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UL athletics deficitgrows to $13.2M

Reducedfootball ticket salesbehind decline, auditreveals

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette athletic department’s operating deficit grew to $13.2

millioninﬁscal year 2025, according to the annual state legislative audit.

Thedepartmentreported a$12.6 million deﬁcitayear earlier

“Our income wasdown about $475,000 and our expenses were up about $215,000,” UL Director of Athletics Bryan Maggard said.

“Really,itpredominantly came throughadecrease in revenue.”

Maggard saidthe decline was

drivenlargelybyfootball ticket sales as construction continuedat

OurLady of Lourdes Stadium.

“Wehad half of astadium to sell,” he said. “Wereduced ticket prices because we were selling only the east side —nochairbacks and things like that.”

Future audits couldreﬂect improved revenue from ticket sales and eventsonce the stadium is completed, he said, while expenses

may declinefollowing staffreductionstied to auniversitywide budgetshortfall. Theathletic departmentcut its staffby25%.

Expenses increasedthisyearbecause of higher scholarship costs, severance pay,stafﬁng expenses andsalary increases, Maggard said. Hisown salary was temporarily reduced by 15% as part of universitycutbacks.

The $13.2 million deﬁcit does not

Aweekoficy chaos

RuralEastCarroll Parish enduresshattered trees, trappedpeople, prison break

BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer

Zachary Frasier and his wife were driving down astreet in Lake Providencelast Friday when something whitedrifted across the road. It was around 10 p.m. and pitch black, so he pulled over and spotted abag lying in the street

The32-year-old Frasierwas about to turn in after aday of delivering food andwater to people across East Carroll Parish. It was almost aweek after acrippling ice storm shattered trees, trapped people in their homes and left nearly everyone in the parish without power

He also knew accusedkillers were on the loose. Early that morning, eight inmates broke out of Riverbend Detention Center just afew miles away It was the same facilitywhere his late fatherhad been warden during adecades-long career in law enforcement Down the street, his two children were staying with his mother

With aﬂashlightinone hand and aGlock .40 pistol in the other,hesteppedout of his truck into the bitter cold. The beam hovered over aﬁgurein the roadside thicket, Frasier recalled, though it took hima few moments to realize it was aperson.

“I said, ‘Man I’m telling you, if someone else is with you, if they come out of that bush, I’m shooting you.’”

An Entergyutilitytruck

Theman called forhis partner,who emerged from the brush. Frasier said heordered them to lie face down on the ground, evenﬁring awarning shot when they didn’tcomply “They kept looking back,” said Frasier.“Iwas worried somebody else was coming up behind me.” From thetruck, Frasier’s wife dialed 911. Within minutes, deputiesarrived and arrested the men, escapees being held in East Carroll Parish while facingmurdercharges in their hometowns.

Inside thewhitebag Frasier had initially spotted was toilet paper,a jarofsalsa, aphone charger and aﬁllet knife —all believed stolen from anearby church.

Reﬂecting on those moments days later,Frasier shrugged.

“I was doing theonly thingI knew to do,” he said. Buteven after all the escap-

ees were rounded up —two in Arkansas,one in Mississippi and the rest at various spots in Louisiana —the community has still felt under siege.

Most of northern Louisiana’s lights have ﬂickered back on 11 days after thestorm, but nearlyhalfofEastCarroll residentsremainedwithout

TwomorecandidatesexitSenaterace

Miguezshiftsfocus to congressionalseat

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

The impact of U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’sdecision to challenge U.S. Sen Bill Cassidy—with President Donald Trump’sendorsement —continuedto reverberate Tuesday as twomore candidates dropped out of the Senate race. State Sen. Blake Miguez saidhe would run instead for the5th Congressional District seat that Letlow is vacating, while St. Tammany Parish

reﬂect costs or revenuesassociated withconstruction of thenew football stadium.Fundsraised for the project are held by the UL Foundation and are not included in the audit.

“When you go out and raise money,that’srevenue, but it doesn’t show up in this report,” Maggard said. “That money stays in the

See DEFICIT, page 7A

Sports complex

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

The Broussard Sports Complex at St. Julien Park generated approximately$21 millionin2025, according to city officials, improving substantially on figures from the previous year In 2024, the complexgenerated $12 million, according to the city, which reflects ayearly increase of $9 million, or an increase of 75%.

The numbers are based, in part, on trafﬁc estimates provided by the Lafayette Economic Development Authority alongwith salesdata from local businesses.

The sportsfacilityhas generated an estimated $1.2 million in tax revenue, according to Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque, which he says then gets fedback into the city’sparks and recreation fund. “Itspeaks back to the city doing what it can to inﬂuence growth,” Bourque said. “When we can bring customers into our city,retailers can do more to support our economy,and we can generate more revenue to further support the Broussard Sports Complex.”

ä See SPORTS, page 7A

Councilmember Kathy Seiden said she would exit the race and endorse Letlow.

StateRep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, announced two weeks ago that Letlow’sentry into the Senate election had promptedher to get out. Letlowjumped in on Jan. 20 after receiving Trump’scoveted endorsement. “When Donald Trumpendorsed Letlow, it took allthe air out of the room. All the attention immediately went to Letlow,” said Robert Collins, aprofessor of urban studiesand public policy at Dillard University.“She becomes theprohibitive favorite if you look at thepolls.”

As The Times-Picayune |The AdvocatereportedMonday,three recently releasedpolls show Letlowdefeating Cassidy in ahead-to-head matchup. Cassidy’sown survey showedhim trailing her,46%-40%, though Cassidy’scampaign says he will pass her as voters learn more about the candidates.

To be sure, the ﬁeld is notset,since the three-day qualifying period does not begin until Feb.11.

State Treasurer John Fleming is giving every indication that he will ﬁght to theﬁnish, making it at least a

ä See SENATE, page 3A

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

13-year-old swims for 4 hours to save family

MELBOURNE,Australia A 13-yearold boy swam for four hours in cold and choppy waters to save his mother and two younger siblings who had been swept out to sea off the coast of Western Australia.

The family, from the state capital Perth, were using kayaks and paddleboards on Friday morning when rough ocean and wind conditions started dragging them out. Teenager Austin Appelbee swam about 2.5 miles to shore to raise the alarm, police said.

“The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. I just kept thinking ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming,’ ” Austin said Tuesday “And then I ﬁnally made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”

Jill Biden’s first husband charged with killing wife

WILMINGTON, Del. — The ﬁrst husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release Tuesday

William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Biden from 1970 to 1975

Caroline Harrison, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office spokesperson, confirmed in a phone call that Stevenson is the former husband of Biden Biden declined to comment, according to an emailed response from a spokesperson at the former president and first lady’s office.

Stevenson remains in jail after failing to post $500,000 bail after his arrest Monday on ﬁrstdegree murder charges He is charged with killing Linda Stevenson, 64, on Dec. 28.

NASA delays astronauts’ lunar trip until March

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s long-awaited moonshot with astronauts is off until at least March because of hydrogen fuel leaks that marred the dress rehearsal of its giant new rocket It’s the same problem that delayed the Space Launch System rocket’s debut three years ago. That first test flight was grounded for months because of leaking hydrogen, which is highly flammable and dangerous.

“Actually, this one caught us off guard,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said Tuesday, hours after the test came to an abrupt halt at Kennedy Space Center Until the exasperating fuel leaks, the space agency had been targeting as soon as this weekend for humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century

“When you’re dealing with hydrogen it’s a small molecule. It’s highly energetic and we like it for that reason and we do the best we can,” Honeycutt explained

Ofﬁcials said the month-long delay will allow the launch team to conduct another fueling test before committing the four astronauts — three U.S. and one Canadian — to a lunar ﬂy-around. It’s too soon to know when the countdown dress rehearsal might be repeated Spain looks to ban social media for under-16s

MADRID Spain plans to ban social media access for children under 16, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Tuesday in a move designed to shield young people from the harms of online content.

Sánchez chided the world’s biggest tech companies in a speech at a Dubai summit, saying they allow illegal content such as child sex abuse and nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images to proliferate on their platforms. He said that governments also needed to “stop turning a blind eye.”

“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” Sánchez said. “We will no longer accept that.” Spain joins a growing number of countries, including Australia and France, which have taken or are considering measures to restrict minors’ access to social media.

Immigration agents pull guns, arrest activists

People were trailing their vehicles in Minneapolis

BY RYAN MURPHY, SARAH RAZA and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday in Minneapolis, while education leaders described anxiety and fear in Minnesota schools from the ongoing federal sweeps.

Both are signs that tension remains in the Minneapolis area after the departure of high-proﬁle commander Greg Bovino of U.S Border Patrol and the arrival of Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, which followed the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti

“There’s less smoke on the ground,” Gov Tim Walz said, referring to tear gas and other irritants used by ofﬁcers against protesters, “but I think it’s more chilling than it was last week because of the shift to the schools, the shift to the children.”

At least one person who had an anti-U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated

Press photographer witnessed the arrests. Federal agents in the Twin Cities lately have been conducting more targeted immigration arrests at homes and neighborhoods, rather than staging in parking lots. The convoys have been harder to ﬁnd and less aggressive. Alerts in activist group chats have been more about sightings than immigrationrelated detainments.

Several cars followed officers through south Minneapolis after there were reports of them knocking at homes. Officers stopped their vehicles and ordered activists to come out of a car at gunpoint. Agents told reporters at the scene to stay back and threatened to use pepper spray A federal judge last month put limits on how ofﬁcers treat motorists who are following them but not obstructing their operations. Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the judge said. An appeals court, however, set the order aside.

Bovino, who was leading immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and other big U.S. cities, left town last week, shortly after Pretti’s death became the second local killing of a U.S. citizen in January Homan, who was dispatched to Minnesota to succeed Bovino, has

warned that protesters could face consequences if they interfere with ofﬁcers.

Walz and education leaders held a news conference to say the presence of immigration officers is frightening some school communities. Brenda Lewis, superintendent of Fridley Public Schools in suburban Minneapolis, said she’s been followed twice by ICE agents since speaking publicly and that school board members have had ICE vehicles outside their homes for hours.

“Students are afraid to come to school, parents are afraid to drop them off,” Lewis, a U.S. citizen, said. “Staff are coming to work wondering if today will be the day something happens in one of our buildings.”

She said Fridley, which has Somali and Ecuadorian families, has added security and trained observers, adjusted drop-off procedures and increased mental health support Tracy Xiong, a social worker in the Columbia Heights district, said she’s been coordinating grocery deliveries to school families and finding volunteers to drive children.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the arrests in south Minneapolis and the concerns of educators.

Russia bombards Ukraine a day before planned peace

BY KAMILA HRABCHUK Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine Russia carried out a major overnight attack on Ukraine in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday was a broken commitment to halt striking energy infrastructure as the countries prepared for more talks on ending Moscow’s 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. It speciﬁcally took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of what Ukraine says is Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water during the coldest winter in years.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 4 Fahrenheit during the night and stood at minus 3 F on Tuesday NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support. He said that the overnight strikes raise doubts about Moscow’s intentions on the eve of talks, calling them “a really bad signal.”

He added that it was clear that the attacks only strengthen Ukrainians’ resolve.

Ofﬁcials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts, the Trump administration is still searching for a breakthrough on key issues such as who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has occupied, and a comprehensive settlement appears distant. The talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to dis-

talks

cuss how to end the ﬁghting. “But no one is going to surrender,” he said.

A Kremlin ofﬁcial said last week that Russia had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv for a week until Sunday because of the frigid temperatures, following a personal request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the bitter cold is continuing and so are Russia’s aerial attacks.

Zelenskyy, however, accused Russia of breaking its commitment to hold off its attacks on Ukraine’s energy assets, claiming the weeklong pause was due to come into force last Friday

“We believe this Russian strike clearly violates what the American side discussed, and there must be consequences,” he said.

The bombardment of at least ﬁve regions of Ukraine comprised 450 longrange drones and 70 missiles, Ukrainian ofﬁcials said.

Russian ofﬁcials provided no immediate response to Zelenskyy’s comments.

Military: U.S. shoots down Iran drone

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press

WASHINGTON A U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday threatening to ramp up tensions as the Trump administration warns of possible military action to get Iran to the negotiating table.

The drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and kept flying toward it “despite deescalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement.

The shootdown occurred within hours of Iranian forces harassing a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the American military said.

The developments could escalate the heightened tensions between the longtime adversaries as President Donald Trump has threatened to use military action ﬁrst over Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests and then to try to get the country to make a deal over its nuclear program. Trump’s Republican administration has built up military forces in the region, sending the aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, air defense assets and more to supplement its presence.

The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C ﬁghter jet from the Lincoln, which was sailing about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast, Hawkins said No American troops were harmed, and no U.S. equipment was damaged, the military’s statement noted. Iranian state media reported that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is investigating the “interruption” of the drone. Semi-official Tasnim news agency posted on its Telegram that before the footage cut out, the drone was able to successfully transfer the images it took back to Iran.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RyAN MURPHy

Activists following agents’ vehicles Tuesday are approached by a federal agent brandishing a firearm in Minneapolis.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BABENKO People take shelter Tuesday in a metro station being used as a bomb shelter during a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine.

three-person race. ARepublican like theother candidates, he says he is the true conservative in the race and that voters will ultimately elect him.

Apro-Cassidy super PAC attacked Letlow with aTV ad beginning Saturday that proclaimed her a“liberal,” accusing her of voting more with then-President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., than the other four Republicanmembers of Louisiana’scongressional delegation.

Cassidy,ashemade the rounds during Washington Mardi Gras last week, expressed conﬁdence that voters will reelect him once they learn what he has done for Louisiana residents during his two terms in the Senate.

Cassidy trumpets “his” infrastructure bill, which is delivering billions of dollars for new roads, bridges and watersystems in Louisiana.Hedoesn’t mention that he was one of ahandful of Republicans who crossed party lines in 2021 to vote for Biden’s$1.2 trillionInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

In his ﬁrstTVad, released last week, Cassidy highlights how he sponsored a bill signed by Trump that aims to crack down on distributors of fentanyl.

Cassidyalso touts hisinfluential role in Washington as chair of the Senate health care committee. He has pitched plans to replace Obamacare that have yetto win passage in Congress.

Cassidy has been voting for virtually all of Trump’s initiatives —including the confirmation of Robert F. KennedyJr. as healthsecretary —and had predicted that Trumpwould stay neutral in the Senate race.

But Trump was unwilling to forgive Cassidy for being oneofseven Republicans who voted to convict him on impeachment charges for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

For at least the time being, Cassidy leads in one important category: He had $10.1 million in cash at the end of 2025, according to the latest FEC reports, whichwere made public this week.

Letlow had $2.4 million that she had raised for her Housereelection. Shewill be able to usethatmoney for the Senate campaign.

Fleming had $2.1 million on hand and still owed himself $3 million from apersonal loan.

PublicService Commissioner Eric Skrmetta has said he is running for Senate but hasn’traised any money Seidenhad slightly more than $1 millionincash,but her personal loan to her campaign accounted for most of that money

Seiden said she met with Letlow and made hera promise.

“I told her,‘I’m not going home. I’m going to work with you,’ ”she said. “I’m goingtoﬁghtalongside her to make sure we win this seat.I’m going to helpher ﬁght for Louisianaand the United States.”

Miguez’sdecision to quit the Senate race didn’tsurprise political insiders, but

his move to seek Letlow’s seat was unexpected. Miguez lives in the town of Erath in Vermillion Parish —outsidethe boundariesofthe 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Baton Rouge through the Florida Parishes up the Mississippi River to Monroe. Acandidate does not need to live in acongressional district to run in it

Jonathon Nave, acampaign aide for Miguez, said in atext that Miguez“has maintained aresidence in the 5th Congressional Districtsince1999 and operated abusiness location in Baton Rouge for over adecade.”

Naveand Miguez didnot specify where in either case.

Navesaid Miguez graduated from LSU.

More recently,Miguez lodgesinBatonRouge at thePentagon Barracks, which are astone’sthrow from the StateCapitol.Senators who live outside of Baton Rouge get to stay at thestate-owned apartments there. Miguez rooms with Sen. Adam Bass,R-Bossier City

Miguez on Tuesday said he is transferring $3.6 million from hisaborted Senate campaign to the congressional race. A$2million personalloanaccountsfor most of that money,according to his FEC report. His family owns an offshore oil and gas business based in NewIberia. Miguez operated it with his father,who died ayear ago.

