The Advocate 02-18-2026 by The Advocate

FATTUESDAY FUN

DixieMafia terrorized Gulf Coastfor decades

Keyplayerran scams, orderedhitswhile behind bars at Angola

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

On aspring day in 1971,a

shackled Kirksey Nix walked into aLouisiana courtroom with abullet lodged in his side. Then 28,hewas accusedof being one of threearmed intruders who forcedtheir way

into thehome of Frank Corso, aNew Orleans grocer,setting off an Easter night gunfight that left Corso dead and Nix wounded —the bullettoo dangerous to remove,according to court records. Three years later,heand his accomplices were sentenced to life in prison at the Louisiana State Peniten-

tiaryatAngola.

Theson of an Oklahoma judge,Nix was morethan a convicted murderer. He was a key player in theDixie Maﬁa, aloose criminalnetwork that operated across the South —including parts of theMississippi

ä See DIXIE, page 11A

Kirksey Nixwas akey player during the Dixie Mafiaera, even operating as a conartistwhile behind bars.

SUN HERALD FILE PHOTO

‘A

servant leader’

BY SOPHIATAREEN

Associated Press

CHICAGO The Rev.Jesse L. Jackson, aprotege of Martin Luther King Jr.and two-time presidential candidate wholed the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’sassassination, died Tuesday.Hewas 84.

As ayoung organizerinChicago, Jackson wascalled to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, shortly before King was killed, and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King’ssuccessor Santita Jackson conﬁrmed that her father,who had arare neurological disorder, diedathome in Chicago, surrounded by family Jackson led alifetime of crusades in the UnitedStates and abroad, advocating forthe poor and underrepresented on issues, including voting rights, job opportunities, educationand health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders,and through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms,pressuring executives to make America amore open and equitable society Andwhenhedeclared, “I am Somebody,” in apoem he often repeated, he soughttoreach people of all colors. “I may be poor,but IamSomebody; Imay be young; butI am Somebody; Imay be on

JesseJackson,who ledthe CivilRights Movement fordecades afterKing, dies ä See JACKSON, page 8A

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO

The Rev. Jesse Jackson addresses the crowd at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

STAFF PHOTOSByJAVIER GALLEGOS

Riders toss beads to the crowdasthe 82nd Lions ClubNew RoadsMardiGras parade rollsthrough NewRoads on Tuesday

The Community Center Carnival Club of Pointe Coupee parade rolls through NewRoads on Tuesday.

Ayoung paradegoer dons somebeads during the Lions Club NewRoads Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Man who ran toward Capitol building arrested

WASHINGTON U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., arrested an 18-year-old man Tuesday after he ran from his vehicle toward the west side of the Capitol Building armed with a shotgun.

Capital Police Chief Michael Sullivan said the unidentified man parked a Mercedes SUV near the Capitol, got out and ran “several hundred yards” toward the building before ofﬁcers intercepted him and ordered him to the ground.

Speaking at a news conference following the arrest, Sullivan said the gunman was wearing a tactical vest and gloves and had a Kevlar helmet and gas mask in the vehicle.

The shotgun was loaded and he had additional rounds on him, the chief said.

Sullivan said the motive was under investigation, including whether members of Congress were the target. Congress is not in session.

Sullivan said the department has video footage, but he asked the public for any footage they might have of the incident.

“Who knows what would have happened if we wouldn’t have officers standing here?” the chief said, adding that the department had run active shooter drills in almost the identical spot in recent months.

Sullivan said the young man was not known to authorities and described him as not being from the area. The chief said the vehicle was not registered to the suspect, who has multiple addresses.

Tuesday’s arrest comes one week before President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before Congress Sullivan said the incident does not change the agency’s plans. “We take the State of the Union very very seriously,” he said.

Costa Rican authorities probe U.S. man’s death

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica Costa Rican authorities said Monday they were investigating the killing of a U.S. citizen in an apparent robbery

Kurt Van Dyke, a 66-year-old Costa Rica resident and local hotel owner in Puerto Viejo on the country’s Caribbean coast, was killed Saturday, according to the Judicial Investigation Agency

His body showed signs of strangulation and stab wounds and was undergoing an autopsy, the statement said.

Two men armed with at least one gun had threatened Van Dyke and a woman, stolen objects from the home and apparently a vehicle, authorities said The woman escaped without serious injuries.

Van Dyke was part of a wellknown California surﬁng family

A 2021 obituary of his mother Betty Van Dyke said that she was part of a pioneering group of early female surfers and her first husband Gene Van Dyke was also a well-known northern California surfer

N.Y. church explosion injures 5 people

BOONVILLE, N.Y A fiery explosion that ripped through a church in upstate New York on Tuesday injured five people, including the pastor and firefighters who responded to a report of a gas odor in the building, officials said. New York State Police were investigating the blast, which sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air around 10:30 a.m. at the Abundant Life Church in Boonville.

The church, about 50 miles northeast of Syracuse, was reportedly heated by propane cylinders, according to troopers. Local firefighters were dispatched to the church, and four people were in the basement when the furnace turned on, triggering an explosion. A firefighter on the first floor trying to ventilate the building was thrown against a wall by the blast, according to a preliminary investigation.

The Rev Brandon Pitts, 43, and four members of the Boonville Fire Department, aged 43 to 71, were sent to area hospitals with injuries.

All ﬁve were listed in critical but stable condition, according to police.

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz

Temporary shutdown comes as it holds indirect talks with U.S.

BY JAMEY KEATEN and STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press

GENEVA Iran announced the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday for live ﬁre drills in a rare show of force as its negotiators held another round of indirect talks with the United States over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program.

It was the first time Iran has announced the closure of the key international waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, since the U.S. began threatening Iran and rushing military assets to the region. It was not immediately clear if the strait had been closed, but such a rare and perhaps unprecedented move

could further escalate tensions that threaten to ignite another war in the Middle East.

As the talks began, Iran’s state media announced that Iranian forces had ﬁred live missiles toward the strait and would close it for several hours for “safety and maritime concerns.”

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile warned that “the strongest army in the world might sometimes receive such a slap that it cannot get back on its feet.”

Iran’s foreign minister later adopted a different tone, expressing optimism about the talks and saying “a new window has opened” for reaching an agreement.

“We are hopeful that negotiations will lead to a sustainable and negotiated solution which can

serve the interests of relevant parties and the broader region,” Abbas Araghchi told a U.N. disarmament conference after leading the Iranian delegation at the talks held in Geneva.

He added that Iran “remains fully prepared to defend itself against any threat or act of aggression,” and that the consequences of any attack on Iran would not be conﬁned to its borders.

He made no speciﬁc mention of the military drills or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S President Donald Trump, who scrapped an earlier nuclear agreement with Iran during his ﬁrst term, has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear program Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own.

Trump has also threatened Iran over the killing of protesters.

Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, led the U.S. delegation at the latest indirect

talks, held inside the residence of the Omani envoy to Geneva. Oman, a longtime regional mediator, had hosted an earlier round on Feb. 6. There was progress in the talks but many details remained to be discussed, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity The Iranian delegation said they would present more detailed proposals in the next two weeks to narrow gaps, the ofﬁcial said.

Araghchi, who led the Iranian side, also said he met with Director-General Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday in Geneva. The Iranian minister said they discussed the agency’s role in helping to achieve an agreement.

Trump said Monday he planned to be involved in the talks, at least indirectly “I think they want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” he told reporters.

Festivities usher in the Year of the Horse

People celebrate Lunar New year with prayers, fireworks and more

BY KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press

BEIJING — Traditional prayers, ﬁreworks and fairs marked the Lunar New Year on Tuesday — alongside 21st-century humanoid robots.

The activities ushered in the Year of the Horse, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, succeeding the Year of the Snake.

Thousands of people in Beijing jammed into the former Temple of Earth to buy snacks, toys and trinkets from stalls. Sun Jing, who brought her parents to the capital for the holiday, said the atmosphere was as lively as in her childhood

“I haven’t felt such a strong sense of Lunar New Year festivity in a very, very long time,” she said. Crowds descended on popular temples to burn incense and pray for happiness and success in the coming year The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China and some other East Asian nations and is celebrated outside the region, too.

As every year, China celebrated the Lunar New Year with a TV show and once again the humanoid robots were a central part of the performance Monday night.

One of the highlights of the

CCTV Spring Festival gala was a martial arts performance by children and robots. For several minutes, humanoids from Unitree Robotics showed different sequences and even brandished swords.

The performance showed China’s push to develop more advanced robots powered by improved AI capabilities.

Viewers applauded the robots, with one saying they give good guidance and direction for young people. One man, though, said that while China’s advances in robotics are great, they detracted from his experience.

“It lacks a bit of the New Year atmosphere,” Li Bo said. “It’s not as enjoyable as when I was little watching the gala.”

Incense smoke wafted into the air at a temple in Hong Kong where people line up every year to make wishes for the new year at midnight. Holding up a cluster of incense sticks, many bowed their heads several times before planting the sticks in containers placed in front of a temple hall.

Entertainers in Vietnam sang at an outdoor countdown event before multiple ﬁreworks shows

Legislators in N.M. launch investigation into Epstein ranch

BY MORGAN LEE Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. — State legislators in New Mexico launched an investigation Tuesday into past activity at a secluded desert ranch where ﬁnancier and sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests and whether local authorities looked the other way

A bipartisan, four-member panel of state House representatives is investigating allegations that the ranch may have facilitated sexual abuse and sex trafficking New Mexico lawmakers also say they want to know why Epstein was not registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and whether there was corruption among public ofﬁcials.

Democratic state Rep. Marianna Anaya of Albuquerque, a member of the truth commission, urged people during a news conference Tuesday to come forward with information about any abuse at the ranch linked to Epstein and other people who may have it possible.

“That perpetrator could not act alone. They could not run a sex ring alone, they could not commit these types of financial crimes alone. So we know as a commission that enablers must also be held accountable, including the state itself, if needed,” said Anaya. “If you do want to share, we’ll be here and we will be operating with confidentiality.” Revelations of ties to Epstein have led to the departure or ousting of multiple high-profile people in recent days.

Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in New Mexico in 1993 from former Democratic Gov Bruce King and built a 26,700-square-foot hilltop mansion with a private runway

The property was sold by Epstein’s

estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors to the family of Don Hufﬁnes, a Republican candidate in Texas for election to the ofﬁce of state comptroller In a social media post on X, Huffines said the property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch after a saint associated with healing and that his family plans to operate a Christian retreat there.

Hufﬁnes said any request by law enforcement for access would be met with immediate and full cooperation.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafﬁcked dozens of underage girls.

Truth commission chairwoman and state Rep. Andrea Romero of Santa Fe has said that several survivors of Epstein’s abuse have signaled that sex trafﬁcking activity extended to the ranch, which is about 35 miles south of Santa Fe.

“We’ve heard years of allegations and rumors about Epstein’s activities here. But unfortunately, federal investigations have failed to put together an official record,” Romero said Tuesday “This truth commission will finally fill in the gaps of what we need to know.”

Customer

Obituaries:

at several cities in the Southeast Asian nation, where the festival is called Tet.

Light shows lit up bridges and skyscrapers as the ﬁreworks went off and crowds clapped in rhythm to live pop music performances.

People sampled Chinese cuisine from stalls and strolled along snowy streets decorated with red lanterns and dragons as two weeks of events got underway Monday at various venues in the Russian capital.

The third annual Lunar New Year celebration comes at time of warming relations between China and Russia — ties that have frustrated many European governments because of the war in Ukraine.

The solemn peal of a temple bell rang out 108 times — an auspicious number — as people ﬂocked to the Baoan Temple in Taipei on Tuesday morning.

They lit incense sticks, bowed their heads and left offerings of colorful flower bouquets on outdoor tables on the temple grounds in Taiwan’s capital city In New York City, crowds gathered in Manhattan’s Chinatown to celebrate.

The 28th annual Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival was held in Sara D Roosevelt Park, where lion dancers performed.

The event culminated with a massive amount of firecrackers being set off to scare away bad spirits.

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Khamenei

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

The San Rafael Ranch, which was previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein and called the Zorro Ranch, is located near Stanley, N.M.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VINCENT THIAN

Dancers in colorful costumes perform yingge Dance, a traditional folk dance from southern China, during Lunar New year celebrations in Beijing on Tuesday.

Shooterkilledex-wife,son at rink,policesay

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI, MICHAEL CASEY and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

PAWTUCKET,R.I. The person who opened ﬁre Monday during ayouth hockey gameat

aRhodeIsland icerink was speciﬁcally targeting family members, killing an ex-wife and son as many fans dived for cover while ahandful rushed the shooter to stop the attack, authorities said.

Pawtucket Chief of Police Tina Goncalves saidthe shooter’sex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed and three others were injured: Rhonda Dorgan’sparents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and afamily friend Thomas Geruso, all of whom remainedincritical condition Tuesday afternoon, Goncalves said Police identiﬁed the shoot-

Gender identity apparently was acontributing factor to Dorgan’s wife filing for divorce in 2020 after nearly 30 years of marriage.

Court ﬁlings show Rhonda Dorgan initially wrote“genderreassignment surgery, narcissistic+personality disorder traits”asreasons forfiling butcrossed that out and wrote“irreconcilable differences whichhave caused theirremediable breakdown of the marriage.”

Courtdocuments show that two shared the same lastname even prior to getting married. Authorities have notprovided additional details about the same name.

Dorgan wrote on social media: “Transwoman, 6kids : wife –not thrilled,” and encouragedpeople to notlet being transgender stop them fromcreating afamily

Aday before theshooting, Dorganresponded on Xto anti-transgender posts by actor Kevin Sorbo and Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by saying that constant criticism of transgender people is “why we Go BERSERK.”

Goncalves on Tuesday credited several “good Samaritans”who intervened and quickly stopped theattack

The hockey game was livestreamed by LiveBarn, astreaming platform for youth sporting events, whose videos have been shared on social media showing playersonthe iceaspopping sounds areheard. Chaos quickly unfolds as players on benches dive forcover, those on the icefrantically skate toward exits and fans ﬂeetheir seats. LiveBarn’ssocial media account hasbeenissuing warnings to those who sharedthe video that they do not have permissiontodoso.

er as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, who died from an apparent self-inﬂicted gunshot wound. Dorgan also wentby the names Roberta Esposito andRoberta Dorgano, authorities said. Goncalves saidthere was

“no indication” there would be violence at the ice rink in Pawtucket on Monday afternoon, adding that Dorgan hadbeen to manyhockey games to watch family membersplay beforewithout incident.

Strikeson3alleged drug boatskill11, U.S. says

2wereinPacific, onewas in Caribbean

BY BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The U.S. militarysaid Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration’smonthslong campaign against alleged trafﬁckers.

Theseriesofstrikes conducted Monday brought the death toll to at least 145 people since the administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists”in small vessels since early September

Like most of the military’s statements on the 42 known strikes, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug trafﬁckers along known smuggling routes.

It said two vessels carrying four people each were struck in the eastern Paciﬁc Ocean, while athird boat with three people was hitin theCaribbean Sea.

The military did not pro-

BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA begananother practice launch countdown Tuesday for its first moonshot in decadeswith astronauts aftermaking repairs to fix dangerous fuel leaks that already have bumped the flight into March. The first fueling test was halted two weeks ago by the same kind of liquid hydrogen leaks that disrupt-

vide evidence that thevessels were ferrying drugs but posted videos onXthat showed boatsbeingdestroyed.

The videos posted by Southern Commandshow theboats either moving or bobbing in the water before the explosionsengulfthem in ﬂames. People can be seen sitting in two ofthe small, open vessels before they’re destroyed.

President Donald Trump has said theU.S. is in “armed conflict”withcartelsinLatin America andhas justified the attacks as anecessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. Critics havequestioned theoveralllegality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, inpart because thefentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over landfrom Mexico, where it is producedwithchemicals imported fromChina and India.

Theboat strikes also drew intense criticism following the revelation that themilitary killed survivorsofthe veryﬁrst boatattack with a follow-upstrike.

The Trump administration and many Republican lawmakers saiditwas legal

ed the Artemis program’s first flight without anyone aboard three years ago. Launch teams replaced a pair of seals and aclogged filter at theKennedy Space Centerpad where thegiant moon rocket stands before starting the countdown clocks back up. The two-day test will culminate Thursday with the attempted fill-up of the rocket’sfuel tanks. The four Artemis II astronauts willmonitor thecrucial dress rehearsal

and necessary,while Democratic lawmakers and legal experts saidthe killings were murder,ifnot awar crime.

Theattacks followed the Trumpadministrationbeginning one of the largest buildups of U.S.military might in LatinAmerica in generations as part of a pressure campaign that culminated withthe capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.Hewas brought to the U.S.toface drug trafﬁckingchargesafter aJan.3raid by American forces.

The world’slargest aircraft carrier was ordered to the Caribbean late last year and told last week to head to the Middle East as tensions between the U.S. and Iran grow.USS GeraldR.Ford and three accompanying destroyers were in the midAtlantic on Tuesdayand no longerinthe U.S.Southern Command’sareaofoperations, according to aNavy ofﬁcial, who spoke on conditionofanonymity in order to discuss sensitive ship movements

The Fordwill bolster an arrayofU.S. warships in the Middle East thatincludes theUSS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier

from afar

Asuccessful, leak-free test is needed beforeNASA will setalaunchdate. The earliest the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket couldblast offisMarch 6.

Officials hadconsidered moving it up by three days, but said the extra timewas needed to analyze the fueling test results.

Thelast time astronauts blastedoff for the moon was in 1972 during NASA’s Apollo program.

Under the name Roberta Dorgano, Dorgan posted on Xthat Rhonda Dorgan “hates the person whostole her husband” while posting about the couple’smarital troubles in 2018. Ayear later

At leastthreebystanders were able to contain Dorgan in themiddle of the stands as thecrowdfledand ran around them, but said Dorganwas still able to reach for asecondﬁrearmand diedof aself-inﬂictedgunshot, Goncalvessaid.

Michael Steven, who recordedvideoafterthe shooting, recalled crying parents trying to locate their children outside the arena and young people being taken out on stretchers. “Ithappens fartoo often in ournation,” Steventold reporters.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MARK STOCKWELL

Police officials surroundthe Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I., after Momday’sshooting at the ice rink.

Peru removes interim president amid corruption probe

BY FRANKLIN BRICEÑO and MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press

LIMA, Peru Peru’s Con-

gress on Tuesday voted to remove interim President

José Jerí from ofﬁce as he faces corruption allegations, triggering a fresh wave of political instability just weeks before the nation’s April presidential and congressional elections

Jerí is under a preliminary investigation into corruption and influence peddling, stemming from a series of undisclosed meetings with two Chinese executives.

With 75 votes in favor, 24 against and 3 abstentions, Peru’s legislature voted to remove Jerí from the position he had assumed on Oct 10 when predecessor Dina Boluarte was dismissed as a crime wave gripped the country

Jerí’s removal from ofﬁce is the latest chapter in a prolonged political crisis in a country that has seen seven presidents since 2016, and is about to hold a general election amid widespread public outcry over the surge in violent crime.

Lawmakers will choose a new president from among their members to govern until July 28, when the interim leader will hand over the ofﬁce to the winner of

Demonstrators celebrate after Congress voted to remove interim

he faces corruption allegations outside the site where

Tuesday

the April 12 presidential election. Jerí will return to his position as a legislator until July 28, when the new Congress also takes ofﬁce.

A vote on the interim leader will take place on Wednesday, after lawmakers register their candidates.

The accusations against Jerí stemmed from a leaked report regarding a clandestine December meeting with two Chinese executives One attendee holds active government

contracts, while the other is currently under investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal logging operation.

in 2024, one of the lowest in Latin America, and the

government has welcomed foreign investment in areas like mining and infrastructure.

As Peru heads into this year’s general election, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a conservative businessman and former mayor of Lima is leading a crowded ﬁeld that also includes Keiko Fujimori, a well known former legislator whose father was Peru’s president in the 1990s.

If none of the candidates gets 50% of the vote there will be a runoff in June between the top two contenders. Lawmakers in Peru have gained increasing leverage over the nation’s executive branch over the past decade, using corruption investigations to remove presidents who have struggled to build congressional majorities.

A clause in Peru’s constitution that allows presidents

to be removed if they are found “morally incapable” of leading the country has been broadly interpreted by legislators and has been used several times to vote presidents out of office. Boluarte, Jerí’s predecessor, lasted almost three years in office and survived violent protests in which police killed dozens of protesters. But she eventually was removed on moral incapacity grounds, with lawmakers citing the high crime rate and corruption scandals. Pedro Castillo, a leftist union leaders who won the 2021 presidential election, was voted out of office by legislators in late 2022 after he tried to dissolve congress in order to skirt anticorruption proceedings. Last year Castillo was sentenced to 11 years in prison for trying to overthrow the nation’s institutions.

Jerí has denied wrongdoing. He said he met the executives to organize a Peruvian-Chinese festivity but his opponents have accused him of corruption.

Despite a revolving door of presidents, Peru’s economy has remained stable. The Andean nation had a public debt to gross domestic product ratio of 32%

Fire in northeastern Spain kills 5 children

By The Associated Press

MADRID A ﬁre broke out in

storage room at an apartment building in northeastern Spain, killing five children who were trapped inside and injuring five other people elsewhere in the building, officials said Tuesday

Police declined to say whether they were consid-

The fire started around 9 p.m. Monday in Manlleu, a town of about 21,000 people in the Catalonia region north of Barcelona. The victims who died were identiﬁed as minors who ranged in age from 14 to 17 and who did not live in the building, Catalan police said. Police were investigating the cause of the ﬁre and the reason why the children were not able to escape the room

ering the case a possible homicide.

Four of the injured people were released from hospitals and the other injured person didn’t require hospitalization, emergency services said.

Catalonia’s regional leader, Salvador Illa, expressed his condolences to relatives of the victims on X, saying he was “deeply saddened by the death of ﬁve people.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GUADALUPE PARDO

President Jose Jerí as

lawmakers met in Lima, Peru, on

Trumpadministrationerasing history, science, lawsuitargues

Park Servicealso sued over Stonewall flag

BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America’s national parks.

Alawsuit filedinBoston says orders by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have forced park service stafftoremove or censor exhibits that share factually accurate andrelevantU.S. history and scientiﬁc knowledge, includingabout slavery and climate change.

Separately,LGBTQ+ rights advocates and historic preservationists sued the park service Tuesday for removing arainbow Pride ﬂag from the Stonewall National Monument, the New York site that commemoratesafoundational moment in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

The changes at exhibits came in responsetoaTrump executiveorder“restoring truth and sanity to American history” at thenation’s museums, parks and landmarks. It directedthe InteriorDepartment to ensure those sites do not displayelementsthat “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

Burgum later directed removalof“improperpartisan ideology” from museums, monuments, landmarks and other public exhibits under federalcontrol

The groups behind the lawsuit said thata federal campaigntoreviewinterpretive materialshas escalated in recent weeks, leading to the removal of numerous exhibits that discuss thehistory of slavery and enslaved people, civil rights, treatment of Indigenouspeoples, climate science,and other “core elements of the American experience.”

The suit was filed by a coalition that includes the National Parks Conservation Association,American Association for State and Local History,Associationof National Park Rangers and Union of Concerned Scien-

tists.

It comes as afederal judge on Monday ordered that an exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington mustberestored at his former home in Philadelphia.

