killed by aVenezuelan man who hadenteredthe countryillegally

Many Democrats had worried aboutthe Biden administration’srecord of having allowed untoldimmigrants into thecountry.The party wasincreasingly seen as soft on crimefollowingthe “defund the police” protests and theaftermathofthe deathofGeorgeFloydatthe hands oflaw enforcement.

Butthe Trump administrations tactics changed all that. Just 38%ofU.S.adults

approve of howTrump is handling immigration, down from 49% in March, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in January shortly after thedeath of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE ofﬁcer in Minnesota.

Last week, almost all House Democrats voted against theHomeland Security bill, as the package was sent theSenate.

Then there was the shooting deathofPretti over the weekend in Minneapolis.

Rep.Tom Suozzi of New York, whowas amongthe seven Democrats who had voted toapprove the Homeland Security funds, reversedcourse Monday in a Facebook post

“I hear the anger from my constituents, and Itake responsibilityfor that,” Suozzi wrote.

He said he “failed to view theDHS fundingvoteasa referendum on theillegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday the responsibility for averting another shutdown falls to Republicans, who have majority control, to break apart thesix-bill package, removing the homeland funds while allowing theothers to go forward.

“Wecan pass them right away,” Schumer said.

Butthe WhiteHouse panned that approach and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, whohas blamed Democratsfor last

year’sshutdown, thelongest in history, hasbeenmum TheGOP speaker would need to recall lawmakers to Washington tovote.

Republicans believethey will be able to portrayDemocrats as radical if the governmentshuts down over Homeland Security funds, and certain centrist Democrats have warnedthe party against strong anti-ICE language.

Amemofrom centrist Democraticgroup Third Wayhad earlier warned lawmakers against proposals to “abolish” ICE as “emotionally satisfying, politically lethal.” In anew memo Monday it proposed “Overhauling ICE” with top-to-bottom changes, including removingHomelandSecurity Secretary Kristi Noemfrom her job. ButRepublicans also risk

being sideways with public opinion over Trump’simmigrationand deportation agenda.

Republicansprefer to keep the focus on Trump’s ability to secure the U.S.Mexicoborder, with illegal crossings at all-time lows, instead of the military-style deportation agenda. They areparticularlysensitive to concernsfromgun owners groups thatPretti, who was apparently licensed to carry aﬁrearm, is being criticized forhaving agun withhim before he was killed.

GOPSen. Rand Paul,the chair of the Homeland Security and Government OversightCommittee,demanded thatacting ICE director Todd Lyons appear forahearing —joining asimilar demand from House Republicans over the weekend.

At the sametime, many GOP lawmakers continue to embrace theTrump administration’s deportation strategy “I want to be very clear,” said Sen. RickScott, R-Fla., in apost. “I will notsupport any efforts to stripDHS of its funding.”

And pressure fromtheir ownright ﬂank was bearing down on Republicans.

The Heritage Foundation chastisedthose Republicans who were “jubilant” at the prospect of slowingdown ICEoperations. “Deport every illegal alien,” it said in a post. “Nothing less.”

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

PARKING

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this. You have 48 hours You have no choice or we’re taking your car,’” she said, referring to a program the city ran from June to December of last year that let motorists pay overdue tickets without receiving late fees or vehicle boots. Giarrusso said heightened parking enforcement measures are expected to recoup about $7 million, part of wider efforts to plug a $222 million deﬁcit carried over from the previous administration. Other cost-saving measures include hiring a comptroller to increase oversight of police overtime, furloughs for the city’s highest paid work-

STRIP

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represents Bourbon Street and introduced the new rules, is sponsoring a measure to rescind the temporary restrictions. Under it, planners would still be asked to review whether the clubs should face more scrutiny over the long haul.

King said he initially saw the temporary rules as “lowhanging fruit” to move the French Quarter in a positive direction, but that he has since changed his mind after speaking with people who would be affected by the changes.

“Just talking to the stakeholders, I felt like it wasn’t needed,” King said in an interview

The backpedal comes after the rules took dancers, club staff and their advocates by surprise this month, and some criticized the council for not seeking their input before passing the rules at the end of the previous council’s term.

Three new and four incumbent council members were sworn in Jan. 12.

“If there’s only a few places to work and those places don’t work for us then we’re out of options,” said one

Surge is to punish them for their sanctuary laws and policies.

Lawyers for the state and 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 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.

cide 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.

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

ers, staff reductions and an extended hiring freeze.

“I’m not interested in a person who has one ticket for $50, but people who have thousands of dollars in tickets ….that’s who we need to take a different approach to,” Giarrusso said When asked whether people with unpaid traffic camera fines could be penalized as well under the heightened measures, as in Gautreau’s case, a city spokesperson said unpaid parking tickets were the focus. Gautreau said she later had her school zone camera tickets dismissed, but only after she complained about the fine.

The tightened enforcement comes as preparations are underway to shift parking enforcement duties from the Department of Public Works

longtime dancer on Bourbon Street, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution from future employers She added that competition between clubs encourages owners to create better working conditions for employees. It’s rare, though not unheard of, for council members to buck a district council member’s preference on a land-use issue, which means the council on Tuesday is likely to follow King’s lead on the matter Its actions come as a new club, Peppermint Hippo, is aiming to open at 226 Bourbon St. The business has posted hiring notices and promised to announce an opening date on social media this month A company representative did not respond to messages on Monday.

Representatives for two well-known existing Bourbon Street clubs, Rick’s Cabaret and The Penthouse Club also did not respond to messages on Monday

The changes represented only the latest attempt by the council to restrict some of the nighttime activity Bourbon Street is famous for A decade ago, dancers organized in opposition to attempts to cap clubs, known in city code as “adult live performance venues,” on

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

to the New Orleans Police Department by the end of February, a move the previous council floated so the overburdened department could focus on its core functions.

“This is a transition. There will be bumps,” Giarrusso said.

The shift will also make it easier to resolve parking issues that impact businesses and surrounding neighborhoods, Giarrusso said.

Last year, NOPD announced that it would begin teaming up with Public Works at least once a month to address an inﬂux of complaints from businesses and residents, particularly in the downtown area.

Historically, both parking enforcement and New Orleans police would be called out to address parking com-

the strip. Those measures largely failed, but they coincided with state code enforcement raids that resulted in some clubs shuttering or getting suspended.

The latest measure created a temporary zoning district — which could last up to two years — requiring new clubs to obtain conditional use permits, which require council approval. Before the rules were passed, strip clubs could open on Bourbon Street as long as their building permits and business licenses were in order

While the zoning district was in place, the City Planning Commission was directed to study whether it should stick around permanently King’s Jan. 8 motion noted that the clubs can cause “increased noise levels amplified public intoxication” and other “undesirable secondary effects.”

While the council is expected to remove temporary restrictions on the clubs on Tuesday, it will also ask the City Planning Commission to study whether new clubs should be subject to individually tailored restrictions before opening. Existing clubs, however, would be allowed to relocate without needing any additional approvals.

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

plaints that ranged from illegally parked vehicles with license plates and vehicle identification numbers intentionally removed to cars parked in travel lanes or in freight zones blocking deliveries.

City officials also noted that people can expect parking enforcement to be out in force during Mardi Gras.

District B Council member Lesli Harris said neighbors who live along the main Mardi Gras routes are especially concerned about parade goers parking illegally near their homes. Areas within Harris’ district that could be impacted include Uptown the Garden District, Central City and parts of downtown.

“That’s another area where we should be dis-

It’s not clear when the study will be complete.

Mark Schettler, executive director of Shift Change, a nonproﬁt that advocates for the nightlife industry 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 de-

patching tow trucks, parking enforcement personnel during Mardi Gras to make sure that we are getting the revenue we are entitled to,” she said.

But officials are also exploring a more targeted enforcement approach where people are more likely to be cited for violations in certain areas.

“We don’t want to be too overly aggressive with enforcement,” said District C Council member Freddie King King suggested increased parking enforcement in areas like St. Claude Avenue where it’s illegal to park on the neutral ground, yet people flocking to the bustling nightlife scene there do so regularly

Gautreau, however, said the city assessed incorrect

any future council action on strip clubs “needs to be driven by the workforce and to their beneﬁt.”

“The legislative process here has been suspect, to

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.

penalties in her case. She ended up paying a little over $300 to get her car back, she said, after the court worker dismissed the school zone camera violations. The school zone camera tickets she said she was initially dinged for are at issue in a lawsuit the city has ﬁled against the state over a 2024 law that restricts school zone traffic enforcement absent an agreement to split camera revenue with the local school board.

Though Attorney General Liz Murrill has said the city should not have collected revenue from motorists when it had no deal in place with the Orleans Parish School Board, the city has sued to challenge the law in court. A hearing in the case is set for Feb. 6.

say the least. The people who work in the clubs are too easily and frequently overlooked,” Schettler said. Staff writer Blake Paterson contributed reporting.

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

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By ADAM GRAy

Federal agents try to clear demonstrators near a hotel in Minneapolis on Sunday, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city

Lutnick to speak at Washington Mardi Gras luncheon

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.

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

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.

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

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

PROVIDED PHOTO

King Charles E. Brown and Queen Mary Lyon Johnston wave to their subjects at the 1981 Washington Mardi Gras Ball.

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

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

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.”

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.

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.”

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

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

LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into

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.

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.

Russia: Talks with U.S., Ukraine were constructive

By The Associated Press

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 U.S. 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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also described the Abu Dhabi talks as constructive although he noted that “ad-

Iran-backed militias threaten attacks as U.S. carrier arrives

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Two Iranianbacked militias in the Mideast are signaling their willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to back Iran, as ofﬁcials acknowledged the arrival of a 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’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday hinted they were ready to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea That came just after Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group, long supported by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, issued a direct threat late Sunday toward any attack targeting Iran, warning a “total war” in the region would be a result.

The statements came as the entire region is mired in a tense waiting game to see if Trump will strike. Both the Houthis and Kataib Hezbollah sat out from Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June that saw the United States bomb Iranian nuclear sites. The hesitancy to get involved shows the disarray still affecting Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” after facing attacks from Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The threats came as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other guided missile destroyers in its strike group arrived in the region to “promote regional security and stability,” U.S. Central Command said Monday on social media.

Trump has said the ships are being moved just in case” he decides to take action against Iran. He has already laid out two red lines for attack the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions of those it has arrested in a massive crackdown over the demonstrations A senior Iranian military ofﬁcial who spoke anonymously on Iran’s State TV dismissed the American threat as an exaggeration” and noted that Iran had increased its military presence in response. The ofﬁcial added that the Lincoln’s presence was not a deterrent but an accessible target.

Iran projected its power across the Mideast through 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 conﬂict away from Iranian borders But it has collapsed after Israel targeted Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and others

PROVIDED PHOTO By U.S NAVy

Sailors prepare a Boeing EA-18G Growler on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday in the Indian Ocean. The carrier has been moved to the Middle East.

during the Gaza war Meanwhile, rebels in 2024 overthrew Syria’s Bashar Assad after a yearslong, bloody war in which Iran backed his rule

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, one of Iran’s staunchest allies, refused to say how it planned to react in the case of a possible attack

“During the past two months, several parties have asked me a clear and frank question: If Israel and America go to war against Iran, will Hezbollah intervene or not?” Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said via a video address to thousands of supporters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs for a rally backing Iran.

