The Times-Picayune 03-19-2026 by The Advocate

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

New Orleans Sewerage &Wa-

terBoardofficials on Tuesday received an earful from City Council members as city leadersbegin grappling with how to pay for costly fixes to decrepitwater pipes. As they have repeatedly in recent weeks, council members assailed board officialsfor aperceived lack of urgency and shoddy communication after four water

“Wehavetoimprove,

but Ialso want to say Iamnot an individual or professional

(who makes)

excuses.That is not my trackrecord.”

RANDyHAyMAN, S&WB executivedirector

main breaks in six weeksﬂooded homes,closedschools and disrupted businesses.

Andasthey have repeatedly in recent weeks, board ofﬁcials, who laid outa new plan foraddressing

that problem on Monday,said they were putting their best efforts toward remedying asystem that has been problem-ridden for decades.

“I’m notinterested in hearing, with all due respect, of what was

inherited,”saidDistrictE council member Jason Hughes, who chairs thecouncil’s Public Works Committee. “Weall inherited what we inherited. What we need to do is be leaders.”

S&WB ExecutiveDirector Randy Hayman, whojoined the agency eight months ago, said the agency’s new water main plan is not merely “damage control” after thelatest incidents, and that the S&WB started itsplanning process before the spate of breaks began on Jan. 31.

“Wehave to improve, but Ialso want to sayIamnot an individual or professional (who makes) excuses. That is notmytrack record,” Hayman replied. It wasthe secondtime in alittle more than aweekthat thecouncil skewered Hayman and other boardofﬁcials. Councilmembers also slammed S&WB ofﬁcials at a Public WorksCommittee meeting on March 10,the day afterthe third of the recent water main breaks. A fourth came two days later Repairsare stillunderwayon the last one, near Audubon and

Shipbuilder

ABOVE: BryanSmoak, left,holding across, and Cory Johnson, employees withStafford Construction, prepare to attachanaluminum cross tothe left bellspire of Mater DolorosaCatholic Church as restoration work continues on the historicchurch on South Carrollton Avenue on Wednesday.

RIGHT: Theoriginal crossand spire were damaged during Hurricane Ida in 2021.

up to 75 employees to CBDlocation

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Saronic Technologies, the venture capital-backed builder of autonomous vessels that set up operations last year in south Louisiana, announced Wednesdayitisopening an ofﬁce in Place St. Charles that willbring up to 75 employees to New Orleans’ Central Business District.

The move comes roughly ayear after the Austin, Texas-based company,which has raised more than $800 million from SiliconValley venture capitalists, purchased ashipyard in Franklin,where it plans to manufacture “drone boats” formilitary andcommercial clients. In December,itannounced a$300 millionexpansion that would support 1,500 jobs. Now,itissetting up shop in downtown New Orleans, taking nearly 15,000 square feet in the 53-story high-rise at 201 St.Charles Ave. The ofﬁce will house hardware engineers, naval architects, marine engineers and experts in system testing to support the designand development of the“Marauder,” a180-foot autonomous ship produced in Franklin. Saronic employees already have been working in

ä See SHIPBUILDER, page 6A

Testimonydetails underworld of staged automobile crashes

Life for‘slammers’ filled with cash andperil,jurytold

BYJAMES FINN and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers

Cornelius GarrisonIII never said aloud what he did for aliving, though he didn’tleave it all at the ofﬁce. His girlfriend, Juanisha Winchester,would pick shards of glass from his hair whenGarrison returned home from work, she testiﬁed last week in federalcourt. He wasn’tcoy whenthey first met in 2017 on aMississippi road trip with his younger protégé, Ryan “Red” Harris, afriendof

Winchester’swho came along as apassenger.Garrison struck abig rigonthe drive back to New Orleansand coached her on what to tell police. Then, he took her to see VanessaMotta, aKenner injury attorney now accused of orchestratingasweeping fraud scheme. Motta sued and snagged her asixﬁgure settlement.

“I put two and two together,” Winchester said. “At the time of my accident, Iﬁgured that’swhat (Garrison) didfor aliving. He did accidents. The life of a“slammer” was full of cash andfreedom, but also peril on and offthe street, aparadeof witnesses have testified at the blockbuster federal fraud trial against Motta andasecond injury attorney,Jason Giles,now in its third week.

For Garrison, it all ended in September 2020, after he begancooperating with theFBI. Theman who evaded death on theroads for yearsfellvictim to fatalgunﬁre at hismother’sGentillyhomein what prosecutors describe as an execution-style hit. Winchester is one of several witnesses in the ongoingtrial who have shined light on the life and death of Garrison, aNew Orleans native, and his brazen trade. Harris also testiﬁed. Last year he pleaded guilty to arranging Garrison’sslaying in an agreement thatsets him up to serve 35 years. Sean Alfortish,a disbarredattorney who was engaged to Motta, awaits an Augusttrial alongside a Harris associate, Leon “Chunky”

ä See CRASHES, page 8A

STAFF PHOTOSByDAVID GRUNFELD

PHOTO PROVIDED By FAMILy Cornelius Garrison, an alleged ‘slammer’ in ascheme to stagecar wrecks with18-wheelers, was killed Sept. 22, 2020, four days after he was indicted on fraudcharges.

NYPD officer suspended in off-duty shooting

NEWYORK A New York City police officer who works security at the mayor’s residence and City Hall has been suspended after the department says he shot a man in the head while off duty, police said Wednesday Police said the shooting happened around 9 p.m. Monday in the Bronx after the officer interacted with several men about a stolen car. The officer has not been publicly named and has not been arrested or charged with a crime, police said.

The 30-year-old victim was hospitalized in critical condition. Police did not release the victim’s name.

Brazil police operation leaves at least 8 dead

RIO DE JANEIRO A Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas on Wednesday killed seven presumed drug traffickers, including a gang chief, as well as a local resident caught in the crossfire, law enforcement officials said.

Claúdio Augusto dos Santos, a drug-trafﬁcking boss and member of the notorious Red Command criminal organization, was among those killed in the operation in central Rio, Secretary of the Military Police Col. Marcelo de Menezes said in a press conference.

In retaliation, police said “criminals” set ﬁre to a bus and blocked roads in Rio’s central zone. Some attempted to steal bus keys to use the vehicles to block the roads. Five people were arrested for acts of vandalism, police said.

Márcio Sousa, the driver of the bus set alight, reported that the attackers boarded the vehicle with two bottles of gasoline.

Union Pacific derailment causes ethanol leak

RICHMOND,Texas — More than two dozen cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Wednesday in a Texas town near Houston, causing an ethanol leak from two of the cars that ofﬁcials said didn’t pose a threat to the public.

The derailment happened around 5 a.m. in Richmond, a town of 13,000 people about 30 miles southwest of Houston. No injuries were reported, Union Pacific spokesperson Robynn Tysver said.

Two of the derailed cars began leaking ethanol after the accident, said Fort Bend County Fire Marshal Justin Jurek. Both leaks were later contained, he said. Ethanol, typically made from corn, can be used as a fuel additive.

“It is not posing a current threat to the public and air monitoring is ongoing as a precaution. There’s no need for evacuation at this time,” Jurek said.

Hospital sues to evict patient who won’t leave ORLANDO, Fla The patient in Room 373 refuses to leave.

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare earlier this month sued the patient, saying she has refused to depart her hospital room since being discharged last October The hospital also has asked a state judge in Tallahassee for an injunction ordering the patient to vacate the hospital room and authorizing the county sheriff’s ofﬁce to assist if necessary The hospital said resources have been diverted from helping other patients because of her occupation of the room.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was admitted for medical treatment and a formal discharge order was issued Oct 6 after it was determined that she no longer needed acute care services. The hospital has repeatedly made efforts to coordinate her departure with family members and offered transportation to obtain necessary identiﬁcation, the lawsuit said.

Mullin makes case as steady hand for DHS

Nominee faces Senate pushback over temperament

BY REBECCA SANTANA, LISA MASCARO and MEG KINNARD Associated Press

WASHINGTON Markwayne Mullin, the White House pick for Homeland Security secretary, made a case to fellow senators Wednesday that he would be a steady hand for a department roiled by controversy under Kristi Noem, but signaled he would follow President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration priorities and pushed back on concerns over his temperament for the Cabinet post.

The Oklahoma Republican faced questions from members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about his vision for a department tasked with carrying out the Republican administration’s push for mass deportations. Democrats have halted routine funds for the Department of Homeland Security in a weekslong standoff as they demand restraints on immigration ofﬁcers after the death of at least three American citizens at the hands of federal agents. Throughout his confirmation

hearing, Mullin struck a soft tone on some of the administration’s most contentious policies, and he retracted his description of a Minneapolis man killed by federal ofﬁcers as “deranged.” But his combative style, seen in a heated exchange with the committee chair, and loyalty to the president meant questions remained over how he might revamp a troubled department that is central to Trump’s deportation agenda.

“I can have different opinions with everybody in this room, but as secretary of homeland I’ll be protecting everybody,” Mullin said. “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.”

Mullin became emotional at some moments during the hearing and fought back at others, as he spoke of his family’s relationship with Trump and his own commitment to the president’s agenda.

The hearing was Mullin’s ﬁrst opportunity since being nominated to present his plans in public for the government’s third-largest department. Noem was ﬁred this month following mounting criti-

cism of her leadership.

Trump’s immigration agenda and Mullin’s plan to implement it are key issues for Democrats. Trump’s policy of mass deportations is at a crossroads, and Mullin will be under pressure to achieve Trump’s goals when the public mood has soured over aggressive immigration enforcement operations.

On whether DHS should meet a 3,000-a-day quota for the number of immigration arrests it makes, Mullin said none had been set for him. He retracted comments he made about Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis man shot by federal immigration ofﬁcers and whom Mullin had called “deranged.”

“I shouldn’t have said that and as secretary, I wouldn’t,” he said. Mullin said ofﬁcers would only use a warrant signed by a judge to forcibly enter homes to make arrests, except in limited circumstances. Federal officers have used administrative warrants to do so, raising concerns that constitutional protections are being skirted.

Labor rights leader accuses Cesar Chavez of sexual abuse

Activist Dolores Huerta’s allegations spark call to change memorials

BY FERNANDA FIGUEROA

The Associated Press

Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed she was among women and girls who say they were sexually abused by Cesar Chavez the long-admired Latino icon, while he led the United Farm Workers union.

The stunning allegations against Chavez, who died more than three decades ago, drew immediate calls to change events and memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s brought to light the struggles of ﬁeld workers.

In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.

Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way.”

Concern, anger, hope mix in Cuba on Trump remarks

President calls for ‘imminent action’ against government

BY MILEXSY DURÁN Associated Press

HAVANA A mix of uncertainty, anger and hope simmered in Cuba on Wednesday following comments by U.S. President Donald Trump this week saying that Washington could take “imminent action” against the island’s government.

Trump, whose government has come at its Caribbean adversary more aggressively than any U.S. government in recent history, has effectively cut Cuba off from key oil shipments in an effort to force regime change. The blockade has had devastating effects on the civilians Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio say they want to help, leaving many desperate.

Island-wide blackouts have roiled Cubans already grappling with years of crisis, and lack of gasoline and basic resources has crippled hospital and slashed public transport. Matilde Visoso, a single mother caring for a sick daughter, said she’s been left reeling by the island’s spiraling crisis, and wants change in the Caribbean nation.

“Cuba is waiting for Trump and Marco Rubio, because we can’t wait any longer It’s too much — there is a lot of repression, there is a lot of hunger,” the 64-year-old homemaker said. “Cuba is in tears.”

Trump has said he can do “whatever he wants” with Cuba. The administration is looking for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to leave as the U.S. continues negotiating with the Cuban government, according to a U.S. ofﬁcial and a source with knowledge of talks between Washington and Havana. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss sensitive talks.

No details have been offered about who the administration might like to see in power

A story on Wednesday about a Supreme Court ruling misidentified attorney Dominick Impastato’s client in a civil lawsuit over legal fees Impastato represented William Hall in the case

Earlier Wednesday, an investigation by the New York Times found that Chavez, groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement, including Huerta, who was in her 30s at the time.

Huerta said both sexual encounters with Chavez led to pregnancies, which

she kept secret, and that she arranged for the children to be raised by other families. “No one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago,” she said in her statement.

Huerta said she did not know that Chavez hurt other women and condemned his actions but reminded readers that the farmworker movement is bigger than one person.

“Cesar’s actions do not reﬂect the values of our community and our movement,” Huerta said in her statement. “The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MANUEL BALCE CENETA

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security

Wednesday during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TRAN NGUyEN

A statue of farmworker

CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Attacksonenergyfacilitiesincrease

Israel killsthird topIranofficial in twodays

BY JON GAMBRELL, SAMY MAGDYand JULIE WATSON Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—

Israel killed Iran’sintelligence minister as it kept up its campaign against the Islamic Republic’stop leadership and reportedly attacked an Iranian offshore natural gas ﬁeld Wednesday,asthe warescalated pressureon the region’seconomic lifeblood: energy Iran condemned the strike on its massive South Pars natural gas ﬁeld,with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world.”

Iran kept up attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbors’ energy facilities, striking a major natural gas facility in Qatar,asitcontinued to squeeze the Strait of Hormuzshippingchannel— through which one-fifth of the world’soil travels

The price of oil surged another 5% to over $108 abar-

reloninternationalmarkets, increasingthe priceofgasoline and othergoods. The priceofBrent crude, theinternational benchmark for oil, isnow up close to 50% since the start of thewar As the Trump administrationlooks forways to boostoil supplies andlower prices, the Treasury Department eased sanctionson VenezuelaWednesday,saying U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with the country’sstate-owned oil andgas company. IsraeliDefenseMinister Israel Katz promised “signiﬁcant surprises” to come afterIran’sintelligence minister,EsmailKhatib, was killedinanovernight strike. Aday earlier,Israel killed topIranian security ofﬁcial Ali Larijaniand the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’sBasij force, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani. Iran retaliatedWednesday by unleashing missile strikes againstIsrael, where two peoplewere killed near

TelAviv. Iranalso attacked Saudi Arabia’svast Eastern Province, home to many of its oil ﬁelds, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain andthe United Arab Emirates.

The United States was informed about Israel’splans to strike Iran’smassive SouthPars natural gas ﬁeld, but did not take part in it, according to aperson familiar with the matter.The person, who was not authorizedto commentpublicly andspoke on condition of anonymity, would notsay if theTrump administration agreedwith theIsraelidecision to attack the gas ﬁeld —partof theworld’slargest such resource and apillar of Iran’s energy supplies.

Iran has been targeting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arabneighbors, as well as militarybases,aspartofa strategytodrive up oil prices andput pressure on theU.S. and Israel to back down.

QatarEnergy said on X that amissile hit its massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, sparking a

President Donald Trump arrivesWednesdayatDoverAir Force Base, Del., to attend the dignified transferfor the six crewmembers of an Air Force refueling aircraft whodied when their planecrashedinwesternIraqwhile supportingoperations against Iran.

Trumppaysrespectsto6 killed U.S. servicemembers

BYDARLENE SUPERVILLE

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. President Donald Trump paid his respects on Wednesday at aDelaware military base where the remains of sixU.S.service members killed in the crash of arefueling aircraft were returnedto their families. It was the second time since launching thewar with Iran on Feb. 28 that theRepublican president attended the solemn military ritual known as adigniﬁed transfer,which he once described as the “toughest thing”hehas had to do as commander in chief.

AccompanyingTrump were DefenseSecretary Pete Hegseth, House Speaker MikeJohnson, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and lawmakers including Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, both Alabama Republicans.

All six crew members of aKC-135 AirForce refueling aircraft were killed last week in aplane crashover friendly territory in western Iraq whilesupporting operations against Iran. They were from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky,Ohio and Washington state.

“Every person on that aircraft carried aweight most Americans will never see,

andthey carrieditwith professionalism, courage, and a level of quietexcellencethat deserves toberecognized,” retired Lt. Col Ernesto Nisperos, afriend of one of those killed, said in atextmessage Wednesday Thecrash brought theU.S death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least13service members.

About 200 U.S. service members have been injured, including 10 severely, the Pentagon has said.

Wednesday’sdignified transfer was closed to news mediacoverageattherequest of thefamilies in accordance with military policy.Trump spent just under two hours on thegroundand didn’t speakto reportersleavingAir Force Oneorreturning to it.

TrumplasttraveledtoDover Air Force Base on March 7for thedignifiedtransfer of six U.S. service members who were killed by adrone strike at acommand center in Kuwait.

He saluted as flag-draped transfer cases containing the remains of the fallen service members were carried from military aircraft to vehicles waitingtotake themtothe base’smortuary facility to prepare them for their ﬁnal resting place. “It’sthe bad part of war,” he told reporters afterward.

Israeli

missile that killed twopeople in Ramat

ﬁrethat caused “extensive” damage before it was extinguished.

The company had already halted production there becauseofIranianattacks.

Since thewar started, a smallnumber of ships have

gottenthrough theStrait of Hormuz, whichleads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean —some Iranian, but alsovessels from India,Turkeyand elsewhere. Iraninsists the waterway is open, just not to the U.S. or its al-

Askedthenifheworried abouthaving to makemultiple trips to the base for additional dignified transfers as the war continued, he said, “I’msure. Ihate to do it, but it’sa part of war,isn’tit?

U.S.Central Command, whichoversees military operations in the Middle East, said the crash followed an unspeciﬁed incident involving twoaircraft in “friendly airspace” over Iraq but that the loss of the aircraft during acombatmission was “not due to hostile or friendly ﬁre. The circumstances wereunderinvestigation. Theother plane landed safely

Thecrash killed three people assignedtothe 6th Air RefuelingWing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida: Maj. JohnA.“Alex” Klinner,33, whoserved in Birmingham, Alabama; Capt. Ariana Linse Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky

Thethree others were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt SethKoval, 38, aresident of Stoutsville, Ohio, who was from Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. CurtisAngst, 30, who lived in Columbus; and MasterSgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus.

BY ERIC TUCKER, DAVID KLEPPER and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON TheU.S. government’s top intelligence ofﬁcial told lawmakers Wednesday that Iran’s regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded” yet repeatedly dodged questions about whether President Donald Trumphad been warned about the falloutfrom the weeks-old war, including Iran’s attackson Gulf nations andits effective closureofthe vital Strait of Hormuz.

TulsiGabbard, thedirectorofnational intelligence, also stated in prepared remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that U.S. attacks on Iran last year had “obliterated” Iran’snuclear program and thatthere had been no effort sincethento rebuild that capability

The statement was notable givenTrump’srepeated assertions that awar withIran was necessary to head off what he said was an imminent threat from the Islamic Republic.

Gabbard pointedly said that conclusionwas thepresident’s alone to draw as she declinedtoanswerwhether theintelligence community hadlikewise assessed that Iran’snuclear system presented an imminent risk.

“Itisnot theintelligence community’sresponsibility to determine whatisand is notanimminent threat,” she saidatone point.

DemocraticSen.Jon Ossoff, of Georgia, shotback: “It is precisely your responsibility to determinewhat constitutes athreat to the United States.”

The testimonycame at the first of two congressional hearings held eachyear to offerthe public aglimpse into the largely secret operationsofthe government’s intelligence agencies and the threats they confront.

The hearings this week take placeata time of scrutiny over the warwith Iran

andheightenedconcerns about terrorism at home after recent attacks at a Michigansynagogue and a Virginia university.Wednesday’shearing also came a day after the resignation of Joe Kent as director of the NationalCounterterrorism Center Kentsaidhecould not “in good conscience” back the war anddid notagree that Iranposed an imminent threat.

Butthe hours-long hearing offered fewrevelations from Gabbard, whorepeatedly declinedtodiscuss conversations withTrump, or other senior intelligence ofﬁcials who testiﬁed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREENIKHINSON

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByJOSE LUIS MAGANA FBI Director Kash Patel,from left, Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams III, Director of National Intelligence TulsiGabbard and acting Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command WilliamHartman listen Wednesday during aSenate Committee on Intelligence hearing

La. to spend $1.5B on coastal projects

Plan represents a major change in strategy

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

Louisiana will spend $1.54 billion on coastal projects over the next ﬁscal year under a plan approved Wednesday that solidiﬁes a controversial shift away from large-scale river diversions, a major change in strategy pursued by Gov Jeff Landry’s administration.

The plan, approved unanimously by the board of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority now goes to the state Legislature. Lawmakers must give it an up-or-down vote, with no ability to change individual projects, and it is typically overwhelmingly approved.

It lays out project spending for fiscal year 2027, which begins in July and is separate from the CPRA’s operational budget. Funding for projects comes from a combination of state and federal money, along with proceeds related to ﬁnes and settlements from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

This year’s plan also includes $28 million from settlements with energy companies sued by Louisiana parishes over pollution and damage to the coastline. Most of that money is allocated for coastal restoration and shoreline protection efforts in Cameron Parish, in the state’s far southwest.

The coastal authority’s projects range from levee building to

marsh creation and ecosystem restoration, with the aim of protecting the state from intensifying storms while addressing Louisiana’s land loss crisis to as great an extent as possible. The state has lost around 2,000 square miles of land over the past century, about the size of Delaware, and sea level rise is projected to worsen the problem.

The authority’s mission has traditionally received broad support from across the political spectrum, though debate over two large-scale river diversions aimed at restoring lost wetlands in recent years proved to be a high-proﬁle exception

Landry’s administration has abandoned those plans in favor of a strategy that prioritizes restoring eroding barrier islands and rebuilding “land bridges” along vulnerable areas of Louisiana’s coastline, though actual construction on much of that approach remains far off.

The change has been lauded by commercial ﬁshermen and their parish leaders who strongly opposed the diversions, but harshly criticized by a range of scientists and coastal advocates who saw them as key to a broader strategy of salvaging parts of the coastline.

‘Really moving forward’

But while debate over the nowcanceled Mid-Barataria and MidBreton Sediment Diversions has been front and center the new

annual plan includes a total of 143 active projects across the state’s coast. Of the $1.54 billion in total spending, proceeds linked to the BP spill account for about 27%, or $416 million. “I think it is a reﬂection of the continued work that CPRA has been investing in for the past decade,” said Michael Hare, executive director of the coastal authority. “And I think it’s unfortunate that a lot of people focus on ‘a project’ in ‘a place,’ and then forget to recognize the 143 active projects across the entire coast.”

CPRA Chair Gordon Dove said “this is really moving forward, from pump stations to the levee systems, to coastal restoration, to marsh recreation, to land bridges to barrier islands...”

The plan approved by the board represents an increase over the $1.27 billion draft initially presented in December That is due to the addition of coastal settlement dollars as well as a handful of projects being accelerated sooner than anticipated, said Hare.

Larger projects include continued work on the Morganza to the Gulf levee system for Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes as well as the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee system for St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes. It also includes funding toward restoring the disappearing Chandeleur Islands, among a long list of other projects.

Democrats storm out of briefing on Epstein files

Lawmakers say they will push to force Bondi to testify on case

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday stormed out of a closeddoor brieﬁng on the Jeffrey Epstein ﬁles by Justice Department leaders, and said they would push to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions under oath about the case that has plagued the Trump administration.

Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to try to quell bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of millions of ﬁles related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.

But less than an hour into the briefing, Democrats walked out in protest of the arrangement and said they would press to enforce a subpoena for Bondi to appear for a sworn deposition next month.

Democrats said they asked Bondi repeatedly whether she would comply with the subpoena, but she

was noncommittal.

“We want her under oath because we do not trust her,” Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost told reporters. Republicans on the committee dismissed the move by Democrats as political grandstanding. They said Bondi and Blanche answered “substantiative questions,” and noted that the attorney general said she would follow the law regarding her subpoena.

“It’s clear Democrats don’t want answers or justice for survivors; they just want theatrics for their latest partisan stunt,” the Republican-led committee said in a social media post. Justice Department leaders had hoped the release of documents tied to the disgraced ﬁnancier would put an end to a political saga that has dogged the president’s second term, but the agency remains consumed by questions and criticism over Epstein’s case and its management of the ﬁles.

Bondi has defended the department’s handling of the files and has accused Democrats of using the furor over the documents to distract from Trump’s political successes, even though some of the most vocal criticism has come from members of the president’s own party

The Oversight committee

on Tuesday issued a subpoena for Bondi to appear for a deposition on April 14 to answer questions under oath about Epstein’s case and the investigative ﬁles.

Lawmakers have accused the Justice Department of withholding too many ﬁles and criticized the agency for haphazard redactions that exposed intimate details about victims.

The Justice Department has called the subpoena “completely unnecessary,” noting that members of Congress have been invited to view unredacted ﬁles at the Justice Department and that department leaders have made themselves available to answer questions from lawmakers.

The department has sought to assure lawmakers and the public that there has been no effort to shield President Donald Trump, who says he cut ties with Epstein years ago after an earlier friendship, or any other high-profile figures close to Epstein from potential embarrassment. Justice Department leaders have also rejected suggestions that they have ignored victims and insist that while there is no evidence in the files to prosecute anyone else, they remain committed to investigating should new information come forward.

Some coastal advocates noted the beneﬁts that will occur from the annual plan, but lamented the diversions’ cancellations and pressed the Landry administration to provide details of workable, large-scale alternatives.

“Many of the investments in this year’s annual plan will help sustain communities, wildlife habitat and a working coast economy, and we are encouraged to see them move forward,” Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of national and local coastal advocacy organizations, said in a statement.

“However the plan still falls short of what Louisianans deserve — a vision that matches the scale of the challenge, meaningful efforts to reconnect the river and restore natural processes, and regional restoration projects that deliver real beneﬁts well into the future.”

‘Meaningful projects’

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, the state’s oldest coastal advocacy group and which also supported the diversions, said the new plan “represents meaningful projects across our coast, from Cameron Parish to St. Bernard.”

“We hope that the state continues to look for ways to leverage Louisiana’s economic boom to form fruitful public-private partnerships and to make beneficial use of dredged material,” said CRCL government affairs director Ethan Melancon.

The large-scale land bridges pri-

oritized by the Landry administration would be built with dredged sediment in the Terrebonne, Barataria and Breton basins. Much of that could potentially be paid for with BP funding formerly set aside for the diversions, though signiﬁcant work remains to evaluate the plans and gain approval from trustees overseeing the money

Those favoring the diversions note that land-building projects using dredged material work better when infusions of sediment from the river maintain them. That’s because such rebuilding projects eventually erode and subside like the rest of the coast.

But commercial shrimpers and oyster farmers forcefully opposed the diversions because the fresh water that would accompany them would have forced them to move or go out of business.

The cost of the Mid-Barataria diversion, at more than $3 billion, was also criticized by Landry, who argued it was too much to spend on one project alone More than $600 million had already been spent on it before it was canceled.

Those favoring the project said it matched the scale of Louisiana’s land-loss crisis and that the BP funds provided a unique opportunity to build it.

Email Mike Smith at msmith@ theadvocate.com or follow him on Twitter, @MikeJSmith504. His work is supported with a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, administered by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

Lawyers: Whitey Bulger writings show ex-FBI agent was framed

Motion seeks to overturn murder conviction

BY FREIDA FRISARO and LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Attorneys are drawing on statements from a handwritten manuscript by the late mobster James “Whitey” Bulger in an effort to overturn a former FBI agent’s murder conviction, saying the crime boss’s own words show that the agent was framed.

Lawyers for former FBI agent John Connolly ﬁled a

motion in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Monday seeking to vacate his conviction, citing what they describe as newly discovered evidence that prosecutors failed to disclose for years.

The material includes FBI reports documenting Bulger’s statements and the unﬁnished handwritten manuscript the FBI seized during a search of Bulger’s apartment after his 2011 arrest.

In their ﬁling, Connolly’s lawyers say Bulger, who led Boston’s Winter Hill Gang, asserted in the documents that Connolly didn’t leak information to him that was used in the 1982 killing of

businessman John Callahan in Miami, contradicting the prosecution’s case against Connolly Instead, Bulger identified another FBI agent, John Morris, as his mole, and described Connolly as a “sacrificial lamb,” according to the filing.

Connolly, now 85, was convicted in Florida of seconddegree murder and racketeering.

In the manuscript, Bulger wrote that he was a “criminal almost all of my life,” and described using inside tips to stay ahead of the law “I never thought the day would come that I’d be writing a story about my criminal activity,” Bulger wrote.

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK Luigi Man-

gione’s lawyers asked a judge on Wednesday to postpone his federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson until early next year and said they will seek to have his state murder trial delayed until September

In a letter to U.S District Judge Margaret Garnett,

Mangione’s lawyers said that the current schedule the state trial in June and the federal trial in September — would put him “in the position of needing to prepare for two complicated and serious trials at the same time.”

They asked Garnett to delay the federal trial until January 2027 so that they can have an opportunity to ask the state trial judge, Gregory Carro, to resched-

ule the start of that case from June 8 to Sept. 8. Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Carro previously raised the possibility of moving the state trial to September — but only if federal prosecutors appealed Garnett’s decision barring them from seeking the death penalty They declined to do so, leaving the June state trial and September federal trial dates intact.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALLISON ROBBERT

Attorney General Pam Bondi attends a March 12 women’s history month event in the East Room at the White House in Washington

LEGISLATURE

Bill would free more dying inmates

Eligibility would include those with less than 120 days to live

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

In Louisiana, sick inmates with less than 60 days to live are eligible for a special release program, but they sometimes die before their requests make it through the administrative process.

A proposal in the state Legislature aims to alleviate that problem and give more inmates the chance to spend their final days outside prison by expanding program eligibility to people with less than 120 days to live.

The proposal could face pushback in a state that has recently focused on toughening its crime laws. But House Bill 399 by state Rep. Jerome Zeringue, R-Houma is backed by a coalition of criminal justice advocates, religious leaders and the state corrections department.

“If they are allowed to die in a bed with a family member next to them, it makes a big difference instead of

dying in a hospital bed with a shackle next to you,” Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott said during a March 10 House Appropriations Committee meeting.

Westcott, who said sick inmates typically no longer threaten public safety, says he has been signing off on releases at a higher rate than previous secretaries.

Releasing such inmates is also expected to save Louisiana money, Westcott said The state pays for inmates’ health care, and it is particularly expensive to house terminally ill prisoners. Releasees often become eligible for Medicaid.

“The problem right now with 60 days is, by the time the paperwork is processed most of the individuals pass away before they even get the review ﬁnished,” Zeringue said.

Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Gov. Jeff Landry, said the governor would not yet comment on whether he would sign HB399 into law because it was too early in the legislative process.

Louisiana takes a much stricter approach to the release of terminally ill prisoners than other states, according to Zeringue.

Much of the country makes prisoners eligible for release when they have a year left to live, and the nextshortest timeline, as compared to Louisiana’s, is six months, according to Molly Crane. Crane works for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a prison reform group that advocates for second chances.

Because medical prognoses can be complex, many states do not require a speciﬁc life expectancy, Crane said.

The bill also has backing from the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, which asked Zeringue to submit the proposal.

HB399 “affirms the dignity of

La. could prosecute more defendants without juries

Bill proposes change to maximum penalty

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Fewer defendants charged with misdemeanors in Louisiana would have the right to be tried by juries instead of judges under a bill that cleared its ﬁrst hurdle Wednesday in the Louisiana Legislature. Currently, misdemeanor cases are not eligible for jury trials unless the maximum penalty for the crime exceeds a $1,000 fine or six months imprisonment House Bill 52 by state Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, would change the law so that defendants facing ﬁnes up to $2,500 would not receive jury trials.

It would also let prosecutors decide whether defendants should be allowed jury trials for misdemeanors that can be punished by more than six months imprisonment, so long as the prosecutor agrees from the outset to cap the penalty at six months and $2,500.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, which Villio chairs, agreed without objection Wednesday to send HB52 to the full House for consideration. In presenting the bill, Villio said raising the maximum fine was necessary to reflect inflation.

Meghan Garvey, a legislative advocate for the

Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, challenged that notion in an interview A higher ﬁne can threaten a person’s livelihood, she said, and defendants facing that risk should have the right to face a jury.

Villio also said HB52 would address issues with so-called “Duncan misdemeanors — misdemeanors that carry penalties of more than six months in prison

The term derives from the 1968 Supreme Court case known as Duncan v. Louisiana.

HB52 faced criticism from William Snowden, a law professor at Loyola and former Orleans Parish public defender. Snowden, who said the Supreme Court has a history of striking down Louisiana jury laws, warned the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee that the bill could be deemed unconstitutional.

He worried about “how this particular bill takes away the jury trial right from an accused person without them waiving it,” he said. “That’s not how trials work. That’s not how rights work.”

Jury trials exist to protect defendants from corruption, “overzealous” prosecutors and biased judges, Snowden said.

Villio pushed back against Snowden, arguing the law would encourage prosecu-

tors to seek lighter sentences.

“What we’re attempting to do in this statute actually is to make prosecutors less zealous,” she said, adding that she believed the law would not violate the Supreme Court’s decision in the Gary Duncan case.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial in criminal prosecutions Supreme Court precedent has limited that right when it comes to petty crimes.

In Duncan v. Louisiana, the court ruled that Louisiana violated the Constitution when it denied a jury trial to Duncan because the maximum possible sentence for that crime exceeded six months’ imprisonment, even though the crime was considered a misdemeanor Crimes are categorized as misdemeanors in Louisiana if they are not punishable by imprisonment with hard labor; if the punishment can include imprisonment with hard labor, the crime is considered a felony

The Louisiana State Law Institute recently found there are over 300 Duncan misdemeanors on the books in the state, Villio said. The law institute could not immediately be reached for comment.

HB52 comes as legislators consider a separate proposal that would allow prosecutors to force jury trials in felony cases. That proposal, Senate Bill 97, would amend the state constitution and therefore require voter approval.

every human person by expanding compassionate release for inmates who are terminally ill, allowing them access to appropriate and humane end-of-life care,” the group said in a statement.

Another way sick inmates can get released is with the approval of the Board of Pardon and Paroles, which has different eligibility requirements. Westcott told the Appropriations Committee he has been encouraging the panel to approve those releases when possible.