The parkservice removed explanatory panels last month from Independence National Historical Park, thesitewhere Georgeand Martha Washington lived with nineoftheirslaves in the 1790s,when Philadelphia was brieﬂy thenation’scapital.

The judge ordered theexhibitsrestored on Presidents Day,the federal holiday honoring Washington’slegacy

Besides the Philadelphia case,the park servicehas flagged for removal interpretivematerials describing key momentsinthe civilrights movement, the groups said. For example, at theSelma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama,officials have flagged about 80 items for removal.

The permanent exhibit at Brown v. BoardofEducation National Historical Park in Kansas has been ﬂaggedbecauseitmentions“equity,” the lawsuit says.

BY ED WHITE Associated Press

DNA from gloves found a few miles from theArizona homeofNancy Guthrie did not match anyentries in a national database, authorities saidTuesday,the 17th day of her disappearance.

“There were no DNA hitsinCODIS,” the Pima CountySheriff’s Department said, referring to the national Combined DNA Index System.

“At this point,therehave been no conﬁrmedCODIS matches in thisinvestigation,” thedepartment said, suggesting that other DNA samples had been put through thesystem.

CODIS is astorehouse of DNA taken fromcrime suspects or people with

convictions. Any hits could identify possible suspects in Guthrie’sdisappearance.

Investigators, meanwhile, were seen inspecting exteriorcameras at a neighbor’shouse Tuesday. Vehicles werealso arriving and departing from Guthrie’sTucson-area home while athickline of newsmedia watched from the street The84-year-old mother of NBC“Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie was reported missing fromher home on Feb.1afterspending the previous night with family,policesaid. Her blood was detected on the porch.A porch camera recordedvideoofa manwith abackpack who was wearing aski mask, long pants, ajacket andgloves.

The FBI said the suspect is about5 feet, 9inches tall with amedium build. Gloves were found about 2miles from Guthrie’s home. The FBI has said that the gloves appeared to match those worn by the man in the video.

“Thereisadditional DNA evidencethatwas found at the residence, and that is also being analyzed,” the sheriff’s department said.

In addition, the department said it’sworking with experts to try to locate Guthrie by detecting her heartpacemaker Parsons Corp. said its BlueFly device, which weighsless than apound and has arange of up to 218 yards can detect signals from wearable electronics andmedical devices.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MATT ROURKE

Demonstrators gather to protest removalofexplanatorypanels that were part of an exhibit on slaveryatthe President’sHouse Site in Philadelphia on Feb. 10.

PROVIDED PHOTO

AGuatemalan driver fleeing aGeorgia trafficstop by federal immigration officers crashed into anothervehicle,killingateacher whowas headedtowork, authorities and school officials said on Tuesday.

Driver fleeingICE officers crashesand killsteacher

BY RUSS BYNUM Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga.— AGuatemalan driver fleeing aGeorgia traffic stop by federalimmigration officers crashed into another vehicle, killing ateacher who was headedto work, authorities and school officials said.

Oscar Vasquez Lopez, the driver accused of causing the Monday crash just outside of Savannah, remained jailed Tuesday on charges including vehicular homicide, reckless driving and driving without avalid license. Lopez, 38, is in the U.S. illegally,according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Immigration officers were looking for Lopeztoenforce an immigration judge’s 2024 deportation order, ICE spokesperson Lindsay WilliamssaidTuesday,noting that Lopez has no other criminal history Lopez pulled over when ICEofficers used sirens and blue lights to initiatea traffic stop, but then drove away when they approached his vehicle,Williams said. Lopez made aU-turn and ran astop lightbeforehe

crashed, ICEsaidina news release.

Asked if theICE ofﬁcers chasedLopez,Williams said: “Chased? Iwouldn’t saythat. They followed him until he crashed.”

Williams said he didn’t know how far Lopezﬂed before he crashed

“Accordingtopreliminary ﬁndings, we believe thepursuit was relatively short in duration and distance,” said Chatham Countypolice spokesperson Betsy Nolen, who noted the investigation is ongoing

Security camera videoobtained by WTOC-TV showed ared pickup truck moving at high speedpast Herman W. Hesse K-8 School on Monday morning. The footage showed avehicle withflashing lights follow about five seconds later at asimilar speed, and another vehicle with lights flashing pass several secondsafter that.

News video from the crash scene showed one of the vehicles involved in thewreck was ared pickup Savannah-Chatham County school ofﬁcials identiﬁed thewoman killedasLinda Davis, aspecial education teacher at the school.

Davis was beloved by the school community,Principal AlonnaMcMullen said.

“She dedicated her career to ensuringthat every child felt supported,valued, and capable of success,” McMullensaidina news release. “Her kindness, patience, and enthusiasm created anurturing environment for her students andinspiredthose around her.”

Thecrash happened less thanahalf-mile from the school.Though students were off Monday for Presidents Day,teachersreportedtowork. Daviswas driving to school when she was killed, schoolsystem spokesperson Sheila Blanco said.

Lopez remained jailed Tuesday.Heisbeing representing by apublic defender in Chatham County, saidDon Plummer,a spokesmanfor theGeorgia Public Defender Council.

“Werecognizethe community’sconcern andextend condolences to those harmed,” Plummersaid by email. “Mr.Lopez is presumed innocent.Wewill review the evidenceand address it whereitbelongs —incourt, not in thepress.”

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

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

What About TheSurviving Spouse?

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

HowToAvoid CapitalGains Tax

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

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

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

YOUARE INVITED TO AFREE Workshop To LearnHow To:

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

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

Federaljudge says Abrego

90-day period expired, ruling says

BY TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press

U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement cannotre-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia becausea 90-day detention periodhas expiredand the governmenthas no viable planfor deporting him,afederal judge ruled on Tuesday.

series of African countries proposed by Department of Homeland Security ofﬁcials.

TheSalvadoran national’s case hasbecome afocal point in the immigration debate after he was mistakenly deported to hishome country last year.Since his return, he has been ﬁghting aseconddeportationtoa

Thegovernment“madeone empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, in Maryland, wrote in her Tuesday order.“From this, the Court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in thereasonablyforeseeable future.” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticizedthe ruling in an email.

“If this matter were actually about the law or due process, Kilmar Abrego Garcia wouldalready be deported and would never set foot in

this country again; Judge Xinis will not be satisﬁed untilheisauthorized to live in the United Statesforever,” she wrote. Abrego Garcia hasan American wife andchild and has lived in Maryland foryears, butheimmigrated to the U.S. illegally as ateenager.In2019, an immigration judge ruled that he could not be deportedtoElSalvador because he faceddanger there from agang that had threatened his family.By mistake, he was deported there anyway last year Facing public pressure anda courtorder,President Donald Trump’sadministration brought him back in June, but only after securing an indictment charging him with human smuggling in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty

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Abrego Garcia

welfare, but I am Somebody,” Jackson intoned.

It was a message he took literally and personally, having risen from obscurity in the segregated South to become America’s best-known civil rights activist since King.

“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement posted online. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family.”

Fellow civil rights activist the Rev Al Sharpton said his mentor “was not simply a civil rights leader; he was a movement unto himself.”

“He taught me that protest must have purpose, that faith must have feet, and that justice is not seasonal, it is daily work,” Sharpton wrote in a statement, adding that Jackson taught “trying is as important as triumph. That you do not wait for the dream to come true; you work to make it real.”

Despite profound health challenges in his final years, including the disorder that affected his ability to move and speak, Jackson continued protesting against racial injustice into the era of Black Lives Matter In 2024, he appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and at a City Council meeting to show support for a resolution backing a ceaseﬁre in the Israel-Hamas war

“Even if we win,” he told marchers in Minneapolis before the ofﬁcer whose knee kept George Floyd from breathing was convicted of murder, “it’s relief, not victory. They’re still killing our people. Stop the violence, save the children. Keep hope alive.”

Calls to action

Jackson’s voice, infused with the stirring cadences and powerful insistence of the Black church, demanded attention. On the campaign trail and elsewhere, he used rhyming and slogans such as “Hope not dope” and “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it,” to deliver his messages. Jackson had his share of critics, both within and outside of the Black community Some consid-

Jackson wore a turtleneck he said was soaked with King’s blood for two days, including at a King memorial service held by the Chicago City Council, where he said: “I come here with a heavy heart because on my chest is the stain of blood from Dr King’s head.”

However, several King aides, including speechwriter Alfred Duckett, questioned whether Jackson could have gotten King’s blood on his clothing. There are no images of Jackson in pictures taken shortly after the assassination.

In 1971, Jackson broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to form Operation PUSH, originally named People United to Save Humanity The organization based on Chicago’s South Side declared a sweeping mission, from diversifying workforces to registering voters in communities of color nationwide.

Using lawsuits and threats of boycotts, Jackson pressured top corporations to spend millions and publicly commit to hiring more diverse employees.

dency twice and redefine what was possible; it raised the lid for women and other people of color,” he told the AP “Part of my job was to sow seeds of the possibilities.”

Obama acknowledged Jackson’s efforts, saying he led some of the most significant movements for change in human history

Michelle Obama “got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager,” Obama wrote on X. “And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest ofﬁce in the world.”

Jackson “was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect,” the post read.

Jackson also pushed for cultural change, joining calls by NAACP members and other movement leaders in the late 1980s to identify Black people in the United States as African Americans.

ered him a grandstander too eager to seek the spotlight Looking back on his life and legacy, Jackson told The Associated Press in 2011 that he felt blessed to be able to continue the service of other leaders before him and to lay a foundation for those to come.

“A part of our life’s work was to tear down walls and build bridges and in a half century of work, we’ve basically torn down walls,” Jackson said. “Sometimes when you tear down walls, you’re scarred by falling debris, but your mission is to open up holes so others behind you can run through.”

In his final months, as he received 24-hour care, he communicated with family and visitors by holding their hands and squeezing.

“I get very emotional knowing that these speeches belong to the ages now,” his son Jesse Jackson Jr., told the AP in October

Drawn to the movement

Jesse Louis Jackson was born Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of high school student Helen Burns and Noah Louis Robinson, a married man who lived next door Jackson was later adopted by Charles Henry Jackson, who married his mother Jackson was a star quarterback on the football team at Sterling High School in Greenville, and he accepted a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. But

after reportedly being told that Black people couldn’t play quarterback, he transferred to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, where he became the ﬁrst-string quarterback, an honor student in sociology and economics, and student body president.

Arriving on the historically Black campus in 1960, just months after students there launched sitins at a Whites-only lunch counter, Jackson immersed himself in the blossoming Civil Rights Movement.

By 1965, he joined the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King dispatched him to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.

Jackson called his time with King “a phenomenal four years of work.”

Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was slain. Jackson’s account of the assassination was that King died in his arms. Sharpton said he “always wondered how much trauma that must have been” for Jackson to witness King’s death. “He never would talk about it too much, but it drove him,” Sharpton said Tuesday “He said, ‘We’ve got to keep Dr King’s legacy alive.’” With his ﬂair for the dramatic,

The constant campaigns often left his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, the college sweetheart he married in 1963, taking the lead in raising their ﬁve children: Santita Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson Jr., and two future members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Luther Jackson and Jesse L. Jackson Jr., who resigned in 2012 but is seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms.

The elder Jackson, who was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968 and earned his master’s of divinity degree in 2000, also acknowledged fathering a child, Ashley Jackson, with one of his employees at Rainbow/PUSH, Karen L. Stanford. He said he understood what it means to be born out of wedlock and supported her emotionally and ﬁnancially

Political aspirations fall short

Despite once telling a Black audience he would not run for president “because White people are incapable of appreciating me,” Jackson ran twice and did better than any Black politician had before President Barack Obama, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988, four years after his ﬁrst failed attempt.

His successes left supporters chanting another Jackson slogan, “Keep hope alive.”

“I was able to run for the presi-

Jackson’s words sometimes got him in trouble. In 1984, he apologized for what he thought were private comments to a reporter in which he called New York City “Hymietown,” a derogatory reference to its large Jewish population. And in 2008, he made headlines when he complained that Obama was “talking down to Black people” in comments captured by a microphone he didn’t know was on during a break in a television taping.

Still, when Jackson joined the jubilant crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park to greet Obama that election night, he had tears streaming down his face.

“I wish for a moment that Dr King or (slain civil rights leader) Medgar Evers could’ve just been there for 30 seconds to see the fruits of their labor,” he told the AP years later “I became overwhelmed. It was the joy and the journey.”

Jackson also had influence abroad, meeting world leaders and scoring diplomatic victories, including the release of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman from Syria in 1984, as well as the 1990 release of more than 700 foreign women and children held after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. In 1999, he won the freedom of three Americans imprisoned by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

The Rev. Al Sharpton, from left, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Abfullsh Muflahi, owner of Triple S Food Mart, meet during Alton Sterling’s funeral at the F.G. Clark Activity Center on the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge on July 15, 2016.

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GRAS 2026

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

REX: H. Merritt Lane III, Rex, king of Carnival, right,toasts Queen Kelsey Grace French as his

Napoleon Avenue on Mardi Gras on Tuesday.

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

REX: Kelsey GraceFrench, in white, is introduced as the queen of Carnivalduring the Rex procession on Tuesday.

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

ZULU: Queen Sharell Monique Chatman raises atoast at Gallier Hallasthe Zulu parade rolls through NewOrleans on Tuesday.

Saint Anne parades with colorful banners down the streets of New Orleans on Mardi Gras. STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

STAFFPHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Members of the Golden Feather Hunters taketothe

Gulf Coast and Louisiana — from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

Even behind bars, Nix continued operating as a con artist, all while orchestrating a scheme out of his jail cell that led to the murder of a prominent Biloxi, Mississippi, couple, Vincent and Margaret Sherry, and contributed to the downfall of a local mayor who authorities later said was entangled with the Dixie Maﬁa.

Though Biloxi served as a home base for Nix and his crew the Dixie Mafia targeted scores of poor Southern towns. Its members inﬁltrated law enforcement through bribery and patronage, uncovering the lawlessness and political corruption that dominated parts of the Gulf Coast

The group also exposed rot within Southern institutions, including the Harrison County Sheriff’s Ofﬁce designated a criminal enterprise by authorities in 1983 — and in Angola prison, whose practices remain controversial today

And though the criminal ring has been disbanded for decades, its presence still haunts the Gulf Coast region. Old strip clubs and illegal gambling halls were closed and torn down to make way for new development near the Biloxi beach.

The history of the criminal organization is often republished in news articles And Nix — who is still alive — is often featured in documentaries and podcasts about the Dixie Mafia, including a newly released episode of “Forgotten History” with more than 550,000 views on YouTube.

So how did it all begin six decades ago? Reports from that time show the operation across New Orleans and south Mississippi started with theft and drug trade, before metastasizing into a criminal enterprise that exploited the region’s vulnerabilities.

‘Anything for a buck’

When they forced their way inside of Corso’s home on the New Orleans lakefront in 1971, Nix and his accomplices were searching for money earned from his French Quarter grocery store and jewelry a familiar pattern for Nix, who had previously served time for another robbery on Mardi Gras in 1968.

That year he and several accomplices stole thousands of dollars from a group operating vendor trucks along a parade route. They tied up several people, and one woman was killed during the theft.

Shortly after he was identiﬁed as a perpetrator, Nix turned himself in at the Georgia State Penitentiary. Though he had previously escaped from the prison while serving time for a lesser offense, reports from the period were unclear about whether he completed that sentence or escaped again before the Corso robbery

By 1970,

the Dixie Maﬁa’s

presence had expanded across the South, particularly in Mississippi, where state and national authorities launched a special unit dedicated solely to investigating organized crime in a region that leaders described as being “ripe with criminality.”

The organization soon moved into the illegal drug trade. Dilaudid — an opioid used to treat severe pain and, in some cases, to enhance the performance of racehorses flooded the streets in the late 1970s, drawing the attention of the Dixie Maﬁa.

“They’ll do anything for a buck,” an investigator said in a 1978 interview “These people started getting into drugs because they found that if they burglarized a drugstore they could get more money for the drugs than if they broke into a safe somewhere.”

The ‘lonely hearts’ scam

Meanwhile, in Angola, Nix was running a far larger operation: a “lonely hearts” scam that targeted gay men across the country, bilked victims of thousands of dollars and ultimately led to the Sherrys’ killings a hit prosecutors said was ordered from behind bars.

For at least four years, Nix ran the scam in hopes of amassing enough money to buy his way out of prison, aided by fellow inmates and outside accomplices, including businessman Mike Gillich Jr., a trusted member of the Dixie Maﬁa who owned two Biloxi clubs along a nightlife district known as the Strip.

Nix was later named in 74 counts in grand jury indictments. He — along with Peter Mule who was also serving a life sentence for Corso’s killing — was removed from Angola because authorities said they threatened inmates and others who participated in the investigation.

Investigators later determined the inmates paid guards to use prison phones. Nix placed as many as 80 calls a day to run advertisements in gay magazines and newspapers nationwide, Stan Branton, an assistant district attorney in West Feliciana Parish, said in 1989. When men responded, Nix answered with photographs of a male model, posing as

the suitor and claiming he was looking for a friend but ﬁrst needed money to be released from prison. Some inmates would eventually confess the scam and extort more money by threatening to out the victims, the FBI said.

Between 1988 and 1989, the respondents sent airfare, money orders or checks worth up to $200,000. None of the victims met Nix or the other inmates involved in the scheme.

Nix arranged for the money to be sent to his girlfriend and his attorney, Pete Halat, who later served as Biloxi’s mayor Halat was in office after the 1987 killings of the Sherrys. After leaving office, he was sentenced to prison for his role in the murders.

The Sherry murders

Two days after the couple was shot to death with a .22-caliber pistol, Halat found the bodies at their Biloxi home. His former law partner, Vincent Sherry, was in the den and his wife, a former City Council member, was in the bedroom.

At the funeral, Halat delivered the eulogy and the investigation went nowhere.

The case was revived years later when the Sherry family hired a private detective As rumors circulated among locals about Halat’s involvement, he vehemently denied the allegation at a news conference, calling it an “outright lie” and claiming he only had a professional relationship with Nix.

Investigators found that wasn’t true. Halat had been entrusted with money through the “lonely hearts” scheme. When it came time to hand over the proceeds to Nix and his associates, Halat falsely claimed Vincent Sherry had taken the money to cover the fact that he had spent it himself.

The Dixie Mafia then ordered a $2,000 hit on the Sherrys.

In 1996, three years after he completed his time as mayor, Halat and four aides were charged with murder conspiracy racketeering and other federal charges in the killings. Halat was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Nix and the hitman who killed the Sherrys received life sentences Gillich was sentenced to 20 years in

prison for helping to plot the murders.

Where are they now?

Nix, now 82, has spent nearly half of his life in

prison. While he was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Center in El Reno, Oklahoma, records show Nix sought a compassionate

release due to his health decline, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, sleep apnea and mobility issues.

The request was denied, and he is serving the remainder of his sentence at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springﬁeld,

The bodies of Vincent and Margaret Sherry are removed from their Biloxi, Miss., home on Sept. 16, 1987, by crime scene investigators for the Biloxi Police Department.

MARDI GRAS 2026

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Tipsy Tikis R.P Smith, and John Marc Sharpe make their way through the French Quarter in New Orleans on Tuesday.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Nate Beckett makes his way through the French Quarter wearing a monster costume. STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Dressed as characters from ‘The Shining,’ these girls walked through the French Quarter

walks through the French Quarter behind a reveler in New Orleans on Mardi Gras.

THEADVOCATE.COM | Wednesday, February18, 2026 1bn

COLORFUL COURIR

On Mardi Gras in Eunice, participants taketothe streets early in the morning on horseback or on foot and wind through the countryside. Wearing colorful, handmade costumes, which include masks and tall, pointed hats, known as capuchins, they paradepast farms, stopping to playfully ‘beg’ for food anddrinks. At different pointsalong the way,the leader,referred to as thecapitaine, releases achicken for thefrenziedrevelers to run after When the entourage arrives back in town mid-afternoon,they partakeina communal gumbo.

MARDI GRAS 2026 FOR MORE, THEADVOCATE. COM ABOVE: Amasked reveler applies face paint to Mia BundickonTuesdayinEunice.

Regulators open probeintopipelineblast

LNG firm facing scrutiny,group says

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

Federal regulators have opened an investigationinto theexplosion of anearly 50-year-old Gulf pipeline that has been outofservicefor 14 years and directed theowner to suspendoperations, repair thedamage and determinethe fire’scause along thesouthwestLouisiana coast earlier this month. The pipeline owned by Delfin LNGblew open about 11:14 a.m.Feb. 3inanatural gasexplosion, creating a50- to

80-foot-wideblaze with ablast crater near theshore in Cameron Parish, the federal regulators said in anew order

The explosion launched about5 feet of shattered pipe into the airand injured one worker

The blast, which took hours to control,happened near Mae’sBeach and Johnson Bayou about650 feet onshore and about half milesouth of La. 82,the coastalhighwayinthat part of the state,according to thePipelineand Hazardous Materials Safety Agency

“The releaseand ignition of naturalgas poses arisk to public safety,people,and the environment,”PHMSA said in theorder.“The proximity

of the pipelinetoastate highway,otherhydrocarbon pipelines,and the Gulf of America increases thepossibleconsequences of additional releases fromthe pipeline.”

PHMSA, which issuedits order on Feb. 6, has preliminarily determined that the company’s pipelineinspectionand cleaning work, which includedinjectingfresh natural gas into theclosed line, triggered the ﬁre. Louisiana State Police and other local agencies are also investigating the blast.

Delfin LNG officials said they arecooperating with federal, stateand local agencies and are “coordinating with PHMSA to ensure” the repair

andassessmentofthe line are consistent with the agency’s requirements.

“Wewill continue forward on thisproject with thehighest degrees of safety and integrity,and we will work with the agencies to implement any needed additional measures to ensuresafe operations,” the ofﬁcials saidina statement.

Theworker injured in the blast has sued over his injuries, leveling several of the same allegations as contained in thePHMSA’sinitial set of facts.

Delﬁn LNGboughtthe line from EnBridge in 2014 and has plans to use the30-mile

New schoolsin St.George face cost hikes

BY CHARLESLUSSIER Staff writer

Twonew public schools planned for the St.George area are moving toward construction, but their future remains uncertain due to the imminent possibility of abreakaway St. George school district and rising construction costs.

The vote to create aSt. George school district is coming on May 16. In this statewide referendum, voters can accept or reject the proposed new district,which would be carved out of the East BatonRouge Parish school system. If successful, the new St. George school district would begin operations in July 2027.

Theschoolfurthestalong is anew elementaryschool located justoutside St. GeorgeonPerkins Road, east of Siegen Lane. It is slated to open in August 2027, soon after theSt. George district would start.

Mostofits likely attendance zone, though, is withinSt. George. Louisiana law,ingeneral, calls for students to attend public schools in the district where they reside. To enroll St. George students, the newdistrict andEastBaton Rougewould need to strike across-district enrollment agreement.Ifthe school system proceedswith buildingthe elementary schoolwithout such an agreement, the majority of the expected 500 students at the new school would live anotable distance away

Theother facilityisa newhigh

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

ABaton Rouge manhas been convicted of killing someone during aviolent altercation outside alocal gas station.