Miguez pitched himselfas ayoungMAGA warrior duringthe months thatheran for Senate.

“When Iannounced my campaign for the U.S. Senate last year,I promised Louisianans Iwouldstand with President Trump and ﬁghtfor an America First agenda that puts Louisiana familiesﬁrst,” Miguez said in astatement Tuesday. “I remain committed to that promise, and I’m ready to deliverthe kind ofrepresentation that will support President Trump and helpadvancethe mission to Make AmericaGreat Again.”

He was elected to the stateSenate in 2023 in a hard-foughtrace, after servinginthe state House for 81/2 years.

During that race, Miguez questioned whether his opponent,farmer HughAndre, lived in the district. Andre displayed hisdriver’s license toshow that he did. Miguez’sdecision to switch to the 5th Congressional District race, even though he doesn’tlivethere, wasthe talk in political circles Tuesday Chris Comeaux, aRepublican political strategist, notedthatMiguez’s home in Erathisnearly 100 miles from the closest boundary in the district.

Comeauxsaid Miguez has wantedto runfor the 3rd Congressional District seat, where he lives, but that U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, continues tooccupy it.

“How bad does this guy need to be elected to ofﬁce?” asked Comeaux, who hasworked for Higgins.

Miguez is achampion pistol shooter in his spare time. In his U.S. Senatecampaign announcement video, Miguez used agun to blast bottleslabeled “food dyes,” “taxes” and “Marxism.”

Miguez’s22nd Senatedis-

trict includes Iberia, Lafayette andSt. Martinparishes.

The 5th Congressional District seat that he is seekingwas drawntoelect a Republican.Besides Miguez, others whohaveannounced arestate Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge; state Rep. DixonMcMakin, R-Baton Rouge; Misti Cordell, chair of theLouisianaBoard of Regents; and Larry Davis, amemberof the Republican Parish Executive Committee in Livingston Parish

State Sen. Stewart Cathey R-Monroe,said on Tuesday he plans to makehis formal announcement next week.

StateRep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, said on Tuesday he is still weighing his options.

State Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Hessmer,said on Tuesday that he won’trun for the seat “after thoughtful discussion with my wife and prayer.”

Former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves,aRepublicanfrom BatonRouge,announced last weekthathewon’t try to return to Congress by running for Letlow’sseat.

About half of the 5th CongressionalDistrictisinthe Baton Rougemedia marketafter the state Legislature redrew congressional boundaries several years ago. About 30% of the district is in the Monroe media market, withthe rest in Avoyelles Parish andthe Florida Parishes.

The three-day qualifying period for theSenate and congressional races begins on Feb.11for theMay 16 closed primaries. Unaffiliated voters can choose whether to voteinthe Republican or Democratic primaries. The new system for this year meanscandidates are not grouped together in ajungleprimary as they are in statewideand legislative races next year

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

State Sen.BlakeMiguez has announced he is running for the 5th Congressional District seat that Julia Letlowisvacating even though he does not live in the district.

electricityTuesday,said Trevor Jackson, director of the parish’s OfficeofEmergency Preparedness.Mostliveinrural areasoutside of Lake Providence, andmany still have no running water

In Louisiana’snortheast corner, East Carrollisthe state’spoorest parish —and among the most impoverishedareas in thecountry Now,frustration is growing among residents.

“Weare the poorestparish and we have alot of love here,” said Chelsea Brown. “But we feel like we’re forgotten about.”

Just starting to recover

Driving north on La. 65, power lines begin to leanafter Tallulah. By the time the road sign forTransylvania —asmall town justsouth of Lake Providence —appears, neon-vestedlinemen crewsworkto untangle dozens of collapsed poles, some draped across the abandoned tracks of the Delta Southern Railroad.

In Lake Providence, the hum of chain saws and generators cuts through streets littered with downed trees. Volunteers with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief clear debris with the help of skid steers Ice began coating northern Louisiana on the night of Jan. 24, but the real carnage in East Carroll came the following night. Residents recall loud snaps —almost likegunshots —echoing every few seconds through the dark. By morning, the town wascovered with splinteredwood; even the centuries-old cypressand live oaks circling the oxbow lake that gives the town its name had split.

“It was bad, man,” said James Hopkins, who lives in Lake Providence. “I could hearitpopping around.”

He hadwatched as amassive oak in his front yard split in half, shattering the windshield of his Chevy Impala and breaking awater main Aweek later, thetreestill blocks the road, and he’sforced to duck beneath the fallen trunk to enter hishome.

“Itlooks like abombwentoff, like awar zone,” said Debra Hopkins, director of 911 operations for the East Carroll Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Alifelong resident, she says no

tornado, hurricane or any other storm has matchedthe ice’sdestruction in her 69 years.

“EverythingI’ve read said it happens once every 80 years,” she said. “Well, thank goodness I’m not goingtobearound to see it again.”

The town’sbackup generators, meant to provide power for essentialservices, failed. Phone lines were down and government buildings lost power.Hopkins says 911 calls spiked from around 10 aday to morethan 150.

While mostweren’temergencies, the loss of power quickly turned dangerous. Deputies spent hoursextractingelderly residents trapped in their homes, including some on dialysis.

“Wecouldn’tget downthe roadways. Therewere trees everywhere,” said Sheriff Wydette Williams.

Of the ninestorm-related deaths in Louisiana, none occurred in East Carroll, but thecostofongoing outages is clear.Spoiled groceries wiped outpaychecks, gasolinefor generators costsmorethan$100 a dayand many people missed work for days.

“I’mliving paycheck to paycheck; it just kind of threw me back,” saidJames Hopkins.

Ofﬁcials said Entergy,one of two companies providing power in the parish, quickly sent 100 trucks to beginutility repairs, aided by other contractors. By Jan. 26, theNational Guard arrived,and theRed Cross opened amakeshift warming and food distributioncenter in ahigh school

gymnasium. There, volunteers andcaterers preparedroughly 3,500 mealsaday withsupport from FEMA, theRed Cross and local ofﬁcials.Whensupplies ran low,residents were given military “MRE” rations.

Thejailbreak

Around 2a.m. last Friday, as generators hummed in thedark, ambulance driver Jim Holt was on duty in LakeProvidence when alargevehicle spedpast him at 90 miles per hour.Ashecaught a glimpse, Holt saw it was from Briarfield Academy,alocal private school.

“I said, ‘Whereinthe hell are theygoing?’”hesaid. “Somebody done stole that school bus. Holt heard sirens approaching. Apairofpatrol carsﬂew by,then another,thenwhatlooked likethe entire local force.

“Every deputy on theforce was at workthatnight,” he said.“Because they all camebyme.”

The chase unfolded just minutes after eight inmates —all accused of violentcrimes—were discovered missing from theRiverbend Detention Center down the road. The two inmates in thebus led police on a40-mile high-speed pursuit before being captured in Lake Village, Arkansas.

Holt’swifeLisa,the parish coroner,said the breakout was especially frightening for acommunitywhere unlocked doors and ﬁrearmsare part of daily life. She added that once thenews spread, many volunteergroupshelping

with storm recovery left.

“Wehad people pulling out of here because of the threat of the inmates being out. They were scared. Everybody was scared,” she said.

LisaHolt also said she’d heard rumors of unrest inside the detention centerbeforethe breakout, including inmates setting ﬁres for warmth.SheriffWydette Williams said the facility had lost power but was operating on backup generators. He referred further questions to State Police, who saidthe investigation is ongoing.

Still, Williamsacknowledged the storm and jailbreak were “very much so connected.”

Kofie Darden, vicepresident of the parish police jury,saidthe power outageleftthe inmates without heat.

Fixing power, delivering food

On Sunday —nine days after the ice storm —the Holts recounted theweek’schaos over jambalaya at the Transylvania Fire Station. Linemen driftedinand out for quick meals andbathroom breaks as Chelsea Brownladled out plates.

Shortly after the storm, Brown, who lives outside of LakeProvidence, fried up catﬁsh she’d caught theprevioussummer to feed more than 70 of herneighbors.But as theoutagesdragged on, she said, there was little help for those outside LakeProvidence.

“I’ve seen more of the SWAT team than I’ve seenofanybody trying to help someone,” she said.

The dayofthe jailbreak, Brown turnedtoFacebook to plead for help. Afriend in Monroe, Erika Parker, saw the post and quickly secured funding from the World Central Kitchen for40pizzas.

Sincethen, Brown hasdrivendaily to Monroetopickupfood —roughly 300 meals aday provided by the nonproﬁt —and bring it to the ﬁre station.

Her team —including herhusband, Phillip Stilwell and the Holts —havespent each daydelivering food to thosestill without power, including one family who had been sleeping in their carfor warmth because their generator didn’t work.

As thesky turned orange, Stilwell setout with hot plates in his trunk, steering hiscar around downed power linesonwinding countryroads, lined with decaying shotgun houses once occupied by sharecroppers. Abobcat darted across the road, and Stilwell ges-

tured toward the spot where he hunts fordeer

Most folks, he said, gladly accept the food, though asmall minority don’tlike visitors. In one yard, a “Beware of Dog” sign is posted next to astandofﬁsh pit bull barking in front of the car

He sped to the home of an elderly woman who hadn’tleft since the storm because her drivewaywas still blocked by afallen power line. The house, built by her father in the 1960s, ranona backup generator and, like most people Stilwell visited in the countryside, she seemed calm under the circumstances.

“These older folks out here, they’re pretty tough,” said Stilwell. After his final stop, Stilwell turnedontoa farm road to meet his friend Zach Frasier —the man who held the escapees at gunpoint. Frasier said he is concerned for residents of Monticello, his small community in the southwest part of East Carroll.

Frasier added manyofthe people there are elderly and rely on oxygen tanks that are now running low

“Some of the roads out there the oldpeople live down, it’s real muddy,” he said. “They ain’tgetting out.”

And then there are those who may not be as concerned with taking care of themselves.

“There are alot of methhouses,” Frasier added. “People just kind of throwing stuff together to live in.”

Jeff Churchwell, general manager of Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative, which serves most of the parish outside Lake Providence, said Tuesday he’shopeful powercan be restored within the next seven days.

“Our concerns aredeﬁnitely beingheard, and ourneedsare deﬁnitely being met,” said Darden, the police jury vice president.

Butthose at theTransylvania Fire Station said that until all their neighbors have power again, they’ll keep checking on people and bringing food.

Outside an abandoned gas stationinLakeProvidence, acrowd huddled around afood truck serving free fried chicken provided by Gary Martin, who grew up in the town but now lives in Monroe. He drove in Sunday with his daughter and niece after asking an old friend how he could help. The friend’sanswer wassimple: show up.

“Thiscommunityhas always known onething,taking care of each other,” he added.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

James Hopkinsleans against his truck next to adowned tree outsidehis front door in LakeProvidence on Sunday

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Tech stocks pull

Wall Street lower

NEWYORK

The U.S. stock market sank in mixed trading on Tuesday,while gold and silver bounced higher after their latest sell-off.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8%and pulled further from itsalltime high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 166 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.4%.

Several inﬂuential Big Tech stocks weighedonthe market, including dropsof2.8%for Nvidia and 2.9% for Microsoft Such giants have been hampered by worries thattheir stock prices shot toohighand became too expensive followingtheiryearslong dominance of the market.

Stocks of software companies and others seen as potential losers to competitorspowered by artificial intelligence also slumped.ServiceNow fell 7% to bring its loss for the young year so far to 28.3%.

Such declines dragged the S&P 500 to its fourth lossinthe lastﬁve days,eventhough the majorityofstocks in the index rose.

SBA: Green card holders ineligible for loans

NEWYORK TheSmall Business Administration said in apolicy notethat green card holders won’tbeallowed to apply for SBA loans, effective March 1.

The move is the latest by the SBAasitworks to tighten loan restrictions and restructure the agency Last year,ittighteneda requirement that businesses applying for loans must be 100% owned by U.S.citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents,upfrom a51% standard.

In December,itissued apolicy note that said up to 5%of abusiness could be noncitizen owned. But the current policy rescinds that, as well as making lawful permanent residentsineligible, too.

“The Trump SBA is committed to driving economic growth andjob creation forAmerican citizens —which is why, effective March 1, theagency will no longer guaranteeloans for small businesses owned by foreign nationals,” SBA spokesperson Maggie Clemmons said in astatement. “Across every program, the SBA is ensuring that every taxpayer dollar entrustedtothisagencygoesto support U.S. job creators and innovators.”

Josh D’Amaro to take over as Disney CEO

Disney has named its parks chief Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger as the entertainment giant’stop executive.

D’Amaro will become the9th CEO in the more than 100-yearold company’shistory.Hehas overseen the company’stheme parks, cruises and resorts since 2020.The Experiences division has been asubstantial moneymaker for Disney, with $36 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2025 and 185,000 employees worldwide.

The 54-year-old takes over a time when Disney is ﬂushwith box-office hits like “Zootopia 2” and“Avatar: Fire and Ash” and its streaming businessis strong.Atthe same time,Disneyhas seen adecline in foreign visitorstoits domestic themeparks. Tourism to the U.S. has fallen overall during an aggressive immigration crackdown by the Trumpadministration, as well as clashes withalmost all of country’s trading partners.

D’Amaro will be tasked with tapping into Disney’svast collection of intellectual property to help create successful movies and theme park additions, while also pushing for streaming growth and continuing to build up its sports business.

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

Parisprosecutors raid Xoffices

cialsinvestigate childabuse images anddeepfakes

BY SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press

PARIS French prosecutors raided the ofﬁces of social media platform XonTuesday as part of apreliminaryinvestigation into allegations that include spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summonedbillionaire owner Elon Musk for questioning.

Xand Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI alsoface in-

tensifying scrutiny from Britain’s data privacy regulator,which opened formal investigations into how theyhandled personal data when they developed and deployed Musk’sartiﬁcial intelligence chatbot Grok.

Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage lastmonth after it pumped out atorrentofsexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from Xusers.

The French investigation was opened in January last year by the prosecutors’cybercrime unit,the Paris prosecutors’ ofﬁce said in a statement.It’slooking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreadingpornographic images

of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges. Prosecutors asked Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to attend“voluntary interviews” on April 20.

Employees of Xhave also been summoned that same weektobe heard as witnesses, the statement said. Yaccarino wasCEO from May 2023 until July 2025.

In apost on itsown servicedenying the allegations, Xrailed against the raidonits Paris ofﬁce as “an abusive act of lawenforcement theater designed to achieve

illegitimate political objectives rather than advancelegitimate law enforcement goals rooted in the fair and impartial administration of justice.”

In amessage posted on X, the Paris prosecutors’ office announced the ongoing searches at thecompany’soffices in France andsaiditwas leaving theplatform while calling on followers to join it on other social media.

“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is basedonaconstructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law,asitoperates on the national territory,” the prosecutors’ statementsaid.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByJENNy KANE

BY CHRISTOPHERRUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Higher-incomeAmericans andthosewith collegedegrees have ramped up their spending more quickly in thepast three years than other consumers, accordingtonew data released Tuesday,evidence of worsening inequality that may explain someofthe growing pessimism about the economy

Thedata, released by theFederal Reserve Bank ofNew York, also showthat in theﬁnalthree months of last year,lower-income and rural households faced higher inﬂation than higher-income households. Thespendingdata focuses only on goodsexcluding autos, and does not capture likely spending by higher-income households on travel, restaurantsand entertainment.

The ﬁgures add support to the notion of a “K-shaped” economy,inwhich upper-income Americansare fueling adisproportionate share of the consumption thatisthe primary driverofthe economy, while lower-income households seefewer gains. Poorer householdsingeneral often experience higher in-

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

TheShaw Group will more than double the numberofemployees at its Walkermanufacturing facility to make more pipe and fabricated metal for major industrial developments across Louisiana, including those inthe datacenter oil and gas and power sectors.

The Houston-based pipe and module fabrication company will add 209 jobs to itsSunland Drive outpost, hiring immediately,while keeping 165current employees.

ﬂation, with agreater share of theirspending being set aside for goods that have seen prices soarsince the pandemic, things like housing, groceries, and utilities.