“I don’t control what the parole board does, but I have discussions with them every day about how important it is to try to allow these guys to get out if they’re able to,” he said.

“There has to be some sense of common sense when it comes to letting some of these people out,” Westcott added. “They’re not going to harm anybody They’re not at a point where they’re going to cause any more damage I mean,

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana prosecutors could soon be able to force cases to be tried by juries instead of judges under a proposal that cleared its ﬁrst hurdle in the state Legislature Tuesday morning.

Senate Bill 97 by state Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, would give voters a chance to decide whether prosecutors should be required to approve before defendants can waive their rights to jury trials. The law would require a constitutional amendment, which would go on the ballot in April 2027.

Defendants have a constitutional right to a jury trial, but they can waive that right — and they sometimes do so to speed up the court process or if they believe they will get better treatment from a judge than a jury Backed by prosecutors but decried by defense advocates, SB97 was cleared by the Senate’s Judiciary C Committee on Tuesday It now heads to the full chamber — as does Senate Bill 81, a companion bill that would change state statute to align with the new rule.

Morris, who is spearheading that effort, said he ﬁled the bill at the request of the Louisiana District Attorneys’ Association. It also comes amid a broader push to put more checks on judges.

Zach Daniels, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, told the Judiciary C Committee that the change would make the system

we’ve got guys that have been in prison 60-some years. They’re in their late 70s or 80s.”

HB399 does not deal with applications for release that are under the purview of the parole board, only with dying inmates who apply to the corrections secretary for release. The proposal comes as Louisiana faces rising prison costs and a growing state inmate population. Two years after lawmakers drastically reduced parole opportunities and cut how much credit inmates can get shaved off their sentences for good behavior, the state’s prison population has increased by 2,000 people.

Some state officials, including Westcott, say it is too soon to see how the crime laws impact Louisiana. At the Appropriations Committee hearing, he argued judges and prosecutors will reduce prison sentences in response to the new laws, and that the laws will cut down on incarceration by reducing recidivism. But corrections ofﬁcials have acknowledged that high medical costs are an issue, blaming inﬂation instead of the rising population

fairer and “allow us to better safeguard the rights of victims when it comes to how decisions are being made and ensure that a full, fair presentation of the evidence is guaranteed in every case.”

Daniels gave a recent example of a case where he felt a jury trial was waived for “tactical” reasons. A man who was accused of driving while intoxicated and hitting and killing an 18-year-old with his car had a long history of DWIs, Daniels said.

As the case made its way through the courts, the man was still abusing substances and so waiving his right to a jury trial was strategic, Daniels said.

“He fell asleep on the stand,” Daniels said.

But Sarah Whittington, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, argued that the state’s court system is already stacked against defendants — and that SB97 would further disadvantage them.

In Louisiana, both district attorneys’ ofﬁces and public defenders often face severe budget constraints though public defense tends to be more underfunded.

“The state is already invested with significant power,” Whittington said, adding that some defendants may feel they will get a fairer shake from a judge. “Indigent individuals do not have those same resources.”

A defendant may also choose to waive their right to a jury trial to speed up the

judicial process and avoid missing work or school, Whittington said.

“They may say that the efﬁciency in the system is more important to them than a jury of their peers,” she said. “They should not have to ask the state to consent to it when the state is the one prosecuting.”

Meanwhile, Daniels argued SB97 would bring Louisiana in line with the federal court system and many other states, which “require the prosecutor’s consent in some form or fashion prior to dispensing with that jury.”

But Meghan Garvey, a legislative advocate for the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said in a statement that it was not fair to make an “apples to apples” comparison between Louisiana and other states, because some of those states allow judges to dismiss cases before trial. Louisiana does not give judges that power, though they can quash cases on certain grounds, such as when charges are brought in the wrong jurisdiction or a defendant is charged twice for the same crime. And “federal felonies and many state felonies require the DA to present to a grand jury,” Garvey added. In Louisiana, charges are typically “brought by a simple form signed by an assistant DA called a Bill of Information,” she said. The most serious felonies, such as murder and firstdegree rape, require grand jury indictments, Garvey said.

Villio

Legislation calls for livestream of family court

be a ﬁrst for the state Public cameras are currently barred in Louisiana trial courts.

Proposal follows intense scrutiny of proceedings 2026 LEGISLATURE

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

A group of Louisiana lawmakers

wants to force the state’s only dedicated family court to livestream its hearings, in what would mark a ﬁrst for a lower court in the state.

Since last year, Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, has called for more transparency from the East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court, which handles divorce and custody cases in the state’s most populous parish.

Edmonston helped engineer a study of the downtown Baton Rouge court by a retired judge, in response to complaints from a host of embittered parents. She argues that the court is corrupt.

Her name sits atop HB278, which would require the family court to livestream its proceedings for remote public access, which would

Other listed authors include state Reps. Kellee Dickerson, Peter Egan, Kimberly Coates, Jerome Zeringue and Dixon McMakin, and Sens. Regina Barrow and Valarie Hodges.

The bill follows intense scrutiny around the East Baton Rouge Family Court over the past year from Edmonston and others who have lobbed allegations that a cabal of judges and lawyers have corrupted the court to the detriment of kids.

After appointing a retired judge to study it, the Louisiana Supreme Court reported otherwise, though one justice disagreed. Justice Jefferson Hughes wrote that “the line has crossed to actual favoritism” at the family court in Baton Rouge.

“Those in the ‘club’ receive efﬁcient service, while those not in the club are treated as pariahs,” Hughes wrote.

Under the bill, judges could take a minor’s testimony in their chambers, but custody hearings would be livestreamed unless a judge ﬁnds “good cause” based on

evidence, and everyone agrees to close the court.

“We have had so many people between Justice Hughes and myself come to us with horrendous stories.

There seems to be some kind of favoritism,” Edmonston said.

“To me, if you’re doing what you need to do, judges and attorneys, you ought to be OK with” being livestreamed.

Edmonston described a grimy ecosystem endemic to family courts nationally that festers in Baton Rouge because it’s home to the state’s only constitutionally required family court.

“We’re not doing this for one person,” she said of the livestreaming bill.

The Advocate reported last year that advocacy from one embittered parent helped bring a harsh spotlight to the family court, scrutiny from Edmonston and Hughes, and an order by the state’s high court for an unusually broad review

Pam Baker, a veteran judge on the family court who recently resigned while targeted in that review, called the bill damaging to families.

“Nobody’s going to go to court,” Baker said. “This is going to affect what’s most important to them in their entire lives.”

Appeals courts across the country livestream hearings, while trial courts vary, said Bill Raftery, an analyst with the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts.

State laws for remote access try to balance the public right to open courts with sensitivity around the privacy of children in dependency cases, he said.

As a general rule, “it comes down the judge’s discretion, or an inherent power of the court to conduct its own business,” Raftery said.

In 2024, the national center found 29 states generally closed child dependency proceedings, while 20 states generally kept them open. Some family courts livestream now Baker painted a grim specter of the proposed law in action. She envisions personal information spreading online, including sensi-

tive testimony on family, income and taxes, where children attend school, or embarrassing details from an ill-fated marriage.

“Once you get on the stand and it’s publicized for the whole world to see, you’re never going to be able to ﬁx that relationship,” Baker argued. “Do you want everybody in the world to know how much money you make and what your bills are?”

She called the bill a mistake and said it would deter victims of domestic violence from seeking court protection.

“You’re just going to revictimize them,” Baker said.

Under HB278, judges in the family court could close custody hearings if they ﬁnd “good cause based on evidence and all of the parties agree.” Baker argued that perpetrators would never agree.

Edmonston said she’s heard the criticism of the bill, which was formally referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

“That’s the same complaint I’m getting,” Edmonston said of airing sensitive testimony “and that’s the only complaint I’m getting.”

the building for several weeks.

“Louisiana has been at the center of American shipbuilding for generations, and New Orleans gives us direct access to the people and technical skills that make that possible,” said Dino Mavrookas, co-founder and CEO of Saronic, in a statement. “This facility builds on our growing investment in the state and strengthens the connection between our teams and Gulf Coast operations, allowing us to move faster as we ﬁeld and deploy autonomous surface vessels and ships for both defense and commercial partners.”

Saronic said it expects to hire more than 350 workers across its operations in Louisiana this year

To meet that goal, it is partnering with universities and technical institutions, offering internships and early-career opportunities for students pursuing jobs in engineering, naval architecture and other marine disciplines.

The company’s expansion into New Orleans is a bright spot in a downtown ofﬁce market that has struggled to return to pre-pandemic occupancy levels. Though the city’s traditional business district is healthier by some measures than downtowns in much larger cities like Dallas or Houston, it also has less inventory, as many of the city’s older buildings have been converted to condos, apartments and hotels in recent years.

At the end of 2024, the most re-

S&WB

Continued from page 1A

Willow streets, which is causing low water pressures in some areas, including the Central Business District and French Quarter Board ofﬁcials say they expect full service to be restored by April 3. In the meantime, the New Orleans Public Library’s main branch on Loyola Avenue has been forced to close because toilets aren’t ﬂushing, library officials said Tuesday on social media. Library staff have relocated to other branches.

“Recent water main breaks across the city caused this drop in water pressure that leaves us unable to provide clean, working bathrooms,” officials said. “Because of that, we will determine each morning whether we can open.” The situation prompted District B council member Lesli Harris to push the S&WB to offer the library portable toilets or other help to keep its building open.

“Our main library is where people get in touch with services, not just books, but advice, notary services They can’t open for the next two and a half weeks,” Harris said at the meeting.

“There are alternatives that you can employ, and you just haven’t thought out of the box to do that.” Hayman said after the meeting that the S&WB would consider Harris’ sug-

cent year for which data is available, New Orleans’ class A, or newer, ofﬁce buildings averaged just below 80% occupancy, according to Corporate Realty’s annual ofﬁce market survey In 2019, by comparison, average occupancy rates downtown topped 87%.

Investing in Louisiana

During a “keel-laying” ceremony last August, it was evident Saronic had already made improvements

to its Franklin shipyard, located about an hour and a half west of New Orleans via U.S. 90. The company continues to acquire new machinery and update the facility to support production of vessels at scale.

Mavrookas said the shipyard’s location, expertise and facilities are well suited to develop, test and produce the company’s ﬁrst “medium unmanned surface vessel,” which is designed to carry weap-

ons and other military equipment, or transport shipping containers for commercial purposes. Mavrookas, a former Navy SEAL, and his co-founders are bringing a tech startup mentality to the maritime industry as they promise to help the United States close the shipbuilding gap with China by bringing down the cost to make vessels that can carry weapons and surveillance equipment or serve other purposes.

At the keel-laying ceremony, Vibhav Altekar, chief technology ofﬁcer at Saronic, said not having to make the boats to accommodate human crew members saves time and money “In the past, shipbuilders would first build a hotel and then you build a boat around the hotel, but these look more like ﬂoating data centers,” he said.

The autonomous vessels require hardware and software integration with their payload, whether that’s weapons, sensors, cameras, radar or sonar Saronic said it is planning to build a $3-plus billion shipyard called “Port Alpha” that will employ 10,000 people. It hasn’t officially announced a location, although several media outlets have reported on plans that it could be in the company’s home state of Texas. Saronic’s acquisition of Gulf Craft comes as the Trump administration touts efforts to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which requires investment in infrastructure, production models and workforce. In Louisiana, meanwhile, the state’s shipbuilding industry is getting more high-tech. More than a half dozen shipbuilders are making autonomous vessels, and several are working on contracts related to the commercial space industry Bollinger Shipyards, one of the state’s biggest shipyards, is modifying a barge to serve as a landing platform for reusable rockets.

Email Rich Collins at rich collins@theadvocate.com

gestion.

“We can never work fast enough. Urgency is our middle name. We have to be urgent in what we’re doing,” he said.

Council members also expressed frustration with what they said is a lack of detail in the S&WB’s new water main plan, which calls for more than $700 million in urgent repairs over the next two years and a larger, 30year replacement program with a cost the S&WB can’t estimate until it conducts a condition assessment of the 1,600-mile system.

The last assessment of the was conducted in 2003. The cost of replacing 60% of the system at that time was pegged at $2.8 billion A new assessment, which board officials acknowledged in an interview is overdue, won’t be complete until next year — but even that requires $3 million the S&WB doesn’t have.

“Doing an assessment was something that we identiﬁed last year,” said Kaitlin Tymrak, the S&WB interim chief operating ofﬁcer, in an interview on Tuesday “It’s not something that we’ve been ignoring. It’s just very unfortunate that we’ve had this stream of events.”

During the meeting, Hughes asked if the S&WB has analyzed the cost to residents if water main repairs were ﬁnanced with rate increases, noting that Jefferson Parish in 2021 adopted a $2.3 billion water and sewer plan backed by gradually increasing rates over two decades.

S&WB Finance Director Gray Lewis said he expects to complete such an analysis within two months New Orleans water rates haven’t changed since 2020, but Hayman said increases are not being considered.

The S&WB says its annual water rate revenue of $120 million doesn’t leave enough to secure bonds, which is how utilities typically ﬁnance major capital improvements.

Hughes said after the meeting he doesn’t know if increased rates will be needed, but “what I do think is there’s going to have to be some wholesale changes within the Sewerage & Water Board, the way the Sewerage & Water Board operates.”

“I think we need to start there, and then we can look at cost and other structures,” Hughes said.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, would broadly give the City Council more authority over the S&WB, but details haven’t been worked out and are expected as it moves through the legislative process The bill is part of Mayor Helena Moreno’s legislative agenda.

Asked Tuesday about rate increases, Moreno said she instead prefers a parcel fee that would be controlled by the council and be eligible to use for a variety of infrastructure projects.

That would seem to replace a long-in-the-making stormwater fee proposal for drainage, which is separate from the tap water mains

and has a different revenue source. Drainage is funded with dedicated property taxes, which aren’t paid by nonprofits and others exempt from taxes, including large property owners like Tulane University

A stormwater fee has been seen as a way to force taxexempt owners to pay for drainage, but the S&WB has been slow in releasing a detailed proposal. Moreno said the parcel fee is preferable

because it could be used for infrastructure priorities beyond drainage, such as the water system.

Council President JP Morrell on Wednesday said he opposes a stormwater fee because, in his view, it could amount to a double tax on those already paying property millages, although S&WB officials say that could be avoided by crediting millage payments to the fee liabilities.

In any case, Morrell predicted that any sort of fee is incompatible with three drainage millages, which provide about $80 million annually for drainage operations.

“I do not see a future where you get a millage and the stormwater or parcel fee. It’s going to be one or the other,” Morrell said. Email Ben Myers at bmyers@theadvocate.com.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Wholesale prices rose by 3.4% last month

WASHINGTON U.S wholesale prices came in hotter than expected in February, driven partly by a sharp increase in food costs.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which measures inﬂation before it hits consumers rose 0.7% from January, and 3.4% from February 2025. The year-over-year increase was the most since February 2025.

The price gains were bigger than economists had forecast, and they occurred before the U.S. and Israel attack on Iran pushed energy prices sharply higher Oil prices have surged nearly 50% since the Iran war began, and gasoline prices are following close behind.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. spiked again overnight, reaching $3.84. A gallon of gas last month, before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, was well under $3 Diesel prices, used heavily in transportation, are rising even faster

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale prices rose 0.5% from January down from a 0.8% gain the month before but more than twice what economists had expected. Compared with a year earlier, core prices rose 3.9%, the biggest jump since January 2025.

Food prices rose 2.4% from January led by a 49% surge in vegetable prices and a 10% increase in fruit prices

Trade group forecasts

4.4% gain in retail sales

NEWYORK The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, is forecasting annual retail sales will grow at a faster clip this year than last year, citing consumers’ resilience despite lots of economic volatility

But the group said Wednesday that the repercussions of the Iran war on consumer spending are too uncertain to incorporate into its outlook

The National Retail Federation expects retail sales should rise this year by 4.4% over 2025 to $5.6 trillion, based on a new model developed in partnership with Oxford Economics, an independent economic advisory ﬁrm. In 2025, retail sales increased by 3.9% compared with the previous year, the group said.

The 2026 sales forecast exceeds the 3.6% average annual sales growth over the past 10 years, excluding the pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 when sales growth was outsized. The forecast excludes sales from auto dealers, gas stations and restaurants.

Regulators seek $2.6M for factory explosion

HARRISBURG,Pa.— Pennsylvania regulators asked an administrative law judge on Wednesday to make a gas utility pay

$2.6 million in civil penalties for a chocolate factory explosion three years ago that killed seven workers and sent ﬂames shooting into the air

The Public Utility Commission

ﬁled a formal complaint against the UGI Utilities Inc. gas division, alleging the company’s distribution facilities serving the R.M Palmer Company in West Reading violated state and federal standards and regulations.

The commission says the deadly March 2023 explosion and ﬁre destroyed one factory building and a nearby apartment building, causing about $42 million in property damage Ten people were injured, including four who were seriously hurt, the commission said.

UGI issued a statement Wednesday that called the explosion a heartbreaking tragedy and expressed sympathy for the victims’ families, people in West Reading and others who were affected

The National Transportation Safety Board had previously concluded the plant lacked natural gas emergency procedures in place that could have resulted in an immediate evacuation.

Stocks slump as interest steadies

Inflation pressures deepened before war

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday after a report said inﬂation was primed to worsen even before the war with Iran caused oil prices to spike. That and comments from the head of the Federal Reserve pushed Wall Street to see less chance of getting the lower interest rates that it loves. The S&P 500 fell 1.4% and ﬂipped to a loss for the week so far

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 768 points, or 1.6%, and the Nasdaq composite slid 1.5%.

The losses deepened after the Fed decided to keep its main interest rate steady instead of resuming cuts meant to give the job market and economy a boost. Fed ofﬁcials are still penciling in one more cut by the end of 2026, but Chair Jerome Powell suggested those projections may be worth less than usual because of how much more uncertainty exists about inﬂation and the economy For oil, the price for a barrel of Brent crude has jumped from roughly $70 before the war to

$107.38 on Wednesday up 3.8% from the day before. The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude got to nearly $99 before settling at $96.32.

If the disruptions keep oil and gas prices high for long, they could create a debilitating wave of inﬂation for the global economy A report released Wednesday morning showed inflation pressures were already building before the war began It said inﬂation at the U.S. wholesale level unexpectedly accelerated last month to 3.4%.

Such numbers were likely factors in keeping the Fed on hold Wednesday A cut to rates would give the

economy and investment prices a boost, and Trump has been angrily calling for them. But lower interest rates would also worsen inflation. On Wall Street, Macy’s jumped 4.7% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But General Mills fell 3% after the company behind the Pillsbury, Progresso and Wheaties brands reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. All told, the S&P 500 fell 91.39 points to 6,624.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 768.11 to 46,225.15, and the Nasdaq composite sank 327.11 to 22,152.42.

Federal Reserve leaves short-term rates unchanged, projects one cut

Powell vows to stay on until DOJ investigation is finished

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Federal Reserve ofﬁcials expect the Iran war will worsen inﬂation this year while having little impact on economic growth, but they still expect to cut their key rate once in 2026.

For now, Fed policymakers left short-term interest rates unchanged Wednesday for the second straight meeting at about 3.6%. In a statement, the central bank said that the “implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S economy are uncertain.”

Still, by keeping their forecast for a rate cut this year and next — the same projections that they made in December — central bank policymakers appear to expect the gas price spike from the Iran war to have a largely temporary effect on inﬂation and the economy Policymakers also foresee unemployment remaining unchanged by the end of this year, a more optimistic outlook than most outside economists.

Whether that turns out to be true will largely depend on the length of the conflict in the Middle East. The officials expect inflation to fall back to 2.2% in 2027 and hit the Fed’s 2% target in 2028.

Speaking to reporters after the rate decision was announced, Fed Chair Jerome Powell maintained a largely optimistic outlook, pointing out that in recent years the economy has been hit with numerous shocks tariffs, the Fed’s own rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, the aftermath of the pandemic and has avoided recession all along.

“The U.S. economy has been doing really well through a lot of challenges,” Powell said. “It’s been amazing to see.”

Powell did clarify a key question about the Fed’s future: He said he has “no intention” of leaving the central bank until an investigation into his congressional testimony about the Fed’s building renovation is dropped.

Last Friday, a judge threw out a pair of subpoenas that the Justice Department had issued to the Fed, dealing a blow to the investigation. But U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro has said she will appeal the ruling.

Powell’s term as Fed chair is scheduled to end on May 15 and President Donald Trump has nominated a former top Fed official, Kevin Warsh, as his replacement. Warsh’s nomination has been delayed in the Senate because key Republican senators are opposed to the DOJ probe.

After the investigation is resolved and even after Warsh is conﬁrmed, Powell could elect to stay on the board to ﬁnish his term as a Fed governor, which lasts until January 2028. But he told reporters he had not yet made that decision.

With the economy’s future so uncertain, Powell underscored that any further cuts to rates this year were hardly locked in.

“The rate forecast is conditional on the performance of the economy, so if we don’t see that progress then you won’t see the rate cut,” he said.

In the Fed’s quarterly economic projections, also released Wednesday, officials only modestly raised their forecasts for inflation, and now expect it will end this year at 2.7%, up from their December forecast but slightly below the 2.8% it reached in January They expect core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, to also finish the year at 2.7%.

Fed ofﬁcials slightly boosted their outlook for growth this year and expected unemployment to stay unchanged at 4.4%.

Tim Duy, chief economist at SGH Macro, said the forecasts were essentially “stale” as policymakers avoided fully taking into account the impacts of the Iran war on the economy The Fed considers core prices a better measure of longer-run inflation. Consumer prices will spike higher in the coming months as gas prices have soared, but those increases could unwind by the end of the year, particularly if the conﬂict ends soon.

One Fed ofﬁcial, governor Stephen Miran, dissented in favor of a quarter-point cut. Miran was appointed by President Donald Trump last September On Wall Street, losses for stocks deepened after the Fed’s decision. The S&P 500 fell 1.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 768 points, or 1.6%.

Gas prices jumped Wednesday to a nationwide average of $3.84 a gallon, according to AAA, up 92 cents from a month ago. The increase will push inﬂation much higher in March, but core inﬂation, since it excludes

gas, could be much less affected.

Typically, the Fed would look past a supply shock like the disruption in oil supplies from the Middle East and its impact on inﬂation. Once it ends, any inﬂation it produces may fall back, without the Fed having to raise rates As a result, the Fed could leave rates unchanged or even cut them to boost weak hiring.

Yet as the economy emerged from the pandemic in 2021, inflation jumped as Americans sharply raised their spending, aided by stimulus checks and pandemic-era savings. Powell initially said that inflation would be “transitory” and would fade as the economy returned to normal. Instead it spiked to a four-decade high in June 2022. With inflation still elevated, many Fed officials are wary of repeating the mistake.

This week’s meeting will be Powell’s second-to-last, unless Warsh isn’t conﬁrmed by May 15, at which point Powell could remain chair of the Fed’s rate-setting committee until a replacement is named.

Even before the Iran war, problems had cropped up in both the inflation and jobs data, putting the Fed in a tight spot. Prices rose more quickly in January than in recent months, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, with inﬂation excluding food and energy reaching 3.1% compared with a year earlier That is little changed from where it was two years ago, a sign that prices are still rising at a stubbornly elevated pace Yet hiring has also stumbled. Businesses and other employers shed 92,000 jobs in February, the government reported earlier this month, an unexpectedly weak showing that followed an encouraging gain of 130,000 in January The unemployment rate ticked higher to a still-low 4.4% from 4.3%.

U.S. eases Venezuela oil sanctions as Trump seeks to boost supply

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press

WASHINGTON U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost global oil supplies during the Iran war The Treasury issued a broad authorization allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, to directly sell

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MANUEL BALCE CENETA Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference on Wednesday in Washington. Powell said he has ‘no intention’ of leaving the central bank until an investigation into his congressional testimony about the Fed’s building renovation is dropped.

Parker, for the killing, as well as fraud.

Harris testified with chains around his ankles as he recalled the education he received from the elder slammer

“Cornelius taught me the game,” he said.

‘I had to dance’

A slammer’s job was full-service: fill cars with passengers, steer them into 18-wheelers on New Orleans-area highways and then, working with the injury lawyers, sign them up for lawsuits seeking big insurance checks. Payouts often amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to trial testimony from several defense lawyers for insurance ﬁrms who suspected the scheme early on.

To Damian Labeaud, another veteran slammer who testified that he funneled dozens of staged collisions to Giles’ ﬁrm for big payouts, colliding into tractor trailers was the easy part of what he portrayed as a full-time, stress-ﬁlled job.

Labeaud testiﬁed he worked ﬁve days a week until his arrest in late 2019.

“I only didn’t work on Saturday and Sundays,” he said. “I had to have a life for myself.”

Slammers each had their preferred attorneys. Harris and Garrison primarily funneled business to Motta and Alfortish, while Labeaud worked with Giles, according to testimony Harris said Garrison taught him to seek out-of-the-way locations for their wrecks like the I-10 service road in New Orleans East. “It was quiet, trees, no houses around,” he said.

For Labeaud, getting Giles to pay up and avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement proved bigger headaches than broadsiding big rigs, he said under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Klebba.

Labeaud said Giles promised him perks — a Cadillac Escalade, a Rolex watch — but never delivered and often pushed him off on paying for staged wrecks. Labeaud described a lawyer he turned to later — the since-convicted Danny Patrick Keating Jr — as more agreeable.

“That’s the difference between Keating and Giles,” he said “I had to dance, beg (Giles).”

Labeaud estimated he brought in a million dollars over his years in the high-risk, high-reward career as a “slammer.” He used his take to add recruiters and spotters.

“I was making money, but I was also paying money,” he said.

Harris found managing the attorneys’ expectations to be another stressor

“Sometimes, we’d just hit the tire and get up off the 18-wheeler so we wouldn’t hurt ourselves,” Harris said “But I guess sometimes the damage wasn’t equal to the damage they were claiming.”

Labeaud would also occasionally help participants beef up their auto polices beforehand, he testiﬁed. He apologized from the witness stand for his contributions to Louisiana’s bloated auto insurance rates.

“I did that unintentionally I’m sorry I’m just hustling, making money,” he said Garrison also made six ﬁgures, not including a large payout from his own civil lawsuit over a crash.

He had neck surgery afterward, though testimony varied over whether the crash caused his neck problems. Motta represented him.

Harris received checks for about $93,000 from the lawyers over two years, he testiﬁed.

For a while, shattered windows and glass-encrusted hair were among the worst scars anyone had to show for the perilous work.

So skilled were Garrison, Harris, Labeaud and their peers that, across hundreds of bogus wrecks over nearly a decade, no one ever seemed to get seriously hurt, even if surgeries were common.

“I’m going to handle my business,” Garrison would say as he left the house, Winchester testiﬁed.

The pair had stopped dating by the fall of 2020, but remained in touch until the weeks before Garrison’s slaying Through tears, Winchester told the jury the tall, lanky man known as “Slim” had “taken care of her.” Garrison had been cooperating

with the feds for about a year and

was days removed from his name appearing atop a fresh indictment when he was killed.

His slaying cast a grisly pall and slowed momentum in the federal fraud probe into attorneys, drivers and passengers. The pace of indictments stalled.

‘Just stay low’

None of the fraud charges that Motta faces at this month’s trial are tied to Garrison’s slaying. Garrison “had a soft spot” for the Hollywood stuntwoman-turnedlawyer, testified his attorney, Claude Kelly But like Labeaud, his patience wore thin when lawyers failed to pay up. Five days before his slaying, Garrison’s nerves were frayed, said Demetra Burkhalter-Henderson, whose husband was cousins with Garrison. She recalled a conversation between the two of them in recent testimony

“He said, ‘Vanessa been trying to play with me.’ I guess they didn’t

give him all his money, and he was mad,” she said. At that point, word of a federal fraud investigation started to leak, and the heat was on.

“Vanessa told him just stay low just be calm and just get out the way He said ‘I want my money,’” Burkhalter-Henderson said “He said, “I’ma rat, I’ma rat on her.’ He was talking to my husband. I was in the truck with the window down.

“I had talked to (Garrison) prior to that. He was saying he wanted his money, he ain’t going to no jail. He told ’em he was going to give them what they want on Vanessa.”

After a trip to watch the Saints play in Las Vegas, she learned he was dead.

“He was a family person,” she said. He was a sweet person, a good person for them to do what they did to him.”

‘Pop me off’

Garrison and Harris were friends who both came up through the Florida housing development in the Upper 9th Ward, according to Wayland Collins, who testiﬁed last week.

Collins told the jury he participated in a staged wreck in 2017 when Garrison drove. At the time, Collins ran a T-shirt print shop and recording studio. They met at a daiquiri shop beforehand. Harris was the spotter After the collision, Garrison jumped in the trail car with Harris and sped off. Collins’ pregnant wife also participated, was shook up and hospitalized but did not have serious injuries. They went that night to Motta’s office, he added.

Alfortish and Motta were both there, Collins said, and Garrison told Alfortish to “pop me off.”

“Where I’m from, ‘pop me off’ means give me the bread. Give me the money Pay me,” Collins testiﬁed. He said Alfortish cut Garrison a check.

Collins said he received back surgery he didn’t need and that Motta and Alfortish coached him to lie in testimony He said he was also asked to fabricate receipts from his business to cover their tracks.

“I’m still in pain from that surgery,” he said.

Reach the reporters: James Finn can be emailed at jﬁnn@ theadvocate.com and John Simerman at jsimerman@ theadvocate.com.

JPSO’s drones deploy to assist officers

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Around 4:30 a.m. on March 12, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce received a report of a shooting on the West Bank Expressway in Marrero.

found a 39-year-old man who had been shot several times, according to Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesperson for the department. The man told deputies he had actually been wounded about two blocks away, near Eiseman Avenue and Field Street.

Deputies were sent to the 6200 block of the thoroughfare and

In addition to the deputies who had swarmed the scene, one of the

department’s new first responder drones hovered high in the air and made its way over to the intersection, according to authorities. The drone’s camera spotted a man fleeing nearby, according to an arrest report Deputies chased and detained the man, later identified as Demond Poole, 31, of Harvey

Poole was arrested and booked with attempted first-degree murder and became another suspect arrested with an assist from the Sheriff’s Office’s drone program. The department is now operating its entire fleet of 23 first responder drones across the parish, with the exception of Kenner, Jean Lafitte and Grand Isle, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesperson and director of training for JPSO.

Between November and Febru-

YEEHAW-ESOME

Every Woman’s Marathon joins N.O. sports calendar

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

ary, the drones have logged more than 5,000 flights with 800 hours of flight time he said. First responder drones assisted with 170 arrests, helped recover 26 stolen vehicles and assisted in 15 firearms cases. “I knew this program would be successful, but it has far exceeded my expectations,” Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said. The drones, stationed on secure

Program has assisted with 170 arrests four months in ä See DRONES, page 2B

N.O. airport wait times grow

TSA agents call out sick, enter second month without pay

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

The New Orleans airport saw one of the highest callout rates for Transportation Security Administration agents in the country this week as officers enter their second month without pay amid a partial government shutdown. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that 35.8% of TSA workers at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport called in sick the day before, trailing only behind the Houston Hobby Airport at 40.8%. The Hartsﬁeld-Jackson Atlanta International Airport followed the New Orleans airport at 34.6%.

Nationwide, about 10%, or 2,700, TSA ofﬁcers called in sick Tuesday as ﬁrst reported by ABC News. MSY spokesperson Erin Burns said the airport has seen a daily shortage of TSA workers.

“It’s a very ﬂuid situation, so it’s hard to predict how (wait times are) going to be impacted,” she said. Burns advised passengers to get to the airport two hours before their scheduled departure from Tuesday through Saturday, and three hours ahead on Sunday and Monday, the busiest travel days.

See AIRPORT, page 2B

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

Three-month-old Layne Labat sleeps next to a stuffed animal given to him by Hondo Rodeo Fest cowboys.

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

Andy Ulmer 3, receives a hat from Kyle Denison of the Hondo Rodeo Fest, at Ochsner Children’s Hospital in Jefferson on Wednesday. Cowboys from Hondo Rodeo Fest visited with young patients and their families at Ochsner Children’s Hospital and gave out western-style gifts such as stuffed animal bulls named Hondo, hats and free tickets to the rodeo taking place at Caesars Superdome on April 10-12.

Madison Davis, 15, Jackson Long, 6, and Danielle Dugas wear Western-style hats at Ochsner Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.

Police: Teacher put Band-Aids on students’ mouths

Tammany incident involved students from ages 8-10

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

A teacher in St. Tammany Parish was arrested on Monday and accused of simple battery and cruelty to juveniles after putting Band-Aids on the mouths of students who were talking in class, authorities said.

George Serban, 38, was arrested by the Pearl River Police Department and booked into St. Tammany Parish Jail the Pearl River Police

Department said in a news release.

Pearl River police said on March 12, they were notiﬁed that a teacher at Riverside Elementary School had placed the bandage strips on students’ mouths because they were talking in class The incident involved seven students who ranged in age from 8 to 10 years old, police said.

Meredith Mendez, a spokesperson for St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, said a teacher notiﬁed them of an incident, and the administration began an investigation and contacted law enforcement However, she said she could not share more details since it is a personnel matter and part of an ongoing inves-

tigation. “The safety and security of our students is our top priority,” Mendez said.

Robert Toale, an attorney for Serban, said Serban is a music teacher who was using the Band-Aids to help teach students musical concepts. The technique was developed by the Swiss musician and composer Emile Jaques-Dalcoze and suggests “placing a Band-Aid vertically across the lips to act as a physical reminder to keep your lips gently closed while humming,” Toale wrote in a statement to The Times-Picayune. “The technique encourages feeling the vibration of humming on the

Rapper Mystikal pleads guilty to rape

He’s accused of attacking

Prairieville woman

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

The Louisiana rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty Tuesday to thirddegree rape in a 2022 case in Ascension Parish.

Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler, was arrested in July 2022 by the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office for allegedly attacking a woman he had known for more than 20 years He was charged with first-degree rape, simple robbery, felony domestic abuse battery by strangulation and other counts. The first-degree rape charge carried a possible life sentence.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

The Louisiana rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty Tuesday to thirddegree rape in a 2022 case in Ascension Parish.

Tyler, 55, pleaded guilty to thirddegree rape Tuesday at the 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension Parish, according to court minutes. Prosecutors dropped all other charges. He remains incarcerated at the Ascension Parish jail, according to the sheriff’s inmate database. His sentencing is set for June, records show The rapper was accused in 2022 of attacking a woman at his home in Prairieville. At the time of his arrest, investigators alleged he held the woman against her will

SPILL

Continued from page 1B

Last week, in the same area along the coast, the Coast Guard and other agencies closed parts of Terrebonne Bay and Lake Pelto near Terrebonne Parish to marine trafﬁc due to the same spill.

The closed leasing areas incorporate six shellﬁsh harvest areas around Terrebonne Bay and the marshes to the west, state health and environmental agency maps show The closed harvest areas are 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 21.

Taylor Brazan, spokesperson for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the closure affects 2,434 private leases, plus the public seed ground at Only Sister Lake.

The health department said it would use testing to determine when the leasing areas could be reopened but didn’t offer a timeline because it is contingent on the spill cleanup.

Amy Whitehead, a spokeswoman for the department, said sampling to show oysters are clear of contaminants can take about a week.

“However LDH cannot dredge for oyster samples until the water is clear of oil,” she said.

Mitch Jurisich, a third-generation oysterman who is chair of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force and a spokesman for the $317 million industry, said the spill has gone from what seemed like a smaller leak to a “pretty big issue now” as

MARATHON

Continued from page 1B

“This is going to be my ﬁrst marathon,” Moreno said. “I did learn that you can run-walk it.” Family-friendly focus

Race organizers aim to have 8,500-10,000 participants. And with each runner usually accompanied by two or three supporters and planning to stay for an average of four nights, they anticipate the race could generate between $13 million and $15 million in economic activity.

Sponsored by the Milk Processor Education Program, the ﬁrst Every Woman’s Marathon was held in 2024 in Savannah, Georgia, with a second edition held in 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona Next year’s third edition is expected to be at least a third larger than the previous editions.

Miranda Abney, Team Milk’s marketing vice president, said the marathon is the main event sponsored by Team Milk. While the race serves as a qualiﬁer for the Boston

the sheen has spread to coastal islands and marshes.

“It seems like it’s grown from what we ﬁrst heard when the spill ﬁrst happened,” he said. “It’s like, ‘OK, hold on. What’s going on here?”

Jurisich said, to him, it seemed as if the original amount announced in the spill, more than 12,000 gallons on open water, should have been “an easy cleanup” but the oil has since reached islands and marsh that are more difﬁcult to clean.

After issuing an early estimate, LOOP later disclosed the volume of spilled oil was more than twice as large as previously understood.

Jurisich said other oyster lease areas would be able to make up for the lost supply from closed leases and meet market demand, but he expects some customers will avoid Louisiana oysters, particularly west of the Mississippi River, over any chance they could be tainted.

“The scare amongst processors and restaurants and everything is going to be, ‘Well, let’s go to Mississippi, Texas, the East Coast, the West Coast,’” he said.

The LOOP spill

The terminal, operated by an oil company consortium which goes by LOOP, released an estimated 31,500 gallons of oil when a cargo transfer hose sprang a leak on Feb. 26.

The spill reached land days later and has soiled the Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge in Terrebonne Bay, an important coastal

Marathon, organizers emphasized its less competitive nature.

“We do really nice medals and celebrations, but it’s really more about completing the distance versus racing the distance,” Abney said.

About 95% of participants in the ﬁrst two editions have been women. And the course and support stations are all designed around their needs.

“We have lactation stations, we have quiet zones, we have kids activities, nicer bathrooms, feminine products in bathrooms, deodorant, hair ties — things that you just might need in the moment as a female runner,” said Race Director Malain McCormick.

City Council President JP Morrell said the Every Woman’s Marathon is a chance to showcase the city to a different type of visitor than would normally come to New Orleans, whether for Carnival, a convention or a music festival.

“This is an opportunity for our city to present itself as a familyfriendly destination for the everywoman to enjoy,” Morrell said.

Alice Glenn, executive vice president of New Orleans & Co., noted

lips, nose, and cheekbones and creates a greater awareness of internal resonance,” Toale wrote. Toale said the bandages were easy to pull off. He said he was shocked that Serban was booked with cruelty to a juvenile, which is a felony charge.

Simple battery is a misdemeanor

“I have been a criminal defense lawyer for 42 years and I have never seen a case as outrageous as this, Toale said He said the police did not attempt to speak with Serban before requesting an arrest warrant.

Pearl River Police Department

Major Francisco Dean said it was true they sought an arrest warrant before trying to contact Serban,

DRONES

Continued from page 1B

and raped and choked her

Tyler, a New Orleans native, rose to national fame in the 1990s and 2000s with hit songs such as “Shake Ya Ass” and “Danger (Been So Long).” His 2000 album “Let’s Get Ready” topped the Billboard charts and sold more than a million copies. In 2003, he was accused of forcing his hairstylist to perform oral sex on him and two bodyguards after Tyler said the woman stole $80,000 worth of checks. He spent six years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery and extortion.

The two-time Grammy Award nominee’s case attracted national attention. In 2023, his attorneys ﬁled a gag order due to the “inordinate amount of publicity” the proceedings had received.

Judge Steven Tureau of the 23rd Judicial District Court approved the order, which bars attorneys, law enforcement ofﬁcials and potential witnesses from speaking to the news media.

bird habitat and recreational ﬁshing area.

Through Monday, the spill response crews had collected 87% of the spilled oil about 27,510 gallons, or 655 barrels, Coast Guard ofﬁcials said.

About 667 responders and 114 vessels have laid out 29.5 miles of protective and collection boom to limit the impact of the spilled oil, the ofﬁcials added.

Coast Guard officials said no dispersants have been used during the crude oil recovery Ofﬁcials have said the volume of oil released is a little more than a quarter of the size of the Well 59 blowout in Plaquemines Parish’s Garden Island Bay last spring, the largest spill off the Louisiana coast in the past few years.

LOOP is a deepwater facility that takes in crude from deepdraft tankers and sends it by pipeline to its onshore storage site in Galliano.

With 72 million barrels of oil storage onshore in above-ground tanks and underground salt dome caverns near Galliano, LOOP feeds refineries along the Gulf Coast, including several on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

The terminal’s oil feeds half of the nation’s reﬁneries and is the single largest point of entry for waterborne crude in the nation, the company says.

Formed in 1972, LOOP is a joint venture of Marathon Pipe Line LLC, Shell Oil Company and Valero Terminalling and Distribution Company

the event is scheduled to take place less than three weeks after Mardi Gras.

“I think it’ll be a great way to work off some of the king cake and milk punch with healthier milk options,” Glenn said.

Reviving a tradition

Marathons in New Orleans were held annually for more than a halfcentury, ﬁrst as the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon and later as part of the Rock n’ Roll Marathon Series, which was last held on a full-length course in 2019.

Two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic were followed by a scaled-back lakefront half marathon in 2022 due to a lack of police resources. The route extended from Lafayette Square down St. Charles Avenue to Audubon Park, and along Esplanade Avenue to City Park, where it ﬁnished after looping up to and along the lakefront.

Organizers of the Every Woman’s Marathon have yet to publicly disclose their planned route.

McCormick said the course — set to begin at Champions Square and ﬁnish at City Park after a stretch

but said police felt they had enough probable cause based on interviews with the victims and witnesses.

After communicating with the police through Toale, Serban surrendered Monday police said.

The online roster for the St. Tammany Parish jail showed bail was set at $7,500 for cruelty to juvenile and $7,500 for simple battery

The investigation is now being turned over to the northshore District Attorney’s Ofﬁce, police said.

The District Attorney’s Office recently prosecuted a well-known Slidell pastor who founded a Christian school in Slidell for offenses including taping students’ mouths shut.

rooftops around the parish, have a 2-mile radius, can travel up to 35 mph and hover at a height of about 200 feet.

The department predicted the drones would help by arriving at scenes quickly and safely providing deputies with a lay of the land or suspect descriptions without putting ofﬁcers in harm’s way

But Lopinto said the drones have been instrumental in cutting down the follow-up work often required in cases. And they’ve even allowed the department to cut off risky vehicle pursuits without losing suspects.

Drone pursuit

On Feb. 11, employees at Lululemon in Metairie’s Lakeside Shopping Center called 911 for help with three women and a man who were stealing merchandise out of the store. Deputies arrived as the suspects were stashing the stolen goods into a blue Nissan Altima that was in the parking lot, authorities said

Deputies chased the car as it sped west on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, blowing through red lights at Edenborn Avenue and Division Street. Concerned about public safety, the deputies called off the chase, according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. But a ﬁrst responder drone contin-

AIRPORT

Continued from page 1B

Wait times at the airport have varied significantly from day to day since the shutdown, with lines earlier this month stretching out of the building and into the parking garage.

About 50,000 TSA ofﬁcers across the country have been working without pay since Feb 14, the start of a partial federal government shutdown over funding for DHS, which oversees the TSA, and immigration enforcement.

TSA ofﬁcers missed their ﬁrst full paycheck on Friday after receiving a partial paycheck at the end of February More than 300 have quit since the shutdown began, according to The New York Times.

The shutdown has prompted talks of closures at smaller airports due to TSA staff shortages, acting deputy administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News on Wednesday It’s the second shutdown to impact the TSA since the country’s longest in history ended on Nov 12.

The Baton Rouge airport opened a food bank for donations earlier this month to support workers, and in Lake Charles, the nonproﬁt

along the lakefront would be of-

ﬁcially released in May

The race director said the route will go through a portion of French Quarter and include all main touristic zones, though it will not head up to Audubon Park.

From none to two

The Every Woman’s Marathon is scheduled to come just a few months after another new marathon — part of a weekend of events in November that include a new festival called Fit Fete and sponsored by New Orleans & Co. and the wellness marketing company Wellnxt.

Bill Burke, a 47-year veteran endurance sports promoter, worked for the Crescent City Classic in its early years before founding Premier Event Management, the organizer of events such as the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, the Mississippi Blues Marathon and several local 5K and 10K races.

The route of his race, the New Orleans Marathon, set for Nov 14, will begin and end in City Park and will include a double loop, which allows for a signiﬁcantly smaller security cost as compared with a

ued to follow the car until it parked at an apartment in the 3400 block of Lime Street. Investigators executed a search warrant and by the end of the night, they arrested six people — including suspects still wearing the clothing they had on during the thefts — and recovered more than $2,000 worth of pilfered apparel, JPSO said.

Without the drone, a deputy would have typed up the report, turned it over to the JPSO Criminal Intelligence Unit, where ofﬁcers would try to track the vehicle’s registration, compare surveillance video images with mug shots and maybe subpoena cellphone records, according to Lopinto.

“Hopefully, we’d get an identiﬁcation in a couple of weeks and whenever they get arrested, they get arrested,” he said. “And even then, what’s the chance that we’d recover property?”

The immediate arrests made possible by drones help improve the cases made by investigators, according to Lopinto. Suspects can be taken into custody while still wearing the clothing described by victims or recorded by security cameras.

“As we continue to learn the best ways to integrate the use of the drones and the information they provide into our daily operations, you’ll see us continue to not only reduce crime rates but raise arrest numbers at the same time,” Rivarde said.

United Way of Southwest Louisiana recently donated gift cards to unpaid workers for gasoline and groceries.

The U.S. Senate has been in gridlock over DHS funding as Democrats demand new restrictions for immigration enforcement ofﬁcers in response to the crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year Other DHS agencies, like TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard and their employees have been caught in the crossﬁre as a result.

A DHS spokesperson blamed Democrats for the “reckless” shutdown and the inability to pay TSA workers.

“Many TSA ofﬁcers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars — forcing them to call out sick from work,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Now, Americans are facing hours long waits at airports across the country Democrats must reopen DHS now.”

Democrats have countered that the Republicans’ refusal to hold DHS accountable for killing U.S. citizens in Minneapolis is forcing the shutdown.

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing TSA workers, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

point-to-point event.

“We have an annual event that we’re building here, and sticking with, for both men and women,” Burke said.

Burke sees his coed marathon — to be held in conjunction with a half-marathon, relay race, 5K and kids fun run as totally different from the milk-sponsored event, though both will function as means to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

“I think we can both coexist as long as we work together and promote each others’ event,” said Burke. “I think there’s a place for both of us on the calendar.”

LOTTERY TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2026 PICK 3: 3-9-2

Calligan,Linda

Carter,Cassandra ColemanSr.,William Crosier, Forcithea

Dorsey,Helen

Gardner, Patricia Green,Karen

Guidry,Brian

HalleySr.,Kenneth

Henry, Ellery

Jackson, Bryant

Jackson, Mary

Johnson, Carl Lavigne,Bobby

Marshall, Maurice

McKendall, Jennie

Mercadal,Agnes

Nelson, Barbara

Parker,Rose

Pettway Sr., Charles

Richmond, Paul

Ricks, Robert

Riser, Doris

Thomas,Myrtle

Thompson, Kevin White,Lachovia EJefferson Garden of Memories

Boudreau Sr., Ray Richmond, Paul NewOrleans Boyd Family

Lavigne,Bobby

Nelson, Barbara

Thompson, Kevin

Charbonnet

ColemanSr.,William Green,Karen

Guidry,Brian

HalleySr.,Kenneth

Johnson, Carl McKendall, Jennie

Ricks, Robert

White,Lachovia

Butler, Katherine

Dorsey,Helen

Marshall, Maurice

Estelle JWilson

Thomas,Myrtle

JacobSchoen

Gardner, Patricia

Majestic Mortuary

Pettway Sr., Charles St Bernard

CharbonnetLabat

Carter,Cassandra

Jackson, Bryant West Bank

Robinson FH

Henry, Ellery

Jackson, Mary

Parker,Rose

Obituaries

Boudreau Sr., RayJoseph

on March16, 2026 at the ageof97. He wasbornon January24, 1929 in NewOr‐leans, Louisianatothe late UlyssesBernard Boudreau Sr.and MildredTalbot Boudreau.Ray waspre‐cededindeath by hisde‐votedwifeof70years, Jacqueline “Jackie” Bayhi Boudreau;his parents, and siblings:UlyssesBernard Boudreau Jr., Katherine Benezech,MaryAliceHo‐tard,Stephen Boudreau BarbaraBurke,Talbot Boudreau,Herman Boudreau,and Warren Boudreau.Ray proudly served as aSergeantinthe LouisianaNationalGuard He wasa member of St Mary Magdalen parish since1955 andworked with CYO, BoyScoutsand sports in theparishfor many years. He waspresi‐dent of theNew Orleans Golf Associationand St John Golf Club anda mem‐berofGreen AcresCountry Club.Ray is survived by his 4children: RayJoseph“RJ” Boudreau (Rose),Pamela Jean Shows(Neil), Ralph JamesBoudreau(Joanie), KimMaryBoudreau (Mitch); 6grandchildren: RayBoudreauIII (Sarah), AmyBoudreauDubuc (Michael), Kati Boudreau Kelley (Ryan),Megan Boudreau Caire(Matthew), Ryan JamesBoudreau (Caroline),and Hunter Joseph Shows(Catherine); and20great-grandchil‐dren:Isabelle, Blake and BryceBoudreau; Audrey, Camile,Josie andDrew Dubuc; Antionette andAva Kelley;Hattie, Walter and Louise Shows, Zoe, Gemma,Blaise, Philomena andAgnes Caire; Simon, Ramsey andSaylor Boudreau;and grand-dog, Ratso. Rayalsoleavesbe‐hind astepsister, Patricia Magee, as well as numer‐ousniecesand nephews, cousins, andother rela‐tives. Raywillbedearly missedbyall.The family wouldlike to thankhis caregivers (Myra, Keisha andKristy) fortheir dedi‐cation andcompassionas well as thestaff of Williamsburg Senior Living Center.Relatives and friendsare invitedtoat‐tend theFuneral Services at Garden of Memories Fu‐neralHome& Cemetery, 4900 AirlineDrive,Metairie, LA 70001 on Friday,March 20, 2026. Visitation will beginat9:00AMwitha Mass at 11:00 AM followed by interment. In lieu of ﬂowers, please consider donating to Archbishop Chapelle or Archbishop Rummel,archbish‐opChapelle.org/giveor giverummel.com.Online condolencesmay be of‐feredatwww.gardeno fmemoriesmetairie.com.

Butler,Katherine

KatherineButler, known as“Kat” or “Twin”,entered the worldonApril 10, 1951 toher late parentsCeles‐tineJ.Jimmerson andLouis Blane in New Orleans, LA She wasbaptizedatMy RedeemerMissionaryBap‐tistChurch under thePas‐torship of thelateRev SamuelPolkand late Rev. EddieL.Branchuntil she moved hermembershipto SecondTrueLoveMission‐ary Church under thePas‐torship of Rev. Lilton Mc‐Quarter until herhealthde‐clined. Shewas marriedto JosephButlerwhere they later welcomed hermourn‐ing daughter,Josephine Butler(Troy). Sheisalso survivedbyher twogrand‐daughters Tatiyana Butler (Kevin) andBreyana John‐son;two great-grandsons, Kemon and Kyrie Demesme.Last, but not least,her devoted twin sis‐ter Kathleen Blane. She was also lovedbya host of familyand friendswho will missher dearly.She built deep rootsinthe Uptown areaofNew Orleans. Sadly, she slippedawayintoeter‐nal rest peacefully on March 3, 2026 at 5:15 am She will be missed dearly and remembered forever. Wemay temporarilysay goodbye, but hermemory willforever remain abless‐ing to allwho know her. Relatives andfriends of the family, also pastors, ofﬁ‐cers, andmembers of My RedeemerM.B.C., Second TrueLoveand allsurround‐ing churches,alsoemploy‐ees of Sewage &Water Board of New Orleans, Har‐monyOaks(Magnolia)are alsoinvited to attend aFu‐neral Servicehonoringthe lifeofMs. Katherine“Kat” ButleratD.W.RhodesFu‐neral Home,3933 Washing‐ton Ave.,New Orleans, LA onSaturday, March21, 2026 at 11:30am. Theser‐

vice will be livestreamed byvisitingwww.facebook com/D.W.RhodesFuneralHo me/live.Visitationwillbe heldfrom10:30 am until 11:30 am.Interment:Provi‐dence Memorial Park Cemetery, Metairie,La. Arrangementsentrusted to D.W.RhodesFuneralHome, 3933 Washington Ave.,New Orleans,LA70125. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral. com to sign theonline guestbook,share memo‐riesand condolenceswith the family.

Calligan,Linda Simmons

With sadness we share thepassing of Linda Calligan, on February 23, 2026. Please visit www.Neptunesociety.com to view serviceinformation, signthe online guestbook, send flowers, and share condolences.

Carter,Cassandra Grifﬁn

CassandraGrifﬁnCarter passedawayonTuesday March 10, 2026. ACelebra‐tionservice honoring the lifeofthe late Cassandra CarterwillbeheldatChris‐tianFellowshipFamilyWor‐shipCenter, 5816 E. Judge Perez Drive, Violet,LA 70092 on Saturday,March 21, 2026 at 11 am.Inter‐mentEnglish Turn Ceme‐tery, Braithwaite, LA.Visi‐tation9 am in thechurch Pleasesignonlineguest‐book at www.charbonnetf uneralhome.com. Final arrangementsentrusted to CharbonnetFamilySer‐vices (504) 302-1520.

ColemanSr.,Pastor William

Pastor WilliamColeman Sr.,passedawaysur‐rounded by familyon Thursday,March 5, 2026 at EastJefferson Hospital Metairie, LA.Hewas pre‐ceded in deathbyhis wife Helen Coleman; son, Willie Lee Coleman; granddaugh‐ter,ArmamiMason;par‐ents, William, Sr.and Geor‐giana Miller Coleman; sib‐lings,Josephand Charlie Coleman,Elder Levi Rufﬁn, Sr.,Della MayWright, MarthaThomas, Lizzie Nel‐son andPasty Rogers.He leavestocherish precious memories, children, Vanessa andCalvinCole‐man;wife, LeonaColeman; sisters,CoraBowman, Emma Antoineand Pasty Young,a host of grandchil‐dren, twogenerations of great-grandchildren,along withnieces, nephews, other familyand friends. A celebration servicehonor‐ing thelifeand legacy of the late Pastor William Coleman,Sr.,willbeheld atThompsonTemple Church of GodinChrist, 1515 WhitneyAvenue, Gretna, LA 70053 on Satur‐day,March 21, 2026 at 10 am. IntermentRestlawn Cemeteryand Mausoleum, 3540 Highway90, Avondale LA70094. Visitation 9amin the church.Pleasesignon‐lineguestbook at charbon‐netfuneralhome.com. Charbonnet LabatGlapion Directors (504) 581-4411

Crosier, Forcithea Ellen

Forcithea Ellen Crosier, acherishedmother, devotedfriend, and esteemedcommunity matriarch, passed away peacefully on March 3,

2026, at theage of 57, surrounded by her loving family. BorninNew Orleans, Louisiana, on January25, 1969, Ms. Crosier was the daughter of Lee Crosier and thelateBarbara Crosier. She spent her formativeyears in New Orleans, graduating from St.Mary's Academy in 1986 and subsequently earning adegree in Psychology fromthe Universityof Southern Mississippi In 1988, Ms. Crosier enlisted in the Army, where she trained as an air traffic controller, servingwith distinction for eight years before transitioning to civilian life.She then embarked upon acareer in finance, quicklyascending to thepositionofAssistant Operations Managerat UBS PaineWebber FinancialServices, arole she held for several years. Ms. Crosier retired from military service in 2003. In her later years, Ms. Crosierrelocated to State College, Pennsylvania, where she became an activeand valued member of thecommunity.Although known forher travels,the picturesque local geography, thediverse culinary offerings, and thewelcoming spirit of theState Collegecommunity confirmed her decisiontoestablish her permanent residence there. She and her dog, Slim, were frequently observed walking in favored localparks such as Tudek and Bernel Parks. Those closesttoher admiredher forher sharp wit, radiant disposition, and creativity. She is survivedbyher devoted son, Christopher Crosier Amemorial service will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Wetzler FuneralService, located at 206 NSpring St, Bellefonte,PA. Friends will be received fora visitation at thefuneralservicelocation forthree hours prior to theservice, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM In lieu of floral tributes, thefamily respectfullyrequests that memorial donations be directed to Ujima, The National Center on Violence Against Women, acause which was profoundly important to her, by going to www.uji macommunity.org/donate Online condolences may be madetothe family at www.wetzlerfuneralhome. com

Dorsey,Helen L. With sadnessweshare the passingofHelen L. DorseyonFebruary8,2026 Pleasevisit www.rhodesf uneral.comtoviewservice information,signonline guestbook,sendﬂowers and sharecondolences

Patricia FinneyGardner diedTuesday,March 17 2026, at theage of 83 Fondlyknown as Patto familyand friends, she lived in theNew Orleans areaher entire life.She is precededindeath by her beloved husband,Dr. RonaldG Gardner. To‐gether, they raised their three children:Stephanie Gardner Gaspard(Patrick) JenniferGardner Hibbs (Richard),and Sean Michael Gardner(Jean‐nine).Mimiwas lovedand cherished by hersix grand‐children, Caroline Gaspard Kopit,AshleyGaspard,Vic‐toria Hibbs,Stephen Hibbs, Davis Gardner, andJasper Gardner,aswellasher great-grandson, Bennett Kopit.Patriciagraduated fromSacredHeart of Jesus. She lovedsharing stories about growinguponBayou St. John. Patricia wasa memberofSt. Edward the Confessor Parish andpar‐ticipated in itsLadies Council throughout her children’sschool years. She wasknown forher love ofshoppingand hergener‐ous nature.Patricialoved givinggifts,enjoyingthe presentationand wrapping asmuchasopening them Her loss is deeply felt by familyand friends. Visita‐tionwillbeheldfrom9 to 11AMimmediatelyfol‐lowed by mass on Satur‐day,March 21, 2026, at Jacob Schoen &Son Fu‐neral Home,3827 Canal Street.A Catholic mass will follow. In lieu of ﬂowers, donations maybemadein her name to St.JudeChil‐dren’s Research Hospital

or to acharity of their choice. tended mother-in-law, Eulah Payne, as well as a hostofaunts, uncles,close cousins,friends andBike Man employees.Brian was precededindeath by his parents,VeronicaLeCoq and Aubran G. Guidry; grandparents, Ernest Joseph, Sr.and MattieSa‐vanna Lecoq, John, Sr.and MarionGuidry: furchild, Coco-Girl Guidry.Relatives and friends, former em‐ployers andemployees are invited to attend thefu‐neral.A CelebrationSer‐vicehonoringthe life and legacyofthe late Brian AubranGuidrywillbeheld atNew Home Family Wor‐shipCenter, 1616 Robert C. Blakes, Sr.Drive,New Or‐leans,LA70130 on Satur‐day,March 21, 2026 at 10 am, Darren L. Payne, Pastor ofCathedral of FaithFel‐lowship Church,Houston TX, Ofﬁciating. Interment ProvidenceMemorialPark. Visitation9 am in the church.Pleasesignonline guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com Charbonnet LabatGlapion Directors (504) 581-4411

Green,Karen

KarenGreen departed thislifepeacefully, leaving behinda legacy of love, strengthand cherished memories. Shewas born onDecember13, 1968 in New Orleans, LA to thelate Charles andBarbara John‐son.Karen wasknown for her warm smile,joyful spiritand thehappiness she broughttoeveryone around her. Sheenjoyed cooking, dancing, captur‐ing specialmoments through photographs and spendingtimewithfamily and friends. Hervibrant personality andloving heart made herthe life of every gathering. Karenwas a devotedmotherand grandmother who trea‐sured herfamilyabove all else. Sheshareda special bondwithher lovedones and will always be remem‐bered forher kindness, laughterand generous spirit. Karenleavestocher‐ish precious memories,her children, Karistian(Eric) Bridges,Kyron (Darrinika) and KyleeGreen; ﬁancé James Lynch; tengrand‐children; siblings,Priscilla (Reginald Fontenberry), Demetrius (MarkGulley) and KevinWalker; aunts, Ruthieand ElizabethTo‐bias; uncles,Alvin (Gail) and Gary Green,along with a host of nieces,nephews, cousins,other extended familymembers anddear friends.Inaddition to her parents,Karen is also pre‐ceded in deathbyher great-grandmother,Rev MotherAnnette Johnson; grandmother,Viola Tobias; grandfather Melvin Green; uncle,TheodoreTobias, Jr.; aunt,VeronicaBannister; siblings, CharlesJohnson Jr.,ChantillaJohnson and Evette Green.Karen’s love and beautifulspiritwillfor‐everremaininthe hearts ofthose who knew and loved her. ACelebration service honoring thelife and legacy of thelate Karen Green will be held at Marine& Mt.MoriahCom‐munityChurch,3034 An‐dover Street,Jefferson,LA 70121 on Saturday,March 21, 2026 at 10 am.Inter‐mentprivate.Visitation9 aminthe church.Please signonlineguestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion,Directors (504)581-4411

BrianAubranGuidry, a nativeNew Orleanian, af‐fectionatelyknown as “The BikeMan”or“B”,transi‐tionedintoeternal rest on Monday, March9,2026 at the ageof58. Brianwas educatedinthe Orleans ParishPublicSchool Sys‐tem andwas a1987 gradu‐ate of Marion Abramson HighSchool.Mr. Guidry was previously employed byJackB.Harper, Port Cargo CoffeeCompany Packarini Coffee Company, Stein Mart,Brown Dairy and JerryGordonMoving Company.Hebecamethe proprietorofThe Bike Man Carwash,ina community thatloved himasmuchas heloved them.Hewas also known forhis humor,in‐fectioussmile andmostof all riding hisHighWheel Penny Farthing Bicycle. Brian leaves to cherishpre‐cious memories,his ﬁancée, MonaLisa Payne; children, Brianand Jaquana “Snug” Smithof LakeCharles,LA, Justin AubranGuidryofNew Or‐leans,LA; andbonus son, Nathaniel Payne; grand‐childrenKaitlyn,Hayden, BrenanSmith,Skylinn Simon andKyrie Smithof LakeCharles,LA; Cailsey and Justin Guidry,Jr.; bonus grandchildren, De‐vonte Hall, Samiya Eugene and Harlem Payne; sib‐lings,Rachelle Hawkins (Myron, Sr.),TheronK Guidryand sister-cousin, Dionne Dixon; Godchild Trichelle “Nu” Barra; in‐

KennethJoseph“K9 Halley,Sr.,was born on No‐vember 10, 1984 at Tulane Hospital in NewOrleans, LA to Geneva Halley and Reginald McCoy. He was raised in NewOrleans,sur‐rounded by family,commu‐nity andfriendships that helped shapethe manhe became.OnTuesday March10, 2026, Mr.Halley peacefully transitioned from this life aftera coura‐geousbattlewithkidney failure. Thoughhis depar‐ture leaves adeep void,his strength of spirit andthe love he shared will remain with allwho knew him. Kennethwas preceded in deathbyhis beloved grandparents,GenevaHal‐ley, Gabe Galloway and Nettie L. King;aunt,Nancy AnnCole; uncles,Robert Thomas andThomas “Tommy”Halley; brother, JosefC.Brown andnephew MarioMcCoy.Inaddition to hisparents,Kenneth also leaves to cherish pre‐ciousmemories, loving wife,Jameanika Halley; children,Kenya A.,Kenneth J. Jr.and KyronM.Halley, KendallJ.and KendellJ Carter;siblings, Regina andTalitha Halley, Chaunteion,Moniche and Reginald McCoy, Jr., Cedric Brown, John Chambers Larry Cagerand Marcus McDaniels, as well as a host of otherextended family membersand aro‐bust circle of friendswho lovedhim dearly.A Cele‐brationservice honoring thelifeofthe late Kenneth Joseph “K9” Halley will be held in theChapelofChar‐bonnet LabatGlapion Fu‐neralHome, 1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Friday,March 20, 2026 at 10 am.Interment Providence Memorial Park Visitation 9aminthe chapel.Pleasesignonline guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion, Directors(504) 581-4411

Ellery

Chrisalsoknown as"Black" Henrydeparted his earthlylifeonFriday, March 6. 2026. Age59, resi‐dentofAlgiers/Cut Off Community.Beloved sonof the late Etheland Louis Henry Sr.; devotedpartner ofChristine Evans; loving fatherofBrittany, Brionne ElleryJr.,Ericand Christo‐pherCheatteam;loyal brother of NormaJean (Walter), LouisJr. (Wendy), Valisha andthe late Brian Henry.Grandsonofthe late Frank andCharlotte Charles &Robertand Stella Henry;grandfather of Aaliyan,Alayla, Lloya, Kiyah,Deshawn, Anthony, Lyric,Kris, andLegacie; nephewofSylviaCharles AugustineCook, Willie Mae

Boudreau Sr., Ray Butler, Katherine

Halley Sr., Kenneth Joseph 'K9'

Gardner, Patricia Finney

DW Rhodes

Guidry,Brian Aubran

Henry, Ellery Chris

Green,Stella Jimcoily,and Geraldine Robinson; mother-in-love, Carolyn Jimcoily;alsosurvivedbya hostofnieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives and friends. Relativesand friends of thefamily, also pastors,ofﬁcers andmem‐bersofSecondNazarene Baptist Church andall neighboring churches,& Compasses, Hospice, & PalliativeCareare invited toattendthe funeralser‐viceatGreater Providence Baptist Church,623 New‐ton Street,New Orleans, LA onSaturday, March21, 2026 at 10:00a.m.Pastor Javonte Jimcoily is thehost pastorand Rev. Randolph Crawford, ofﬁciating. Visi‐tationatthe above-named church, 8:00 am until time ofservice.Interment will followatMcDonoghville Cemetery, Gretna,LA. Fu‐neral planning entrustedto RobinsonFamilyFuneral Home, 9611Highway 23 Belle Chasse,LA70037. For onlinecondolences,please visit www.robinsonfamilyf uneralhome.com.

Jackson, Bryant Bryant Jacksonpassed awayonSunday, March8 2026. ACelebration service honoringthe life of thelate Mr. Jacksonwillbeheldin the chapel of Charbonnet FamilyServices, 4917 E. Judge PerezDrive,Violet, LA70119onFriday, March 20, 2026 at 11 am.Inter‐mentBethlehem Baptist ChurchCemetery, Braith‐waite,LA. Visitation 9am inthe chapel.Pleasesign onlineguestbook at www. charbonnetfuneralhome com. Finalarrangements entrusted to Charbonnet FamilyServices(504)3021520.