He said the group is preparing for “possible aggression and is determined to defend” against it. But as to how it would act, he said, “these details will be determined by the battle and we will determine them according to the interests that are present.”

Iraqi and Yemenite militant groups were much more forthright in their threats, which were interpreted as support for Iran. A short video by the Houthis included images of a ship on ﬁre, with the caption: “Soon.” It later aired footage Monday from its January 2024 attack in the Gulf of Aden on the Marshall Islands-ﬂagged tanker Marlin Luanda, one of over 100 ships attacked as part of a campaign the Houthis said pressured Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis halted their ﬁre after a ceasefire in Gaza, though they’ve repeatedly warned they could resume ﬁre if needed.

Meanwhile, Ahmad “Abu Hussein” alHamidawi of Kataib Hezbollah issued his own threat in a statement

dressed complex political issues remain unresolved.”

A new round of trilateral meetings is expected later this week, Zelenskyy said, without giving a date.

Negotiators will return to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for more talks, according to a U.S. ofﬁcial, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to

the media. The weekend talks covered a broad range of military and economic matters and included the possibility of a ceaseﬁre before a comprehensive deal, the ofﬁcial said.

Zelenskyy said Sunday that a document setting out U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine in a postwar scenario is “100% ready,” although it still needs to be formally signed.

Kyiv has insisted on postwar American security commitments as part of any broader peace agreement with Moscow after Russia’s 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, followed by its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy has acknowledged that there are fundamental differences between Ukrainian and Russian positions, though he said last week that peace proposals are “nearly

Death toll from U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats reaches 126

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes 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 includes 116 people who were killed immediately in at least 36 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command said. Ten others are believed dead because searchers did not locate them following a strike. Eight of the presumed dead had jumped off boats

when American forces attacked a trio of vessels accused of trafficking drugs on Dec. 30, the military said. The number was not released previously, though the military said when announcing those strikes that the U.S. Coast Guard had searched for survivors. The two other people presumed dead were on boats that were attacked on Oct. 27 and last Friday

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes aswellastheireffectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafﬁcked to the U.S. overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. The campaign also drew intense criticism following the revelation that the military killed survivors of the very ﬁrst boat attack with a follow-up strike. The Trump administration and many Republican lawmakers said it was legal and necessary, while Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the killings were murder, if not a war crime.

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N.O. hearing used to question raids

Outcry over immigration sweeps increases after deadly shootings

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Democrats on the U.S. House

Homeland Security Committee

used a hearing Monday in New Orleans to excoriate Republican colleagues for failing to rein in federal immigration raids, days after U.S. Border Patrol agents fatally shot a Minnesota nurse sparking blowback across political lines. Congressional Democrats convened the hearing in the New Orleans City Council chambers to hear testimony from residents and officials on the effects of a recent immigration enforcement operation in south Louisiana, which federal ofﬁcials called “Catahoula Crunch.”

Jefferson Parish president nominates 2 for COO

Employees to share second-in-command role after restructure

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng has nominated two employees to share the parish’s chief operating ofﬁcer role after Steve LaChute retired from the post earlier this month.

Lee Sheng will ask the Jefferson Parish Council to approve a new organizational chart with two second-incommand ofﬁcers instead of one at the next meeting on Feb. 4: Deputy COO Cherreen Gegenheimer and Public Works Director Mark Drewes.

Lee Sheng said having two chief operating ofﬁcers, who will oversee more than 2,400 employees, will allow each of them to manage 23 departments at a time, rather than having one person watch over 46 departments.

“By splitting it in half, I think they’ll have more time to put out half the ﬁres and be more in-depth on all the issues coming from those departments,” Lee Sheng said in an interview last week.

The new organizational chart will likely include other, more minor changes by the time it reaches the council, Lee Sheng said. If approved, the parish will hire a replacement public works director, but not a deputy COO.

Gegenheimer took over as deputy chief operating ofﬁcer in 2023 after serving as chief administrative assistant for external residents’ services. She has worked for the parish since 2004, with previous roles as chief administrative assistant and ﬁlm industry liaison under former parish presidents Aaron Broussard and Steve Theriot. Gegenheimer is also married to Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court Jon Gegenheimer.

Drewes has been in Jefferson Parish’s Public Works Department since 2001, having previously been engineering director and chief engineer for roads and bridges before taking over as public works director in 2020. He’s overseen the parish’s water and drainage systems through disasters like hurricanes Ida and Francine and the saltwater intrusion crisis, as well as a $2.3 billion initiative to replace the parish’s water meters and upgrade its aging sewer and water systems.

LaChute announced his retirement from the role earlier this month after 10 years in the parish government, helping Lee Sheng navigate troubled waters including the parish’s lost bond rating and clashes with the east bank ﬁreﬁghters’ union over their pay

The chief operating ofﬁcer earns an annual salary between $128,735 and $199,711, according to the parish’s executive pay plan. In addition to LaChute’s departure,

That U.S. Border Patrol-led operation, launched in early De-

cember, lasted several weeks and yielded fewer arrests and quieter protests than in other cities targeted by President Donald Trump’s immigration 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, slowed

business 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 return in 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 individuals, and then ﬁgure out who they were

Braving the storm

Tuesday expected to be colder

BY MARCO CARTOLANO and MIKE SMITH Staff writers

A monstrous winter storm that buried much of the country in snow and ice, including central and northern Louisiana, spared the New Orleans area of its worst effects Monday but temperatures still plummeted into the 20s with more frigid conditions on the way The cold plunge, which saw temperatures drop nearly 45 degrees in a matter of hours in New Orleans, left residents bundling up and staying indoors. But a lack of ice on roads and bright sunshine throughout the day that lifted temperatures into the 40s had many relieved.

Schools and government ofﬁces across the metro area had closed Monday out of precaution. Many had announced by Monday afternoon that they would reopen on Tuesday, including schools in St Tammany St. Charles and St. Bernard parishes and those run by the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The University of New Orleans also planned to reopen, as did NOLA Public Schools. Jefferson Parish schools will reopen with a small number of exceptions, including Bonnabel High School, holding classes virtually due to an extended power loss.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport did not appear to be badly affected so far despite the blizzard-like conditions affecting ﬂights in other parts of the country By midday Monday, the airport reported 14 canceled arrivals and 12 canceled departures, as well as several more ﬂight delays.

Airport spokesperson Erin Burns said MSY “continues to monitor the severe weather and its potential impacts to the Greater New Orleans Region.” Northern and central Louisiana have not been as fortunate. Two people in Caddo Parish died from hypothermia and a third man, an 86-year-old in DeSoto Parish, succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The state was investigating two other potential hypothermia deaths, state Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein said at an afternoon news conference in Baton Rouge alongside Gov Jeff Landry and other state ofﬁcials.

State ofﬁcials stressed the importance of checking on neighbors and following safety practices when operating generators. The man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning was operating his gen-

Former student sues Tulane in hazing

Fraternity, more than a dozen members also named in suit

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

A former Tulane University student has sued his former fraternity, more than a dozen frat members and the university alleging that he was injured during a violent hazing incident last year and the school failed to prevent it. James Haussman, the former Phi Kappa Sigma pledge, claims in the lawsuit ﬁled in December

in Orleans Parish Civil District Court that he was hit multiple times in the head during the initiation event in January 2025. He said he wasn’t given medical attention despite signs of a concussion. He ended up withdrawing from Tulane and said he has longterm symptoms from the concussion, including chronic pain and memory loss. Tulane suspended the fraternity in April while it investigated a reported hazing incident The date of the incident, which the university is still investigating, matches the timing of the alleged hazing described in the lawsuit. Three members of the frat

were later booked with “failure to seek assistance,” including the fraternity’s president, who was additionally booked with “criminal hazing,” which is a felony The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Ofﬁce declined to pursue the charges, citing an incomplete police investigation, but a spokesperson said the ofﬁce could still seek to prosecute the students if more evidence emerges. Mike Strecker, a spokesperson for Tulane, declined to comment on the litigation but said the university has mandatory anti-hazing training for all students and enhanced training for members of fraternities and other student

case

organizations. “We work daily to foster a safe and respectful environment for all students,” Strecker said in an emailed statement, “and hold accountable any individual or organization that engages in hazing activity.”

Ryan Eisnaugle, executive director of Phi Kappa Sigma’s international organization, said the fraternity “does not tolerate hazing or hazing like behaviors and will continue to strive to eradicate it from the entire Greek System.”

The three fraternity members

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Cafe Du Monde employees Jenny Tran, left, and Tanya Minor huddle in the cold weather Monday while waiting for customers at

the Decatur Street location in New Orleans.

Longtime columnist Dana Territo dies

She was a champion for those with Alzheimer’s

Staff report

Dana Territo, a champion of people with Alzheimer’s and a longtime Advocate columnist, died Sunday night at 67 after lengthy treatment for cancer

Each week for the last 13 years, Territo, dubbed “The Memory Whisperer,” has shared her knowledge of all aspects of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in her “Alzheimer’s Q&A” column in the newspaper’s Living section.

Throughout her battle with cancer, Territo, of Baton Rouge, continued filing a month’s worth of columns

at a time apologizing in her emails if she was slightly late due to her treatments and hospitalizations.

Territo

“That was typical Dana, always thinking about others first,” said Judy Bergeron, Advocate assistant features editor, who frequently edited Territo’s columns.

“She always included a note with her columns asking how I was doing, even after her diagnosis. Just a beautiful, selﬂess person.”

Bergeron said the columns offered advice and guidance for caregivers, reports on the latest in Alzheimer’s research, and explanations of related terms, disease stages and possible avenues for assistance.

Territo’s passion for what would

become her life’s work emerged while volunteering at Ollie Steele Burden Manor in the late 1980s. She was matched with a woman with Alzheimer’s, visiting her weekly until her death 22 years later at 102.

Territo also helped organize the first Alzheimer’s walk fundraiser in Baton Rouge, called the Memory Walk, in 1995. She studied English education at LSU, received her spiritual director credentials from the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center in New Orleans, and her religious studies master catechist degree from St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict.

She was director of services for Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area from 2008-2018; director of ministries at St. Jude Catholic Church from 2001-2008; director of religious education, development

director and technology coordinator at St. Jude Catholic School, from 1997-2001; director of development and stewardship at Holy Family Catholic School in Port Allen from 1996-1997; and activity director/Alzheimer’s unit at Ollie Steele Burden from 1990-1996. In 2022, Territo published the book “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease,” recognized with the Readers’ Favorite Five Stars in 2023. Other honors include a 2023 Today’s Caregiver Friendly Award, a 2022 Maude’s Award for Innovation in Alzheimer’s Care, a Daily Point of Light Award and a Tandy Spirit Award in 2021. She is survived by her husband, David Territo, two sons and four grandchildren. Funeral arrangements will be announced later

Woman pleads guilty to recording child sex abuse

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

A Metairie woman accused of sexually abusing a 4-year-old over a live feed for a group chat was sentenced to 50 years in prison after she pleaded guilty in the case, according to court records. Chelsea Forbes, 31, had been charged with ﬁrst-degree rape of a victim under 13 But Forbes agreed to plead guilty Friday to a lesser charge of second-degree rape, court records said. She also pleaded guilty to sexual battery of a victim under 13, production of pornography involving

HEARING

Continued from page 1B

later,” New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said.