The New York Fed’s datashow that householdswith incomes of $125,000 and higher have boosted their spending 2.3%, adjusted for inflation, since 2023, while middle-income households —thosebetween $40,000 and $125,000 —have increased their spending by 1.6%. Those earning below $40,000 have lifted theirspending by just 0.9%,the report showed.

The figures are an addition to the New York Fed’s economic heterogeneity indicators,a series of datasetsintended to track variations in theeconomy by geographic region anddemographic andincome groups. Thegoalistoget abetter senseofhow different groups are faring, trends that can be shrouded by nationwide averages.

The ﬁgures are derived from agroup of 200,000 consumers tracked by theanalytics ﬁrm Numerator.Their data closely tracks monthly retail sales released by the government, theNew York Fed said.

The report underscores apattern that has emerged since thepandemic: Lower-income households fared better in 2021 and2022 when companies were desperate to hire and willing to pay, whilethe government also provided several economic stimuluschecks. Yetbeginning roughly in early 2023, hiring slowed and sharp gains in stock market fu-

The roles will have an average salary of $62,831, 40% higher than theaverage wage in LivingstonParish, according to Louisiana Economic Development

The workforce expansionwill also create 288 indirect jobs, according to LED.

Thecompanywill use LED FastStart, the agency’semployee recruitment, training and retainment arm, and the High Impact JobsProgram, whichgivesreimbursablegrants to companiesfor creating high-paying jobs.

“We’reexcited to welcome new

eled spending gains in wealthier households.

Thedivision is also clear when examined through the lens of education. In 2023 and mostof2024, inﬂation-adjusted spending by non-college households fell below its January 2023 level. It only regained that level in November 2024, while households with a college graduate had by then boostedtheir spending by 4%.

The NewYorkFed notes that college-educated households continued to spend at a rapid pace in 2025 even as hiring slowed and there wereaspate of job cuts in white-collar industriessuchashigh tech,government and marketing.

“The difference in the trend in retail spending between college graduates and nongraduates is consistent with the story of a‘K-shaped economy, Rajashri Chakrabarti, an economic research adviser at the New York Fed, and three colleagues wrote.

The findings echo other recent research, including ashort paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas lastNovember. The DallasFed found modest increases in consumption and income inequality over the past three decades. The wealthiest one-fifth of Americans accounted forabout54% of earnings from1990-99, the researchers found, afigure that had risen to 60% in the 2020-2025 period. The proportion of spending by the richest one-fifth increased to 57% from 53% between those two periods, the Dallas Fed concluded.

team members to ourWalker, Louisianafabrication facility as we continue to grow,” Rhett Phillips,The ShawGroup’sU.S. pipe fabrication operations vice president, said in astatement. “This is agreat opportunity for skilled professionalstojoina strong team, build rewardingcareers andbepartofanoperation that’s investing in its people and its future. Our Walker fabrication facility hasalong legacy of supporting industry in Louisiana and we are grateful to ouremployees andclients for this opportunity.”

The ShawGrouphas ofﬁces in Texas; El Dorado,Arkansas;and LakeCharles andoverseas in the UnitedArab Emirates, Bahrain andIndia Baton Rouge-basedShaw Group, backed by McDermott International, previously operated the Walkerfacility andsold the business to Ithaca Acquisition Holdings in 2020. Ithaca Acquisition then renameditselfShawAcquisition Holdings and continued to operate the Walker facility under the Shawname.

D’Amaro

Storm blamed for six hypothermia deaths

BY BRIAN McCALLUM Staff writer

At least six people died as a result of hypothermia as a result of Winter Storm Fern, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Hypothermia occurs when body temperature drops below 95 degrees, often during prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, according to information from the Mayo Clinic. Without treatment, it can be fatal.

Although several warming centers were established as the subfreezing weather was predicted, two unhoused men died in Shreveport near the downtown area, both due to presumed hypothermia.

Frederick A. Thomas, 63, was old YWCA town Shreveport. after being Knighto in Shreveport. of the other been released one has next-of-kin. He was SporTran was transpo

LSU Health and later pronounced dead.

Four others across north Louisiana also died from presumed hypothermia during the storm

n Melvin Vampe, 74, died in his DeSoto parish home after a long power outage.

n Clara Wilson, 78, died in Franklin Parish n The Coroner’s Ofﬁce in Sabine Parish conﬁrmed the death of a 62-year-old man from hypothermia. A second death was determined to have been caused by other factors.

n A 65-year-old man died in Jackson Parish from hypothermia as a result of a lengthy power outage, the Health Department said Shreveport conditions there.”

Wesley Meacham, of Hope Connections, which provides 37 beds daily but housed 90 through the storm by adding cots, said ﬂyers are distributed based on knowing the landscape of homelessness in Shreveport.

“We know where all the camps are,” he said. “We go around and ask if they want to come in.”

That doesn’t always work Capt. Amy Bowman, of the Shreveport Police Department, said the law enforcement agency made an extensive sweep of the area to direct homeless people to shelters as the storm approached.

“We try to tell them when it is a life-or-death situation,” Bowman said. She said she

DEFICIT

Continued from page 1A

foundation.”

While next year’s audit could show modest gains from increased ticket sales and reduced expenses, Maggard said the bulk of the deficit is unlikely to change in the near future.

In last year’s Sun Belt Conference comparisons, UL ranked seventh out of 14 schools in both revenue and expenses without institutional support When institutional support was included, UL dropped to 12th, ahead of only the University of Southern Mississippi and UL Monroe.

UL reported $33.5 million in revenue with institutional support — about $9 million below the Sun Belt average of $42.3 million. James Madison led the conference at $76.3 million.

In institutional support alone, UL again ranked 12th

at $18.9 million, roughly $9 million below the league average of $27.7 million. James Madison led that category with $59.9 million. Student fees make up the largest portion of institutional support. The Sun Belt average was $13 million, while UL received just under $500,000 in student fees.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

Maggard said increasing ticket sales alone is unlikely to close the gap. “We’re going to need to work with campus to see where additional funding can come from,” he said. “That could be through a cash exchange or finding ways to reduce expenses we pay to the university.”

Clintons finalize agreementto testifyin HouseEpstein probe

BY STEPHENGROVES

Associated Press

WASHINGTON Former President

Bill Clinton andformerSecretary of State Hillary Clinton ﬁnalized an agreement with House Republicans Tuesday to testify in aHouse investigation into Jeffrey Epstein this month, bowing to the threat of acontempt of Congress vote against them.

Hillary Clintonwilltestify before theHouse Oversight CommitteeonFeb. 26 and Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27. It will mark the ﬁrst time that lawmakers have compelled aformer president to testify

The arrangement comes after months of negotiating between the two sides as Republicans sought to make the Clintons, both Democrats, afocal pointina House committee’sinvestigationintoEpstein, aconvicted sex offender who killed himselfinaNew York jail cell in 2019, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend “Welookforwardtonow questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horriﬁc crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to

aRepublican Conference meeting

deliver transparency and accountability for the American people andfor survivors,” Rep. James Comer,the chairofthe House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

Formonths, the Clintons resisted subpoenasfromthe committee, butHouse Republicans —with support from afew Democrats—

had advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges to apotential vote this week. It threatened the Clintons with thepotential for substantial ﬁnes and even prison time if they had been convicted.

House SpeakerMikeJohnson said Tuesday thatany effort to holdthem in contempt of Congress were “onpause.”

U.K. police open criminal investigation into

politician over allegedEpstein leaks

BYJILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON British police on Tuesday opened acriminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public ofﬁce related to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The U.K. government says newly released Epstein ﬁles suggest Mandelson –a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party –may have shared market-sensitiveinformation with the convictedsex offender adecade and ahalf ago. London’sMetropolitan Police force said detectives had reviewed reports of misconduct and decided they met the threshold for afullin-

vestigation. Commander Ella Marriott saidthe force “has now launched an investigationintoa72-year-old man, aformergovernment minister,for misconduct in public ofﬁce offenses.” Misconduct in public ofﬁce carries amaximum sentence of life in prison. Opening an investigation does not mean Mandelsonwill be arrested, charged or convicted. But his friendship with Epstein has now cost him his political career. Mandelson said Tuesday he wasresigning fromthe House of Lords, Parliament’supper chamber to whichhewas appointed for life in 2008.

TheSpeaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth, saidMandelson had informed ofﬁcialshewillretireeffective Wednesday

The announcement came as the government prepared legislation to eject Mandelson from the Lordsand removethe nobletitle,Lord Mandelson, that came with his seat in the chamber.Mandelson will retain the title after he retires unless lawmakers pass legislation to strip it from him —something that hasnot been done for more thanacentury Atrove of more than 3million pagesofEpstein-related documentsreleased by theU.S. Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, whoserved in senior government roles under previous Labour governments andwas U.K. ambassador to Washingtonuntil PrimeMinister Keir Starmer ﬁred him in September over his ties to Epstein.

Congress votestoend partialfederal shutdown

La.delegationfollows partylines on bill

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Louisiana’scongressionaldelegationvoted Tuesday along party lines on abill to approve the funding bills thatend thethree-daypartial federal government shutdown.

President Donald Trump signed the legislation two hours later withHouseSpeaker Mike Johnson standing by hisside in theOvalOfﬁce, holding ascarlet “America is Back” cap

“He’sdone an incredible job,” Trump saidofJohnson,R-Benton.

“The hatisappropriate,” Johnson responded The legislationofﬁcially eliminatesfunding forpublicradio and public television raisespay formilitary members, and investsinshipbuilding industries,among other spendingfor the departments of Energy,Defense, Treasury,State, Labor,Transportation, Health and Human Services, andEducation. It was aclose-runseries of votes thatled to the 217 to 214 vote on final passage forlegislation that funds about75% of the federal government’sagencies and services. The package approves five spending bills through Sept. 30. A sixth instrument in the package allows the Department of Homeland Securitytooperate untilFeb 13 to allowtime for negotiations between Democrats and Republicansoninstituting guidelinesfor how federal agents enforceimmigration laws

Democrats have calledfor major changes to immigration enforcement aftertwo citizens were shot and killed during acrackdown in Minneapolis.

“This administrationhas been using Americans’ taxpayer dollars to terrorize law-abiding immigrants, kill U.S. citizens, detain children and endangercommunities,”saidU.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans. “Wecannot be silent while this president ignores ourconstitution and our rule of law.”

Twenty-one Republicansvoted againstthe bill and 21 Democratic membersvoted forthe package.

Louisiana’sfour House Republicans —Johnson; Majority Leader Steve Scalise, of Jefferson; and Reps. Julia Letlow,ofBaton Rouge, and Clay Higgins, of Lafayette approved of the package.

“These bills further our America First agenda by cutting wasteful spending, supporting our troops and delivering crucial infrastructure forLouisiana communities,” Letlow said, pointing to a$3.5 million appropriationfor awater rescue facility at theLouisiana Fire and Emergency Training Academy in Baton Rouge.

Democratic Reps. Carter and CleoFields,ofBaton Rouge, voted againstthe legislation

“While Isupport the continued functionofour government and ensuring our military personnel and essentialfederal workers receive the paychecks they have earned, this legislation continues to direct billions of taxpayerdollars toward the Department of Homeland Security,” Fieldssaid.“My vote reﬂects asimple principle:no additional federal dollars should be spentinsupport of immigration enforcement strategies that have provenoverly aggressive,ineffective andinconsistent with our American values.”

In additiontothe immigration activities of Homeland Security, the sixth bill in the packageincludes funding the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency,Coast Guard, Secret Service andthe Transportation Security Administration

“Wegot the bills over the line,” Johnson saidmoments after the finalvoteonthe House floor “We’venow funded 11 of the12 separate appropriations funding bills forthe government forthe year.And that’sabig achievement because it’sabig move towards regular order.”

Johnson is referring to Congress’ inability over the past decadeorsotoagree on annual spending measures that traditionally weredetailed in 12 appropriationsbills. Congress hadfallen back on aprocedure of passing resolutions to continue spending at the previous year’slevels, then having leadership merge spending levels into asingle massive omnibusbill on which members of both chambers can only vote

or down.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer,R-Ky.,arrives Tuesday for

Natural gas pipeline explodes

No major injuries reported in Cameron Parish

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer

A natural gas pipeline exploded along the coastline in Cameron Parish on Tuesday, sending ﬂames and smoke high into the air, but no major injuries were reported.

The cause of the explosion near the Calcasieu Ship Channel and the Texas border was not yet clear, said Ashley Buller assistant director of the parish’s emergency preparedness department. The explosion occurred around noon and was brought under control shortly afterward, she said. State Police were investigating. It blew up where the pipeline meets the shore between Holly Beach and Johnson Bayou, said Buller The 28-mile line belongs to

Locals weigh in on rising king cake prices

The dough is worth the dough, they say

BY JA’KORI MADISON

Staff writer

King cake season is in full swing across Acadiana, and this year the conversation isn’t just about who has the best but also about who has the best price. Some local shoppers say they’ve noticed king cake prices have steadily increased over the past couple of years Most, however, say they’re OK paying for higher prices for quality and tradition

Outside Twin’s Burgers and Sweets in Lafayette, a place where the cakes taste like a soft, high-quality cinnamon roll, Darlene Bourque walked out carrying three king cakes, two of which she said she plans to ship out of state. Twin’s is among several local bakeries that offer online shipping

“They’re fresh and I have two of these that are going to Texas,” she said, adding that in her opinion, local bakeries still beat grocery store options in price and taste. Some customers have commented about the higher total cost of the cakes when ordered online The owners of Twin’s Burgers and Sweets say those prices reflect shipping costs rather than any bakery markups. According to twin brothers Billy and Denny Guilbeaux, who own the bakery their king cakes average around $30, while overnight shipping can add roughly $40.

“We don’t make any money from shipping; we make money on the king cake. And the shipping gets there overnight,” the owners wrote in a Facebook post

Bourque said the added cost is still worth it.

“I love Twins and Keller’s I think prices are relatively the same, maybe a little more but I mean you get what you pay for and I don’t mind,” she said. On the north side of town, Keller’s Bakery, a longstanding shop known for a Danish-style dough that produces a rich, buttery and more delicate texture, also had a steady line. Marguerite Ortega, who has purchased her king cakes for many years at Keller’s, said it’s more about tradition than comparison shopping

“I don’t have a preference, but they’ve been here forever, so it’s tradition,” she said. Though she acknowledged the increases: “The prices have gone up, and I mean it’s bad because of inflation, but they’re still good so you still buy them.”

Another Keller’s customer, Paul Cormier, echoed that statement.

“I’ve been coming here for 15 years, and it’s prepared perfect to me,” he said. “I mean, it’s not too sweet or too much bread.”

He said he isn’t worried about a slightly higher bill; the increase is only a few dollars more than in past years. To him, it’s worth the

Delﬁn LNG, which is developing an offshore liqueﬁed natural gas facility nearby The plant is not yet in operation, and preliminary actions were being performed on the line, she said.

The company shut off the line, and the remaining gas was burning off. One worker involved in the operation may have suffered minor injuries and was being taken to a hospi-

tal in nearby Port Arthur, Texas, as a precautionary measure. Students at a school in Johnson Bayou were kept inside during recess as a precaution.

“Everything is under control at this point, and there was not a threat to anything else nearby,” Buller said Tuesday afternoon.

The Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce, emergency preparedness ofﬁcials and the Johnson Bayou Fire Department were all on the scene. Smoke that had previously filled

the sky in the area was fading by midafternoon.

Delﬁn could not immediately be reached for comment Cameron Parish has become an epicenter of LNG production, including Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass terminal, the country’s largest. The process involves converting natural gas to liquid form by supercooling it, allowing it to be exported around the world.

RAISING SPIRITS

BY NEAL MCCLELLAND Contributing

BY KAYLA WOODS-CRANE

LESLIE WESTBROOK

OUR VIEWS

Olympics canbring outthe best in us

Friday evening at the SanSiro Stadium in Milan, ﬂames will once againleap from an Olympic torch as the 2026 MilanoCortinaWinter Games begin.

TheUnitedStatesissending its biggest team ever to thegames, with morethan230 athletes donning the red, white and blue, and racing, ﬂying and spinning across ice, airand snowinpursuitofacoveted medal

None of the athletes on the team are from Louisiana, unfortunately.The youngest team member is 15-year-old freeskier Abby Winterberger;the oldest is 54-year-old curlerRick Ruohonen.