Mary Louise

Mary Louise Jackson, of Westwego, LA,departed thislifepeacefullyon Thursday, March5,2026 at Riverbend NursingHome

She was66years old. Rela‐tives andfriends arein‐vited to attend herfuneral service on Saturday,March 21, 2026, at Robinson Fam‐ily FuneralHome, 9611LA23, Belle Chasse LA 70037 The visitation will beginat 9 am followed by a10am service.For online condo‐lences, please visitwww robinsonfamilyfuneralho me.com

frey), GregoryDawsey (Deagrine); fourteen grandchildren,one great grandchild,a host of other relatives andfriends.Carl was kind andgenerousto everyone who knew her and hermemorywillbe carried forwardbyall who loved her. AMemorial Masshonoringthe life and legacyofthe late Carl Carol" AnnJohnson will beheldatOur Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (St.Jude),411 N. Rampart Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Saturday,March 21, 2026 at 10 am.Visitation 9 am.The family extends heartfelt thanks to Ochsner,all caregivers and the community fortheir compassionand support. Pleasesignonlineguest‐book at www.charbonnetf uneralhome.com. Charbon‐net Labat Glapion, Direc‐tors(504) 581-4411

BobbyRomel Lavigne was born on December 30, 2002, in NewOrleans,LA, to LaToyaLavigne andthe lateBobby Basquine Jr.He was educated in theOr‐leans Parish school sys‐tem.Bobby wasemployed asa Floor Tech at LCMC Hospital. He enteredinto eternal rest on Wednesday, March 11,2026, at theage of23. Bobbywas the beloved sonofLaToyaLav‐igne, andthe late Bobby BasquineJr.,brother of BonnieBasquine, Landon and Landis ScottJr.,grand‐son of Cheryl Basquine, Sabrina Lavigne, Leslie Morgan andBobby BasquineSr. Also survived bya host of aunts, uncles cousins,and friends. Rela‐tives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the CelebrationofLifeSer‐viceonSaturday, March21, 2026, for10:00 a.m. at First EmanuelBaptist Church, 1829 Carondelet Street, New Orleans, LA 70130.Vis‐itation will beginat9:00 a.m.PastorJermaine Davis,ofﬁciating. Inter‐mentwillfollowatProvi‐dence Memorial Park,8200 Airline Dr Metairie,LA 70003. Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditionbegins. com (504) 282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors

decorating.Jenniewas precededindeath by her lateparents andsiblings, Wallace J. Williams, Bernard Holmes,Johnnie Holmes, BeverlyHolmes, and Mary Kisack.She is survivedbyher sisters, Christina Flemings,Anita Maurice,and VelmaChar‐lot.Relatives andfriends are invitedtoattend a MassofCelebration honor‐ing thelifeand legacy of JennieMcKendall at St Raymond/St. Leothe Great Catholic Church,2916 Paris Avenue,New Orleans, LA onSaturday, March21, 2026 at 11:00 am.Visitation at9:30am. Interment: Pri‐vate. Specialthanksto Ochsner MedicalCenterPalliative/HospiceUnit. In lieuof ﬂowers, please send donations to thePancre‐aticCancerActionNetwork (PanCAN)atpancan.org. Pleasesignthe online guest book at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Charbonnet LabatGlapion Directors,(504) 581-4411.

Mercadal,Agnes Chapman 'Boo'

Agnes"Boo"Chapman Mercadal aretired cook withHotel Dieu Hospital, peacefully departedthis life on February 26, 2026, at Heart-to-Heart Hospice in Ft.Worth, Tx at theage of 87. Agnes was born in New Orleans, La. In New Orleans she was amember of St.Joseph Free Baptist Church, Rev. J. L. Davis, Pastorwhere she was an Usherfor many years. After Hurricane Katrina she moved to Bossier City, La where she was amemberatStonewallBaptist Church, PastorUelyss Reed Jr.Survivors include ason Walter(Porky) Bickham, daughter Donna Chapman Track, and a brotherRussell Edwards (Delores). Ahost of grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and otherfamily members and friends. Agnes was proceeded in death by her husband Raymond Mercadal also proceeded in deathby Emerson Chapman (first husband). Her parents, Dan EdwardsSr. and Agnes Watkins.Her brother Dan EdwardsJr. and sisterLinda E. Hills. Daughter TerryA.Bickhamand son Paul Bickham. Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend a Celebration of Life honoring Agnes "Boo"Chapman Mercadal at Shiloh ChristianFellowship BC, 2441 N. Claiborne Ave on Saturday, March 21,2026 at 10:00am Acelebration of life will be held from10:00 PM to 11:30 PM on 2026-0321 at Shiloh Christian Fellowship BC, 2441 N. Claiborne Ave.

Marshall,Maurice Mario Withsadness we share the passingofMaurice Mario Marshall on March3, 2026. Please visitwww.rho desfuneral.comtoview service information, sign onlineguestbook,send ﬂowersand sharecondo‐lences. Nelson,Barbara Elizabeth Blackwell'Betty'

McKendall, Jennie

Rita William

BarbaraElizabeth Betty”Blackwell Nelson passedawayonFriday, March 6, 2026, at theage of ninety-six. Shewas born onDecember1,1929, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Alvin andJeanette Black‐well. Shewas preceded in death by herparents;her husband,Willie“Bill” Nel‐son,Jr.;and hersister, Jeanne B. Green.Betty is survivedbyher four chil‐dren:Michael R. Nelson Johnson,CarlAnn 'Carol'

Carl "Carol"Ann John‐son,age 71, passedaway peacefullyonMarch 14 2026, surrounded by her loved ones.She wasborn onDecember20, 1954 to the late RebeccaMod‐eliste, LeroyDawseyand LawrenceThomas. Beloved companion of Ozone James;beloved mother of CoriMiguelDawsey, Robert Reed,Dorothy Rebecca Johnson,BrookeMegan Dawsey, Krisand Karl Johnson.Dearfriendof PauletteWatsonand Marie Aguirre.Carlwas educated inthe OrleansParishPub‐lic School System andalso attendedLoyolaUniversity. Carlwas employed as a clerk forthe OrleansParish PublicLibrary formostof her career andalsoworked for theNew OrleansFair‐groundsRaceTrack for several years. Outsideof work, shefound joyinvol‐unteeringinher church, cheeringonthe NewOr‐leans Saints,completing puzzles of alltypes,read‐ing mysterynovelsand she especiallycherished time spent with familyand friends.Inaddition to her childrenand companion, Carlisalsosurvivedbyher siblings, Joseph Modeliste (Kathy),GeorgeDawsey (Cheryl), Elaine Graves (Daniel),Stella Harris (Jef‐

Jennie Rita WilliamMcK‐endalltransitionedpeace‐fully to herheavenlyhome onThursday, March12, 2026, surrounded by the loveofher family following a courageous battle with cancer. AnativeofNew Or‐leans,Jenniewas born on May 6, 1943, to Wallaceand Armenta Soule' Williams She received herearly edu‐cationatValenaC.Jones Elementaryand wasa graduateofGeorgeWash‐ingtonCarverSeniorHigh School.She dedicatedher lifetolovingand rearing her children.Inaddition, she worked as an Ofﬁce Manager andInteriorDe‐signerinthe family con‐struction business.She was the former wife of AlanMcKendall,Sr. anda lovingmothertoAlisa, Cindy (ﬁancéeBevin Dou‐glas),AlanJr. (Sherron), and Marc (Rosa) McK‐endallwithsix grandchil‐drenand twogreat grand‐children. Jennie found joy ininspiring others,and de‐signingarts, crafts,and

KarenN.Hill(Ronald), Karla N. Forrest(Marvin), and Willie Nelson III; eight grandchildren;ninegreatgrandchildren;and ahost ofnieces, nephews, other relatives,and friends. Betty wasa devotedwife, mother, andmatriarch whose life wasmarkedby deep faith,service,and lovefor herfamily. She built arespected career in media,communications, advertising,and public re‐lations andremainedac‐tiveinchurch andcommu‐nityservice throughout her life. In 2025, shereceiveda proclamationfromthe City ofNew Orleansinrecogni‐tionofher decadesofad‐vocacyand forsharing the spiritofNew Orleans. Rela‐tives andfriends arein‐vited to attend herFuneral Service on Friday,March 20, 2026, at BethanyUnited Methodist Church,4533 MendezSt, NewOrleans, LA70126. Viewingwill begin at 9:00 a.m. andthe service will beginat10:00 a.m.PastorEugeneBoger, ofﬁciating. Intermentwill followatMount Olivet Cemetery. Guestbook On‐line: www.anewtraditionbe gins.com(504)282-0600 LinearBrooksBoydand Donavin D. Boyd Own‐ers/FuneralDirectors

Alma

9AMfollowedbya 10AM mass. Father SampsonAb‐duliwillofﬁciateand en‐tombmentwillfollowin the church's cemetery.Fu‐neral planning entrustedto RobinsonFamilyFuneral Home. Foronlinecondo‐lencesvisit www.robinso nfamilyfuneralhome.com

Pettway Sr., CharlesD

Nar‐cisse Parker,a beloved mother, grandmother, sis‐ter,and friend,peacefully acceptedher heavenly wings andentered the presenceofour Heavenly FatheronMarch 10, 2026, atthe ageof79, leavingbe‐hinda profound legacy of love, faith,and excellence Rose’slifewas definedby her devotion to herfamily and hercommitmentto highachievement.She was precededindeath by the two lovesofher life:her beloved husband,Nelson “Brud”ParkerSr.,and her cherished son, Oliver AdrienParker. Herinflu‐encelives on throughher children, who carry for‐wardher standard of ex‐cellence: Dr.Constance ParkerBonnet(Gretna,LA); NelsonParker, Jr.and wife Kellaye (Fresno, TX); and Arianne Parker Flot (Gretna,LA).Rose’spride extendedtoher grandchil‐dren, whose accomplish‐ments were hergreatest reward: IanCotton, Esq. (Jasmine),ReilParker, RecoParker, Sr., andAnto‐nio Flot,all of Gretna,LA; Onaye Parker (Lance)of Pearland, TX;OnyaParker ofAtlanta,GA; Kelsyn Parker, Esq. of Corpus Christi,TX; andGeorge Holmes, Sr.ofClear Lake, TX. Herspiritcontinues to flourish in hergreat-grand‐children: Reco Parker,Jr. SwedenLee, Parker Phillips, MasonScallion, GeorgeHolmesJr.,Seren‐nityHolmes, andher pre‐cious namesake,Ila Rose Cotton. Rose is lovingly re‐memberedbyher devoted brothersand sisters: Felix (Blond) Narcisse,Kermit (Paco)Narcisse (Samatha), Anthony (De-De)Narcisse Francis (Ta-Tanh) Narcisse, Caffie(Cathy) Riley, and Cledman (Joe)Narcisse She also leaves behind her sisters-in-law, Marie Parker, AngelinaParker, and CarolynGodchaux, along with ahostofnieces, nephews,cousins,and friends.A specialplace in her heartwas always re‐servedfor hergodchildren: Navon Narcisse,Sr.,Alea Parker, andAltheaParker. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend thefuneral servicesfor Rose Alma Narcisse Parker on Satur‐day,March 21, 2026. at St ThomasCatholicChurch 17605 HWY15, Pointe ala Hache,Louisiana 70082 Thevisitationwillbegin at

Park Memorial Cemetery andMausoleum (504)362-3091

CharlesD.Pettway,Sr. entered into rest on March 9,2026, at theage of 75. He issurvivedbyhis 3chil‐dren: sonCharles Pettway Jr.,daughterCindy Pettway Landry andson Tariq Lackings;Stepson: Phillip Andrews; grandchil‐dren: Jordan,Jakoby, Isa‐iah,ZanePettway,Nyra, Nya,NylaLandry, andTylia Scott; siblings:Annie King LouisaPettway,Carey Pettway Jr andTijuanna Pettway;and ahostof nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles,and friends. Hewas preceded in death byhis mother:Catherine SquareKing; father:Carey Pettway;stepfather: Lon‐nie King;grandfather: MelvinSquareSr.;and grandmother:Elizabeth Square. Relativesand friends of thefamilyare all invited to attend theFu‐neral ServiceonFriday, March 20, 2026, at 10:00am atMorning Star Missionary Baptist 6339 Providence Pl New OrleansLA70126. Rev. MarvinHudson, Sr.ofﬁciat‐ing (NoViewing). Profes‐sionalArrangementsEn‐trusted to Majestic Mortu‐ary (504) 523-5872.

Richmond,PaulNorman

Paul Norman Richmond, age99, wascalledhometo theLordonSaturday, March14, 2026. God's honey-do list wasgrowing, andPaulwas just theone forthe job. Paul waspre‐cededindeath by hispar‐ents,NormanKirby Rich‐mond andAlice Scoﬁeld Richmond;his sisters, Kathrynand Diana; andhis youngestson,Robert "Bobby"Richmond. He is survived by hisdevoted wife of 56 years, AnnDar‐lene;his children:Pam Norman,Sandy,CJ, and June;his grandchildren: Clinton, Dean,Rachel, Zachary, Nathaniel, Su‐sanna,Jessica,and Joe Joe; andhis great-grand‐children:Sean, Addison,

Dylan, andAbigail. Born in Salt Lake City in 1926, Paul spenthis earlyyears mov‐ingwithhis family firstto Chicagoand then to Lake‐view,New Orleans, where he came into hisown as a young man. He joined the localmodel airplane club worked as abikecourier forthe neighborhood drug‐store, andattended War‐renEastonHighSchool.In 1944, at eighteen yearsold, he wasinductedintothe U.S. Navy andtrained as a PT boat crewman, earning therateofFireman First Classand servinginthe Philippineswiththe 7th Fleet during WorldWar II. Back in NewOrleans,Paul got to work andnever re‐ally stopped. He worked as amechanicatthe first Harley-Davidsonshopin town,spent nearly two decadesatthe family busi‐ness, La-MoRefractory Supply Company, and filled thegapswithcarpentry andhandymanworkthat showcasedwhateveryone whoknewhim alreadyun‐derstood:ifPaulRichmond wasdoing it,itwas going to be done right. In later yearshekeptupthe rental properties he andDarlene ownedtogether, fixing and improvingthemthe same way he dideverythingelse. Outsideofworkthere was always aproject andal‐waysa purpose. As a young manitwas his1948 Harley-DavidsonPanhead, andasthe yearswentonit became hamradio,slot cars,computerbuilding, andkeepingthe pool at the Richmond Resort in solid order. In thelate1980s, while going door-to-door with Darlenetogather sig‐naturesfor alocal cause, Paul discovered Light‐houseBaptist Church around thecornerfromhis home.Soon after, he ac‐cepted Christ as hissavior, andhis faithbecamethe foundation of hisremain‐ingdecades.Paulwas a quick-witted, strongminded,and alwayscuri‐oustinkerer, with acrafts‐man'shands andanengi‐neer's mind.Heap‐proached everything at 200% -there was no halfway, no good enough no leavinga jobunfinished Things he builtlasted. Paul believed in hard work,re‐sponsibility,and theim‐portance of making things better,and he instilled thosevaluesinhis family alongwitha senseofpur‐pose andaccountability that he livedbyevery day. He kept them laughing and smilinguntil theveryend

Lavigne, BobbyRomel

Parker,RoseAlma Narcisse 'Te-Fee'

Rose

"Te-Fee"

Jackson,

OUR VIEWS

Moreno is approaching sanitation shortfall the rightway

Of all the things Helena Moreno hoped to do when she was running for mayor of New Orleans, raising the sanitation fee was not on her list.

YetasMoreno continuestowork her way throughatrial-by-ﬁre of aﬁrst year,she announced last week that she’d ask the City Counciltoraise the $24 monthly charge residents now pay via their water bills.

We give her credit for playing it straight with residents about the extreme ﬁnancial shortfalls the city faces —and also for looking under every rock forways to minimizethe pain for those who are already feeling pinched.

We know many residents still pine for areturn to the twice-weekly pickup thecityprovided before Hurricane Ida struck in 2021. Yet even once aweek, the cost now far exceeds the amount collected forsanitation.

Thecurrent $24 million difference comes out of the city’sgeneral fund, which is already under enormous pressure; Moreno warns that if the fee isn’tincreased,it couldlead tocuts in other vital city functions such as public safety. That’sone good argument in favor of raising the fee. Another is that it has not gone up since 2011. Morenoproposes that future fees rise as costs do, so that no othermayor has tolook at as steep ahike. There’salsothe basic principle of soundbudgeting that calls for fees to fully cover the services they are meant tofund.

Thatsaid, we were glad tosee Moreno pause her request until Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack’sofﬁce can perform an audit to ensure that the city only pays to pick up trash from eligible properties. Moreno has also talked about renegotiating the collection fee that the city pays the Sewerage &Water Board. Both moves will hopefully translate into a smaller increase.

The cost of trash pickup, of course, is just one piece of amuch larger challenge Moreno faces, not just at City Hall but at the water board,which the mayor leads as its designated president and which has seen multiple water main breaks during Moreno’sﬁrst months in ofﬁce.

That’sa lot to face allatonce, but at this point, Moreno still has plentyofgoodwill.

Agood way to keep it is tokeep doing what she’sdoing: makeacase that sacrifices are fair and necessary,focus on making systemic fixes that can get the city out of this cycle of dysfunction —and most of all, keep the financial burden on residents top of mind. It certainly is topofmind for the people who electedher

YOUR VIEWS

DirectionofLevee Board ledtothisresignation

The time has cometomove on from theFlood Protection Authority

Iapplied at the urging of mynephew Jesse Noel, and Iexpected anonpolitical group of professionals to oversee theﬂood control systems to protect our citizens, one of whom is my 4-yearoldgranddaughter,who lives mere blocks from theLondon Street Canal wall failure in Katrina.

The citizens were very clear that they wanted the authority’sprimary mission to be ﬂood control.

Lately,the mission has changed, and Ihave no expertise in running apolice department.

The authority now has aﬂood control-trained regional director,which is important in hurricane events and which was my primary goal this past year

The authority now has anew board that is moving in directions that are contrary to my original goal, whether good or bad, we will see at the next event.

It is important for the board to understand maintenance of thelevees such as grass cutting, pumps to keep water levels low in the outfall canals, and gates to be closedinatimely manner to accommodate citizens and commerce, which are critical to the continued existence of the New Orleans area. Shortly,the Army Corps and Coastal Protection andRestoration Authority will have to raise theearthen levees as they were designed to subside and have theopportunitytoraise them to a 200-year protection. This will takeapproximately $380 million for Louisiana’s share of the cost. The authority waswell on its way to raising these funds and needs to continue to be alert to spending to continue raising thesefunds. Iwish thenew board and regional director thebest, as we all will be counting on them.

K. RANDALL NOEL formercommissioner,South Louisiana Flood Protection Authority —East

In push forcannabis,afamiliar story

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

Ibegan smoking cigarettes at about age 16. When Ibegan, back in theearly 1950s, it was considered “cool” and was not thought to be all that dangerous. At leastthat is what the tobacco industry told us. Today themarijuana peddlers are preaching thevery same thingabout their product to theterminally gullible of this generation. In hindsight,wemust have been really naive not to equate the nausea, vertigo and choking cough that attended the initial “smoking breaking-in period” with areally unhealthy activity.Over thepast few years, there has been an all-out push by several state governing bodies to makethe use and possession of cannabis for “recreational” purposes legal. At thesame time, millions of dollars extorted from tobacco companies are allegedly being used by these same governing bodies to dissuade their citizens from smoking tobacco products. According to our omniscient elected

public servants, thehealth risks from smoking tobacco are just plain unacceptable.

Ignored in all of this is the undisputable fact that the very same“unacceptable health risks” apply equally to smoking rope. Actually,equally is not accurate.

Addtolung cancer,heart failure, stroke, et al, known to result from thebreathing of smoldering vegetation fumes, the inherent dangers of abunch of fog-brained “cool folks” plowing our interstates in ahempinduced state of grace, trashing innocents with their uncontrolled two-ton missiles,and the danger is multiplied. When thebody count gets to acertain level, some future guru will decide to sue thegrass industry and awhole gaggle of our “publicservants” will lead the charge to remove this horrible public blight,atasubstantial proﬁt to themselves, Iwould imagine.

WILLIAM M. FAULKNER Slidell

It’s simplistic to divide country into liberalsand conservatives

Iget tired of people such as letterwriter Duke Truby of Mandeville who think that the world is divided up into “liberals” and “conservatives.” Iamawell-over-50 print subscriber to this newspaper who proudly labels himself ano-party moderate. That means that ultra-conservatives think that Iama“liberal” and ultra-liberals think that Iama“conservative.”

Rather than making everything a political litmus test, Iammore interested in thinking intelligently about issues. Like constitutionality.Like freedom of speech and the press. Like the commonwelfare. Like all those other things in the founding documents of our country

In the very issue in which Truby accuses this paper of political bias, the entire facing page was devoted to examining the Louisiana Republican primary candidates for U.S. Senate. Iwould like to think that this paper will devote the same space to the Democrat candidates. There are as many registered Democrats in the state as Republicans. But Idoubt that it will.

It has thus far given little acknowledgement of them beyond dismissing them as not contenders. Looking at the issue critically,Ican say that this reﬂects the political reality in this state.

But if Ilook at it through the way Truby views things, Iwould have to decide that if this paper is biased at all, it is biased in favor of conservatives.

Ithink this paper does apretty good job of walking the line of political balance and of keeping us informed in a factual manner

Sure, if Iwanted to argue that it is biased, Icould cherry-pick articles as tending to support one extremeposition or the other

But anewspaper that runs both comic strips “Doonesbury” and “Mallard Fillmore” can’tbeentirely biased.

KENNETH RICHARDS Gretna

Musicexperiencewillreverberate throughLa.’s cultureand economy

What began as the Funky Tucksis nowever closerto launching thegreatestmuseum of music in the nation —a cultural, educational and economic boostfor all of Louisiana.

The LouisianaMusic and Heritage Experience on March 4signed an ofﬁcial letter of intent with the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to build and operate a120,000-square-foot facility replete with interactive music exhibits, live music venues, training in the music industry, and educational offeringsto share with classrooms statewide. Oh, and good food, too,because Louisiana music and food go together like coffee and chicory

suggested they put alive band on the ﬂoat and,said Beary, “produce it like a musicclub,” with“studio-qualitysound for 360 degrees all around theﬂoat.”

As acrucial adjunct to theneighboring River District, the new museum offers breathtaking possibilities for lovers of jazz, blues, Cajun, zydeco R&B, street funk and other musical forms that were birthed or crucially boosted here in Louisiana. As an economic driver,meanwhile, it could make it substantially easier for musicians and sound technicians to makea living at theircrafts, whiledriving tourism statewide.

Much of this, including details on ﬁnancing the $165 million project and other numbers, has been ably recounted in these pages by reporter StephanieRiegel. But sometimes numbers don’ttell the whole story,and sometimes the “back story” can help explain why the numberswork so well. The back story here has wonderful twists and turns, but the thumbnail sketch is this: Local entrepreneur Chris Beary is captain of FunkyTucks, asub-krewe of the Tuckscarnival parade.When Funky Tucks added a new ﬂoat to the few it had,a friend

Theﬂoat, which debuted in 2018, was ahuge hit.That led to usingthe ﬂoat year-round as a movable bandstand for fairs or charitable events, or whatever And that led, through other steps, to the Funky Uncle group, which,beginning during the COVID pandemic, raised more than $1 million for musicians andgig workers. Eventually,Beary said, he “started to realize that there was agiant cavern, if youwill, between how we as Louisiananslaud our affection for,and almost worship, our music culture, and how we actually treat it.” How, he pondered, could we better nurture our music industry?

“Things like Mardi Gras, things like Jazz Fest, they bring people in hereto spend real money for ashort window of time,” hesaid. “Weneed something that willbring people here every day ” From therecame, ﬁrst,the NOLA Funk Fest, already ahugely popular October event, and now thedrive, with greatmomentum, to build amuseum andculture/education center second to none in the nation.

Onelesson we can take here is that, at each step of doing something bigger and better than theprevious iteration, the audience and popularity grew That, in turn,hints at theanswer to the onepressing question: Will amuseum andcultural center like this just rearrangethe spending of the tourists whocome to New Orleansannually anyway,orwill it act as aforce multiplier? Will it not justslice up the available pieinmoreways, but instead lead

to moreand better pies, and beyond New Orleanstoother Louisiana places where musical genres had their roots and where musicaﬁcionados might be inspired to visit because themuseum promotes them?

Plenteousevidence from other major music museums—the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, for example, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville —indicatethat these places are indeed major, major force multipliers. That is certainly how area music-venue operators seem to see thecoming museum.

“I think this is something that this area really needs and deserves, at the caliber (Beary) is talking about bringing into fruition,” said Rachael Arrington, general manager of the Maple Leaf near New Orleans’riverbend, as she pronounced it “absolutely” promising. In just four years before the pandemic, from 2015 to2019, the number of visitors to New Orleansalone (not to mention therest of thestate) doubled from 9.78 million to 19.75 million —and in 2025, it again exceeded 19 million. Still, thehotel-motel occupancy rate statewide hovers down near 60%, leaving plenty of room for growth. Andsurveys show music, in boththe southand northofthe state, is signiﬁcantly more of an attractant to visitors here than in other parts of thecountry

In sum, themuseum-plus being developed by theLouisiana Music and Heritage Experience is close to asure thingasaproverbial win-win-win for thewhole state. As it moves through various phases of the approval and ﬁnancing processes, it amply merits enthusiastic choruses of support.

Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

GOP’sepiphanyisa badlook

Throughout his second termas president, Donald Trump hasenjoyeda bounty of forgiveness from his MAGA constituents and Republicans generally No bad turn has goneunappreciated. Until now Suddenly,the White House and Republicans in Congress seem compelled to changethe party’stune to de-emphasizesome prized aspirations such as mass deportationand vaccine pullbacks ahead of the midtermelections They must have noticed that many voters, notjust Democrats,have been turned off by the administration’sdeportation and health policies as well as the killings of innocent Americans by out-of-controlimmigration agents. Even if many Americans supporta secure southern border,they’rehaving a hard time swallowing the mass removal of people who were not criminals but law-abiding folks with homes, families and jobs. They may be herewithout permission, but this isn’twhatwemean by “criminal,” and MAGA knowsit. Arguing that entering the country illegally ipso facto makes people “criminals” stretchesbeyond even what Trump means when he talks about getting rid of the worst of the worst

More than half of the people deported by midsummer 2025 had no criminal conviction, according to aWashington Post analysis. Nearly 60% of Americans say Trump has gone too far with his immigration policies, according to aWashington Post-ABC News-Ipsospoll. And 62% oppose aggressivetactics by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Althoughone might wish for higher numbers, these ﬁgures showaccountabilityand voting remain important When askedbyThe Post last month what range of deportations he supports, Trump said: “I want to seeeverybody” deported, “but we’re focusing onthe criminals. We’re focusing on killers.” By this,one might assume he’sincluding the immigration agents who fatally shot two civilians in Minneapolis Iwouldn’tmind seeing the guys who killed Renée Good and AlexPretti perp walked into Alligator Alcatraz forsome time outwithother criminals.Maybe dog-killing cowgirl KristiL.Noem, whom Trump recentlyremoved as homeland security secretary,could join them. Now that would be good TV It’s refreshing to hear aRepublican senator, ThomTillis of NorthCarolina, speak up againsta Trump appointee, demanding her exit.Tillis excoriated Noem at aMarch 3Senatehearing for killingher 14-month-old dog. Tillis called Noem’sleadership a“disaster” and slammed herbook’sframing of the dogkilling as a“leadership lesson.” Pleasemakemedictator for one day Whatmatters, of course, isn’tTrump’s policies, or the people —and puppy —who suffered under Noem.It’sthe midterms. And that meansRepublicans largely have to reinvent themselvesto win.It’shardtowin when you’re awful. Thus, congressional leadersmeeting in Florida for arecent retreat were instructed by party and WhiteHouse ofﬁcials to avoid talking about mass deportationand focus instead on removing violent criminals from theUnited States. EvenTrumphas begun walking backhis campaign promise of deporting up to 20 million undocumented immigrants (more thanare actually here) andinstead is calling for protections for undocumented workers in hospitality andagriculture jobs.

In arelated matter,Republicans are also retreating from attacking the COVID-19mRNAvaccines,fearing that changes to vaccine policycould hurt them in the midterms. Members of a

federal vaccine advisory board handpicked by Healthand Human Services Secretary RobertF.Kennedy Jr.had been weighing aplan to no longer recommend the shots because of debunked claims thatDNA contaminants in the vaccines were harmful.

Rationally,ifImay so speak, pickingapolicy or altering aplan for such transparently political reasons should only undermine conﬁdence in HHS and Republicans,rather than inspirevoters to race to thepolls and securemoreof the same. Such cynical messaging is hardly revolutionary strategizing. The goalis always to maintain power,and messaging is the means On thatscore, Democrats need only not screw up. Their messageshave already been toldbyRepublicans:the twodead Americans in Minneapolis, the 5-year-old boy detained by ICE agents in the freezing cold, mass deportations of non-criminals and now rising gas prices thatprobably will worsenfor weeks if not months It is pleasantly ironic that Trump, who has been attacking democratic institutions for years, is having to adjusttothe most basic institution, one thathecan’t get around: voting.

Email Kathleen Parker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

AfterDorothy Parker’ssecond, or perhaps third, suicide attempt, afriend said, “Dottie, if youdon’t stopthis sort of thing, you’ll make yourself sick.” Someone should speak similarly to the Democratic Party Its 2024 presidentialdefeat wasaconsequenceofits selection of its 2020 candidate, who was the party’sidea of awise response to its 2016 defeat.Today,Democrats who evidently don’twant to stopthis sort of thing look longingly at Gavin Newsom. There is this to be said for the Californianaspresidential timber: He hashad eight years of executive experience governing acomplexstate with apopulationlargerthanPoland’s, andan economy largerthanJapan’s He hascoped with crises made by nature (e.g., wildfires) andeven worse ones made by policies(read on). To be said against him are: those eight years. Immigration is the sincerest form of disparagement of the place fledfrom. California, which has gainedcongressional seatsafter everydecennialcensus sinceattaining statehood in 1850, probably will lose four after2030. Texasprobably will gain four,thanks partly to disgust with the continuity of Newsom’sgovernancewith California’s“blue state model” of subservience to public-employee unions. Tesla andChevron are among the California companiesthathavemoved their headquarters to Texas. California’sfinest cultural institution—not Stanford; In-N-Out Burger —has expanded its offices to Tennessee California hasthe nation’shighest unemployment rate and, notcoincidentally,a$16.90 per hour minimum wage, 2.3timesthe federal minimum. California is tiedwith Louisiana for the highest poverty rate, taking account of the costofliving in both places. California’s highest-in-the-nationgas tax is more than double the median state tax. In 2024, California’s averageretailpricefor electricity was more thandouble the national average. Because of zoning andotherscarcity-producing regulations, the median sale price of aCalifornia home is approaching $900,000. This is asmall sample of California’spolicy-made problems. Nevertheless, Newsom is perceivedasthe front-runner for his party’snomination. As was Maine’s Democratic Sen. Edmund Muskie in January 1972. As was RepublicanRudy Giuliani as 2008 dawned. Both limped out of the New Hampshire primary and into the sunset. Vogue hasjust published an adoring profile of Newsom. The 5,317 words begin with these:“He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence.” ThenVogue shifts into high-gear gush: “lithe,ardent, energetic, aglimmer of optimism in his eye; Kennedy-esque.” This is the most beyond-satire puff piece sinceVanity Fair’sApril 2019 coverstory on aTexas congressmanwho wasthe flavorof the month for aboutamonth amongthe tiny sliverofvoterswho think Vanity Fair is aprofound guide to U.S. politics. Remember Beto O’Rourke?Few do

Emulating Donald Trump’sALL CAPS effusions on social media,Newsom has posted depictions of the president as Marie Antoinette in drag, andasgrotesquely obese, gorging himself on Big Macs delivered by swarms of drones. This is exactly what the nationdoes notneed:a Democratic presidential candidate bent on subtracting from whatever national decorum hassurvived the current president. Campaigning for president six decades ago, Alabama’sDemocratic Gov.George Wallace said, “Hell, we got too muchdignity in government now.”Wehavesolved that problem. And if 2028 voters want ajuvenile president, JD Vancewill more than suffice. Newsom’snonstopflaying of Trump is neitherbrave,nor interesting, nor pertinent: Elections areabout the future, which does notinclude Trump. Newsom’sTrump fixation panders to obsessed progressives, but identificationwith themisNewsom’s problem.He should try saying something anything surprising or witty

Forany Democrat with nationalaspirations, coping with the party’sprogressive wing is like holding awolfbythe ears: Canyou letgo without being mauled? Newsom is eithergoing to ﬁnd out, or be mauled by the national electoratefor notletting go.Having made it in California,hefaces this possibility: If you can make it there,you can’tmake it anywhere else

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost. com.

Quin Hillyer

George Will

Kathleen Parker

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREENIKHINSON

President Donald Trumppauses after signing an executiveorder in the Oval Office on Monday

with meteorologist DamonSingleton

Well, apartlycloudyand mild Wednesdaywillbefollowedbya mostly sunnyand warmer Thursday.Temperatures this afternoon will rise to themid-70s,which is just about wheretheyshould

expect mostly clear and chilly conditions tonight and higher temperaturestomorrow.

DEATHS continued from enriched by hiskindness and love.Inadditiontohis parents,Robertisalsopre‐ceded in deathbysiblings, Charles Ricks andCynthia Jackson.A Celebrationser‐vicehonoringthe life and legacyofthe late Robert Lee Rickswillbeheldat Mount NeboBible Church, 1720 Flood Street,New Or‐leans,LA70117 on Satur‐day,March 21, 2026 at 1 pm, Rev. CharlesDuplessis, Ofﬁciating. IntermentPri‐vate. Visitation 12 noon in the church.Pleasesignon‐lineguestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Family andfriends arein‐vited to join thefamilyfor a repass at thechurch im‐mediately followingthe service,where lovedones willgathertoshare memo‐riesand celebratethe life ofa manwhose warmth faith andkindnesstouched somany. Robert’s legacy of love, compassion,and de‐votiontofamilywillliveon forever in theheartsof those who knew andloved him.CharbonnetLabat Glapion,Directors (504)581 4411.