“This has caused widespread fear throughout our city and region,” she said.

Monday’s hearing came as Trump’s administration faces mounting protests over Pretti’s death, which followed another fatal shooting weeks earlier of a Minneapolis resident by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent The latest fatality has drawn ﬂashes of dissent from some Republican ofﬁcials including in Louisiana — who had previously remained in lockstep with the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who led the agency’s operations in Minneapolis and Louisiana, has defended the shooting of Pretti, saying he was trying to “massacre” federal agents. Federal ofﬁcials said Pretti was carrying a handgun when he was killed, but video analyzed by news organizations showed agents removing the gun from his waistband and beating him with a tear-gas canister before shooting him dead.

While DHS officials have said Pretti “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him, Pretti’s family has said he was trying to protect a woman near federal agents and described DHS’ account of his death as “sickening lies.” Monday’s field hearing was called by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, a member of the Homeland Security Committee who decried “shock and awe” and “political theater” he said the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda has employed.

Carter called the hearing before Pretti was killed. Republicans were not involved in planning the so-called “shadow hearing” — a practice used by minority parties in Congress to draw attention to party priorities in part because

TULANE

Continued from page 1B

who faced charges and the Tulane chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit names more than a dozen fraternity members.

The complaint

In late January 2025 the Phi Kappa Sigma pledges were summoned to the fraternity house for an initiation night, according to the complaint. During the event fraternity members pelted the pledges with eggs and beer cans and spit on them, Haussman alleges in the lawsuit. Haussman, who was a freshman, was hit between the eyes with a 24-ounce beer can,

a juvenile under 13, distribution of pornography involving a juvenile under 13 and possession of pornography involving a juvenile under 13. Forbes was arrested in February 2023 following an investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Federal authorities in Florida reached out to the Sheriff’s Office after they discovered a live video feed of a person fondling a child and using a sex toy on the victim, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The video was shared with members of a group chat on the Kik messenger app. The person who shared the video also communicated with a member of the group, offering to

sell a sexually explicit photo of the victim for $1,500, authorities said.

The federal agents traced the IP address to Forbes’ Metairie apartment, according to authorities The Sheriff’s Office served a warrant at her residence and seized several devices, including a cellphone that contained the illegal images that had been shared online, authorities said.

They found the toy that was used in the video. While interviewing Forbes, investigators also noticed that she was wearing the same heartshaped ring that could be seen on the hand of the person who was abusing the victim during the livestream, authorities said.

they cannot call ofﬁcial hearings or issue subpoenas.

The Homeland Security Committee’s Republican chair, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, of New York, on Saturday called for official oversight hearings in the wake of Pretti’s killing. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety 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 ranking Democratic member, criticized Republicans for failing to move swiftly enough to schedule hearings.

“Republicans in Congress are not doing their jobs,” said U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., who joined Monday’s hearing. “When we take the majority back next year, we’re going to do the job of reining in ICE, reining in this lawless administration and restoring the rights of the people.”

Department of Homeland Security ofﬁcials have touted immigration sweeps in New Orleans and elsewhere as targeting the “worst of the worst,” highlighting people with serious criminal allegations in their records By federal ofﬁcials’ tallies, though, fewer than 10% of detainees around New Orleans have alleged criminal back-

causing him to start bleeding and become disoriented, according to the lawsuit.

Fraternity brothers placed Haussman, who was “visibly dazed and unsteady,” on a barstool and he fell off, hitting his head a second time, according to the lawsuit, and he lost consciousness.

At no point were professional emergency services contacted, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, the fraternity president called Haussman and told him to tell anyone who asked that he had been hit by a beer can while watching an Eagles game at the Fly the Audubon Park greenspace along the Mississippi River, Haussman alleges in the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the campus doctor diagnosed Haussman, according to the lawsuit. A neurologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

grounds.

Carter on Monday invoked several high-profile Louisiana immigration cases from the past year: a Honduran child deported while undergoing cancer care, a Baton Rouge-area woman ejected from the country with her 2-year-old U.S. citizen child, and a Honduran-born oysterman who drowned fleeing federal agents near Hopedale.

Along with Moreno, City Council President JP Morrell and immigration advocates and attorneys testiﬁed Monday about the impacts of the operations around New Orleans.

Moreno recounted making demands of federal ofﬁcials for “basic” communication and transparency with local leaders.

“I never directly received a response to my letter,” Moreno said, “but as Bovino walked through the nearby city of Kenner with masked agents, he was asked by a reporter about my demands, and his response was, ‘This is as transparent as it gets.’”

Homero López, a former immigration judge and immigration attorney who testiﬁed before the partial committee, described a client who had immigration protections granted by the federal government to young people

later diagnosed Haussman with a chronic concussion.

“What happened to me didn’t end at the fraternity house,” Haussman said in a statement provided to the Times-Picayune. “My academics, my job, my independence, and my sense of security were all taken from me. ”

‘Culture of silence’

Louisiana has been rocked by several high-proﬁle hazing deaths, leading to periodic efforts to address the issue.

In 2017, LSU student Max Gruver died of alcohol poisoning and aspiration after a hazing ritual at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house on LSU’s Baton Rouge campus After his death, the Legislature reclassiﬁed criminal hazing as a felony with increased penalties, including up to ﬁve years in

erator in a garage when it should be at least 20 feet away from the house, Greenstein said.

“Please, please, please check on your neighbors, your friends and your families,” Landry said at the news conference. “Again, this is going to be bitter cold. If you do not have power or a heating source, you need to take precautions. It’s going to be extremely cold tonight.”

Louisiana saw a peak of 175,000 power outages statewide, officials said. In New Orleans, nearly 1,500 Entergy customers in the St. Roch area were without power for about two hours Monday morning before service was restored. The cause was unclear Linemen in south Louisiana were being sent north to help with the outages there, Landry said. Around 1,500 personnel from the state Department of Transportation and Development were also deployed, along with some 3.3 million pounds of salt and 75,000 gallons of brine.

Forbes was known to the family of the victim in the case, according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. Forbes admitted to the abuse. She told investigators she needed money to pay rent and care for her family, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said.

Judge Donald “Chick” Foret, of the 24th Judicial District Court, sentenced Forbes to 50 years in prison for the rape and pornography production charges, court records show He sentenced her to 40 years for the remaining charges. All sentences are to be served at the same time. Once released, Forbes must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life, court records said.

who’ve suffered abuses, but was still detained by immigration agents in December

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

Louisiana’s Republican congressional leaders, too, have grappled in recent days with how to respond to Pretti’s shooting and mounting voter discontent with the administration’s immigration tactics, according to national polling.

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

“We all just feel sorry about what happened in Minneapolis, and this has happened over and over again,” Scalise said. “I’m not just talking about regarding ICE; I mean, they have got some failed local leadership They let their city burn down years ago. They have chaos, it seems like, all the time in places where other cities don’t.”

Pressed in an interview with late night host Bill Maher, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, defended the administration’s push to enforce immigration laws but called for agents to afford people due process.

“I support enforcing our immigration laws,” Kennedy said in the Saturday interview “Now how you enforce them matters. You have to do it in accordance with due process, equal protection and reasonable suspicion.”

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

“The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” Cassidy who faces a primary challenge from a Trumpbacked opponent, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, 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.

prison for serious injury or death. Just weeks after the alleged hazing at Phi Kappa Sigma last year, Southern University student Caleb Wilson died in a hazing-related incident, sparking a renewed push for hazing prevention and a new state law that bolstered antihazing training for students. At Tulane, a different fraternity was found responsible for hazing last year and suspended for the fall semester After Wilson’s death last year, legislators passed a law requiring all college students to take an annual anti-hazing course Haussman is asking for damages including medical expenses and tuition, and said in the statement that he decided to ﬁle the lawsuit to combat the “culture of silence” that allows hazing to occur

Temps to drop again

On Monday morning, temps in the New Orleans metro area were in the high 20s to low 30s, but the frigid weather did not fall to 28 degrees long enough for a freeze to occur Roads had also managed to dry up from the weekend rains ahead of Sunday’s arctic drop, preventing the icy roads that drivers feared, WVUE-TV meteorologist Zack Fradella said.

Northshore communities, however, did see a hard freeze after temps dropped to the mid- to upper 20s, forecasters said. The weather outside felt even colder with wind chills in the mid- to lower teens, and some areas saw wind chills in the single digits. The bone-chilling temperatures are here to stay for now Tuesday morning lows will likely be even colder than Monday, and the National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold warning for the metro area until noon Tuesday

New Orleans could drop to a low of 28 degrees, while the northshore could see lows in the upper teens to low 20s. Wind chill could make New Orleans feel like the lower 20s and the northshore in the mid-teens.

New Orleans City Hall advised those in need of shelter overnight to call the city’s nonemergency line at 311. It said residents would be accepted free of charge at four locations: n New Orleans Mission, 1130 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. n The Salvation Army, 4526 S. Claiborne Ave. n Low Barrier Shelter, 1530 Gravier St n Rosenwald Recreation Center, 1120 S. Broad Ave. Frigid for Krewe du Vieux

Temperatures will gradually rise above freezing Tuesday and remain that way — until the weekend, when a second blast of bitter cold is on the way On Saturday, lows for New Orleans are expected to reach the low 20s before a gradual warm up early next week.

“Hate to break the news, but this upcoming weekend looks maybe even colder More Arctic air expected. Highs might struggle to get out of the 30s Saturday and Sunday along the Gulf Coast,” WWL-TV meteorologist Payton Malone said Monday That could be bad news for the popular Krewe du Vieux parade, which rolls Saturday night in New Orleans.

Meteorologists advised residents to protect exposed pipes, take plants inside and watch out for vulnerable people and pets. Staff writers Lara Nicholson, Marie Fazio and Stephanie Riegel contributed to this story

JEFFERSON

Continued from page 1B

Sewerage Director Franklin Hubert III and Safety and Security Director Steven Quaintance also recently announced their departures from the parish, creating two new vacancies in addition to the accounting and finance director positions.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno testifies during a Operation Catahoula Crunch hearing at City Hall on Monday.

Deaths

Borras, Rena

CorriereJr.,Frank

Cuccia, Juliette

DeVaughn, McLendon

Dumas,Albert

Fromenthal,Gerald

Jordan,Willie Lee, Carla EJefferson

Leitz-Eagan

DeVaughn, McLendon

NewOrleans

DW Rhodes

St Tammany

Grace Funeral

coming,vacations, and holiday dinners. Frank attended the Universityof Southwestern Louisiana, becameaMaster Trainer with Dale Carnegie, anda Master Trainer with Ramsey Solutions.Hehad asuccessful career in the fluid powerindustryrepresenting some of the premier companies, i.e., Berendsen, Volvo, Rex Roth, HAWE, PowerFlow Fluid Systems, and Pneumatic and Hydraulic.