Nevertheless, we believe these gamesgive us arare opportunity to focus on unity ratherthan division for acouple of weeks.

It won’tbeeasy.Cynicism about both the Olympics and the United Statesisclose to thesurface these days.

The former,includingthe governing International Olympic Committee,has become known as much forgreed and crasscapitalism thanitisfor athletic competition (amateurism having been unceremoniously punted years ago).

The latter is in the midst ofwhat many have characterized as anear-existentialcrisis.Recent immigration sweepsand their accompanying protests —attimes greetedwith violencefrom federal agents —havenot just highlighted the stark divisions within our country,but deepened and embittered them.

That’swhere the gamescomein. Theyshould serve as areminder that evenwith intense disagreements, we can still support our fellow Americans. We hopefolks feel asenseofpride when the stars and stripesare raisedand the anthem is played after an Americantriumph.

Who can forget the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid in 1980, an intense moment of national jubilation galvanizedbyagroup ofyoung men unknowntomany of us, but still ours?

It is, of course, sometimesdifﬁcult to separate politics from the games. Statements have been made by performance, as Jesse Owens didpowerfully by refuting noxious Naziracial superiority theories; or by protest, as TommieSmith and Juan Carlos did when they raised gloved“Black Power” ﬁsts while on the podium in Mexico City in 1968, for which they weresenthome.

We note that whether or notone agrees with an athlete’ssentiments, those expressions remind the world that America isabeacon of freedom of speech andthought. It’sacherishedAmerican ideal not universally held, and not every athlete who competes has that right.

As Louisianans, the WinterOlympics canalso provide afascinating opportunity to acquaint ourselves with pastimes unfamiliar to many of us Iceskating, downhill and cross-countryskiing, snowboarding and the luge are noteasily found in the Bayou State.Hockey has hadafew forays into Louisiana on the professional level, but it remains, for many,anovelty sport.

So we hope that many of youare,like us,eagerly anticipating the competition. If thereare politicalstatements,wecan celebratethe right to make them evenifwedon’t agree. That’s what the games can do forus.

Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

YOUR VIEWS

Kennedyplays politics more than focusing on La.

Ijust looked at U.S. Sen. John Kennedy’swebsite. Isee many of his posts about Minnesota and the problems with fraud in their child care facilities. Iamdisgusted that Kennedy is focused on Minnesota’stroubles because it has aDemocratic governor.What is he doing about the cost of health care in our state? So manypeople have seen dramatic increases because of his party’sdecision to give lots of money to wealthypeople in the big awful bill instead of helping the middle class and poor According to theU.S. News &World Report’s2024 BestStates rankings, we ranked last, with particularly low scores in crime, economy, infrastructure and natural environment. We ranked 50th in 2023, also.

Iwould like my senator to focus on our problems and not Minnesota’s problems. From 26 years of recess duty,I recognize the mean kid on the playground who has massive problemshimself and hides it by picking on other kids. Minnesotaisdown and out right now and Kennedy is rubbing their nose in thedirt. How cruel and what awaste of his time when he could be working to improve our health care, environment, educational system,homeowners’ insurance nightmares, etc. Iwish our senator would work harder to pull us up from the very bottom of the country instead of gleefully picking on Minnesota.

JEAN WIGGIN NewOrleans

We’relosingthe Americaour ancestorsfoughtfor

My father and his Greatest Generationdid not battleand defeat theNazis only to have their Gestapo tactics

(“showmeyour papers”) show up in America 80 yearslater.Know thatif you support this effortbyICE and we continue in this authoritarian direction, thatone day theymay showupatyour door for something you said, or wrote or thought.Wesee this in Russia,Iran, North Korea, etc. Don’tthink for a minuteitcan’thappen here. Look how quickly things have already changed in just one year As for illegal immigration, virtually everyone of our ancestors camehere to escape poverty or persecution, the exact same reasons the current immigrants are coming. The problem is not

Recently,the paper published an article by areader titled, “LSU Women’s basketball needs to get itssparkle back.”

Perhaps her letter was written in jest, writing that the LSU team had lost some recent games and wasn’tplaying well. But theletter was an insult to Kim Mulkey (even in jest) because Mulkey’s clothing lacks its fun appeal; get back to colorful, artistic threads instead of her classic look sometimes Without adoubt, Mulkey has sparkled up ladies’ basketball all over the

illegalimmigration; theproblem is that there arenot sufﬁcient legal pathways for people to comehere, even just for workpermits The domestic birthrate is 1.6, not even closetothe 2.1 rate needed to maintain our population and sustain oureconomy.Wewill become an aging population, like Japan, with astagnant economy and lesspayroll deductions to support Social Security.And if you think illegal immigrants collect Social Security, you are wrong. Even with a fake Social Security number,the deductions from theirpaychecks only go into and support theSocialSecurity trust fund; it cannot comeout to them.

LOUIS SHEPARD NewOrleans

city with all of her fans, and coaches one of the top teams in the country She is afabulous coach, and we are all so proud of her and her great team Ijust takeoffense with the writer’s remarks that the only reason Mulkey’s team winsisthat she wears asparkly outﬁt at the games. Sorry,not funny Mulkey could wear jeansand asweatshirt and her team would still be “sparkling” on the court. Geaux Tigers! Case closed.

SUSAN

LIPSEY Baton Rouge

It’s notradical to oppose what’s happening on immigration

Iamnot alunatic; nor do Ibelieve Iama leftist radical. Iwoke up one Saturday morning to another protester having been killed by immigration ofﬁcials in Minneapolis. Regardless of whether one believes in God,teachers such as Jesus and Gandhi provided lifelessons and examples of how to live that fewwould disagree with. Separating children from their families, proﬁling based on skin color and shooting protesters are acts inconsistent with these values. What ICEisdoing is morally repugnant.

Iambegging the Trumpadministration to put ahalt to these tactics and signiﬁcantly alter its immigration strategy before its actions do irreparable harm to this country Every citizen should be appalled by what is happening in Minnesota and elsewhere. As citizens, our primary tools are our ability to express our dissatisfaction and outrage with what our elected ofﬁcials are doing and our right to vote. Iurge all citizens to use both tools to help put astop to what the Trumpadministration is doing to this country DEIRDRE GOLDEN NewOrleans

Stop using euphemisms in education

This is in regards to “patriotic education,” aka “ignoring the parts of our history we don’tlike to talk about.”

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wants our children to be taught history that ignores the uncomfortable truths.

We are agreat nation, not aperfect nation. Our Founding Fathers created the modern republic. We have been an inspiration to others who subsequently rebelled against tyranny in their own lands. However,we cannot gloss over the fact that our ancestors enslaved people. Our leaders forced native peoples off their lands. Our children need to learn this part of our history,not to create guilt, but because it is the truth.

CAROL GALLIEN Harahan

Abrahamisnot taking measlesseriously

Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’sformer congressman and surgeon general, keeps encouraging policiesthathave led to theworst outbreak of measlesin the United States since 1992.

One need not be adoctor to be rather certain, and aghast,that Abraham, now the deputy director for theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention,is helping reverse one of thegreat triumphs of modernmedicine. His attitude is shameful.

3ofevery 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.”

What spurs this observation is twoitems that crossed my desk within ahalf-hour of each other on themorning of Feb. 2.

The ﬁrst was anotice from the “Emergency Health Network” that sometimes comes into my email inbox. The second was astory in the online publication The Bulwark, quoting Abraham. The article was written by multiple award-winning journalist Johnathan Cohn, who wascalled “one of the nation’sleading expertson health policy” by The Washington Post.

The Emergency HealthNetwork’s headline warned of a“surge”inmeasles cases. Just since October, South Carolina alone has experienced 847 cases of measles —more cases in one state in four months than theentire country had in any full year (except asemi-blip up in 2019) since 1994. Indeed, the total of cases in the entire country for eight years combined from 2006 to 2013 was lower than thecases so far in South Carolina’sfour-month outbreak.

Across the United States, the 2,276 cases in all of 2025 was the mostsince 1992. This is no small matter.It’sprofoundly dangerous.The CDC itself reports that“About 1in5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who getmeasles is hospitalized,” and that between “1 and

Plentymore measles statistics like those are almost equally alarming, all for adisease the CDC labels as “highly contagious.” TheNational Foundation for Infectious Diseases reports that some 90% of people without immunity to measles will become infected if they get close to an infected person. An infected person can spread measles from four days before symptomsappear to four daysafterward, and thevirus can survive for nearly two hours in theair or on nearbysurfaces.

Back to the new Emergency Health notice, here’sthe key statistic: “Of those [847] infected, 760 were unvaccinated,15were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 20 were fully vaccinated and 52 had unknown vaccination status.”

In other words, almost theentire outbreak is among the small portion of SouthCarolinians who are unvaccinated. Thecontagion is spreading because peoplearen’tvaccinated against it.

Vaccines work almost all the time; the lack of vaccines is terribly risky

YetAbraham is not just a“vaccine skeptic,” but has pushed policies deemphasizingvaccines (in general, not speciﬁcally measles) and expressed little concern about the re-emergence of themeasles problem that aquartercentury ago was ofﬁcially listed as being in “elimination status.” While this state’ssurgeon general ayear ago, Abraham ended thestate’smass vaccination program and banned seasonal vaccinepromotion.

As people such as Abraham,national secretary of health Robert F. Kennedy

Jr.and Dr.Kirk Milhoan —who heads theAdvisory Committee on Immunization Practices —belittle vaccines, sometimes themeasles vaccine speciﬁcally,more and morepeople across thecountry stop getting vaccines and takingtheir children toget them. Louisiana is among those states that have seen aworrisome decline in thenumber of childhood immunizations.

Yet, unlike when COVID-19 vaccines were rushedintoproduction (and to good effect,bythe way,although with somerisk to young adults),the tremendous efﬁcacy and safetyofmeasles vaccines is well-settled science. This isn’tabout “trusting theexperts,” it’s about trusting the undeniable facts.

Yetnot only does Abraham express skepticism of vaccines, but he actually downplays thedanger of measles itself.

As noted by reporter Cohn in the article mentioned earlier,Abraham said at amid-January press brieﬁng that he is “not really” worried about measles outbreaks.

“You know,” Abraham said, “it’s just thecost of doing business, with our borders being somewhat porous [and] global and international travel.”

WroteCohn, almost dumbfounded: “Asifglobal travel weren’tasmuch of areality ﬁve or 10 years ago, when measles transmission here remained rare.”

Abraham’s nonchalance could be deadly.Before the measles vaccine becamewidely available in 1963, some 400 Americansdied of it each year, with 48,000 hospitalized. After thevaccine, measles became almost extinct but now thedread disease is returning. Abraham must understand that’s not thecost of doing business; it’sanatrocity

Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

Chaosisthe pointofTrump’s waronimmigrants

There’ssomethinguncomfortably familiarabout PresidentDonald Trump’sjackboot approach tothe immigration debate.

Truth-tellers like Cassidy canrescue GOP

Steve Roberts

After two American citizens were gunned down by ICE agents in Minneapolis, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,aconservative Republican from Louisiana, called for “a full joint federal and state investigation” and explained: “Wecan trust the American people with the truth.” President Donald Trump has never believed that. During his ﬁrst term, his chief of staff, former Marine Gen. John F. Kelly,cameto view him as a“pathological liar,” and the Washington Post documented more than 30,000 examples of presidential prevarications. If anything, the president’srejection of reality has gotten worse during his second term. He continues to insist, against all evidence,thatthe election of 2020 was stolen. That pricesare going down. That most immigrants stealjobs and commit crimes. That two of ICE’stargets, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were responsible for their own deaths.

But now,the truth-tellers are ﬁghting backand gaining ground. “The Trump AdministrationIs Lying to Our Faces” starkly headlined aNew York Timeseditorial.

“The administration is urging Americansto reject the evidence of their eyes and ears,” wrote the Times. Administration ofﬁcials “are lying in deﬁance of obvious truths. They are lying in the manner of authoritarian regimes thatrequire people to accept lies as ademonstrationof power.”

Even before Pretti’sdeath, aTimes poll found that only 36% of voters approved of the way ICE washandling its job, while 63% disapproved. And 61% of voters said that ICE had “gone toofar”in their tactics, including nearly 1in5 Republicans. Trump seems to sense his peril and has started to dial down the ferocious federal presence in Minnesota. If this turns out to be an inﬂection point in his tenure, credit the courageousindividuals who deﬁed vicious cold and violent threatsto document ICE’sbrutality

It brings to mind amemorable offthe-cuff stumble by Chicago’slegendary late Mayor Richard J. Daley when he was asked about allegations of excessive force by city police ofﬁcers. “The policeman isn’t there to create disorder,” he said. “The policeman is there to preserve disorder.”

Say,what?

Well, as Earl Bush, the mayor’spress secretaryfor 18 years, memorably advised reporters on another occasion, “Don’twrite what the mayor says; write what he means.” Decades later,a variant of that advice resurfaced, in 2016, when Donald Trump, acandidate known for shocking, even extreme, rhetoricappeared to be the likely next president. Here’s how it was phrased this time: Take Trump seriously,not literally This was repeated by journalistsand advisers, amongothers. And in retrospect, we should have been taking Trump more seriously —aswell as literally Especially as he taunted the press as “fake news,” and as he urged supporters to get violent with protesters who showedupathis campaign events. (“(K)nock the crap out of ‘em,” he saidat an Iowa rally.“Ipromise you, I’ll pay for the legal fees.”)

Barely into his ﬁrst administration, Trump began referringto the media as the opposition party and the“enemy of the American people.”

Meanwhile, fact-checking the president became apreoccupation of major media outlets, revealing what one deep thinker of the FourthEstate termed”Trump’sFirehose of Falsehood.”

By the end of his ﬁrst, chaotic term, Trump’smessages on Twitterbecame so out of bounds that the social media platform censored him. After losing the 2020 election, he launched a failed legal campaign to overturn it and exhorted his followers to“Stop the Steal.” After thousands of those followers stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, even many Republicans were ready to be done with Trump’s chaos.

Yetnow we ﬁnd ourselves back in it. Those on the ground in areas where

U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr.GregoryBovino standswith

convenience store on Jan. 21 in Minneapolis.

Immigration andCustoms Enforcement (ICE) orU.S. Border agents mount their raids describe feelings of terror.People shelter in their homes and avoid public places —even those who are in this country legally

Thefeeling for the rest of us is disorientation. Why is this happening? Indeed, whatis happening?

Thejackboots are only part of the chaos, of course. Another key element is the Trump administration’scommunications strategy,which really should be termed an information war Earlyoninthe Department of Homeland Security’soperations, ICE and Border Patrol made all sorts of perp walks into videos and memes optimized for social media. As violence escalated, asort of disinformation pattern became established. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino or some administrationofﬁcial would make a claim about what happened, and later evidence would show these contentions to be false.

Ashifting series of explanations would be provided for themissions or individualincidents, with no apparent urgency to be accurate or consistent. As litigationcommenced and DHS ofﬁcials were called to testify,judges became frustrated at the rampant false testimony and disobedience of the government. To many Americans, it seems as if the various authorities of DHS and the JusticeDepartmentcan no longer be trusted to tell thetruth.And that is terrifying. Police departments and

academies set clear rules about use of force and other issues. Andcourts have mostly done adecent job of enforcing them.

By contrast, the immigration agents Trump has unleashed on select American cities have invited more disasters becausethey do notseem bound by such protocols.

In Minneapolis, we see alarge-scale escalation over earlier operations in Chicago, New York,Washington and other cities.

It’spossible there would be much more widespread support for Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown if it corresponded more closely to the stated aim of taking violent criminals off thestreet. Unfortunately,that correspondence is wholly lacking. We see violence. We read deeply reported accounts and ﬁnd credible evidence that constitutional rightsare being violated. Andwealsohear lies.

It’sbecoming impossible to believe that thechaos in Minnesotahas been an issue of training. There certainly is no blockage that preventsTrump from grasping what Minnesotans think of it all.

Recently, border czar TomHoman seemed to suggestthat adrawdown of the ICE/Border Patrol operation in Minnesotawas imminent. That would be ablessing, but I’ll believe it when I see it.Meanwhile, expect the information war to continue.

Email Clarence Pageat clarence47page@gmail.com.