Ricks, Robert Lee

Robert LeeRicks,age 75, passedonSunday, March 8,2026. Sonofthe late James Jacoband Ottomese Ricks-Coleman.Survivors include hisbeloved wife, Carolyn AnnAlverez Ricks; children, RobinLenorePen‐nicooke(Dwight), Keyonne Yonkell Spencer(James) and BrandenLee Ricks. Proud anddevoted grand‐fatherofMackenzie Janell and Maci AbigailMcGafﬁe and Zion Ja'Ron Ricks, who brought tremendous pride and joyintohis life;loving sisters,MaryJacob and Elizabeth Spencer, along withmanyother extended familymembers anddear friendswhose liveswere

Riser, DorisAnn

DorisAnn Riser, a beloved matriarchand cherished presence in her familyand community passedawayonMarch 14, 2026, in Madisonville Louisiana.BornonOctober 2,1951, in NewOrleans Louisiana,Doris liveda life markedbylove, kindness and an open heartthat touched allwho hadthe privilege to know her. A legendinher family, Doris was knownfor herheart of goldand herabilityto never meet astranger. Her outgoing nature andloving spiritmadeher acentral ﬁgure—a beacon of warmthand joy. As ade‐voted wife,mother, grand‐mother, andgreat-grand‐mother, shepouredher loveintoher family abun‐dantly,leaving alegacy

Thomas,Myrtle Olivia Berfect

Thompson,Kevin George 'Potato'

that will carry on through generations.She is sur‐vived by herdevoted hus‐band, CharlesRiser,who sharedhis life andlove withDoris throughmany joyfulyears.Doris’children DorisHolmes(James) HectorEchevarria (Melissa), Evette Darby (Joseph), ErnieBarnes, PriscillaBowden(Chris) and DevinBarnes—carry forward hernurturing spiritand strength.Her grandchildren,Candace Foreman,James Holmes III, Alyssa Roberts, Bailey Mc‐Nemar,CodySavoy,Madi‐son Kirkﬁeld, Joseph Darby III, Morgan Bowden Makenna Bowden,Zander Bowden, andAbigail Barnes, alongwithcount‐lessgreat-grandchildren are atestament to thelov‐ing familyDoris continu‐ously nurtured. Dorisalso leavesbehindtreasured siblings: Illuminado Santi‐ago Jr., Betty Morris, Eve‐lyn Burks, EdithAlford, and auntssuchasEunice Riser, who treasuredher deeply The familycircleblossoms further with nieces nephews,cousins,and manyfriends who allfelt the lightand kindness she sharedsofreely. Shewas precededindeath by her parents,IlluminadoSanti‐ago Sr.and PetraNieves Santiago, who no doubt smile down upon theextra‐ordinarywoman their daughterbecame. Shealso mourned thelossofher brother LouisSantiago, yet his memory remains stronginthe hearts of those left behind.Services tohonor Doris’ remarkable lifewillbeheldatBagnell & SonFuneralHomein Covington,Louisiana.Visi‐tationwilltakeplace on March 20, 2026, from 11:00 a.m.to1:00p.m., followed bythe funeralservice from 1:00p.m.to2:00p.m.These moments will gather those who lovedher to celebrate a life so beautifullylived Doris AnnRiser’s passing leavesa profound spacein the hearts of allwho knew her—yet herlovingspirit, her laughter,and her boundless generosity en‐surethatshe will never truly be gone. Shewas, and always will be,a shin‐ing light—aheart of gold whose legacy is etched forever in thefabricofher familyand community.She truly wasa soul who never met astranger, whose love was agifttoall.May we carry hermemorygently and hold it closewiththe samewarmthand grace shegavetousall.

Myrtle Olivia Berfect Thomas,a resident of Bowie, Maryland,and ana‐tive of NewOrleans Louisiana, peacefully tran‐sitioned at theblessedage of 88, on March7,2026. Myrtle wasprecededin deathbyher late father, Samuel BerfectSr.,mother, Ruth ReeseBerfect,step‐mother,MattieBellBer‐fect,brother,SamuelBer‐fect Jr., (Sonja), sisters Glenda BerfectHenry,Ruth BerfectDickerson (Nolan), andRubyBerfect Veal (Jerome).She is survived by herson,Michael (Cheryl),granddaughter Micaa',brothers, John Ber‐fect (Carlene), Nathaniel Berfect, PeterBerfect (An‐nette), andDavid Berfect, sisters, JoyceBerfect Shel‐ton(JamesJr.,deceased) NeomiBerfect-Culler (Jerome),and Dr.Cynthia Berfect-Shelby (Huegh, Sr.).She leaves twogod‐children:WeldenShelton andAngie Mickens. She also leaves ahostof nieces,nephews,cousins, anddearfriends whowill forevercherish hermem‐ory. Myrtle wasa member of NewZionBaptist Church in NewOrleans under the leadership of Pastor C. S. Gordon Jr whereshe faithfully sang in thechoir Relativesand friendsofthe family,alsoPastor, ofﬁcers andmembers of NewZion BaptistChurch,Progres‐sive BaptistChurch, SammyBerfect andthe Di‐mensions of Faith, andVal andLoveAlive Choirs are invitedtoattend her HomegoingCelebration at NewZionBaptist Church, 2319 ThirdStreet,New Or‐leans, La.70113, on Friday, March20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will beginat 8:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. servicetime. Interment: Restlawn Park Cemetery, 3540 US-Hwy.90, Avondale LA 70094. Arrangements entrustedtoEstelle J. Wil‐sonFuneralHome, Inc., 2715 Danneel St NOLA 70113. Information: (504) 895-4903. To sign online

KevinGeorge“Potato”

Thompsonentered eternal restonMarch 2, 2026, at the ageof63. Born in New Orleans,Louisiana,hewas a proudgraduateofJohn McDonough High School, Class of 1982. Kevindedi‐cated many yearsofser‐vicetothe NewOrleans PublicSchool System.He later movedtoGeorgia where he worked at South‐ern Regional Hospital,Ful‐ton CountyCourt,Lock‐heed Martin,and Georgia Tech. Throughout hislife, Kevin wasknown forhis dedication, kindness, and strongworkethic.Kevin was preceded in deathby his mother andstepfather, LyvoneHarness andJohn “Billy” Thomas;his father, Charles Thompson;and his brother,Keith Thompson Heleavestocherish his memoryhis loving spouse Terri Thompson;his daugh‐ter,BrittanyPhillips(Jer‐imy Sr.) Sims;three grand‐sonsand onegranddaugh‐ter;two godchildren; two sisters andtwo brothers; and ahostofaunts, un‐cles, nieces,nephews cousins,relatives,and friends.Relatives and friends areinvited to at‐tendthe FuneralService on Saturday, March21, 2026 for 10:00 a.m. at TheBoyd FamilyFuneralHome, 5001 ChefMenteur Hwy.,New Orleans,Louisiana 70126 Visitationwillbegin at 9:00 a.m.PastorHenry Mason, ofﬁciating. Burial will fol‐low at Providence Memor‐ial Park Cemetery, Metairie, Louisiana. Guest‐book Online:www.anewtra ditionbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear Brooks Boyd

guestbook,pleasevisit www.estellejwilsonfh.com. andDonavin D. Boyd Own‐ers/Funeral Directors. Thereisnow aMr. Rich‐mond-sized hole in allof ourhearts, butwe ﬁnd comfortknowing he is somewherewithout pain or suffering(andsome‐wherehecan climba 20foot ladder or pull himself outofanempty pool with aropewithout giving Dar‐lene aheart attack). We were so luckytohavehad himfor as long as we did, buthewillstill be so deeply andendlessly missed. Thefamilywould like to thankJennifer Sanchez, RoseyDeLaTour, Dr.David Pollet,Scott Burgess, andCherryl Scott of HeartofHospice as well as theKindred Angels for theircompassionate care andsupport.Familyand friendsare invitedtoat‐tend thememorialservices on Saturday,March 21, 2026,atGardenofMemo‐ries FuneralHome& Ceme‐tery,4900Airline Drive, Metairie,Louisiana 70001. Visitationwillbegin at 10:00 am,witha service following at 12:00 pm fol‐lowedbyburial. To order ﬂowersoroffercondo‐lences,pleasevisit www gardenofmemoriesmetairi e.com.

Lachovia “Joy”White,Li‐censedClinicalSocial Worker, wasbornonDe‐cember29, 1981. Shede‐partedthislifeonThurs‐day,March 12, 2026. Sheis precededindeath by her daughter, RubeighSkyLoveFarr; mother,RubyL WebbWhite;and brother, ArgellWhite.Joy is sur‐vived by herdaughter, PaightonLin Martin;fa‐ther, LarryWhite Sr (Pamela); brothers,Larry Jr. (Rayonda), Eric White, Larry Branch;and one stepsister, Tyrionne Mc‐Caskill.She is also sur‐vived by oneniece,Kaylan O.White;two nephews, Malik Whiteand Larry WhiteIII alongwitha host ofaunts,uncles, family and friends. Family and friends areinvited to the FuneralService honoring the life andlegacyofLa‐chovia"Joy" WhiteatRis‐ing Star BaptistChurch, 1350 S. Laurel St Metairie LAonSaturday, March21, 2026 at 10:00 am.Visitation at9:00am. Reverend David Jenkins ofﬁciating. Inter‐ment: Providence Memor‐ial Park Cemetery,8200 Air‐lineDr.,Metairie, LA Pleasesignthe online guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Charbonnet LabatGlapion Directors,(504) 581-4411.

White, Lachovia 'Joy'

SPORTS

A ‘Touch’ of class

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

OPELOUSAS — Jake Delhomme is used to people being starstruck

The Breaux Bridge native was a star quarterback for 11 seasons in the NFL, earning spots in the Carolina Panthers Hall of Honor and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He’s a big deal in just about every corner of Cajun Country

So when Lonnie Briley jumped down from his perch overlooking the training track at the Copper Crowne Equestrian Center on a recent morning and ambled over to see Delhomme outside his barn, the former NFL star took it in stride.

“I’ve only seen him on TV,” Briley said with a wide grin. “I’m excited to ﬁnally see him in person.”

It wasn’t talking Delhomme, though, that had Briley gobsmacked. It was the strapping brown colt loping by Delhomme’s side: Touchuponastar

“What’s not to like about him?” Briley said, circling the handsome thoroughbred like he was sizing up a new car on the sales lot. “He’s the best horse in Louisiana.”

Briley knows a good horse when he sees one. The veteran trainer from Opelousas has won more than 350 races in his 36-year training career and saddled Coal Battle in the Kentucky Derby last year. But he might be understating Touchuponastar’s credentials. An argument can be made that Delhomme’s speedy Louisiana-bred is the fastest horse in America.

“Touch,” as he’s known around the Delhomme barn, has won a remarkable 20 of 27 lifetime races and earned more than $1.7 million, making him the third-highest earning Louisianabred of all time. He’s entered to run in the $500,000 Grade II New Orleans Classic on Saturday at the Fair Grounds, where he’ll try to repeat the most signiﬁcant win of his illustrious career against a field of five other older stakes horses.

“I’m biased, but I think he’s the best Louisiana-bred to ever live,” said Jeff Delhomme, Jake’s older brother,

who serves as the ofﬁcial trainer for Touch. “Who’s to say, but I think he’s the best horse in the country.” A heritage in horse racing Horses have run in the Delhomme family for three generations. Jake’s grandfather, Sanders Delhomme, raced quarter horses at bush tracks in the Breaux Bridge and Carencro areas during the 1940s and 1950s. Their father, Jerry, started riding for his father at the age of 8 and eventually

ä See DELHOMME, page 5C

through a stable on March 6 at the Copper

Saints still have ‘plenty of stuff to navigate’

A look at key positions New Orleans needs to tackle

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

The ﬁrst wave of free agency is over. That doesn’t mean the New Orleans Saints are done. Even after their ﬂurry of moves last week, the Saints continue to explore their options That’s because NFL teams consistently seek upgrades, and New Orleans is no exception And the Saints know they can’t plug every hole in a week.

“There’s plenty of stuff to navigate,” coach Kellen Moore said last week Here are the three spots they notably have left to tackle.

Cornerback

Notable free agents still available: Trevon Diggs, Marshon Lattimore, L’Jarius Sneed, Adoree’ Jackson

Alontae Taylor left the Saints to sign a three-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, creating arguably the biggest hole on New

Orleans’ roster Specifically, the Saints will have to replace Taylor’s presence on the inside — a role crucial in defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s scheme. But keep in mind that doesn’t necessarily have to be filled by a cornerback. Staley loved using safety Derwin James inside when he coached the Los Angeles Chargers. That makes Ohio State safety Caleb Downs a tempting selection if he’s still available when the Saints draft eighth overall in April. Regardless of whether Downs is available, the draft probably makes the most sense to replace Taylor LSU’s Mansoor Delane is seen as the best cornerback in this year’s class, but there’s solid depth if the Saints prefer not to address the spot in Round 1. In free agency, there are several veterans who would be reclamation projects at this stage of their careers Sneed, for instance, fits what the Saints have pursued in recent years, as he has local ties and once played for the Kansas City Chiefs, but hasn’t looked like the same player since injuries derailed his two-year stint with the Titans General manager Mickey Loomis has shown a

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

Pelicans overcome slow start to defeat Clippers

BY LES EAST Contributing writer

The New Orleans Pelicans started slowly and quickly turned things around in a 124-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in the Smoothie King Center

The Pelicans trailed by as many as 18 points in the ﬁrst quarter, allowed 40 points in the first quarter, but caught up by halftime and dominated the second half for their sixth consecutive home victory Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy had 23, Dejounte Murray, returning from a one-game absence due to illness ﬁnished with 17 points and 11 assists, Derik Queen and Zion Williamson scored 14 each and Jeremiah Fears added 11 for New Orleans (23-47), which won for the ninth time in 13 games and will try to earn a tie in the season series when it faces the Clippers (34-35) again at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Smoothie King Center Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, John

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

This LSU women’s basketball team knows how to score. Coach Kim Mulkey has said it before, and she’ll likely say it again on Friday, when her Tigers begin their NCAA Tournament run. LSU has played 32 games, and it’s still having a historically productive offensive season Just ask Oklahoma, the top-16 national seed that advanced to the SEC Tournament quarterﬁnals on March 6 and quickly found itself on the business end of a 112-78 beatdown.

“I’ve got a group,” Mulkey said that night, “they all can score the ball, as you saw today.” That group has only a few contests left to play, which means it’s now on the verge of breaking two longstanding records. LSU is essentially guaranteed to finish its season with the best scoring average in SEC history And if it can put up 100 points just one more time, then it’ll tie Long

Former NFL star Delhomme enjoying his run with ‘the horse of a lifetime’

Former UL quarterback Jake Delhomme leads his horse, Touchuponastar,

Crowne Equestrian Center in Opelousas. STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

AP FILE PHOTO By JEFF LEWIS

Tennessee Titans cornerback L’Jarius Sneed warms up before playing against the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas. Sneed is a free agent.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD Pelicans guard Saddiq Bey shoots a 3-pointer during the first half of a game against the L.A. Clippers on Wednesday at the Smoothie King Center

ä See PELICANS, page 3C

7 p.m. Oklahoma at LSU ESPNU

7 p.m. Kentucky at Ole Miss SEC NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT

11:15 a.m. TCU vs. Ohio State CBS

11:40 a.m. Troy vs Nebraska TruTV

12:30 p.m. South Florida vs Louisville TNT

12:50 p.m. High Point vs.Wisconsin TBS

1:50 p.m. Siena vs. Duke CBS

2:15

3:05

5:50 p.m.

Some stars missing from NCAA Tournament

BY JOHN MARSHALL AP sportswriter

Top-ranked Duke earned the No 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament behind star freshman Cameron Boozer and an overpowering inside game.

But as the Blue Devils embark on what they hope will be a deep March Madness run, coach Jon Scheyer is having to make some adjustments with two key players dealing with injuries

Point guard Caleb Foster suffered a broken right foot in the regular-season ﬁnale against No 21 North Carolina and likely will be out until the Final Four, should the Blue Devils get that far

The news on big man Patrick Ngongba II is a little better He missed the ACC tournament with a foot injury, but could be ready to play in Thursday’s opener against No. 16 seed Siena.

“I can tell you he’s improving,” Scheyer said “I feel very positive about it, but I can’t say what that means as far as later in the week in terms of timing or readiness, because we have to take it step by step.”

Duke isn’t the only team dealing with injuries.

Several teams, some with high seeds, will have to navigate March Madness without key players.

J.T. Toppin, No. 20 Texas Tech

Toppin was one of the nation’s best big men this season, earning first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press after being a second-teamer last year

Toppin’s torn ACL suffered against Arizona State on Feb 17 leaves a hole in the No. 20 Red Raiders’ lineup.

The 6-foot-9 junior averaged 21.8 points on 55% shooting from the ﬂoor and 10.8 rebounds while leading Texas Tech with 43 blocked shots. The Red Raiders went 3-3 without him, falling to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tourna-

ment.

Texas Tech faces No. 12 seed Akron on Friday in Tampa, Florida, in its opener Caleb Wilson, No. 21 North Carolina

The 6-10 forward was one of the nation’s best freshman the first part of the season, leading the Tar Heels with 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 58% from the floor Injuries derailed his season. Wilson first broke his left hand and was close to returning when he broke his right thumb in a noncontact drill in practice. He had season-ending surgery in early March.

Wilson still was a second-team AP All-American, but his loss will leave North Carolina with a big hole as March continues.

The No. 6 seed Tar Heels play No 11 VCU on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina.

Richie Saunders, BYU Freshman AJ Dybantsa led the nation in scoring and the sharpshooting Saunders kept opposing defenses from paying too much attention to him by hitting a team-leading 64 3-pointers. Saunders’ season came to an end when he tore his ACL against Colorado on Feb 14 and the Cougars lost three of their next four games.

The 6-5 senior was BYU’s thirdleading scorer at 18 points on 48.9% shooting in 25 games. BYU went 4-5 without him and plays No 11 seed Texas in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Portland, Oregon.

L.J. Cason, No. 3 Michigan

Cason was the primary backup to point guard Elliot Cadeau before suffering a torn right ACL against Illinois on Feb. 27.

The 6-2 sophomore guard averaged 8.4 points in 18.5 minutes

per game and was the Wolverines’ best 3-point shooter at 40%.

Michigan still reached the Big 10 Tournament title game and is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. The Wolverines face Howard on Thursday in Buffalo. Braden Huff, Gonzaga

The left-hander had been a tough matchup for opposing teams before needing surgery for a torn meniscus in mid-January Huff has started jogging and shooting, but coach Mark Few was not optimistic about him being able to play the ﬁrst two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

A 6-10 junior, Huff was Gonzaga’s second-leading scorer at 17.8 points per game on 66% shooting and averaged 5.6 rebounds.

The Zags have advanced past the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend nine times since 2014, but will likely have to do it without Huff this time.

3-pointers up heading into March Madness

BY AARON BEARD AP basketball writer

No team has made more 3-pointers, nor launched more, than Alabama in the past four seasons. And nothing will shake coach Nate Oats from believing they’re at the core of building a winner in modern basketball.

Teams might struggle to match the Crimson Tide’s sheer volume heading into March Madness, but they’re leaning into those long-distance shots, too.

“Finding efficient shots is at the top of what we do,” Oats said recently “It’s at the top of what everybody in the NBA is looking at is generating efficient shots And if you’re not thinking about how to get open catch-and-shoot 3s, I don’t think you’re thinking about creating efficient shots.”

This marks the 40th season with the 3-pointer fully integrated into college basketball, an advancement that has transformed the sport since its 1986-87 introduction. Years of pounding the ball inside to bigs have given way to skilled players stretching defenses to create space for shooters to take those matchup-tilting shots.

In the NCAA Tournament, the 3 is an equalizer capable of igniting seismic upsets like Middle Tennessee’s takedown of Michigan State in 2016 or the first-ever 16-vs-1 win with UMBC beating Virginia in 2018. Going cold can just as easily mean an abrupt end to the season. So the question remains: How much should a team rely on the 3 in March?

Division I teams ﬁttingly have taken nearly 40% of their shots from behind the arc in this 40th season of the 3, yet a fraction of Fi-

Prairie View men defeat Lehigh in First Four DAYTON, Ohio Dontae Horne scored 25 points and Cory Wells had 19 as Prairie View A&M earned its first NCAA Tournament victory 67-55 over Lehigh on Wednesday night in the First Four Lance Williams added 10 points for the Panthers (19-17), who are making their third tournament appearance. They advance as the No. 16 seed in the South Region to face top seed and defending national champion Florida on Friday in Tampa, Florida. Lehigh leading scorer Nasir Whitlock went scoreless for more than 26 minutes and finished with five points. He was 2-of-15 shooting. The last time Whitlock did not reach double figures was Nov 9, when he had two points in a 69-47 loss at West Virginia.

NASCAR suspends Dye after mockery of driver

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR driver

Daniel Dye was suspended the second known major penalty of his racing career — for mocking IndyCar driver David Malukas during a recent livestream. In the video, which circulated Tuesday on social media, Dye used voices that made inferences about Malukas’ sexuality He mimicked Malukas’ voice at one point.

Dye is a Truck Series driver for Kaulig Racing, which also suspended him. NASCAR ordered Dye to undergo sensitivity training.

Dye apologized to Malukas in a social media post, calling his comments “careless.”

“I chose my words poorly and I understand why it upset people,” he wrote. “I’m sorry to anyone who was offended. That’s not how I want to represent myself.”

Eagles acquire veteran QB Dalton from Panthers Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton is heading to the Philadelphia Eagles to provide depth behind Jalen Hurts, a person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Wednesday The Carolina Panthers will receive a seventh-round pick in 2027. Dalton joins Hurts and backup Tanner McKee, who could become available for a trade.

The 38-year-old Dalton made three Pro Bowls during his ﬁrst nine seasons in Cincinnati. He’s also played for Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans and spent the past three seasons with the Panthers. Dalton is 84-83-2 as a starter but was primarily a backup in Carolina. He has thrown for 39,763 yards, 254 touchdowns with 151 interceptions and an 87.5 passer rating in 15 seasons.

nal Four teams and NCAA champions in the 3-point era have utilized it to this year’s levels with their seasons on the line

Higher volume At its core, the 3-pointer is a volatile bet. The reward can be far-reaching offensive efficiency beyond simply the 50% added value compared to a traditional field goal. But it boasts a tougher conversion rate as officials have moved the arc back multiple times — from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches in 2008-09, then to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches to match the international distance for 2019-20.

As a result, the 3-point shooting percentage has barely moved. Division I teams have bounced from around 33-35% shooting on 3s going back to the 2002-03 season, with this year at 34.1% entering the week.

Yet 3s have gone from accounting for 32.1% of all shot attempts

in 2002-03 to a 24-season high of 39.5% this year, according to SportRadar And 3s account for 29.8% of all made shots in Division I, up from around 25% in 2002-03. Those are thresholds rarely reached by teams that have pushed all the way to the sport’s ﬁnal weekend:

n Only 28 of 152 (18.4%) teams to reach the Final Four in the 3-point era have had 3s account for this year’s percentage of their made shots;

n Only 21 of those Final Four teams (13.8%) had 3s account for this year’s percentage of shot attempts; n And seven of 38 champions (18.4%) have had 3s account for more than 39% of their shot attempts, including the past three winners in UConn (2023-24) and Florida (2025).

Villanova’s two championships under Jay Wright remain outliers. Notably, his 2018 winner that blew

through six tournament games to win it all behind eventual NBA players Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo held the all-time highest marks among the champs; 3s accounted for 38% of the Wildcats’ made shots and 47.5% of their attempts. His other champion, in 2016, won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Kris Jenkins.

“You’ve got to be able to shoot the 3 to go deep in the tournament,” the retired Wildcats coach said. “Not just because 3s are more valuable than 2s, but now the way teams play defense if you can’t shoot 3s they’re going to load up on your 3-point shooters and take them away And they’re gonna force you to make non-shooters make plays.”

The right looks

That’s Oats’ focus, too.

The Crimson Tide’s 4,436 attempted 3s are 339 more than the next closest Division I team, according to SportRadar Alabama has shot 35.5% behind the arc in that span, with 3s accounting for 48.3% of Alabama’s shot attempts.

The approach helped make Alabama the No. 1 overall seed in 2023 and powered a Final Four run in 2024 and last year’s trip to the Elite Eight after hitting a tournamentrecord 25 3s in a Sweet 16 romp against BYU.

“The math part of it is how can you create the most efficient offense, and how can you try to keep the other team from running the efficient offense?” said Oats, whose team is the Midwest Region’s 4-seed. “Well if you’re all in on getting the most efficient shots you can, the 3-point line and taking 3s has to be a part of that. It just does.”

Yankees’ Cole tops 98 mph in eventful first spring start TAMPA, Fla. — Gerrit Cole returned to a mound to pitch in a game after a 377-day absence and threw a scoreless ﬁrst inning for the New York Yankees in an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox. Cole threw 10 pitches, seven for strikes, including six four-seam fastballs that averaged 97.1 mph He threw two sliders and a pair of knuckle-curves. A 35-year-old right-hander, Cole had Tommy John surgery on March 11 last year with Los Angeles Dodgers team physician Dr Neal ElAttrache. His last official outing was in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series that Oct. 30. The six-time All-Star pitched in two spring training games in 2025, the last on March 6

Manfred: MLB may consider moving WBC to midseason

MIAMI — Having set attendance and broadcast viewer records, the World Baseball Classic will return in 2029 or 2030 and at some future point could be moved to midseason, when clubs would be less likely to restrict players.

Since the WBC’s inception in 2006, it has been played during spring training. Tournament rules include pitch count restrictions, and teams can demand tougher limits or deny players permission to participate.

“Obviously we have commitments to Fox in terms of the All-Star Game in the middle of the season through ’28,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said. “As the game continues to evolve, we have talked about midseason tournaments in general. And certainly if we decided to get serious about this, about a midseason tournament, this would be an ideal opportunity.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANNIE RICE

Texas Tech forward JT Toppin uses crutches to walk after a game against TCU on March 3 in Lubbock, Texas

Toppin suffered a torn ACL in February as is out for the season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANIE RICE

Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson shoots a 3-pointer while TCU guard Jayden Pierre attempts to block on March 3 in Lubbock, Texas.

Johnson voted onto AP All-America team

LSU junior guards Williams, Fulwiley receive honorable mentions

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson was named to one of the AP All-America teams on Wednesday for the second time in her career Voters put Johnson on the third team in both 2024-25 and 202526. This year, Michigan’s Olivia Olson, UCLA’s Kiki Rice, Duke’s Toby Fournier and South Carolina’s Raven Johnson accompanied her in that group of honorees. Johnson’s two-star teammates — junior guards Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley — each received All-America votes but not enough to land on one of the three teams. They were instead recognized as honorable mentions for the second season in a row UConn stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, along with Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Texas’ Madison Booker, were voted onto the first team Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, TCU’s Olivia Miles, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge landed spots on the second team.

LSU, South Carolina and UCLA were the only teams with three honorees, including honorable mentions.

Johnson, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, recently became just the sixth player to score more than 2,000 points in an LSU uniform

She began her career in 2022-23 the year the Tigers took home their ﬁrst national title. She started 36 games as a freshman, then quickly blossomed into one of the nation’s top players by the time she wrapped up her sophomore season. Johnson has career averages of 14.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. She’s

LSU

Continued from page 1C

89.2 ppg across the 32 contests it played in 1985-86. LSU can score zero points at 5 p.m. Friday in its first-round game against No 15 seed Jacksonville (ESPN), and it would still set that record

It’s much more likely, though, that the No. 2 seed Tigers (27-5) will hang roughly 100 points on the Dolphins — the second-place Atlantic Sun team that won its conference tournament to secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament and a spot in the Baton Rouge regional. LSU hit the century mark in all but two of the 13 games it’s already played against mid-major opponents this season. It averaged 109.2 ppg in those matchups.

LSU already broke the record for consecutive 100-point outings when it crossed over the century mark in each of the first eight games it played this year The

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

Collins had 18, Darius Garland had 13 and Jordan Miller scored 13 each. Brook Lopez had 11 and Isaiah Jackson added 10 to lead L.A., which lost its third straight after winning seven of eight.

Bey’s layup started the secondhalf scoring, broke a 60-all tie, and gave New Orleans its first lead since the score was 12-11. Williamson followed with a layup and the Pelicans expanded the lead to 83-74 on a follow-up by Karlo Matkovic.

L.A. got as close as ﬁve points but New Orleans closed with a 10-4 run to grab a 96-85 lead at the end of the third quarter

The Pelicans began the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 16-point lead. The Clippers closed eight points three times, but Bey made a 3-pointer and Murray made a 3-pointer and fed Murphy for a dunk to start a 12-0 run that gave New Orleans a 121-101 lead

LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson goes for a layup against Kentucky in the third quarter of their game on Jan. 1 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Johnson was named to one of the AP All-America teams on Wednesday for the second time in her career

also shot 47% from the ﬁeld and 38% from 3-point range across all four years of her career

This season, Johnson helped LSU win big road games against Duke, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ole Miss She scored a team-high 21 points on Feb. 14 against South Carolina but missed two key free throws with a chance to give the Tigers a lead late in the fourth quarter Johnson was also given a ﬁrstof-its-kind award last Thursday

previous top mark was six, which Mulkey helped Louisiana Tech set during her sophomore season (1981-82).

Pursuing those records has put the Tigers in some select company Long Beach State’s 1987 team reached the Final Four, and Louisiana Tech’s 1982 team won the national championship — the ﬁrst women’s basketball title game the NCAA ever sponsored Georgia’s 1986 team won both the SEC regular-season and tournament titles but lost in the Sweet 16. Only two Division I teams have scored more than 90 ppg across the last 10 seasons, and they both won at least two NCAA Tournament contests. Maryland did it in 2020-21, and Iowa did it in 2023-24 — the year it lost to South Carolina in the national championship game. That season, the Hawkeyes scored at least 100 points in 10 contests — four against mid-major teams and six against Big Ten foes. LSU has 14 such games this year,

for her support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. She’ll exhaust her NCAA eligibility when LSU ends its NCAA Tournament run which begins at 5 p.m. Friday with a first-round game against No. 15 seed Jacksonville in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center The Tigers are a No. 2 seed in the bracket for the ﬁrst time since 2008. Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

and all but three were against midmajor opponents.

The Tigers’ current scoring average (94.5 ppg) would be tied for the fourth-highest in NCAA Division I history That number shows that they can erupt on offense, and if they can do so at the right time in the tournament, then they could ﬁnd themselves back in the Final Four

But first, LSU will have to get past Jacksonville and either the No. 7 seed Texas Tech or No. 10 seed Villanova. Those two teams will play their ﬁrst-round matchup in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday (ESPNU).

“We’re gonna continue to do what we do,” Mulkey said. “I think we have some seasoned young ones now. When you go through the SEC, as y’all well know it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to get out of there and just start the playoffs.

“You just gotta be playing your best basketball at the right time.”

The Pelicans lost to the Clippers 137-117 on March 1 in Los Angeles after falling behind 43-32 after one quarter and ultimately allowing 36 points on 17 turnovers. They trailed by as many as 18 points and trailed 40-26

Regular-season fans displaced at PMAC for tourney games

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

The first two rounds of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament are back this weekend at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center LSU takes on Jacksonville at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by Texas Tech-Villanova and a second-round game Sunday

Many LSU women’s season ticket holders have found out that they aren’t in their normal regular-season seats and may be mad about that fact as March Madness cranks up. But there’s a reason for the changes come postseason play and it has nothing to do with LSU.

According to Kylee Sulser, LSU’s associate director of ticket operations, the NCAA requires that LSU allot 100 tickets nearest the court (100 level) per school to fans of all four teams, plus the guarantee for each school to purchase 50 more tickets in the PMAC’s lower bowl (100/200 sections).

Tickets for the team’s bands and seats for non-participating teams to watch the game they’re not playing take up another 200 seats in the 100 level, Sulser said. The LSU student section is in the

same place, behind the east baseline near the visitor’s bench. Additionally, you can blame us in the media.

“We lose three rows of seating on both sides of the court for media and game personnel,” Sulser said, referring to extra press row tables not there during the regular season. “Because of this, we have very limited seating available in the 100s to assign or sell to fans.” Sulser went on to say that NCAA ticket requests by LSU fans are assigned based on TAF priority rankings.

About 9,000 tickets had been sold as of Wednesday afternoon, Sulser added. Tickets books for Friday and Sunday’s games are on sale for $20-40, while singlesession tickets for either Friday or Sunday are $10-25, based on location.

The only remaining tickets through LSU are in the PMAC’s 300 level above the main walkway, though some are available in lower sections through the secondary market.

Tickets are available through the LSU Athletic Ticket Ofﬁce, at www.LSUSports.net/tickets and by calling (225) 578-2184.

No. 1 seed Gamecocks reset for tourney run after SEC title fumble

BY STEVE REED AP sportswriter

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley isn’t sweating her team’s 17-point loss to rival Texas in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship. In fact, she thinks it might be a blessing in disguise for her Gamecocks (31-3) heading into the NCAA Tournament, allowing them to refocus.

“Our team knows we didn’t play our best basketball — not nearly what we’re capable of doing,” Staley said of the 78-61 loss to the Longhorns, a game in which they fell behind 14-0. “But I told them that the last time we lost in this situation, we won a national championship. So you’ve got to think about that. It might be the very thing this team needs.”

The fourth-ranked Gamecocks (31-3) last lost the SEC championship game in 2022 to Kentucky, but went on to beat UConn 64-49 for the second of Staley’s three national championships since taking over as coach at South Carolina.

South Carolina enters this year’s tournament as a No. 1 seed for the sixth straight time. UConn, UCLA and Texas are the other top seeds. The Gamecocks have reached the Final Four in each of the last ﬁve seasons, while making the national championship game three times and cutting down the nets twice during that span. They open this year’s tournament at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday against the winner of a First Four game between Southern and Samford, both No. 16 seeds. If they win their ﬁrst two games, the Gamecocks will head West to Sacramento for the regionals.

Two of South Carolina’s three losses this season have come to Texas and ﬁrst-team All-American Madison Booker, who has proven to be a difﬁcult matchup. (The other defeat was an overtime loss on the road at Oklahoma.)

South Carolina is 1-2 against Texas (31-3), beating the Longhorns at home in January en route to winning the regular season title outright. The teams are on opposite sides of the bracket, meaning if they meet for a fourth time it would come in the national championship game.

South Carolina has the firepower to win another national championship despite losing four starters from the 2025 national runner-up squad. Three of those players had completed their eligibility and 2025 SEC Tournament MVP Chloe Kitts was lost for the season due to a knee injury Key reserve MiLaysia Fulwiley transferred to LSU. But returner Joyce Edwards (19.6 points and, 6.3 rebounds per

South Carolina guard Raven Johnson celebrates after scoring against LSU during the second half of their semifinal SEC Tournament game on March 7 in Greenville, S.C. ä South Carolina vs: Southern/ Samford 1 P.M. SATURDAy ABC

game) has stepped up her game and the Gamecocks feature a strong backcourt led Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson. They’ve also gotten big contributions from transfer Madina Okot and Ta’Niya Latson.