Frank applieda systems approach to mentoring others and process improvement. Frank was honoredwith the St.Louis Medallion Award for service to the Archdiocese of New OrleansCatholic Charitiespromotingfinancial literacy. He was proud to earn 4thDegree Knights of Columbus designation which emphasizes charity, unity, fraternity,and patriotism withinCatholiccitizenship. His friends will miss his caring and support.

managing apartmentsand laterinthe finance business, following hermother and father's footsteps. She lovedmusic and especially enjoyed thelocal music scene in her younger years.

Juliettewas amother, grandmother, wife, daughter, sister,granddaughter, aunt,cousin, and afriend to many. She was known for her caring and giving nature —often puttingthe needs of others before her own. Service and memorial arrangementsare pending. Notificationshouldbeprovidedtofamily and friends following decisions made.

DeVaughn, McLendon S. 'Mac'

Dumas, Albert Junius

Willie A. Jordan,Sr. enteredinto eternalrest in Humble, Texas on January 16, 2026 at age 80 surroundedbyhis loving family. Willie wasborninNew Orleans, LA, September 28, 1945 to thelateFelton R. andRoseH.Jordan, Sr

CorriereJr.,Frank West Bank

Mothe

Borras, Rena

Obituaries

Borras,Rena AdamsSanders

Rena AdamsSanders Borras passedaway peacefully January13, 2026 at herhomeinChester,TX at theage of 93. Born on September23, 1932, Rena wasthe loving wife of Melvin “White”Borras; and mother to JessieSanders (Farah)and BobbyJoe Sanders(Jeannie).She was born in Westwego, LA movedtoTexas forabout 30 years, then returned to Westwego. Sheenjoyed spending time at sheand White'sCampCataouatche after he retiredfromAvon‐dale shipyard.Renawas a chartermemberofFirst Assembly of God’sChurch nowknown as God’s House. Sheleavesbehind 11 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, andmany nieces andnephews.Rena wasprecededindeath by herparents RevDavis Adamsand LuciaPlaisance Adams; sonBrent John Borras Sanders; brothers Irvin, David, Andrew,Den‐nis, Alvin, andCharles;and sistersEsmaAdams MableComeaux,Edith FrickeyBabineaux,Hazel Cooper,EstherAdams,and Rachel Guidroz. Relatives andfriends areinvited to attend herGraveside Ser‐vice on Thursday,January 29, 2026 at 1pmatSidney PlaisanceFamilyCemetery, 1112 Avenue E, Westwego, LA 70094.

Frank Corriere, Jr., age 73, of Madisonville, LA, went to his heavenly home on January 20, 2026, after an illness from heart disease. He was born on December 19, 1952, in New Orleans, LA, as the longawaited son of Irma Wild Corriere and Frank Corriere, Sr.

Frank lived life with integrity, devotion and an unwavering willingness to help others. Frank is survived by his beloved wife Kay S. Corriere; with whom he shared treasured memories and marriage. Frank accepted Jesus' call to heaven on his 47th wedding anniversary!

Frank graduated St. Catherine School Class of '67 in Metairie, attended St. Aloysius College, and graduated Brother Martin High School Class of '71. He always enjoyed getting together with his classmates for reunionpicnics, home-

Frank is precededin death by his parents, cousins, BeverlyEaves Teel (Paul), DeborahEaves Trimm (Jim), Janet Pizzo Summers (Jon), Paul NormanPizzoII, BettieSue Pearson, Janice Lambert Pace (Ken), aunts anduncles HelenCarrierePizzo (Paul), Marie Corriere Revertiga, Inez Wild Eaves (Jody), and CharlesG.Wild (Faye)

He is survivedbyhis brother-in-law CecilO Smith,first cousins Dawn WildMoran (Lonnie),Fran Wild Pechon(Joey), Caroline Revertiga Besancon (EJ), Debbie Carriere Petrucek (Marty), Linda PizzoJenkins, Jacqueline Pearson, and JocelynCarriere Babin (Bill).Their children include Glen Teel, Scott J. Besancon, Hilda Moran Yarborough (Mike), Meredith JenkinsLeiva (Mike), Kelly Jenkins Buchfink(Richard), Alicia Jenkins Witt (John), Brett Petrusek (Cary),Todd Petrusek (Sativa), Corey Petrusek Walker(Jim), JaredSummers (Emilee), WesleySummers (Carly) Branson Summers(Leslie), DavidPechon,Nick Pechon, RyanPechon, Karen TrimmPatterson (Drew)and God-daughter Amy Trimm Whittaker

Relatives and friends areinvited to attend the visitation at St. Anselm CatholicChurch, 306 St MaryStreet, Madisonville, LA 70447, LA on Tuesday, February3,2026, at 10:00 AM. The Rosary will begin at 10:40AM, followed by Words of Remembrance and the Funeral Mass at 11:00AM.

Interment in the family vault willimmediatelyfollow Mass in Hope Mausoleum of St John's Cemetery, 4841Canal Street, NewOrleans, LA.

Friends and family are invited to asend-offcelebration for Frank. It will be held in the home of JoJo and DonDeBarbieris after interment.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in memoryofFrank maybe made to, 4th Degree Knights of Columbus, Rev. HarryW Thompson, S.J. Assembly 2922, St Anselm Knights of Columbus Council 15133, National Airedale Rescueat https://airedalerescue.net, orOur City OurCathedral fund at https://www.ourcit yourcathedral.org

Memoriesorcondolencesmay be expressed at www.gracefuneralhome. com

On January4,2026, Juliette Main Cuccia passedawayinGulfport, Mississippi, at the ageof 60, under hospice care. Born in NewOrleans Juliette grew up in Metairie, whereshe spent most of her life before moving to the BaySt. Louis / Gulfport areawith her husband AnthonyCuccia, wherethey remainedtogether until herpassing. Agraduate of East JeffersonHighSchool, Juliette worked for Tonti

McLendon Sherwood DeVaughn, whom we affectionatelycalled Mac, passed away peacefully at hishome,surrounded by his family,onJanuary 21, 2026. He is survived by his loving wife, KathleenEarly DeVaughn, daughter, Anne Elizabeth"Bess" DeVaughn, and son, James Early DeVaughn, stepdaughter, Germaine Verhoeven, and her children,Jordan, Nate,and LiliaVerhoeven. Preceded in deathbyhis parents, Myrtice LottDeVaughn and James Redding DeVaughn of Wilkes County,Georgia. Also preceded in deathby his loyal canine companions, Chaseand Penny. Brother-in-law of J. Michael Early(Mavis), the late Robert P. Early(the late Dottie), Leah Early Held(the lateRonald), MaureenEarly Dehon (Patrick), Thomas B. Early (Chrisie),Brian Early (Charlene), ColleenEarly Hoover(Byron), TessEarly Larrabee(the lateJames), and Patricia EarlyLaird (the lateJim). Uncle to a host of nieces and nephews who fondly remember Mac playing football and baseball with them at family gatherings in Folsom, and lighting fireworks on NewYear's Eve. Mac was born on March 22, 1943, in Tampa, Florida, and grew up among the "pineywoods of Georgia", as he often recalled. He spent his early yearsin Wilkes County,Georgia, graduating from Washington-Wilkes High School, and then attended Castle HeightsMilitary Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, where he lettered in track,baseball, andfootball. Mac attended theUniversity of Georgia, where he was amember of KappaSigma Fraternity. Aftergraduating from Georgia StateUniversity, he beganhis corporate career in Atlanta, GA, working in theinsurance industry. Mac became intrigued by thenewlyformed Peachtree 10K Road Race in Atlanta, introducing him to distance running. After moving to NewOrleans in 1977 to open arunning appareland shoe store, Phidippides, Mac beganto create aworld-class 10K race. In 1979, withHibernia Bank providing funding thefirst Crescent City Classic10K Road Race was run from JacksonSquare to Audubon Park in New Orleans. WithThe TimesPicayune joining as acosponsor, therace grew from900 runners and walkers to, at one point,become theworld's largest 10K road race, withmore than 30,000 participants. After18years of ownership and management, Mac decidedtosellthe race. He chose nottoretire and puthis business knowledgetoworkinthe non-profitsector.Mac served as executivedirector of theLouisianachapterofJuvenileDiabetes Research Foundation,the Mississippi-Louisiana chapter of theLeukemia and Lymphoma Society and theJekyll Island FoundationinGeorgia,and retired as developmentdirector of SaveOur Cemeteries, Inc.,inNew Orleans. Mac was aproud member of the Knights of Columbus, 4thdegree, Brunswick,Georgia.Mac was an avid college football fan, and everyone who knew himremembers his love of theGeorgia Bulldogs.Wewillmiss hearing him cheeronhis favoriteteam: "Go Dawgs!" Aprivatememorial mass will be held in New Orleans. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to theNational Multiple Sclerosis Society or the i l i

Albert Junius Dumas Sr, 67, entered eternal rest on January 9, 2026 at Baton Rouge GeneralHospital. Albert was preceded in death by his mother Betty JilesDumas, wife Kim FarriaDumas, sibling Royal Dumas and guardians Samueland Marlene Surtain Jr. Al was survived by his life companion Arnetta "Sue" Shallow of Monroe,LA, twochildren; Albert Dumas Jr and Angelita"Kenitra" Dumas Paul (Corey), siblings; EvelynM.Dumas-Harmon SamuelSurtain III, Deneen Surtain and RhondaS Robinson. Al was also survivedbyeight grandchildren and ahost of other relatives and friends

Family andfriends are invitedtoattendthe MemorialService officiated by Bishop LouisHunter, Sr on January 30, 2026 Eagle'sWingsMinistries 1330 Delery St.New Orleans, LA 70117. Memorial Serviceswillbeginat10:00a.m.

Gerald "Jerry" Fromenthal passedaway peacefully on Saturday, January 24, 2026. Geraldwas thebeloved husband of the lateMuriel TatfordFromenthal and thedevoted sonofthe late ElviraWagar. He was the eldest of seven children He was precededindeath by hissisterPatricia FromenthalBufkin (Gerald) and hisbrother Denny Fromenthal (Carol) He is survivedbyhis loving siblings Sandra Wagar Piglia (the late JosephJr.), Phillip Wagar (Georgie), Debra Wagar Leatherman (EB), and FloydWagar (Maribel), as wellasnumerous cherishedbrothers-inlaw, sisters-inlaw, nieces and nephews.

Geraldwas agraduate of Warren Easton High School and proudly served as amember of the National Guard. Throughout his career, he workedfor Western Union, IBM, and Al Copeland Investments. The family wouldliketo extend their heartfeltgratitude to thestaff of Colonial Oaks Living Center for theircompassionatecare and kindness over thepast twoyears.

Relatives and friends are invitedtoattendvisitation and serviceson Thursday,January 29, 2026 from11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Greenwood Funeral Home,5200 Canal Boulevard, NewOrleans, LA 70124. Interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery

Medal, NationalDefense Service Medaland Marksman (Rifle) Medal. He wasa Production ControlExpeditor andsupervisor in themanufacturingareaatBoeingand later workedfor Martin Marietta in theTooling Department wherehewas promoted to manager. After retiring, he wasselfemployed as aprofessional computertechnician, home renovation, andcontractor Familyand friends are invited to attenda Celebration of Life Service andrepass on Friday, January30, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Bishop KevinJ.Boyd Sr officiating at The ApostolicChurch at New Orleans, 11700 Chef MenteurHighway, New Orleans, LA 70129. Followingthe service,an interment will be held at MountOlivet Cemetery 2050 Caton Street,New Orleans, LA 70122.

Lee, Carla Lee, CarlaAlexander With sadnessweshare thepassing of Carla AlexanderLee, on January 19, 2026. Please visitwww rhodesfuneral.comtoview serviceinformation,sign online guestbook,send ﬂowersand sharecondo‐lences

Willie leaves to cherish hismemory,his devoted wife of 58 years, Geraldine B. Jordan,daughterAkiia Jordan,and grandchildren Jerron Evans, Janae Evans andKeyannaMcKenzie Willie hada long strong spiritual andfather-son relationship with Bishop KevinBoyd, Sr.and his wife, Lady Karla Amadee Boyd. He is also survived by hissisters, Elaine Jordan andPaulette J. Pierre (Superintendent John E. Pierre), brother-inlaw Larry DeCuir,Sr. (Betty DeCuir), sister-in-laws Barbara Davis and Gloria DeCuir,and ahostof nieces, nephews, cousins, and4 loving god-children, Christal DeCuir Charbonett, Damian DeCuir,DuaneAugustine andRobertJordan.Heis preceded in death by his parents Felton R. Jordan Sr.and Rose H. Jordan, sons Willie A. Jordan, Jr andKevin E. Jordan, brothersFelton R. Jordan,Jr., PaulJordan andJonny Jordan,and sisters Barbara J. Augustine and JanellJordan

Willie will be rememberedasa loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, godfather,uncle brother-in-law, cousin, and friend. Willie's spirit will continue to live on in the stories we tell,the traditionswehonor,and the love that bindsour family together.

Willie graduatedfrom Washington Carver High School andDelgado CommunityCollegewith a majorinBusiness. He served his country in the United States Army during theVietnam War and earneda Good Conduct

Crescent City Classic Run For It Program.

Jordan,Willie Antoine

Fromenthal, Gerald

Corriere Jr.,Frank

Cuccia, Juliette Main

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?

OPINION

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

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

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

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 director, LSU LCMCHealth Cancer Center

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

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

TheExtreme Cold Warningremains in effect until noon todaybecausewindchills couldfall as low as 16 in someparts of

Louisiana. Otherwise, expect aclear, sunnyand coldday with alight breeze. Temperatures will rise to the mid-40s.Rain chances will remainatzero. Windswill be out of the north at 5to10mph so the windchill is not as great afactor as it was Monday. Wednesdaymorning,temperatures will be in the 20s on the North Shore and the low to mid-30s on the South Shore with afternoon temperatures in low50s

DARNOLD’S DARNOL DRIVE

quarterbackSam Darnold celebrates nexttoMichael

game on SundayinSeattle.

QB persevered through5teams,struggles to reachSuper Bowl

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

of the ﬁrst round at No. 32.

has won two MVP awards and is 0-1 in the AFC championship game.

ä See DARNOLD, page 4C

San AntonioonSunday.

Pelicansshowing

grit on

toughroadswing

BYROD WALKER Staff writer

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

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

It was sloppy at ﬁrst. Turnovers were an issue.

Butonce theLSU women’sbasketball team figuredout how to play sharper offense, it cruised to an 89-60 win over Florida on Monday in thePete Maravich Assembly Center JadaRichard andMikaylah Williamshelped the No. 6Tigers (19-2, 5-2SEC)clean up those mistakes. Richard scored agame-high 20 points,while Williamschipped in 12 points, fiverebounds and three assists. The two guards did most of their damage in the third quarter Williamshit twojumpers in that quarter,including one that Richard setupwith asteal at the other end. Richarddrained abaseline jumper anda pairof3-pointers, the second of whichgave the Tigersa16-point lead that they would ride to their fifth straight victory “Whenwestopped giving up layups,”coach KimMulkeysaid, “thentheystarteddoing what?

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 wontheir 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 nowwith his ﬁfth team, 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 every single daywiththese guys. These guys in thelocker room, that’swhat it’s about to me, man.The way we’ve come to work ever 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’spassfrom the1-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 whatwedoand now we’re going to the Super Bowl.” Maye scored on a6-yard touchdown

pick

Jackson

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LINDSEyWASSON

Seattle Seahawks

Strahan, left, after awin overthe Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship

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 Spursduringagame in

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Mikaylah Williams makes the pass around Florida guard

Laila Reynolds in the first quarter on Mondayatthe Pete Maravich AssemblyCenter

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

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. 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.

Scheffler shines in desert with American Express win

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Scottie Schefﬂer made birdie on half of his holes at The American Express, shooting a 6-under 66 for a four-shot victory on Sunday The world’s No 1 player had four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine to blow past 18-yearold Blades Brown and the rest of the ﬁeld.

Schefﬂer won for the 20th time on the PGA Tour all in the past four years — to earn a lifetime membership. More indicative of his dominance in the game is winning nine of those 20 tournaments by four shots or more. He also joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to have 20 PGA Tour titles and four majors before turning 30.

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

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.

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 million

LSU gym regains No. 2 ranking

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

After posting one of the top two scores in the nation in the 2026 season, the LSU gymnastics team returned Monday to the top two in the national rankings.

LSU’s 198.050-195.775 romp over Kentucky on Friday lifted the Tigers’ season average to 197.467, behind only Oklahoma. The Sooners had a 198.425 in a win Friday over Georgia and are at 197.783 for the season.

Former No 1 Florida is tied for third with Alabama (197.417) Missouri, which LSU faces on the road Friday (6:45 p.m., SEC Network), is No. 7 at 197.069. Individually, Kailin Chio is No. 1 nationally on balance beam (9.967 average) after the season’s ﬁrst perfect 10 on beam against Kentucky, just one of four 10.0 scores so far nationally Chio is also the nation’s No. 4-ranked all-arounder (39.467) after posting a 39.775 against Kentucky, the second-best all-around score nationally, and tied for third on vault (9.925) Konnor McClain is tied for fourth on uneven bars (9.925) while Courtney Blackson, who has won two bars titles in three meets, is seventh (9.917). Kaliya Lincoln is ninth on ﬂoor (9.908) and Amari Drayton is tied for 10th on beam (9.925).

Changing the lineup

LSU coach Jay Clark was asked

LSU WOMEN

Continued from page 1C

Mulkey’s tenure began in 2021. Like the Aggies, the Gators began their game against LSU with only one win over a league foe. But they didn’t play like it on Monday, at least in the ﬁrst half. There were times early in the game when Florida beat the Tigers down the ﬂoor in transition to score easy buckets. Or when its half-court offense set up a pair of timely 3-pointers that prevented LSU from widening its lead.

There were also self-inflicted mistakes The Tigers turned the ball over nine times in the second quarter alone. But they still got enough stops to take a 36-29 lead into halftime.

That’s when Richard started to assert herself. On defense in the third quarter, she stripped a ballhandler and forced an illegal screen. On offense, she took care of the ball and drained three of the four shots she took, helping LSU widen its lead to 19 points before the fourth quarter began. The Tigers committed only two turnovers in that pivotal quarter

“I feel like a lot of our turnovers were unforced,” Richard said. “Kind of just being sloppy with the ball and things like that. So I feel like once we cleaned that up, cleaned up some transition defensive points, then we found our way back into our mode defensively.”

In the second half, LSU converted 16 of 31 ﬁeld goal tries (52%). It also shot 4 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Richard and Williams combined to score 21 of the 53 points that the Tigers scored Transfer forward Amiya Joyner, in her fourth straight start, notched 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds

about having Madison Ulrich, the junior transfer from Denver do only one event Friday a week after winning the all-around title at Georgia. Ulrich got a 9.85 on bars. Clark said the goal is to work some breaks into the schedule for 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 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.”

LSU guard ZaKiyah Johnson makes a move in the paint against Florida forward Jade Weathersby in the fourth quarter on Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

to post her seventh double-double of the season. MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15 points and blocked three shots after hitting three of the five field goals she took in the fourth quarter. Kate Koval, a sophomore transfer from Notre Dame, pulled down 10 rebounds in the 15 minutes she played. Florida guard Liv McGill, the SEC’s second-leading scorer, notched eight points in the first quarter but finished her night with only 14 – nine below her season average. Richard defended her for most of the game “(Richard) just never gets tired,” Mulkey said, “and she figures it out. She started the game tonight not really good in transition, and I took her out. Well, she didn’t pout. She didn’t sit over there and feel sorry for herself. She went right back in and figured it out, and that’s what competitors do.”

Florida sophomore forward Me’Arah O’Neal, the daughter of

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

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.

“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 Sa-

balenka 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.

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.

More comfortable Sinner extends his Australian Open streak to 18 wins

BY JOHN PYE AP sportswriter

MELBOURNE, Australia Jannik

Sinner wasn’t shaky or lucky to survive this time and the only thing really hot on Monday was his streak, which now stands at 18 straight wins at the Australian Open.

The two-time defending champion had a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi to reach the quarterﬁnals for a ninth consecutive Grand Slam event.

first official head-to-head with Darderi, had to improve to handle the sudden increased speeds of his rival’s forehand.

Darderi saved two match points on his serve in the 10th game of the third set and took the ﬁrst two points of the tiebreaker. He had to pause for a few moments then before serving because of a baby crying in the crowd at Margaret Court Arena.

Shaquille O’Neal, scored only three points in her PMAC debut. She began Monday’s contest averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game. LSU is in the middle of a brief respite from its unforgiving SEC schedule. Between matchups with No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 24 Alabama, it was scheduled to take on Texas A&M, Florida and Arkansas – the SEC’s bottom three teams. Ten of the other 13 teams in the league are ranked in the latest edition of the AP Top 25 Poll, including the Tigers. Before this week, no conference had ever put that many teams in the poll since its inception in 1976. As things stand, LSU will play five more games against ranked opponents before the regular season ends. Its next contest, a Thursday home matchup with Arkansas, is not one of them. The Razorbacks are 0-6 in SEC play

Sinner struggled two days previously with the extreme heat and cramping in the afternoon win over No. 85-ranked Eliot Spizzirri, when he only took control after the roof was closed. In an evening match in cooler conditions, Sinner was cruising until Darderi lifted his tempo in the third set. Second-ranked Sinner missed match points in the 10th game on Darderi’s serve but then took it up a notch in the tiebreaker

“I felt quite good out there physically Everything was OK today,” said Sinner, who had limited practice on his off day between his third- and fourthround matches. “Let’s see what’s coming in the next round.”

It’ll be a familiar foe. No. 8-seeded Ben Shelton beat No. 12 Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a night match on Rod Laver Arena.

Sinner has won his last eight meetings with the 23-year-old American, including their semiﬁnal here last year

“I have a lot more that I want to do here, and I’ve got a lot to prove,” Shelton said. “I’ll be ready to go.” Sinner, toward the end of his

He didn’t win another point. Sinner reeled off the next seven to triumph in two hours and nine minutes It also extended Sinner’s unbeaten streak to 18 against other Italians on tour

“It was very, very difficult. We’re good friends off the court,” Sinner said. “Third set I had some break chances, I couldn’t use them. I got tight, so very happy I closed it in three sets.” Sinner had 19 aces a personal record — and no doublefaults. He also wanted to emphasize some minor changes to his game, including going to the net and trying to mix up his game.