“If the truth is ever to win out over propaganda,” writesCharlie Warzel in The Atlantic, “it can only do so in the face of overwhelming evidence, the collection of whichhas become ever more treacherous in the second yearofTrump’s second presidency.” Minnesota Gov.Tim Walz put it more bluntly: “Thank God, thank God we have video.”

Another key element of Team Truth-Tellers are the independent professionals who analyzed those videos and illuminated the damaging facts that Trumpians were trying to suppress. EliotHiggins, the founder of Bellingcat, an online veriﬁcation service, told CNN that it’s“really important to get analysis of events” like the Minneapolis shootings “out to the public quickly,especially when it’sclear the U.S. government, ICE and DHS are willing to immediately start lying about what’s happening.”

The roster of heroes includes TV anchors who pressed administration ofﬁcials with tough but fair questions. When Gregory Bovino,the border patrol chief, claimed on CNN that Alex Pretti was “actively impeding and assaulting” lawenforcement before he wasshot, Dana Bash quickly responded, “He wasn’timpeding it. He wasﬁlming it, which is alegal thing to do in the United States.”

Federal judges have been demanding answers and explanations as well. One of them, Patrick J. Schiltz, who wasappointed by President George W. Bush and clerked for the conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, summoned acting ICE director Todd Lyons to appear in his courtroom and justify “ICE’sviolation of court orders.” Thundered the judge: “The court’spatience is at an end.”

Most Republicans remain feebly fearful of contradicting Trump’sfalsehoods, but afew are ﬁnding their voice. “I am deeply troubled by the shootings in Minneapolis involving federal agents,” Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansaspostedon social media. “Our Constitution provides citizens protection from the government. We have aright to free speech, to peaceably assemble and to bear arms.”

“The death of Americans —what we’re seeing on TV —it’scausing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability,” added the Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, on CNN. “Americans don’tlike what we’re seeing right now.”

The most striking example of truth-telling came from Chris Madel, who ended his bid to be the Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota. “I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of ourstate,” he declared. “Nor can Icount myself amember of a party that would do so

“I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them, ‘I believe Idid what was right,’”hesaid. “And Iamdoing that today.” So hail to the truth-tellers. Slowly,but ﬁnally they are proving to be Trump’sworst enemy. Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com.

Clarence Page

Quin Hillyer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANGELINA KATSANIS

federal agents outside a

Commercial fishers and environmental groups have raised concerns over the large facilities, including the possibility of accidents

The state has embraced the industry as an important source of jobs and revenue, while the country has promoted LNG exports as part of its foreign policy

Delfin, with offices in Norway andPensacola, Florida,has been developing its export terminal around 40 nautical miles off Louisiana’scoast. It is to include three vessels capable of producing 4million tons of LNG, connected to existing offshore pipelines transportingnatural gas, it says on its website. The company says it purchased theUTOSpipeline in 2014, calling it the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf. It was not immediately clear if that pipeline was the same one involved in Tuesday’sexplosion.

Robyn Thigpen, executive director of the advocacy group Fishermen Involved in Saving Our Heritage said she received reports from three ﬁshers who heard the explosion

KING CAKE

Continued from page1B

extra costtoget the king cake you want because it’s only availableduring the Mardi Grasseason. Being from Louisiana,hesaid, makes king cake less about price and more about enjoying it while you can.

“If you ever had aking cake, then you know how good it is and don’tmind buying it,” he said with a laugh.

Across Lafayette, bakeriesand grocerystores are offering awide range of king cake options, with prices varying based on size, ﬁlling and where you

STANDOUT

Continued from page1B

freshman that he was going to be special,” Antoine said. “He was going against some of the best athletes in the state at an early ageand was holding hisown, if not beating them.”

Antoinesaw Boutte play in person earlier this season when the Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers and said it was gratifying to watch his former player succeed at the professional level.

Another former Westgate coach, Phillip Guidry,also had the opportunity to see Boutte play this year. Now the track coach at New Iberia Senior High, Guidry watched Boutte competein the playoffs against Houston. Guidry coached Boutte in

GRAVY

Continued from page1B

Payne will operate Gravy along with Kris Allen as executive chef andPhilippe Callais as front-of-house operator The opportunity came naturally,Payne said, due to proximity of the two locations. When Pat’sDowntown ownerPatrick Dupuis began toying with the idea of retirement, he approached Pamplona ownership about leasing the space.

Allen and Payne always had ideas for another restaurant concept, and alunch spot was not one of them,but with the legacy of Pat’sand the layout of the space,the pair knew they had to build on the foundation laidby Dupuis.

Pat’sDowntown closed in late January

“Pat worked hard for 30 years and built that thing up,” Allen said.

“So, youknow,we’re going to honor that. “We’re going to take the attentiontodetail and the commitment that

from more than11miles away Thigpen was especially concerned because the only full-service hospital in theareahas notreopened since 2020’sHurricane Laura, which devastated southwest Louisiana.

“It’sreally important that people understand they neverreopened ahospital,” she said.

Cameron Parish hasbeen steadily losing population since 2005’sHurricane Rita,which leftmuch of the region in ruins. A2024 estimate put thepopulation at 4,700, compared with

shop. For many customers, it seems thatifthe flavor and texture are right, the cakeisgoinghomewith them, even if it’sata higher price.

Here’sabreakdown of king cake prices at someof the most popular sellers:

Twin’s Burgersand Sweets

n Price: $29.99 for a10inch king cake

n Flavors: Plain cinnamon, Bavariancream, weddingcake, pecan praline, strawberry,blueberry and cream cheese

Keller’s Bakery

n Small cakes: $25-$35, depending onﬂavor

track and ﬁeld at Westgate and said that experience helped shape his football career

“When Istarted working with Kayshon during hisjunioryear,hewas already agreat talent,” Guidry said. “Wetrained him in the speciﬁcs of track and ﬁeld, and he becamea New Balance All-American. He’salways been agreat competitor.”

Guidry said the conditioning Boutte developed in track translated directly to football.

“The conditioninghedid in the spring helped prepare him for the demands of football in the fall,” he said.

Boutte’sfather,Embrick Boutte, said watching his son reach the SuperBowl is theculminationofyears of hard work.

“This is the result of alot of timeinthe weightroom and on the practice ﬁeld,”

around 10,000 at theturn of the century Traditionally tied to commercialand recreational fishing, as wellas theoffshore oil industry, the parish hasinrecent yearspositioned itself as a strategically located LNG hub. Besides Cheniere, two other export terminals are also located in Cameron, and more are planned.

Environmentalactivists expressedconcern over theexplosion and warned over the rapid development of the LNG industry

As he stood in Johnson Bayou watching the smoke

n Medium cakes: $44-$64, depending on ﬂavor

n Flavors: Cinnamonbutter, butter pecan, cream cheese, raspberry walnut, amaretto walnut, strawberry cream cheese and, blueberry cream cheese

GreatHarvest Bread Co

n Price: $37-$42, depending on ﬂavor

n Flavors: Chocolate, cinnamon twist,blueberry cream cheese, praline, turtle, and lemon blueberry cream cheese

Rouses Markets

n Price: $15-$25, depending on ﬂavor

n Flavors/sizes: Vary by location,typically traditional and ﬁlled options

he said. “He has worked veryhard to get here and is ﬁnally seeingthe fruits of that work.”

While he attended bothof thePatriots’ playoff games, Embrick Boutte said he likely will nottraveltothe Super Bowl

“It’salot of expense to go to the Super Bowl,” he said. “I wasable to seehim during the season and in the playoffs, so I’ll probably watch this one from home.”

Embrick Boutte said he stays in regularcontact withhis son and plans to speak with him shortly after thegame.

“I’ll talk to him after the game or the next day,” he said.

For thosewho coached him and watched him grow, themoment is especially meaningful.

“It’saonce-in-a-lifetime experience,” Antoine said.

Pamplona General Manager AndrewPayne, right, and chef Kris Allen will open alunchspotthatwill mainly offer plate lunches in the recently vacated Pat’sDowntown space.

we havehere andthe work ethic, and …plug it in with (Gravy).”

The menu will include meatball stew,sticky chicken, burgers, sandwiches and lighter options, includingbowls, wraps andsalads, accordingtoDeveloping Lafayette.

If theestablishmentdoes wellatFestival,hesaidownership will expand toput in acocktail loungeinthe unusedpart of the building

billow from theexplosion, James Hiatt, director of the For aBetter Bayou advocacy group, argued that communities werebeing asked to carrythe risks of LNG production without realizing much of thebeneﬁt.

“Weare thelargest exporter of natural gas in the world, and to look around this place, you would not know thewealth,” Hiatt said. “Because theydon’t only export thegas, they export the proﬁts too.”

Staff writers Mike Smith and Josie Abugov contributed tothis report.

Meche’sDonut King

n Mini: $19

n Small: $30.56

n Medium: $38.49

n Flavors: Cream cheese, praline, strawberry,Bavarian cream, chocolate, lemon, as well as new ﬂavors piña colada andcookies andcream

Poupart’s

n Single: $25.99

n Double: $42.99

n Triple: $52.95

n Flavors: Cream cheese, chocolate, apple, cinnamon, cinnamonpecan,strawberry,cherry,raspberry,blueberry,lemon and pineapple.

Email Ja’koriMadison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

Boudreaux, John Kerber

John Kerber Boudreaux wasborntoElieand Rosalie BoudreauxonMay 8, 1946. He spent hischildhood in Chalmette, LA. John moved to Lafayette, LA, to attend theUniversity of SouthwesternLouisiana (USL). Partwaythrough his collegeeducation, he enlisted in theUnited States Naval ReserveonJune11, 1967; he wasstationedat theNaval Communications Station in Guam untilhis honorabledischarge on June 19, 1972. John returned to USL, wherehe graduatedwith adegree in Communicationin December 1973.

John moved to Slidell in 1974, wherehestarted working for Martin Marietta.WhileinSlidell, he started aDJbusiness andenjoyed acting with Slidell Little Theatre.

In 1978, ason Wesley wasborntoJohnand his wife, Dr.HollyBroom. A couple of yearslater,John andHollywelcomed their

whereJohnretiredfromNorthrop Grumman. In March 2017, John andArlenerelocated to Lafayette, LA.

He leaves behind his belovedwife of 31 years, Arlene Boudreaux,son, Wesley Boudreaux(Jillian), anddaughter, Darce' Byrd (Chris); hisstepchildren, TraceyStatham, Brenden Hughes (Jody), Kirsten Hughes, andKathleen McClamroch (Mike); his brother, Elie"Bud" Boudreaux(Dolly), sister Margret"Bootsie" Durand (Norris), andbrother, Thomas "Tommy" Boudreaux(Donna) and12 grandchildren.

Thefamilywould like to thank Hope Hospice and John' caretakers.

Acelebration of John's life will be held on Saturday, February 7from 2:00 -5:00 pm at The VincentSeniorLiving facility in the Independent Living building. In lieu of flowers, the familyasks donations be made to Red Oaks Collective (1604 W. PinhookRd., Suite 162, Lafayette, LA 70508) or Louisiana United Methodist Children and FamilyServices (lumcfs.org/donate).

LOTTERY

MONDAY,FEB.2,2026

PICK 3: 5-7-9 PICK 4: 8-2-0-5

When youneed thenews. Wherever youreadthe news

Thenewspaper of record for Acadiana

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

STAFF PHOTO By COURTNEy PEDERSON

Smokecan be seen rising from the location of apipeline explosion in Cameron Parish.

Kevin Foote

Inﬁeld helpsprop up Cajuns

The UL softball season begins at 3:30p.m. Friday against Tulsa in the 40th Louisiana Classic at Lamson Park.

But amonth from now,the lineup could look different from the one second-year coach Alyson Habetz will put on the ﬁeld Friday But barring injuries and slumps, there shouldn’tbemany question marks for the Ragin’Cajuns this spring.

That’sespecially true in the inﬁeld.

“I’ve been around the game long enough to where you can have kids who practice wellorwhatever,but when the lights are on, it’s showtime,” Habetz said. “There’s some kids who just are gamers, so Ilike to give kids opportunities to see what that might look like.”

People person

Demario Davis was helping others long before receiving the million-dollar contracts he’searned over theyears as one of the best linebackers in the NFL. Hazel Magee Fairly made sure of it Davis was a kid growing up in Mississippi when his grandmother would have himand his family members takeplates of food to the elderly andsick in town. That benevolence has contin-

Foradecade in the early 2000s, Jahri Evanswas the best guard in the NFL

ued on amuch grander stage. It’swhy Davis will be in San Francisco on Thursday night for theNFL Honors ceremony Davis is the New Orleans Saintsnominee for the Walter Payton Man of theYear Award. He and 31 other players are vying for theleague’smost prestigious honor,recognizing “players who excel on the ﬁeld and demonstrate asteadfast commitment to creating apositiveimpact beyond thegame.”

Idon’tknow much about what the other 31 nominees have done to serve their communities.

ButIdoknow if any of them

have done as much as consistently as Davis has, they more than deservethe award. There’snot enough space here to list all of the things Davis has spenthis timedoing for thecity of NewOrleans since arriving in 2018. He’sdone everything from working on social-justice issues to mentoring kids to feeding families. He’sdone so much that this is the third timethe Saints have nominated him forthe award. He was also nominated for the2020 and 2022 seasons. He doesn’ttake the nominationsfor granted.

“I thinkanytime you get a recognition of this stature, it takes you back to your why,” Davis said. “For me, my why will always be centered around my faith. Ithink we are called to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And I’msogratefultothis organization because of the platform Ihave here, I’mable to do that.” Locally,Davis has done a little bit of everything. He started aleadership development program with The 18th Ward, anonproﬁt that “builds community through high-quality,affordable sports

His rare mix of size, strengthand athleticism made him thecenterpiece of one of the most dominant offenses in NFL history.During astellar 11-year tenure with the New OrleansSaints, he anchored theprolificSean PaytonDrew Brees offense, an attack that rewrote record booksand redefined NFL offensivestrategy Evans, along with Brees, is one of 15 modern-era finalists for thePro Football Hall of Fame’sClass of 2026. This is Evans’ fourth year on the ballot andthird as afinalist.

“When Ithink of Jahri, Ithink ofdominance, longevity,durability and excellence,”Brees said. “He personiﬁed those traits.”

During Evans’ tenure in NewOrleans,the Saints ranked as atop-10 offense every year he played, gainingmoretotal yards than any team in football and allowing the fewest sacksinthe league —just 274. The unit sent seven differentlinementothe Pro Bowl in that span, and Evans was the anchor of a front that twice won the MaddenProtectorsAward given to theleague’sbest offensive line. Everything the Saints did —from their vertical passinggame to theirprecision screenattack —beganwith the stability Evans provided at right guard. TheSaints offenses duringthe Payton-Brees era were historic. From 2006-16, NewOrleans averagedanNFL-high405 yardsper game,20more than even the TomBrady-led Patriots. They set17 NFL records during Evans’ tenure,including the single-season yardage record (7,474 yards in 2011) and the best third-down conversion rateinleague history (56.7%).

Evans was adriving force in allofit. He wasso athletic the Saints regularly pulled him on passing

plays to isolate him against edge rushers,anassignment virtually unheard of for guards. Those dynamic Saints offenses were built from the inside out. Because of Brees’ height,the 3yards directly behind thecenter were considered sacred ground, and Evans was charged with protecting that space. He did it better than anyone. Opponentscan attest. Pantherslinebacker Luke Kuechly,another Hall of Fame ﬁnalist, recalled that trying to get around Evans was “like

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

JamesMadison played two games last week in Sun Belt Conference play

One of themwas good enough to get UL’s attention heading intoa6 p.m. Wednesdaycontest in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Dukes won 73-64 at league-leading on Thursday

“(The Dukes) have somereally good 3-point shooters,” coach Quannas White said.

The Cajuns still have bitter memories from a90-70 loss againstTroyinthe Cajundome. In that game, the visiting Trojans made173-pointersand outrebounded theCajuns 42-19.

In theloss to James Madison, Troy shot 27.6% from3-point land and got outrebounded 44-33. Cliff Davis led the Dukes’ effort with 23 points and four rebounds. Bradley Douglas added 14 points. After the win against Troy, theDukeslostatSouthern Miss 73-65 on Saturday.James Madison (11-12, 4-7) missednine free throws against the Golden Eagles and shot only 20% from 3-point range. “James Madison is going to run more from an offensive action standpoint,” White said. “They

will get outand run, but in the half court is where they can hurt you, becausethey runa tonof ball screen actions. That ends up in ﬂares and they do somedifferent things.