The Gamecocks have responded well to their previous two losses this season, twice rattling off 12-game win streaks.

The big question now will be if they can regroup from the Texas loss and make a run at another national title.

“Things we usually make weren’t necessarily going in,” Edwards said following the loss to Texas. “It just happens. We have other goals in mind — the national championship. This isn’t the end all be all, so we’re just moving forward.”

If there was a big bright spot for the Gamecocks coming out of the SEC Tournament it was the improved play of 6-foot-7 Alicia Tournebize, a midseason addition from France. Tournabize’s height and wing span could be a factor for South Carolina later in the tournament, allowing Okot more time to rest.

“If we could get Ali to play the way she did — she played inspired,” Staley said. “If she can give us that. She got seven rebounds on a great rebounding team like Texas and held her own defensively

“We needed scoring. We know Ali can score the basketball. I thought she did a pretty good job. I think we should probably have gotten her the ball a little bit more in the block and let her go to work. But we made a step forward in our journey to win a national championship. Somebody like her will add to the depth that we need to make this run.”

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD Pelicans forward Zion Williamson dunks the ball during the first half against the L.A. Clippers

AP PHOTO By CHRIS CARLSON

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

RiversideAcademy playerscelebrateafter Olivia St. Pierre,being lifted,hit one of her twohome runs against Patrick Taylor on WednesdayatWestwegoPark. St.Pierrehad five RBIs in the Rebels’ 6-2 win

St.Pierredeliverstwo HRsin Riversidewin

BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer

Riverside Academy andPatrick Taylor High had no hits through twoinnings, but that changed when Riversidesenior OliviaSt. Pierre steppedtothe plate in the top of the third.

St. Pierre delivered athree-run home runtoleft field,the first of her two homers Wednesday, in a6-2 win at Westwego Parkthat ended Patrick Taylor’s10-game winning streak. Patrick Taylor broughtthe tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but pitcherKamryn Cancienne forced apopup forthe final out.

“Just abig team win,” Riverside coach Thomas Hymel said. “Olivia St. Pierrehas been great forusat the plate all year. She’sour RBI leader,our big stick at the plate, and she did it again today against quality pitching. We had quality atbats and defensively made all the routine plays.”

St. Pierrefinished 3for 4with five RBIsand tworuns. The Riversidesenior shortstop tripled to deep right field in the top of the fourth and hit her second home runinthe top of theseventh, asolo shot to right.

“I was just tryingtoget abase hittohelp my team out,” St. Pierre said.“We’ve been practicing all week for rise balls andtolay off the highpitches andthen go after theones we are able to hit.”

Junior Cami Larose doubled for Riverside’s ﬁrst hit in the top of the third.A pair ofPatrick Taylor errors resulted in two of Riverside’s four runs in the top of third being charged to Tigers pitcher Ashtyn Rogers, aSoutheastern Louisiana signee.

Rogers pitched all seven innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and four walkswith 11 strikeouts. Shewent 2for 4with atriple thatresulted in Patrick Taylor’s ﬁrst runand addedanRBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

“Riverside didn’tmake any mis-

takes and we did,”Patrick Taylor coach Lance Reine said. “Errors are going to beat you against good teams.(Rogers) has been adominant player for us. She keeps us in every game.”

Cancienne allowed two earned runs, four hitsand six walks with four strikeouts in seven innings while going 2for 3atthe plate.

“(Cancienne) is ahorse,” Hymel said. “She works really hard.”

Cancienne credited her defense.

“Weknew (PatrickTaylor’s) lineup could hit,” Cancienne said. “Having my team behind me playing defense really helped alot.”

Riverside(12-2)cameinatNo. 1inthe Division IV select power ratings against Patrick Taylor (182), which was No. 4inDivision II select Riverside will next face Brusly on Friday.Next up for Patrick Taylor is adistrictmatchup against Jefferson RiseonThursday Email SpencerUrquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

Rummel two-waystarNugent followinginhis dad’sfootsteps

BY SPENCERURQUHART

Staff writer

Owen Nugent’sstrong start to the season isn’tsurprisingconsidering how familiar his last name is to the Rummel baseball program. Owen’sfather,Tim Nugent, made his mark as aleft-handed pitcher for the Raiders, winning a state championship in 1997 andgoing on to pitch at LSU. Timis now watching Owen shineasa two-way standout at his alma mater

Contributing as both ahitter and a pitcher,Owen Nugentis Rummel’s ace right-handerand is hittingthird in coach Frank Cazeaux’slineup. Cazeaux is in his secondstint at Rummel and coachedTim Nugent when he starred for the Raiders.

“Owen has been very important for us,” Cazeaux said. “He’sagood player,he’sagood hitter andis one of our team leaders. He comes through and is always energetic in the dugout, which is very important, and he keep the other guys going.” TimNugent took notice of his son’sability growing up. Owen followed in his dad’sfootsteps on the mound, building upon his sophomore season with a1.00 ERA in 36 innings as ajunior

“From ayoung age, (Owen) re-

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

willingness to bring backformer Saints, though it would be surprising to see that same courtesy extended to Lattimore, given his decline in play,the major knee injury he suffered last season and his weapons charge arrest from January Wide receiver

Notable free agents still available: Jauan Jennings, Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel The Saints have done anice job in free agencytoboost quarterback Tyler Shough’ssupporting cast

swings at apitch against John Curtis on March12atHarahan Playground.

ally loved (baseball), andheloved competing,” TimNugent said. “He lovedgetting out there no matter what he was doing, so Iknew he had that drive in him. Ijust love seeinghim goingout there and competing and trying his hardest.”

Nugent showed offhis two-way ability in last Tuesday’s1-0 eightinning winoverJohn Curtis to begin district play.Hepitched eight shutout innings and recorded the game-winning hit.

“(My dad) just motivates me every day to just be my best and be myself,” he said. “He left his own legacy (at Rummel) and I’m trying to do that as well. I’ve just been focusing on commanding my pitches

But there’sone area they notably haven’ttouched: Wide receiver Taking alook at this year’s draft classexplainswhy.OhioState’s Carnell Tate,Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’sMalaki Lemon are seen as ﬁrst-rounders who could eachprovide ajoltto the Saints’ offense. Thereare also quality options projected to go in thenextfew rounds, such as Louisville’sChris Bell and Georgia State’sTed Hurst. Based on conversations at the NFL scouting combine,the Saintsfeel as if another downfieldthreatto complementChris Olave and Devaughn Vele would accentuate the group. The Saints don’tseem to be alone in wanting to rely on the draft for this position.Somanybig names

Tigers to keep an eyeonnextweek

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

When LSU begins spring practice nextweek, alot of new players willbeonthe field together for thefirst time. LSU signed 59 players this offseason, adrastic transformation enteringthe first season under coach Lane Kiffin. They have spent the past two months going through anew strengthand conditioning program before they practice again. With 15 practices over the next month,there will be plenty of opportunities forplayers to move around the depth chart and make an impression on the coaching staff. Here are the10we’re most interested to watch once practice begins March 24, listed in alphabetical order by last name.

DT RichardAnderson, Fr Howsooncan Andersoncontribute? It’s noteasy fora freshmantoplayearlyatdefensive tackle, but Anderson wasa five-star recruit and the No. 1 defensive lineman in the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Listedat 6-foot-3 and 360 pounds, he has the physical traits to earn arole next season, but he must adjust to ahigherlevel of competition. Springpractice will give asense of how he needs to develop.

STyBenefield, Sr Benefield seems to be flying under the radar alittle bit, but he might end up being one of LSU’s most impactful transfers. Benefieldmade33career startsatBoise Statewhile totaling 235tackles, 18 tacklesfor loss,16pass breakups and five interceptions. He earned first-team All-Mountain West honors last season. One of thetop defensive backs in the transfer portal,he’lllikely fill a need by starting at safety or Star WR JayceBrown,Sr.

LSU

McKinleywill be aplayertowatch during the Tigers’ spring practice, whichbegins Tuesday. Theformer five-star prospect had 12 tackles, twotackles for lossand one sack lastseason.

DT Dominick McKinley,Jr.

This is the year that McKinleyneedstoshowwhy he was a ﬁve-star recruit and top 15 overallplayerinthe 2024 class. The Lafayette native worked his way furtherintothe rotation last year by playing 370 snaps, but he only ﬁnished with 12 tackles,two tackles for loss and one sack. He’ll have to compete with Clemson transfer Stephiylan Green and Auburn transfer Malik Blocton to start on the defensive line.

DE Jordan Ross,Jr.

It’snever abad thing when you can add aformer ﬁve-star recruit who was considered by at least one recruitingservice to be a top 10 overall player in his class.

That’swhatLSU gotinRoss, a6-5, 245-pound edge rusher.Heappears to have untappedpotential after recording26tackles, ﬁvetackles for loss and 11/2 sacks in two seasons at Tennessee. LSU needshim to be ready to play more.

and letting my team work.”

Rummel (16-4) has won its past sixgames andis4-0 in Catholic League play.Nugent is hitting.500 against district opponents, going 7 for 14, and recorded adouble and asingle in a2-1 winover St.AugustineonTuesday Nugent headlines astrongjunior class for Rummel,which includes two-way player Bryce Hingleand shortstop Ian Smith, aNorthwestern State commitment.

Nugent’snext start will be Thursday against Brother Martin (21-2).The Crusaders are No. 1in the Division Iselect power ratings.

“I’ve been waiting for this one,” said Nugent, whose team is No. 4 in the ratings. “BrotherMartin has agreat team,and we’re just ready to getout there andcompete. It’s going to be agreat matchup.”

Rummel’s laststate championship camein1997 in TimNugent’s senioryear. Owenisnow lookingto lead the Raiders to their ﬁrst state title sincethen.

“Gettingtosit back and enjoy (Owen’s)success is always great,”Nugent said. “It’s adream come true It’s awhole lot of funand brings back alot of great memories.”

Email SpencerUrquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

remain on thewide receivermarket, andthat’sbefore youget to the PhiladelphiaEaglesbeingopento trading A.J. Brown.

Edge rusher

Notable free agents still available: CamJordan, Joey Bosa, VonMiller,AJEpenesa,Jadeveon Clowney,HaasonReddick

LSU signednine transferwide receivers, and Brown has had the most productive career so far. He had 115 receptionsfor 1,972 yards and13touchdowns over three seasons at Kansas State, wherehe ranked top 10 in program history in yardsreceiving and touchdown catches. With acareer average of 17.1 yards per catch, Brown offers abig-play ability.Hehas the tools to be astarter,but can he be atop SEC receiver?

TWestonDavis,So.

Davis struggled throughout hisfirst season as the starting right tackle. Pro Football Focus gradesshould be taken with a grain of salt, but he finished with a47.1over 12 games,the fourthlowestinthe SECamongplayers withatleast 350snaps. However,those grades improved over thefinal threegames.LSU saw enough potential in him to bring himback, and now he needs to improve if he’sgoing to start again.

QB HusanLongstreet, R-Fr

Longstreet is going to get more ﬁrst-team reps than usual with Sam Leavitt limitedthis spring, giving him achance to show what he can do after transferring from Southern California.Longstreet is afascinating prospect as aformerﬁve-star recruit with dualthreat capability.Heplayed well in asmallsamplesizelast season, andwithLeavitt likely eyeing the NFL draftnext year,hemight be LSU’squarterback of the future.

TJordanSeaton, Jr

This oneispretty obvious. Seaton was the highest-ranked offensive tackle andone of the topoverallplayers in the transfer portal. He’saformer ﬁve-star recruit who started 22 gamesduring his two seasons at Colorado, and he has allowed only four sacks. LSU got aplug-and-play left tackle, whichthe team desperately needed.IfSeatoncontinuesto improve, he could be aﬁrst-round pick in the NFL draft next year DE Princewill Umanmielen,Sr. Another one of LSU’shighestranked transfer additions, Umanmielen recorded nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss last season at Ole Miss. LSU lacked adominant pass rusher even though the defense improved last year,so Umanmielen could makea noticeable differenceifhemaintains that level of production. There should be some good battles in practice betweenhim andSeaton.

WR Eugene Wilson,Jr.

If Wilson can stay healthy, there’salot to like abouthis game

After signingwith Florida as the No. 106 overall recruit in the 2023 class, Wilsoncaught 107passes for1,043 yards and10touchdowns over three seasons. He even earned freshman All-SEC honors whenhegrabbed 61 receptions and six touchdowns his ﬁrst season. Unable to stay healthysince then, he still hasalot to prove.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD Saints defensiveend Cam Jordan warmsupbefore agame against the Las VegasRaiders on Dec 29. All eyes are on the Saints to see if theycan hammer out an agreement for Jordan to stay.

All eyes areonJordanand Saints to seeifthey can hammer outan agreement for the 36-year-old pass rusher to stay in New Orleans. Jordansoundedcontent, however,if he hadtoplayelsewhere next season, when appearing recently on TerronArmstead’spodcast. Jordan said he understands the “business nature” if it doesn’twork out with the Saints. But even if Jordan returns, the Saintsstill probably need more juice at edge rusher.One of the

biggest questions between now and the draft is whether any of Ohio State’sArvell Reese, Texas Tech’s David Baileyand Miami’sRueben Bain will be on the board when the Saintsare on theclock.The Saints heavily invest in the trenches, and so it would notbeshocking to see them use the eighth pick on an edge rusher.But those three could each be gone before pick No. 8. Like Jordan, Bosa, Miller and Clowneyare decorated pass rushers hoping for another shot. Of those, Bosa has experience playing under Staley.Could he be a fallback option if Jordan departs? It’sunclear whether the Saints are interested, and Bosa could always look to team up with his brother, Nick, in San Francisco, if the 49ers want him.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

defensivetackle Dominick

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Rummel’sOwenNugent

DELHOMME

raised racehorses on the family’s 10-acrefarminBreauxBridge

The Delhomme boys, Jakeand older brother,Jeff, who would go on to break records as areceiver at McNeese State, regularly worked with the horses in the barn stalls behind the family home.

“Wedidn’thunt or fish,”Jake Delhomme said. “Weplayed sports and worked with the horses.It was fun. There was something about the horses. Ijust loved it.”

Delhomme stayed involved with the horses throughout his football career,from his all-state days at Teurlings Catholic in Lafayetteto his standout four-yeartenure at UL (then Southwestern Louisiana), where he led the Ragin’ Cajuns to twoBig West Conferencechampionships and an upset of Texas A&M. The highlightofhis 11-year NFL career came in 2003,whenhe led the Carolina Panthers to their ﬁrst Super Bowl appearance and passed for 323 yards andthree touchdowns in alast-second32-29 loss to the New England Patriots. Delhomme launched his stable in 2012, the year after he retired from the NFL,and called it Set-Hut in honor of his playing position. He designed his jockey silks in CarolinaPanthers colors and named many of his horses afterfootball terms, former teammates or plays from thePanthersoffense (Two Jet, ZSmoke, XClown).

Set-Hut is afamily operation. In football terms, Jake is the general manager of the ﬁve-person stable, but Jerry,aretired state and federal meat inspector,and Jeff are also heavily involved. The Delhommes do it all: care, condition, buy,sell and breed. When they enter ahorse to race at the Fair Grounds, the Delhommes trailer him the 150 miles down I-10 in their Ford pickups.

The traits Delhomme applied to ascend to the elite level of football —preparation, attention to detail, disciplined work ethic —have been employed with equal success in his horse racing operation. Through last week, his horses have won 133 of 614 starts for amorethan-respectable 21% win percentage. The stable’s career earnings are more than $5.6 million.

“The time he spent studying the playbook and watchingﬁlm to prepare forgames as aplayer,he spends just as much time studying pedigrees andwatching races.”

Jeff Delhomme said. “There’s no better horseman in the country He’ssecond to none.”

“It’satestament to Jakeand his family and how they manage and treat their horses,”saidAndrew Cary,abloodstock agent who is close to the former NFL quarterback. “Coming from his athletic background, Jake can evaluate an equine athlete and adjust on the ﬂy.Hegets the most outofhis horses at all levels.” Jake Delhomme doesn’tjust train. He is involved at all levels of the sport. He sat on the board of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association and has counseled Gov.Jeff Landry on horseracing affairs in the state.

“I’m averycompetitive person, and horse racing is as competitive as it gets,” JakeDelhommesaid.

“If I’m going to do something, then let’s put our effort intoitand let’s do it.Horse racing ﬁlls that competitive void for me after football.”

‘Whatabeast’ Delhomme has enjoyed success throughout his tenure, especially in recent years, when his stable’s annual earnings haveclimbed to more than $900,000annually Twoofthe stable stars, Mangum and Kalil, were named after two of Delhomme’sformer Panthers teammates, tight end Kris Mangum and center Ryan Kalil. But none of Delhomme’shorses have comeclose to achieving Touch’s astonishing levelofsuccess.

The 6-year-old gelding has won eight of his last nine races, includ-

THURSDAY’S FAIR GROUNDSENTRIES

ingthe $150,000Louisiana Premier Night Championship Stakes last month at Delta Downs, where he canteredtoan111/2-length win againstanovermatched field. It wasthe fourthconsecutive time he’swon therace and his final time of 1minute, 44.03 seconds earned a106 Beyer Speed Figure, thestandardized metricfor thoroughbred racehorsescreated by former WashingtonPostcolumnist Andrew Beyer.Noolder horse in the nation has recorded ahigher speed figure in adistance race this year. And last year, Touchrecorded even faster Beyer figures for winning theDelta Mile (109) and New Orleans Handicap (109).

Forperspective, there have beenonly16Beyer Speed Figures of 106 or higher recorded by older horses in classicU.S.distance races since thestart of the 2025 racing season.Touch has recorded three of them. Sovereignty, the brilliant 2025 Kentucky Derby champion, withtwo, is the only otherhorse with more than one.

“What abeast,” saidKeith Myers, who bred Touchathis Coteau Grove Farm in Sunset, just north of Lafayette.“He winsthese races so effortlessly.Hedoesn’tlike to take pictureswith anyone. No horse is everinthe framewhen he crossesthe ﬁnish line.”

Few envisioned such aremarkable run when Touch was born in 2019. The sonofthe champion Louisiana-bred sire,Star Guitar, andgraded-stakes-winningmare, Touch Magic, he was well-bredby Louisiana standards. Delhomme noticed the striking resemblance Touchhad to hissire during his early visitstothe farm withCary, alongtime friend in thebusiness. As aweanling, he was strong and perceptive and displayeda good demeanor

“There was something about himthatjust stuck out,”Jake Delhomme said.

Nevertheless, Myers hadmodest expectationsfor Touch’ssales prospectswhen he sent him to the Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale in August2020. It didn’thelpmatters thatthe sale took place during the COVID-19 pandemicand aclassicEastTexas heat wave.

“Wehad no expectations really,” Myerssaid. “Wethought we were goingtobebringinghim back to the farm and putting him in the equestrian program. But Jake said he would takehim and try to race him, and if he could run at all, hethought we might get some breeder’sawardsfor him.”

Delhomme’sopening bidof $15,000 was theonly offer

“I had alot more to spend for

him, but for whatever reason, that’swhere the bidding stopped,” Delhomme said.

Years later,Cary calls it “one of theall-time great purchasesin horse racing history.”

“It was aperfect storm of it beingaCOVID year,alightly attended sale anditbeing about110 degrees that day in Texas,”hesaid. While Delhomme hadtargeted Touch and made the trip to Grand Prairie, Texas, speciﬁcally to buy Touchand another colthelater named HomeVisit, he had no idea he’djust purchased asuperstar Touch showed athleticism and talent during his early training sessions, buthis workoutsnever opened eyes or revealed his precocityuntil the ﬁnal breeze before his debut. Working withstablemate, HomeVisit, afellow 3-yearold who’d already won two of his threestarts, Touch bolted from thestartinggateand left his competition in atrail of dust

“Welookedateachother,like, ‘Ohhhh, (expletive),’ ”Jeff Delhomme said.

Added JakeDelhomme: “Home Visit wasaquality horse,but he cried uncle. It was not pretty.The jockey came back and said, ‘Yeah, this horse is just different.’

Afew weekslater,Touch rana disappointing secondinhis debut at FairGrounds, showing his inexperience by stumbling out of the gate andbeing forced to race wide for most of his six-furlong trip. Six weeks later,hereturned to the races and broke his maiden at

1-5 odds with astunning 21-length score at Evangeline Downs in a performance so dominant it drew a “Wow!” from track announcer Rob Tuel as he crossed the ﬁnish line. Histime of 1:22.82 was less than asecond offthe trackrecordfor 7 furlongs. From there, Touch reeled off wins in 11 of his next 14 races and established himselfasthe best distance horse in the Louisiana-bred ranks. To that end, he dusted Tumbarumba by 11/2 lengths in the 2023 Louisiana Champions Day Classic. Tumbarumbarecentlybecame the highest-earning Louisiana-bred in history with $3.2 millioninwinnings when he ran an impressive third to BreedersCup Classic champion Forever Young in the $20 million Grade ISaudi Cup.

“Weran against (Tumbarumba),”JeffDelhomme said.“We could havewent around the track 10 times, and he would have never beat (Touchuponastar).”

Touch’scoming-out party, though, came ayear ago at the Fair Grounds, whenhewired the field in the $500,000 Grade INew Orleans Classicagainst afieldof open-company older horses, includinggradedstakes winners Sierre Leone, Hall of Fameand Komorebino Omoide. It was the first time Touch had run against “the big boys,” as Delhomme called them, and he passedthe test with flying colors.

Touch broke on the lead and carved outfast fractions with aground-saving rail trip under

jockey TimThornton. When the field turned forhome, Hall of Fame loomed to his flank, but Touch responded to the challenge and held him at bay to the wire. As his stable star crossed the ﬁnalline forthe 11/2-length victory, Delhomme uncharacteristically leaped in the air and spiked his program in celebration.

“I wasjust so happy for the horse,” Jakesaid. “It wasunbelievably rewarding and validated what we thought of him.”

Agreat horseracingstory

Touchuponastarhas shown no signsofslowing down as he approaches hisseventh birthday, which just happens to fall on Louisiana Derby Day.The competition in the NewOrleans Classic will be steep again. Twoentrants from the powerful Todd Pletcherbarn, Accelerize, whowon the $175,000 Grade III Louisiana Stakes at Fair GroundsinJanuary,and Life and Times,will likely test him for every step of the 11/8 mile trip.

It will take their best to beat Touch on his home turf, though. His confidence has soared with each subsequent win. Jake compared his alpha demeanor on race days to Simba,whenheassumes his reign in The Lion King.

“When he walks in the paddock, he takes adeep breath and just stares at all the horses passing by,” Jeff Delhomme said. “He makessure his head is taller, that’shim looking down on them, trying to intimidate them.”

Touch’shistoricrun of success has made him aminor celebrity in Cajun Country.The Delhommes areconstantlyasked by friends and family about his upcoming schedule, and the winner’scircle has become increasingly crowded after each of his wins.

“There’snothing that makes me happier than seeing thishappen forthe Delhomme family,” Myers said. “I don’tknow of anyone more deserving. It’ssuch agreat horse racing story forLouisiana.” Touch has impacted the Delhommesbeyond the earnings book. Jake believes thehorse’shistoric run of success has had an intrinsic effect on his family’squalityoflife,especially his father, who suffereda severe heart attack four years ago.

“(Touch) meansalot to him,and there’snodoubt in my mind it’s kept him going,” Jake said of his father,who turned80inDecember.“Youdon’tﬁnd somebody that dies with agood horse in the barn. There’ssomething abouta horse that’sgood forthe soul of human.

“Touch is not just the horse of alifetime. He’s the horse of two lifetimes.”

STAFFPHOTOSByBRAD KEMP

Jeff Delhomme, older brother of JakeDelhomme, gets agentle nudgefrom Soft HandsonMarch6atthe Copper CrowneEquestrian Center in Opelousas. The Delhomme brothers do

care, condition, buy, sell and breed horses.

Former UL and NFLquarterback JakeDelhomme holds Kalilashetalks about his horses on March 6atthe Copper Crowne Equestrian Center

LSUuseseye-tracking technology to improvehits

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

When it comes to hittingabaseball, no part of the process is more crucial than abatter’s ability to see the ball.

Hitters are only granted asplit second to read and react to pitches. Sometimes they’re right, butoftentimes they’re not. It’swhy the best sluggers in the world only get ahit 30% of the time.

For decades, evaluating the key skill of it all —how ahitter sees the ball —was purely subjective.But at LSU, that’snolonger thecase.

Since coach Jay Johnsonarrived in Baton Rouge,LSU baseball which begins athree-game series on Thursday against Oklahoma (7 p.m., ESPNU) —has used eyetracking technology developed by Jack Marucci, LSU’sdirector of performance innovation, and Mike Mann, the CEO of Python Optics, to better understand how its hitters track pitchesmid-ﬂight

“Your timing is directly related as ahitter to how well you read and reacttowhat you see,” Johnson said, “… I’m abig believer in it.”

ThehardwareMarucciand Manndevelopedisshapedlike goggles; the only major difference being that it has no glassorplastic shield. Twomini-cameras are also attachedtoits frame to track the hitters’ pupils and how their eyes react to each pitch.

LSU hitters can use the technology while taking batting practice or hitting in the cages. The device requires about 10 swings to accurately calculate ahitter’s eye-dominance and ability to track the ball, spitting out adizzying variety of numbers that Marucci simpliﬁes into areport that features graphs andcharts that explain the results. It also produces apathfinder ratingthatshows howwellthe hitter’s eyes track the baseball.

“They wear like alittle computer on them. It’sreal small, and it’s recordingasthese balls are coming,” Marucci said, before adding that the eye-tracking technology produces 22,000 rows worth of data after just one minute and 40 seconds of use.

The headset the baseball team uses is the same productthat wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson used during LSU’smagical 2019 season to help trackfootballs through the air.The LSU women’sgolf

WHO: LSU(15-7,1-2 SEC) vs Oklahoma (17-4, 2-1)

WHEN: 7p.m.Thursday WHERE: Alex BoxStadium ONLINE/TV: ESPNU RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1 (Baton Rouge); WWL-AM,870 (New Orleans); KLWB-FM,103.7 (Lafayette)

RANKINGS: Oklahoma is No. 8, LSU is not ranked by D1Baseball

teamhas also usedMarucci and Mann’stechnology to help improve putting capabilities. “Welook at how they target, how they line up and howthey’re lookingathow they line up the hole,” Marucci said. “… Even if it’sjust astraight putt,how are we lookingatit? How arewetargeting it?How areweusing our eyes theproper way?” Marucci, who conducts most of his work at LSU with thefootball team, warnsthathis eye-tracking technology is not a“panacea” for

ON DECK

PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU —RHP Casan Evans (1-0, 6.45 ERA); Oklahoma —LHP Cam Johnson (3-0, 3.04 ERA)

PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate. com/lsu ON X(FORMERLYTWITTER): @KokiRiley

WHATTOWATCH FOR: Evans struggled mightily in his first SEC startofthe season last weekend

hitting. It’s only atool for players to better understand howthey see the ball in the batter’sbox

Thedevicehas allowed Johnson to betterunderstand hisplayers’ capabilities against certain matchups and helpguide himto theright answers when it comes to mechanical adjustments for hishitters.

“You may have to modify your stance. Youmay have to bring your head around acertain way, or you may (need to) open up a stance,” Marucci said. “(The tech-

against Vanderbilt, allowingsix earned runs and walking five batters in three innings. Johnson will make his first appearance against LSU since transferring from Baton Rouge to Norman afterthe 2024 season. He struggled in his last starton Fridayagainst Texas A&M, walking sevenbattersin21/3 innings.

—Koki Riley

nology) canreally identify… how they would perform versus arighthanded (or) versus aleft-handed pitcher.”

Additionally,Marucci’seyetracking technologycan conﬁrm what ahitter may alreadyknow about himself. Before transferring to LSU from Kansas State over the offseason, fifth-year senior Seth Dardar learned that he wasleft-eye dominant,arevelation that explained whyhesaw left-handed pitching betterthan right-handers despite

SCOREBOARD

6:35 pm Time —3:15 Attendance—9916 College softball

Clippers at New Orleans, 7p.m. L.A. Lakers at Miami, 7p.m. Phoenix at San Antonio, 7p.m. Milwaukee at Utah, 8p.m. Philadelphia at Sacramento, 9p.m. College baseball State scores, schedule Tuesday’s games Northwestern State at Southern, n Southeastern 3, Oklahoma 0 Southern Miss 4, Nicholls 0 Tulane 5, UNO 2 LSU 7, Grambling 1 Wednesday’s games UNO at ULM, n UL at Houston,n Northwestern State at Tulane, n Thursday’s games Oklahoma at LSU,7p.m. Late Tuesday LSU 7, Grambling 1 GramblingLSU (5-14) (15-7) ab rh bi ab rh bi Johnson ss 431 1Stanﬁeldlf2 10 0 Bridgescf4 22 6Brownrf4 12

State scores, schedule Tuesday’s games Nicholls 10, Alcorn 0 Southeastern 9, Jackson State 0 Wednesday’s games Southern 12,Louisiana Christian 7, Gm. 1 Louisiana Christian at Southern, n, Gm. 2 Thursday’s games None scheduled. College basketball Men’s NCAA Tournament Tuesday’s games EAST UNC Wilmington 68, Yale 67 SOUTH Liberty 77, George Mason 71 Auburn 78, South Alabama 67 MIDWEST Howard 86, UMBC83 Wichita State 74,Wyoming 70 Texas68, North CarolinaState 66 SOUTHWEST Oklahoma State 84, Davidson 80 Tulsa89, Stephen F. Austin84 FARWEST Seattle67, St. Thomas 52 UNLV75, UC Irvine72 Wednesday’s games SOUTH Wake Forest 82, Navy 72 MIDWEST Prairie View A&M vs.Lehigh at Dayton, Ohio, n Kent State at IllinoisState, n Dayton at Bradley,n Miami (OH) vs.SMU at Dayton, Ohio,n FARWEST George Washington at Utah Valley,n Sam Houston at New Mexico, n Murray State at Nevada, n Saint Joseph’s at Colorado State, n UIC at California, n Thursday’s games

SOUTH South Florida vs.Louisville at Buffalo, N.Y., 1:30 p.m. Siena vs.DukeatGreenville, S.C.,2:50 p.m. McNeese vs.Vanderbilt at Oklahoma City 3:15 p.m. VCUvs. North CarolinaatGreenville, S.C., 6:50 p.m. Saint Louis vs.GeorgiaatBuffalo, N.Y.,9:45 p.m MIDWEST TCUvs. Ohio State at Greenville, S.C., 12:15 p.m Troy vs.NebraskaatOklahoma City,12:40 p.m. High Point vs.Wisconsin at Portland, Ore., 1:50 p.m. North Dakota State vs.Michigan State at Buffalo, N.Y.,4:05p.m. Pennsylvania vs.IllinoisatGreenville, S.C. 9:25 p.m. SOUTHWEST Hawai’i vs.Arkansas at Portland, Ore., 4:25 p.m. Idaho vs.Houston at Oklahoma City,10:10 p.m. FARWEST TexasA&M vs.Saint Mary’s at Oklahoma City,7:35

LSU RHP SCHMIDT TO START SATURDAY

LSU baseball sophomore right-handedstarter William Schmidt is in linetostart for theTigers on Saturdayagainst Oklahoma, coach Jay Johnson said on Wednesday Schmidt dealt with back tightness toward the end of his last start against Vanderbilt on Sunday.Johnson said the ailment playeda part in his decisionto take Schmidt out of the gamein the ﬁfth inning. “He just started to missupin thezone, andIthought he was protecting it alittlebit,” Johnson said on Sunday.“That guy’s health is the key to my life for the next 18 months. So it just wasn’treally worth it.” Saturday will be Schmidt’s sixth start of the season. In his last outing against the Commodores, he allowed three earned runs and walked three batters in four innings with six strikeouts. He holds a3.12 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 26 innings on the year

—Koki Riley

being alefty hitter

Dardar,once he arrived in Baton Rouge, veriﬁed his belief through Mann and Marucci’s headset.

“Thatwas probably oneofthe coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Dardar said. “The resources and all the technology and stuff we have is the best.” Marucci makes it clear that LSU’ssuccess and failure on the ﬁeld lie with its players, not with his technology.His work is just a small piece of the puzzle, he says. But Johnson has embraced his work forareason. And as LSU baseball tries to dig itself out of thehole it hasfound itself in thisseason,having aperson like Marucci in theathleticdepartment —witha device that tracksa hitter’s ability to see the ball —isuseful.

“I really enjoy talking to him,” Johnsonsaid. “And he’sbeen spending alittle more time over here, not acrazy amount, but alittle more time. And I’m appreciative to that because it’s helped guide somedecisions of how to move some players along.”

p.m. Wright State vs.Virginia at Philadelphia, 1:50 p.m.