“Still room to improve, but very happy with how I’ve come back,” he said. “Now for sure, it (the serve) is a bit more stable. I try to go more to the net and being more unpredictable.”

The left-handed Shelton will throw everything he can at Sinner, who is aiming to become the ﬁfth man in the Open era to win three straight Australian titles. Shelton is into the quarterfinals for the third time in four years.

“I’m definitely a competitor. I’m rowdy on the court. I look forward to rowdy crowds,” he said. “And down here in Australia, there’s no shortage.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU gymnast Konnor McClain starts her routine on the balance beam during the home opener against Kentucky on Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

AP PHOTO By MARK BAKER

Jessica Pegula, left, of the Jessica Pegula, left, of the U.S is congratulated by her compatriot Madison Keys after winning their fourth-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday.

Stunned Rams sitting pretty for 2026 run

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Rams could return next season with nearly every important contributor to a team that fell just a few big plays short of another trip to the Super Bowl, and they have the resources to add even more playmakers.

That doesn’t make the current players feel any better about their agonizing 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game on Sunday These Rams (14-6) realize they had a team good enough to be something truly special.

“It always feels like a surprise,” right guard Kevin Dotson said Monday “Since I’ve been here, we have such supreme confidence that when we do lose, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is out of left field. I can’t believe that we lost.’ Even at the last moments of the game, when we had 30 seconds left, I’m thinking, ‘Hey, we still might win this ’ I’ll take that. It can hurt every time, but to have that feeling of confidence in everybody on my team, I think it’s worth it.”

The Rams were a Super Bowl favorite when they sat at 11-3 in mid-December with Sean McVay leading one of the NFL’s most complete rosters.

That was as good as it got Backto-back losses dropped Los Angeles from ﬁrst to ﬁfth in the NFC standings. After the Rams grinded out two road playoff victories, they made just enough mistakes in Seattle to fall short of their goal.

The Rams’ season ended with letdowns from the same areas that were clearly their weaknesses from early on in the season, yet were never ﬁxed.

SUPER BOWL

Continued from page 1C

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.

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 Al-

The special teams units made their final mistake in a season full of brutal errors when Xavier Smith muffed a punt return and gifted a short ﬁeld to Seattle for a third-quarter touchdown.

The secondary struggled at key moments while Sam Darnold passed for 346 yards and three TDs without an interception. The Rams’ strong pass rush couldn’t make up for the defense’s coverage woes, and smart offenses relentlessly picked on Los Angeles’ weakest links.

McVay then made two more errant decisions at crucial times failing on a short fourth-down attempt for a TD with 4:59 to play before losing a big timeout while botching a challenge decision shortly before the two-minute warning.

Separately, these mistakes wouldn’t be enough to stop a powerhouse team that never lost by more than one score all season long. When these ﬂaws all surfaced in the same game — as they did in every loss this season — they prevented the Rams from reaching their goal.

“It’s a tough way to ﬁnish, but it was pretty cool to see us get better at what we do,” left guard Steve Avila said. “I have no doubt that next year, we’ll carry that same mindset.”

While the Rams cleaned out their lockers in Woodland Hills, they also said farewells to the players who might not return. Prominent free agents include safety Kam

Curl starting cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Ahkello Witherspoon, and tight end Tyler Higbee, who has been here for the Rams’ entire ﬁrst decade back home in Los Angeles.

“Everything happens so fast,”

Curl said “Not knowing if that

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 Pa-

len 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.

Broncos lament lapses that cost them AFC title

BY ARNIE STAPLETON AP pro football writer

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver defense did all it could to carry the offensively challenged Broncos to Super Bowl 60. Vance Joseph’s unit sacked Drake Maye ﬁve times, limited him to 65 net yards passing, allowed just two sustained drives that netted three points, and the only touchdown the Broncos allowed came on a 12-yard drive after Jarrett Stidham’s panicked chest-pass turnover when he should have taken the sack and allowed punter Jeremy Crawshaw to flip the field on an opponent that hadn’t yet crossed midﬁeld.

All of that wasn’t enough to prevent New England’s 10-7 win in the snow Sunday that was fueled partly by Broncos coach Sean Payton’s decision to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Patriots 14 instead of kicking a ﬁeld goal for a double-digit lead before the blizzard arrived at halftime.

The fourth-down pass attempt failed and the Broncos never got inside New England’s 30-yard line again.

“It was a slip or naked (bootleg) that we have run pretty well. They played a 6-1 front with a two-deep shell. Hindsight, the initial run thought was a better decision,” Payton said.

Watching it all from a suite was quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his right ankle on Denver’s game-winning drive in overtime against Buffalo in the divisional round He’s looking at a threemonth recovery from surgery last week in Alabama.

The recovery time for the Broncos will be a lot longer

“We’ll remember it for the rest of our lives,” linebacker Alex Singleton said.

One thing that was solidified this season: The Broncos have their franchise quarterback in Nix, who’s won 25 games and led 11 game-winning drives in his ﬁrst two seasons.

“This dude, he’s special,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said. “There’s a reason I wore a T-shirt with him on it because I want him to feel the conﬁdence that I have in him. But, a dude who just goes out there and regardless of the situation, you all saw it all year, these fourth quarters and he pulls them out and you’re like, ‘How does he do it?’

Several Broncos, starting with OLB Nik Bonitto after the game, said they felt the better team lost

Sunday

“It’s sickening knowing we’re deﬁnitely the better team,” Bonitto said.

Singleton said he had booked an Airbnb for his family in Santa Clara.

was going to be our last game, and then today is probably going to be the last time seeing (some of these) guys. That’s the NFL.”

Yet their roster situation is quite good compared to many of their competitors. Three years after the start of general manager Les Snead’s franchise “remodel,” the Rams are largely set at many important positions, possessing the contracts and the cap space to run back nearly all of the current team if they desire while making judicious free-agent pickups.

Los Angeles also possesses the 13th and 29th picks in the upcoming draft, providing an opportunity to acquire key pieces on rookie contracts.

The Rams’ strong 2023 draft class is also eligible for extensions this spring. All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua, defensive tackle Kobie Turner and Avila seem highly likely to get paid, while the Rams must make decisions on sacks leader Byron Young, right tackle Warren McClendon and punter Ethan Evans.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford had nothing to say about his plans after the game, and he declined to speak to reporters Monday Stafford has taken time to contemplate his future in every offseason since his Super Bowl triumph four years ago.

The Rams are saying nothing publicly, but the organization is optimistic about Stafford returning for an 18th NFL season, likely with yet another reworked contract The quarterback who turns 38 next month just doesn’t seem likely to walk away after becoming a top candidate for his first MVP award while leading the league with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs.

triots 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

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

“There’s always regrets. Look, I felt like here we are fourth and 1. I felt close enough Also, it’s a call you make based on the team you are playing and what you are watching on the other side of the ball But, there will always be second thoughts.”

Kick the field goal, take the sack and it might have been Denver heading to Santa Clara, California, to face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl instead of the upstart Patriots (17-3).

The Broncos (15-4) lost a conference championship game for just the third time in 11 tries, and they lost to the Patriots at home in the playoffs for the ﬁrst time in ﬁve tries. Payton himself fell to 1-3 in conference championships.

“I think a lot of us had plans,” Singleton said. “I think we knew that we were the better team. And it (stinks).”

The Broncos could be losing Joseph to a head coaching job, although OLB Jonathon Cooper appeared to let slip news that Joseph was staying in Denver

“He’s the best D.C. I’ve had. I’m happy that he’s ...,” Cooper said, catching himself mid-word. “I don’t know exactly what to say because I don’t know all that he said. But he’s a great coach and I’m happy to have him.”

Joseph interviewed for several of the 10 jobs that came open this cycle but he likely would be back in demand a year from now — and have a deeper college QB class to help turn around a franchise in 2027.

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.

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,” All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba 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 LINDSEy WASSON

Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, left, breaks up a pass intended for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver

Puka Nacua during the first half of the NFC championship game on Sunday in Seattle.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham leaves the field after the AFC championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots on Sunday in Denver.

Milesshinesinstarring role forSt. Aug

Pelicans assistant’sson is ‘justdifferent’

BY SPENCERURQUHART

Staff writer

Aaron Miles Jr.has always had an eye for basketball as the son of aformer professional basketball player,and his love for the game has led to success at St.Augustine. Miles lived in several states growing up due to the coaching career of his father,Aaron Miles Sr., who is now an assistant coach forthe New Orleans Pelicans.

The move to the Crescent City resulted in the younger Miles emerging as astandout on St. Augustine’sbasketball team.

He became St. Augustine’s starting point guard last season as asophomore and was the leading scorer for astate championship-winning team. In hisjunior year,hehas helped lead the Purple Knights to a21-2 record so far

“He loves basketball,” St.Augustine coachWadeMason said. “It’shis passion. Alot of people say they love it, but Aaron Miles really and truly loves the game of basketball. The dude walks around with abasketball in his backpack. That’sjust different.”

The elder Miles noticedhis oldest son take aliking to basketball from ayoung age.

“When he could walk, he started

feeling abasketball,” the Pelicans assistant said. “He paid attention to thecourt and loved what he was watching.Basketball has always been abig part of him.”

The elder Miles was afour-year starter at Kansas andhad abrief stint in the NBA before getting into coaching after his playing career endedinEurope. Aaron Miles Jr.isthe oldest of four boys.

“(My dad) has continuously helped me and my brothers to get where we want to be,”Miles said.

“Justthe little detailslikerecovery,taking yourtime, pace, all that stuff.”

Miles received all-state, allmetro and all-districthonors for his strong sophomore season that ended with St. Augustine winning the Division Iselect state title

After sevenseniors graduated from last year’steam, Miles has taken on an additional leadership rolefor thePurpleKnights.

“You watch kids at PE now,they want to be like Aaron Miles (Jr.),” Mason said. “This year he’sbeen askedtodoevenmore, but he’s selﬂess.When it’s time to score, he scores, but he picks his spotsto get everybody else involved. He runs theteam.”

Miles is averaging 14 points per gamethisseason. He led St. Augustine in scoring last Friday

with20pointsina54-42 win over Jesuit to begin districtplay

Thriving as apasseratthe point guard position, Miles is averaging six assistsper game and routinely guards theopposing team’s best player,averaging four stealsper game. “The aspect of my game that I’ve improved themostonis probably my defense,” Miles said. “Having thechallengeofguarding the best player every game, I really like that.”

HolyCross transfer AbeTaylor has played akey role next to Miles as ago-to scorer.Senior post playerJa’Vardes Brazile stands at 6-foot-6 and recorded a double-double on Friday against Jesuit Adonis Miles, the second oldest of thefourMilesbrothers, is afreshman at St.Augustine and has carved out arolealongside his brother “(Taylor,Brazile and I) are like thebig three,” Miles said. “Nobody can really stop us. (Playing with Adonis) is amazing for me. Since I’m older,Inever really played with him, so to sharethe court with him is something I’ve always dreamed about.”

Aaron Miles Jr.standsatjust 5-foot-9 buthas garneredrecruiting interest from DivisionI

PELICANS

Continued from page1C

momentum heading into Tuesday’s game against the Thunder APelicans team that often struggled closing out games all of asudden has ﬁguredout 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 fora 104-95 victory at Frost Bank Center

In the game before that, the Pelicans got clutchbaskets down the stretch from Saddiq Beyand outscoredthe Grizzlies 40-26inthe fourth quarter

“What I’m most proud of is the defensedownthe stretch,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said after Sunday’swin overthe Spurs. “Down the stretch, we’ve been able to ﬁndsome rhythm here defensively.Same as Memphis in the last game. It wasour defense that brought us home.”

Now the Pelicans take onan Oklahoma City team that thrives on defense. The Thunderhas the NBA”s best record (37-10) and leads the league in defensiverating. 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 athorn in the Pelicans’ side, though. The Pels have lost 12 straight games to the Thunder.That includes the sweepinthe ﬁrst round of the playoffs in the 2023-24 season. The last win againstOKC wason Nov.1,2023.

To end that drought, they will need asimilar all-around effort like the one in Sunday’swin over the Spurs. Zion Williamson and Bey ﬁnished

Pelicans forwardTreyMurphy III ﬁnishes adunk

against theMemphis

with identicalstat lines: 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Yves Missi came off the bench and also had adouble-double (10 points, 14 rebounds). Missi grabbed 10 of his boards in theﬁrst half. Trey Murphy finished with 17 points, nine assists andsix rebounds. Herb Jones, in his second game since returningfrom 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 7-6when Jones plays and 3-20 when he doesn’t

Theyare 2-0 with thenew starting lineup of Williamson, Murphy, Jones, Bey and rookie Derik Queen. Borrego’steamhad to scrap for this latest win. The Pelicans led by as many as 20 pointsinthe third quarterbefore the Spurs ralliedtotie thegame88-88midway throughthe fourth. ThePels normallywould have founda way to lose. This time, they did the opposite

St.Augustine point guard Aaron Miles goes up for ashot against Jesuit’s Brennan Pitts during theirgame at Jesuit High School on Friday. Miles is averaging 14 points and sixassists per game.

schools. He’sreceived an offer from Austin Peay

“A lot of coaches say they love him but have size concerns,” the elder Miles said. “I tell him it just takesone team to loveyou.I believe in his work and that it’sall going to work out in the end.”

St. Augustine haswon itspast sixgames andislooking to win back-to-back basketballstate championships for theﬁrsttime

with Miles leading the way

“When you play at St. Aug, it’s different,” Mason said. “The standards are higher,and you’re going to get everybody’sbest shot. (Miles) is agreat person. It makes me feel good to be around akid that loves(basketball) as much as Ido.”

Email Spencer Urquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

Fears, Queenpicked forRisingStars Game

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

The New OrleansPelicans will once again be represented in the Rising Stars showcase. Apair of Pelicans rookies guard Jeremiah Fearsand center DerikQueen —were selected for the event that will take place in Februaryduring All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. The rosters for the Rising Stars were announced Monday It’sthe seventh straight year the Pelicans have had at least one player in the Rising Stars Game, which consists of rookies and second-year players. Fears, whoplayed collegiately at Oklahoma, was the No. 7overall pick in the2025 draft. He’s the onlyplayer on the team who has playedinall 48 games this season. He’sstarted 44 games. Fears is averaging 13.7 points, 3.7reboundsand 3.1assists.He scored aseason-high 24 points in aloss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in November Queen, who played at Maryland, was drafted with the No. 13 overallpick after thePelicansmade abuzzworthytrade to move up

from the 23rd pick. Queen has played in 47 games and is averaging 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists. His rebounds and assists lead the team.Queen has recordedtwo triple-doublesthis season.Hie best game was when he scored 33 points to go with10 rebounds and 10 assists in aloss to the Spurs in December.

The showcase will be held on Feb. 13. It will be amini-tournament with four teams. The players selected Monday will be draftedonto threeteams Tuesday.The fourth team will consist of G-League players. Honorary coaches for the teams will be Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony,Vince Carter andTracy McGrady.Austin Rivers, whowas draftedbythe thenNew OrleansHornets in 2012, will coach theG-LeagueRising Stars team The other eight rookies selected for the gameare Cedric Coward (Grizzlies), Egor Demin (Nets), VJ Edgecombe (76ers), Cooper Flagg (Mavericks), Dylan Harper (Spurs), TreJohnson (Wizards), Kon Knueppel (Hornets) and Collin Murray-Boyles (Raptors).

“By understanding thatthis this is agame of runs,” Williamson said. “Wehad alot of runs earlier in thegame. They are one of the best teams in the West for areason. They made arun. We responded well.” Twonightsafter beating thesecond-place team in the Western Conference, thePelicans take on the team at the top of the West. They’ll depend on the same formulatotry to beat last season’sNBA champions as theyusedSunday to beat the Spurs. “Wetalked about winningthe possessiongame, andwethought that’swhere it wouldbewon for us,” Borrego saidabout beating theSpurs. “Wecould turn them over and keep our turnoversdown andobviously winthe boards. We were crashing the boards (Sunday) Second-chanceopportunities. Just great effort tonightonboth ends.” Email RodWalker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERICGAy

Pelicans guard Saddiq Beygrabsarebound over SanAntonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, center, duringa game in San Antonio on Sunday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRANDON DILL

in the second half of a game

Grizzlies on Friday in Memphis, Tenn.

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears, center,scores against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2atthe SmoothieKingCenter

The

trends at Paris Fashion Week are statement coats, even bigger shoulders and sharp tailoring

BY THOMAS ADAMSON

AP fashion writer

PARIS Paris men’s Fashion Week has been arguing for a new kind of authority this season — coat-ﬁrst.

Across the runways, statement outerwear, bigger shoulders and sharp tailoring have been doing the work, turning familiar staples — trench coats, suits, denim and workwear into clothes with a harder stance.

With the fashion week heading into its ﬁnal stretch, the common thread is a push to make menswear more protective performanceminded and built for real life, without losing the showmanship that deﬁnes Paris.

That argument landed most clearly at Dior Men, where Jonathan Anderson bent classic codes into new proportions, and Louis Vuitton, where Pharrell Williams framed luxury as practical convenience heritage shapes upgraded with weatherproofing, reflectivity, reversibility and engineered comfort

Other designers from Ami Paris to Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto and IM Men at Issey Miyake worked along the same lines: rebuild the shoulder, reshape the body, and lean into the idea of uniform not as costume, but as modern equipment. Celebrities raise the stakes

Paris menswear is also being driven by celebrity gravity, the

The clothes are the product, but the frenzy is ampliﬁed by who is watching, who is posting, and who is seen.

‘Classic, but smarter’

Instead of chasing novelty for its own sake, many designers are taking familiar silhouettes and making them perform.

At Vuitton, Williams’ show was ﬁlled with recognizable pieces — double-breasted suits, blousons, polished outerwear; then the twist arrived in the materials and construction.

Tailoring carried reﬂective elements for night visibility

kind that turns a runway into a global moment within minutes

Dior’s room was packed with VIPs including Robert Pattinson, Lewis Hamilton and SZA.

Louis Vuitton delivered a front row mixing music, ﬁlm and online fame — SZA, Usher, Future and Jackson Wang among them — plus a runway cameo from BamBam of GOT7.

Jackets turned into water-repellent hybrids.

Fabrics were lightened, waterproofed and sometimes embellished with crystal details that mimicked raindrops.

Accessories followed the same logic: caps designed to be crushed and returned to shape; shoes built to

BY THOMAS ADAMSON AP fashion writer

PARIS Valentino Garavani’s

death cast a long shadow over the opening day of Paris Fashion Week menswear Tuesday, with front-row guests and industry

ﬁgures mourning the passing of one of the last towering names of 20th-century couture — an Italian designer whose working life was closely entwined with the Paris runways. Valentino, 93, died at his Rome residence, the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation said in a statement announcing his death. While he built his house in Rome,

AP PHOTO By THOMAS PADILLA

Models wear creations as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men’s collection presented in Paris on Jan. 20.

AP PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD

A model wears a creation as part of the Dries Van Noten Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men’s collection.

AP PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD

model wears a creation as part of the Issey Miyake Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men’s collection.

Beingtaughttodothe rightthing —atany age

Dear Heloise: Being ashort person, Ihave asked alot of taller people for help with getting products off the top shelfwhen shopping and have never been turned down. Most of the help has come from taller men as Iamanolder person with gray hair besides being short. Don’t getmewrong, there has beenalot of help that has 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 Findingcontactseasily

Dear Heloise: In arecent column, Leo G. said that he lists acompany’sinfo in his notes. This requires that you search through your notes each time to locate the info. When arepairman completes a job for me, and Iwish to contact him in the future, as an example, Ienter “electrician” rather than

hisname. Under thecompany subject line, then Ilisthis actual name and enter the phone number. Under the notes in this listing, Ican add anyadditional info, such as thedate of the last service. Often, Ihave difﬁculty remembering the actual repairperson’sname if I enter his contact info as Idowith my other contacts, so this allows me to quickly locate him. —Judy Peterson, in Boerne,Texas Flowersinlife

Dear Heloise: Like themom who wanted ﬂowers while she was still alive, my neighbor’skids gave their mom abig party for her90th birthday.There were ﬂowers, abig cake, and gifts. Relatives came from all over theworld.Iwas invited as her neighbor. She lived two more years after this. —PatriciaRoberts, in Bellaire,Texas Email heloise@heloise.com.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

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

Todayinhistory:

On Jan. 27, 1945, during World WarII, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi concentration campsin Poland.

Also on this date:

In 1756, composerWolfgang 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 the ﬁlming of aPepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

In 2002, aseries of explosions rockedanarmory in Lagos, Nigeria, starting ﬁres in nearby neighborhoods and killing hundreds of people. Many of those who died were area residents who drowned in acanal in darkness while ﬂeeing the blasts.

In 2013, aﬁre started by pyro-

VALENTINO

Continued from page1D

unforgettable.

He dressed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor, among others, fixed his signature “Valentino red” in thepublic imagination, and —through his decades-long partnership with Giancarlo Giammetti —helped turn the designer himself into part of the spectacle, as recognizable as the clients in his front row

Theend of afashion era

Prominent fashion writer Luke Leitch framed the loss in similarly outsizedterms,calling Valentino “the last of the fashion ‘leviathans of that generation’,” and saying it was “absolutely”the end of acertain class of designer: ﬁgures whose names could carry a global house, and whoseauthority came not from viral speed but from permanence.

Trained in Paris before founding his maison in Rome, Valentino became arare bridge ﬁgure: Italian by origin, but ﬂuent in the rituals that made Paris couture an institution. His career moved between those two capitals of elegance,bringing Roman grandeur into asystem that still treats fashion not only as commerce, but as ceremony Even as he aged, the house’s founder kept turning up at its couture and ready-to-wear shows, as observed by oneAssociated Press journalist —until he eventually retreatedfrom public life, all the whileradiating quiet grandeur from his front-row seat

For some in Paris on Tuesday, the loss felt personalprecisely because Valentino’sworld was never only Italian.

Groppo recalled the designer as “very much more than afashion brand,” adding: “It was alifestyle.” That lifestyle —couture polish socialglamour,and the conviction that elegance could be aform of power —remainsareference point even as fashion accelerates toward louder branding and faster cycles.

Acceptingsuggestions for agender-neutral honorific

Dear Miss Manners: Ithink the reason that people thinkusing “ma’am”or“sir” is offensive stemsfromthe idea that you have to assume someone’sgender identity in order to use them. There are manypeople whose appearance doesn’t match their identity.Assuming one knows that information based on looks, or even voice, can cause distress for people, especially if they are early in atransition or if they are gender nonconforming.

“ma’am”and “sir.”

Gentlereader: It would be useful, Miss Manners agrees, to have such aword, and thereby dispense with oneofthe limitless causes at which people take offense. So would you and other Gentle Readers please giveitatry and suggest one?

technics in theKiss nightclub in SantaMaria,Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, killed 242 people andinjured over 600.

In 2017, PresidentDonald Trumpbarred all refugees from enteringthe United States for fourmonths, declaring theban necessary to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the country

In 2023, aPalestinian gunman opened ﬁre outsideaneast Jerusalem synagogue during Jewish observances of theSabbath, killing seven people andwounded three others before he was shot andkilled bypolice.

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 Robertsis71. Political and sports commentator Keith Olbermann is 67. Actor Bridget Fonda is 62. Actor Alan Cummingis61. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 58. Rock singer Mike Patton is 58. RapperTricky is 58. Actor-comedian PattonOswalt is 57. Actor Freddy Carter is 33. Musician andactorBraeden Lemastersis30.

“It’s quitesad as he’s so important to thefashionindustry, and he contributed alot and Icannot forget the stunningred he created,” said Lolo Zhang, aChinese fashion inﬂuencer attending Louis Vuitton ’s show in Paris.

“He always celebrated pure beauty, andarchitecture for the silhouette, and how he used color Theold era just passed by.”

Other guests described adelayed realization —the kind that arrivesonlywhen aﬁgure who seemed permanent is suddenly gone.

YSL, Chanel andValentino

“Thereare some people who want to be Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel Thereare also people who are spontaneously Valentino,” saidGuy-ClaudeAgboton, deputy editorofIdeatmagazine.

“It’saquestion of identity.”

For Parisfashion observer BenedictEpinay,the grief was bound up with memory.And with the emotional charge of Valentino’sﬁnal bow.

“It was such agreat moment. I waslucky enough to attend the last show he gave,” Epinay said. “It was so moving becauseweknewatthat time it was the last show.”

Fashion observer Arfan Ghani pointed to what Valentino represented to younger designers: a “classy” standard of restraint in an era that often rewards noise.

“Because it was very classical materials,”Ghani said. “It wasn’t as loud as alot of other of these brands are with branding.”

Paris-based sculptor Ranti Bam describedValentino in the language of form:less trend than structure, less look than line.

“Asasculptor Isaw Valentino as an artist,” Bam said. “Hetranscended fashion into sculpture.”

“He didn’tfollow trends, he pursuedform,”she added. “That’s why his work doesn’tdate, it endures.”

The fashion houseValentino hasfor years continued undera new generation of leadership and design —still showcased in Paris.

Press writer Amy

to this report.

I, like you, was raised to be polite. “Ma’am”and “sir” were my normal ways of addressing people. It has been difﬁcult to shift how Italk to people, but I have done so, not because Idon’t want to be respectful, but because Ido.

Igenuinely wish there were auniversal,gender-neutral honoriﬁc to useinthe English language. Iwant something that showed Irespect people enough to be polite, but alsoenough not to assume Iknow (possibly private) information about them.

Iknow gender-neutral honorifics do exist in other languages, but English is sadly lacking. Even atypically politeand well-mannered individual such as myself may choosetoforgo the use of

Afew warnings: It should be digniﬁed and easy to say.Aword alreadyinuse is preferable, if it is not too confusing, because people do not takeeasily to made-up words. For example, “partner” is confusing when used foranonmarital romantic alliance, as opposed to abusiness partnership —or, for that matter,tennis or bridge partners —but it wonout over “signiﬁcantother,” which wasnot 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?

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 forameet-the-staffevent with appetizers and drinks. Doesitmatter 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?

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

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

FASHION

Continuedfrom page1D

ﬂex morelike sneakerswhile still reading as traditional footwear

Themessagewas clear: luxury is not only alook. It is also capability

Thesilhouette

Across brands, thesilhouette focus moved upward. The shoulder became theseason’s main design focus —wherestructure, protection and attitude all meet.

Anderson’s Dior treated tailoring history as aseries of pivots.

Jackets nodded to the1940s and early 1960s, then were cut abruptly short or shrunken to expose the hipbone.

Ordinarypieces werepushed into new scale —including around-neck sweater extended to ankle length. Throughout, he madethe familiarfeel newbychanging proportion, fabricorwhatitwas paired with.

IM Menalsoleaned into shoulder architecture, remixing outerwear by blending storm ﬂaps intotrench coats and amplifying volume.

Yohji Yamamoto usedpadding alongarms andlegstogive different bodies asimilar shape, then controlledthatbulk with buttons and adjustable details.

Even when designers disagreed on mood —sharp, romantic, severe, strange —theyconverged on shape: the body is beingredesigned.

Themood

There has also been aclear emotional undercurrent:protection Paris is dressing men for aworld that feelsharder,more uncertain, and more public. Rick Owens described thinking aboutpoliceuniforms andthe impulse to mock athreat as away of processing it

His runway deliveredskinny foundations,thenadded cropped jackets, tactical hybrids, leather

coatsthatsit better on the shoulder and cleaner lines.

The takeaway is that thedaily wardrobe still matters, but it is being tightened and upgraded.

Dries VanNoten sharpened that idea with color and craft. Julian Klausner built the show around “coming of age” —men leaving homeinhand-me-down coats, then made knitwear theengine, from structured-shoulder cardigans to patterned collar pieces on narrow coats and cloaks.

He also brought kilts and skirtlike belted layers back into the mix.

Saturated, pattern-heavycoats —including Polaroid ﬂorals and patchworked panels —showed how Paris can make awardrobe feel new through layering, proportion and ﬁnish.

Stylingasthe signal

Many of the season’sstrongest statements have comefrom styling as much as garments.

and Kevlar-like materials, and ambiguous details that hinted at insignia without turning into costume.

His question —“sheriffs or outlaws?”— captured theseason’s tension between authority and rebellion.

Yamamoto also drew from army andworking clothes,but described asofter kind of protection:enveloping layers meanttoendure long stretches outdoors.

IM Men’sdraped, layered looks pushed arelated idea, less militant thannomadic: clothing as shelter Pariswearability,sharpened

Forall the experimentation, the week has not abandoned everyday dressing.

Ami Paris’ anniversary show wasbuilt on an idea of real Parisianstyle —camel coats, stripes, denim,clean tailoring —then refined through betterproportion andstyling.

The clothes weredesigned to mix easily,with small shifts that made them feel current: longer

At Dior,Anderson’s“anti-normal” attitudeappeared in wild wigs and ruff collars that turned what was formal andold into something sharp andslightlydangerous.

At Vuitton, the styling did the opposite —staying restrained while letting materials and constructioncarry the message: classic shapes, but built formovement and weather Finalshows on Sunday

While Diorand Vuittonset the tone, the rest of the schedule reinforced it in different registers wearability with precision at Ami, confrontation and control at Owens, protectionthrough layering at Yohji, and sculpted outerwear at IM Men.

With theweekendingSunday, theﬁnalshows will decide whether this season’s turn toward function and shape becomes adeeper shift —orremains aParis moment where luxury brieﬂy proved it can be practical, too.

Hints from Heloise

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

AP PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD

Amodel wears acreation as part of the DiorFall/Winter 2026-2027 Men’scollectionpresented in Paris on Jan. 21.

AP PHOTO By THOMAS PADILLA Amodel wears acreation as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men’scollection presented in Paris.

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

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

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.

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

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

GramS Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

ken ken

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

WiShinG Well

HErE is a

Scrabble

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

andother improve‐mentsnow or hereafter constructedthereon;

(c)together with all rights,ways, privileges, andappurtenancesper‐taining, or otherwisere‐lated, theretoorinfavor thereof; (d)togetherwithall leases,executory con‐tracts,licenses, permits, andcertiﬁcatespertain‐ing, or otherwiserelated thereto;

p chaseprice to bepaid by thesuccessful bidder by 1:00 p.m. prevailingCen‐tral Time on theday of thesaleincashorby cashier’sorcertiﬁed checkorbycredit-bidif Plaintiffisthe successful bidder NOTICE IS FURTHER

NOTICE IS HEREBY FUR‐THER GIVENthat, theU.S Marshalhas scheduled a U.S. Marshal’sjudicial sale of allofthe right, title, andinterestofDe‐fendant, MOF-Willows, LLC(formerly GMF-Wil‐lows,LLC), in andtothe Project, subjecttothe absolute rightofPlain‐tiff, as foreclosingcredi‐torinthe Proceeding, to cancel or postpone any judicial sale

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVENthatthe U.S. Mar‐shal’s judicial sale is scheduledfor January30, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. prevail‐ingCentral Time in the lobbyofthe Hale Boggs FederalBuilding– Court‐house,500 Poydras Street,New Orleans, Louisiana70130. TheU.S Marshal’sjudicialsaleis to be with thebeneﬁtof appraisement,withthe minimumbid at the ﬁrstconductedjudicialsale of theProject to be not less than two-thirds of theappraisedvalue of theProject,onan“AS-IS, WHERE-IS”basis,for cash to thehighest bid‐der, with thefull pur‐h i b id b

(e)together with all ﬁx‐tures, machinery, equip‐ment,furniture,furnish‐ings,and otherpersonal property (whether tangi‐bl i ibl ) h p p y g bleor intangible) here‐after attached to,located in or on,orusedincon‐nectionwith, anysuch structures,buildings or otherimprovements; and (f)together with alladdi‐tionsthereto,substitu‐tionstherefor, andre‐placements thereof, whether nowownedor hereafter acquired; (theforegoing described land together with all such otherproperty(im‐movable(real)and mov‐able (personal),corpo‐real (tangible) andincor‐poreal (intangible)), rights,and credits, col‐lectively, the“Project”).

589-6079 to ﬁnd outthe newdatewhen the property is sched‐uled to be sold.Ifapplic‐able,the newsaledate will also be publishedin thelocal newspaperin accordance with La R.S. 43:203. /s/ Enix Smith,

lations. In accordance with LDEQ’s rulesand regula‐tionsfor theCWSRF pro‐gram as authorized by Public Law100-4and ad‐ministered accordingto Act349 of the1986 Regu‐larSession of the LouisianaLegislature,as amendedbyAct 296 of the2010 RegularSession of theLouisiana Legisla‐ture,LDEQhas deter‐minedthatthere will be no adverseenvironmen‐talimpacts from thepro‐posedactionand hasis‐sued aCategorical Exclu‐sion.A copy of the Cate‐gorical Exclusion maybe viewed at theParish Courthouse andmay also be accessedonLDEQ’s Electronic Data Manage‐ment System (EDMS) at http://www.deq louisiana.gov/portal/ tabid/2604/Default.aspx. TheAgencyInterest(AI) numbers forthisproject are2918; 19539.