“It’sahigh-quality offense that’sgoing to run aton of actions. Just like any other game, we’ve just got to prepare. We have agameplan and we’ve just got to execute it.”

TheCajuns (7-16, 5-6SBC)are showing signs of consistency over the past two weeks with three wins in four games. The Cajuns sweptthe Georgia teams at home. AULteam that started the season 1-11 withseemingly little hope is tiedfor 10thplace andone gameout of ﬁfth place in the Sun Belt.

“I thought it wasagood week for us,”Whitesaid. “Wedid a great job of playing afull 40 minutes. Iwas really impressed …as awhole, Ithought theteamwas well-connected on defense. The guys have been listening and buying in.”

Dorian Finister (14.1 points per game, 4.7rebounds pergame) has reached doubleﬁgures in 13 of his past 14 games.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

Saints linebacker Demario Davis runs onto the field beforeagame againstthe Tampa BayBuccaneers on Oct.26atthe Caesars Superdome. Davis is the Saints’ nominee forthe Walter Payton Man of the year Award.The only other Saints playertowin it wasDrewBrees in 2006.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints guard Jahri Evans acknowledges the fans after

STAFFPHOTO By BRADKEMP

UL redshirtfreshmanLily Knox is hoping to nail down one of the starting outfield spots.

12:30 p.m.NASCAR Cup Series FS2

3:30 p.m. NASCAR Cup Series FOX BASEBALL

2p.m. Panama vs. Dominican Rep.MLBN

7p.m. MexicoGreen vs. Mexico Red MLBN MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

5:30 p.m. Seton Hall at Villanova PEACOCK

6p.m. Michigan St. at Minnesota BTN

6p.m. St.Thomas at S. Dakota St.CBSSN

6p.m. Notre Dame at Louisville ESPN2

6p.m. Wright St. at Robert Morris ESPNU

6p.m. UCF at Houston FS1

6p.m. Butler at Providence PEACOCK

6p.m. Texas A&M at Alabama SECN

6:30 p.m. Creighton at Georgetown PEACOCK

7p.m. Georgia Tech at CaliforniaACCN

7p.m. Colorado at BaylorPECOCK

8p.m. NorthwesternatIllinoisBTN

8p.m. Arizona St. at Utah CBSSN

8p.m. Oklahoma at Kentucky ESPN2

8p.m. ByU at Oklahoma St.FS1

9p.m. Clemson at Stanford ACCN

10 p.m. Iowa at Washington BTN

10 p.m.Washington St.atOregon St. CBSSN

10 p.m.Utah St. at NewMexico FS1

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

7p.m. UConn at DePaul TRUTV GOLF

9a.m.LIV Golf: Riyadh Golf Club FS1

11 a.m. LIV Golf: Riyadh Golf Club FS2 NBA

6:10 p.m.DenveratNew york ESPN

7p.m.New Orleans at Milwaukee GCSEN

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

6p.m.Boston at Florida TNT

8:30 p.m.St. Louis at Dallas TNT MEN’S SOCCER

1:50 p.m.RCLensatESTroyesACFS2

6:55 p.m.CFMonterreyatClub Xelajú FS2

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

7p.m.Atlanta at Austin USA

Koepka’s receptionwasn’tabout him

SAN DIEGO BrooksKoepka

would never consider anything a dream week without atrophy,certainly not atie for 56th ﬁnishing 19 shots behind the winner.But it felt likeone at Torrey Pines.

“There’salways that little voice in the back of your head,” Koepka hadsaid afew weeks before his return to the PGA Tour after four seasons reapingSaudi riches on LIV Golf. He was referring to whether the PGA Tour would provide away back,which it did.

There also were doubts —that little voice —about how he would be receivedinthe locker room, on the range, in front of amicrophone and particularly outside the ropes. It made him uneasy Koepka had every reason to feel so much gratitude at Torrey Pines “Welcome back” was asteady refrain on Thursday and it never stopped until he ﬁnished witha birdie on Sunday

Strange about this vibe, however,isthat Koepkawas never embraced like this even beforehe left for LIV.Hehad swagger. He was big, bad Brooks. He was admired more than he was adored

Why so much love?

an eye toward returning to the PGA Tour

Thetour welcomed him back, too, though Reed will have to wait until September

million in prize money (not countingthe majors).

LSU adds junior college OT from transferportal

LSUadded anothertransfer to the 2026 team Monday night when junior college offensive tackle Adrian Lambannounced his commitmenttothe Tigers.

Lamb, who’slistedat6-foot-5 and 290pounds, played in 10 gamesthis past season as aredshirt freshman at Georgia Military College.He also hadoffers fromAlabama, South Carolina and Auburn, all of which he had visited over the past month.

Lamb, aSouth Carolinanative, is expected to enroll in the summer He will be the 10th transfer offensivelineman to join the team before head coach Lane Kifﬁn’sﬁrst season. LSU overhauled the position andonlybrought back two starters in redshirt senior center Braelin Moore and redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Weston Davis.

Sugar Bowl will host CFP semifinal Jan. 15 IRVING, Texas The College Football Playoff on Tuesday announced the dates and sites for the quarterﬁnals andsemiﬁnals for the 2026 and2027 seasons.

The 2026 season’s quarterfinals will be Dec. 30 at theFiesta Bowl and Jan. 1atthe Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl.Semifinals are Jan. 14 at the Orange Bowl andJan.15atthe SugarBowl.The championship game will be Jan. 25 at AllegiantStadiuminLas Vegas. The 2027 season’s quarterfinals will be Dec. 31 at the Sugar Bowl andJan.1 at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl. Semifinalsare Jan.13atthe Orange Bowl and Jan. 14 at the Cotton Bowl. The championship game will be Jan. 24 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

“I don’thave an answer,” Koepka said after the third round. “It’s tough to put myself in their shoes. It’scool, though. I enjoy it. Ithink it’s great. Ithink people are just excited. I’m glad they’re excited to see me back, to have me back. I’m hopeful it continues.”

There was another little voice as Koepka walked up to the 18th green on the South course before a large crowd in the opening round. This came from aspectator: “Welcome back, Brooks. The tour is better with you.”

More than afive-timemajor champion andformer No. 1player in the world, Koepka wasperhaps seen as asymbol of the fractured golf landscape slowlygetting patched back together.That’s what the fans want LIV Golf was abig topic all week at Torrey Pines. It started with Koepka arriving on Monday. And then came Wednesday’snews that formerMasters championPatrick Reed also was leaving LIV to play afull European tour schedule with

Koepka is not the solution, not in the wayJon Rahm presumably thoughthe wouldforce uniﬁcation with his decision to bolt for LIV. Buthemight be theﬂicker of light at the end of tunnel.

“As you’re seeing, the dominoes arestarting to fall,” HarrisEnglish said. “Maybe those guys on theLIV tour are not that happy out there and the grass is not greener on theother side. They’re seeing thePGA Tour getting stronger andhaving more success, and seeingthatmoney is not the end-all, be-all, thatdoesn’tfulﬁll them.”

It’s always aboutthe money

That’s why so many players left for LIV in thefirst place. And while the established tour always offeredrelevance,even players whohatedeverythingabout LIV appreciate how much the rival league has helped their bank accounts.

“We’ve all beneﬁted from this chaosinone wayoranother,”

Justin Rosesaidaweek before he came to Torrey Pines and set the tournament scoringrecord

Rose mentioned theequity shares in the PGA Tour,and the 11 tournaments nowoffering $20

“But we need apremium product,”Rosesaid. And then speciﬁc to Koepka he added, “This is the ﬁrst timewe’ve had someone who moves theneedle come back our way.”

Koepka —and Reed —strengthen the PGA Tour and weaken LIV whichisoff to arough startinits 2026 debut this week in Saudi Arabia. Phil Mickelson (family matter) and LeeWestwood (injury) have announced they won’tbein Saudi Arabia or Australiatostart the year Koepkadid everything rightat Torrey Pines except puttthe poa annua greens. He wasgrateful the PGA Tour brought him back, and it showed. And he talked about falling in love withgolf again and howmuch he cared, another side of Koepka rarely seen “Just like everybody else, you walkinto aroom, nobody wants to feel exiled,” Koepka said. “They justwant to be loved.”

ForKoepka, it’sontoPhoenix. Barring arunner-up finish or bettertoget into the signature events, he will next play his hometown eventinWest PalmBeach, Florida. As one longtimecaddie noted,“People won’t be talking about this in three weeks.” He’s probably right

But there is clear momentum for the PGA Tour,and Koepka is abig part of that. During thelast visit to Torrey Pines,when the Genesis Invitation wasrelocated therebecause of the deadline wildﬁres near Riviera, there was optimisma PGA Tour deal with the Saudis was close. Now it’s as faraway as ever,and Adam Scottdoesn’tsee thatchanging. He feels the bestchance for any agreement was when LIV had only one year underits belt. Now LIV entersits ﬁfth season.

“Timing hastoalign for big, intricate things to come together,” said Scott, aplayer director at the White Houselastyear when President Donald Trump metwith PGA Tour brass and thehead of Saudi Arabia’sPublic Investment Fund.

“There wasn’talot of time behind LIVand now thereis,” he said. “It’sharder and harder That’s my take from amillion miles high. They’refour years in and they’ve got something going on. They’re going their direction and maybe it was easier when therewas less direction.”

Whereitall goes now remains to be seen.Scott still believes “it’sall going to end in agood spot.”

“I don’tknow what they’reup to,” he said. “I like what what we’re up to. It feels good out here.”

LIVGolftogetﬁrstworld rankingpoints

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

LIV Golf received aboostonthe eve of starting its fifth season when the Official World Golf Rankingapproved the Saudi-funded league to receive ranking points forthe first time. The unanimous decision Tuesday by the OWGR board came with some conditions, however,that did not sit well with LIV GolfCEO Scott O’Neil.

Points will be distributed onlyfor top-10 finishes and ties, compared with other tours that have smaller fields and leave out only the bottom finishers.

“No other competitive touror league in OWGR history has been subjected to such arestriction,” LIV said in astatement.

For its 57-player league, LIV will get points based on a“Small Field Tournament” category that also applies to tournaments like the Tour Championship and the PGA Tour’s signature events that do nothave acut.

AP FILE PHOTO By CHARLES LABERGE

LIV Golf CEOScott O’Neil laughs while playing withBrooks Koepka of Smash GC at Riyadh Golf Club on Feb.5 in Riyadh, SaudiArabia.

thewinner, comparedwithnearly 47 points to Chris Gotterup when he won the Sony Open, the weakest field in the early part of the PGA Tour season. ThePhoenix Open winner thisweek gets about 59 points. It wouldbeaboostfor aLIV player if he gets on aroll, such as Joaquin Niemann winning five times last year and Rahm finishing in the top 10 in allbut one of the 13 events.

Theworld ranking is important because thefour majors useitto helpdetermine fields. The U.S. Open and British Open created categoriesfor LIVplayers when they weren’tgettingranking points. TheMasters andPGA Championship took care of worthy players through special invitations.

ﬁnd away of doing so thatwas equitable to the thousands of other players competing on other tours that operate with establishedmeritocratic pathways,”Immelman said in theOWGR announcement. “Webelievewehave found asolution that achieves these twinaims.”

Immelman, now thelead CBS Sports analyst, became OWGR chairman last year and had been in constant contact with O’Neil.

“It’sextremely important forus to be able to rank the best players in the worldasaccurately as possible,” Immelman said. “That has been at the top of my mind throughout this process that I’ve been involvedin. I’mthankful to Scott for his time and effort in this.”

LIV said it saw thedecision as a “ﬁrst step toward astructure that fully andfairlyserves theplayers,the fans,and the future of the sport.”

Memphis’ Jackson traded to Jazz in eight-player deal

Jaren Jacksonhas been traded to the Utah Jazz in what will be an eight-player,multiple-pick deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, apersonwith knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Tuesday Jackson, Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams will be going to Utah in exchange for Georges Niang, Kyle Anderson, Walter Clayton and Taylor Hendricks, said the person, who spoke to theAPon condition of anonymitybecause the trade wasstill pending league approval.

Alsoincluded in the dealare threefirst-round picks for Memphis,which hasbeenintalks about trading guard Ja Morant as well. Instead it decided to part with aformer defensive player of theyear

Giants hiring Chiefs Nagy as offensive coordinator

NEW YORK Patrick Mahomes’ offensivecoordinator is comingto New York to coach Jaxson Dart JohnHarbaugh is hiringthe Chiefs’ Matt Nagytobethe Giants’ newoffensive coordinator Harbaugh is providing asoft landing fora fellow member of the Andy Reid coaching tree after Kansas City didnot renewNagy’scontract as anon-playcallingOCand brought back Eric Bieniemy Nagy,47, is giving Harbaugh an experiencedplay-callerand former NFL head coach on theheadsets whose familiar system could help Dart grow and ﬂourish during his criticalsecondpro season. Harbaugh, alongtime head coach with aspecial teams background, kept an open mind to younger candidates before hiring Nagy

“Under these rules, aplayer finishing 11th in aLIV Golf event is treated the same as aplayer finishing 57th,” the LIV statement said. “Limitingpoints to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at ahighlevel but finish just outside that threshold, as well as emergingtalentworking toes-

tablishthemselvesonthe world stage —preciselythe playersafair and meritocratic ranking system is designed to recognize.”

Considering that LIV Golf has been without ranking points since the leaguelaunched in 2022, its strength of ﬁeld will be lower.

Thedecisioniseffective immediately asLIV Golf begins Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.

The board decision ends adebate that has been around almost as long as LIV. TheOWGRrejected the ﬁrst application in October 2023 when former chairman Peter Dawsonsaid the board could not fairly measure LIV againstthe other tours.

The question was not about the quality of players, but rather how they could be ranked equitably with thousands of other players across 24 tours because LIV was perceived as having aclosedshop instead of pathways and turnover

“Weentered this process in good faith and will continue to advocate for aranking system that reﬂects performance over afﬁliation,” LIV said. “The game deserves transparency.The fans deserve credibility.And the playersdeserve a system that treats themequally.”

Sabalenka remains No. 1; Djokovic up to third formen MELBOURNE,Australia Carlos Alcaraz completed acareer Grand Slam of singles victories with his Australian Open title, but there was some solace for the manhedefeated,24-time GrandSlamsingles champion Novak Djokovic. While Alcaraz maintained his No. 1ranking on the ATPtour ahead of Jannik Sinner,Djokovic, who beat Sinnerinthe semifinals at Melbourne Park, moved up one place to No. 3. It is the first time the 38-year-old Djokovic has been inside the top three since August 2024. On the WTATour,Aryna Sabalenka maintained hertop ranking despite her loss in the final to Elena Rybakina,who moved up twoplaces to third in the rankings, with IgaSwiatek in between at No 2. On TV AUTO RACING

LIV’sseason opener in Riyadh is likely to award about 23 points to

“Wefully recognizedthe need to rank thetop men’splayers in the world but at the same time had to

TheOWGR saiditwould continue to review any changes LIV makes to itsleague for 2027, which would result in awarding more or fewer —points, and whether it remains in the system.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByDENIS POROy

Brooks Koepka tees offonthe second hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines duringthe firstround of the FarmersInsuranceOpen golf tournament on ThursdayinSan Diego.

Doug Ferguson

It’s time forSun Belt-MAC Challengetoend

Annual conference matchups awaste of time andmoney

Sometimes ideas soundpretty good on paper,but don’twork in reality The MAC-Sun Belt Challenge ﬁts in that category. It’stime to put an end to that ploy

There isn’t onegood reason for any of those teams to be traveling aroundthe country to play nonconference games in February

Kevin Foote

On Saturday,the Central Michigan men’sbasketball team will visit the Cajundomein the middle of the conference season, while the UL women’steam will traveltoface Akron. There’sabsolutely no reason either of those games should be played.