Hofstravs. Alabama at Tampa, Fla., 3:15 p.m. Iowa vs.Clemson at Tampa, Fla., 6:50 p.m. Missouri vs.Miami (FL) at St.Louis, 10:10 p.m. MIDWEST Tennessee State vs.IowaState at St. Louis, 2:50 p.m. Queens vs.Purdue at St. Louis, 7:35 p.m. SOUTHWEST Akron vs.Texas Tech at Tampa, Fla., 12:40 p.m. FARWEST LIU vs.Arizona at San Diego, 1:35 p.m. Utah State vs.Villanova at San Diego, 4:10 p.m. Northern Iowa vs.St. John’s at SanDiego, 7:10 p.m. UCF vs.UCLA at Philadelphia, 7:25 p.m. California Baptist vs.Kansas at San Diego, 9:45 p.m. Women’s NCAA Tournament Wednesday’s games SOUTH Richmond vs.NebraskaatDurham, N.C., n SOUTHWEST Stephen F. Austin vs.Missouri State at Austin, Texas, n Thursday,’s games EAST Binghamton at Mercyhurst, 6p.m. Bradley at GeorgeWashington, 6p.m. Drexel at St. Bonaventure, 6p.m. Lehigh at Monmouth, 6p.m. Missouri at Seton Hall, 7p.m. NJIT at Merrimack, 7p.m. Navy at Harvard, 7p.m. St. John’s at Columbia,7p.m. SOUTH Maryland-Eastern ShoreatWakeForest, 6 p.m. Utah at Eastern Kentucky,6:30 p.m. Georgia Southern at Miami (FL),7p.m. Quinnipiac at George Mason, 7p.m. Samfordvs. Southern UniversityatColumbia, S.C.,7 p.m. UT Rio Grande Valley at Austin Peay,7p.m. MIDWEST UMBC at Ohio,7p.m. Georgia Tech at Kansas State,7:30 p.m. Troy at Kansas, 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga at North Dakota State, 8p.m. Arizona State vs.VirginiaatIowaCity,Iowa, 9p.m. SOUTHWEST Louisiana Tech at Rice, 8p.m. McNeese at TexasA&M, 8p.m. FARWEST Northern Colorado at Air Force, 8:30 p.m. Alabama A&M at BYU, 9p.m. Sam Houston at Portland, 9p.m. UC Davis at Pepperdine, 9p.m. UC Irvine at SanDiego State, 9p.m. Utah Valley at SanFrancisco,9p.m.

Oklahoma State at LosAngeles, 7:30 p.m. California Baptist at UCLA, 10 p.m. Pro golf PGA Tour statistics FedExCup Season Points 1, Jacob Bridgeman, 1,398. 2, Cameron Young, 1,323. 3, AkshayBhatia, 1,224. 4, Collin Morikawa, 1,182. 5, ScottieScheffler, 1,131. 6, Chris Gotterup, 1,131. 7, Min Woo Lee, 781. 8, Matt Fitzpatrick, 729. 9, Sepp Straka, 722. 10, TommyFleetwood, 702. Scoring Average 1, JakeKnapp, 69.312. 2, JacobBridgeman, 69.501. 3, ScottieScheffler, 69.626. 4, Collin Morikawa, 69.803. 5, Rory McIlroy,69.929. 6, Nicolai Hojgaard, 70.017. 7, Cameron Young, 70.092. 8, Hideki Matsuyama, 70.104. 9, Russell Henley,70.142. 10, Si WooKim, 70.145. Driving Distance 1, Gary Woodland, 326.2. 2, Michael Brennan, 324. 3, Aldrich Potgieter,322.6. 4, Jesper Svensson, 320.4. 5, Rasmus Hojgaard, 320. 6, Chris Gotterup, 319.1. 7, Jake Knapp, 317. 8, PiercesonCoody,315.6. 9, 2tiedwith 315.5. Driving Accuracy Percentage 1, LucasGlover, 73.21%. 2, Chan Kim, 72.08%. 3, Si WooKim, 71.43%. 4, Corey Conners, 71.10%. 5, JoelDahmen,71.03%. 6, Andrew Putnam, 70.98%. 7, Matt Fitzpatrick, 69.64%. 8, David Lipsky,69.39%. 9, Russell Henley 68.83%. 10, Collin Morikawa, 68.25%. GreensinRegulation Percentage 1, 13 tied with .00%. Total Driving 1, BladesBrown, 37. 2, Sudarshan Yellamaraju,44. 3, Michael Thorbjornsen,49. 4, Min WooLee, 56. 5, WilliamMouw,61. 6, Jordan Smith, 64. 7, Collin Morikawa, 66. 8, Michael Brennan, 75. 9, 2tied with 77. SG-Putting 1, Jacob Bridgeman, 1.409. 2, Jake Knapp, 1.291. 3, Kris Ventura, 1.181. 4, SamRyder .992. 5, Vince Whaley,.990. 6, Robert MacIntyre 886. 7, Matthieu Pavon, .818. 8, Karl Vilips, .768. 9, Rickie Fowler 760. 10, Akshay Bhatia, .730. Birdie Average 1, ScottieScheffler, 5.38. 2, JacobBridgeman, 5.21. 3(tie), Min WooLee and David Lipsky,5.5,Akshay Bhatia, 4.92. 6, Blades Brown, 4.9. 7, Matt Fitzpatrick, 4.88. 8, Collin Morikawa, 4.83. 9, PiercesonCoody,4.82. 10, Harris English,4.9. Eagles(Holes per) 1, JakeKnapp, 49.5. 2, Sahith Theegala, 52.4. 3, Keegan Bradley,54. 4, Joe

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU shortstop StevenMilam, left, warmsupwith teammatesbefore agameagainst Sacramento State on March8 at AlexBox Stadium.

Sausage gnocchi soup a one-pot feast

Skip from-scratch ingredientsfor easier preparation

BY GRETCHEN McKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

Gnocchi is ago-to food when you’re in the mood for Italian because it’sfairlyeasy to prepareifyou don’tinsist on making it from scratch and are willing to use frozen or refrigerated versions.

Most often the soft and pillowy Italian dumplings made from potato or ricotta are tossed in marinara or Bolognese sauce, pesto or brown butterand sage. But they also can be pan fried or baked in apan with cheese and red sauce for a heartier dinner

Here, miniature gnocchi are added to acreamy sausageand kale soup to create aquick-tothe-table, one-pot meal. Because gnocchi is made with starchy potatoes andﬂour, theyact as anatural thickener whenadded to hotbroth.They also add agentle chew that,if you’re careful not to overcook them, melts in your mouth

Iused baby kale in thisrecipe, but youcould easilysubstitute spinach, arugula or baby chard. The same goes for the sausage —choose whichever you like best. Iprefer sweet Italian sausage and thenadd spice with red pepper ﬂakes. If the soup seems toothick after you add the gnocchiand greens, thin it with alittle more broth or water.Becareful about adding too much salt before the Parmesan cheese because it also has asaltyﬂavor

Iserved the soup witha childhood favorite —refrigerated crescent rolls—soI had something to dip in the creamy broth. But any breadsticks or crusty bread would be absolutely delicious, too.

Lemon tarragon snapper with asparagus and penne Recipe,

Therewas atimewhen I often ate aSicilian dish called bruccialuna.

My grandmother madeitabout once amonth for ourfamily’sSunday dinner,and my mother made it to celebrate something nice that happened during the month.

It might be abirthday,orgood grades on report card day,or anew client at the family business. And if there was abuffet at alarge family gettogether,therewould be slices of this delicacy on aplatter (on awarming tray).

Iknew it wasserved at Italian restaurants across the city,and even people who were notofItalian heritageknew what it was. But as Igrew older,I watched it begin to disappear likeoyster patties at aparty

LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Bruccialuna, known as braciola in Italian, is apounded, stuffed and rolled steak or abutterflied roast. |

PHOTO By LIZ WILLIAMS

STAFF FILE PHOTOByMATTHEW PERSCHALL

Chef Michael Gulotta flips over the bruccialuna as it browns while preparing the dish at Tana in 2024.

TNS PHOTO By LINDA GASSENHEIMER

Liz Williams TIP OF THE TONGUE

SausageGnocchi Soup

Serves 6. Recipe is from Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Oliveoil for pan

4Italian sausages, hot or mild, casing removed (about 3/4 pound)

1small yellow onion, diced

2cloves garlic, minced

3tablespoons cornstarch or flour 1teaspoon dried basil

1teaspoon oregano

1teaspoon fennel seed

1tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Generous pinch red pepper flakes

1(32-ounce)carton chicken stock or broth

1cup light cream Salt and pepper

2generous handfuls babykale (about 2cups)

1cup (8 ounces) mini tortellini, refrigerated or frozen 1⁄3-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat adrizzleofolive oil in anonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.Removethe casings from the sausage, crumble it in bite-sized chunks and add to the panalong with dicedonions.

2. Cook,stirringoften, until the onions are softened and the sausage is cooked through, 8-10 minutes

Drain any grease from pan (mine had very little) and add garlic. Cook untilfragrant,about 1minute.

5. Add chicken broth and use aspatula or wooden spoon to scrape up anybits from thebottom of the pan. Slowly stirinlight cream Bringtoaboil, then reduce to asimmer 6. Addsalt and pepper to taste.

7. Add kaleand tortellini and simmer for 3-5 minutes (If your tortellinineeds longer cooking time, add it first, then thekale during thelast 5minutes.)

8. Stir in grated Parmesan.

9. Spoon into warm serving bowls and serve.

3. Addcornstarch or flour andcookfor about1 minutetoremovethe raw flour taste. 4. Addbasil, oregano, fennel, parsley and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.

Lemon Tarragon Snapper Yields 2servings. Recipe is byLinda Gassenheimer

1tablespoon

chopped shallot

1small crushed garlic clove

3/4 poundsnapper fillet about 1/4-inch thick

1. Mix water,1teaspoon oliveoil, lemonzest, tarragon leaves, balsamic vinegar,shallot and garlic together in asmall bowl. Set aside.

2. Preheat broiler andplace an oven rack about 5inches fromthe heat. Line asheetpan with foil. Place snapper ﬁllets on the sheet and brush with the remaining 1teaspoon oliveoil.

3. Place the sheet pan with the ﬁlets under the broilersothey are about 5inches from the heat. Broil 5minutes. Remove from the oven,cover with foil and let sit2minutes. Ameatthermometer should read 135 F.

4. Divide ﬁllets betweentwo dinnerplates. Spoon sauce overthem.

NUTRITIONINFOPERSERVING:215 calories (29percent from fat), 6.8 gfat (1.2 gsaturated, 2.6 gmonounsaturated), 60 mg cholesterol, 35.0 gprotein, 1.5g carbohydrates, 0.1 gﬁber,109 mg sodium.

TO PREPARE THE STUFFING:

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup grated provolone

cheese

3cloves garlic, minced

2tablespoons dried oregano

1/2 cup cubes of mortadella

1/4 cup pistachios

1or2raw eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

10 largebasil leaves

2hard-boiled eggs, peeledbut left whole

2long carrots, scraped andcut in half lengthwise

8to10strips of mozzarella cheese, cut from slices

Asparagus and Penne Pasta

Yields 2servings. RecipeisbyLinda Gassenheimer

1pound asparagus

4ounces penne pasta (about 11/2 cups)

1tablespoon olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Place alargesaucepan threefourthsfilledwithwater on to boil. Snap off the toughwoody ends (about 2inches) of theasparagus andcut theremaining stems into 2- to 3-inch pieces.

2. Add the penne to the boilingwater Boil 5minutes.Add theasparagus and continue to boil 3minutes. Test penne to make sure they are cooked. Add2 more minutes if needed.

3. Drain into abowl andtoss with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Divide in half and serve withthe snapper NUTRITIONINFOPER SERVING: 316 calories (22 percent from fat), 7.9 gfat (1.2 gsaturated, 3.3 gmonounsaturated), no cholesterol, 12.3 gprotein, 51.6 gcarbohydrates, 6.4 gﬁber,8mg sodium.

Bruccialuna

1. Placethe breadcrumbs into alarge bowl. If you buy seasoned breadcrumbs, check the salt level so that you don’toversalt. (I have arecipe for homemade seasonedbreadcrumbs in my book, “Nana’s Creole Italian Table.”) To the breadcrumbs, add the cheeses, garlic andoregano. Mix. Beat one egg in asmall bowl and addto the breadcrumb mixture. Stir thebreadcrumbs together.Ifitseems very dry,beat theother eggand add it to the mixture. Add the mortadella and the pistachios. Stir well.

TO PREPARE THE MEAT:

11/2 pounds beef flank steak, or asmallbutterflied beef roast Salt and pepper

2tablespoons oil

1. Place the round steakorﬂank steak or butterﬂied roast between 2sheets of plastic wrap. With an empty wine bottle or arolling pin, beat the meat into an even thickness into theshape of arectangle. (Be carefulnot to beat it to the point that the meat breaks down.)

2. Salt and pepper the meatand spread the breadcrumb mixture over the meat.Lay the basil leaves over the breadcrumbs. Center the hard-boiled eggs down the middle of the

BRUCCIALUNA

Continued from page1D

Today,there are afew restaurants where bruccialuna is stillonthe menu or offered as aspecial, but most don’tserve it. And although old-timers may lament its absence, many young people don’teven know what it is. What is bruccialuna? Bruccialuna, known as braciola in Italian, is a pounded, stuffedand rolled steakorabutterﬂied roast. It is cooked in aconcentrated tomato sugo and sliced for presentation, jellyrollfashion. Remember,everyone is

Paynoattention to insensitivecolleague

Dear Miss Manners: My co-worker,who has been trying to becomeasupervisor for thelast 15 years, and maybe will one day,always seemstohave to inquire about everything.

My grandma passed away,and I got approval from HR and myboss to takebereavement leave for the memorial services. My bereavementtime will not affect this colleague’swork, my work or anyone else’s. And yet,she had to textme on my personal phone to ask, “I saw you’re taking bereavement leave. Who died?”

your return fornot answering immediately,you could have said, with slight impatience, “I was away formygrandmother’sfuneral.”

1carrot, grated

Grated zest of one lemon

Grated zest of one orange

meat andlay the carrot strips and cheese strips alongeach side.

3. Placethe long side of therectangle paralleltothe edge of the table in front of you. This is edge you will roll up.

4. Usekitchentwine to tie the rollsnugly. Heat theoil in alarge pan and brown the tied meat roll in the hotoil, about4to6 minutes on all sides. Set thepan aside. The roll should be very well browned.

THE SAUCE:

1anchovy filet 2tablespoons tomato paste 1onion, finelychopped 3clovesgarlic, minced 2stalks celery, finely chopped

28 ounces good tomato sauce, homemade is best

1cup red wine

1. In the potwhere youbrowned thebeef roll, mash the anchovy into the hot oil and let theanchovy dissolve. Addthe tomatopaste andlet it caramelize. Keep stirring as it browns,about2 minutes. Addthe onion and garlic, and cook for 8minutes, stirring occasionally.Add thecelery,carrot and zests. Cook for 3minutes.

2. Add the tomatosauce and redwine. When the mixture is simmering. Stir and addthe browned bruccialuna. Cover acook in theoven for 2hours at 325 F.

3.Remove from theoven. Using tongs, take the roll from the sauce and remove the string. Allow to rest for 20 minutes

4. Place alayer of sauce on thebottom of aplatter.Cut the roll on acutting board andcarefully line up theslices on top of the sauce. Serve with pasta, abowl of sauce for thetable, and cheese at thetable.

Sicilian —oratthe very least Italian —during March. Iencourageyou to make this afamily project, andchildren love to participateinmakingand serving it.

Thekey to making this dish is to make areally good stufﬁng.Lotsof cheese, really good oliveoil, hard-boiled eggs, carrots, hunks of mortadella studdedwith pistachios, fresh basilleaves, afew pistachios andstripsofcheese. Therecipewill guide you. Butasyou arerolling, keepinmindthat you will be makingslices across the grain,exposingthe beautiful insides, so place your stufﬁng ingredients artfully It is my hope that people

will readopt the making of bruccialuna, and it will ﬁnd its place on tables again. If therecipe is too big, or if you want tomake it convenient for agroup, use the stufﬁng in bruccialutini personal size rolls, cooked in the same way

Perhaps you can make it to celebrate good things that happen every month to help keep it in theCreole Italian canon. Mangia bene!

Liz Williamsisfounder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans.Listen to “Tip of the Tongue,” Liz’spodcast about food, drink and culture, wherever you hear podcasts. EmailLiz at lizwillia@gmail.com.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

But she warns you that someone insensitive enough to send that bald text is unlikely to be subtle enough to take ahint. She will be perfect formanagement.

Dear Miss Manners: My husband and Iwill soon be welcoming our ﬁfth child into the world. As we have done with our other four children, we plan on sharing the namewehave chosen forour baby when she is born, not before.

It felt so callous and intrusive at atime when Ineeded some sympathy Icould only text her back that it was my grandma, and “feel free to send ﬂowers.”I know she won’t send any ﬂowers, but Ijust wanted to hint at her callousness. What should Ihave said? How should Ideal with this co-worker?

Gentlereader: The ﬂowers crack is not thehint you wanted, as it sounds too much like asking her to do somethingfor you. Miss Manners would have been in no hurry to answer.Ifscolded upon

With our older children, we have been ready and eager to share how and whyweselected their names, but very few people have asked. We had assumed that meantthat this matter was just not interesting to others, and we accepted that fact and refrained from bringing it up unless asked. Earlier this year,we found out that aclose relative was confused by the choice of one of our children’snames, and she unfortunately expressed somenegative sentiment about the nametothe child herself

My husband andIfeel like this confusion could have been cleared up yearsago if the relative hadsimply askedusabout the name.Wewould have been happy to have aconversationabout it. With the imminent arrival of ournextbaby, does Miss Manners have asolution thatallows us to share the signiﬁcance of the name we have chosen without pushing boring or unwanted informationontoour lovedones?

Gentle reader: One shockingly rude relative is not areason to change your history of exemplary behavior in not boring the friends and relatives. But Miss Manners recognizes that you really,really want to explain the name choice —and she wishes to reward your restraint. So if you weretoinclude a fewsentences of written exposition with the birth announcement, she does not promise to read it, but she would not object.

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

Bond with in-lawsinthe kitchen

Dear Heloise: Isuggest that Cindy,inBloomﬁeld, Michigan, asks her future mother-in-law for help in learning how to cook. She will get valuable time in the kitchen, and even moreimportantly, she will bond with her future mom-inlaw —Steve H., in Banning,California Tabletstothe rescue

Dear Heloise: Several people have written to you to say thatthey have enjoyed printed newspapers for many years but complained about the cost these days. They don’tlike reading the newspaper on their phone or desktop/laptop computer I, too, enjoyed aprinted newspaper and was tired of the escalating cost. The newspaper print on my phone was too small, and sitting at my desktoread thepaper on my computer just wasn’t comfortable enough. ButIﬁnally found theperfect solution: I purchased an inexpensive, older-generation 10-inch tablet to read thenewspaper on. This allowed me to sitcurled up on my sofa with ahandheld tablet that wasn’ttoo big or too small and comfortably read the newspaper

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, March 19, the78th day of 2026. There are 287 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On March 19, 2003, President George W. Bush announced in atelevised address that coalition forces had begun an invasion of Iraq. (Bush would declare victory just over ﬁve weeks later in his “Mission Accomplished” speech, though the main U.S. troop withdrawal would not be completed until 2011.)

Also on this date: In 1931, Nevada Gov.Fred B. Balzar signed ameasure thatmade the state the ﬁrst to legalize gambling.

In 1945, during World War II, more than800 service members were killed when aJapanese dive bomber attacked the carrier USS Franklin near Japan.

In 1953, the25th Academy Awards ceremony was

Tablets can be expensive, but an older-generation one kept the cost down. It also paid foritself in no timewith the savings from the printed newspaper subscription versus adigital-only subscription. Hope this works forsome others! —Roma,in New York Adot will do it

Dear Heloise: Instead of fumbling with the plug to determine which side you need to plug in forfrequently used electronics, paint adab of bright nail polish on the top side of the plug! No more fumbling! Susu, in Houston

Usinganoutside grill

Dear Heloise: Ijust read the letter in your column about the womanwho wastrying to cook multiple dishes at different temps and different times. Isuggest using an outside grill; it can be used as an oven and keep things warm! —Michele, in Pennsylvania

Cleaning wood cabinets

Dear Heloise: What is the best cleaner forwooden cabinets (that are not painted) to makethem look like new?Also, Ibelieve

TODAYINHISTORY

the first to be televised; “The Greatest Show on Earth” would winthe Oscar forBest Picture. In 1965, archaeologist E. Lee Spence discovered the wreckage of the SS Georgiana, aConfederate ship that had sunk near Charleston, South Carolina, exactly 102 years earlier In 1966, Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) became the first team to start five Black players in the NCAA basketball tournament’s championship game; they defeated top-ranked Kentucky in the final, 72-65.

In 1987, televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid asex and money scandal involving Jessica Hahn, aformer church secretary

In 1995, 17 months after announcing his retirement from basketball, Michael Jordan returned to playin theNBA withhis former

Cindy,inBloomﬁeld, Michigan, is going too fast fora beginner cook. —Barbarain Rural Retreat,Virginia Barbara, it all depends on what you’ve been cooking and what you’ve been cleaning the cabinets with in the past. If your cabinets are fairly clean but need to be spruced up, try amild dish soap with 2teaspoons of white vinegar in agallon of water.Use asponge that is wetbut not totally soaked with water.Ifthere is smoke residue or food stains, you may have to use acommercially produced cleaner that is usually found in ahardware store. —Heloise

Awelcoming warm bed

Dear Heloise: Youasked for hints about using common itemsinalternative ways. Iuse my microwaveable heating pads to preheat my bed before Isleep. One gets placed in the area by my feet and another beneath the area of my torso. Youcannot sleep on top of the pads forrisk of skin burns. But if you remove the pads before you go to sleep, you can enjoy awelcoming warmbed. —Patricia S.,via email

Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

team,the ChicagoBulls.(He would go on to win three moreNBA championships alongside thethree he and theBulls had alreadywon.)

In 2013, Pope Francis ofﬁcially began his stewardship of the Catholic Church, greeting tens of thousands of people thronging acelebration outside St. Peter’sBasilica in Rome. The Argentine native and ﬁrst pope from Latin America vowed to care forthe poor and most disadvantaged, days after his election to the papacy Today’sbirthdays: Actor Ursula Andress is 90. Singer Ruth Pointer (The Pointer Sisters) is 80. Actor Glenn Close is 79. Retired actor Bruce Willis is 71. NFL coach Andy Reid is 68. Actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach is 49. Comedian-podcaster Theo Vonis46. Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is 44. MLB pitcher Clayton Kershaw is 38. Actor Ajay Friese is 28.

PHOTO By LIZ WILLIAMS

Bruccialuna is cooked in aconcentrated tomatosugoand sliced for presentation, jellyroll-fashion.

Hints from Heloise

your best to makeapositive impact.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Imagination, desire anddisciplinewill carry you forward. Say no to excessive behavior and overspending. Trust your instincts and choose your associates wisely.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Choose health, fitness, exercise and proper diet over inactivity and overindulgence.Change is in your hands; it'suptoyou to pick a path and reach your goal.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Invest in what makes youhappy and explore how to use your skills to advance while doing something you enjoy. Balance helps you blend what's essential with what's rewarding.

GEMInI(May 21-June 20) Spontaneity will undermine you. Let things unfold naturally and adapttoeach scenario as it presents itself. An honest assessment of aproblem will help you dodge discord.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Refuse to let others test your patience. Stop worrying about things you have no control over and start living for whatbrings you joy. Asimple rule: Be honest, good andkind.

LEo(July23-Aug. 22) Reachout with a smile and ahelping hand, but don't let anyone take advantage of your generosity. Someone you least expect will have hiddenfeelings for you. Handle with care.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept.22) Volunteer, participate in meaningful events and do

Achange in how you use your skills will open doors to things that interest you.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Pay attention to home, family andmeaningful relationships. Maintain balance and integrity to avoid criticism and setbacks.An opportunity that comes your way will have adownside attached.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Put your energy into dismantling negativity and forminga team that shares your vision and has the skills to implement your plans. Don't be generous to afault.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Keep your money and possessions in asafe place, and don'tshare personal information readily. Keeping up with technology will help you advance.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Problems with communication are apparent. No matterhow you proceed,yourwords and responses will determine how situations unfoldand what others expect of you.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You'll have to maintain abalance between budget and quality. Go back to the drawing board and adjust your projects to fit your schedule and financial plan.

Celebrity Ciphercryptograms are created fromquotations by famous people, past and present. Eachletterinthe cipher stands foranother.

toDAy'scLuE: oEQuALs M

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers The object is to place thenumbers1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe same number only once. The difficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIPALDER

Randy K. Milholland,the creator of several webcomics, said, “Typos are very importanttoall written form. It gives the reader something to look for so he isn’t distracted by the total lack of contentinyourwriting.”

Howdepressing!ButlastyearIbought acartoon anthology and was surprisedto find twotypos. Even if they snuck into thenewspapers, why didn’t the cartoonist correct them before including them in hisbook?

At thebridge table,itiseasytobedistracted on defensewhen one knows that partner hasmade amistake. One petulantlyplaysthecardnearestone’sthumb instead of asking oneself if the contract is still beatable

In this deal,South wasinfour spades. West led theclubqueen and East won withhisace,droppingSouth’sking.What happenednext?

At trick two, Eastshifted to his singletonheartjack. Yes, West should have overtaken withhis queen, cashed the heart ace, and given hispartner aheart ruff to defeat thecontract. But thinking that Eastwould have asecondheart,Westsignaled with his 10. Ticked off, Eastnow ledatrump. Gratefully, South drew trumps and discarded hislast three hearts on dummy’s diamonds, which fell intohis lapafter onefinesse.

wuzzles

East immediatelyberated West. But East shouldhave paused to askhimself iftherewasanythinghecouldhavedone. Then he would have noticed that leading adiamond at trickthree would have defeated the contract, cutting declarer offfromthedummybeforehehasdrawn trumps. Keep your eye on the cards.

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOngOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD cAstER: KASS-ter: Any of aset of wheels used for the movementoffurniture, etc.

Averagemark 24 words

Time limit 35 minutes

yEstERDAy’sWoRD —HEREuPon

Can you find 31 or more words in CASTER? here hero hereon

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard

dIrectIons: make a2-to 7-letterword from theletters in each row. add pointsof each word, using scoring directions at right.Finally, 7-letterwords get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. allthe words arein theOfficial sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5thEdition.

kenken

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

more information on tournamentsand

Puzzle Answer

WiShinG Well

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

GRANT, &LEP POPULA‐

Electronic Responsesto Requestfor Proposal

ativetothe abovewillbe received viaemail sub‐missiontothe Procure‐ment Department forthe OrleansParishSchool Board(“OPSB” or

Parkway,

5055, NewOrleans Louisiana70114 until 9:00 A.M. (CST)onThursday April16, 2026. Specificationsand quali‐ficationsare found in the RFPdocumentsand may be obtained by visiting theDistrict’swebsite at www.nolapublicschools com. Allquestions re‐gardingthisRFP shallbe directed to theExecutive Director of Procurement at procurement@nol apublicschools.com TheDistrictwillhost a VirtualPre-Proposal meetingtobeheldon Friday,March 27, 2026, at 9:00 A.M. (CST). TheVir‐tual link canbefound below: Register in advancefor this meeting: https://us06web.zoom us/meeting/register/ jXLrAeb1TZCShXkUF1fHA Afterregistering,you will receivea confirmation emailcontaininginfor‐mation aboutjoining the meeting. TheDistrictreservesthe righttorejectany or all ResponsestoRequest for l h h

is basedon householdincome, citi‐zenship, andthe ability of thefamilytomeet screeningrequirements. •HANOdoesnot discrim‐inatebased on race color, religion,national origin,sex,age,familial status,ordisability. HowtoApply 1.

DOERR FURNITURE–ANEW ORLEANS STAPLE

Doerr Furniturewas founded by Charles L. Doerr,Sr. in 1938 and continues to serve its loyal customers throughoutSoutheast Louisiana and the Gulf South. We arenow a Fouth-generation family business, rooted in the history of NewOrleans.

To this day,the Mutter Family believesthat the focus is on you, Our customer,and strives to provide unparalleled customer service. From the ﬁrst greeting at the showroom to the delivery of your furnitureand after,Doerr Furniture’s aim is to welcome you into the Doerr Family

LIFE IS GOOD WITH SOLID WOOD

We havethe largest Selection of NorthAmerican Made Solid wood in the Gulf South!

President,

March 19, 2026

Former Led Zeppelin member set for the Saenger page 4

It was a year of ﬁrsts at the Oscars page 12

don’tmiss don’tmiss don’t miss

sansepolcro

flag wavers

The Italian phenomenon returns to Jefferson Parish as drummers, trumpeters and ﬂag-wavers perform at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to theEast Bank Regional Library,4747 W. NapoleonAve., Metairie. The Renaissance tradition,which was used for communication in battle and celebration of pride, was rejuvenated in thecentral Italiantown of Sansepolcro in conjunction with thecrossbow tournament. jplibrary.net.

ABOUTLAGNIAPPE

The Lagniappe section is publishedeach Thursday by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate. All inquiries about Lagniappe should be directed to theeditor.

irish-italian pa

hubbard

streetdance

chicago

The New closes out by one of contemporary countryf legend Bob inspired video, at Jackson Theater 1419 Basin

LAGNIAPPE EDITOR: Lauren Walck, lauren.walck@theadvocate.com

COVERDESIGN: AndreaDaniel

CONTRIBUTINGWRITERS: Victor Andrews, Judy Bergeron,Leslie Cardé, Ian McNulty,ChelseaShannon, DeanM.Shapiro,KeithSpera, Poet Wolfe

GETLISTEDINLAGNIAPPE

Submitevents to Lagniappe at leasttwo weeks in advance by emailing events@theadvocate.com. ON THECOVER

Customers enjoycrawﬁsh from Perino’s Boiling PotinHarvey. Photo by DavidGrunfeld.Food writers IanMcNulty and Chelsea Shannonlisttheir favorite spots to twistand peel on Page 8.

coin show

Buy, sell and appraise coins, paper money, doubloons, bullion and more from all over the world at the Landing Ballroom, 3310 Florida Ave., Kenner.The Crescent City Coin Club’s free event will have a variety of new and ancient products and supplies for collectors and traders, plus door prizes, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9a.m. to 3p.m. Saturday. crescentcitycoinclub.org.

stella shouting contest don’tmiss don’tmiss don’t miss

In homage to Marlon Brando’s character StanleyKowalskicalling forhis wife in the 1951 ﬁlm “A Streetcar Named Desire,” contestants testingtheirlungs forthe judges opensthe local Tennessee Williams literary festival at 3:30p.m.Saturday at th New Orleans Jazz Museum,400 Esplanade Ave., right after the TW Theatre Co.’spresentation of scenes of someofthe works at 2p.m. tennesseewilliams.net.

theNew

Concertosand Comic Cantatas Concertos and

civic symphony airforce band and singing sergeants

Aprogram that includes apremiere of “Tyrant,” “Seven O’Clock Shout” and “Hymn For Everyone” will also feature soprano Christina Comer for the 6p.m. Sunday concert at the UNO Performing Arts Center,2000 Lakeshore Drive.Comer will sing for Gorecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.” neworelanscivic symphony.org.

The musical ensembles from the nation’scapital will perform at 3p.m. Sunday at Loyola’s RousselHall, 6363 St. Charles Ave. The concert is free, but tickets arerequired. The Crescent City stop is followed by aperformance at 7p.m. Monday at the LSUStudent Union Theater in Baton Rouge. music.af.mil/USAFBand/events/ national-tours/concert-band/.

featuringmusic of Bach,Rameau,Telemann,ViValdi the canaRy canTaTa &the coffee canTaTa Coffee kindly donated by PJ’s coffee

flute soloist Ji Weon Ryu& chamber orchestra

saTuRday with Rachel Looney maRch 21sT aT 5:30 Pm &

sunday with Kristin Schmitz maRch 22nd aT 3:00 Pm

atthe NewMarigny Theatre, 2301Marais Street www.newmarignytheatre.com

withvocal soloists

Rachel Looney

KenWeber

Kevin Rouchell

Kristin Schmitz

Bogdan Mynka

director Ivan Griffin

conductor /harpsichordistPaul Mauffray

music music music

Keith Spera SOUND CHECK

It’s abusyweekfor live musicinNew Orleans,

the

firstofmanysuch weekswithfestival season rightaroundthe corner.

Email Keith Spera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

ROBERT PLANTWITHSAVING GRACE

ANDSUZIDIAN

SUNDAY,SAENGER THEATRE

Much like Paul McCartney and the Beatles, Robert Plant has been out of Led Zeppelinfor alot longer thanhe was in Led Zeppelin but is forever identiﬁedwith his former band. And with goodreason: Led Zeppelin laid down one of the great catalogs in the history of hardrock.

But Plant’spost-Zep career has clearly demonstrated thathe’snot content to rest on hislaurels (or his considerable Led Zeproyalties).Since the1980s,he hasshape-shifted his musical output many times. He cut solo rock singles with just enough sheentomake them suitable for MTV.Hereteamed with Zep guitarist Jimmy Page to further explorethe Moroccan modalities their formerbandhinted at with “Kashmir.”

In 2007, Plant contributed two songs to “Goin’ Home: ATribute to FatsDomino,” which he recorded in New Orleans. He cut“It Keeps Rainin’”with the Lil’ Bando’Gold and “Valley of Tears” with

ZION HARMONIZERS87th ANNIVERSARY

SUNDAY,ST. JOHN INSTITUTIONAL MISSIONARYBAPTIST CHURCH

New Orleans gospelgroup the Zion Harmonizers traces itsroots all the way back to 1939. The Harmonizers have continued in some form now for 87 years. For many of those decades, they were led by the legendary Sherman Washington, who also oversaw the New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival’sGospel Tent and hosted apopular gospel radioshow. Since Washington’spassing in 2011, longtime member Brazella Briscoe has led the Zion Harmonizers. The group will celebrate its 87th anniversary starting at 3p.m. Sunday at St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, 2538 Jackson Ave.

The schedule of performers reads like apretty great day at the Gospel Tent: the Rocks of

the SowetoGospel Choir

He and bluegrass singer and ﬁddler Alison Krauss crafted apair of evocative, haunted albums,“Raising Sand” and “Raise the Roof,” both of which included asong by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. Plant recorded and toured with Strange Sensation, Band of Joy and the Sensational Space Shifters, writing new material, exploring old folk and blues s and reframing Zeppelin songs different arrangementsand inst mentation.

He continues his decadeslong exploration of moretraditiona music forms via his latest proj ect,Saving Grace, for which he shareslead vocal duties with Suzi Dian. They’re on the road now,stopping at the Saenger Theatre on Sunday.Neotraditional rockabilly guitarist and singerRosie Flores opens show. Ticketsstart at $60.

Robert Plant

Harmony,the New Voices of Light, the Mighty Supremes, David Batiste, Ronald Robinson &Taken, Inspiration of Boutte, the ZionBaptist Church Choir, Cordell Chamblissand more. Traditionally,the honorees

at these types of anniversary celebrations don’tperform. But Briscoe saysheand his fellow Harmonizerswill sing abit on Sunday Admission is free, but offerings and donations are welcome.

ALSO THIS WEEK

Blues-rock guitar hero Walter Trout and his band plug in at the NewOrleans Jazz &Blues Market in Central City on both Thursday and Friday.Tickets start at $36. Comedian Wanda Sykes brings her “Please and Thank YouTour” to the Saenger Theatre on Thursday with opening act Keith Robinson.Tickets start at $54. All phones will be secured in locked Yondr pouches during the show

Goines

The MikeEpps-produced “We Them Ones Comedy Tour” comes to the Smoothie King Center on Friday with Karlous Miller,DCYoung Fly,Chico Bean,TK Kirkland,Tony Roberts and Just Nesh.The arena will be in its reduced-capacity conﬁguration, with only the ﬂoor and lower bowlavailable. Tickets start at $89. Modern jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines,alongtime Wynton Marsalis collaborator,isat Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro at 7:30 p.m.and 9:30 p.m.Friday.Tickets are $40 plus fees.

Harmonizers

music music music

NEW ORLEANS BAYOU BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

SATURDAY,

DEUTCHES HAUS

After nearly a thousand people showed up for the inaugural 2025 New Orleans Bayou Bluegrass Festival, it returns to the grounds of Deutches Haus, 1700 Moss St., along Bayou St. John on Saturday for an encore.

Topping the roster of the daylong festival is Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, who made a name for herself as the ﬁddle player in Molly Tuttle’s band. She’s joined onstage by her husband, Jason Carter, who logged 33 years as the ﬁddle player in bluegrass legend Del McCoury’s band.

The Tennessee-based Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and the Paciﬁc Northwest duo of Caleb Klauder and Reeb Wilms

round out the “visiting artists” part of the roster

They’ll be joined Saturday by south Louisiana-based Gina Forsyth & the Copper Roosters, the Swampland String Band and the Dead Magnolia String Band. Beyond music, the festival features food trucks, arts and craft vendors, kids’ activities and more. It’s open from 11 a.m to 8 p.m.

ALSO THIS WEEK (continued)

Larkin Poe, the harmony-rich roots rock sister duo that has progressively cranked up the guitars ever louder, headlines Tipitina’s on Sunday, with Ghalia Volt opening. Tickets are $35 plus fees.

After 40-plus years, Mexican pop-rock band Maná ranks as one of the most popular Latin American bands of all time. Maná’s “Vivir Sin Aire Tour” stops at the Smoothie King Center on Sunday. Tickets start at $45.

Texas music legends Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, two-thirds of the Flatlanders, showcase their songs at Chickie Wah Wah on Wednesday Local favorite Paul Sanchez opens the show Advance tickets start at $40 plus fees.

Tickets are $40 at the gate. Children 12 and under are admitted free.

Produced by the nonproﬁt Delta Hayride Association, the festival donates a portion of its proceeds to Special Olympics Louisiana and the Krewe of Dolly, a walking krewe whose members costume as Dolly Parton and raise money for childhood literacy programs.

Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

Larkin Poe

music music music

Celebration of opera joins spring fest lineup

BY DEAN M. SHAPIRO

Contributing writer

In a city renowned for its annual festivals, another will soon be added to the calendar when the inaugural New Orleans Opera Festival debuts Tuesday and runs through March 29.

The operatic musical art form has a long history in New Orleans, dating to the late 1700s when the city was under Spanish rule with a majority of French-speaking citizens. Various theaters throughout the city in the 18th and 19th centuries were the sites of North American premieres of numerous classic operas composed by some of Europe’s most famous composers.

The soon-to-be-christened New Orleans Opera Festival will open with Francis Poulenc’s three-act, French-language opera “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” Composed in 1957, the work is set in France during the French Revolution and is being staged at the Old Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter. Performances on Tuesday and March 26 and 28 will feature — singing together for the ﬁrst time professionally — mother and daughter, Phyllis and Emily Treigle They are, respectively, the daughter and granddaughter of the late, renowned New Orleans native, bass-baritone Norman Treigle.

Other individual concerts will be staged in various locations in the French Quarter and downtown. Among those concerts will be a performance by world-renowned soprano, Gilda Schultz, titled “Dark Matter(s).” She will be accompanied by Jonathan Ware on piano at the Civic Theatre on Wednesday. Also on the festival schedule is a one-night-only performance of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical “Show Boat.” It will be staged on an actual riverboat, the “City of New Orleans,” docked along the riverside March 28. The musical that gave the world the classic lament song, “Ol’ Man River,” will feature a cast of four singers and an accompanist.

performances.

St. Louis Cathedral and make ﬁve stops along the way through the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood. The date coincides with Palm Sunday.

The festival will close March 29 with a performance of Carlisle Floyd’s “Pilgrimage,” a series of sacred cantatas based on biblical texts. The pieces will be sung by three baritones and a soprano, accompanied by a piano, violin and cello.

The actual “Pilgrimage” will begin at the

The staging of “Pilgrimage” salutes the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Although Floyd wasn’t from New Orleans, he directed performances here and he chose Norman Treigle to premiere some of his compositions.

There will be an opening reception at the Cabildo on Tuesday, hosted by Lt. Gov Billy Nungesser, and a closing party on March 29 at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts on Chartres Street in the Faubourg Marigny.

Earlier information about the festival announced that Richard Strauss’ German-language opera “Der Rosenkavalier” would be among the pieces to be performed at the festival, but it will be staged at a yet-unspeciﬁed date in November.

Credit for the festival is given, in large part, to Lila Palmer, general and artistic director of the New Orleans Opera Asso-

ciation, with the support of the company’s board of directors.

Commenting on the experience, Palmer said, “It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do. It’s been such a gift to take our pilgrims on this journey from opera to jazz. From the French Quarter where opera began to where the future of the arts is with the younger generation in the Marigny. We’ve been bringing so many amazing partners to the table. This was exactly my dream when I founded this festival. Our objective is to really enmesh us as much as possible in the city and fully celebrate the legacy of New Orleans.”

Finishing out her first season as the head of the 83-year-old opera company, Palmer noted, “This festival is really a love letter to the spirit of New Orleans. It’s not me bringing the energy to New Orleans. It is basically opening the channels to let that energy flow where that creativity has always been and letting opera reflect that.

“So this could be the start of a new tradition if this festival is successful. Then we can envision others to come in the future. We absolutely want to go from tradition to innovation.”

TUESDAY

n FESTIVAL OPENING RECEPTION: 5:30 p.m. Cabildo, Jackson Square

WEDNESDAY

n “DARK MATTERS” GOLDA SCHULTZ IN CONCERT, WITH JONATHAN WARE, PIANO: 6 p.m., 8 p.m. CD signing. Civic Theatre, 510 O’Keefe Ave.

MARCH 26

n “DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES”: 7:30 p.m. Old Ursuline Convent Museum, 1112 Chartres St.

MARCH 28

n “DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES”: 2:30 p.m. Old Ursuline Convent Museum, 1112 Chartres St.

n “SHOW BOAT” IN CONCERT: 6 p.m. City of New Orleans riverboat, dockside, 400 Toulouse St.

MARCH 29

n “PILGRIMAGE”: 2:30 p.m. St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square

n FESTIVAL PARTY: 6:30 p.m. NOCCA, 2800 Chartres St. TICKETS

Prices vary. (504) 529-3000; neworleans operafestival.org

PROVIDED PHOTO By DANIEL WELCH Cast members for ‘Dialogues of the Carmelites,’ part of the New Orleans Opera Festival portfolio of

P. Treigle

E. Treigle

THURSDAY,MAR

food food food

13 NewOrleans-area crawfish spots building excitement for2026season

BOIL POINT

O BOIL POINT

Eating boiled crawﬁsh is an experiencemanyinLouisiana look forward to all year,whether at abackyardboil or at areliable restaurant.

And NewOrleans has many great places to grab pounds of hot-boiled

crawﬁsh with all the ﬁxings.Classic spots have been ago-to for years, and some newer boilers are making aname for themselves in Crescent City.

Crawﬁsh season has been going strongthisyear and is now kicking

into high gear,and we wanted to share some of our favorite spotsto get apile of mudbugs.

The following is amix of food writers Ian McNulty’sand Chelsea Shannon’stop picks for crawﬁsh purveyors for the 2026 season.

Ian McNulty Chelsea Shannon

Writers Ian McNulty,left, and Chelsea

Shannon fill up on boiled seafood at Clesi’sSeafood Restaurant & Catering in MidCity

ANDY’S CRAWFISH AT BAYOUBEERGARDEN

326 N. Norman C. FrancisParkway

Bar daily; crawﬁshfrom3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday andfrom1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Crawfish season temporarily transforms this mini campusofindoor/outdoor bar spaces into what can feel like acrawfish festival, especially on theweekends. Andy’spopularityisnofluke, andwith agood winelist, this is agreat place to taste throughdifferent crawfish pairings beyond the copious beer selection (bubbles and mudbugs are amatch made in heaven).

CAJUNSEAFOOD

1479 NClaiborne Ave., 1901 Almonaster Ave., 7020 Read Blvd. and2730 S. Broad Ave.

Open every day;hours vary by location

Fora good grab-and-go option,Cajun Seafood offers quick andno-frills service when it comes to their crawfish. Each location is runbydifferent siblings, so there are some slight liberties taken with the recipe created by Viet Nguyen andNga Le, who opened thefirst Cajun Seafood in 1995 while raising their nine children.Their crawfish is perfect for grabbing abag and thenpeeling away on aporch with acool drink.

SEITHER’SSEAFOOD

279 Hickory Ave., Harahan

11 a.m.to8 p.m.TuesdaytoThursday, 11 a.m. to 9p.m. Friday and 5p.m. to 9p.m.Saturday

Making apilgrimage to Seither’sSeafood makes it feel like thislittle patch of Harahan is somehow outbyabeach with its thatch and tiki torches, driftwood stage for livemusic and impresario of the boil, Jason Seither,running theship.

DEANIE’S SEAFOOD

1713 LakeAve., Metairie 11 a.m.to9 p.m.SundaytoThursdayand 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridayand Saturday Nostalgia is built intoatrip to theoriginal Deanie’sSeafood, where there’sa time warp back to the old Bucktown between thebig bar up front and the retail market next door.

BUGGIN’OUT BOILS

Pop-upschedule on Instagram

Rolling uptoaBuggin’ Out Boils pop-up feels likeaparty.The linemay be long, but soonyou’llbeeating aﬂavorful trayof

CAMILE’S CRAWFISH

Rusty Nail, 1100 Constance St. 2p.m. mostSaturdays

Creativity shines at Camile Kelsey’s backyard boils. Whether adding pineapple, cauliﬂower or dumplings, Kelsey is skilled in making batches that keep the party going. She’sbeen cooking for friends and family forover adecade and recently started booking private parties. To book aprivate boil, contact Kelsey at camkelsey@gmail.com or (504) 578-0046.

FRANKIE&JOHNNY’S

321 Arabella St.

Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8p.m.; Mondayto Saturday 11 a.m. to 9p.m.

crawﬁsh. Andwherever theBuggin’ crew is popping up, the bar nearby will have a nice chilled beer ready for purchase.

PERINO’S BOILINGPOT

3754 Westbank Expressway, Harvey 11 a.m. to 9p.m.Sunday, Monday,Wednesdayand Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridayand Saturday

Eating crawﬁsh at Perino’sBoiling Pot in Harvey,surrounded by thetaxidermy wildlife while working down an icy pitcher of beer,feels like you’ve somehow traveled far into Acadianarather than just over the Harvey Canal.

It could just be the little pocket-sized porch out front at Frankie &Johnny’s, or it could also be listening to the clang and boom of the port at workacross the street while pairing crawfish with abetter-thanyou-might-expect wine list (rosé and crawfish work great; sparkling rosé and crawfish are even better).

BONTEMPS BOULET’S

4701 Airline Drive,Metairie

Tue.-Thu. 11 a.m. to 7p.m., Fri.,Sat. 11 a.m. to 8p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. to 6p.m.

This fun, upbeat market and eatery has

ä See CRAWFISH, page 10

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

STAFF FILEPHOTO By IANMcNULTy

Aplate from Andy’sCrawfish at BayouBeer Garden pairs with asparklingrosé on the patio.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

Jason Seither,ofSeither’sSeafood in Harahan, holds up abounty of selectcrawfish.

food food food

CRAWFISH

Continued from page 9

crawﬁsh with a clean taste, an easy pull from the shell and a spice that’s both balanced and complex

It hits different notes between salty, spicy and even the slightest bit sweet as you work through a tray The smoked brisket sandwich is a beauty on the side.

MAIS LA CRAWFISH

Pop-up schedule on Instagram

When you see Mais La’s setup, you know there’s about to be some spicy crawﬁsh coming your way. Even when the line is long, people who know how good it is will wait, hoping that he won’t sell out by the time they get to the front.

CLESI’S SEAFOOD

4323 Bienville St.

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

You can get an eyeful of the boiling operation, all out in the open, with pots roughly the size one might use at home.

It makes Clesi’s feel close to a backyard boil.

From tables spread across the multilevel patios, Clesi’s is an approximation of a backyard. It’s a consistent and reliable purveyor of quality crawﬁsh.

C&A SEAFOOD

1429 S. Norman C. Francis Parkway

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Buggin’ Out Boils serves up 2.5 pounds of its Viet-Cajun and regular crawfish.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHELSEA SHANNON

The boil is consistently ﬂavorful, as are the crawﬁsh. Add some boiled shrimp, which are extra extraordinary. Though mostly a takeout shop, the

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy Bon Temps Roulet’s in Metairie serves boiled crawfish seasonally, open January through June.

benches on the patio still make a nice spot to eat with a couple of Heinekens from the cooler.

OH BOY POBOYS

Pop-up updates for location and time on Instagram

Normally, this pop-up is crafting po-boys at bars and taprooms around the city, but during crawfish season, the pot comes out. The crawfish’s seasoning is hot, but the fixings are even hotter

Pop-up owner Nils Olson also accepts private bookings.

Email Chelsea Shannon at cshannon@theadvocate.com.

Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@ theadvocate.com.

Popular 7th Ward Cajun restaurant Nonno’s closes

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

After more than six years in spaces across New Orleans, Nonno’s Cajun Cuisine & Pastries closed its latest home along a historic stretch in the 7th Ward last month and will reopen in Jefferson Parish.

Chef Shermond Esteen opened the restaurant in a mint-green building on Bayou Road two years ago, following brief stays elsewhere in the 7th Ward in 2020 and in the Marigny in 2022. Inside, he offered a menu rooted in

the city’s vernacular cooking, with plates of cheesy grits, charbroiled oysters, po-boys and seafood egg rolls drawing steady crowds most weeks. Ultimately, Esteen said, rising costs made it difﬁcult to sustain operations in the neighborhood.

Now he is entering a new chapter outside of Orleans Parish and is preparing to reopen Nonno’s in Metairie. The restaurant is among several vendors — including Louisiana Purchase Kitchen Express and Coastal BBQ Co.

— that were selected to operate in the Pointe, a new food pavilion in Lafreniere Park. Nonno’s will be the only vendor in the park serving breakfast, Esteen said. It will also offer lunch and a smaller dinner menu featuring jambalaya, fried chicken and fried catﬁsh. Esteen plans to add beignets to the menu once the restaurant opens, which he expects to happen before Easter.

“It feels great just knowing that I still have people that support me and

what I do as far as cooking and baking,” he said. “So that’s a blessing.” His latest venture marks another chance for Nonno’s to help anchor a space that once sat empty. Bayou Road — one of the city’s oldest thoroughfares — struggled with long vacancies before a 2015 revitalization effort backed by the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority emphasized historic preservation. Today, the corridor is lined with Black-owned businesses, and among them was Nonno’s, which became part of the area’s revival.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

Boiled crawfish is served seasonally at C&A Seafood in New Orleans.

Esteen

food food food

‘It’skindoflikesummercamp’

N.O. chef makesreturntocooking competition

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

WITH NINI NGUyEN

New Orleans chef Nini Nguyen is hoping to spin and cook her way to victory on her third trip to Food Network’s“Tournament of Champions” kitchen. “I keep going back because not only do Iwant to win, Ithink the competition is really fun,” Nguyen said recently while walking her dog in the Crescent City.“It’s like fun to be able to.I say ‘fun’ very loosely because it’ssometimes stressful.”

The show airs at 7p.m.Sundays and streams the following day on HBO Max and Discovery+.

Nguyen, 39, exited after the ﬁrst round of the Guy Fieri-hosted competition series’ Season 5in2024 and made it all the way to the Season 6quarterﬁnals last year

“Tournament of Champions” is asingle-elimination, bracketed tournament, with placement basedonprevious competition series appearances and wins. Thirty-two of the nation’stop chefs are vying for $150,000 andacoveted “Tournament of Champions” belt.

Bracket placement aside, every chef has achance of being stumpedas there’sanother layerofchallenge in this contest. It’scalled the randomizer Fieri spins ﬁve wheels to determine what protein, produce, equipment, style and wildcard ingredient must be used by the chefs in cooking their dishes. The combinations can end up being helpful or horrendous.

Season 7brings an added surprise.

“Top-seeded chefs in every division will be food world icons, four of the most powerful opponents to ever compete on the series, but their identities will remain asecret until themoment they enter the arena,” aseries synopsis states. “Every battle will be head-tohead; every spin of the randomizer will keep competitors on their toes and viewers on the edge of their seats, and

PROVIDED PHOTO By NICK AGRO/FOOD NETWORK Chefs NiniNguyen, left, and Gabriele Bertaccini work against time and fatigue on ‘24 in 24:Last Chef Standing.’

every dish is make-or-break.”

Here, cookbook author Nguyen(“Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook”) discusses her previous timeonthe showand looksahead to Season7

The interview has been editedfor clarity and brevity.

You’vegotten agood bitofexperience with this show.Has it changed since the first time you were on it?

It hasn’treally changed. The randomizer,it’sstumped me before, but it’s fun in regards to where it levels off theplayingﬁeld. No matter whoyou’re going against, it’snot necessarily the most skilled —it’sthe quickest thinker

Ithink that’swhy alot of women have won, because we’re really resourceful. It’sfun to be able to cook against all of my friends. It’skind of like summer camp, but Ialso wanttowin money

Becausethere’snoway to preparefor therandomizer,how do youget ready for“Tournament of Champions”?

Iwatch oldepisodes. Isee what peopledo, what goes right, what goes wrong, and you study it. Youcan’t really predict whoyou’re going to go against. That’swhatmakes thebracket reveal so exciting. Imakesure Ibrush up on weird ingredients that Imight have seen before,like protein. That’s theonlyway you could really study because you can’t really prepare for weird combos.

As farascompetitive cooking,doyou prefer to

competeagainst aknown or an unknown?

Idon’t know. Ithink, forme, an unknown because sometimes Ipsych myselfout thinking,“What is the other persongoing to do?” I’drather just focusonmyself andtry to put agood dish through.SoI guess I’drather an unknown,but really Iwould just rather be better at focusing on what I’mdoing.

At the endofthe day, it goes to the judges. We don’tknowwho the judges are, so you can’t cook fortaste. Youjust have to cook something that youreally love,orlike at least, andhopefor the best.

This is one of thelargerFood Networkprizes. What would youdowith theprizemoney? I’mabout to be 40. I’ve alwayswant-

ed to be amom. If Iwin, Iwould love to takethatmoney to startmyown family.I’m notcurrentlymarried or dating anyone,soI might want to be asingle mom by choice andﬁgure things out from there.

Youhad mentioned last time that you would like to open aVietnamese restaurant. How is that plan going?

Iamlooking at spaces right now. It’s very scary because theeconomy doesn’t seem like agreat place. But withthatbeing said, I’mstill looking, andI’m putting more pentopaper this year.I hope to have something by the endofthe year or at leastaspace.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@ theadvocate.com.

airylinen,beautifullyembroidered

OSCA R FI R STS

Recordsare broken and milestones earned at the dazzling AcademyAwards

The 98th Academy Awards broke all kinds ofrecordswhenthe statuettes were handed out at Sunday night’sOscars in Los Angeles.

The biggest winner was Paul Thomas Anderson,who walked offwith Best Director,Best Picture andBestAdapted Screenplay for “One Battle After Another.”Ifthere were an award for most tenacious ﬁlmmaker,hecouldhave won that, too, since he’sbeen nominated 14 times across his career for writing, directing and producing, but had never won.

In fact, until now,Anderson had held therecord formostnominations withouta win. Hisacceptance speeches at the ceremony wereinspiring,repeating the much-held sentiment that pitting actorsand ﬁlmmakers against one another for awards is reallyan impossible task and extremelysubjective.

He noted that in 1975, thenomineesfor Best Picture were “Dog Day Afternoon,” “BarryLyndon,”“Nashville,” “One FlewOver the Cuckoo’sNest” and “Jaws.” The sheer diversity in subject matter and style makes pickinga “best” ﬁlm anearly impossible task.

Having said all of that, Anderson declared hewas still very grateful to be holding hisaward.

Notching up firsts

The Louisiana-shot“Sinners”won fourOscars from ahistoric 16 nominations. They went to RyanCoogler for Original Screenplay,Michael B. Jordan forBest Actor, Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Best Cinematographyand Ludwig Göransson for BestOriginal Score. That ﬁlm, to date, has racked up $370 million in worldwide box ofﬁce, adding to awinningnight for the studio Warner Bros., which endedthe evening with an 11-Oscartally, after adding in itsOscars for “One BattleAfter Another” and “Weapons.” That is the largest win for asingle studio in thisannualonenight ceremony.

There were many in the Hollywood community who notchedupaﬁrst in their category.

Actress Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) who walked off with theBest ActressOscar,has become theﬁrst Irish actress to win in that category.Best Actor winner Jordan will go down in history as theﬁrstindividual

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER

Sara Murphy,left, and director Paul Thomas Anderson brought homeOscars forthe film ‘One Battle After Another’ on Sunday

in more than 60 years to wininthat categoryplaying twins. Jordan plays Smoke andStackinthe ﬁlm“Sinners.”

Best Supporting Actor Sean Penn hasbecome only the fourth male ever to winthreeactingOscars. He joins Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholsonand Walter Brennan. Penn’sfirst Oscar came in 2003 forstarring in theClintEastwood-directed “MysticRiver,”where he portrayed an ex-con who believesa childhood buddy mayhavekilledhis teenage daughter.Penn also won theBest Actor award in 2009’s“Milk,”playingslain San Francisco Board of Supervisorsmember Harvey Milk, the first openly gayman to be elected to public office in California.

Along-running quest

Amy Madiganwon in the Best Supporting Actress category,for herwork in “Weapons,”playing awoman whosends asmalltown into turmoil aftera classroom full of students disappear onemysterious night.

Madigannow holds the record forthe longest gap between anomination anda winatthe Academy Awards.

It’sbeen 40 years since her ﬁrst nominationback in 1986 for “Twice In ALifetime.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” had agreat night, winning Best Animated Feature, and the trioofsongwriters behind the hummable tune “Golden” have become the ﬁrst South Koreanstowin in the Best Song category, with theﬁrst-ever KPop style song.

And, talk aboutsmashing the proverbial glass ceiling! WhenArkapaw picked up the Best Cinematography Oscar,she became theﬁrst womantowin in that category,with the bonus of also being the ﬁrst Black cinematographer to win. Arkapaw thankedCoogler, herdirector in “Sinners,”for allowing her to shine

Bookies’ hits andmisses

Michael B. Jordan arrivesatthe Vanity Fair Oscar PartyonSunday at the Los Angeles County Museum of ArtinLos Angeles.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

The Las Vegasoddsmakers only gotabout 60% of their picks correct. Oneoftheir misseswas in the DocumentaryFeature category, where they had“The Perfect Neighbor” as theodds-onfavorite; instead, “Mr.NobodyAgainst Putin” (myLagniappe pick) took the top prize

“Mr.NobodyAgainst Putin” is thestory of asmalltown Russianvideographeratanelementary school hundredsofmilesfromMoscow who riskedhis life to take videos of Vladimir Putin’sblatantattempt to indoctrinate childrentobelieve that theUkrainians were athreat to Russia,justifying awar that hascontinued after itsfourthyear.The filmmakerfled Russia with his videos,allowing theworld to see howPutin influences his people,starting withits youngest citizens When thewinnerfor Live Action Short Film wasannounced,itturnedout to be twowinners:Itwas atie! It was only thesixthtime in Academy history, over 98 years, that atie has occurred. The winners in that category were “The Singers” and“TwoPeople Exchanging Saliva,” withthe latter available forviewing at the upcomingFrench Film Festival in NewOrleans.

TheDocumentaryShort Film awardwentto“Allthe Empty Rooms,”a gut-wrenching look at howparents copewiththe ongoing agonyoflosing theirchildren to school shootersinAmerica. Many parents cannot bear to change the rooms that theirchildrenlivedin, because for them,itservesasanongoing memorial.

TheInternational Film Oscar went to Norway’s “Sentimental Value,” which was also nominated in the Best Picture category. The threeawards that went to “Frankenstein” in theMakeupand Hairstyling, Production Design, andCostumes surprisednoone who hasseen theﬁlm. Itslush backdrops andthe amazing transformation of Jacob Elordi intoFrankenstein’s creature arenothing short of amazing.

Another ﬁrst forthe Academy was theadditionofa newcategoryfor BestCasting, suchanintegral part of puttinga movie together.Thatﬁrstaward went to “One BattleAfter Another”casting director Cassandra Kulukundis.

The liveliest performanceofthe night belonged to the castof“Sinners,”whenthe Oscar stagetransformedintothe juke joint that was an integralpart of the ﬁlm. Music of thepastand thepresentrangout over theaudience, anda good time was hadbyall.

ContactLeslie Cardéatlesliecardejournalist@ gmail.com.

PHOTO By INVISION/ EVAN AGOSTINI

Leslie Cardé

Spring arrangements complement NOMA works

Art in Bloom features lecture, fashion show

Thursday

Staff report

“Marsh Madness” starts Thursday as the New Orleans Museum of Art blossoms with its annual spring celebration of the the art of nature alongside the art of creativity with floral displays. Art in Bloom features works by local garden clubs, designers, florists, schools and other creatives from the area who use the museum’s vast collection as inspiration. Installations run the gamut from buds in a vase to entire rooms resplendent with florals, textiles and even furniture.

In addition, a lecture and fashion

show will highlight the event Thursday. T.J. McGrath, a New Jersey-based ﬂora designer known for promoting season and locally rooted practices, will provide insight into his work. SOSUSU Boutique will sponsor a showing of fashions by London-based Edeline Lee, whose apparel is handmade in England

Presented in conjunction with the Garden Study Club of New Orleans, the ﬂoral festival includes a silent auction of several works. All funds raised support NOMA’s exhibitions, programs and education initiates, as well as the club’s community projects

The museum, 1 Collins Diboll Circle, inside City Park is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with Art in Bloom running through Sunday

Tickets start at $23. For information, visit noma.org.

An Asianinspired display at the 2025 Art in Bloom at the New Orleans Museum of Art features a sand and stone garden with fresh floral designs.

STAFF FILE

PHOTO By VICTOR ANDREWS

stages stages stages

Authors, panels, productions set forTennessee Williams

literaryfest

The Tennessee Williams &New Orleans Literary Festival blends amix of panel discussions, speakers, live performances, staged readings and culinary events based mostly at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter, the host inn for the fest starting Wednesday

Events will also take place in several local theater spaces, as well the Historic BK House and Gardens and the New OrleansJazz Museum.

The festival hosts theSaints& Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival the same weekend, thelongest running festival of itskind in the country

Activities run throughMarch 29.Festival passes are available and individual event tickets range start at $10.For more information, visit tenneesseewilliams.net.

The Saints &Sinnersfestival, with readings, writers’ sessions, panels and special events,will run March 27-29 at the Hotel Monteleone. Forinformation, visit sasfest. org.

DRAMAISBLOOMING

Gatsby,Stanley andSeymour areraising thetemperature in time forspring in NewOrleans

Powerful plays, splashy musicals and aballet withelements of Verdonand Fosse are set for the stages of New Orleans this week.

It well could be time to “depend on the kindness of strangers” and seeashow (or two) and enjoy the vibrant theatrical spring of the Crescent City.

‘The GreatGatsby’

F. Scott Fitzgerald’sepic tale of lavishliving, love and loss comes to life in atoe-tapping tour de force at the Saenger Theatre.

For many high schoolers,

the story of wealth and wonder in the years between the twoworld warswas requiredreading. And there areplentyofparallels between the authorand thecharacter.

But the storyblossoms withabang as a lavish musical as the JazzAge of bootlegging, ﬂappers and eye-popping parties getsthe Broadway treatment as told by the narratorcharacter Nick Carraway, withmusic and lyrics by Grammy winner Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen. The show con-

Smith ä Forshows in production, visit nola.com.

tinues to run at the Broadway Theater in New York. But NewOrleanians have achance to see the show,with Jake David Smith in the title role. And while this is the ﬁrst “visit” for Gatsby to the Canal Street theater,the same doesn’t hold true for the actor

His ﬁrst visit to the Saenger had him in the epic “Les Misérables” as Marius in 2024.

“I’m excited to be back,” said Smith, who looks forward to showing something of himself

Staff report

PROVIDED PHOTOByMATTHEW MURPHy AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN

The Broadwaycast of ‘The GreatGatsby’

Victor Andrews

Tennessee Williams

stages stages stages

as he presents the bon vivant to local theater audiences.

“I like to think of Jay Gatsby as the personiﬁcation of hope,” he said. “I try to be an optimist and lead with hope in my everyday life.

“He (Gatsby) also has a tendency go overboard when he’s nervous and overcomplicate things, and if I’m being honest, I do as well.”

While Gatsby has a way of doing things in a, well, larger-than-life sort of way, that drive also has a place in Smith’s artist skill set, which will serve him well onstage.

With twists and turns, romance and intrigue meet grandeur and condescension in a timeless tale that harkens as much to the present as to Fitzgerald’s age.

The show is visually interesting as well with glitzy costumes, glamorous stage numbers and stage projects.

The show is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through March 28, with a 2 p.m. matinee March 28 and shows at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at 1111 Canal St. Tickets start at $39. Visit saengernola.com.

‘A Streetcar Named Desire’

The fragile world of Blanche DuBois takes an unintended excursion away from reality in Tennessee Williams’ classic “A Streetcar Named Desire” by the Irene Collective opening Thursday at Big Couch.

The show is being held in conjunction with the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival.

Williams’ iconic story of a Southern woman teetering on the edge of sanity looks at the arrival of Blanche to her sister Stella’s home in New Orleans (taking a streetcar named “Desire” to get there). Personal tragedies have befallen Blanche, and Stella’s rough-andtumble hubby, Stanley, isn’t happy about his sister-in-law’s arrival or her condition. Tensions rise in the Crescent City heat as Blanche travels further from reality.

Jaclyn Bethany plays Blanche and

Lauren Guglielmello is Stella. Patrick Nicks is Stanley. Other performers include Justin Davis, Amy Le, KC Simms, Gil Angelo Anfone, Malik Elrod, Vanessa Curtis, Robert Hughes and Todd Voltz. Bethany and Hanna Hall direct the production.

The collective, a female-focused theater company, is named after Irene Selznick, who was the original Broadway producer for “Streetcar.”

The show runs most days at 7:30 p.m. through April 3, with an added 1 p.m. matinee March 29 at 1045 Desire St. No performance March 23, 24 or 30.

Tickets start at $25. Visit streetcarnola.net.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

shop who secretly dreams of a relationship with beautiful yet masochistic coworker Audrey, who’s dating a sadistic dentist. Things start going very bizarrely when Seymour gets a strange new plant that’s actually from outer space and thrives on human blood. With a trio of wisecracking singers reminiscent of the girl groups of the ’50s and ’60s, the show is full of peppy music, weird happens and a strange ending that must be seen.

‘Two Elizas’

The Hermann-Grima House in the French Quarter will host local writer and actor Jenny Mercein’s return of “Two Elizas” running Thursday through Sunday Mercein, a Tulane University associate professor, imagines her ancestor Eliza Mercein Barry and her 1847 Supreme Court case establishing child custody rights for women in a one-woman show The solo performance provides a comparative look at Mercein of the past and the Mercein of the present.

New Orleans Ballet Association brings back the dynamic company with an evening of works that salute Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, with elements of Beyoncé and works from Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Matthew Rushing and more.

The performance, part of the association’s season, will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in Armstrong Park.

From “Sweet Gwen Suite” and “Percussion IV,” the relationship between dancer/choreographer Fosse and dancer/wife Verdon is a unique and powerful connection that inﬂuences contemporary and theatrical dance to this day

Other works highlight “contemporary voices shaping dance today,” a sophisticated international program that explores elements from Afro-Cuban inﬂuences to the relevance of dance.

Tickets for the performance start at $32. For information, visit nobadance. com.

‘Little

Shop Of Horrors’

And suddenly, Seymour, it’s time for a musical at Loyola University about a plant that sings and eats people. And it opens Thursday.

“Little Shop of Horrors” follows the strange happenings of Seymour Krellborn, a lowly clerk in a Skid Row ﬂower

Produced by the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, the show features such memorable tunes as “Somewhere That’s Green,” “Skid Row” and “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space” by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid”). The show is directed by Loyola alumnus Monica R. Harris.

The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, plus Wednesday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Marquette Theater, 6365 St. Charles Ave. Tickets start at $20. Visit cmm.loyno.edu.

Lori Elizabeth Parquet and Ryder Thornton direct the production. Performances are at 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at 820 St. Louis St. Tickets start at $35. Visit hgghh.org.

Email Victor Andrews at vandrews@ theadvocate.com.