Ajury found Francis Denixon Vasquez-Aguilarguilty of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice at the end of afour-day trial. He was tried for stabbing 39-year-old Anibal Antonio Galeas Mancia to death in October 2022. The fatalstabbing happenedinthe parkinglot of aValerogas station in the 4800 block of Airline Highway, near the intersection of North FosterDrive.It occurred around midnight early on the morning of Oct. 17, 2022. First responders arrivedonthe scene andfound Mancia lying on the pavement with multiple stab wounds. He died on the scene, according to police. Storeemployees said the victim began ﬁghting with another manmoments before the stabbing outside the gas station’ssmallconvenience store. Baton RougePolice Department investigators saidsecurity cameras from the business captured the altercation. TheEast Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’sOfﬁce announced the

RIGHT: Dre Courville holds up his catch during the Courir deMardi Gras on TuesdayinEunice.

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

Revelersdance in the street duringatraditional Courir de Mardi Gras hosted by Le Vieux MardiGrasdeCajuns on TuesdayinEunice.

Revelers divefor aloose chicken during Tuesday’s Courir de Mardi Gras.

Police:Actor was aggressive, restrainedby patrons

From staff and wire reports

Shia LaBeoufwas arrested after punching two people, one of the victims repeatedly,ataRoyal Street bar in the early morning hours of Mardi Gras, leading to patrons holding down the actor until authorities arrived, according to the New Orleans Police Depart-

SCHOOLS

Continued from page1B

school that is nearing the design phase but has no completion date yet. It’s located within the limits of the young city north of Interstate 10 and west of SiegenLane. If it goesto construction after summer 2027, East Baton Rouge faces legal restrictions against spending money in another school district.

The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board is settoconsider advancing work on both schools when it meets at 5p.m. Thursday at the School Board Ofﬁce, 1050 S. Foster Drive.

The new schools were among aseries of construction projects approved by East Baton Rouge Parish voters in 2018 when they renewed a1-cent sales tax earmarked for education. The project list is known as the TaxPlan. Both schools are attempts to build new neighborhood public schools in a part of the parish where the last such schools were built in the mid-1970s.

The new elementary school, along with major

PROBE

Continued from page1B

pipeline, which is primarily offshore, to send liqueﬁed natural gas to aﬂoating platform in the deep-water Gulffor foreignexport.

WhileLouisianahas become ahub of LNG exports withother large, onshore plants already operating, the Delﬁn LNG project and its offshore component would be unique.

Formerly known as the UTOS line, the 42-inch pipeline was built in 1978 originally to gather naturalgas produced from platforms in the Gulf for onshore distribution in the United States. DelﬁnLNG wants to reverse the traditional ﬂow,moving domestic gas producedonland offshore.

The Delﬁn project, which the Trump administration approved in early 2025, had beenstalled foryears amid questions from the Biden administration.

ment LaBeouf, 39, was arrested on two counts of simple battery afterreceiving treatment for injuries suffered in thebrawl at an area hospital.

NOPD officerswere called to RBar,at1431 RoyalSt., around 12:45 a.m. after receiving areport of two male victims being assaulted.

Police say LaBeouf, who had been celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleansover the weekend, was “reportedly causing adisturbance and becoming increasingly aggressive.” The “Trans-

renovations for McKinleyHigh School in Baton Rouge,are both facing higher costs. Both are scheduled to open inAugust 2027. Theboard is settovote Thursday on whether to increase thecost of the new elementary school from $29.5 millionto$39.2 million,a33% increase. The McKinley High renovation costs would increase from $35 millionto$42 million, a 20% increase.

McKinley Highstudents are temporarilylocatedat theformer KenilworthMiddle School, which serves as theschool’s home campus while 800E.McKinleySt. awaitsrenovations. In apresentation for the board,CSRS/TillageConstruction, the partnership that overseesTax Plan projects for the school sys-

Since theapproval,the project has faced criticism from environmental groups opposed to LNG export generally butwhich also question the safetyof reusing theold line, the completeness of Delfin’s proposal and the risk it may pose to the Rice’swhale

The Center for Biological Diversity sued in March last year to block the licensefromanarm of the U.S. Department of Transportation

Thegroup pointed out the same agency haddenied thelicense less than ayear earlier, in April2024, and ordered an amended application to address design, operational and ownership changes since theproject’s initial blessing in 2017. That case is on appeal.

Kenneth Clarkso n, spokesman for the nonproﬁt, nonpartisan Pipeline Safety Trust, said the incident “highlights the risk of recommissioning old, unused or underutilized pipelines for new purposes, including transporting dif-

formers” and “Holes” star allegedly then punched an R Bar staff member trying to eject him from thebar due to his behavior LaBeouf left after the ﬁrst incident, police said, but cameback to the bar “acting even moreaggressive.”

NOPD saidmultiple bar patrons attempted to hold LaBeouf down, but lethim go in hopeshe’dleave and not return He cameback again, striking the same staff member again multiple times, according to areleasefrom police, andpunchedanother man in thenose.

The star was reportedly held down again until NOPD arrived. Court and jail records did notlist an attorney whocould speakonbehalf of LaBeouf. Emails to LaBeouf’s publicists were not immediately returned.

LaBeouf has had several run-ins withthe law during his career, including an early 2017 New York arrest for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct that was capturedonalivestream video. He was sent to courtmandated rehabilitation. Later that summer,he was arrested in Georgia for

public drunkenness andaccused of disorderly conduct and obstruction,whenhe was on location ﬁlming “The Peanut Butter Falcon” and sentencedtoprobation. In 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft in LosAngeles. That year,the English singer and actor FKA Twigs, whoselegal name is Tahliah Barnett, also filed alawsuit alleging LaBeouf was physically and emotionally abusive to herduring their relationship, which theysettledinJuly Barnett saidLaBeouf put her in aconstant state of

fear and humiliation, once slammed her into acar, tried to strangle her and knowingly gave her asexually transmitted disease. LaBeouf apologized in a statement after the lawsuit wasﬁled. He also denied the accusationsinthe lawsuit in a2021 ﬁling, saying any injuriesdoneordamages incurredbyBarnett were not his doing.

LaBeoufisnot astranger to Louisiana.HeisofCajun descentand is known to love MardiGras. He was spotted at aSlidell parade last year and attended the 2026 Bacchus parade on Sunday.

tem, said costsfor district construction projects have jumped by more than20% thanks to COVID-prompted inﬂation and “broader marketconditions.”Other cost drivers include “material costs, design and construction expenses,code compliance measures andvendor service fees.”

School leaders across Louisiana have been facing

ferent products at differentpressures, and often in different directions.”

Clarkson pointed out that PHMSA previously warned operators in 2014 about these types of projects and that Congress had mandated the agency in 2020 to develop regulations “to prescriberequirements to operatorsmoving pipelines into andout of service.”

“Projects like Delﬁn’sare being proposed and constructed across the Gulf Coastregionfor liqueﬁed natural gas, carbon dioxide, andhydrogengas,” Clarkson added.“With more of this work on thehorizon, operators, industryregulators, and the public must be aware andprotected from the inherent risksofrepurposing pipelinestransporting and storing thesepotentially dangerous products.”

Delﬁn ofﬁcialssaid,however,that, in addition to DOT’sapproval, “the U.S. CoastGuard, 15 otherfederal agencies,the states of Texas andLouisiana, and severalstate agencies, ful-

higher construction costsin recent years due to inﬂation and, more recently,tariffs on building materialsimposedbyPresident Donald Trump.

The new elementary school near St. George would be aK-5 “School in thePark,” ajoint endeavor between the school system and BREC. Theparish recreation agency has two

ly reviewed andevaluated the proposed project, including the proposed reuse of existing pipeline infrastructure, and took public comment.”

Pinholegas leaks

Before selling to Delfin LNG, EnBridge had shut off the pipeline, purged thegas andfilled the line with inert nitrogenbylate 2011. Delfin LNGofficials said they recently began inspections “important to ensure that the line is in good working order.”

Delfin recently sent in equipment thatruns inside of the pipeline, known as a “pig,”tocleanand inspect itscondition.After insertinggas back intothe line, the pighit aclosed valve and sparked an explosion with the flammablenaturalgas, thePHMSA order states.

PHMSAsaid theﬁre released about56millioncubic feet of naturalgas.

Clarkson, the spokesman forthe pipeline safety group, said the injection of

small parks adjacent to the Perkins property: Meadow and Gentilly Court. BREC wantstocreate an outdoor classroom/stage area for learning activities, as well as awalking path,boardwalk, playgrounds andplay fields. Plans are to install “high-performinggreen infrastructure” to manage rain from storms. The proposed $45 mil-

gas “concerns us considering thepipeline has not been in operation for over adecade, and itsintegrity might be unknown.”

In theﬁnal years of Enbridge’sownership, between 2010 to 2012, the line had at leastseven pinhole gasleaksoffshorefrom corrosion and three more from strikes by third-party vessels and equipment or company excavation work, according to PHMSAreports. Clarkson said the strike by the dredging vessel in 2011 caused $8 million in damage and repair In theeight years before 2010, the same line had just one reported break when a ﬁtting broke loose onshore in Cameron Parish amid heavyrain andflooding during HurricaneRita’s landfall in 2005. The line was shut in at the time.

Asked if theincreasing number of incidents in the final years contributed to the decision to close the pipeline, EnBridge ofﬁcials said the company stopped using the line due to low

lion new high schoolinSt. George is still aways from breaking ground. Initial plans were for aschool that couldaccommodate up to 2,000 students in grades 6to12, but capacity is likely to be substantially reduced Email CharlesLussierat clussier@theadvocate. com.

utilization from offshore gas sources and demand. Thecompany saidthe pipelinehad been maintained in accordance “with applicable regulations throughout Enbridge’s ownership.”

Delﬁnofﬁcials noted that in theyears thepipeline remainedclosedand out of service while in their ownership, thecompany worked to ensure proper operation and maintenance, including through “regular reports to PHMSA.” David J. Mitchellcan be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

This artist rendering shows aplan for anew elementaryschool on Perkins Road east of Siegen Lane.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Stocks edge higher after several AI swings

NEW YORK — A quiet ﬁnish for the U.S. stock market on Tuesday masked big swings underneath the surface as companies talked about how discouraged their customers are feeling and some tech stocks continued to feel the downside of the artiﬁcial-intelligence boom.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after ﬂipping earlier between a gain of 0.5% and a loss of nearly 1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.1%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was General Mills, which sank 7% after warning that its customers are feeling uneasy

The company behind the Cheerios Nature Valley and Pillsbury brands cut its forecast for an underlying measure of profit for 2026, saying declines would likely be sharper than expected.

Several surveys have recently shown weak conﬁdence among U.S. households, which are struggling with inﬂation that remains higher than anyone would like, a job market coming off a weak year of growth and worries about tariffs.

Drops for some Big Tech stocks were the heaviest weights on the market Tuesday, including a 1.2% fall for Alphabet The moves were tentative, though, and Nvidia swung between being one of the market’s heaviest weights and one of its biggest strengths.

Thomas Pritzker to step down from Hyatt board

Hotel magnate Thomas Pritzker will step down as the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels after details of his affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in documents related to the burgeoning investigation of ties between the notorious sex trafﬁcker and the elite.

Pritzker, in a statement, said he deeply regrets his association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafﬁcking.

“I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner,” Pritzker said.

There are numerous emails between Pritzker and Epstein included in a cache of Epsteinrelated documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, with several detailing attempts for dinner meet ups and invitations. Interactions between the two continued even after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. He died by suicide in 2019.

Pritzker, 75, who is the cousin of Illinois Gov JB Pritzker, was the executive chairman at Hyatt for more than 20 years. His retirement is effective immediately Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian will succeed Pritzker as chairman.

Shein faces EU probe over illegal products

LONDON European Union regulators are investigating Shein over concerns the online retailer hasn’t done enough to limit the sale of illegal products or protect users from the platform’s allegedly addictive design.

The 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said Tuesday that it opened formal investigation under the bloc’s sweeping rulebook known as the Digital Services Act, which requires the biggest online platforms to take extra steps to protect internet users from dodgy products. Shein may be required to alter its actions, or pay a hefty ﬁne if a so-called noncompliance decision is reached following an indepth investigation.

One area its investigation is focusing on is whether Shein has the proper safeguards in place to limit the sale of products that are illegal in the EU, the commission said, including items that amount to child sexual abuse material such as “child-like sex dolls.”

Lawsuits say weedkiller could cause cancer

BY DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer

The proposed settlement comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is pre-

paring to hear arguments in April on Bayer’s assertion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should invalidate claims ﬁled in state courts. That case would not be affected by the proposed settlement.

But the settlement would eliminate some of the risk from an eventual Supreme Court ruling. Patients would be assured of receiving settlement money even if the Supreme Court rules in Bayer’s favor And Bayer would be protected from potentially larger costs if the high court rules against it.

Germany-based Bayer, which acquired Roundup maker Monsanto

‘The award means we are able to do the work that we know is so urgently needed’

BY GLENN GAMBOA Associated Press

For Mónica Ramírez, being named one of this year’s 10 Elevate Prize winners means so much more than the monetary and structural support that comes with it

It means the work she does with her Fremont, Ohio-based nonproﬁt Justice for Migrant Women, which advocates for the rights and needs of migrant and rural women and other marginalized communities, is still valued despite the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“As immigrant and migrant community members are being threatened and attacked around our country, it’s really important to have shows of support like the Elevate Prize is providing because we’ve seen a retraction — a big retraction — in support,” said Ramirez, who burst into tears when she learned she had won “The award means we are able to do the work that we know is so urgently needed.”

Like all Elevate Prize winners announced Tuesday, Justice for Migrant Women will receive $300,000 in unrestricted funding and Ramirez, its founder and president, will receive support and training on organizational growth and increasing the group’s visibility.

Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram told The Associated Press that a group’s public proﬁle has become more important these days. Not only does it help with fundraising and informing the public, but visibility “is also a form of protection,” she said.

“It’s more important than ever to double down on leaders like Monica,” said Jayaram.

To help Elevate Prize winners get more attention for their work, Jayaram said the foundation is launching “Good Is Trending,” an initiative that will include taking over NASDAQ’s Times Square billboards on Tuesday to shine a spotlight on the winners.

That bigger spotlight is something prize winner Mara Fleishman, CEO of Chef Ann Foundation, which brings made-from-scratch meals to schools, hopes will bring her nonproﬁt to the next level.

The Boulder, Colorado-based organization has already attracted support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Waverley Street Foundation for its work, which supports elementary and secondary schools in developing menus that are less dependent on processed foods and utilize more fresh local produce “We’ve worked with over 17,000 schools and

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press

NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery is briefly reopening takeover talks with Skydance-owned Paramount to hear the company’s “best and final” offer, while the Hollywood giant continues to back the studio and streaming deal it struck with Netflix

In a Tuesday regulatory filing, Warner said it had received a waiver from Netflix to reopen talks with Paramount for the

in 2018, disputes the assertion that Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But the company has warned that mounting legal costs are threatening its ability to continue selling the product in U.S. agricultural markets.

“Litigation uncertainly has plagued the company for years, and this settlement gives the company a road to closure,” Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said Tuesday

The proposed settlement was ﬁled in St. Louis Circuit Court in Missouri, home to Bayer’s North America crop science division and the state where many of the lawsuits have been brought. The settlement still needs the court’s

approval.

More than 125,000 plaintiffs have lodged legal claims over Roundup since 2015, according to the settlement documents. Few have gone to jurors, with 13 verdicts for Bayer and 11 for plaintiffs, including a $2.1 billion award by a Georgia jury last year Others already have been resolved through separate settlements, including two recent ones that would take care of about 77,000 of the claims.

The newly proposed nationwide settlement is designed to address most of the remaining lawsuits, as well as any additional cases brought in the coming years by people who were exposed to Roundup before Tuesday

reached more than 5 million kids,” Fleishman said. “But how do we take the work we’ve done and turn it into something digestible for legislators and advocates to understand what is possible?”

Fleishman said her foundation needs to ﬁnd ways to get the public to become a “force multiplier” for its message and carry it into school board meetings and statehouses around the country

A lot of that work can be done through storytelling, Jayaram said. And the Elevate Prize selection panel took the potential stories the nominees could tell into account when choosing the winners.

“People pay more attention to people than they do to issues,” Jayaram said. “So when you can ground an issue in the story of a person, of a community, of a neighborhood, suddenly the whole world can start to engage and relate to that because it’s not that different from a community and a neighborhood and a family somewhere else.”

The Elevate Prize Foundation has believed in the power of storytelling for years. Last year, it even launched its own production house Elevate Studios to tell the stories of its prize winners more effectively, on platforms ranging from YouTube videos to featurelength documentaries released in theaters.

Ramirez says she looks forward to telling the stories of the people she supports through Justice for Migrant Women.

“I really think that the Elevate Prize is going to help us give a microphone to the people that we serve,” she said. “That’s my hope.”

The 2026 class of Elevate Prize winners are: Shabana Basij-Rasikh, president and co-founder of SOLA (School of Leadership, Afghanistan), an Afghan-led organization advocating for social change through girls’ education; Hillary Blout, founder and executive director of For the People, which helps people get released from prison; Manu Chopra, CEO of Karya, which brings AI advancements to low-income communities; Mara Fleishman, CEO of Chef Ann Foundation, which brings made-from-scratch meals to schools; Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, which supports residents living in federally subsidized affordable housing; Tom Osborn, founder and CEO of Shamiri, which brings mental health care to underserved regions, starting with Africa; Ai-jen Poo, executive director of Caring Across Generations, which centers care as a national priority; Mónica Ramírez, founder and president of Justice for Migrant Women, which supports migrant and rural women’s rights; Krutika Ravishankar, co-founder and executive director of Farmers for Forests, which protects and restores forests across India; Utkarsh Saxena, executive director of Adalat AI, which develops AI tools for the court system.

next seven days, or until Monday Warner said this will allow the companies to discuss unresolved “deficiencies” and “clarify certain terms” of Paramount’s latest bid. But in the meantime, Warner’s board is still recommending shareholders support of its proposed merger with Netflix. A special meeting is now scheduled for March 20 to hold a vote on that deal. In a statement, Netflix said it was confident that its proposed transaction “provides superior value and certainty” — but recognized “the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY’s antics.” The streaming giant noted it had granted Warner a seven-day

waiver to “finally resolve this matter.” Warner’s leadership similarly reiterated its support for the Netflix deal. Paramount called Tuesday’s actions from Warner’s board “unusual” and said the company could have determined whether Paramount’s offer was superior without a timed deadline. Still Paramount said it was “nonetheless prepared to engage in good faith and constructive discussions.” Paramount added that it will continue to advance its tender offer priced at $30 per share, which it maintained was better than Netflix’s proposal, while also pursuing a proxy fight. The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery is complicated because

Netflix and Paramount want different things. In December Netflix agreed to buy Warner’s studio and streaming business for $72 billion, now in an all-cash transaction that would cover its legacy TV and movie production arms, as well as HBO Max. Including debt, the enterprise value of the deal is about $83 billion, or $27.75 per share, and would be finalized after Warner completes a previously announced separation of its cable operations. Unlike Netflix, Paramount wants to acquire Warner’s entire company — including networks like CNN and Discovery — and went straight to shareholders with an all-cash, $77.9 billion hostile offer just days after the Netflix deal was announced.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REBECCA SLEZAK

CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, Mara Fleishman, is named a winner of this year’s Elevate Prize. Her company brings made-from-scratch meals to schools.

Slaughter FirstBaptistChurch at 11am Penny,Ethel Antioch Full Gospel BaptistChurch 5247 Ford St BatonRouge at Noon.

Obituaries

Aull, HerbertEarl 'Hots' Herbert EarlAull Sr., affectionately known as "Hots,"a longtime resident of Baton Rouge,passed away on January 31,2026, at the age of 89.

Atime of Visitation and MemorialService will be held on Saturday,February 21st 2026atthe FirstPresbyterianChurch locatedat 763 North Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana.Family Visitationwill begin at 10:00 a.m., with the Memorial Service beginning at 11:00 a.m. Please visit www.sealefuneral.com to view thefullobituary.

1924, in HackleburgAlabama. Laura was the fourth daughter of William Thomasand Nora Carnes Baker who precededLaura in death. The family movedfromAlabama to Newton Texas in 1929 whereLaura graduated from highschoolin1941. Sheattended SamHouston State College and Texas A&I. In 1943she married Richard (Dick) Barryfrom AstoriaNew York andthey weremarried 66 years.He died in 2009and in 2010 Laura marriedArthur Lamm. The were married until his death in 2020. Lauraissurvived by her children Bernadette FitzPatrick, Nora BAbat and Rick (Phyllis) Barryall of Baton Rouge, agranddaughterMelissa Ferguson, two great grandsons Alexander (Natasha)and Elliott Brown of Plano Texas and many beloved niecesand nephews. Proceded in death by her grandson,David Glen Tuckerand three cherisshed sisters. Laura was a 65 year member of Parkview Baptist Church where she served for25 years as church secretary and sanginthe choir for 57 years. She was also a20 yearvolunteeratOur Lady of the Lake Hospital. Laura leaves behind alegacy of lovefor herfamily and friends. Aspecial thanks to the staff/careteamatOld JeffersonCommunity Center.A memorialservice willbeheldonFebruary 20th at 11:00AMat ParkviewBaptist Church Baton Rouge, Visitation at 10til service.Laura's remains weredonatedtoLSU Bureau of Anatomical Services.

William Hudson "Bill" Dick, Jr was called home to be withthe Lord on February 11, 2026. Billwas born in Alexandria, La,onAugust 4, 1947, to Jane Catherine "Kitty" Kelley Dick and William Hudson Dick, Sr.Hewas agraduate of Bolton High School and LouisianaTech where he was aproud member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

Bill'spersonal and professional accomplishmentswere numerous but theimpact that he had on so many livesistrulyhis legacy. Hiscompassionate heart,iron-willed determinationand true love for people and life madehim a rare treasure! He spent nearlyall his life helping others, childrenwith physical and mental handicaps beinghis primary focus. As an employeeofLaDepartment of Children and Family ServicesinMarksville, La,"Uncle Bill" (as he was affectionatelyknown by many) workedwithextraordinary children. He blessed handicappedchildren and theircaregivers withgreat love,care and commitment.Whenhis father fellill Billmovedto Alexandria where he con-

tinued hisselfless work with theLaSpecial Education Center forthe next 32 years.

Billwas an avid lifelong supporter of theJaycees, serving that organization in many capacities including president of the Marksvillechapter.Hewas instrumental in raising money for Muscular Dystrophy as well, once doing a"pole sit"highinthe air to raise money. He waslocallyhailedas"The Guy in theSky"! He was also a longtime eucharistic ministerinthe CatholicChurch, again, giving of himself to thebenefit of others.

Uncle Bill'spassion for theKentuckyDerbywas widelyknown!Inthe lead up to thefirst Saturdayin May, Uncle Billfielded numerous callsfromfriends and family seeking his insight on the"ponies"! To his many friends and loved ones, theKentuckyDerby will forever be areminder of Uncle Bill.

Billissurvivedbysister, Catherine D. "Kitty" Kimballand husband Clyde, brotherAustin L. Dick and wife Sambra,former sister -in-law ShellyD.Dick and his"Official Uncle BillFan Club",the many nieces, nephews, great-niecesand great-nephews that thought theworld of him and willdearlymiss his annual Happy Birthdaysong messages.Hewas proceeded in deathbyhis parents, brother Kelley RDick, Sr.and brother John Quentin Dick, Sr.and Quentin's former wife Frances.

Billwas lovedbymany butasked that aspecial thank youbeextended to his cousinAnn Brame Silverfor taking such great

care of himthrough the years, ahugethank you to hisprimary caregiver Mrs. Gloria King for herselfless dedication andlove for Bill andtohis very special friends Kimand Kenny Bradyfor theircompanionship andgoodmeals. Bill's familywould also like to extendtheir heartfelt gratitude to, Dr Gary Jones, the Naomi Heightsstaff and Christus Hospice fortheir exceptional care Visitation will be held at Kramer Funeral Home Chapel in Alexandriaon Saturday, February 21, from 10:00am untila service at Noon. In lieu of flowersthe familyasks that donations be made in Bill'shonor to theMuscular DystrophyAssociation or PermanentlyDisabled JockeysFund, P.O. Box 910864, Lexington,KY 40591. To extendonline notes of condolence to Mr.Bill's Family, please visit www.KramerFunerals.com.

tended USL. Billwas a member of the United States MarineCorps from 1959-1963. After histimein themilitary, he went on to become theAtchafalaya LeveeBoardCommission for over 20 years, as well as beinga repairman for Bellsouth Cablefor 32 years. He wasalso amemberofLivonia Masonic Lodge #220 in NewRoads, Louisiana, andFormer Vice PresidentofCommunicationsWorkers of America. Billspent time as aprivate pilot for 15 years, as well as aformer cattleman.He always enjoyed hunting, fishing, and LSUfootball andbaseball. Billissurvived by hislovingwife of 35 years, Billie W. Flynn; daughter, Tami Flynn; bonus daughters, Terri Adams (Mike Wiley) and Tonya Lavergne(Scott); sons, Mark "Todd"Flynn andTroyT.Flynn (Rainie); bonus sons, JimHoward (Marcia) and Tod Howard (Stacey); grandchildren, Matthew T. Flynn, Charles A. Flynn. KodeyT.Flynn (Baylee), Kasey T. Flynn Bailey Rose,Randi Samson (Donnie), Rhette Mire (David), Robbie Schexnayder (Duston), Lacey Lobell (Todd), Blaine Imhoff (Jim), Laryn Rayburn (Jeremy), Laremy Howard (Brittany), HollyKoch (Kyle), Hunter Howard, GerardPaul Lavergne(Colleen), Haley Lavergne, andTanner Lavergne; 32 great-grandchildren; cousin, David Lieux; sister-in-law,Anita Flynn;niece,Stephenie Flynn Allen; nephew andGodchild, Stephen Flynn;and longtime friend, Millard Dumesnil.Heispreceded in death by his parents, LeoFrancis Flynn Jr.and Thelma Marie Lieux; broth-

Dick Jr., William Hudson 'Bill'

Flynn, William T. 'Bill' William "Bill" T. Flynn born on May19, 1941, passed away on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at theage of 84. Billwas born in Baton Rouge,Louisiana. He graduatedfromPort AllenHigh School andat-

Barry Lamm, Laura Nell Baker

Laura Nell Baker Barry Lamm, age 102,

er, Leo F. "Sonny" Flynn, III; and bonus son, Jeff Howard. Visitation will take place at Resthaven Funeral Home on Thursday, February 19, 2026, beginning at 9:00 AM, with a Masonic service beginning at 10:30 AM and funeral service at 11:00 AM. Burial to follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. Pallbearers will include Kodey Flynn, Kasey Flynn, Matthew Flynn, DavidLieux, Tod Howard, and Jim Howard. Honorary pallbearers will include Millard Dumesnil and Tanner Lavergne. Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave apersonal note to the family at www.resthav enbatonrouge.com.

Franklin

of Baton Rouge, La was called home by the Lord on Feb 4, 2026 at the age of 63. She leaves to cherish her memory; her eight beloved children, forty grandchildren &thirty-one great grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend service on Saturday, February 21, 2026 at Hall Davis & Sons at 9348 Scenic Hwy. Baton Rouge, La 70807 Visitation is at 9:00 am with service starting at 10:00 am. Entombment: HeavenlyGates Mausoleum of Baton Rouge, 10633 Veteran Memorial Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA.

Ellis James Gauthier, 88, of Port Allen, La., passed awayonFriday, Feb. 13, 2026 after ayears-long battle with leukemia. Ellis was employed by the East BatonRouge Parish School System where he worked as ateacher and administratorfor 37 years. He finished his career as Assistant PrincipalatWoodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, working with multiple generations of students and their families. He also enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve, serving his country as aSergeant First Class. Ellis married Jo Ann Blanchard in 1960 and they have four children. Visitation will be at Holy Family Church in Port Allen on Saturday, Feb. 21st from 9:30-11:30 am witha Mass starting at 11:30am. Graveside service to follow at Greenoaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge. To view full obit visit www.wilbertservices.com.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Sharon KinleySchwing on December27, 2025. Following along and courageous battle with cancer, Sharon passed away surrounded by the love of her family, leaving behind alegacy of resilience, compassion, and adventure.

willbeheldonSaturday, February21, 2026. Visitation at 9:00 a.m. at the Church of the Holy CommunionParish Halllocated at 58040 CourtSt., Plaquemine, La. with aService at 10:00a.m. Sharonwillbe interned at the Grace Memorial Cemetery in Plaquemine, Louisiana

Langlois,Jacqueline 'Jacquie'

Jacqueline "Jacquie" A. Langlois,a lifelong resident of Watson, LA, passed awayather home on February 14, 2026. Shewas 74. Sheissurvived by her husband, Robert, of 44 years; son, Chad Harris (Diane) of DenhamSprings; six grandchildren, Gage Harris (Madeline), Brandford "BJ"Melancon, GabrielHarris (Kayleigh), Brenna Olinde,Bear Harris, HadleighPearson;four great-grandchildren;and sisters, MarlynSchneck, Carolyn Ringdal.She was precededindeath by her daughter, Brandi L. Langlois; parents,Charles and Tommie Thompson; and sister,Gwendolyn Lemoine. As per Jacquie's wishestherewill be no services. Rest in peace Gran, you aremissed more than you could have ever imagined. You will always be "up onthe bend".

RitaRash LeBlancwas borninDolores, Colorado on July 19, 1933toCharles andLois Rash. Shehad an adventurous spirit that leadher to NewOrleans Louisiana,whereshe met her futurehusband, Lloyd J. LeBlanc. Her relocation was perfect she hated the cold and loved to cook rich, flavorful foods. Her kitchen skills werelegendary onlyusurped by her gardening skills.She was adevoted Catholic and loved life, family and Mardi Gras. Shebecame a much-beloved school bus driverfor the Jefferson Parish School Board -driving her own schoolbus for 25 years. She enjoyed retirement with Lloyd, until he passed awayin2003. Eventually, Rita relocated to Baton Rouge to be with her granddaughter, Valerie, with whom she lived until herpassing Rita was precededindeath by herhusband, Lloyd, her children, Lori LeBlanc and Lloyd LeBlanc, Jr,and her grandson,Adam Briggs. Shewas also preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, ElaineAbadie, CarolMarciante, KayRash, and HarryRash. Sheis survived by her daughter Dianne Larmann (Bernard), her granddaughters ValerieBargas (Trey), Elizabeth Wichers(Jeff), Rebecca Larmann and her great grandchildren Briggs, Anna-Marie, and ReedBargas and McKenzie Larmann. She is also survivedbya host of nieces and nephews. Avisitation

willbeheldfrom 9:00 am to 10:00 am on Thursday, February 19, 2026, followed by a10:00 am Mass of Christian Burial at Our LadyofMercy Catholic Church. Interment at Westlawn Cemeteryin Gretna, La. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be madetoOur Lady of Mercy Catholic Church.

Thomas "Sach" Stephen LeBoeufwas born on April 3, 1946, and passed away peacefully on February 6, 2026. He was 79. He was a nativeand lifelong resident of Donaldsonville.He was agraduateofAscension Catholic and was a member of theNational Guard.Tommy was amechanic, NHRAdragracer, basketball referee, and fixer of allthings. He leaves behind to cherish his memoryhis son Troy LeBoeuf (Ashley) anddaughter Mia LeBoeuf; four grandchildren Jackson, Camille, Harrison, and Genevieve LeBoeuf; specialfriend and companion SusanBarbee; and GodchildrenErinHurry Michel and Jamie "Fats" Hurry.Heispreceded in death by his parentsMarietta (Falcon) and Arthur LeBoeufand wife Christine Lyle LeBoeuf. Visitation willtakeplace at Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church, 716 Mississippi Street,Donaldsonville on Friday, February 20, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mass of resurrectionwill beginat11:00 a.m. with Fr. MatthewDupre presiding. The family would like to thank thenurses at Chateau D'ville and The Crossing at ClarityHospice; his caretakers Betty, Felicia, Lisa and Nadine and all of thefamily and friends who tookcare of himonthis journey. Memorial donations can be madetoAscension Catholic Diocesan Regional School in HonorofThomas LeBoeuf, class of 1964, 311 St.Vincent Street,Donaldsonville LA

She's gainedher wings!!

Aftera long and full life,at age94, Myra died peacefully at her home in Duplessis on February 6, 2026. Born September 5, 1931, Myra was agraduateof Gonzales High School Class of 1948. She was quick witted and always up for agoodjoke. She absolutelyloved to dance and did so at every opportunity,although in later years it was reduced to toe tapping, which she did fervently. Myra, most definitely a"people"person enjoyed traveland socializing anytime, anywhere. Always readytogowher-

ever life would take her. She enjoyed sewing and quilting- specially making lapquiltsfor St. Jude. As thegoldenyears set in Myra enjoyed playing SkipBo with family and friends, reading, working word search puzzlesand spent a greatdealoftime with the Lord in prayer. Myra spent many years being astayhomemom, buteventuallylife ledher to theworkplace.She workedinthe cafeteria at Dutchtown school awhile, then managed theGazebo Grilland Burger Delite! She went to workatSno's Seafood as awaitress when it first opened, which she absolutely loved! After6 ½years, she moved to BonLieu Drugs where she managed thefront for 12 ½years. Again, alljobs that required "people" skills! Myra instilled in her childrengoodChristian values, agreat work ethic, and agenerous caring personality.Thesewere all important issuestoher and she passionately passed them on!She lovedher family dearly! Myra is survived by her children: Mike Broussard Sr.(Marsha King), Phyllis Stevens (Bob), Steve Broussard (Tammie Morgan), CarlaEdmonston (Murphy), and Jerry"Jug" Broussard (CindyMayer). She has 12 grandchildren and 19 greatgrandchildren.Preceded in death by many family members and 2husbands- John D. Broussard Jr.and Golden "Cookie"Melanson. Special thankstoCharlotte Tinnon forbringing communionand fellowship. And thanks to Beverly Braud (Niece), who brought love and support and many creature comfortstoher Aunt Myra! Myra'slife andlegacy can best be describedinher motto:"Live,Loveand Laugh".Her warm, bright smilewillbegreatly missed. Afuneralmass took place on February 9th, 2026 at St. John theEvangelist Catholic Church. Burialfollowedat Prairieville Cemetery

MontgomeryIII, Thomas William 'Tommy'

Sharon was adevoted wife, aloving mother and aloyal friend. Sheis survived by her beloved husband, Beyn Schwing; her cherished daughter, Kylie; her siblings; anda vast networkofcousins, nieces, nephews, and friends Acelebration of Sharon's extraordinary life and ent, he p

Thomas William Montgomery III (Tommy) was calledtocheck cattle in heaven with ourLordand Savioron2-14-26. Tommy wasborninThibodeaux, LA March5,1940, and then alifelong resident of Lottie, LA. He is survived by hiswife of 66 years Lillian Legier Montgomery,Son Thomas William Montgomery IV (Billy), Daughter in Law Michelle Herring Montgomery,Grandson Thomas William Montgomery V(Will) (Emma Klos, Finance), Half Brother MontyGeorge Montgomery.Precededindeath by Thomas William Montgomery Jr (Father),Sybil ChauvinMontgomery (Mother). He held many boardseatsoverthe years such as: Original board member of Peoples Bank (Synergy Bank), Cattlemans Association,FHA, ASCS, FarmBureau,First South, Waterboard Dist. #2. Tommy wasa lifelong cattleman and had alove for animals. He enjoyed anythingthathad to do with cattle or hisfamily. Hisproudest achievement in life, hisgrandson Will He lovedtomake his weeklyrounds to visit with neighborswith atoot of thehornand conversation ending with ANYHOW He will be greatly missed but we know he's enjoying the stirruphighlush green grass with hisfat healthy cows.A visitation will be held at St.Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Livonia on Friday, February 20, 2026 from 9amuntil Mass of Christian Burial at 11 am. Theintermentwill followthe service in the church cemetery.Pallbearers: Leslie Torres,Joey Kent,JohnSteib,Daryl Fairchild,Walt Fairchild, CarlWhittington,

Karen Elizabeth Mougeot passedawayon February 11, 2026, at the age of 54. Shewill be lovingly remembered by her father,PaulMougeot; sisters RachelLitton (and husband Kenneth Litton) andPaula Jarreau (and husband Joey Jarreau); brothers David Mougeot (and wife Tammy Mougeot) andJames Fountain(and wife Kassidy Fountain); nieces and nephewsAndreanna Lemoine,Jared Lemoine, Tyler Whittaker,Chas Harrison, Darian Mougeot, Zane Mougeot, Dylan Jarreau andNolan Jarreau. A 1989 graduate of Catholic High of Pointe Coupee Karen's compassionate heartshone in caringfor elderlyfriends andfamily. Shealso lovedspending time with herpets, especially herbeloved Tucker SweetPea andLucille.She workedfor many years as adispatcher of the PCPSO andfor atelecommunicationscompany. She'sprecededindeathbyher brotherTravis Mougeot, nephew Joshua Mougeot, andstepmother Beverly Mougeot. Shewill be deeply missed. Aprivate memorial will be held at a later date.

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

Whenyou’recomparing plans

 Look forcoverage that helpspay formajor services. Some plans maylimit thenumberof procedures —orpay forpreventive care only.

 Look forcoverage with no deductibles. Some plans mayrequire you to pay hundredsout of pocket before

are

 Shop forcoverage with no annual maximumoncash benefits.Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

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

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones

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

Previous dentalwork canwear out

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

Treatment is expensive especially theservicespeople over 50 often need

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

Mougeot,

LeBoeuf, Thomas 'Sach'

Franklin Staden, Rita Sharon

Rita Sharon

Staden

LeBlanc, RitaRash

Gauthier, Ellis James

Melanson, Myra L.

Kinley Schwing, Sharon

Editor’snote:This editorial, slightlymodiﬁed, has appeared on previous Ash Wednesdays in this newspaper

To get a“black mark,” we understand from thecommon lexicon,isn’tagood thing —except on Ash Wednesday,when many Christians observe the beginningofLent with asmudge of ash on their foreheads as areminder of their mortality

The message is more relevant than ever: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” as the Ash Wednesday admonition goes, asomber recognition that in the great cycle of earthly life, none of us is here for very long.

It’sareality that resonates among those of all faiths, or even those withno particular religious faith at all, although our culture does much to deny it.

Cosmetics and fashion falsely promise eternal youth, and politics promotes the equally hollow promise of power as apermanent commodity,asifour smallestdesires might be attained by legislationordecree.

Ash Wednesday points us to adifferent and healthier —perspective on the human condition, one that acknowledges the limitsof personalambition, the boundaries of earthly human life itself.

Lent reminds us how small we are in the scheme of things, awelcome corrective tothe narcissism of our politics, the narrowness of ourgenerosity,the nastiness of realityTVand the darker corners of social media.

The start of Lent today also means another chance to embrace the cause of personal improvement, aprospect that couldn’tcome at a better time.

This is the point of the year,after all, when many of us realize that those well-meaning New Year’sresolutions haven’tcome tovery much.

Many people use Lent as aseason toeither give up some small pleasure, like chocolate or cake, or resolve to do something extra, like helping aneighbor or volunteering at afood bank. The hope is that these small personal disciplines will help deepenour spiritual resolve for bigger challenges. As we move through a divisive time in our country,wealsohope that ourLenten practices help us lessen the vitriol rampant in our society andelevateour political discourse.

At the very least, Lent brings the news that although we remain imperfect in ayear still young, there’sanew opportunitytobecome a little thinner,alittle stronger,maybe even a little kinder

And with Friday ﬁsh fries and crawﬁsh boils, Easter and Lent are also linked in aspirit of fellowship.

Although Lent isn’tmeant tobeajollytime,it serves as abridge between winter and spring. The march of Lent is taking us, slowly but surely,toawarmer place, adestination softened by pastel skies, greening lawns, aﬂowering landscape. Anew season, blessedly,isjust around the corner

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

This is in reply to theletter “A landowner’scase for Louisiana’seconomic future,”byRobert Crosby Crosby overlooks theresponsibility that we as large landowners owe to our neighbors and our communities. LikeCrosby,myfamily has been in thetimber business over ahundred years. We have tried to be good stewards and good neighbors.

Carbon capture is not good for our neighbors, nor our community Crosby overlooks thefact that decisions he makes on his land affect his neighbors and the community as a whole. Ruining thedrinking water from acarbon capture spill affects everyone.

The timber companies are only worried about their dollars, not how our communities will be in 10, 20 or 100 years from now.The timber companies even came to our parish police jury and asked them not to pave roads, to leavethem dustybecause they were tired of ﬁxing paved roads. They couldn’tcare less about

Iamapolice ofﬁcer.Iworked hard to achieve my goal. Iamfrom Oak Brook,Illinois;from Elyria, Ohio; from Metairie. Iamsworn to uphold thelaw.But I’m not local. I’m alaw enforcement ofﬁcer of the federal government,ofwhich Iamproud. AndIamunder attack. In thefreezing temperatures of Minneapolis,Iwas an alien. Iwas yelled at by people on the street. The protesters heretried to trip me, punch me and spit at me. Iamsworn in to enforce thelaws of the U.S. government —their government It was cold. Bitter cold. Yetthey wouldn’tlet me buyacup of coffee at the local convenience stores.

My fellow ofﬁcersand Istayed in local motels.But we couldn’tget a good night’s sleep because the antagonists or protesters, whatever they are, yelled outside on the street. It got me stressed. It made me almost delirious.Why do they hateme? I was only doing what my job is: to enforce immigration law.That’s my

thecommunity

We,asresponsible landowners, take stewardship of the lands seriously We are not driven by the almighty dollar,and carbon capture is not good for our community.Don’tbemisled into thinking carbon capture will makeeverybody rich. Only the oil companies will truly beneﬁt. Take a stand toprotect our rural community.Oppose carbon capture, if not for you, for your kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Remember that both times ahazardous waste dump was proposed for St. Helena Parish,itwas the large timber companies whowould sell them the land. Yes, the timber companies pay alittle property tax, but that is it. They don’tcontribute to our school athletes, ourlittle league, our churches and other civic organizations. Remember,tothem it is all about the dollar REP. ROBERT J. CARTER state representative, District72 Greensburg

job

IamanICU nurse in Minneapolis.

Ihate President Donald Trump, and Ihated the federal Nazis who were arresting innocentpeople who are justtrying to makeabetterlife for themselves in theU.S. Maybe Ishould have gone back down to supportthem. Last timeI went,Ispit at U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement ofﬁcers and kicked out one of their taillights. It felt good!

Iamaspectator,anAmerican citizen who lives in Mandeville.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agentsshould nothave to ﬁght U.S. citizens and protesters in order to do theirjobs, to enforce the law. If we don’tagree withthe laws of this country,they need to be changed. Theonly way to do thatisthrough Congress. It is not to ﬁght law enforcement in thestreets. What’s wrong with us?

JONATHAN SHERMAN Mandeville

Recently,I watched the local TV newsatnoon. Most of the commercials werefor ambulance chasers. Their billboards are also ubiquitous. Such advertising requires asigniﬁcant cost. Looks like the PACcan afford only atwentieth of the TV advertising of the chasers. Ever see the billboards by these ﬁrmsbragging about getting $100 million fortheir clients? Car accident lawyers have arather lucrative gig. Although their take can be higher, mostcommonly their take is athird of the settlement. So, when you see abillboard bragging about getting $100 million fortheir clients, what you should realize is that the lawyers pocketed $33 million. And where does the $33 million come from? It comes from the insurance companies. And where do the insurance companies get the coin to cover these settlements? Who pays for this largess? Yeah, that would be the shmucks required to buy car insurance.

Think of one-third of your car insurance premium as being adonation to line the pockets of folks that give us all these billboards and TV advertisements. If you get rear-ended, don’tfret. Think of it as your lottery ticket to two-thirds of the spoils. As forthe rest of us, let’sjust enjoy the commercials and billboards and hope that we can afford our car insurance.

DAVE WHIDDON NewOrleans

The difference between President Donald Trump2.0 and 1.0 is dramatic. During Trump1.0, the president wasmerely annoying and embarrassing. Now,one year into 2.0, the president has been bestowed with unprecedented personal power,and his impulse is to abuse it.

MICHAEL COLEMAN NewOrleans

Bewarethe bullypromising a‘soft touch’

Forcasual observers of U.S. politics, an interview President Donald Trump gave to “NBC Nightly News” might have suggested achange of tone in the federal government’sstandoff in Minnesota.

Speaking of the bruteforce operations federal agents have conducted there rounding up undocumented immigrants in that state, Trumptold anchor TomLlamas: “I learned that maybe we could use alittle bitofa softer touch. But youstill have to be tough.”

To make sense of Trump,it’smore important to pay attention towhathedoes than what he says —because what he says is often misdirection, andislikely to be contradicted by what hesaysor does aday,aweek or amonth later.

“We’re dealing with really hard criminals,” Trump told Llamas, adding, “Look, I’ve called the people. I’vecalled the governor. I’ve called the mayor Spoke to ‘em. Had great conversations with them. And then Isee them rantingand raving outthere. Literally as though acall wasn’tmade.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol are not“dealing with” alot of criminals —which is to say,undocumented immigrantswho have committed violent crime in our country —although they have arrested afew.And theconservative Cato Institute estimatesthatof those arrested in all DHS operations since Oct. 1, 73% have no priorcriminal convictions, andonly5%have had a violent criminal conviction

So it strains credibility tocontend that federal agents are in Minnesota to riditofdangerous aliens. And judging by reportsonsocial media from those involved, ICE andBorder Patrol agents have not de-escalated effortstoarrest immigrants and Minnesotans observing and documentingtheir operations. Federal agents continuetopullguns on citizen observers, threaten them verbally,rough them up, arrest them and publish their mugshots on social media with the intention of inﬂicting personal repercussions. All because these citizens engage in constitutionally protected activity that Trumpand DHS don’tlike.

Minnesota Gov.Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey,both Democrats, have strongly condemned Trump’simmigration raids, andhave called on the president to de-escalate Yetthe true intentions of theTrump

administration can be seen in theletter U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Walz shortly after the shooting death of asecond protester,Alex Pretti, on thestreets of Minneapolis. Bondi toldWalz that he could “bring an end to the chaos” by, among other things,turning over thestate’svoter data to the Justice Department.

How are voter rolls related to immigration enforcement? This is where casual observers of U.S. politics need to start payingattention.

Under Trump, theJustice Department has aggressively sought statevoter data, andhas sued at least 24 states andterritories to get it. Eleven states have complied, but manyhave resisted, including Minnesota, where complying would actually break state law Trump, youwill recall, infamously claimed the2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden,was stolen. Andalthough he and his allies mounted more than 60 lawsuits alleging voter fraud, all of them failed butone, an inconsequential case in Pennsylvania. Yethis supporters wentontostormthe U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the Electoral College vote from beingcertiﬁed, one of the most shameful days in recent U.S. political history

As Ipointed out not long ago, Trump views the2026 midterms as existential. If heloses themajority in either house of Congress, he faces investigations, roadblockstogovern and possibly impeachment. No surprise, then, that

Trumprecently said he might not “ac-

cept” the midterm poll results. He wants to “nationalize” voting so his federal agencies can control it.

And make no mistake, themidterms areshaping up to be adisaster for Republicans,and they know it.The violence committed in Trump’sDHS raids has seriously undercut support for the president and his party in public opinion polls.

YetTrumpand Co. continue their effortstointimidate, hoping their fortunes will change.

Bullying hasbeen afruitful strategy for Trump in his second term.Hehas used every lever of government to amassgreat personal power and wealth, to cow and extortand threaten people and institutions he has deemed as rivals.

Butwhen he turned on ordinary Minnesotans —and Angelenos and Chicagoans before that —and they stood up and fought back, it forced all of America to confront the possibilitythat our democracy is slouching towardtyranny and that we too need to stand up.

It’soutrageous to thinkthat Americans are ﬁghting our own president —risking arrest, injury and even death —touphold thebasic rights theConstitution grantstoall of us. But Trump has plunged us intoaneedless, destructivenational crisis, and it may get alot worse before it gets better

Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com.

ACOVID realitycheck forAIhype

COVID-19 gave everyoneaharsh lesson in the power of exponentials, and that memory haunts any analysis of artificial intelligence. Sure, everything looks fine now.But then, everything also looked fine in early March 2020. By the end of the month,we were locked in our houses with our strategic reserves of toilet paper In aviral essay on Xthis week, Otherside AI founder MattShumer draws the parallel explicitly.“Ithink we’re in the ‘this seems overblown’ phase of something much, much bigger than COVID,” he writes, before launching into adescription of what’s already here for coders: AI agents building “usuallyperfect” software from a plain-English description. He’spredictingaworld sooninwhich AIblows up software development andmoves on to every other profession.

WhenPresident Donald Trump claims there hasbeen “voter fraud” in previous elections, whatusually comes to my mind is non-U.S. citizens casting ballots. That is against the law. There have been afew such instances,but no credible proof that they were enough to change the outcomeofan election.

There is anotherkind of voterfraud which has escaped the attention—whether accidentally or deliberately —of the media. PeterSchweizer writes aboutitinhis newbook “The Invisible Coup: How American Elitesand Foreign Powers Use Immigrationasa Weapon.”

In achaptertitled“Voter Mills,” Schweizer notes that1.2 millionnew citizens were sworn in during the 1996 election year,“threetimes the number processed by the INS (Immigrationand NaturalizationService) the previous year.” Schweizer makes astrong andwell-documented case thatthe Clintonadministration (and later the Bidenadministration) violated immigrationlaw by rushing through people from othercountriestobecome citizens andthen rapidly registering themtovote, mostly for Democrats.

Citing aJusticeDepartment Inspector General InvestigationofCitizenship USA discovered by The Daily Caller,Schweizer writes thatRahmEmanuel, thenanassistant to the president for political affairs, “took midnight trips to INS headquarters to meet with (then-Commissioner Daniel Meissner) to speed-up the process of granting citizenship to foreigners.”

Schweizer says, “As avote generator, it worked: eighty-ﬁve percentofthis populationvoted for Clinton-Gore.” Schweizer writes the same strategy was usedbythe Bidenadministration, which he suggests was amajor reason Biden refused to control the southern border during his four years in ofﬁce.

The waytoreverse this type of voter fraud andprevent it from happening in the future is to revoke the naturalizedcitizenship of those who circumvented the requirements for becoming U.S. citizens.

“I know the next two to ﬁve years are going to be disorienting in ways most people aren’tprepared for,”hewrites. “This is already happening in my world. It’scoming to yours.”

By Friday,the post had 80 million views, and Xhad been divided intotwo warring camps, each astounded by the other’snaiveté: skeptics whosaw this as more false hype, and AI boomers and doomers who think we’re on thecuspof the biggest social and economic transformation since at least the Industrial Revolution, and possibly thetamingof ﬁre. Is it time to freak out? Well, don’t panic, but you should be concerned Though not becausethe economy as we know it will end in two years, or ﬁve.

As readers of this column know,I’m closer to aboomer than askeptic. I’ve watched AI get steadily better at doing partsofmyjob (though not thewriting, every word of which has been lovingly

handcrafted by ahuman). I’m also paying attention to what people from AI World are saying —and not just the executives, who can be suspectedofhyping their product as they raise vast sums of capital to build moredata centers. Dismiss them if you will, but pay attention to thepeople who are leaving the major AI platforms, declaring we’re on the verge of recursive self-improvement (machines building better and better versions of themselves). Or else murmuring about ﬁnding something else to dointhe brave new world, like studying poetry.All this makes me inclined to believethat Shumer is directionally correct. Even if theimprovement stalls well short of superintelligence, aworld of merely very intelligent machines is apt to get really weird for agood long while. Though probably not assoon as AI World thinks. It often seems to extrapolatefromthe pace of changeinthe software industry,which is undergoing astaggering transformation.

Butmost of the economy is not the software industry.Tech ﬁrmsare best positioned to innovate in thebusiness they understandbest. As AI spreads beyond those borders, thepace of advancementshould slow Electricity,chips and the growing political pushback will becomeproblems as AI expands. But leaving those constraints aside, AI will face steeper challenges in industries that work with people, or physical objects, rather than electrons.

What percentage of jobs can be automatedbyAI? Hard to say,but takethe maximalistcase: every job that was done overZoom in 2021. In that year, accordingtothe Census Bureau, 17.9% of workers were working primarily from home. That means more than

80% of jobs required someone’sphysical presence, which implies they were doing something that cannot easily be replaced by avirtual worker

Yeteven that 17.9% probably overstates the potential, at least in thenear term. Having spent ﬁve years working in IT,Ican attest that software engineers adopt new technical tools much quicker,and withconsiderably less pain, than any other user

Many other constraintsdon’texist in the software industry but abound outside it. Take drug discovery,which has captured alot of imaginations cures for cancer,ondemand! Even if every other part of the process was turbocharged by AI, drug companies would still be required by law to test inventions in thousands of human subjects.However much AI improves that process, it will not enable you to administer a12-week course of anew drug to fewer than the required number of subjects, or in less than 12 weeks.

Almostevery sector outside of software has many such constraints —cultural, physical and regulatory. Maybe one day we’ll get so good at modeling biological processes that we can skip theclinical trials. But probably not in ﬁve years, and given how glacially bureaucracies move, maybe not in 50

So while there are afew industries where everything might go sideways in thenext ﬁve years (journalism,alas, is one of them), in most jobs, you should expect things to be mostly business as usual come2030. That said, remember COVID, and don’tlet the apparent normalcy blind you to what’scoming. If you’re in awhite-collar job, you’ve probably got time. Butitwon’tdoyou much good unless you use it to prepare for what’scoming.

MeganMcArdle in on X, @asymmetricinfo.

Whatdoes the lawrequire of people who wish to become citizens of the UnitedStates andgainthe right to vote?The U.S. Citizenship andImmigrationServices describes it: “Toqualify forU.S. naturalized citizenship, applicants must generally be at least 18, alawfulpermanent resident (green card holder) for5 years(or 3ifmarried to aU.S. citizen), demonstrate good moral character, andpossess basic English proﬁciency along with knowledge of U.S. history and government.”

If an immigrant violates the law, what are supposedtobethe consequences?” Aperson is subject to revocation of naturalization if he or she procured naturalization illegally.” Schweizer writes“...with pressure from the (Clinton) White House,the INS did not properly enforce the English language requirement of naturalization.” Many INS workers, he says, reported that they “regularly encountered applicants who presented passing certiﬁcates but who could notspeak even simple English. TheybecameU.S. citizens anyway.”And instant voters.

In view of this illegal strategy by Democrats, it could be argued that amajor reason for anti-ICE demonstrations in Minneapolis is thatthe left wants to maintain their harvest of newDemocrat voters for future electioncycles.

President Trump, the Justice Department andthe INS should launch an investigation into those who violatedthe requirements for becoming American citizens.

If proven theyviolatedthe law, they should be stripped of their citizenship, along with their right to vote,driver’slicenses andpassports anddeported to the countries from which theycame. Otherwise,the law is made amockeryand those who followed the lawtobecome citizens will rightfully be angry abouta systemthat treats law-abidersand lawbreakersthe same

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditorstribpub. com.

ega McArdle M n

Cal Thomas

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTOByABBIE PARR

Federalimmigration officers deploypepper sprayatprotesters after ashooting on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

Clarence Page

LSU softball breezesby S. Alabama

BY JIM KLEINPETER

Contributing writer

LSU bounced back impressively from arough weekend in Florida with timely hits and solid pitching to take a10-2 mercy-rule victory against South Alabama at Tiger Park on Tuesday

The No. 19 Tigers got abases-loaded triple fromAlixFranklinand atwo-run single by Jalia Lassiter,and Tatum Clopton andPatynMonticelli were stingy from the circle.

LSUwent 1-4withtwo shutoutlosses at the ClearwaterClassic last weekendbut took advantageofeight walks andthree hit batters Tuesday.

Cloptongot thevictory with thehelp of strong defense behind her. The Tigers turned apair of double plays to work around multiple Jaguarbaserunners.

“Weplayed much more like ourselves,”

ä See SOFTBALL, page 3C

FIRSTIMPRESSIONS

Starting pitching raises eyebrowduring impressive opening week forLSU

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU catcher Cade Arrambide, left, speakswithstarting pitcher CasanEvans as theyreturntothe dugout after thethirdinning againstMilwaukeeonopening dayFriday at Alex Box Stadium ANALYSIS

It wasn’t always pretty, butLSU baseball has started the 2026 season with a perfect record. The Tigers are 4-0 after sweepingMilwaukee over the weekendand taking down Kent State on Monday.LSU won

15-5 on Friday,5-3 on Saturday,21-7 on Sundayand 10-7onMonday. Here arefivetakeaways from LSU’s ﬁrst four games of theyear ahead of a 1p.m. Wednesdaymatchup with Nicholls State at Alex Box Stadium.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAVIDZALUBOWSKI

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham,front, reacts afterforward Tobias Harris,back, made abasket against the Denver Nuggets in the second half of agame on Jan. 27 in Denver.

Pistonsproviding NBA astunningturnaround

BY TIM REYNOLDS

AP basketball writer

The Detroit Pistons had the worst record in franchisehistory at the All-Star breakfouryearsago. And two years ago, their record at the breakwas even worse. Look at them now Whenthe NBA starts post-AllStar play on Thursday,the Pistons —afranchise that last won aplayoff series in 2008 —will start the nightwiththe best record in the

league,asmidge ahead of the defendingchampionOklahoma City Thunder. Detroitis40-13,Oklahoma City 42-14. The Thunder is expected to be here. ThePistonsprobably weren’t.How Detroitﬁnishes, and if it can holdontothat top spot, is one of the intriguingstorylines for the stretch runofthe NBA season —with two-thirdsofthe year complete and teams now settosprint

ä See NBA, page 6C

Slowstarters

LSU starting pitchers combined to post a6.06 ERAin161/3 innings, walking eight batters andallowingthreehomeruns. These numbers would be worrying, but understandable,inSoutheasternConfer-

LSUcenter fielder Jalia Lassiter races to third against Lamar earlier this season at TigerPark.Lassiter scored three runs TuesdayinLSU’s10-2 win over South Alabama.

Comeback fallsshort forLSU vs.Texas

BY TOYLOY BROWNIII Staff writer

LSUwas seeking abright sport in the form of awin as Southeastern Conference play wanes in this injury-riddled season.

But coach Matt McMahon’s groupfellshortofa win again, losingtoTexas 88-85onTuesday at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

This was theﬁrst time theTigers played Texas on the road sincethe Longhorns joined the SEC during the 2024-25 season. The last timeLSU (14-12,2-11 SEC) beat Texas(17-9, 8-5) was during the2019-20 season.

Marquel Sutton had 21 points, ﬁve rebounds and made all eight of his free throws for LSU. Max Mackinonn, who missedthe game Saturday due to aknee injury,led LSUwith29points and three assists. Texaswas led by Dailyn Swain with 21 points and10rebounds.

Mackinnonwasn’tinthe startinglineupand checked in for the ﬁrst time at the 14:53 mark.The Tigers’ leading scorer in SEC play(16.4) moved wellcoming off theinjury.Inthe 33 minutes he played, he was instrumental to the Tigers’ comeback with 23 in thesecond half.

Mike Nwoko got theteam off to astrong offensive start. He bur-

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL

LSU guard Max Mackinnon chases after the ball in the first halfof the game against Missouri on Jan. 17 at the Pete MaravichAssembly Center.Mackinnon scored 29 points in the loss to Texas on Tuesday

ied apair of hook shots over the 7-foot Matas Vokietaitis. However,the junior center picked up a secondfoul with 14:53 remaining in the first half Jalen Reece remained in the starting lineup after having 15 points and four assists in themost recent game. The freshman point guard was aggressive, looking for scoring opportunities, earning sevenpoints in the first eight minutesofaction. One of his scores was abehind-the-back, step-back 3-pointer after aNwoko screen. TheTigersusedavariety of defenders to guard the 6-7 Swain. Regardless, Swain was elusive as adribble driver from the onset, scoring11ofhis team’s first17 points. LSUgaveup34free-throw attempts and Texas made23for the game.

ä See LSU MEN, page 6C

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

STAFFPHOTO

MICHAEL JOHNSON

JOHNSON

LEARNMORE

Derek Curiel LSU Baseball, Outfielder

Woods won’t rule out 2026 Masters

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

LOS ANGELES Tiger Woods did not rule out a return to the Masters just under two months away, even as his immediate future appears to include just about everything but golf.

Woods again painted an uncertain future about when or where he plays next because of a seventh back surgery to replace a disk. He said Tuesday at the Genesis Invitational that he remains plenty occupied, mostly with trying to reshape the PGA Tour schedule.

“I thought I spent a lot of hours practicing in my prime,” Woods said. “It doesn’t compare to what we’ve done in the boardroom.” Those hours also are an obstacle in his decision whether to be the U.S. captain for the Ryder Cup for the 2027 matches in Ireland. Woods turned down the job two years ago because he didn’t think he had the time to do the job justice Foremost this time of the year is the Masters, which Woods last played in 2024 when he made the cut for a record 24th time in a row Woods is a ﬁve-time Masters champion. Asked if playing the Masters, which starts April 9, was off the table, Woods replied without elaboration, “No.”

As for his golf anywhere — he turned 50 at the end of last year and is eligible for the PGA Tour Champions — Woods said he is still working his way back from the disk replacement surgery in October and has no timetable for a return. He has yet to play in the indoor TGL matches, either

“Well, I’m trying — put it that way,” he said, adding that he can hit full shots but not every day “and not very well.”

Last year was the first time in his career he did not compete in a single tournament. He had surgery in March 2025 for a ruptured Achilles tendon, which is no longer

holding him back He said his lower back was sore, and at his age, “It’s probably going to take me a little bit longer.”

“My body has been through a lot,”

Woods said. “Each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing, I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again.”

His chief interest is indoors. He is on the board of the PGA Tour and the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises, heading the “Future Competition Committee” that is trying to create a model to meet CEO Brian Rolapp’s goal of fewer tournaments that are more meaningful for the best players.

The only thing clear is that a new model most likely won’t be ready by 2027. The committee has reached agreement on a big start to the season that could be the week after or before the Super Bowl — taking the big events to bigger markets and becoming the must-see sport of the summer

Another players-only meeting was scheduled Tuesday at Riviera. Rolapp is expected to pull back the curtain on some aspects at The Players Championship in March, with a little more clarity expected in the summer

Among items under consideration is moving some prime California stops — Riviera and Torrey Pines get most of the attention to August as part of the PGA Tour’s postseason.

“We’re looking at things like that, looking to go to bigger markets later in the year for the playoffs Just trying to make our competitive model better, and how do we do that?” Woods said, adding that moving the Genesis Invitational to August “certainly is on the table.”

All the while, Woods said it was important to create a path for the next batch of stars.

“We’re trying to create opportunities for that turnover to get more

youth out here because eventually they’re going to take over the game,” Woods said. “So trying to create that opportunity, trying to create the right competitive model and the environment to foster that, that’s been the greater challenge of it all.” As for the Ryder Cup, that also is in the wait-and-see mode.

The PGA of America waited longer than it ever has before choosing Keegan Bradley for the ‘25 matches at Bethpage Black because it was

waiting on an answer from Woods. He doesn’t appear to have made much headway

“They have asked me for my input on it, and I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said. “I’m trying to ﬁgure out what we’re trying to do with our tour That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to ﬁgure out if I can actually do our team — Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup — if I can do it justice with my time.”

Source: Clark intends to resign from union

Head of MLB Players Association to leave position

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

TAMPA, Fla. — Tony Clark intends to resign as head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a person familiar with the union’s deliberations said Tuesday

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because his decision, ﬁrst reported by ESPN, had not been announced. The person said an announcement was likely later Tuesday Clark’s decision took place during an investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, into One Team Partners, a licensing company founded by the union, the NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners in 2019.

“A lot of people have known that the investigation has been going on,” said the New York Mets’ Marcus Semien, a member of the union’s eight-man executive subcommittee. “I think that this happening during the investigation is not like, as a subcommittee, is not like overly surprising, but it still hurts and it’s still something I’m processing.” Deputy executive director

Bruce Meyer is set to be the primary negotiator in the upcoming labor talks, as he was in 2021-22. After Clark and Rick Shapiro led the 2016 negotiations, Meyer was hired in August 2018 as senior director of collective bargaining and legal and was promoted to his current role in July 2022.

Semien believes Clark is leaving to deal with the probe.

“I think so,” he said, “because up

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By

Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony

answers a question during a news conference in New york on March 11, 2022.

to this point, before any investigations, I’ve had the ultimate conﬁdence in Tony Clark to lead this player group. I’ve had the ultimate conﬁdence in Bruce Meyer to be the lead negotiator for this player group.”

The decision was made ahead of an expected start of collective bargaining in April for an agreement to replace the ﬁve-year labor contract that expires Dec 1. Management appears on track to propose a salary cap, which possibly could lead to a work stoppage that causes regular-season games to be canceled for the ﬁrst time since 1995.

Adam L. Braverman, a former U.S. associate deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was hired by the union’s executive subcommittee as outside counsel, two people familiar

with the group’s action told the AP They spoke on condition of anonymity because the union hadn’t announced that. The union on Monday canceled Tuesday’s scheduled start of the staff’s annual tour of the 30 spring training camps, which was to have begun with the Cleveland Guardians in the morning and the Chicago White Sox in the afternoon. Clark, 53, is a former All-Star ﬁrst baseman who became the ﬁrst player to head the union.

He played from 1995-2009, becoming a union leader shortly after going to his ﬁrst executive board meeting in 1999.

Clark was hired as the union’s director of player relations in 2010 and was promoted to deputy executive director in July 2013, when union head Michael Weiner’s health declined because of a brain

Chio wins her third SEC weekly gym honor of year

Once again, Kailin Chio had no peer in Southeastern Conference gymnastics.

The LSU sophomore won her third SEC gymnast of the week award Tuesday after a dazzling showing in her team’s 198.325196.825 win over Auburn on Friday

Chio had her ﬁrst career perfect 10 on ﬂoor and won the allaround with a 39.875, the secondhighest all-around score in LSU history and tied for the best in the nation this season with former Olympian Jordan Chiles of UCLA. Chio also won vault and balance beam with scores of 9.975.

The sophomore from Henderson, Nevada, now has 41 career individual titles, including 18 in just six meets this season.

Wolves finish cost-cutting moves with guard Conley

MINNEAPOLIS The Minnesota Timberwolves finalized their cost-cutting move with point guard Mike Conley by signing the 19th-year veteran on Wednesday two weeks after trading him away Conley was first sent in a threeteam deal to the Chicago Bulls, who then packaged him with Coby White in a swap with the Charlotte Hornets the following day The day after that, Conley was waived. Being traded twice made Conley eligible to rejoin the Timberwolves, who were thus able to sign him to a minimum contract after lowering their luxury tax bill beneath the first apron by jettisoning his original salary

The Timberwolves (34-22) are in sixth place in the Western Conference.

Twins ace Lopez likely to miss entire season FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Minnesota Twins suffered a major setback during their ﬁrst full-squad workout, an elbow injury that likely will sideline ace Pablo López for the entire season.

General manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters at the club’s spring training facility on Tuesday that López has a “signiﬁcant tear” in his right ulnar collateral ligament. He was seeking a second medical opinion but expected to need Tommy John surgery, Zoll said. López ended his bullpen session early on Monday after experiencing soreness in his throwing elbow López missed about three months last season with a shoulder injury As the Twins were slashing payroll, he was mentioned often as a prime trade candidate.

tumor Weiner died that November and Clark was elevated to executive director following Marvin Miller, Kenneth Moffett, Donald Fehr and Wiener as union head.

Clark led players through negotiations that led to an agreement in December 2016, about 3 1/2 hours before the prior deal was set to expire, and another in March 2022 after a 99-day lockout. Meyer, 64, spent 30 years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges before joining the NHL Players Association in 2016 as senior director of collective bargaining, policy and legal.

Three members of the subcommittee, Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ, were among the players who in March 2024 advocated for the ouster of Meyer in an effort led by former union lawyer Harry Marino. Clark backed Meyer, the effort failed and those three players were dropped off the subcommittee that December

The subcommittee voted 8-0 against approving the 2022 labor contract and Meyer had advocated pushing management for a deal more favorable to the union. Team player representatives, the overall group supervising negotiations, voted 26-4 in favor, leaving the overall ballot at 26-12 for ratiﬁcation.

In addition to Semien, the current subcommittee includes Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Brent Suter

OneTeam says since its formation that it added, among others, the players’ associations of the WNBA, MLS, NWSL and the U.S. women’s soccer national team. RedBird sold its stake in 2019 to HPS Investment Partners, Atlantic Park Strategic Capital Fund and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.

Padres sign RHP Buehler to minor-league deal

PEORIA, Ariz Walker Buehler has signed with the San Diego Padres after the right-hander spent the first eight seasons of his major league career with their archrivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Buehler was in the Padres’ clubhouse Tuesday morning after agreeing to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp.

“Yeah, it feels a little weird,” Buehler told reporters in Arizona after pulling on a brown and gold uniform. “I imagine ﬁve years ago it would have felt a lot more weird, but this is a crazy game and this is a great opportunity for me.”

Buehler earned two All-Star selections and two World Series rings during his 10 years in the Dodgers organization, serving as a mainstay in their rotation.

Former Denver Nuggets

coach Moe dies at 87

DENVER Doug Moe, an ABA original who gained fame over a rumpled, irreverent and sometimes R-rated decade as coach of the Denver Nuggets in the 1980s, died Tuesday He was 87.

Moe’s son, David, notiﬁed several of the coach’s friends that his father had died after a long bout with cancer, Ron Zappolo, a longtime Denver TV personality and good friend of Moe’s, told The Associated Press.

The Nuggets, in a social media post, called Moe “a one-of-a-kind leader and person who spearheaded one of the most successful and exciting decades in Nuggets history.”

Moe went 628-529 over 15 seasons as a head coach, including stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers.

RICHARD DREW

Clark

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARTA LAVANDIER

Tiger Woods of the Jupiter Links Golf Club tees off from the 12th hole during a match against the Los Angeles Golf Club on Jan. 14, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Cubancriticizes punishmentsfor losing NBAteams

Assoictaed Press

DALLAS Mark Cuban wrote in a pair of lengthy posts on social mediathat the NBA should embrace tanking, and the minority ownerof the Dallas Mavericks criticizedthe leaguefor punishingteams that appear to be losing on purpose to improve their chances of landing ahigh pick in the draft.

Cuban’sposts on XonTuesday came three days after Commissioner Adam Silver saidthe NBA wasconsidering changes to the draft lottery andthe possibility of revoking picks.

Whenannouncing a$500,000 ﬁne last week for Utah after the Jazz sat star players Lauri Markkanen and Jaren JacksonJr. in the fourthquarterofaloss to Orlando, Silver said the league “wouldrespond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games.”

ThesharpestcommentsfromCubanamountedtoa response to Silver’sstrong words.

“The worstthat the NBA dishes outisthat if you don’tlie to your fans about what you are doing, even though it’sobvioustothem,you get fined,” Cuban wrote. “And (they) threaten you with losing picks.” Indianapresident ofbasketball operations Kevin Pritchard whosePacers were ﬁned $100,000 at the same time as the Jazz over roster management decisions, asked his fans in a post if they agreed with Cuban. Most did.

The Pacers reached the NBA Finals last season, losing to Oklahoma City.Their best player,Tyrese Haliburton, tore an Achilles tendonin Game 7, and theexpectation washe

LSU BASEBALL

Continued from page1C

ence play.But Milwaukee had a2435 record last season. Kent State has apowerful offense, butthe Golden Flashesaren’tArkansas or Tennessee.

The only starter who excelled was Kansas transfer right-hander Cooper Moore. He shut down the Panthers for six innings, allowing just one earned runwith 11 strikeouts. But sophomore right-hander Casan Evansstruggledagainst thesame lineupthe daybefore, leaving his changeup up in the zone toooften. He allowed four earned runs in 31/3 innings. Fellow sophomore right-hander William Schmidt also had trouble locating hispitches on Sunday,surrenderingahome run on afastball up and over the plate and walking three.

There were flashes of strong stufffromSchmidtand Evans. Schmidt struck out nine, andEvans threw three scoreless innings to start the game and hadseven strikeouts before running into trouble in the fourth.

“Yesterday,they proved that they could hit it if it was up,” Moore said after his start Saturday.“And my goalasa pitcheris always to throw it down.” Similar to Evans, redshirt junior right-hander Jaden Noot had asolid start against Kent Stateon

SOFTBALL

Continued from page1C

LSU coach Beth Torina said.

“It was nice to be back atTiger Park in front of our fans

We did alot of good things tonight and that was much more like the brand of LSU softball we expect from this group.

“Their approach was alot more relaxed and loose. We pressed last weekend, swung out of plan,did things that were very uncharacteristic of our style of play.”

LSU (8-4) scored in each of the ﬁrst three innings, but blewitopenwithseven in the third. Lassiter,who scored three runs, triggered the outburst with abases-loaded single to knock in two runs When her sharply struck hit got past left fielder Gracie Dunn for an error,Lassiter kept running and beat the relay throw home.

LSU quicklyloaded the bases again on an error and two walks before Franklin lined a shot down the right-ﬁeld line

would miss the entire2025-26 season. Indianalost 12 of its ﬁrst 13 games andhad a13-game losing streak to drop to 6-31, but has a.500 record since then

TheMavericksare in asimilar situation ayear after trading generational superstarLuka Doncic to the LosAngeles Lakers for apackage centeredaround oft-injured big man Anthony Davis, just nine months afterDallas reached the NBA Finals.

Davis missed more games than he playedfor theMavsbefore getting sent to Washingtoninatradedeadline deal this year.Itwas the final stepinmoving on fromanill-fated trade. The first was the November firing of general manager NicoHarrison,who orchestratedthe Doncic deal.

Dallas converted justa1.8% chance in the lotteryfor therightsto draft former Duke star Cooper Flagg ﬁrst overall this past summer.

Flagg is nowthe future of thefranchise, and the Mavs have to decide, presumably soon, whether Kyrie Irving will play at allthisseason. The nine-time All-Star tore an ACLlast March,and the Mavs entered the All-Star break on anine-gamelosing streak, theirlongest in 28 years.

Cubanisnolonger in adecisionmaking roleafter selling majority ownershipofthe Mavs, he was ﬁned $600,000 by the league when he was still in charge late in the2022-23 seasonfor admittingDallas was tanking to trytoprotect aﬁrst-round pick.

Monday before running into trouble. He allowed athree-run homer in the third inning that cut LSU’s lead to one after two scoreless frames, surrendering ablast that hitthe scoreboard in left field. Command was an issue for him as well, as he walked three batters.

LSUshouldn’tpanic aboutits rotation. Afew games don’tdeﬁne a season. Anthony Eyanson, for as good as he was in 2025, gave up five runs to Nebraska and four runs in 32/3 innings to Missouri in early outings.

But that doesn’tmean LSU coach Jay Johnson should be afraid to makeachange in his rotation. Sophomoreleft-hander Cooper Williams gave up onehit in 22/3 innings on Friday,and Johnson has said he’sbeen extended to 90 pitches. Redshirt junior righthander GavinGuidryiscoming back from aserious injury,but in appearances against Milwaukee and Kent State, he didn’tgive up arun and threw 61 pitches.Senior right-hander Zac Cowan started for LSUinthe College WorldSeries.

Bullpen depth

While thestarters struggled, the majority of the bullpen impressed as the Tigers seta program record for strikeouts in aseries with 49 against Milwaukee. Williamsand Guidry combined to strike out 10 batters on Friday, and Guidry returned to themound on Monday and struckout five more. Sophomoreright-hander

into the cornertoscorethree runners. It was her team-best fourthtriple.

“She was throwing really slow,soI knew Ihad to doone of our timing concepts, trying to go theother way and that’swhat happened,” said Franklin, who alsodrove in a run withanRBI singleinthe ﬁrst inning. “Wetalked as a team about staying together and having fun. We showed each other some baby pictures of ourselves playing softball (askids) in Florida. It wasjustthoselittlegirls playing softballtoday. The fact we came together,this was expected.We gotthe timely hits because we were playing free.”

Clopton retired the side in orderintwo of herfourinnings while thirdbaseman Avery Hodgestartedadoubleplay after thefirst two runners got on base in the second inning. LSU catcher Maci Bergeronthrewout Sydney Stewart trying to stretch her run-scoring single to secondbase toend the inning. Clopton started another

Does Giants managerVitello actually want to do hisnew job?

DIETER KURTENBACH

The MercuryNews(TNS)

Commentary

We’ve all been stuck at that table. You’re out for adrink, trying to enjoythe night, but there’sthat one guy.He’sstaring into the middle distance, nursing alukewarm beer, andtalking aboutthe one whogot away He talks about thetiming.He talks about the miscommunications. He talks about how,ifjust one thing had gone differently, the universe wouldbeinalignment. Thingswould be different. Thingswould be better.

Usually,you just nod, wince, and hope he picks up the tab.

Butrarely does that guy take on the same mood and tone while wearing aMajor League Baseballuniform, sittinginadugout, while ostensibly being there to discuss his current job managing the San FranciscoGiants.

On Monday,Giants ﬁrst-year manager Tony Vitello turneda standard spring-training media availability into a“therapy” session. (His word, notmine.)

It was unprompted, unﬁltered, and, quite frankly,bizarre

Vitello kicked things offwith a question no one actually asked: “When did you ﬁrst think Iwas taking this job?”

It’saquestionthat impliesa level of espionage, not the hiring of abaseball manager in the offseason. Butfor the next 20-orso minutes,withsome breaks to discussbullpen arms andJung HooLee, Vitello broke down the timeline of his hiring as if it were re-creating aJohn Cusack movie.

And then, right in the middle of this forlorn monologue, he

MavrickRizy didn’tsurrendera run in 22/3 innings acrosstwo appearances. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin threw on back-to-back days and dominatedKentState and Milwaukee hitters in 12/3 innings

Thosefour arms and Cowan are the backbone of adeepbullpen. Cowan likely would’ve thrown a scorelessoutingonSaturdayif junior JakeBrownhadn’tlost a ball in thesun.

The bullpen outside of that group had moreups and downs, but junior-college transfer lefthander Ethan Plog impressed in his secondouting on Monday with ascoreless inning, and Division II transfer right-hander Dax Dathe gotLSU outofajam in aone-run game on Saturday

Impressive Arrambide

It went under the radar,but Arrambide had astrong opening week as thenew starting catcher

In three gamesbehindthe plate andone as the designated hitter, Arrambide went7for 17 with a home runand two doubles. He hit the ball hard andlooked comfortable defensively

“I think the offensive production is going to speak for itself throughoutthe year,” Guidry said.“Ithink he’sareal threat at the plate. He’s going to drive in alot of runs,and he’s going to do his job offensively, for sure.”

Freshmen gettinginvolved

Heading into the weekend, there

double play afterfielding a hopper with runners on first andsecondand zero outs. She threwtoHodge for one out and Hodge’sthrow to first wasnot in time.But Tori Edwards threwback to Hodge at third to getthe other runner trying to advance Monticelli came in throwing smoke. Although she gave up one run, she struck outtwo andgaveupa pair of softsingles.

“I’mkind of used to closing,” said Monticelli, asenior transfer from Oklahoma.

“I’ve been acloserbasically my entire career.I like the vibe of coming in and being able to slamthe door on a team.Itfeels good to come in, throw 70 and getinand out.”

Said Torina: “I think she (Monticelli)can do allthe things. She can start, too. I thought she was really sharp tonight. Maybethe results weren’tassharp on paper but nobody really wantsto chasepitchesthat are70on your hands.She doesn’tget as many swings at times as she could. She’sgot to be pretty precise.”

AP FILEPHOTO By BENJAMIN FANJOy

Tony Vitello speaksasheis introduced as the manager of the SanFranciscoGiants on Oct. 30 in SanFrancisco.

dropped aquote thatshould have every Giants fandoing some deep questioning of their own.

“Atthat point, nothing was going to happen. But somebody decided that it was going to happen. Then thewhole worldstartedspinning real quick.”

My interpretation: This isn’ta guy saying, “It wasatough decision to leave Tennessee.” Of course it was. He wasagod in Knoxville He built amonster of aprogram. He wasthe best in the game in college baseball

No, this is aguy effectively saying, “I gotgoaded into this job.”

This is aguy implying that if he couldﬁnd theTwitter snitch who broke the news (which he sayshe didn’tread), he might still be wearing Volunteer Orange

“Nothing was going to happen.”

Until it did. Because, Iguess, the internet said so.

And that begs thevery loud, very uncomfortable question that nobody in the Giants’ frontofﬁce wants to hear right now:

didn’tseem to be muchopportunity for the LSU freshman position players to see the field immediately.

The Tigers havea returning starter at shortstop, and the entire outﬁeldcame back. They added multiple veteran transfers and have Arrambide, whowas ready to take on astarting role. And yet, Mason Braun, Omar Serna and Jack Ruckert have found ways to carve out roles for themselves through four games. Braun started on opening dayand hit ahome run on Monday.Serna startedbehind the plate on Saturday and was thedesignated hitter on Sunday.Ruckert was adefensive replacement in close games on Saturday and Monday.Healso hit adouble on Sunday

Expect allthree to contend for some playingtime moving forward. Arrambide can’tcatch every night, and LSU could use Serna’s power potential. Braun was one of the best hitters in the preseason and is astrongcontender to startasa left-handedhitter against right-handed pitching. Ruckertisexcellent defensively at second base, aposition where theTigers arestarting bat-ﬁrst players.

Aroarfor Yorke

Perhapsnomoment generated more applause through the first fourgames than when Zach Yorke took second base on aball in the dirt on Monday Once the6-foot-2, 295-pound

Does Tony Vitello actually want to be here?

Look, nobody can blameVitello for missing the college game and reportedlytalking aboutitinevery media session this spring. That’s hisentire frame of reference. And it’snot like he leftthat behind to take over aWorld Series contenderinSan Francisco. But forgive me if Monday’ssermondidn’tcomeacross like aman readytotackle the NL West. It sounded like someone with some significantsecondthoughts he’s been trying to burybut had to get off hischest And while Iappreciate Vitello’s forthrightness, when you letitall out in front of cameras and microphones, youaren’tdoing yourself anyfavor with the fan base thatis, on the whole, skeptical of the outsider.

Youknowthateveryoneisgoing to see this, right?You’re forcingme to write columns, wondering if this bold experimenthas failed before the ﬁrst pitchofthe Cactus League season is even thrown

Idon’tknow Vitello yet. Ionly knowofhim.And Iwantedtogive him along, long leashbecausethe people Iknow who do know him swear he’s great.This is also, unquestionably abig transition But after listening to his presser —the whole thing, nota single snippet— afew times now, the circumstances of Mondaywere weird at best and alarming at worst.

Vitello is no dummy.Heeventually triedtopivot, claiming, “It’s probably time, after today,todivide the line in the sand …You knowyou can,you can love [your past]equally to your currentplace as well.” So perhaps this was the ﬁnalcatharsis —alast look back towards the impressivefootprints he left behind him.

Grand Canyon transfer slid into the bag safely,the

“I told the players my heart was singing (after

MI LA N COR TI NA

Liu surges into medal range

Americans Glenn, Levito falter during short program

BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press

AMERICAN FOREHAND EARNS

SILVER: The difference between silver and gold in Olympic men’s big air was a matter of who did a trick called a “nose butter” better The fact anyone can do it at all was only one of the amazing things to come out of Tuesday’s unforgettable contest.

Tormod Frostad of Norway edged out Mac Forehand of the United States by 2.25 points in the final. Frostad did so by nailing the nose butter — but with a physics-defying twist of his own — on all three of his jumps of a snowy nail-biter

The 24-year-old Forehand’s reaction after such a narrow loss?

“I’m happy to walk away alive from that event,” he said.“This is a really dangerous sport. I’m just happy to ski away and be OK, and (to do so) with the silver medal is pretty cool as well.”

GERMANY SWEEPS TWO-MAN

BOBSLED: Germany swept the medals in the two-man bobsled race in a show of absolute dominance. It was the second Olympic sweep in bobsled history; the other was by the Germans, also in two-man, four years ago.

Leading the way was Johannes Lochner who got his first gold medal while posting the biggest Olympic two-man winning margin in nearly a half-century.

Americans Frank Del Duca and Josh Williamson were fourth.

ITALIAN MEN BACK ON TOP: Italy’s Davide Ghiotto,Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti beat U.S. world record-holders Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran by 41/2 seconds to win the men’s team pursuit gold medal in speedskating Buoyed by raucous cheering from the home crowd, the Italian men finished in 3 minutes 39.20 seconds to give their country its first Olympic title in this event since the 2006 Turin Games.

NORWAY’S FUNKY PANTS A

‘ONE-TIME’TRIBUTE: Norway’s curlers were back wearing their funky pants on Tuesday.The men’s team donned bold,diamond-printed trousers for its 7-4 loss to Sweden as a tribute to former Norway skip Thomas Ulsrud, who was part of the team that famously wore similarly outlandish attire at previous Winter Games in a break with tradition in a typically staid sport.

Ulsrud died of cancer in 2022.

“We thought one game honoring the old team and wearing the full Norwegian outfit there on the ice would be just amazing,” Norway skip Magnus Ramsfjell said.

— The Associated Press

MILAN Alysa Liu is left to carry the hopes of the “Blade Angels” into the women’s free skate at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The reigning world champion was the only one of America’s vaunted ﬁgure skating trio to put herself in contention for gold after the short program on Tuesday night. Liu landed a triple lutz-triple loop, the hardest combination that any woman attempted, and sat only two points back of leader Ami Nakai and right behind her Japanese teammate Kaori Sakamoto on the leaderboard.

“I am really happy about how I skated,” Liu said, “and my siblings, my best friends and a ton of my family is out there And I saw them on the warmup. I also saw them during my program, so, I don’t know. It was a really cool moment, because they never come to watch like this. I’m really glad I did super well. I felt super grounded and I connected with my program on another level.”

Nakai rode her opening triple axel to a career-best 78.71 points in her short program while threetime world champion Sakamoto the reigning Winter Games bronze medalist — was right behind with 77.23 as she chases down about the only gold medal she has yet to win Liu was third with 76.59.

For the rest of the American team, things didn’t go nearly as well Tuesday night. Isabeau Levito was dinged for

under-rotating her triple loop and got leveled down for her step sequence, which is where she tends to pick up points on the competition. It left her in eighth place and a long shot to climb her way onto the podium Thursday night. Amber Glenn, the three-time reigning U.S. champion, was right in the medal mix until her final jump. After landing a huge opening triple axel — Glenn and Nakai were the only ones in the women’s field to attempt the 31/2-revolution jump she kept the momentum going with a triple flip-triple toe loop

But something seemed amiss as Glenn approached a triple loop, and she wound up bailing out of it. The resulting double loop became an invalid element and earned her no points. The lost points on the jump, somewhere in the range of seven or eight, took away any chance of being a medal contender

“I had it,” Glenn told her coach, Damon Allen, as she tried to hold back the tears stepping off the ice.

“It’s not over,” he replied, giving her a hug. Glenn was in 13th place with 67.39 points.

It was not the way Glenn wanted to end a night that began with the euphoria of a message from Madonna. Her song “Like a Prayer” serves as the soundtrack to Glenn’s free skate, and Madonna had seen a clip of the short program and sent a video to Glenn, telling her, “Go get that gold.” Glenn already has one from the team event on the opening weekend of the Winter Games. Liu also has one from that event. Now, it’s up to Liu if the Americans are going to bring home a medal from the individual competition.

‘Spirit of curling’ dampened by cheating controversy Saga highlights issues within a growing sport

BY STEVE DOUGLAS Associated Press

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO Italy First came the expletives. Then the allegations. Then the media glare and hilarious memes. Global interest in curling surged over the past week when a cheating controversy erupted at the Winter Olympics, rocking a staid, 500-year-old sport known for its etiquette, manners and friendliness.

After a wild few days for curling featuring plenty of verbal jousting and a brief rule change, things have calmed down and both players and ofﬁcials appear ready to move on with the medal games approaching.

“It’s the Olympics,” said Canadian curler Ben Hebert, whose team has been a central character in the controversy “It’ll be over in two weeks and everyone will go back to covering curling in four years.”

Yet the headline-grabbing saga has highlighted some issues in a sport eager for exposure — and one slowly becoming more professional — but maybe isn’t ready for all the trappings that come with it

Sweden crying foul over a rule infringement, an illegal doubletouch by Canada’s Marc Kennedy in the act of releasing his stone down the ice, called into question whether the so-called “spirit of curling” had been broken.

Curling, after all, has long been a tight-knit sport where players typically call their own

fouls, shake hands at the end of a match and share a beer or two afterwards.

The Swedish and Canadian players have been longtime rivals, but they’re also frien dly Couldn’t they just have dealt with this behind closed doors without all the bruising?

It seems the top of the sport isn’t quite ready for that.

“Curling needs to professionalize a little bit. We’re trying to find the right balance as a sport.”

CANADA CURLING CEO NOLAN THIESSEN ON WHETHER THE SPORT NEEDS UMPIRES

“That’ s where I think the spirit of curling is in a little bit of trouble,” Kennedy said, “and honestly that’s probably come from the quest for medals. But it’s OK. It’s all about the evolution of the sport. There’s opportunity here as well, right? For the sport to really ﬁgure it out as we all go forward.”

There are no video replays in curling, unlike with sports like soccer cricket and in the NFL, so ofﬁcials aren’t allowed to reumpire decisions like the hog line violation apparently committed by Kennedy when he poked one of the granite stones with his outstretched ﬁnger after releasing it.

In response, curling’s higherups first stationed umpires at the hog line to check for future fouls, but then reverted to the traditional practice of players policing themselves.

“We’re trying to spread the word about our culture, and our

culture is one based on integrity, and honor, and friendship,” World Curling president Beau Welling told The Associated Press in a phone interview “We live by this code — the spirit of curling — where you’re expected to have honorable conduct on ice, but also off ice.

“Obviously this has been tested a little bit this week. But, fundamentally, that’s who we are,” he said. “And I really don’t see that changing.”

Some might see this as sweeping the issue under curling’s rug. Yet this is the Olympic Games it’s serious business, being played out in front of curling’s biggest audience.

“Curling needs to professionalize a little bit,” Canada Curling CEO Nolan Thiessen told the AP at the Cortina Curling Center. “If we want to be where we want to be as a sport, there’s some steps we have to take, and some give and take probably You know, having ofﬁcials making subjective calls there’s a lot of sports that have that And we probably need to get there as opposed to, ‘I think you did this’ and ‘Well, I don’t think I did.’

“We’re trying,” he added, “to find the right balance as a sport.” And so, the show goes on. The Olympics soon will be without Sweden’s defending champion men’s team, which was officially eliminated from semifinal contention on Tuesday after a sixth loss in seven matches in round-robin play

“We maybe should have done something different and could have dealt with it differently,” Sweden skip Niklas Edin said of what he described as a “horrible week.” Plenty of curling traditionalists will no doubt agree with that.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATACHA PISARENKO

Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s short program on Tuesday in Milan. Liu is in third place heading into the free skate program on Thursday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FATIMA SHBAIR

Mattia Giovanella, left, of Italy shakes hands with Ben Richardson of the U.S after the men’s curling round robin session on Tuesday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

MEN’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Michigan uses strong interior game to beat Purdue

By The Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Elliot Cadeau

scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half Tuesday night, and Aday Mara added 10 points and 11 rebounds to send No 1 Michigan past No. 7 Purdue 91-80.

Trey McKinney, Yaxel Lendeborg and L.J. Cason each had 13 points for the Wolverines, who won their 11th straight and took a big step toward capturing their ﬁrst outright Big Ten regular-season title in ﬁve years.

The win came one day after Michigan (25-1 15-1) moved into the nation’s top spot for the first time since January 2013. It was the 7-foot-3 Mara’s early tone-setting presence that helped the Wolverines turn the tables on Purdue’s usually dominant front line as two-time national player of the year Zach Edey watched from the second row Mara made each of his first four shots on the way to a 10-point, eight-rebound first half. He spent most of the second half in foul trouble, finishing 4 of 6 from the field as Michigan had a 39-31 rebounding advantage.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season high 27 points to lead Boilermakers on a night most of his teammates struggled. Braden Smith added 20 points as the Boilermakers (21-5, 11-4) had their four-game winning streak end.

NO 12 FLORIDA 76, SOUTH CAROLINA 62: In Gainesville, Florida, Alex Condon had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Rueben Chinyelu also notched a double-double and No 12 Florida handled South Carolina for the second time in three weeks.

Chinyelu ﬁnished with 15 points and 17 boards for his 16th doubledouble of the season. The Gators (20-6, 11-2) won their sixth consecutive game and improved to 11-1 since losing at Missouri to open Southeastern Conference play

This one was much closer than the previous meeting, a 47-point blowout in Columbia, South Carolina, in late January Still, the Gamecocks (11-14, 2-11 SEC) trailed by 10 points early and never mounted much of a threat in Gainesville, where Florida improved to 12-1 this season

NO. 15 MICHIGAN STATE 82, UCLA 59:

In East Lansing, Michigan, Jeremy Fears had 16 points and 10 assists, leading No. 15 Michigan State over UCLA.

The Spartans (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) bounced back with a strong performance after losing three of four games and falling ﬁve spots in the AP Top 25 this week. Fears scored 11 in the ﬁrst half to help MSU build a 20-point advantage.

The Bruins (17-9, 9-6) have lost two straight games after winning ﬁve of six.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 22 points but didn’t have much help. None of his teammates were in double ﬁgures until Skyy Clark made some late shots to ﬁnish with 12 points.

Fears made three 3-pointers in the ﬁrst half and Michigan State took a 43-23 lead into the break. He ﬁnished with four 3s, a career high.

Coen Carr scored 16 points for Michigan State, Carson Cooper had 12 and freshman Jordan Scott added 11. Jaxon Kohler provided nine points and 10 rebounds.

NC STATE 82, NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 58: In Raleigh, North Carolina,

Quadir Copeland scored 20 points while N.C. State held 16th-ranked North Carolina to 31.7% shooting in a rivalry win.

Freshman Matt Able added 19 points for the Wolfpack (19-8, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).

N.C. State pressed the attack all night against an injury-depleted rival, backed by a boisterous crowd The Wolfpack shot 53.1% to build a 16-point halftime lead and never looked back.

Copeland added six rebounds and seven assists. Darrion Williams added 13 points Jarin Stevenson and Zayden High each scored 13 points for the Tar Heels (20-6, 8-5).

RHODE ISLAND 81, NO. 18 SAINT LOUIS

76: In Kingston, Rhode Island, Jo-

SCOREBOARD

Clippers, 9:30 p.m.

basketball Men’s state schedule Monday’s games East Texas A&M 70, Southeastern 53 Old Dominion 83, UL 72 New Orleans 78, Incarnate Word 64 Prairie View 68, Grambling 63 McNeese 75, Northwestern State 64 Houston Christian 72, Nicholls 68 Texas Southern 74, Southern 73

Tuesday’s game Texas 88, LSU 85

Wednesday’s games Troy at UL-Monroe, 6:30 p.m. Jacksonville State at Louisiana Tech, 6:30 p.m

Thursday’s games Arkansas State at UL, 7 p.m. Tulane at North Texas, 8 p.m.

Friday’s games None scheduled.

Late Monday Texas Southern 74, Southern 73

SOUTHERN (12-14) Barnes 5-9 3-4 16, Dixon 6-9 3-4 15, Jones 3-5 0-0 6, Jacobs 2-13 4-8 10, Oshodi 5-11 1-1 13, Amboree 2-7 0-0 6, Hardy 1-3 2-2 5, Abdelgowad 1-3 0-0 2, Dobuol 0-0 0-0 0, Manning 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 13-19 73. TEXAS SOUTHERN (9-15)

Hupstead 3-8 1-2 7, Gorecki 2-2 2-2 6, Hayes

1-5 2-2 4, Roberts 0-6 0-0 0, Wysinger 10-16 4-4 28, Mortle 10-17 2-4 25, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Akpovwa 0-0 0-0 0, Posey 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 28-60 11-14 74. Halftime: Southern 41-27. 3-Point Goals: Southern 10-24 (Barnes 3-6, Amboree 2-3, Jacobs 2-4, Oshodi 2-7, Hardy 1-2, Abdelgowad 0-1, Manning 0-1), Texas Southern 7-19 (Wysinger 4-7, Mortle 3-6, Hayes 0-2, Hupstead 0-2, Roberts 0-2). Rebounds: Southern 35 (Barnes, Jones 8), Texas Southern 36 (Mortle 11). Assists: Southern 9 (Barnes 3), Texas Southern 11 (Wysinger 4). Total Fouls: Southern 13, Texas Southern 18. A: 1,539 (8,100). Men’s national scores

EAST Miami (OH) 86, UMass 77 Northern Illinois 72, Buffalo 70 Rhode Island 81, Saint Louis 76 SOUTH Charleston Southern 75, Gardner-Webb 66 Florida 76, South Carolina 62 Florida State 80, Boston College 72 Miami (FL) 67, Virginia Tech 66 North Carolina State 82, North Carolina 58 UCF 82, TCU 71 VCU 89, George Washington 75 MIDWEST Akron 90, Western Michigan 73 Eastern Michigan 66, Central Michigan 54

State 78, Bowling Green 71 Michigan 91, Purdue 80 Ohio 69, Ball State 57 Villanova 92, Xavier 89, OT SOUTHWEST SMU 95,

Monday’s game LSU 10, Kent State 7 Tuesday’s games UCLA 13, Tulane 5 Southern Miss 3, Southeastern 1 South Alabama 7, Nicholls 5 UL 3, Rice 0 Wednesday’s games Nicholls at LSU, 1 p.m. UNO at Southern, 6 p.m.

Thursday’s games None scheduled. Friday’s games LSU vs. Indiana at Jacksonville, Fla., 1 p.m. Southern vs. Grambling at Vero Beach, Fla. 2 p.m. Alabama A&M at UNO, 4 p.m. Tennessee-Martin at Nicholls, 6 p.m. Maryland at UL, 6 p.m. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Southeastern, 6 p.m. Harvard at Tulane, 6:30 p.m. College softball

Monday’s games None scheduled. Tuesday’s games Florida

Mirra

(5), Russia, def. Daria Kasatkina, Russia, walkover. Jessica Pegula (4), United States, def. Varvara Gracheva, Russia, 6-4, 6-0. Belinda Bencic (9), Switzerland, def. Sara Bejlek, Czechia, walkover. Clara Tauson (12), Denmark, def. Peyton Stearns, United States, 6-2, 6-4. Magda Linette, Poland, def. Ekaterina Alexandrova (8), Russia, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Elise Mertens, Belgium, def. Emma Navarro (14), United States, 6-2, 6-2. Iva Jovic (16), United States, def. Diana Shnaider, Russia, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0. Jaqueline Cristian, Romania, def. Ella Seidel, Germany, 6-0, ret. Coco Gauff (3), United States, def. Anna Kalinskaya, Russia, 6-4, 6-4. Antonia Ruzic, Croatia, def. Anastasia Zakharova, Russia, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1. Elina Svitolina (7), Ukraine, def. Paula Badosa, Spain, 6-4, ret. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Linda Noskova (10), Czechia, 6-1, 6-4. Elena Rybakina (1), Kazakhstan, def. Kimberly Birrell, Australia, 6-1, 6-2. Alexandra Eala, Philippines, def. Jasmine Paolini (6), Italy, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Women’s Doubles Round of 32 Peangtarn Plipuech, Thailand, and Rutuja Bhosale, India, def. Eri Hozumi, Japan, and Fang-Hsien Wu, Taiwan, 7-5, 6-2. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Laura Siegemund, Germany, def. Antonia Ruzic and Petra Marcinko, Croatia, 6-3, 6-1. Women’s Doubles Round of 16 Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Luisa Stefani (5), Brazil, def. Marie Bouzkova, Czechia, and Janice Tjen, Indonesia, 6-1, 3-6, 10-3. Lyudmyla Kichenok, Ukraine, and Desirae Krawczyk, United States, def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez, United States, and Cristina Bucsa (8), Spain, 6-2, 1-6, 16-14. Storm Hunter, Australia, and Katerina Siniakova (7), Czechia, def. Demi Schuurs, Netherlands, and Ellen Perez, Australia, 7-5, 7-5. Jaqueline Cristian and Elena-Gabriela Ruse Romania, def. Alexandra Panova and Diana Shnaider, Russia, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 10-7. World Tour Rio Open Tuesday At Jockey Club Brasileiro Rio de Janeiro Purse: $2,469,450 Surface: Red clay Men’s Singles Round of 32 Roman Andres Burruchaga, Argentina, def. Camilo Ugo Carabelli (5), Argentina, 6-3, 6-4. Francesco Passaro, Italy, def. Dino Prizmic, Croatia, 6-3, 6-4. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (8), Argentina, def. Francisco Comesana, Argentina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Matteo Berrettini, Italy, def. Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, Chile, 7-6 (1), 7-5. Men’s Doubles Round of 16 Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni (2), Argentina, def. Jean-Julien Rojer, Netherlands, and Gonzalo Escobar, Ecuador, 6-3, 6-3. ATP World Tour Qatar ExxonMobil Open Results

Tuesday At Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex Doha, Qatar Purse: $2,833,335 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Men’s Singles Round of 32 Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, def. Hady

nah Hinton made nine 3-pointers and scored 29 points as Rhode Island upset No. 18 Saint Louis, snapping the Billikens’ 18-game winning streak. Robbie Avila led Saint Louis (242, 12-1 Atlantic 10) with 21 points and Dion Brown added 19. The Billikens committed 18 turnovers and trailed for 36 minutes. The 18-game run had marked the second-longest active winning streak in the country, and the program’s longest since the 201314 squad won a school-record 19 games in a row Down 79-76 after URI’s Myles Corey made both free throws with 26.3 seconds remaining, Saint Louis had two chances to tie but Avila and Ishan Sharma each missed from beyond the arc. Tyler Cochran wrapped it up for the Rams (15-11, 6-7) by sinking two free throws with 13.6 seconds left. NO 22 MIAMI (OHIO) 86, UMASS 77: In Amherst, Massachusetts, No. 22 Miami of Ohio won its 26th straight game to remain the last unbeaten team in Division I, defeating UMass thanks to 23 points from Peter Suder Luke Skaljac had 16 points and seven assists for Miami (26-0, 13-0 Mid-American Conference). Leonardo Bettiol scored 18 points with nine rebounds, Isaiah Placide scored 19 and Danny Carbuccia had 15 for UMass (15-12, 6-8). Miami led by eight points with 14 minutes left before UMass scored seven straight to make it a one-point game and then added a 5-0 run to take a 62-60 lead. It was tied for the ﬁnal time at 68-68 when Placide banked in a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer, leaving defender Eian Elmer shrugging in disbelief.

But Elmer answered with a 3 for Miami, then Suder hit a layup after a UMass turnover to give the RedHawks a ﬁve-point lead. UMass never got any closer than three points after that.

Habib, Lebanon, 6-3, 6-3. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece, def. Moez Echargui, Tunisia, 6-4, 6-4. Quentin Halys, France, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Jiri Lehecka (8), Czechia, def. Jenson Brooksby, United States, 6-3, 6-3. Karen Khachanov (7), Russia, def. Shintaro Mochizuki, Japan, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Zhang Zhizhen, China, def. Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain, 6-4, 6-4. Fabian Marozsan, Hungary, def. Ugo Humbert, France, 6-3, 6-1. Zizou Bergs, Belgium, def. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, France, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Carlos Alcaraz (1), Spain, def. Arthur Rinderknech, France, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Andrey Rublev (5), Russia, def. Jesper De Jong, Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3. Men’s Doubles Round of 16 Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Marcelo Arevalo (2), El Salvador, def. Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza, Czechia, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, Italy def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, and Adam Pavlasek, Czechia, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece, and Alexei Popyrin, Australia, def. Victor Vlad Cornea, Romania, and Szymon Walkow, Poland, 6-3, 6-0. Yuki Bhambri, India, and Andre Goransson, Sweden, def. Moez Echargui, Tunisia, and Mubarak Shannan Zayid, Qatar, 6-2, 6-3. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Quentin Halys,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy

Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau drives between Purdue guards Braden Smith, left, and C.J Cox during their game Tuesday in West Lafayette, Ind.

toward the playoffs or sprint towardthe bottom in search ofbetter lottery odds.

“We’re justgoing to runour race,” Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham said. “Welike where we’reat, andwe’re goingtocontinue to trytofinish ourseason strong.”

There’salot to like aboutthe Pistonsgoing into the home stretch

They haven’tbeen prone to any sort of real slide yet; they’re 11-2 after aloss and are oneofonly three teams (Oklahoma City and San Antonio are the others) yet to have alosing streak of more than two games. They don’tget blown out; they have aleague-low three losses by 10 pointsormore. They’re aleague-best 17-6 against teams who were at .500 or better

Playoff basketball awaits in Detroit, andfor theﬁrsttimesince 2008 there should be aGame 1of apostseason series at home for thePistons.Plentyofother teams —the Thunder,Boston, NewYork, San Antonio, Denver,Houston, Cleveland —are probably safe to call playoff locks at thispointas well.

The next two monthswilltell the tale of which teams ﬁndtheir way either into Round 1or willbe trying to land the No. 1draftpick instead.

“It’sbeen hard. It’sbeenalong journey so far,but just going to work every day,findingwaysto connect with my teammates, connect with the city the best Ican, and bring wins to the city,”Cunningham said. “That’swhat the city respects and loves is peoplethatgo

LSU MEN

Continued from page1C

The Tigers stagnated once they tooka13-10lead with 13:22left in the first half. Theymissed their next six ﬁeld goals, including makable layups from Reece and Sutton. Mackinnon broke that cold spell with ashort-range jumper

Thew LSU defense held up during the poor stretch until Texas point guard Jordan Pope buried apair of consecutive 3-pointers

on Jan. 30 in Washington.

out there and compete every day. There were times they didn’tlike how we played. We ﬁgured it out, and now we have something going, something building. Just have to keepgoingnow.”

Here are somethingstoknow before the second half kicksoff:

Realisticcontenders

Thetop ﬁveteams in the NBA record-wise right noware Detroit, Oklahoma City,San Antonio, Boston, Denver and New York (the

to give theLonghornsa 27-21 advantage at the 7:18 mark of the ﬁrst half.

Texas, with Swain on the bench with two fouls, broke the game open with a16-4 scoring run thanks to hot 3-point shooting to closethe first half.LSU hadmiscommunications on screensand closeouts and aturnover that led to easy shooting opportunities. LSU wentdown15with1:24remaining in the first half after the Texas outburst. Sutton chipped in acouple of interior scores with posts up to keep thedeficit where it was.Athalf-

Nuggets andKnicks are tied).

Expect oneofthoseclubs as the championinJune

Granted,inthe early days the league hadfar fewer teams than it does now.But there have been only four instances of the eventual NBA Finals winnernot beingamong the league’stop-ﬁve teams record-wise at theAll-Starbreak.

Milwaukeewas seventh at the break in the COVID-affected 202021 season. Detroit was seventhat the break in 2003-04, Houston was

time,Texas led 48-33, making its final four shots.Pope,who madeall threeofhis 3-point attempts, and Swaineach had11points. Their team was 17 of 27 from thefield and 6of9from beyond the arc. Suttonled LSUwith12points, but theteam overall made one 3-pointer and shot 41% from the field. In the secondhalf, Mackinnon had strong back-to-back possessions,canning ashort-range jump shot in the paint and then tossing akick-ahead pass to Sutton for a 3-pointeronthe right wing. The scores forced Texas to call atime-

ninth at the break in 1994-95 and Washington was eighth in 1977-78.

Scoringrace

It looks like atwo-personrace for thescoring title: the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic andOklahoma City’sShai Gilgeous-Alexander Doncicisaveraging 32.8 points; Gilgeous-Alexander —the reigning champion —isaveraging 31.8. Doncic won the scoring race in 2023-24; Gilgeous-Alexander could become the 14th player in NBAhis-

out and capped a10-0 run forLSU cutting the deficit to 59-53 with 13:02 left in the game. Mackinnon wasonatear offensively,continuing to displayhis shooting touch on drives under the free-throw line area. The 6-6 Australian madehis ﬁrst six shots of thesecond half for13points. To help LSU’seffort, Swain picked up his fourth foul guarding Mackinnon with 9:38 left. The Tigers weren’t able to capitalize during his absence, as they didn’tget within four points for the remainder of the contest before Swain came back with 3:24 remaining.

tory to win thetitle in consecutive seasons.

Awardpossibilities

Boston’sJayson Tatum andIndiana’s Tyrese Haliburton— AllNBA picks last season —were going to be out of the awards mix this season because of theirAchillestendontearssufferedinlast season’splayoffs, so it was clear from the outset of this season that the group of award winners would be different. Turnsout,it’sgoing to be very different. Because of the 65-game rule for eligibility for most player awards, the Lakers’ LeBron James is going to see his 21-year streak of making the All-NBA team end. He’sone of ﬁveAll-NBA picks from last season who are assured of not making the team this year,joining Tatum, Haliburton, Milwaukee’sGiannis Antetokounmpo and Oklahoma City’sJalen Williams. On thebrink of joining that list: Denver’sNikola Jokic and Golden State’sStephen Curry,who basically canmiss onemoregamethe rest of the way to preserve their award eligibility Cleveland’sEvan Mobley second-team All-NBA last season —has been inactive 13 times this year,sohedoesn’thavealot of missed-time wiggle room down the stretch of the season. The Lakers’ Austin Reaves, Washington’s Anthony Davis and Memphis’ Ja Morantare allwellpastthe cutoff for eligibility as well. Others whoare closetomissing toomuchtimefor an All-NBA shot: Doncic, San Antonio’sVictor Wembanyama, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Utah’sLauri Markkanen and Phoenix’sDevin Booker

Reecewas fouled while dribbling up the court with LSU in the double-bonus anddrainedboth free throws to cut the deﬁcit to 8582 with 1:39 remaining. Sutton fouled outwith2:57leftin the gameafter playing 35 minutes. The Tigers had achance to bringit within onepoint on aNwoko push shot that missedwith 58 seconds remaining. After free throws from Texas, LSUwasn’table to score enough to send it to overtime. LSU’snextgame is against No. 25 Alabama at 5p.m. on Saturday at the PeteMaravichAssembly Center

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByNICK WASS

LosAngeles Lakersguard Luka Doncic dribbles against Washington Wizards guard Jamir Watkins, right, during a game

LIVING

THEADVOCATE.COM

Fried Fish Friday

Many area Catholic churches offering dinnersduring Lent

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE

Staff writer

In Louisiana,many churches offer Lent-friendly dinners during the 40-day Lenten period —which begins Feb. 18 on Ash Wednesday and ends April 2— as the tradition suggests Christians abstain from eating meat on Fridays.

If you find yourself lookingfor a meat-free meal or friendly gathering on aFriday,here are some local churches hosting fish fry Fridays. If your church is hosting afish fryand we havenot listed it here, email Lauren Cheramie at lauren. cheramie@theadvocate.com.

St.AloysiusCatholicChurch

2025 Stuart Ave., BatonRouge

St.Aloysiusishosting its annual Lenten ﬁsh fry March 6. Plates are $12 pre-sale or $14 at the door.Visitors can choose to dine in the cafeteria from 5:30 p.m.to8:30 p.m. or pick up in the drive-thru 4p.m. to 7p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at sacccﬁshfry.org/store.

St.Francis Xavier Catholic Church

1150 S. 12th St., Baton Rouge

St. Francis Xavier will offer catfish dinners on Fridaysthrough April 3. Call-in orders for pickup and delivery will be taken from 10 a.m. to 2p.m., while in-person dinners will be availablefrom 10 a.m. to 2p.m. in the school cafeteria. Delivery is available for orders of 10 or more.

Plates are $15 each and include fried catﬁsh, peas, spaghetti, potato salad, bread and dessert. Call 337-256-0368, 225-936-5100 or 504460-7108 to place an orderinadvance.

St.Johnthe BaptistChurch

4826 Main St., Zachary

The Knights of Columbus with St. Johnthe Baptist are hosting a fried catﬁsh plate sale 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday,Feb. 20 at Zachary City Hall, 4700 MainSt. The plates, $13 each, include fried catﬁsh from Tony’sSeafood,French fries, hushpuppies and dessert. Proceeds willsupport local community charities and services.

St.JosephCathedral

401 Main St., BatonRouge

The Knights of Columbus of St Joseph Cathedral will sellfried ﬁsh dinners starting 11 a.m. Feb. 20, March 6and March 20.Email office@cathedralbr.org for more information.

St.Jude theApostle

9150 Highland Road, Baton Rouge

The men’sclub at St. Judethe Apostle is hosting ﬁsh fry Fridays from 5p.m. until sold out each Friday during Lent at the St. Jude Parish Hall. Patrons can dine in or take ameal to go.

St.MarkCatholicChurch

42021 La. 621, Gonzales

St. Mark Catholic Church is offering Lenten mealseveryFriday

ä See FISH, page 3D

Popularchoices at New york Bagel include a Brooklyn Garlic, top, blueberry withstrawberry creamcheese, middle, and everythingwith smoked salmon cream cheese.

The Bagels of Baton Rouge

Thereare awiderange of offeringsright here in theRed Stick

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

From longtime diners to neighborhood cafés and dedicated bagel shops, Baton Rouge offers asurprisingly wide range of bagel options —from classic cream cheese pairings to heartysandwiches.

While only afew spots specialize in bagels, many bakeries andbreakfast cafés incorporate them into their menus.

NewYorkBagel Company multiple locations

Bagels are king here. Since opening in 1996, the New York Bagel Companyhas grown to three locations across Baton Rouge. There’s one on 4350 Highland Road, 13200 Airline Highway and at 8342 Perkins.

Bagels are boiled andbaked fresh every day.Sandwiches are served with bagel chips (orZapp’schips)and garden veggie cream cheese dip

NewYorkBagel Company makes and serves 14 different bagels starting at $1.09 each,like the Cajun Bagel or Jalapeño CheddarBagel.The six schmear ﬂavorsinclude Pecan Delight, Spinach and Artichoke and Strawberry.Withschmear,bagels runat about$3.99 each.

They also have amenu of 10 New Yorkthemed sandwich options, including the

Trythese burgers, quiche andmore

Smashed SpicyJalapeñoBurger n Buns, 7004 Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge Buns on SiegenLanejust openedits doors abouta month ago. The burgers here are huge.Ialwayslike something withspice, and the jalapeño burger (whichcame with two smashed beef patties, pepper jack cheese, tomato, lettuce and chipotlemayo) was just that.The combo meal came with afountain drink, achoiceofcrinklecut or wafﬂefries and fried corn. Ialsoordered a side of ranch for an extra90cents.Intotal, the meal costexactly $20. Iwas cravingsomething hearty,and Buns fulﬁlled my wishes. It’satasty burger,and the addition of corn in the combofeltlike afun accoutrement.

—Maddie Scott, features reporter

ä See BEST, page 4D

Tavern on theGreen, aReuben, theStaten Island and theBrooklyn Bomber (which can be served on bagels or croissant), whichis consideredbymany to be one of the best sandwiches in town. Croissants often sell out early

Mulberry Market

8201 VillagePlaza Court

Mulberry Market’sbagelsare preppedin New York Cityand shippedtoBaton Rouge where they are baked fresh, serving at least nine different bagels running from $3.50 to $5.50 including plain, blueberry,onion, asiago, cinnamon, lox, rainbow,whole wheat and everything bagels.

All11sandwichesare servedonbagel bread upon request, including the Norwegian Salmon ($14) with smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese and onions.

Simple JoeCafe

3057 Government St

The Government Street breakfast spot opened in 2015 and serves aplain or everything bagelaswellasa bagel sandwich ($6.95) with egg, cheese and choice of bacon or sausage.

Coffee Joy

3617 PerkinsRoad

Beyond coffee, tea and smoothies, Coffee JoyservesTurkish pastries andbagelsfor $3. The menufeatures agyro bagel sandwich

ä See BAGELS, page 3D

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Fish plates are servedatarea churches on LentenFridays.

STAFFPHOTO By MADDIE SCOTT

The Smashed SpicyJalapeño Burger fromBuns

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIE SCOTT

The Norwegian Salmon sandwich on an everything bagelfrom Mulberry Market.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

LionsClubParadecrown king andqueen for2026

Thomas Joseph Guidry and Carrie Reese Morrison reigned as king and queenof the 82nd annual New Roads Lions Club Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday Guidry is a1985 graduate of Vandebilt CatholicHigh School, Houma, and LSU, where he earned abachelor of sciencedegree in ﬁnance.

He is the facilities director for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center,a position he’s held for the last 10 years. He has been amember of the New Roads Lions Club since 1999, serving on its board of directors in various positionsfor severalyears, including as president in 2013. He’salso served on the Catholic of Pointe Coupee School Board, St. Mary of False River CatholicChurch building and grounds committee and the St. Mary’s Knights of Columbus.He now serves on the Pointe Coupee Parish Waterworks boardofdirectors.

The king is married to Paula Bonaventure Guidry andhas two children, Jake and Jenna.

Queen Morrison is alifelongresident of NewRoads and also amember of St Mary of FalseRiver.She is agraduate of Catholic High SchoolofPointe Coupee and wasthe classof2021’svaledictorian. Morrison attended LSU, graduating summa cum laude in May2025 with a bachelor of science in psychology and aminor in history.She was awarded the University Medal at graduation. Morrison is currently in hersecondsemester at the Paul M.

This year’sLionsClub

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday,Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2026. There are 316 days left in theyear

Todayinhistory: On Feb. 18, 2001, auto racingstar Dale Earnhardt Sr died in acrash in the ﬁnal lap of the Daytona 500; he was 49.

Also on this date:

In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of HuckleberryFinn” was published in the U.S

In 1930, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

In 1970, the “Chicago Seven”defendantswerefound not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the1968 Democratic National Convention;ﬁve wereconvicted of violatingthe Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (thoseconvictions were later reversed).

In 1983,13people were

shot to death at agambling club in Seattle’sChinatown in what became knownasthe WahMee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings andweresentenced to life in prison; athird was found guilty of robbery and assault and served 28 years in prison before being deported to Hong Kong in 2014.)

In 1994, in the ﬁnal race of his Olympic career at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer,Norway, U.S. speedskater DanJansen broke the world record in the 1,000 meters, winning the gold medal.

In 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssenwas arrested, accused of spying forRussia. (Hanssen later pleaded guilty to espionage and attempted espionage and was sentenced to life in prisonwithout thepossibility of parole; he died in prison in 2023.)

In 2003, an arsonattack involving twoSouth Korean subway trains in the city of Daeguclaimed nearly 200 lives.

In 2013, some $42 million worth of diamonds and other gemswere stolen at Brussels’ international airport by eight gunmen who cutthrough aperimeterfence, drove ontothe tarmac and took the gemstonesasthey were being transferred from an armored car to aplane bound forSwitzerland.

In 2021, the NASA rover Perseverance successfully landedonMars, where it continuestoexplore the planet’ssurface.

Today’sBirthdays: Artist-singer Yoko Ono is 93. Restaurateur-TV host Prue Leith (TV:“The

teratLSU. Thequeen is the daughter of LionsClub member Mark andFayeMorrison.

Childhoodfriendshipmight nottranslate to adulthood

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m fortunate to have had adear friend ever since kindergarten. We wereclose all through school, and when Imoved afew hoursaway for college and work, I would see her when Icame into town to visit family We stayed in touch and saw each other at least afew timesa year.Iwas a bridesmaid in her wedding, and we have shared some great times together over 30-plus years. When Imoved back to town, we started to get together more often, and during that time, Ibecame closer with her friend group in the city Miss Manners, these gatherings were tough for me as an introvert. The group got larger and larger, to the point where Ididn’t feel comfortable being involved. My friend wouldbe

preoccupiedwith theothers, and Ididn’talways feel accepted or welcome. Most of thesefriends have thingsincommon, andtheir incomes are also much higher than mine. Thegroup dinners cost me adecentportion of my monthlybudget,whereas these friends seemtodine out in nice restaurants multiple times aweek (which Iknowabout because of socialmedia). The last event Iattended was to be part of the “cheer squad” for my friend’sﬁrst marathon, whichwas in acity across the country.The trip was exhausting, expensive and slightly alienating for me. Ijust couldn’tkeep up after that. Ididn’thavethe energyordesire to attend anything,ortoreciprocate on invitations. My partner is also very introverted and we prefer not to host

It’sbeen almost ayear since I’ve seen my friend. It feels like Ireally dropped theball, butI’m not sure how to rebuild our connection in away that feels

sustainable for me. Ifeel like Iowe her an apology or an explanation, but I’ma bit embarrassed by my taking so long to reach out and makeplans together

How can Inavigate this friendship in away that honors our shared history and connection?

GENTLE READER: Wolves and college students socialize in packs, but human adultsare allowed to have non-overlapping circles of friends.

Miss Manners suggests that you call her and propose an event that does not involve other people, transcontinental travel, or apologies. If you ﬁnd that you still enjoy one another’s company,you can then worry about the next event

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

HebertLaw Cen-

royalty also includedDuke Alexander Thomas Beatty and Duchess Emily Rose Bonaventure.

PROVIDED PHOTO

NewRoads Lions Club Mardi Gras 2026 king and queen are Carrie Reese Morrison and Thomas Joseph Guidry.

Great British Baking Show”) is 86. Singer Irma Thomas is 85. Musician Dennis DeYoung is 79. Actor Cybill Shepherd is 76. Actor John Travolta is 72.

Friend’s listeninghabitsseemunkind

DEAR HARRIETTE: Whenever I share aconﬂict, dilemmaoreven something I’m skilled at with a particular friend of mine, I’ve noticed that she respondsby overexplaining it back to me— often as if Idon’t fully understand my own situation or abilities. For example, if Italk througha personal issue, she’ll reframe it in basic terms, offer unsolicited lessons or explain my own feelings and motivations to me as if she’s just discovered them. If Imention aprofessional experience, she’llbreak it down or correct me in ways that feel unnecessary and dismissive. What bothers me most is that this is someone who considers me apeer and afriend.

Idon’tthink she intends to be unkind —I’ve noticed she does thisto most people —but thepat-

tern makes me feel talked down to andoddly invisible in my own life. I’ve startedholding back from sharing,which doesn’tfeel healthy either.How can Itell whether this is something that can changeorisa sign that our dynamic maynolonger be respectful? —Don’tPatronize Me

DEAR DON’TPATRONIZE ME: I’mgoing to guess thatyour friend believesthat speaking her understanding of your situation back to youshows you that shepractices active listening. Though it isn’t working in your case, that’s what her behavior indicates to me. She is listening carefully and making areal effort to add something meaningful to what you are saying by providing commentary

Gently tell her that it bothers youdeeplywhen she does this Describehow her responses sound to you. Add that while you can tell she is clearly paying close attention, what you want more than anything is for her

to listen without re-explaining —just to hear you, not to tryto solve anything. Tell her plainly how her way of interacting makes you feel.

DEAR HARRIETTE: Irecently started anew job, and Ifeel as if my leaders don’tcare about my development.Iask my manager in our one-on-one meetings if there are speciﬁc thingsthat I can work on to becomemore proﬁcient at the job. She always says that Iamdoing well and that there’snothing in particular that Ineed to work on. On thesurface, that sounds reassuring, but Ihave afeeling that it’snot the full truth.

There are moments when I sense hesitation in her toneor notice small corrections in my work that she never brings up in our formal conversations. It leaves me confused about where Istandatthe company

Idon’twant to come across as insecure, but Iwant constructive feedback so Ican grow and add

BAGELS

Continued from page1D

for$9.95, served on an everythingbagel with gyro, cheddar cheese, egg, tomato, spinach and tzatzikisauce. There’salso a version of the sandwich minus thegyro and sauce for afew bucks less.

Milford’sonThird 1503rd St

Located in downtown’sWatermark Hotel, Milford’sonThird is aNew York City-style deli with breakfast and lunch options. Bagels (plain, everythingorcinnamon raisin) are $3.50 and schmearsinclude lemon dill, green onion, boursin caper,strawberry and cream cheese.Turkey,bacon or salmon are extra.

ForkNSpoon

1750 Brightside Dr

This breakfast spot opened in 2021 with French toast, grits, bowls, specials and, of course, bagels.

The Classic Melt on bagel bread includes egg and cheddar for $8, andcan be dressed up with bacon, sausage, ham, steak or braisedbeef can be added for$3. There’salso the Bagel Breakfast Pizza on atoasted Italian herb bagelwith cheddar,

eggs, bacon, sausage, onion and bell peppers.

NewYorkBagel Jefferson 8210 JeffersonHwy

Though the twonames are very similar, New York Bagel Jefferson is adifferent business than New York Bagel Company

Customersare given libertywiththe volume of schmear they desire: 4ounces of schmear($1.69),8 ounces of schmear ($3.19) andapound of schmear ($6.19)

Thereare 14 bagels here, including abanana nut bagel, and each costs99centswith no schmear

The restaurant serves specialtybagel sandwiches, each costing about$7to$10, likethe Village Pizza withspinach,garlic olive oil,mozzarella and romatomatoes or theStaten Islandwithgrilled lemon chicken, Americancheese,mayonnaise, mustard,lettuce, tomato, picklesand onions

Louie’sCafe 3322 Lake St

This longtimeBaton Rougebreakfast spot anddiner hasservedthe communitysince 1941. Bagels here (plain, whole wheat, everything or cinnamon raisin) run at $3 and customers can add cream cheese for an extra 75 cents.

morevalue to the team. As someone who is ambitious and wants to succeed, Iworry that Imight plateau if Idon’tget honest guidance. How can Iencourage more transparent feedback without seeming pushy toward my manager? How do Iknow whether my instincts are right, or if I’m just overthinking the situation?

UnstableFooting

DEAR UNSTABLE FOOTING: Look around at your company or in your industry.You need amentor,someone in whom you can conﬁde about what’shappening and gain insight into astrategy for moving forward. Continue to check in with your boss regularly,asking for tips on improving your skills or handling particular tasks, but trust your gut and seek out additional support.

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

until March 27. Dinners are available at 4p.m. until sold out. St.Patrick Catholic Church 12424 Brogdon Lane, Baton Rouge The St.PatrickKnightsofColumbus Council 8601 and Kaycee Ladies Auxiliary will host ﬁsh fry Fridays 5:30 p.m.until itemsare sold out Feb. 20 and 27 and March 6, 13, 20 and 27. The plates are $12 and include fried ﬁsh, potato salad, green beans and abread roll. St.Paulthe ApostleCatholic Church

3912Gus YoungAve.,Baton Rouge St. Paul the Apostle is offering Lenten friedﬁsh or shrimp plates beginning Feb. 20. Meals are available fordine-in or pick-up. To place

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIESCOTT

The Gyro Bagel Sandwich from Coffee Joy

Harriette

Quiche

n Lucia’sBakehouse, 607

Kaliste Saloom Road, Suite A, Lafayette Istand

firm in my assessmentthatbreakfast is the best meal of the day.One of my favoritespots to grab amorning bite is Lucia’s Bakehouse. Dependingonmymood, Ican grab aflaky,buttery croissant or adecadent cinnamon roll. But one of my favorite bites is the quiche. It’sawonderful savoryitem that fills me up. The bakehouse usually has two flavors of quiche, one without and one with meat. This time, Ichose the sundried tomato and pesto quiche slice for about $7. The bakehouse will warm it up if Ieat there, or Ipop it in the microwave if Itake it to go. It’sasatiny fillingwitha flakypastry crust. The slic-

Soups,brothsand warm teas aremygo-to when I have ahead cold and arunny nose. AvaCafe has long been on my listtotry,and I decided to give it agowith afriend to ﬁll my need for a liquid pick-me-up.

Foranappetizer,we split thebao steam buns with grilledpork.This was maybe thehighlight of the evening. The spicy mayo and wasabi cream gave the ﬂuffy taco-like shell agood zing of ﬂavor,backed up by tangy pickled carrots, cilantro and sweet barbequed pork.

es are incredibly ﬁlling and keep me from getting hungryuntil lunch. Savory or sweet, Lucia’s Bakehouse always hasthe perfect treat.

Ashley White, education reporter Meatball Pho n AvaCafe, 5207 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge

For the main, Iordered the Meatball ‘BoVien’ Phowith vermicelli noodles and added steamed vegetables. The brothwas hearty and ﬂavorful but nottoo heavyasto overpower thethin, translucent noodlesand veggies in thedish.

As an accompanying sweet treat, Iordered an iced mangomilk tea, afruity end to agood meal.

Margaret DeLaney, healthsection coordinator

STAFF PHOTO By ASHLEy WHITE

Asundried tomatoand pestoquiche from Lucia’s Bakehouse in Lafayette.

MARGARET DELANEy

Meatball ‘Bo Vien’ Pho at AvaCafe, 5207 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge.

AQuARIus (Jan.20-Feb. 19) High energy will lead to satisfaction. Distance yourself from people who waste your time or don't support what's meaningful to you. It'stimetofocusonthe areas of life that matter to you.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Compassion and gratitude willpave theway to victory. Open your heart to thepeople who mattermost to you. Honesty will help resolve issues that keep you awake at night.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Discipline and ingenuity can turn amediocrelife into something spectacular. Be presentand kind. Don't loseout on an opportunity due to fear.

tAuRus(April 20-May 20) Look for the good in everything and everyone. How you make others feel will determine the reaction you get.Concentrate on being and doing your best, and inspireothers to do the same.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Yourdiscipline and hardworkwon't help if yousurround yourselfwith takers, users and abusers. The backup andsupport you get will determine the outcome.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Competition will be fierce, and how you present yourself will make adifference. Someone you encounter will offer more than you expect.Your charm andintelligence will help seal adeal.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Set high standards and do your best.The impression you make will set the stagefor what'sto come. Actlike apro, andothers will

treat you like one. It's what you do that counts. VIRGo (Aug.23-sept. 22) You'll get a glimpse of what'spossible if youare observant andopentosuggestions. A networking event will provide some interesting options thatyou can tweak to fit your objective. LIBRA (sept. 23-oct.23) Unusual people, professions andpastimes will attract yourattentionandraiseyourawareness. Once you see how something begins to unfold, you'll gain insight into how to use what you discover to fit your needs scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Opportunity is within reach; all you mustdoisuse your skills, knowledge and experience to network your way to succeess. Selfand home improvement, along with social interaction, will help structure what's next sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Be theone to make choices. Refusetolet anyone dictate what'snext. Walk away from emotional mind games and people who cause you grief. Take the path thatis most inviting.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Achange of pace andspace will do wonders for your emotional health. Refuse to let anyone limit or discourage you fromstriving for what excites you most. Make awish listand pursueyour dreams.

FAMILY CIrCUS

CelebrityCipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, pastand present. Each letter in the cipher stands foranother. toDAy's cLuE: uEQuALs W

For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placingpuzzle basedona9x9 grid with several given numbers Theobjectistoplace the numbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothat each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.The difficulty levelofthe Sudoku increasesfrom Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER

Look before youleap is awell-known adage. Thereisa bridge equivalent, which is highlighted by today’sdeal. South is in four spades. West leads off with the topthreeclubs.How should South continue after ruffingthe third?

Note North’s raise to twospades. This risked putting his side into a4-3 fit, but to rebid one no-trump withnominor-suit stopperwould have been worse. Support with support, especially in themajors. And if South had enough to move higher and only four spades, he would have rebid something other thanfourspades (perhaps three no-trump). South’s jump to four spadespromised at leasta fivecard suit.

South will fail only if he loses one trick in eachmajor.The textbookswilltellyou that the percentage play in spades is to cash theace andking. If declarer does that here, though, he will go down, losing one spade, one heart andtwo clubs.

Instead, South should take thewhole deal into account and do alittle preparation, so that if he does misguessspades, he will still make the contract regardless of the heart position Before touching trumps, South should play off his two diamond winners. Then he should cash his spade king andlead a spadetodummy’s nine. Here the finesse winsand the contract is home. Butnote thatifEastcould win the seventh trick with the spade queen, he wouldbeendplayed. If he leads aheart, declarer cannot lose atrick in that suit. Or if East returns aminor-suit card, South sluffs aheartfromhis hand andruffs on the board.

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. Forexample: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four lettersbythe additionof“s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD AutonoMous: oh-TAHN-ih-mus:Having the right or power of self-government

Averagemark 24 words

Time limit 35 minutes

Canyou find 31 or morewords in AUTONOMOUS?

yEstERDAy’sWoRD— suBVEnED

seed seen send seven snub subvene sued suede used been bend bund bused vend venue endue ensue even need neve nevus nude dense dues dune

today’s thought “And my eye shall not spare you, neitherwill Ihave pity: but Iwill recompenseyour ways on you, and yourabominations shall be in the middle of you: and you shall know that Iamthe Lord.” Ezekiel 7:4 God must judgeevil. He is holy.— G.E. Dean

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember

Dr.AtleyWalker

Mr.Ronald LeBlanc, BoardMember Ms. Sonceria Evans, BoardMember Ms. Chareeka Grace,BoardMember

Mr.Matthew Daigrepont, BoardMember

Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember

Mr.Alden Chustz, President

Non-Voting Members

Blanchard, Executive Secretary Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business

Dr.Chandler Smith, Superintendent

LeBlanc, BoardMember •· Ms. SonceriaEvans, BoardMember

Ms. Chareeka Grace, BoardMember

•· Mr.MatthewDaigrepont, BoardMember

Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember

•· Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember

Mr.Alden Chustz, President

The following wereabsent None

4. Agenda

1. Consideration of Request to review and approve the20262027 West Baton Rouge Parish SchoolCalendar.(Kelley Stein)

Mrs. Stein presented the 2026-2027 School Calendar

The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment That the boardapproves the 2026-2027 West Baton Rouge Parish School Calendar Motion made by: Mr.MatthewDaigrepont Motion seconded by: Ms. Chareeka Grace Voting: Unanimously Approved

2. Review ReportonDPS and SPS from the 2024-2025 School

Year Dr.Smith and Mrs. Steinwent over thedata for theDPS and SPS from the 2024-2025 School Year

The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment Informational Item,NoActionNecessary

3. Review Midyear Academic Report(Kelley Stein) Mrs. Steinwent over the Midyear AcademicReportthat is attached. The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment Informational Item,Noaction necessary

4. Review AttendanceUpdate(Taya Loupe) Mrs. Loupe went over the Midyear Attendance Update The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment Informational Item,Noaction necessary

5. Behavior Update(Taya Loupe)

Mrs. Loupe went over the Behavior Update The chairman declared the floor open for public comment Informational Item,Noaction necessary

5. Adjourn The academic meeting canbeadjourned. Motionmade by: Ms.SonceriaEvans Motionseconded by: Dr.Atley WalkerSr. Voting: UnanimouslyApproved

Please silenceall cellphones Attendance

Voting Members

Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember

Mrs. Hayley Clouatre,BoardMember

Dr.Atley WalkerSr.,VicePresident

Mr.RonaldLeBlanc, BoardMember

Ms. Sonceria Evans, BoardMember

Mr.Matthew Daigrepont, BoardMember

Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember

Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember

Mr.Alden Chustz,President

Non-Voting Members Jessica Blanchard, Executive Secretary

Dr.Chandler Smith,Superintendent Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business

1. Call Meeting to Order The Chairman called themeetingtoorder

2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was ledbyMr. Leblanc

3. Roll Call Jessica Blanchardconducted arollCallThe following members were present:

•· Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember Mrs. Hayley Clouatre,BoardMember

•· Dr.Atley WalkerSr.,VicePresident

Mr.RonaldLeBlanc, BoardMember

•· Ms. Sonceria Evans, BoardMember

Mr.Matthew Daigrepont, Board Member

•· Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember

•· Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember

•· Mr.Alden Chustz, President Aquorum was made The following members wereabsent: Ms Chareeka Grace, BoardMember

4. Agenda

1. Receiveand review Head Start DirectorsMonthly Report. (Crystal Leon) The boardreviewed the Monthly Head Start Directors Report The chairman declared the floor open for public comment. Informational Item.NoAction Necessary

2. Consideration of request to approve the2024-2025 Annual Audit Report(Rodney Combs) Mr.Rodney Combs went over the the attached Audit Reportwith the Board. The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment That the boardapproves the 2024-2025 Annual AuditReport. Motion made by: Mr.Alden Chustz Motion seconded by: Mr.Burke Fiscus Voting: Unanimously Approved

3. Consideration of request for approval of themonthly expenditures and financial reports for October 2025 (Jared Gibbs) Mr.Gibbs went over attached report

The chairman declared the floor open for public comment

That the boardapproves monthlyexpenditures and financial reports for October 2025

Motion made by: Mr.Matthew Daigrepont

Motion seconded by: Mrs.Hayley Clouatre

Voting: Unanimously Approved

4. Consideration of Request to move funds from the General

the floor open forpubliccomment

Motion made by: Mrs. Teri Bergeron

Motion seconded by: Mr.Burke Fiscus

Voting: Unanimously Approved

5. Adjourn That theFinanceMeeting be adjourned.

Motion made by: Mrs. Teri

Voting: Unanimously Approved

Attendance

Voting Members Mr.Burke Fiscus, Board Member Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Vice President Mr.Ronald LeBlanc, BoardMember Ms. SonceriaEvans, BoardMember Mr.MatthewDaigrepont, Board Member Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember Mr.AldenChustz,President

Non-VotingMembers Jessica Blanchard, Executive Secretary Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business Dr.ChandlerSmith, Superintendent

1. CalltoOrder The chairmancalledthe meeting to order.

2. Pledge of Allegiance The chairmanled The PledgeofAllegiance

3. Roll Call Jessica Blanchardconductedthe roll call. The followingwerepresent

•· Mr.Burke Fiscus, Board Member •· Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember

•· Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Vice President Mr.Ronald LeBlanc, Board Member

•· Ms. SonceriaEvans,Board Member Mr.MatthewDaigrepont, BoardMember

•· Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember Mr.AldenChustz,President The following were absentMs. Chareeka Grace,Board Member Mr Mike Maranto, BoardMember

4. Approval of Minutes Be it Resolved, That the approvalofthe minutesofthe RegularBoard Meeting held November 19,2025 be approved as presented. The Chairmandeclared the floor openfor publiccomment. Motion made by: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Motion secondedby: Mrs. Hayley Clouatre Voting: Unanimously Approved

5. Superintendent’sReport Dr.Smith went overthe attached Superintendent’sReport BUES Choir performed twosongs for our Board ChristmasCards Winners were also recgnized.

6. ReportfromCommunity Committees/Agencies

7. UnfinishedBusiness

8. Presentation of Consent Agenda

1. Consideration of Request to review and approvethe 20262027 West Baton Rouge Parish SchoolCalendar.(Academics Committee Report12/9/25)

2. Consideration of requesttoapprove the 2024-2025 Annual Audit Report(Finance Committee Report12/9/25)

3. Consideration of requestfor approval of the monthly expenditures and financial reports for October 2025 (Finance Committee Report12/9/25)

4. Consideration of Request to move funds from the General Fund to the Building Fund (Finance Committee Report12/9/25)

9. Approval of Consent Agenda Be it resolved thatthe Board does hereby approve andadopt the Above Consent Agenda Items #1-4 TheChairmandeclared the floor open for public comment. Motion made by: Mr.Ronald LeBlanc Motion seconded by: Mrs. Teri Bergeron Voting: Unanimously Approved

10. End of Consent Agenda

11. Organization Items

12. Any otherbusiness unanimouslyapproved by the boardfor consideration

13. Adjourn Be it Resolved, That the meeting be adjourned.The Chairman declared the floor openfor publiccomment. Motion made by: Mr.Ronald LeBlanc Motion seconded by: Dr.AtleyWalkerSr. Voting: Unanimously Approved