“You’re playing anonconference game in the middle well, at the end of conference,right beforeyou get ready to gotothe conference (tournament),” UL women’scoach Garry Brodhead said. “Not good.” Simply put, it’sawaste of time and money

DUNCAN

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he performed in the biggest games on the biggest stage. In 10 playoff games, Evans played 456 pass-block snaps, many of them against elite interiordefenders such as Kevin Williams, Calais Campbell and NdamukongSuh, butheallowed just two sacksand 20 total pressures.

During the Saints’ 2009Super Bowl run, he didn’tallow asingle sack and surrendered only ﬁve pressures in three games. Many of the deﬁning plays during the Saints’ postseason run were made possible by Evans’ blocking, including Pierre Thomas’ touchdownsinthe NFC championship gameand thescreen-passtouchdown in SuperBowlXLIVsprung by Evans clearing out Coltslinebacker Gary Brackett.

“When Jahri got his hands on you, it was over,” said Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, afuture Hall of Famer whosquaredoff with Evans daily in practice. Evans boasts one of the strongest résumés of the 15 modernera ﬁnalists for the Class of 2026.

FOOTE

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For years, the biggest void in the program has been at third base. That’snot the case thisyear with Brooke Otto being counted on there.

“She’sworked reallyhard,” Habetz said of Otto, aMcNeese State transfer.“Ithink she’sonly going to get better.Iknow the potential is deﬁnitely there.

“I think as long as the mindset is there, and she’sgoing to work through things.She’sjust been really consistent in the heart of the lineup.” Otto would have played third base last season had she not suffered aseason-ending knee injury before the season began.

The middle inﬁeld is back with Cecilia Vasquez (.276, 3HRs, 31 RBIs) at shortstop and Mia Liscano(.288, 10 SBs) at second base.

Emily Smith is back to play ﬁrst base after afantastic freshman year of .362 with six doubles, 12 homers and 43 RBIs. Smithalso will ﬁll the designated hitter spot at times, potentiallyalternating with LSU junior transfer MadysonManning.

The catcher is expected to be Alabama sophomoretransfer Kennedy Marceaux, whoisan inﬁelder by trade. True freshman NatalieJohnson and sophomore Mia Norwood (.264) are options there as well.

“The battery is kind of thebiggest question mark, but over the lastmonth andahalfIguess, it’s beenreally fun to watch that develop and grow,” Habetz said. “I think it’sgoing to be really good.”

The outﬁeld is avery different story.Certainly it’spossible three

CAJUNS

Continued from page1C

The hottest Cajun, though, has been De’Vion Lavergne (9.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.9 assists per game)

“His conﬁdence just continues to grow,” White said. Another emerging presence for

This is the third season theSun Belt has been involved in these forced matchups, and thetwo leagues agreed to continue playing two more seasons after last year’sseries of games.

Thepurpose of playing these gamesistobolster the credentials of thetop teams in the two leagues,sothe top teams have abetter argument for at-large berths into postseasontournaments.

The biggestproblem with that goal is it forces 90% of the teams to sacriﬁce for theunlikely possibility of oneSun Belt or MAC team beneﬁtting once everytwo or threeyears at best.

There’snothingwrong with striving to be better,but in these tough economic times for midmajorprograms, common sense needs to prevail.

It’sbeen 13 years (2013) since

“WhenJahrigot his hands on you, it wasover.”

CAM JORDAN, Saints defensiveend

He is one of eightcandidates to make an NFLAll-Decadeteam, whichisvoted on by the Hall’s selection committee.Heearned six Pro Bowl selections and was afirst-team All-Pro four consecutive seasons, twice as many as Saints Hall of Famer Willie Roaf. Only29offensive linemen in NFLhistory have been named first-team All-Pro four or more times; 25 of them arealready in the Hall of Fame. Theonly ones who aren’tare either not yet eligibleorJahri Evans Evansalso was remarkably durableand dependable. He started every game for thefirst seven years of his career and missed just nine games over 12 seasons. Durability.Consistency.Postseason excellence. Evans epitomizes what aHall of Famerlooks like.

“As acoordinator in Dallas, I coached and sawﬁrsthand Larry Allen,” Payton said. “Jahri was

theSun Belt men got multiple NCAA Tournament berths, and those two teams —Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky —aren’tinthe conference any longer Likewise, multiple Sun Belt women’steams haven’tadvanced to theNCAA Tournament since 2012. Andagain, those two programs—Little Rock and Middle Tennessee —are no longer in the league.

On theMAC side, it’s been since 1999 when Kent State and Miami of Ohio pulled it off, while the women achieved the feat in 2018 and 2019 with Buffalo and Central Michigan.

In other words, that’sa lot of athletic departments wasting thousands of dollars in hopes of achieving something that won’t likely happen. Take thecase of the UL women against Akron. The Cajuns (2-20) and the Zips (4-17) are acombined 0-19 in road games this season.

every bit thesame level of player as Allen:steady, tough and a fantastic teammate. He’sone of thetoughest and smartest players Ihave ever been around in coaching, and that, coupled with his unselﬁshness and dependability,made him one of the most respected players in our locker room.Hehad outstanding makeup and character.Everyone in the building loved him

“Jahri was the best player to play on arguably the best offense in NFL history.”

In theSuper Bowl era, every championship team in theﬁrst 41 years featured at least two Hall of Famers. Somehow,the 2009 Saintsstill have zero Hall of Famers. The team that started 13-0; beat Kurt Warner,BrettFavre and Peyton Manning in consecutive postseason games; and produced one of the most potent offenses of all time had Evans as thebest lineman and arguably the best player on that team.

If theHall of Fame is meant to honor players who deﬁned their era, dominated their position and madeaprofound impact on winning, then Evans is the deﬁnition of aHall of Famer It’stime to put him in Canton.

theoutﬁeld for theopportunity.

“Wecall her Money,” Habetz said of Hart.“She’sjust agamer She can play second base, she can play theoutﬁeld. Can pretty much play anywhere. Maddy Manning can play anywhere.”

Sophomore Gabbie Stutes ( 243, 9RBIs)has asimilar story.Also a middle inﬁelder by trade, Stutes is learning the outﬁeld to get more at-bats.

“It was definitely different because Iplayed middle infield all my life,” Stutes said. “Getting a little bit of work out there before thegames has helped me and coach Aly working withme. It’s thesmall things. In the outfield, it’sa lot of small things.”

The mostseasoned option is returning senior Erin Ardoin (.275, 8RBIs).

“It’s going to be maybe alot of different looks, just to see kind of who rises to thechallenge,” Habetzsaid.

How can it be agood idea for either one to pay to travel fora gamenobody involved in either program wants to play?

The UL women just got back from along road trip where weather complications meant thewhole team wasn’table to ﬂy back home. Nowthey have to travel back into apotentially icy region (Ohio) with compromised airports.

Andfor what exactly?

Not every team has to participateevery year.Brodhead is volunteering theCajuns to sit it out next season.

“I’ve never played my starting lineup in that game,” said Brodhead, whoalso suggested the gains by the top teamsthat win thechallengegames are minimal or nonexistent. “Yes, Iwant to win, but Idon’twant to get hurt in anonconference gameinthe middle of theconference season. If Iget aplayer hurt, Iwant it to be tryingtowin aconference championship.” Essentially,all of those teams are being held hostage by an idea that just doesn’twork.

Is there away to salvage it?

Maybe. Perhaps the twoleagues can select the top three teamsfrom each conference at somepoint in January and they could play each other in February

At least those six programs have somemomentum and perhaps one or two might beneﬁt from such an exercise.

For the rest of the teams, though, the twoconferences are just depleting the resources from these programsthat are struggling already

This foolishness needs to cease as quickly as possible. When UL men’scoach Quannas White was asked about Saturday’s game, the look on his face said it all.

“Me personally,Iwould like to stay in the conference, especially around this time,” White said. “It’sﬁne before the conference starts, but once you’re in the thick of things …having agame like this that really doesn’taffect what you do in conference. Ithink it’sjust bad timing.”

Nottomention just throwing away money

WALKER

Continued from page1C

players will get off to hot starts and secure those spots for the rest of theseason.But it’snot obvious who those three will be at this point.

“In the outﬁeld, Ithink there’s alot of wiggle room for that because we can gowith the speed lineup, or we can go moreofa power lineup,” Habetz said. “Just tryingtoﬁgure those thingsout. I thinkit’sgoingtobeexciting.”

Junior Dayzja Williams (.321) is back after surgery in the fall and could play in center or right ﬁeld.

UL fanscan’t wait to watch redshirt freshman Lily Knox swing thebat after sittingout all of last yearwith an injury.But Friday will be her ﬁrst collegiate game, so there’sstill some unknown there.

The same can besaid for true freshman Haley Hart, who is an inﬁelder by tradebut moved to

UL is redshirtfreshman Karris Bilal, who played 33 and 34 minutes in the two winsoverGeorgia State and Georgia Southern.

“He’sanelite scorer,” White said.

“Hecan scorethe ball at allthree levels.

“He’sconstantly improving because of the player development that we have in place. He’s also a good passer

In thecircle, health is thebiggest issue. Aftersitting out all of last season —two years in Sage Hoover’scase —senior LexieDelbrey andthe junior Hoover ﬁgure to be the 1-2punchonthe weekend.

“BothSage and Lexie have highlevel pitching experience, so they know what challenging experiences look like,” Habetz said. “There may be someshort-term growth that needs to happen …but Ithink they’ll both do great at that.”

Sophomore Arizona Statetransfer Julianne Tipton is also in the picture.

“A great addition,” Habetzsaid of Tipton. “Just has somereally good pitches and has, again, competed at ahigh level.”

Senior Bethaney Noble (4-6, 5.07 ERA) and true freshman Bailey Mackles will battle for innings as well.

“Another thing that probably doesn’tshowupona stat sheet is his defensive awareness. He understands where to be on ball screens, our pick and roll defense, even when he’sguarding theball. He does agood job of keeping the ball in front of him.”

Email KevinFooteatkfoote@ theadvocate.com.

programming and workforce developmentfor youth and families from every neighborhood in thecity.” Davis met weekly with 25 young leaders to mentor them on being servant leaders in the community In 2013, Davis and his wife Tamela started the Devoted Dreamers Foundation. The mission of that is to help youth grow spiritually,mentally and physically.Proceeds from his “Dining forDreams” fundraiser help provide micro-grants to small businesses. That alone has helped morethan 5,000 people in New Orleans. His annual “Dinner with theDavises” event with thelocal Boys and Girls Club chapter emphasizes the importance of family mealtime.

“New Orleans is such an easy place to serve,” Davis said. “There is aneed like there is everywhere. But the heart and willingness of the people to come alongside you to serve is what makes it special.” Davis played akey role in ºhelpinggrow girls’ ﬂag football in Louisiana and his homestate of Mississippi. His workdoesn’t end there. Davis visited France last year as an ambassador forthe NFL, which will host its ﬁrst ever gamethere next season. The league announced Monday that theSaints will be one of the teams playing there.

“I’mable to have aworldwide impact with trips like going to Paris,” Davis said. “So it’satremendous honor to be able to (be nominated to) get this award. Buttobeable to live out the why is just so rewarding.”

While the days of delivering food as akid helped plant the seed for Davis, he started really giving back during his college days at Arkansas State. He’d often give speeches at the local alternative school.

“Once Igave my lifetoChrist, it became moreabout living for something that wasgreater than myself,” Davis said. “I had always been about the glory I

could get on the ﬁeld. Once my lifechanged, it becameabout how can Iserve? How can Iuse the platform to impact the locker room and how can Iimpact the community?”

His influence in the locker room is just as powerful as his impact in the community and on the field. Ask any player about how the Saints didn’tlet go of the rope after starting 2-10, and chances are they’ll mention somespeech Davis gave during tough times. There are 1,696 active players in the NFL. Youwon’tfind many morerespected than the 37-yearold Davis. It wasevident the day after the season ended, as several players madetheir way to get him to autograph ajersey If Davis’ nameiscalled Thursday night, he’d becomejust the second Saints player to win Walter Payton Man of the Year Drew Brees wonitinthe 2006 season, his first one in New Orleans.

Davis makes one thing clear

“I do want to winthe award,” he said.

Perhaps the third time will be the charm.

He’d not only be the second Saints player to winthe award but also the second player from Mississippi to winit. The other wasPayton, the late, great Chicago Bears running back whom the award is named after Growing up, Davis always heard about Payton’sgreatness. Davis researched Payton by reading about him in the encyclopedia. He learned about Payton’slegendary workethic of sprinting up and downhills or dodging trees while running through the woods.

“That was my ﬁrst timetrying to embody somebody Ihad heard about,” Davis said. “Not only was he ‘Sweetness’ on the ﬁeld, but it was also his kindness and character that went before him

“That’swhat Iwanted to represent. Iwanted to have my character speak just as loudly as my game.”

Indeed it has.

Email RodWalkeratrwalker@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRADKEMP

UL right fielder Dayzja Williams makes arunning catch against South Alabama on April 19 at Lamson Park. Williams, whohit .321 last season, is back after undergoing surgery in the fall.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByMICHAEL DEMOCKER Saints guard Jahri Evans protects quarterback DrewBrees as he throws apass against the San Francisco49ers on Jan. 14, 2012. Evans is a finalist for the 2026 Pro FootballHallofFame.

Area teams earn soccer playoff berths

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

Over the past nine years, the Acadiana area has had at least one soccer program reach the state ﬁnals each year

During that time in the girls playoffs, St Thomas More has reached the Division II title game every year since 2017, while Teurlings Catholic (2019 in Division III), and ESA (2019 and 2018 Division IV), have played for the state championship in their respective divisions.

On the boys side, the area has had at least one team reach the ﬁnals each of the past four seasons, headlined by Teurlings Catholic (2025 in Division II), St. Thomas More (2023 and 2022 in Division II), Ascension Episcopal (2025 in Division IV) and ESA (2024 in Division IV).

On Tuesday, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association announced the soccer playoff pairings, and 43 local programs — 21 boys and 22 girls learned the road they must travel in order to extend the area’s ﬁnals streak

“A lot of it is a tribute to the soccer culture here in Lafayette and the areas around it,” Teurlings Catholic girls coach Dave Lapeyrouse said. “To have Lafayette high schools do well in the playoffs and to consistently make the semis and ﬁnals each year, it is kind of expected a little bit because of the soccer community here.”

“Soccer in the area has really been developing. I think the pipelines are in place for what needs to happen for the sport to continue to grow, especially for the girls,”

Catholic High of New Iberia girls

coach Brian Moody said “I think (the success) says a lot about the programs in the area ﬁrst and foremost, but it also says a lot about the traction that the parents are now starting to get into it, and it is paying off.”

On the boys side, St. Thomas More (No. 2 in Division II), Teurlings Catholic (No. 3 in Division II), Vermilion Catholic (No. 3 in Division IV), and Ascension Episcopal (No. 4 in Division IV) all received top-ﬁve seeds in their respective divisions.

And that is something that was important to the Eagles (15-2-1) and coach Troy Hebert going into the season.

“We are very excited about being the No. 3 seed,” said Hebert, whose Eagles will play host to No. 30 Thomas Jefferson in the ﬁrst round of the Division IV playoffs. “This is the best regular season that VC has ever had. So, the threeseed is great because now we get to stay home until the semiﬁnals.”

On the girls side, the only two

PREP REPORT

teams to receive a top-five seed are the Rebels (No. 5 in Division II) and Panthers (No. 5 in Division IV). The Cougars, who lost in the state ﬁnals last year, are the No. 6 seed in Division II, while Acadiana Renaissance is also a No. 6 seed in Division IV

“I kind of anticipated us being around the top six,” said Lapeyrouse, whose Rebels will play host to No. 28 Pearl River at 6 p.m. Thursday in the ﬁrst round. “So, there was no surprises based on our results.

“Look, at the end of the day, you put together a schedule, you try to do your best in winning those games, staying healthy and playing good soccer so that you are kind of on the uptick going into

the playoffs,” Lapeyrouse said “We’ve had some really good moments this year, and we’ve had some struggles. So, I think the draw is ﬁne.”

While Moody is pleased with the top-ﬁve seed, he understands that everyone’s record begins 0-0 in the playoffs.

“Our goal has been to take it one game at a time,” said Moody, whose Panthers will play host to No. 28 Catholic High of Pointe Coupee. “We have four freshmen starting for us, so we are really young. I didn’t want the girls looking too far ahead, and I still don’t want them looking ahead.”

Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@theadvocate.com.

SCOREBOARD

Palais des Sports de Gerland Montpellier, France Purse: €612,620 Surface: Hardcourt indoor Men’s Singles Round of 32

Carreno Busta, Spain, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Martin Damm Jr., United States, def. Hubert Hurkacz (7), Poland, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Titouan Droguet, France, def. Jan Choinski, Britain, 6-2, 7-6 (2). Ugo Humbert (5), France, def. Botic Van de Zandschulp, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4. Arthur Fils (6), France, def. Valentin Royer, France, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (4), 6-2. Ugo Blanchet, France, def. Andrea Vavassori, Italy, 6-4, 6-3. Men’s Doubles Round of 16 Albano Olivetti and Theo Arribage (4), France, def. Inigo Cervantes and Pedro Martinez, Spain, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-6. Arthur Reymond and Clement Chidekh, France, def. Hendrik Jebens, Germany, and Ray Ho, Taiwan, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1). Matej Vocel and Tomas Machac, Czechia, def. Vasil Kirkov, United States, and Bart Stevens, Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4. WTA Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open Tuesday At Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Purse: $1,206,446 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Women’s Singles Round of 16 Liudmila Samsonova (5), Russia, def. Janice Tjen, Indonesia, 6-2, 6-2. McCartney Kessler, United States, def. Leylah Fernandez (6), Canada, 6-3, 6-2. Hailey Baptiste, United States, def. Emma Navarro (4), United States, 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3. Clara Tauson (3), Denmark, def. Simona Waltert, Switzerland, 6-3, 6-1. Women’s Doubles Round of 16 Desirae Krawczyk and Soﬁa Kenin, United States, def. Asia Muhammad, United States, and Erin Routliffe (1), New Zealand, 6-1, 2-6, 12-10. Barbora Krejcikova, Czechia, and Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, def. Xu Yifan, China, and Liudmila Samsonova, Russia, 6-2, 7-5. Janice Tjen, Indonesia, and Alexandra Eala, Philippines, def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Leylah Fernandez, Canada, 7-5, 3-6, 10-6. WTA Ostrava Open Tuesday At Ostravar Arena Ostrava, Czech Republic Purse: $283,347 Surface: Hardcourt indoor Women’s Singles Round of 32 Rebecca Sramkova (4), Slovakia, def. Vendula Valdmannova, Czechia, 6-2, 6-3. Katie Boulter, Britain, def. Lucie Havlickova, Czechia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Viktorija Golubic (5), Switzerland, def. Sinja Kraus, Austria, 6-4, 6-0. Women’s Singles Round of 16 Katie Volynets, United States, def. Tatjana Maria (1), Germany, 7-5, 6-1. Caty McNally (6), United States, def. Tereza Martincova, Czechia, 6-4, 6-4. Alycia Parks, United States, def. Elina Avanesyan, Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Women’s Doubles Round of 16 Ivana Corley and Carmen Corley, United States, def. Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers, Spain, and Angelica Moratelli, Italy, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6. Quinn Gleason, United States, and Anna Siskova (2), Czechia, def. Jesika Maleckova, Czechia, and Anna Blinkova, Russia, 6-2, 6-4. Women’s Doubles Quarterﬁnals Shuo Feng, China, and Madeleine Brooks, Britain, def. Vendula Valdmannova and Julie

Pastikova, Czechia, 1-6, 6-1, 10-6. WTA Transylvania Open Tuesday At Arenele BNR Cluj-Napoca, Romania Purse: $283,347 Surface: Hardcourt indoor Women’s Singles Round of 32 Anastasia Potapova (5), Russia, def. Lucia Bronzetti, Italy, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. Wang Xinyu (4), China, def. Kaitlin Quevedo, Spain, 6-3, 6-0. Daria Snigur, Ukraine, def. Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, France, 6-3, 6-3. Rebeka Masarova, Switzerland, def. ElenaGabriela Ruse, Romania, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Jaqueline Cristian (2), Romania, def. Lucrezia Stefanini, Italy, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Women’s Singles Round of 16 Oleksandra Oliynykova, Ukraine, def. Anna Bondar (8), Hungary, 6-4, 6-4. Yuan Yue, China, def. Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Women’s Doubles Round of 16 Kaja Juvan, Slovenia, and Maja Chwalinska, Poland, def. Greet Minnen, Belgium, and Anna Bondar, Hungary, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain,

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

St. Thomas More player Connor Baer kicks the ball upfield against Teurlings Catholic defender Luke Viator during their soccer match earlier this season. Both teams are going to the playoffs, with STM facing Carencro and Teurlings meeting Natchitoches

BY LINDA GASSENHEIMER Tribune News Service

Ready to roll

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Sushi is the perfect specialty for an extroverted chef.

Creating and serving colorful platters of rolls, seared ﬁsh, fresh vegetables and other treats to an adoring crowd? That’s right up chef Hung Nguyen’s alley

Instead of toiling back in the kitchen, his work as a private sushi chef puts Nguyen front and center, as much a part of the occasion as his celebration-ready plates of sushi, sashimi or any kind of dish his hosts want, according to the chef.

“I do a modern, neo-style sushi that’s a mixture of different cuisines,” said Nguyen, who is from Abbeville and worked as a sushi chef at Tsunami for almost 20 years. “I’m not just slapping the fish on a plate. I’ll add oranges, strawberries, kiwi. I also do edamame, my version of bang bang shrimp, gyoza, beef carpaccio, fried rice, lo mein — I tell my clients, anything I can do for you, it’s not a problem at all. My business model is to make sure my clients don’t do anything but sit back.”

He went full-time with his private catering company Winning Catering, about five years ago, and weekends have been booked up ever since, according to the chef. His brother, Timmy Nguyen, owns Fishbox Sushi in Lafayette,

and Hung Nguyen often helps out there as well. He said that he developed a passion for cooking from his grandmother when he was young, and growing up, he just knew he liked helping people and being around them.

After diverting from a plan to become a dentist Hung Nguyen landed on restaurants and catering — a great ﬁt for his attention to detail and showman’s personality

“I’m really proud of what I do, because it’s become such a local sensation,” he said. “I usually do parties at people’s homes, and my favorite thing is the smaller parties, because it’s more personal. I joke around, they ask questions, and they get to know the history and the details behind everything I’m doing.”

The sushi chef said he sources his ﬁsh from New Orleans to order, which means his products are fresh and the ﬁsh isn’t sitting in storage.

“I buy the highest grade fish, and of course, it all goes through a process that kills bacteria and

Yields

Roshi ramen from Chow yum in Baton Rouge

Chef Hung Nguyen runs Winning Catering in Lafayette.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

A sashimi platter is served up from Winning Catering

TNS PHOTO By LINDA GASSENHEIMER Chicken Mac and Cheese with Lettuce and Tomato Salad

Theno-knockcolleague

Dear Miss Manners: Iama professor at asmall university.One of my colleagues has the annoying habit of entering my ofﬁce without knocking. These are not social visits: She invariably needs help with her computer or wants to borrow instructional materials, and she just opens the door and walks in.

spaces andthat knocking is unnecessary,but my policy has alwaysbeen to knock on my colleagues’ doors, even if they are ajar or fully open,and wait to be invited in.

TODAYINHISTORY

conference at Yalta.

By The Associated Press

It may be alearning experience for you as well.

Before we moved to this building, her ofﬁce was afew doors down from mine, and she would simply shout for me whenever she needed something. If Ididn’trespond, she would shout louder

Afriend has suggested that Ikeep my doorlocked, even while I’m in my ofﬁce, butIreally don’tlike the inaccessibility this creates, especially for my students.(Also, I’m fundamentally lazyand prefer not to havetoget up and cross theroom to open the door every time someoneknocks.)

Dear Miss Manners: Idon’t know if it’s afaux pas for an adult to cry in public, excepting at awedding or funeral. Ithink mostpeople would not cry in public on purpose, but Iknow Ihave on occasion (as discreetly as possible), when Icould not seek privacy in time. Ihave also seen people crying, and Isympathize. If we notice an adult crying in public, is it morepolite to pretend we don’tsee them? Offer ahandkerchief? Say something?

Today is Wednesday, Feb.4,the 35thday of 2026. There are 330 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Feb.4,1997, acivil jury in SantaMonica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, ordering Simpson to pay $33.5 million to thevictims’ families.

Also on this date:

Iﬁnally sent her atesty email asking her to come to my door rather than shout for me as if Iwere adog. She stopped doing this, but her feelings wereclearly hurt She just doesn’tpick up on the subtler signals of body language and tone of voice by which most peoplewould realize that their behavior had offended someone.

Iknow there must be some verbal middle ground between hoping she will notice my compressed lips and clipped manner,and blowing up and asking if she was raised by wolves, but Idon’tknow what it is.

Ithink she feels that ofﬁcesare somehow public

Please tell mewhattodo or say that will get thejob done withoutunnecessarily embarrassing oroffending this person.

Gentle reader: This is going to be easy.Think of this person as you woulda studentwho lacks knowledgewhich it is your jobto teach.

MissManners will, however,remindyou that your methods aredifferent when teachinggraduatestudents and undergraduates: more collegial, with arecognition of greater expertise and experience. Thus, not “You are supposed to knock before entering,” but rather, “Please knock, as Imight be occupied.”

Gentlereader: Alegitimate reason totake notice would be to see if there is somethingone can do, which includes either rectifying theunderlying cause or expressing sympathy.Not, Miss Manners must emphasize, satisfying one’sown curiosity about the cause. Which reason applies will depend on circumstances —aswell as whether you yourself were thecause.

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

Continued from page5C

Three Little Sisters n Taco Sisters, 3902 Johnston St., Lafayette

These generously portioned street tacos are a great way to experience Taco Sisters, aLafayette spot known for freshingredients, house-made limeades and lemonades and friendly,family-run service. The “Three Little Sisters” come with smoked chicken, pork and brisket,makingit one of my favorite lunches where you don’thave to

make limiting choices.The crumbly cheese and light crema addthe perfect amountofgarnish to the greens andmeat spilling out of these tacos, and you can choose ﬂourorcorn tortillas. Irecommend getting one of their bold,herbybasil lemonades on the side.

—JoannaBrown, staff writer

Classic burger n Curbside Burgers, 4158Government St., BatonRouge

When Iﬁnd myself in the mood forsomething simple yetpacked with taste, I alwaysturn to Curbside

Burgers’ classic burger

It’sa 7-ounce, high-quality beef patty that not only is ﬁlling but also easily satiates the taste buds. It’s topped withAmerican cheese, fresh butter lettuce, tomatoes,house-made pickles and red onions between atoasted, buttered brioche bun.

Now,I’ll admit that I’m not afan of red onions on my burger,but it’s always easy to order the Classic without them. Andwith or without onions, theburger is satisfyingly ﬁlling. Complete themeal with aside of Curbside’sfries, which are always cut fresh.

—Robin Miller,staff writer

In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 19, was kidnapped in California by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. Hearst was caught on camera participating in abank robbery with the extremist group that April and subsequently found guilty of bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison. (President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence, and she was later pardoned.)

century monarch King Richard III. In 2023, the U.S. shot downasuspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, saying it was equipped with hightech gear foramilitarylinked aerial surveillance program.China denied the balloon was used for spying on sensitive North American military sites, insisting the ﬂyover was an accident involving a weather balloon.

Today’sbirthdays:

In 1789, electors unanimously chose George Washington tobethe ﬁrst president of the United States.

In 1801, John Marshall took ofﬁce as chief justice of the United States, aposition he would hold for 34 years.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, BritishPrimeMinister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began awartime

SUSHI

Continuedfrom page5C

parasites, andthat’swhat makes it sushi-grade,” he said. “A lot of chefsdon’t do this,but Ibrine and cure my salmon,which gets rid of an aftertaste it can have from thestore. Everything Idoissuper fresh, and you can tell. Sometimes, in a sushi restaurant, you don’t know how long it’s been sitting.”

Customers can inquire about booking Winning Catering throughFacebook. Hung Nguyen saidthat after decades spent working 70-hourweeks in restaurants, the opportunityto make great memoriesfor his clientswhile spending more time withhis family has been ablessing.

“After my second child wasborn, IknewI needed

In 1976, morethan 23,000 people died when asevere earthquake struck Guatemalawith amagnitude of 7.5.

In 2004, Facebook had its beginnings as Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched “TheFacebook.”

In 2013, British scientists announcedthat skeletalremains they had discovered during an excavationbeneatha Leicester, England, parking lot were, beyond reasonable doubt, the remains of 15th-

to do something,”hesaid. “I love that Iget to do this on my own time, but what Ilove mostabout my job is that it’s always acelebra-

tion of people’slives.”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

communitiesacrossthenationandaroundtheworld.Whenyousupportyour

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

STAFF PHOTO By ROBINMILLER

Curbside Burgers’ classic burgerand fries

Former Argentine President Isabel Peron is 95. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 78. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is 73. Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is 67. Country singer Clint Black is

PROVIDED PHOTO

Beef carpaccioisservedupfrom chef Hung Nguyen.

AQuARIus (Jan 20-Feb. 19) Be open to suggestions but verify information before initiating change. The precautions you take will ease your mind and encourage you to trust your instincts.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Take a moment to evaluate every angle of sensitive situations. Partnerships will require special attention and thought to maintain balance. A close friend will shed light on your life.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Slow down and make your life less stressful. Don't take on too much or make promises you'll regret. It's time to revise your routine and hit the reset button.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Take a moment to breathe and to chip away at what burdens you most. Be the one to dictate what you will and won't do. Life is about choices, and it's time to do what's best for you.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Stretch your imagination, and you'll come up with a winning situation. Act fast and on your own behalf. The change you initiate now will help you expand your skills, outlook and connections.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Discipline and follow-through are everything. Structure your day to ensure you reach your goal. Refuse to let your emotions run the show when practicality is necessary.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Be aware of what you know and where you fall short. It's never too late to learn something new or

to venture down a path that can enrich your life. Communication is the route to resolving unfinished business.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Refuse to let anyone play with your emotions or talk you into something you'll regret. Consider what's real and what's manufactured by people looking for a handout. Protect your assets.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Interacting with people who stimulate or teach you something new will help you map your way forward. Live and learn as you go, and something magical will manifest.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Take your time; be the witness, not the instigator. Life is about choices, knowing what's important and following through when the time is right.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Keep the momentum flowing, your eye on your target and your energy on physical action. Let your mind entertain unique alternatives, and you'll come up with a new and exciting way to use your knowledge.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) When opportunity knocks, recognize what's available and act. You have plenty to gain if you are willing to adopt lifestyle changes. Rethink your financial position and how you can use your skills.

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

ToDAy's cLuE: I EQuALs F

CeLebrItY CIpher

better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

It is inevitable that ameritorious deal or twowill be missed by theperson choosing the short lists forthe annual International Bridge Press Association awards.

Ifthisdealhadbeenonthedefenselist, it might well have won. It occurred during theItalian Club ChampionshipinSeptember2012(which wastoo late for the 2012 awards). Sitting West was Agustin Madala, one of the world’s most talented players, who was borninArgentina butrepresents Italy It was originally reported by Ana Roth from Argentina. In the auction, Iamnot sure about North’s double, which would usually be negativeshowing lengthinboth minors.

Defendingagainstfourhearts,Madala ledthe spade jack, Rusinow, promising the queen.

South won with dummy’sace and wouldhave done best to start trumps, but he played aclub to hisace.

West saw that if he were on lead, he would sacrifice atrick with whatever he led. So he discarded aspade.

Declarer cashed his top heart. West, still not wanting the lead, threw hisking under the ace.

Southnow led alow heart.West continuedhis brilliant work by playing low. East, Norberto Bocchi, wonwithhis jack and shifted to the diamond queen. Declarer could have escaped for down one by playing low on this trick and on East’sdiamond-jackcontinuation.Butin desperation, he covered the queen. West wonwithhisace,cashedtheheartqueen, and continued diamonds. The defenders took two hearts and three diamonds for downtwo ©2026 by NEA,Inc., dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed

ToDAy’s WoRD ARBITER: AR-bih-ter:A person with power to decide adispute.

Average mark22words

Timelimit 40 minutes

Can you find 33 or morewords in ARBITER?

yEsTERDAy’s WoRD —MInoRITy

Bridge

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore