The Times-Picayune 03-31-2026

WILL WADE RETURNS: ‘I’M FORLSU AND LSU IS FORME’

TSApay easeslines at airports

Wait timesstart to decrease Monday

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON The nation’s50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers who screen passengers at airports started receiving paychecks Monday for the first time in the month since Congress held up funding in adispute over how the Trump administration is

handling immigration roundups.

Wait times to get through airport security,which hadexceeded four hoursinlarge airports, started to decrease Monday,according to the U.S.Department of Homeland Security

Linesthatrecently had snaked into the parking lotatLouis Armstrong New Orleans International Airportsince theshutdownbegan

Feb. 13, decreased significantly

Monday.MSY spokesperson Erin Burns said wait times were long in theearly morning hours, but as of 6a.m. Monday,theywere back to normaland running around 15 to 20 minutes or less.

In Houston, which lastweek requireduptofourhours to clear security, the international airport reported waitsofless than 10 minutes in some of itsterminals on Monday

The Department of Homeland

Security has been under fire for some time over how federal agents rounded up people suspected of entering the country illegally.After two Americancitizens were killedbyofficers in Minneapolis, Democrats demandedchanges to enforcement procedures and operations.

They refused to fund the department until immigration restrictionswere instituted, causing the shutdown.

After negotiationsstalled, Presi-

N.O. sets ambitiousgoal forfillinginpotholes

Steve Nelson, NewOrleans deputychief administrativeofficer for infrastructure and public works,speaks

city’spothole initiativeduring anewsconference in the 7200 block of Stroelitz Street on Monday.

Mayor says department ‘has to work with urgency’

BYJONI HESS Staff writer

Mayor Helena Moreno’sadministration is ramping up efforts to fill in the thousands of potholes that pockmark NewOrleans streets, with Department of Public Works crews on Monday heading out to workinneighborhoods with some of the

longest-standing road issues.

In asocial media post, Moreno said Sunday that her team had set anew goal of filling 1,500 potholes everyweekuntil it clears abacklog of service requests, in part by quickly ramping up the number of workers dedicated to street repairs.

For roughly thefirstthree monthsof theyear,the city hadfilled about500 a week, according to spokesperson Jonah Gilmore. Data wasn’timmediatelyavailable on how quickly potholes were filled before Moreno took office.

The newinitiativebegan Monday, and crews were scheduled to fill potholes in the Algiers, Gert Town and Carrollton neighborhoods. “Wehave to work withurgency to fix theselong-standing problems in the city,” Moreno said Sunday in announcing the new goal.

The move to quickly ramp up repairs, if successful, would offer Moreno akey earlywin on hercampaign promise of

ä See POTHOLES, page 5A

CanalPlace towergetsnew owner

It joinsgrowing list of CBDoffice buildings to changehands

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

The longtime owners ofOne Canal Place, the 32-storyoffice tower at the foot of Canal Street, have sold the building, marking thefourthdowntown high-riseto change hands in less than three years. Skysoar Capital Partners, an Israeli investment firm with offices

in New York, acquired the building from New York-based Loeb Partners Realty and insurance giant Aetna, which had jointly owned the building since 2002.

Asalepricewas notdisclosed Sources with direct knowledge of the transaction say theprice for the 650,000-square-foot building was between $25millionand $30 million, or roughly$45 per square foot.

That’ssignificantly less than the $50 million,or$80 per square foot, that north Louisiana investors paid earlier thisyear for 400 Poydras Tower,which is roughly the same size and age as Canal Place.

Butthe PoydrasTower sale included agarage. The Canal Place sale did notinclude thegarage, whichisavailable to building tenants but is separately owned.

Skysoar Capital, which is owned by Moshe Meir,did not respond to arequest for comment.

Therecentsales afterseveral yearsofuncertainty in theoffice market are apositive sign that investors have “some levelofoptimism” about New Orleans, accordingtoMike Siegel,president and CEO of Corporate Realty,which was the local brokerage on the deal

dent Donald Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSAagents some of the$170 billionthe department hadonhand from last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Thedepartment also oversees otheroffices, suchasthe Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and the U.S. Coast Guard, which were notincluded in the order.And thepay for TSA officersisonly

ä

Bill to end inspection stickers advances

N.O.-areabrake tags wouldstill be required

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Drivers in most of Louisiana would no longer need to get inspection stickers undera bill advancing in the Legislature with Gov. Jeff Landry’ssupport. Instead, personal vehicleswould just need asticker that lists its vehicle identification number Drivers in some parts of the state, however,would still have to get inspections. New Orleans, Kenner and Westwego have their own rules requiring the stickers —whichlocals famously call“braketags” —and those would “still be allowed to continue as they are,” Office of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Keith Nealsaid. And, emissions testing would still be required fordrivers in several Baton Rouge-area parishes because of afederal air quality orderunderthe Clean AirAct. Those parishes are Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville,Livingston and West Baton Rouge. Commercial vehicles and school buses would still be required to do regular safety inspections. House Bill 838, sponsored by Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, would set a$6annual cost for the newVIN sticker, andthe feewould

rm ä See TOWER, page 7A

STAFFPHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

The OneCanal Placeoffice towerhas been sold to Skysoar Capital Partners, an Israeli investment fi

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

with reporters about the

Teams search for 27 after passenger boat sinks

PALU, Indonesia Rescue teams raced Monday to find 27 people missing after a passenger boat sank in rough seas on its way to a remote village in Indonesia.

The boat, the Nazila 05, was carrying 27 passengers and crew members when it departed Taliabu Island in North Maluku province just after dusk on Sunday. It was bound for Kema, a coastal village in the same province, said Muhammad Rizal, who heads the search and rescue office in Central Sulawesi’s Palu city, near where the boat sank.

He said the incident was first reported to authorities on Monday morning by the ship’s owner, Rifani Samatia, after the Nazila 05’s captain contacted him to report that the vessel’s bow had broken after it was hit by high waves during rough weather About 30 minutes later, the captain reported that the vessel had sunk.

“All 27 people aboard managed to evacuate using a longboat before the ship went down,” Rizal said. “However, their current location remains unknown.”

Gunmen kill at least 20 in Nigeria attack

ABUJA, Nigeria An attack on a community in Nigeria’s northcentral region left at least 20 people dead, residents and authorities said.

The attack occurred on Sunday night in Gari Ya Waye community in the Jos North area of Plateau state, Joyce Lohya Ramnap, the state commissioner for information, said in a statement. She did not give the number of casualties, but said there was “loss of lives” and injured.

No group has claimed responsibility, but residents said many gunmen on bikes shot sporadically into the community

Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse paintings stolen in Italy

ROME Thieves made off with three paintings worth millions of dollars from a museum near the city of Parma in northern Italy, police said Monday

The heist took place on the night of March 22-23 at theMagnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum, with thieves forcing open the entrance door police said.

The three stolen paintings are “Fish” by Auguste Renoir, “Still Life with Cherries” by Paul Cézanne, and “Odalisque on the Terrace” by Henri Matisse.

Local media reported that the thieves were able to nab the paintings in less than three minutes and escape across the museum gardens.

The museum believes a structured and organized gang was responsible for the theft, which was interrupted by the alarm, local media reported.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO A clown chants during a protest Monday outside the Ministry of Education in La Paz, Bolivia, against the government’s ban on holiday parties at schools during teaching hours.

Clowns take to streets of Boliva to protest decree

LA PAZ, Bolivia Dozens of clowns marched through the streets of Bolivia’s capital on Monday to protest a government decree that limits extracurricular activities, threatening their livelihoods.

Wearing full face paint and their signature red noses, the clowns gathered in front of the Ministry of Education in La Paz to oppose a decree published in February The new mandate says schools must comply with 200 days of lessons each year effectively banning schools from hosting the special events where these entertainers are frequently employed.

“This decree will economically affect all of us who work with children,” said Wilder Ramírez, a leader of the local clown union, who also goes by the name of Zapallito. The clown told journalists that “children need to laugh” while his colleagues wondered out loud if Bolivia’s Education Minister had ever had a childhood.

Trump lobs more threats at Iran

Social media post promises widespread destruction if deal not reached ‘shortly’

BY JON GAMBRELL, JOSH BOAK and MIKE CORDER Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, potentially including desalination plants that supply drinking water, if a deal to end the war is not reached shortly.”

Iran, meanwhile, struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack. Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, as the war raged with no end in sight.

Trump’s new threat came in a social media post. Earlier comments to the Financial Times suggested American troops could seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. Trump has repeatedly claimed to be making diplomatic progress — though Tehran denies negotiating directly while ramping up his threats and sending thousands more U.S. troops to the Middle East.

Trump told the New York Post that the U.S is negotiating with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.

The former Revolutionary Guard commander, who has taunted the U.S. on social media, dismissed the talks facilitated by Pakistan as a cover for the latest American troop deployments.

In a social media post, Trump said “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran to end military operations. But he said if a deal is not reached “shortly,” and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive by “completely obliterating” power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even desalination plants.

The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime.

The laws of armed conflict allow attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy plants only if the military advantage outweighs the civilian harm, legal scholars say It’s considered a high bar to clear,

and causing excessive suffering to civilians can constitute a war crime.

The U.S. already has targeted military positions on Kharg. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and to mine the Persian Gulf if U.S. troops set foot on its territory Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration containing “excessive, unrealistic and irrational” demands, while denying there had been any direct talks.

Qalibaf, the parliament speaker Trump says he is negotiating with, said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.

Twice during Trump’s second term, the U.S. has attacked Iran during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war

Cuba to receive a sanctioned Russian oil tanker amid blockade

BY ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press

HAVANA Cuba prepared Monday to receive a sanctioned Russian tanker carrying roughly 730,000 barrels of oil, the first such fuel delivery this year to the island that has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade. It comes a day after President Donald Trump told reporters he had “no problem” with the Russian oil tanker delivering relief to Cuba. There were conflicted reports about the exact location of the Russianflagged Anatoly Kolodkin. While the Russian Transport Ministry and the state-run news portal Cubadebate said the vessel had already arrived, shiptracking data showed it was still navigating Cuban waters with an estimated docking time of Tuesday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia had previously discussed its oil shipment to Cuba with the United States. “Russia considers it its duty not to stand aside, but to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends,” he told reporters.

The tanker’s final destination is the port of Matanzas, a strategic hub for an island that produces

ASSOCIATED

One of two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid organized by activists with an international organization that departed from Mexico arrives in Havana on Saturday.

barely 40% of its required fuel and relies on imports to sustain its energy grid.

Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.

Asked about Trump’s decision to allow the Russian oil tanker and not ones from other nations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday called it “a decision that will continue to be made on a case-bycase basis for humanitarian reasons or otherwise,” adding that “there’s been no firm change in our sanctions policy.” Trump, whose government has come at its Ca-

Police: Student shoots teacher, self at Texas high school

BY JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press

A 15-year-old student shot a teacher at a Texas high school and then fatally shot himself Monday, according to authorities, who were still investigating what led to the early morning attack.

No other injuries were reported at Hill Country College Preparatory High School in Bulverde, a small but growing city near San Antonio.

The teacher was taken to a nearby hospital. Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds said hours after the shooting that he did not know her condition

“What happened today is something no community ever wants to face, but we prepare for something that we hope never occurs,” Reynolds said He said the student shot the teacher before turning the gun on himself Reynolds said investigators were working to understand the relationship between the student and the teacher and looking into how the firearm was obtained.

The small campus of roughly 250 students was placed on lockdown shortly after 8:30 a.m., according to the school One student told San Antonio television station KSAT that they heard loud bangs coming from a room on the second floor and then heard screaming.

Another student told the TV station that she heard five shots and yelling before her debate teacher told students to get inside a classroom.

The school canceled classes for Tuesday but counselors would still be made available for students and families, Principal Julie Wiley said in a statement.

China resumes direct flights to North Korea after 6 years

By The Associated Press

BEIJING China’s flag carrier resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang on Monday not long after the restoration of passenger train services between the capitals.

The Air China flight was welcomed by the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, and other diplomats, according to Chinese state media. Passenger train service from China to North Korea had resumed March 12. Flights and passenger trains to North Korea had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed flights between the capitals in 2023. China is Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner and major ally, and Chinese tour groups had made up 90% of all visitors to North Korea prior to the ban.

ribbean 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 The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba’s government end political repression and liberalize its economy in return for a lifting of sanctions.

Islandwide blackouts have roiled Cubans who have grappled with years of crisis, and a lack of gasoline and basic resources has crippled hospitals and slashed public transport.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By HASSAN AMMAR

Portraits of Hezbollah’s late leaders Hassan Nasrallah, right, and his cousin Hashem Safieddine are shrouded in smoke following an Israeli airstrike Monday in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon.

PRESS PHOTO By RAMON ESPINOSA

Gulf allies privatelymakecasetoTrump to keep fighting

BY AAMER MADHANI, SAMYMAGDY, MATTHEW LEE andSAM MEDNICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON Gulf alliesofthe United States, led by SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran hasn’tbeen weakened enough by the monthlong U.S.-led bombing campaign, according to U.S., Gulf and Israeli officials.

After private grumbling at the start of the war that they were not given adequate advance noticeof the U.S.-Israeli attack and complaining the U.S. had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequencesfor the entire region, some of the regional allies are making the case to the White House that the moment offers ahistoric opportunitytocripple Tehran’sclerical ruleonce and for all.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrainhave conveyed in private conversations that they do not want the military operation to end until there are significantchanges in the Iranian leadership or there’s adramatic shift in Iranian behavior,according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity

The push from the Gulf nations comes as Trumpvacillates be-

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

President DonaldTrump wavesto themedia on the South Lawn on Sundayashearrives at the White House.

tween claiming that Iran’sdecimatedleadership is ready to settle the conflict and threatening to further escalate the war if adealis notreached soon.

Allthe while, Trump is struggling to rally public support at home for awar that’s left more than3,000 dead acrossthe Mideast and is shaking theglobal economy.

Yetthe U.S. leader is sounding increasinglyconfident that he has the full support ofhis mostimportant Mideastallies —including some that were hesitant abouta new militarycampaign in the leadup to the war

“Saudi Arabia’s fighting back hard. Qatar is fighting back. UAE is fighting back. Kuwait’s fighting back. Bahrain’sfighting back,” Trumptold reporters on AirForce One on Sundayevening as he made

his way to Washingtonfromhis homeinFlorida. “They’re all fighting back.”

The Gulf countrieshost U.S. forcesand bases from which the U.S. has launched strikes on Iran, but have not joined theoffensive strikes.

Varyingsupport

While regional leadersare broadly supportive now of the U.S. efforts, one Gulf diplomat describedsome division, with Saudi Arabia andthe UAE leadingthe callsfor increasingmilitarypressure on Tehran.

TheUAE hasemerged as perhaps themost hawkish of the Gulf countries and is pushing hard for Trumptoorderaground invasion, the diplomat said. Kuwait and Bahrain also favor this option. The UAE, which has faced more than2,300 missile and drone attacksfrom Iran, has only grown more irritated as thewar grinds on andthe salvos threaten to tarnish its image as the safe, pristine and monied hub for tradeand tourism of the Mideast.

Oman and Qatar,which historically have played the roleof intermediary between the long economically isolated Iran and the West, havefavored adiplomatic solution.

The diplomat said Saudi Arabia hasargued to theU.S. that ending the war nowwon’t producea“good deal,” one guaranteeing security

for Iran’sArab neighbors. The Saudis say an eventual war settlement must neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, destroy its ballistic missile capabilities, end Tehran’s support for proxy groups, andalso ensure that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be effectively shutdown by the Islamic Republic in thefuture as it hasduringthe conflict. About 20% of theworld’s oil flowed through the waterway before thewar

Achieving those goalswould require asharp course correction by thetheocracy that has been in charge of the country sincethe 1979 Islamic Revolution or its removal.

Senior Emirati officials, meanwhile, havebecomemore pointed in their rhetoric toward Iran.

“An Iranianregime thatlaunches ballistic missilesathomes, weaponizes global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regionallandscape,” NouraAlKaabi, aminister of state at the UAE’sForeign Ministry, wrote in acolumn published Mondaybythe state-linked,Englishlanguage newspaper The National. Sheadded: “Wewant aguarantee that this will never happen again.”

The White House declined to commentfor this story about the deliberations with Gulf allies. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday underscored that the U.S. and its Gulf Arab allies are in sync about Iran.

“They are religious zealots who can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon because they have an apocalyptic vision of the future,” Rubio said of Iran in an appearance on ABC’s“GoodMorning America.” “And all of their neighbors knowthat, by the way,which is why all of their neighbors have been supportive of the efforts we’re conducting.”

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, thekingdom’sdefacto leader,has told WhiteHouse officials that afurther defanging of Iran’smilitary capabilities and clericalleadership serves thelongterminterestofthe Gulf region and beyond, according to aperson who has been briefed on the conversations.

Still, the Saudis are sensitive to the fact that the longer the conflict goes on the moreopportunity Iran hastocarry out strikes on the kingdom’senergy infrastructure, the heartbeat of its oil-rich economy ASaudi governmentofficialunderscored that the kingdom ultimately wants to see apoliticalsolution to the crisis, but its immediate focusremains safeguarding its people and critical infrastructure.

Trump, in recentdays,has sought to spotlight that mostofthe Gulf countrieshavestood in lockstep with his administration as the U.S. prosecutes the war,noting how they’ve coalesced in the thick of crisis as he criticizes NATO allies for not joining the U.S. in the fight.

ant or not is enormous.”

BY CHARLOTTE KRAMON Associated Press/Reportfor America

It has acatchy name Build America, Buy America —and the lauded goal of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

But the law has spurred abottleneck for affordable housing.

Nearly everything from HVACs and lighting to sink hooks and ceiling fans in affordable housing projects that get federal dollars must be produced in the United States. But, developers say, numerous products do not,as theyhavelong been imported from overseas markets with cheaper labor costs

Although builders can apply for waivers, the process has been at anear standstill as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has had its staff slashed by the Trump administration, has only greenlit a handful of projects.

The waiver process has caused construction delays and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs as the country faces an affordable housing crisis.

“They need to be treating this like the fire that it is,” said Tyler Norod, president of WestbrookDevelopment Corporation, whichbuilds affordable housing in Maine.

“We’ve sort of resigned ourselves that we’re just gonna build less units across the entire country duringa housing crisis.”

Facing astandstill

Diana Lene has been on affordable housing waitlists for the past five years.The 75-year-old loves living close to herdaughterand grandchildren in Fargo, North Dakota, but her apartment is too expensive on her Social Security income.

“It’sjust maxing my budget down to pennies,” she said. To savemoney,she avoids driving often and buys food on sale.

“I’m just trying to keepa roof over my head, butit’s getting more and more diffi-

cult,” Lene said. “I don’tlike to live in fear,and yet sometimesitjumps in there.”

Lene is on awaitlist forone of nonprofit developer BeyondShelter’sapartments CEODan Madlerisbuilding a36-unit building for people like Lene,but he hadtopostpone lumberorders to verify they comply with the law and can’tfind ceilingfansmade in America.Hedoesn’tknow when HUD will approvea waiver U.S.PresidentJoe Biden signed the Build America, BuyAmerica Act as part of theInfrastructureInvestment and Jobs Act in 2021, building on longstanding efforts to boost American manufacturing at atimewhenthe U.S. economy was emerging from apandemic-era recession.Known as BABA, it appliestoinfrastructure projectsfundedbyfederal agencies,not justaffordable housing.

Denver developer Julie Hoebelsays she hasspent over $60,000justonaconsultanttocombthrough websitesand call supplierstotry to findAmerican-madematerials, not to mention the additionallaborcostsinvolved.

Butthe waivers she submitted to HUD inNovember for around 125 materials in an 85-unitbuilding haven’t beenapproved.

“If they take much longer thenwe’ll come toa standstill,”she said.

Acumbersomeprocess

HUD istaking at least six months to approve many waivers.

Even BABA advocates agree HUD mustgrant waivers more quickly and give theindustryclearer instructions on howtoprepare them, which they noteother federal agencies are doing HUD did notaddress questionsfrom TheAssociated Press about waiver approval delays developers say increasecosts, as well as concerns about making theprocessmoretransparent. In astatement it said it’s committedto“ensuringthat federal spending supports

America’sindustrial base” while “closely monitoring how compliance withthese policies impact costs for builders.”

AskedinJanuary about whether the delays and cost increases mean affordable housing should be exempt from BABA rules, HUDSecretary Scott Turner said the agency was looking into the issue, but did not provide details. “Weare lookingatthis with BABA as it pertains to HUDtoprovide flexibility to certain projectsincertain places around ourcountry,” Turner said, adding that HUD is committed to assuring developers get “the flexibility theyneed as it pertains to building.”

The law itself isn’tthe problem, supporters say Unions representing the steel and manufacturing industriessay taxpayerdollars should fund American-made materials and suppliers will adjust to meet demand for products that aren’t available.

“You’vegot asystemin place that leansheavily on using imported materials to make abetterprofit,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance forAmericanManufacturing. “I don’tknowif thatserves thepublic good.”

JenniferSchwartz, directoroftax and housing advocacy at theNational Council of State Housing Agencies, said there’snonational data on howmuchBABA is increasing costs.But thewaiver process is “failing,”she said, because requirements wereput in place before assessment of domesticmanufacturing capacity

It won’tbeaschallenging for suppliers to produce more raw materials in the U.S., but it will take time for manufacturedproducts such as appliances andelevators —tobecome available, said Kaitlyn Snyder, managing director of theNational Housing and Rehabilitation Association,anaffordable housing industry group.

“I don’tknowthatiteconomically, financiallymakes sensefor people to be pro-

ducing door hinges,” Snyder said. “Weare an advanced country andwe’veoutsourced alot of that stuff.”

The housing bill that passed theSenateinMarch did not require HUD to address problems with implementing BABA.

“The process isn’tworking for affordable housing,” said Jessie Handforth Kome, who spent nearly 40 years workingatHUD until2024.

“People want to comply,but it’sunclear how to.” Vermont-based Developer Jessica Neubelt estimates shespent an additional $150,000 just to verify iron and steel she usedina project was American-made. She’s just as frustrated over the hundreds of hours that takes, which, she said, could be spent on another project

“I would like every member of Congress to sit in ona constructionmeeting,” Neubelt said. “The amount of detail that goes into figuring out if aspecific thing is compli-

Debatesoversolutions

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, aNebraska Republican, has advocated to exempt someHUD funding from BABA.

“Owning ahomeisthe American dream,but it’s outofreach in averybig way and anything that adds costtothatisn’tallowing hardworkingAmericans to achieve the dream,” Flood told the AP Roy Houseman, legislative director at United Steelworkers, said complaints about cost increases are overblown.

“A lot of developers seem to have tried to throw things in and make statutory changes to policiesthathavebeen in place forbasically five years now instead of making agood-faith effort to really push HUD,” Houseman said.

Unionleaders note the law offers some leeway Developers can get exemptions foranAmerican-

made productifitincreases the project’soverall cost by more than 25%. Avery small percentage of aproject’s totalmaterialcostisalso exempt. But most developerssay thatpercentage isn’t enough to cover all items not made in the U.S. Some developers arelooking for ways to avoid federal funds altogether.But that is challenging. Even though federal dollars often make up asmall portion of funding for affordable housing projects, that sliver can make or break whether there’s enough money to build them. Kentucky developerScott McReynolds says that instead of applying fora federal grant to build 20 to 30 affordable homes, he plans to build two four-unit projects, smallenough so that they aren’tsubject to BABA. American-made materialsare especially hard to find near therural areas McReynolds serves. “It’sanightmare,” he said.

Israel parliament passes deathpenalty forPalestinians

BY JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israel’sparliament on Monday passed alaw approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, ameasure that has been harshly

condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory andinhumane.

The law makes the death penalty —byhanging —the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings.Italso givesIsraeli

courts the option of imposing the deathpenaltyonIsraeli citizens convicted on similar charges languagethatlegal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentencedtodeath to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

It will not apply retroactively to anyprisoners Israel currently holds, including the Hamas-led militants who attacked the country on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the Israel-Hamas warinthe GazaStrip. Minutes after the bill passed, the Association of CivilRights in Is-

rael said it had already petitioned Israel’shighest courttochallenge the law.Itcalledthe legislation “discriminatory by design” and said theparliament hadenacted it “without legalauthority” over West Bank Palestinians, whoare not Israeli citizens.

DOJsuesMinn. over transgenderathletes

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS The Trump administration sued Minnesota and its school athletics governing bodyonMonday, carrying out athreat to punish the state for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girlssports.

The lawsuit is part of a broader fight over the rights of transgender youth More than twodozen states have laws prohibiting transgender women and girls from participating incertain sports and some have barredgenderaffirming surgeries forminors. Courts have blocked some of those policies. In the lawsuit filed Monday,the Justice Department alleges the state De-

FBI: Mich. synagogue attacker inspired by Hezbollah

BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press

DETROIT Aman who crashed his pickup truck into aDetroit-areasynagogue earlier in March was carrying out an attack inspired by the Iranbacked militant groupHezbollah and had sought to inflictas much damage as possible, the FBI said Monday Ayman Ghazali made avideo before the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, saying he wanted to “kill as many of them as Ipossibly can,” said Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI in Detroit. Ghazali, 41, sat in the parking lot for afew hours on March 12 before smashing hisF150 through doors and into the hallway of an early childhood education area, striking asecurity guard. He then exchanged gunfire with another guard before fatallyshooting himself. No oneelseamong the150 children and staff was injured. It was a“Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan,”Runyan said. She cited videos and other images discovered on Ghazali’ssocial media accountsin which he embraced vengeance and Hezbollah’smilitantideology. Runyan said he searched for Michigan synagoguesand Jewish cultural sites afew days before the attack before settling on Temple Israel Ghazali’sFord F150 was stocked with commercialgrade fireworks and containers with more than 30 gallons of gasoline. There was afire in the truck’sengine but no explosion.

partment of Educationand theMinnesota State High School Leagueare violating Title IX, afederal lawagainst sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal money

“The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignorebiological realityand unfairly undermine girlsonthe playing field,”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi saidin astatement.

Democratic

MinnesotaAttorney

General Keith Ellison called the lawsuit “a sad attempt to get attention” over an issue that has already been in litigation for months.Hesaidhe’ll keep fighting.

“Itisastonishing thatany president would try to target, shame, and harass

childrenjust trying to be themselves, let alone apresident with so manyactual problems to address,” Ellisonsaid in astatement.

The administration hasfiled similar lawsuits against Maine andCalifornia, andhas threatened the federal funding of some universities over transgender athletes, including San Jose State in California andthe University of Pennsylvania.

Ellison filed apreemptive lawsuit last April,saying Minnesota’shuman rights act supersedes executive orders issued by President DonaldTrump last year

The lawsuit also says the state is already in compliance with TitleIX. A rulingispending on thefederal government’smotion to dismiss that case

NASA begins countdown

operate.

BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.— NASA began the countdown Monday for humanity’sfirst launch to the moon in 53 years.

The32-story SpaceLaunch System rocketispoisedtoblast offWednesday evening with four astronauts. After a day in orbitaround Earth, their Orion capsule will propel themtothe moon and back. There are no stops —just aquick U-turn around the moon. Thenearly 10day flight will end with asplashdown in the Pacific.

“Our team has worked extremely hard to get us to this moment,” said launch directorCharlie Blackwell-Thompson.

“Certainly all indications are right now we are in excellent,excellent shape.”

Managers said therocket is doing well following thelatestround of repairs. Forecasters said the weather shouldco-

NASA’s ArtemisIImission should have soared in February,but was grounded by hydrogen fuel leaks.The leakswere fixed, but then ahelium pressurization line became clogged, forcing areturn to the hangar late last month. The rocket returned to the pad 11/2 weeks ago, and its U.S.-Canadian crew arrived at the launch siteonFriday UnlikeApollo, which sentonly men to themoon from 1968 through 1972, Artemis’debut crew includes awoman,person of color and anon-U.S. citizen.

ArtemisII’spilot Victor Glover said over theweekendthathewants young people to see them and think, “Girl power and that’sawesome, and thatyoung Brown boys and girls can look at me and go ‘Hey,helookslike me and he’s doing what?’”

At the same time, Glover,who is Black, looks forward to when “one day we don’t have to talk about these firsts” andexploring thecosmos becomes an all-encompassing “human history.”

NASA has thefirst six days of April to launch Artemis II before standing down until theend of the month.

Spainairspace closed to U.S. planes involved in Iran war

BY SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

MADRID Spain closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in theIranwar,officialssaidMonday, in another step by Europe’sloudest critic of U.S. andIsraelimilitary actions in the monthlong conflict.

The country earlier said thatthe U.S. couldn’tuse jointly operated military bases in the war, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has describedasillegal, reckless andunjust. Defense Minister Margarita Roblessaidthat the samelogicappliedtothe use of Spanish airspace.

“This was made perfectly clear to theAmerican military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor,ofcourse, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized forany actionsrelated to the warinIran,”Robles told reporters, describing the conflict as “profoundly illegal andprofoundly unjust.”

Sánchezhas calledonthe U.S.,Israel andIran to end the war

“You cannotrespond to one illegality with another,because that’show humanity’s great disasters begin,” he said earlierthis month.

U.S. SecretaryofState Marco Rubio said that Spain’s leadersare “bragging” about cutting off its airspace, even as Washington has pledged to defend the NATO member He said that the trans-Atlantic military alliance is useful for the U.S., because it “allows us to station troops and aircraft and weapons in parts of the world thatwewouldn’t normally have bases, and that includesinmuchofEurope.”

“But if NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked,but thendenying us basing rights when we need them, that’snot a very good arrangement,” Rubio told Al Jazeera on Monday.“That’s ahardone to stay engaged in and say this is good forthe United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined.”

After Sánchez’sgovernmentdenied the U.S. use of the Rota andMorón military bases in southern Spain, President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid.

Washington madetrade threats last year,too, when Sánchezsaidthathis government wouldn’tincrease its defense spending in accordance with adeal agreed to by other NATO members following Trump’spressure

Activistssay at least 30 dead in gang attack on smallHaiti town

BY EVENS SANON Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE,Haiti At least 30 peoplewere dead anddozensmore missing on Monday after agangrenewed itsattack on atown in central Haiti, according to human rights activists.

GranGrif attacked PetiteRivière de l’Artibonite early Sunday,burning homes and leaving bodiesstrewnonthe streets. The gang attacked again on Monday,said Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, an activist group.

She told The Associated Press that thegangremained in control of theJean-Denis neighborhood andset up roadblocks.

“The area is completely deserted,” she saidbyphone

“Only the gangshave control.” She saidher organization has collected at least 30 bodies and was investigating reports of peoplemissing Antonal Mortimé, ahumanrightslawyerand coexecutive director of the DéfenseursPlushuman rights group, told Radio Caraïbesthat70people were believed killed, basedonreports from activists on theground. Haiti’sNational Police said officers backed by Kenyan police leading aU.N.-supported mission helped rescuepeople in theJean-Denis neighborhood but were delayedbecause gangs haddug largeholes to preventpolice from entering Gangs control an estimated 90% of the capital, Portau-Prince, and have seized control of swaths of land in Haiti’scentral region.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHRISO’MEARA Photographers

remote cameras Sundaynear NASA’s

improving long-standing quality-of-life issues like potholes and broken streetlights.

On her first day in office, Moreno issued an executive order to create an in-house street maintenance unit instead of relying largely on contractors for sidewalk and street repairs. The initiative, known as Smooth Streets, directed the public works department to evaluate how to bring those services in house and accelerate the pace of work.

But since winning office in October, she’s also had to contend with other crises, including a severe budget crunch and, in recent weeks, the series of water main breaks that have flooded streets and brought new ire on the Sewerage & Water Board.

During an impromptu news conference on Monday on Stroelitz Street, where crews had patched holes in the street surface with asphalt filler earlier that morning, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure and Public Works Steve Nelson said his department is “reprioritizing” how work is handled so that he can deploy four pothole crews at a time, made up of a total of 12 city workers. Over time, his aim is to increase the number of workers potentially fivefold so that he can make a larger dent in the massive backlog of 311 requests.

“We want to get to that place where we’ve got 50, 60, 70 employees that are augmenting the work that contractors are doing,” Nelson said.

Still, funding is an issue. Moreno is gearing up to request $2.5 million in federal congressional dollars to hire crews and purchase a new pothole filler truck. This is on top of another $6 million she said her administration has identified from previous bond sales that would be used to hire the 50 public works employees to handle routine street maintenance.

The street-repair effort reflects a shift in priorities for a department that’s charged with everything from streetlight and sidewalk repairs to barricading streets for major events, Nelson said He vowed that making street repairs a priority won’t detract from other duties. Crews will instead have support from other departments for tasks like moving barricades so they can focus on potholes. Plans to shift parking enforcement to the New Orleans Police Department are also underway As it ramps up its pothole repairs, the department will prioritize the oldest service requests in the city’s 311 system and blocks with multiple potholes.

In addition to Stroelitz Street on Monday, crews targeted repairs on Edinburg, Oleander, Belfast and Vendome streets. It also filled holes on Pritchard Place and on parts of General DeGaulle.

As part of the Smooth Streets initiative, the public works department is required to keep an inventory of its in-house street maintenance capacity, staffing and equipment and come up with a multiyear budget plan.

An executive order Moreno said she is planning to sign this week would streamline the hiring process and employ workers to

STICKERS

Continued from page 1A

be assessed and collected by the Office of Motor Vehicles during registrations and registration renewals.

For example, someone who renews a vehicle registration every two years would pay $12 and someone who renews every four years would pay $24.

“The good thing about it is you won’t have to go get a sticker,” Bagley told members of the House transportation committee. “It’ll simplify many things.”

For most parishes, inspection stickers would no longer be required effective Jan. 1. Starting June 30, law enforcement would be prohibited from issuing citations for not having an inspection sticker

In the five-parish capital region that’s subject to federal emissions testing requirements, the law would take effect once the Envi-

ronmental Protection Agency approves the change.

The House transportation committee approved the bill Monday without objection.

The new stickers would contain a QR code that, when scanned, lists the VIN.

“The only thing that’ll be in that QR code is the VIN,” Evelina Broussard, chief information officer for the state’s Office of Technology Service, told lawmakers on Monday Bagley in an interview said having the 17-digit VIN accessible to law enforcement through a QR code allows them to more easily enter it into the systems they use for ticketing or other searches, rather than enter it manually

Landry called for eliminating inspection stickers in his “State of the State” speech to open the legislative session earlier this month

“It’s time to eliminate the inspection sticker and stop this major inconvenience for Louisiana drivers!” Landry posted on X Monday

after the bill passed out of committee.

Landry previously said the state may eventually use the sticker to display insurance coverage information.

Asked about the plan to display insurance information, Bagley said it is not currently part of the legislation, though it “possibly could” be in the future.

Bagley, who has served as a state representative for 11 years, said he’s been trying to pass the legislation since his second year at the Capitol.

Landry’s support of the measure is what’s made the difference this year he said.

“He’s saying he’s going to change Louisiana for the better; we’re going to see a lot of changes,” Bagley said of Landry “This is one of them.”

Bagley said so far this year there’s been no opposition to his bill.

“Why would you want to fight a first-term governor that’s popular when you know there’s probably not much you can do?” he said.

BY JOVANA GEC Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia International observers at a local election in European Union candidate Serbia said Monday they had witnessed violence and irregularities during the vote.

“Yesterday, the delegation observed procedures inside polling stations often largely in line with provisions but was alarmed by the situation outside the premises,” the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe said in a statement.

“Congress observers witnessed acts of violence and in all but one of the municipalities visited, saw heated arguments and the threatening presence of large groups of people, often unidentified and sometimes masked,” they added.

The vote in Serbia on Sunday was held in 10 towns throughout the country It was seen as a test for autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic following more than a year of youth-led street protests that shook his tight grip on power

ring incidents.

“Violence and coercion are unacceptable barriers to the free expression of the will of all voters,” the Congress monitors said. “No voter should feel threatened when exercising his or her democratic right.”

In addition, the statement said, “a number of irregularities, related to breaches of voting secrecy and voters taking photos of their ballot papers, was also highly worrying.” The preelection campaign, the group said, “was highly polarized and focused on national priorities and actors.”

Vucic has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia since he came to power more than a decade ago. Though he is formally seeking EU entry for Serbia, the process has been stalled as he maintained ties with Russia and China. Both presidential and parliamentary elections are expected in Serbia late this year or next year Support for Vucic is believed to have eroded though mass protests have subsided in recent months.

handle not only potholes but more permanent work such as roadway milling and full street repairs.

It would also ease the department’s reliance on contractors that Nelson has previously said can quadruple project costs when compared with handling them in-house.

Email Joni Hess at joni hess@theadvocate.com.

Vucic has declared victory for his right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party in all 10 municipalities. The Serbian president has led the campaign himself, as he sought to reaffirm his rule after the protests that first started in November 2024, triggered by a train station tragedy in the country’s north.

Violent incidents erupted in at least three towns on Sunday Student activists and some observers said they were attacked by Vucic’s supporters, some of whom were masked. The president and his party accused the other side of stir-

Serbian independent monitors also reported scores of violent incidents and clashes in some of the towns, and voting irregularities during Sunday’s election. Videos from the scene showed clashes and even a man with a gun in one town. The independent Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability said that “this can hardly be called an election.”

The group alleged violations of voting secrecy and organized voting, along with repeatedscufflesthatincludedemployeesofstateinstitutions.Severalpeoplewereinjured and police in riot gear deployed in some towns.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Brake tags would still be required in the New Orleans area even if the Legislature votes to eliminate inspection stickers.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Multiple potholes have been filled in the 7200 block of Stroelitz Street on Monday.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Stocks swing through another shaky day

NEW YORK U.S. stocks swung Monday as oil prices kept climbing because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran could end.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% and deepened its loss since the war began to pull 9.1% below its record set early this year

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 49 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%.

Caution was prevalent throughout financial markets. After jumping to an initial gain of 0.9%, the S&P 500 quickly erased nearly all of it before seesawing lower Stock indexes rose in Europe but fell sharply in some Asian markets, while the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 3.3% to settle at $102.88

The mixed movements followed a whirlwind of action in the war over the weekend, including an entry into the fighting by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Shortly before the U.S stock market opened for trading Monday, President Donald Trump said on his social media network that “great progress has been made” with “A NEW AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”

But he also threatened the possibility of “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iranian power plants if a deal is not reached shortly and if the Strait of Hormuz, an integral waterway for the flow of oil, is not opened immediately.

Sysco to buy Restaurant Depot in $29B deal

NEW YORK Sysco, the nation’s largest food distributor, will acquire supplier Restaurant Depot in a deal worth more than $29 billion.

The acquisition would create a closer link between Sysco and its customers, who right now turn to Restaurant Depot for supplies needed quickly in an industry segment known as “cash-and-carry wholesale.”

Sysco, based in Houston, serves more than 700,000 restaurants, hospitals, schools and hotels, supplying them with everything from butter and eggs to napkins.

Those goods are typically acquired ahead of time based on how much traffic restaurants typically see.

Restaurant Depot offers memberships to mom-and-pop restaurants and other businesses, giving them access to warehouses stocked with supplies for when they run short of what they’ve purchased from suppliers like Sysco.

It is a fast-growing and highmargin segment that will likely mean thousands of restaurants will rely increasingly on Sysco for day-to-day needs.

Restaurant Depot shareholders will receive $21.6 billion in cash and 91.5 million Sysco shares. Based on Sysco’s closing share price of $81.80 as of March 27, the deal has an enterprise value of about $29.1 billion.

Air Canada CEO to retire following crash

TORONTO Air Canada announced Monday its CEO will retire later this year after Michael Rousseau was criticized for his English-only message of condolence following this month’s deadly crash in New York. Canada’s largest airline, based in French-speaking Quebec, said Rousseau told the board he will leave by the end of the third quarter Canada is an officially bilingual nation, and Prime Minister Mark Carney said Rousseau’s decision to retire is “appropriate.”

“It is essential that the next CEO of Air Canada is bilingual,” Carney said. Carney had said the Englishonly message showed a lack of compassion and judgment. Quebec’s premier and others called on the airline executive to resign.

Fed watching energy price spikes, it says

BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that it is important to closely monitor inflation amid a spike in energy prices from the Iran war Powell, who spoke before nearly 400 students at Harvard University as gas prices inched toward an average of $4 per gallon in the U.S., said there wasn’t a lot Fed policymakers could do since energy shocks “tend to come and

go pretty quickly” and monetary maneuvers work over the longerterm. But a series of energy shocks, nevertheless, could be concerning.

“You have to carefully monitor inflation expectations because you could have a series of big supply shocks and that can lead, you know, the public generally, businesses, price setters, households to start expecting higher inflation over time. Why wouldn’t it?” Powell said. In wide-ranging remarks, Powell acknowledged young graduates were entering a challenging job market. He noted the role of artifi-

cial intelligence and that while employment is historically low, there is very little job creation right now

The U.S. job market has been lackluster for the past year Employers added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month in 2025 — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. This year began with a strong 126,000 new jobs in January but the United States whipsawed to 92,000 job losses the following month. Economists refer to a low-hire, low-fire job market in which companies are hesitant to add staff but don’t want to let go of the workers

that they have That’s made it especially hard for young people to find employment.

There’s some concern that artificial intelligence is taking over entry-level work that previously would have gone to young jobseekers, or that companies are reluctant to make hiring decisions until they better understand how they are going to use AI. Powell said he was optimistic over the medium- to long-term, noting that history has shown that technological innovations have repeatedly raised living standards and increased production. Largelanguage models, he said, make people, including himself, more productive.

DOUBLE IMPACT

Rising gasoline prices hurting those who use personal vehicles for work

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN and MATT SEDENSKY AP business writers

Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver in the San Francisco Bay Area, likes to start each shift with a full tank of gas. It used to cost her around $25 to fill up her Toyota Corolla. She’s spent closer to $40 since the Iran war began and pushed up the average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline by $1. Sherman-Shafer, a retired dental office assistant who picks up Uber passengers five days a week said she’s putting in extra hours to cover the difference.

“We don’t get reimbursed for gas. We rely on the generosity of the tip,” Sherman-Shafer said. Some passengers have tipped more to compensate for higher gas prices, but most don’t tip at all, she said.

Driving a car, van or truck is a big part of many Americans’ workdays. Nearly 27% of civilian workers cited driving as a physical demand of their jobs last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Millions of drivers use personal vehicles for their work, from delivery and ride-share providers like Sherman-Shafer to self-employed electricians, nannies, home health care aides and real estate agents.

As the war enters a fifth week and continues to disrupt global oil supplies, many of those workers are now scrambling to make ends meet The national average price for gas reached $3.99 per gallon on Monday, up 34% from a month earlier, according to AAA.

“With everything going up, it’s impossible to save a dime,” Sherman-Shafer said. Some companies compensate employees for using their own vehicles, including the cost of gas. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service sets a standard mileage rate every year that businesses and private contractors can use to calculate tax deductions Alpine Maids, a housekeeping company based in Denver, pays cleaners the 2026 federal reimbursement rate of 72.5 cents per mile for the distance they drive to clients’ homes.

But with gas prices spiking, that money is not going as far said Chris Willatt, a former geologist who now runs Alpine Maids.

“Our maids drive their own cars, so it’s kind of like their paycheck got smaller,” Willatt said “They’re all upset.”

Willatt said he reduced how often maids must report to the office, from daily to once a

week, and rejiggered cleaning assignments so employees aren’t driving as far between clients If gas prices climb further, he said he might increase what he charges customers so he can pay workers more.

Molly Kenefick, the owner of Doggy Lama Pet Care Inc. in Oakland, California, said she recently raised her gas reimbursement rate to 80 cents per mile for 15 employees who use their own vehicles to pick up dogs and take them for hikes around the Bay Area. The rate increase will stay in place until gas prices in their area drop below $5 for at least a month, she said.

Kenefick said she planned to raise prices for the company’s services in May But she doesn’t want to increase them too much because she’s worried she’ll lose clients So Kenefick is also dipping into her savings to pay for gas.

“The economy is hard for people Everybody’s under strain,” she said. “I can take some of the load and the company can take some of the load, provided this doesn’t go on too long.”

Ride-hailing and food delivery platforms that rely on gig workers don’t reimburse drivers for gas, but some are offering temporary incentives in response to rising gas prices. DoorDash, Uber, Lyft and Instacart are providing more than the usual cash back on gas purchases for drivers who use company-branded debit cards. DoorDash and Instacart are giving a weekly fuel payment

to drivers who travel 125 miles or more making deliveries.

Sarah Noell, who spends about 20 hours a week making deliveries for DoorDash in Lynchburg, Virginia, said the measures help somewhat. But she said she’s noticed more customers declining to add tips to their orders as gas prices have increased.

Noell has started refusing any order that won’t average out to $1 per mile, including the $2.50 per order she gets from DoorDash. That cancels out many users who aren’t tipping or give only small tips.

“It takes nearly double the cost to fill my tank,” Noell said. “Ten dollars used to get me a decent amount. Now it only gets me 3 gallons.”

Owners of diesel-powered vehicles have seen even steeper fuel price increases since the war started on Feb. 28, affecting drivers around the world Drivers of diesel-powered “jeepneys” in the Philippines went on strike for two days last week to protest their higher costs. In France, dozens of buses and trucks drove slowly on the Paris ring road Monday to demonstrate their concerns about rising diesel prices.

“The major difficulty right now is finding our balance in our business since we sold services with the vehicles at a certain price for diesel that was much cheaper And we’re not going to ask customers to pay that difference,” said Sarah Bahezre, manager of a bus transportation company

Global streaming revenue surges past $160

BY CERYS DAVIES Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Global streaming revenue surged to $150 billion last year, driven largely by an increase in prices by Netflix and other streamers, according to a new report. In 2025, global streaming subscription revenue grew by 14%, reaching a total of over $157 billion, the report from Ampere Analysis found. In the last five years, revenue has tripled from the $50 billion seen in 2020. Streamers continue to dominate the digital distribution market with rising monthly subscription fees, more consumers choosing sub-

scriptions with ads, and platforms expanding their global reach.

“As the streaming market matures, the emphasis is no longer on pure subscriber growth but on extracting greater value from existing audiences,” said Lauren Liversedge, a senior analyst at Ampere Analysis. She noted that the growth is happening “particularly in the most competitive markets.” Over the next five years, Ampere Analysis estimates subscription revenue will grow by another 29%, potentially reaching over $200 billion worldwide by 2030. The U.S. is the largest driver of this revenue growth, as the country accounts for 50% of 2025’s global

streaming subscription revenue, per Ampere Analysis. Netflix accounted for the largest revenue share in the U.S. at 14%. Last week, the company also announced a

billion

Powell

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TERRy CHEA

Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver, fills up her car at a gas station in Alameda, Calif. Sherman-Shafer picks up Uber passengers five days a week and is putting in extra hours to cover the difference for the cost of gas.

transport truck driver Chad Middleton refills a gas station in Kingston Springs, Tenn.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

temporary and still would require Congress to approve funding for the next fiscal year

DHS appropriations are on the agenda with no clear resolution when the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill in mid-April.

A resolution to the funding impasse fell apart Friday Senate Republicans unanimously passed a bill that would have funded for a short time all of Homeland Security except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor that it was a pragmatic way to get Homeland Security employees paid while working out the immigration enforcement issues that have held up the department’s annual appropriation.

Instead of approving the Senate deal, House Republicans narrowly passed an alternative that would fully fund Homeland Security, including ICE and CBP, without allowing any concessions to immigration law enforcement activities.

“I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, RBenton, told reporters Friday

“Well, we actually read their bill,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “One of the things that we had real concerns with is it actually defunds over 25% of the baseline operations of the Department of Homeland Security 25% at a time when we’re at a heightened threat level.”

Without an agreement between House and Senate Republicans, Congress left Washington for two weeks.

TOWER

Continued from page 1A

and will continue to handle management and leasing for Canal Place.

“Having new owners in town, new blood, new ideas is healthy,” he said.

Strength and weakness

One Canal Place was developed in 1979 by the late Joseph Canizaro as part of a mixed-use complex that also includes a luxury mall, the Shops at Canal Place, the Westin New Orleans hotel and the 1,650-car parking garage.

All would eventually change hands and come under different ownership groups

The Shops at Canal Place, which will lose its anchor tenant next month when Saks Fifth Avenue shuts down, the Westin hotel and the parking garage are not part of the office building sale.

One Canal Place has an occupancy of just under 75%, including its newest tenant, law firm Baker Donelson, which has not yet moved into the building. The firm recently signed a long-term lease for 40,000 square feet on the building’s top two floors about 15% of its total space. The building’s occupancy is slightly below the overall

TSA agents, whose average salary is about $50,000 annually, were last paid on Feb. 14. As “essential employees” they were required to work without pay during the shutdown. Most received a partial paycheck on Feb 28, then missed both paychecks in March.

This came after they weren’t paid for 43 days when most of the federal government was shut down in

October and much of November

About 1,100 workers left TSA employment during that time period. Homeland Security reports about 500 agents have quit since the February shutdown. About 12% of the transportation security officers have called in sick or otherwise missed their shifts, causing slowdowns in the required screening of passengers before board-

ing flights. At some airports, like New Orleans, up to 40% of the TSA workers were not on duty at some points.

White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that paying TSA officers should relieve the delays at the airport.

“It’s good news because these TSA officers are struggling. They can’t feed their families or pay the rent,” Homan said. “They’re sitting there right now, working very hard, not being paid by members of Congress (who are) out on vacation getting paid. It’s ridiculous.” Staff writer Marco Cartolano contributed to this report.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

ing them, Stone said.

market average downtown of around 80%.

One Canal Place was built at a time when several other high-rises were under construction in New Orleans’ Central Business District, then still home to major banks, energy companies and maritime firms.

Unlike most of those buildings, built along a 1-mile stretch of Poydras Street, the Canal Street tower is at the foot of Canal on the edge of the French Quarter, which can be a strength and a weakness, experts say “It’s the gateway of the French Quarter,” said Evan Stone, a broker with Goodwin Advisors in Dallas, who has handled the sale of several major office buildings locally “But when you are trying to get employees to get butts on seats, it’s not as convenient. It just takes longer.”

A good deal?

The sale is the latest of several in the local market.

In addition to Poydras Tower, which was acquired by the Hakim family, of Monroe, in January, Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson purchased 1515 Poydras last summer for $26.4 million The building was only 15% occupied at the time, as plans to convert it from offices to apartments had stalled.

Benson is still mulling

plans for its future, said Siegel, whose firm is also owned by Benson.

In late 2024, the Energy Center, a 39-story tower, was purchased out of foreclosure by a New York investment firm A sale price was not disclosed.

And in early 2024, the Hakims purchased the green, granite high rise at 1615 Poydras, emblazoned with DXC Technology’s logo, from local businessman Frank Stewart. Though a sale price was never disclosed, sources familiar with the transaction at the time said the building sold at the fire sale price of less than $20 million.

Another downtown highrise could soon join the list

The 28-story Poydras Center at 650 Poydras is listed for sale by national brokerage CBRE. No asking price is listed.

The building counts the U.S. Attorney’s Office as its anchor tenant and is about 80% occupied, according to the online listing. Like several other buildings that have recently sold, its debt is coming due later this year, meaning its owner will either have to refinance or sell.

Siegel said Monday several potential buyers are interested in the building and he is confident it will sell before the deadline.

Like downtown markets around the country New Or-

leans’ office sector has been battered by post-pandemic work habits and higher interest rates. Unlike other markets, it has been helped by a lack of inventory, due to the conversion of older office buildings to hotels and apartments over the past 15 years. At the same time, it has not seen significant growth from new companies looking to move into the market.

Those factors, combined with the aging stock of existing class A buildings, the most recent of which was built 35 years ago, mean investors are coming here looking for deals — and find-

“Buyers are coming to New Orleans because they like the value proposition,” he said. “They think they are buying cheap and can make money on it.”

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Costume room feelslike home

Walking into the costume room at LSU felt like time travel. There was asmell —fabric, maybe, or sewing machine oil.

Whatever it was, for a moment, Iwasn’tinBaton Rouge anymore. Iwas alittle girl in my grandmother’s garage-turned-sewingroom, surrounded by fabric, jars of buttonsand arainbow of zippers on pegs.

Ispent huge swaths of time there as achild —sorting buttons and my personal specialty —coordinating prints that most people wouldn’tthink went together

The room had aparticular logic and language.

So, Idiscovered, does the costume room in LSU’s School of Music.

Iwas there becauseKyla Kazuschyk, associate professor of costume technology, was about to put me in akimono. Kazuschyk hadfourlarge safety pins angled on her shirt like abrooch —practical jewelry,asitturned out. Midway through dressing me she pulled them off one by one and put them to work on thekimono. She’sthat kind of cool. It wasn’tjust any kimono This was Cio-Cio-San’sfirstact costume —the one worn by the ill-fated Butterfly herself. It will be featured in Opéra Louisiane’sproduction of Puccini’s“Madama Butterfly,” performed for one night, at 7p.m. April 11 at the Raising Cane’sRiver Center Theatre for the Performing Arts in Baton Rouge.

I’ll confess Ithought it was “Madam Butterfly” until this recent interaction —the “a at the end is Puccini’sItalian, not atypo.

The kimonos originated at the Paris Opera before making their way to Virginia’s Castleton Festival. Paul Groves, Opéra Louisiane’s general director,was gearing up to pick up 31 more costumes.

“They’ve been beautifully cared for and steamed,” Groves told me. He paused. “They’ve also been in my fishing truck.”

That’sLouisiana opera Before Icould try it on, Kazuschyk walked me through theprocess. It is atheatrical kimono, she explained, which means certain traditional steps were skipped to make putting it on andoff easier —apractical necessity for dressing and undressingduring performances.

Atraditional obi, the belt portion of akimono, would be one very long strip of fabric tied in an elaborate bow in the back. For special occasions, like aweddingor other ceremony,Kazuschyk told me, women in Japan go to aspecialist to have an obi tied —the way aLouisiana woman might go to asalon for an updo. That said, in this theatrical kimono, the obi is stitched in place, and there are hooks and snapswhere therewould traditionally be none.

“A kimono could have10 layers,” Kazuschyk said This one has two. Then she asked, in the way

ä See RISHER, page 2B

French QuarterdistrictOKs drone

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

The French Quarter Management District votedtofundanew police drone to respond to 911 calls in the neighborhood, which would bethe first such launch of a remote-piloted drone program in the city and one that New OrleansPolice Department leaders hopetoexpand citywide.

In avote on Monday that came over the objectionsofanti-surveillance advocates, the district board unanimously approved spending $250,000 to purchase adrone anddockingstation. Theplan will now go beforethe City Council for approval.

The drone, which would be piloted by an NOPD officerworking from the8th DistrictStation in the French Quarter,

would be positioned to immediately deploy in response to emergencies.

“It is asafety tool versus asurveillance tool,” saidNOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick in an interview on Monday, adding that the drone “would allow us to better serve —and morequickly —this area.”

PRUNINGBEADS

The Mardi Gras tree on TulaneUniversity’s Uptown campusisametal sculpture that has become alongtime Carnival tradition, collecting beads tossed onto its branches by students and visitors duringMardi Gras season.

Over the years, the tree has become arecognizable campus landmark, occasionally requiringpruning when theweight of the beads begins to bend itsmetal limbs.

BYMICHELLEHUNTER Staff writer

Theformer admissions director at aMetairie private school hasbeenarrested andaccused of embezzling more than $87,000 in cash tuitionpayments madeby parents, according to authorities.

Maryfrancis Johnson,32, of Belle Chasse, worked at Cres-

Charles Griffinuses ashovel to dump the beads removed from the tree.

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

An unnamed buyer snapped up arare New Orleans paintingbythe Britishstreet art superstarBanksy for$750,000 at an auction in the Netherlands on Saturday. The price was in keeping withthe staggering sums theartist’s aerosol artworks regularly fetch. The painting, which is on displayatthe Presbytère on Jackson Square,was auctionedremotelybythe Hessink’sFine Art Auctioneers in Maastricht, Netherlands. The opening price was $688,000. Banksy paintedthe 8-foottall mural, titled“GrayGhost Attacks Stick Figure,” on the wall of aJackson Avenue building in 2008, during his secret visit to the Crescent City Though mostofBanksy’s paintings from the period were destroyed or removed from their original locations, the Jackson Avenue paintingstayed put untillast year when the owner of the property,Jaohn Orgon, cut the mural from the wallthat held it. The weather-worn painting, attached to a3-ton masonry slab, wasrestored to its original glory by an art conservator,and put on public display in time for the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It wasthe devastation wrought by the historic hurricane and subsequent flood that inspired the artist’s2008 visit in the first place. Banksy’simmense international popularity drew considerable attention to the city’sstruggle to recover

In addition to creating several small murals that poetically recalled the storm, Banksy devotedtwo works to demonizing Fred“The Gray Ghost” Radtke, azealous graffiti foe, whodiedin2021. In “Gray Ghost Attacks Stick Figure,” Banksy depicted Radtke as ashadowy house painter,emotionlessly eradicating aterrified stick figure. Though Banksy has long attemptedtokeep hisreal

ä See BANKSY, page 3B ä See DRONE, page 2B

cent City Christian School, apreKthrough 12th grade institution runbyCelebration Church, Louisiana AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill’soffice said. State investigators allege Johnson stole money from the school between 2020 and 2023. As the school’sadmissions director, part of Johnson’s job was to collect and keep track of tuition payments from parents. Johnson instead pocketed the money,according to authorities. “Cashwould be received and areceipt issued, but thefunds would never makeittothe bank,” aLouisiana Bureau of Investigations agent wrote in an arrest affidavit Investigators identified 19 families whose cash payments went missing underJohnson’s tenure, according to authorities.One family paid $24,000 in cashovera twoyear period while another handed over $13,500 in twopayments, authorities said. Johnson created fake entries into the school’s financialtrackingsystemtohidethe missing

ä See ACCUSED, page 2B

STAFF PHOTOSByDAVID GRUNFELD

Tulane University employees Tracy Boudreaux, left, and Charles Griffinrecently remove beads from theMardi Gras tree on the campusinNew Orleans.

METAIRIE

Kirkpatrick

Appeals court rules BR protest organizer can be sued

Injured

police officer says leader should be held liable

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

A lawsuit by a former Baton Rouge police officer against a Black Lives Matter leader can go to trial after an appeals court ruling that could affect whether organizers are held liable for actions taken at protests.

Baton Rouge Police Officer John Ford was struck by a rock or chunk of concrete during a 2016 protest after the killing of Alton Sterling. He lost multiple teeth, needed corrective surgery and ultimately left law enforcement.

Elements of the nearly decade-old case have been heard as high up as the U.S. Supreme Court, but Ford’s claim that the protest organizer’s negligence led to his injury has not been before a jury yet.

The case has come before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals before, with judges finding that DeRay McKesson could be sued for negligence without it violating his First Amendment rights to organize a protest. That ruling, reaffirmed by the same court on March 19 after more legal wrangling, addressed whether a protest organizer can be found liable for the actions of demonstrators under Louisiana law

“Eight years of pretrial litigation are enough,” U.S. 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones said, in her majority opinion.

“It is time for Officer Ford to have a jury assess his claim that DeRay McKesson’s negligence in leading a violent protest caused him to suffer injuries at the hands of rioters.”

McKesson is a Black Lives Matter organizer who traveled to Baton Rouge in the wake of Sterling’s killing and promoted a protest on July 9, 2016, in which crowds attempted to march onto Interstate 12.

During the protest, while trying to make an arrest, Ford was hit in the face with a rock.

McKesson was arrested the day of the protest, and later joined a class-action lawsuit against BRPD and the city-parish over “unlawful mass arrests” and a militarized “excessive” use of force.

The 5th Circuit’s threejudge panel reaffirmed on March 19 that there are grounds for Ford to sue McKesson over potential negligence in organizing the protest that led to his injury

The two issues at hand were whether the case should proceed to a jury trial and whether the First Amendment protected McKesson from the suit by Ford.

Ford’s negligence claim was previously dismissed in 2024 by a U.S. District Court judge in Baton Rouge who ruled there wasn’t sufficient evidence that McKesson had led the protest. The lower court also ruled that McKesson’s First Amendment right allowed him to legally participate in the protest

In her March 19 appeals court opinion, Jones said the lower court judge erred in

Man accused of flashing at Covington coffee shop

62-year-old allegedly had pants unzipped in front of female worker

BY KASEY BUBNASH

Staff writer

A 62-year-old Covington man was arrested Monday after he exposed himself to a female employee at a coffee shop while waiting for his order earlier this month, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

that good teachers do, how wide I thought kimono fabric is. I knew the answer must be interesting — or she wouldn’t have asked. So, I went with very wide because the garments are so sweeping and dramatic I was wrong. Traditional kimono fabric, woven on a loom, is only 15 inches wide. Four widths stitched together make the kimono. That’s part of why they’re so expensive.

With the talk of looms and weaving, I told her about the beautiful loom at my home still waiting to be used because I cannot figure out how to get it set up

My grandmother would have understood the loom and the logic of the seams. She was a master at making something beautiful from whatever was at hand.

With Kazuschyk, I had worn a dress that day When the moment came, I took it off to get the full effect of wearing a kimono in for a penny, in for a pound. Kazuschyk draped the inner layer, then the outer, working the hooks, tucking the sash. One sleeve rests inside the other

“You don’t want anything hanging out,” she said, a

DRONE

Continued from page 1B

The program, called Drone as First Responder is modeled after similar efforts adopted across the country in recent years. In Jefferson Parish, the Sheriff’s Office has deployed a fleet of 23

first responder drones that assisted with 170 arrests between November and February The NOPD drone would be produced by Californiabased Skydio, which also made the drones that are used in Jefferson Parish. Kirkpatrick said she hopes to deploy drones throughout the city

“Like Jefferson Parish, they covered their entire parish. I support having that for the city, but I think in a phased in approach,” said Kirkpatrick. She said she did not have a timeline for that expansion in mind.

New Orleans police already have a nine-drone

fleet that is deployed during major events or as part of investigations with an on-site operator The new drone in the French Quarter would be piloted remotely in re-

Mark Long is accused of entering the coffee shop March 20 with his pants unzipped and flashing the employee while standing near the counter, according to the Sheriff’s Office Investigators discovered Long had also been at the coffee shop the day before, and surveillance footage allegedly shows him behaving in a similar manner Authorities did not identify the coffee shop involved or provide the victim’s age. Long turned himself in Monday after officials obtained a warrant for

sentence that applies to more situations than kimono dressing.

Yomo Li, an LSU graduate student who had tried on the kimono before me and offered an impromptu song from the April 11 performance, looked at me and said, “It fits you perfectly.” Which says something about her generous spirit. Standing there, I thought about the character Cio-CioSan, who marries an American naval officer and builds her life around the promise that he will return. She is defined by waiting and believing — and is destroyed by both.

And yet, wearing that kimono — a piece of history that traveled from Paris to Virginia to Louisiana, by way of a fishing truck — I felt nothing but joy My grandmother understood, hoping and being crushed, and about creating beauty out of whatever was at hand.

The room had its own language. Turns out, I still speak it. Tickets for the April 11 Opéra Louisiane’s production of “Madama Butterfly” range from $21.50 for students to $151.50 for box seats and are available at operalouisiane.com.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

sponse to calls, which could help police have a digital eye on the scene of an emergency more quickly The NOPD initially requested that the district provide $740,000 in funding to purchase three or four drones. During a district committee meeting earlier this month, 8th District Cmdr Samuel Palumbo said other partners had been tapped for the additional money But on Monday he said that no other funding has been committed so far The use of cameraequipped devices has drawn opposition from anti-surveillance groups since the NOPD launched a drone program two years ago.

On Monday, opponents shared dozens of public comments online and before the board, raising concerns about potential civil liberties violations and racial bias, and requesting that funds be put toward other community needs.

“I don’t want minorities, I don’t want myself, I don’t want other folks to be targeted by mistake for criminal activity through this bias that’s showing up in software,” said Christopher

saying there wasn’t enough evidence to let the case go to a jury

“There is ample admissible evidence to create a genuine, material fact dispute about whether McKesson was a leader in the protest,” Jones wrote.

In the dissenting opinion in the 2-1 decision, Judge Carolyn King disagreed that the facts of Ford’s case necessitated a jury trial.

But it was on the second issue, of whether McKesson’s First Amendment rights protected him from the suit, that King spent most of her dissent.

“Officer John Ford was tragically injured in his line of duty Someone should be held accountable. But Officer Ford has not come close to demonstrating that McKesson is that someone,” King

said. “Perhaps eager to afford Officer Ford a remedy for his injuries, the majority nevertheless holds that he has done just that. In so doing, it imperils First Amendment liberties.”

She argues that the majority opinion chills future First Amendment expression by broadening the scope of how an organizer might be held responsible for the disorderly actions of others involved in a protest. With the majority’s approval, a future jury is now free to decide if McKesson did lead protesters to march onto I-12 during the protest, if the violent confrontation between police and protesters was a foreseeable result of those plans and if McKesson’s actions violated his duty to not incite violence as the organizer of a protest.

his arrest. He was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail on one count of obscenity

“This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our community,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “We encourage business owners and citizens to report suspicious or inappropriate activity so it can be addressed promptly.”

The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is ongoing and encouraged those with relevant information to call Detective Kyle Krenwinkel at (985) 726-1327.

Kazuschyk, associate professor of costume technology, dresses columnist Jan Risher in a ‘Madama Butter

kimono.

Lang, a Marigny resident.

A handful of commenters spoke in favor of the proposal, arguing that the drone would make them feel safer by freeing up officer time and giving officers more information when responding to 911 calls.

“It’s about officer safety

Having these guys know what they’re driving into or walking into, to me, is a huge opportunity,” said Bob Simms a French Quarter resident who until recently oversaw security initiatives for the district.

The district, a statechartered neighborhood management organization, voted to fund the drone purchase from the revenues of a neighborhood sales tax that can only be used for programs in the French Quarter. The district would pay the $250,000 over five years.

The council will likely consider the proposal at a special meeting on April 16, said council member Freddie King, who represents the French Quarter King said his office is “keeping our ears open for any and all information” but that so far it hadn’t “received any opposition

Costumes are seen through the door at the LSU School of Music Costume Shop. The costumes are for ‘Madama Butterfly,’ which will be performed by Opéra Louisiane on April 11 at the Raising Cane’s River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts in Baton Rouge.

Small earthquake reported in Gulf

BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

An earthquake was reported in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday night, hundreds of miles away from Louisiana’s coastline, according to the U.S. Geological Survey The small 3.9 magnitude earthquake, located 220 miles from Venice, was first reported at 9:22 p.m., according to USGS data.

ACCUSED

Continued from page 1B

cash, assigning accounts with scholarships, money orders or credits to prevent families from being billed again, authorities said.

Crescent City Christian School officials first discovered a problem in summer 2023 when they realized cash tuition payments from several families didn’t have corresponding bank deposits, authorities said.

In one instance, administrators found an empty payment envelope in Johnson’s desk drawer indicating that a parent had turned in $12,123 cash to cover tuition for her daughters on June 12, 2023, according to investigators. But school administrators couldn’t find any evidence that the money had ever been deposited.

The parent confirmed that she had made the cash payment, and said she’d made a similar $12,320 tuition payment for her daughters in 2022. But school officials couldn’t find a corresponding bank deposit for that payment,

The French Quarter Management District approved funding for a remote-piloted drone, like the one above, that can be deployed to emergencies in the French Quarter

regarding the drones from French Quarter businesses or residents.” Opposition appeared to come from residents in other parts of the city and beyond, he said.

One longtime French Quarter resident, Leo Watermeier, said he supports the

idea of a drone that responds to specific incidents.

“Anything we can do to keep the French Quarter safe is a positive,” said Watermeier But he added that he “wouldn’t feel comfortable if they wanted to fly a drone above the French Quarter all the time — that

The quake was shallow, having a depth of 10 kilometers, reports showed. Gulf earthquakes are fairly uncommon, but are known to happen, Eric Jeansonne chief meteorologist at WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi, said Sunday night There was no tsunami threat associated with the quake, he added. A similar earthquake was reported in the Gulf in 2023.

either, according to authorities. Neither payment was ever deposited, investigators allege. When confronted, Johnson admitted accounting errors, tried to lay blame on other colleagues and even offered to repay any missing money, officials said. However, she never admitted to stealing the money, according to authorities. But investigat ors claimed the evidence pointed squarely at Johnson. No other staff member had access to the financial tracking system and the opportunity to carry out the scheme on this scale, officers said in the arrest affidavit.

The investigations bureau obtained warrants for Johnson’s arrest in the case. She turned herself in at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on March 24, where she was booked on theft valued over $25,000 and computer fraud. Johnson was released from jail the same day on a $30,000 bail.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@ theadvocate.com.

sounds like it’s too much surveillance and an invasion of our privacy.”

Another French Quarter resident and business owner, Chris Olsen, said he understands the police force’s need to use technology to make up for staffing shortages.

“The Quarter has to be protected, they need to do policing, and it doesn’t seem like our police force is up to the task right now,” said Olsen. But at the same time, he said he believes there should be “a lot of restrictions in place” to “make sure that these things are not used by (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or the state or national government — that these are for local policing and that they’re being used for what they say they’re being used for.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHELLE HUNTER

PHOTOS PROVIDED By LIZ PINA

Kyla

fly’

LSUchanges name of its theaterschool

Newmoniker adds film to mix

Staff report

In the past three decades, LSU has built its theater program as adestination school for students seeking degrees in the discipline.

Nowit’saddingfilm to the mix. The Louisiana Board of Regents on Tuesday approved renaming the LSU School of Theatre to the LSU School of Theatre and Film.

“At LSU, one of the defining strengths of our Film & Television program is its place alongside the university’s outstandingtheater program within the College of Music &Dramatic Arts,” said Eric Lau, deanofthe college.

“This distinctive relationship creates arich collaborative environment in which students engage across disciplines, expand theirartistic and professional horizons and prepare to lead in an evolving creativelandscape. Because this model is uncommon nationally amongpeer institutions, the name School of Theatre and Film more accurately reflects both the depth of this partnership and its significance within the broader vision of the CMDA.”

The name change will take effect immediately LSU officials are ordering new materials and getting anew logo forthe department.

This name change alsoreflectsthe program’s evolving role within Louisiana’s booming film industry

LSU’sfilm program began as amodest initiative in 2012 with adozen enrollees. It has since exploded in popularity among students, with its enrollmentof100 nearly matchingthe size of thetheater program.

Aprimary driver of this growth was the transition from aBachelor of Arts degree to aBachelor of Fine Arts program, which solidified the curriculum as production-centric and career-focused.

“The name School of

Theatre and Film more accuratelyreflectsboththe depth ofthis partnership andits significance within thebroader vision of the CMDA,” said Vanessa Uhlig, head of the film program. The film concentration was first launchedunder the leadership of Associate Deanand SchoolofTheatre Chair Kristin Sosnowsky Admissionhas become highly selective,withapplicationsconsistently outnumbering available spots.

The program has also become apipelinetoacareer in film in all areas.

“We’vealways been a home for great storytelling,” Sosnowsky said. “By becoming theSchool of Theatreand Film, we’re officially recognizing the incredible evolutionofour programs over the last 10 years. Whether it’sonstage or on camera, our students, faculty and staff are pushing boundaries—and now, our namedoes too.”

LSU established its theater programwithin the DepartmentofSpeech in 1928. The Department of Theatre was created in 1991, followed bythe foundingofSwine Palace,the professional theater associated with LSU Theatre, in 1992 In 1998, the Department of Theatre merged with the LSUSchool of Music to create the College of Music& Dramatic Arts, and thenthe film initiative was launched in 2012.

“Seeing the school renamed to the Schoolof Theatreand Filmconfirms that CMDA is supportive of students’ goals on the stage or the screen,”said Josh Jackson,aformer student of theprogramwho is now anassistantprofessor in sports communication in the Manship Schoolof Mass Communication.“We started with afew cameras, lights,and passionate students who wanted to be a part ofthose early creative projects.Tosee that love and appreciation for film grow is awonderful thing to see for the alumni who were there in the beginning.”

NOLA DJ accusedof workers’ comp fraud

Manallegedly collected thousands in benefits

BYJULIAGUILBEAU

Staff writer

ANew Orleans DJ was arrested Thursday and accused of fraudulentlycollecting thousands of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits from the Sewerage &Water Board, according to state officials. Warren Murphy,51, of Morrison Court, defrauded the S&WB program of over $37,000between October 2022 and March 2023, investigators with Attorney General LizMurill’soffice said Monday.

Officials said Murphy reported ajob-related injury in July 2022 and was placedona non-work order by adoctor.Asacondition

BANKSY

Continued from page1B

identity to himself, reporters from the Reuters news agency recently reported that his legal name may be David Jones. How long the Banksy will remain on display at the Presbytère is unknown.Three other re-

NewOrleans Area Deaths

Broussard,Norman

Elie,Migel

Goloforo Sr., Frank Simoneaux, Violet Sparks,Ernest NewOrleans

DW Rhodes

Elie,Migel River Parish

HC Alexander Simoneaux, Violet Obituaries

Broussard, Norman J.

Norman Broussard,89, passed away March 21, 2026, in Manvel, Texas,surrounded by family.Born September 14, 1936, in Erath, Louisiana,hemarried ShirleyBertrand in 1954 and retired as an electrician after 37 years with FreeportSulphur Company. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Shirley; children, Nathan and Paula; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren. Services willbeApril 11 at Our Lady of Lourdes CatholicChurch in Erath, Louisiana. Visitation 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Rosary12:30 p.m.

Elie,Migel Elizabeth

FrankGoloforoSr.,89, peacefullydepartedthis lifeonWednesday,March 25, 2026, in Gonzales,LA. Frank wasprecededin death by hisbeloved wife of62years,Barbara MaGill Goloforoand hisyoungest son,Russell Goloforo Frank wasthe sonofthe lateMikeGoloforoand MaryKurtz.Heissurvived byhis four children:Debo‐rah Goloforo Spurgeon (Charles),Frank Goloforo Jr. (Elizabeth),David Golo‐foro, MichaelGoloforo (Anna). He is also survived by15grandchildren,26 great-grandchildren and8 great-great-grandchildren, andsisters CarolWilliams, Linda Bocklud, andMarion Guidry. He wasprecededin death by hisstepmother, ZinaDominoGoloforo; sis‐ter,JoAnn Melerine-Vick‐nair; andbrothers, Steve Salisbury andLarry Kurtz. Relatives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the funeralservice on Wednesday,April 1, 2026 atthe Garden of Memories FuneralHome, 4900 Airline Dr. in Metairie,LA, at 12:00 pm. Visitation will beginat 10:00 am.Entombmentwill followinthe Garden of Memories Cemetery

Violet Rita Caillouet Simoneauxwas called home to be with her sons LilRon and Stacy on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at theage of 85. Violetwas born on July3,1940 in Garyville,LA. She wasa native of NewSarpy,LA, a longtime resident of Point Noir,LA, an area near

Church Point, LA anda residentofLaPlace, LA for the past 8years. Violet was an outstandingartist in oil, pencil, and pastels. She wasalso a very accomplished pilot wholoved aerobatics and unusual attitude flying Violet was preceded in death by hersons, Lil Ron andStacy Simoneaux;her parents, Albert and Palmire Brignac Caillouet, hersiblings, Mary Ellen,A J., Stanford (Judith) Caillouet, andHilda Adams (Raymond); and herinlaws, Edgar and Aline Beaugh Simoneaux

Survivors includeher loving husband of 66 years, RonnieK.Simoneaux; and hersiblings, Warner (Brenda)Caillouet and Brenda (Wes) Richard.Also survived by hersister-inlaw,GeorgiaCaillouetand numerousnieces and nephews.

Relativesand friends of thefamilyare invited to attend thevisitation at H.C. Alexander Funeral Home, 22 Apple St Norco,LAon Wednesday, April 1, 2026 from 10:00am until 12:00pm. Funeral services will begin in the chapel at 12:00pm. Intermentwill followinSt. Charles Borromeo Church Cemetery in Destrehan,LA.

Thereare just no words that are adequate to describe thehelp andcomfort from Kim, Kayla, Larry andKelly of Passages Hospice.You were here in just amoment when needed,ifnot,you were on the phoneinquiring as to how we'redoingorhow you couldhelp.You were indeed aGod-Sent.Thank you

theage of 87. He wasa native of Waterproof, La. and aresident of Marrero,La. Ernest attendedTensas RosenwaldHigh School in St.Joseph,La. He wasa retiredemployee with AdvondaleShipyardafter manyyearsofservice Loving father of Ernest Sparks Jr.and Tyran CharleneWells Sparks. Belovedson of thelate Howard andEdnaSparks. Ernest is also survived by 9 grandchildren, ahostof great grandchildren, sisters andbrothers, nieces andnephews, cousins, other relativesand friends.

of receivingworkers’ compensation benefits related to theinjury,Murphy had to disclose any workactivity or monthlyearnings, accordingtoinvestigators.

During August, September and October 2022, and February and March 2023, Murphy,who went by “DJ Hardhead,” performed at local venues, according to investigators. He failed to submit the activity on required forms,officials said. Agents with theLouisiana Bureau of Investigations initially received a complaintabout Murphy from S&WB’sRisk Management Division regarding allegations of workers’ compensation fraud. Murphy,who was already being held atthe Orleans Parish jail on counts of first-degree rape, domestic abuse andintentional exposure to HIV,was booked on acount of misrepresentationsconcerningbenefits over $10,000.

stored Banksy murals are currently viewable in New Orleans. Twocan be found in the lobbyofthe International House Hotel at 221 Camp St. Another wellpreserved painting is at the Habana Outpost restaurant at 1040 EsplanadeAve Orgon, the formerowner of “Gray Ghost Attacks Stick Figure,” couldnot be immediately reached for comment.

MigelElizabeth Elie de‐partedthislifeonMarch 19, 2026 at theage of 66 after alongstrugglewith breastcancer. Shediedat the Carrollton Retirement Community.She wasborn onSeptember 25, 1959 at Flint-Goodrich Hospital to Gerri MooreElieand Lolis EdwardElie. Agraduateof BenjaminFranklinSenior HighSchool,she received her undergraduatedegree fromBrandeisUniversity. After graduating from the TulaneUniversitySchool of Medicine, Dr.Eliedevoted her life to serviceprimarily inthe healthcare field, working at Chartres Pontchartrain Mental HealthCenter, Orleans ParishPublicSchoolsand atvarious healthcare orga‐nizations.In1999, shere‐ceiveda Master of Science fromthe LSUHealthSci‐ences Center School of PublicHealth. Sheissur‐vived by hermother, Gerri Elie, herbrother,Lolis Eric Elie, hernephews,Lolis NirikoElieand Olajidé TsarasoaElie, andher sis‐ter-in-law, Béatrice Elie as wellher aunts, Bobbi Anna Dantzer andAltheaHills and ahostofcousins.A memorialwillbeheldat Dillard University’s Georges Auditorium,2601 GentillyBlvdonSaturday, April 4, with visitation at 10:00 a.m. anda memorial at11:00 a.m. Membersof Delta SigmaTheta Sorority are invitedtoparticipate in the Omega-Omega cere‐monyat9:30a.m.The fam‐ily wouldalsowelcome pastors andmembers of Bethany United Methodist Church,BrooksShaw UnitedMethodist Church Boynton United Methodist Church,Christian Unity Baptist Church,Franklin Avenue BaptistChurch and BroadwayMissionaryBap‐tistChurch.Arrangements byD.W.RhodesFuneral Home, 3933 Washington Ave.Pleasevisit www.rho desfuneral.comtosignthe onlineguestbook.Inlieuof flowers, Dr.Elie’sfamilyis askingthatdonations be madetothe Benjamin & Yancy Foundation,Inc.a 501(c)3nonprofitdedi‐cated to providingscreen‐ing,therapeutic services, and educationalresources tothose coping with breastand prostate can‐cer.https://www.benjami nandyancyfoundation.org/

Goloforo Sr., Frank

Simoneaux, Violet Rita Caillouet

Sparks, Ernest

Scantodownload

OUR VIEWS

Exceptions to public records lawmust necessarily be narrow

We have watched in recent years apush by public officials to use overly broad language to expandrestrictions on the public’sability to monitor what they are doing.

In the 2024 legislative session,lawmakersconsidered abill to shield records of public bodies that related to “advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising partofa process by which governmental decisionsand policiesare formulated”—inother words, anything that agovernmental body deemed essentialto its process. Thankfully,thatbill waspulledafter backlash from good governmenttypes.

Yet, in the samesession, anotherbill passed that allowed local officialstodeclareconfidential public records involving “economic development” projects valued at $5millionormore, whichcould cover anything amunicipality deemed related to such projects.

In asimilar vein this session comes SenateBill 289, by Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles. This measure, which passed the Senate and is going tothe House, would allowLouisiana colleges and universities to exempt records relatedto university searches forpresidents, coachesand other “executive” jobs frompublic records law The argument is that those applying might not want their current employertoknowtheyare looking for another job. We can understand that reasoning. However,the bill, as originally written, didn’tdefine the term executive.” Academic deans were removed from the list whenthe bill moved out of committee, and Abrahamsays he’s open to other amendments

This newspaper has aggressively sought records from LSU related to its operations, as taxpayer money is at stake. In 2013,The Advocate |The Times-Picayune successfully suedalong with the student newspaper The Daily Reveille foraccesstorecords relatedtoasecretpresidentialsearch.

Therationale forthis bill remains murky.No one has said that LSU,whichnamed new presidentWade Rousse in November,orUL-Lafayette,which named new president Ramesh Kolluru in February,orSouthern University,which is currently in the midst ofa presidentialsearch, hashad trouble attractingquality candidates for thesejobsdue to publicdisclosure requirements

The bill also seekstolimit public access to records of potential donors to universities or their private fundraisingarms as well asdisclosure of proprietaryresearch. But as Steven Procopioof thePublic Affairs ResearchCouncilpointed out, the names of donors to private foundations are alreadyshielded andproprietary research has never been subjecttopublic recordslaw

The goal of these fuzzy measuresseemstobe to make public records whateverofficials say theyare Politiciansoften campaign on transparency because they know that it plays well with the public. When in office, though, transparency often takes aback seat to other aims. We believe weakening public records law ultimately weakens support forwhatevergovernmental officials are tryingtodo. Exceptions to public records can be necessary,but they should always be narrowly written

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

La.iswhathappens when politiciansfavor therich

Ron Faucheux’sop-ed “Numbers tell the story of why Louisianalags other Southern states” echoes the concerns from Faimon Roberts’ earlier op-ed, “Louisiana has amigration crisis, but it’snot theone manythink.”Inshort, people are leaving Louisiana, and that is not good for our economic outlook. The rich love Louisiana. They know they will face minimal consequences forcreating Cancer Alley and can treat working people here however they want. Louisiana’spoliticians care moreabout attracting money than attracting people. However,without working people, there is nothing to invest money in. The richest companies in the world are also found in the places with the highest taxes and most worker protections, like California and New York. These companies know that they need workers more than they need tax exemptions. That’sthe leverage Louisiana’s workers need to use. Groveling and begging therich to

share acrumboftheirhoarded billions will only empower them further.Weallow the billionaires to decide whoand what gets invested in, what is and isn’t produced. They even get to decide who getselected. Their extreme wealth undermines theability of our society to democratically makedecisions about what we want our society to look like. When the interests of acarbon capture company are weighed equally with hundreds of Ascension Parish residentssaying no, you’ve arrived at an oligarchy.People are leaving Louisiana not because we haven’tappeased theoligarchs enough, but because the oligarchs are getting what they want, and we live or die at their whims. Ourpoliticians should invest in and empower people and communities, notgive out moretax breaks to the wealthy.Workers make Louisiana great,not billionaires. Abetter world is possible. BEN WENDT Baton Rouge

Moreno should insist on transparency at meeting

Louisiana Landmarks Society applauds theMarch 11 editorial “Take note, officials,openmeetings are not optional,” asserting “that meetings of apublic body to discusspublic businessneed to be conducted in front of thepublic, no exceptions”— aprinciple affirmed by theLouisiana 5th Circuit CourtofAppeal in theFebruary St. James Parish ruling. We share this conviction wholeheartedly: Allpublic bodies mustfollow theOpen Meetings Law to ensure that thepublic remains informed and empowered.

That is why we remaindeeply concerned by atroubling legal position taken during theLaToya Cantrell administration. The CityofNew Orleans argued in court that the Board of Zoning Adjustments is exempt from theopen meetingslaw on thegrounds that it functions as a“quasi-judicial”

body.This is bad policy.Ifaccepted, it could lead to dangerous consequences,opening the door statewide for other boards and commissions to similarly claim exemption from the transparency rules that govern public life. The casenow awaits adecision from theLouisianaSupreme Court. We hope thenew administration will abandon this argument. Continuing to pursueitwould risk enshrining a precedent that allows not only the Board of Zoning Adjustments, but potentially awide range of public bodies,toconduct consequentialbusiness behind closed doors. New Orleans residentsdeserve better.Welook to this new administration for more open and transparent government notless.

SANDRA STOKES chair of advocacy, Louisiana LandmarksSociety

The Alliance forAffordable Energy and utility regulators have been inundated recently with residents’ complaints about high Delta bills. While Delta has pointed to increases in wholesale gas prices and claims of increased usage by residents, this does not seem to account forthe massive bill increases folks have experienced and manyfeel something is not adding up. At the Feb. 25 Louisiana Public Service Commission meeting, according to an article in this newspaper,Delta CEO TimPoche told commissioners that as warmer weather approaches and gas prices stabilize, residents should find relief on their bills. Warwith Iran, however,will likely cause gas prices to increase yet again.

Prices in Europe have already risen 45%, and those effects will likely be felt domestically very soon, as happened in 2022 in the first year of Russia’swar in Ukraine. Additionally,the rate freeze that Delta inherited when it purchased Entergy’sgas system will expire at the end of October,and you can be assured that Delta will seek arate increase when it does. Long-term projections forgas indicate only rising costs forthe next several decades, and this affects morethan Delta customers. Because Entergy generates nearly 75% of its electricity using gas as fuel, Entergy customers feel it when gas costs increase, as well, even if they don’tuse gas in their home.

The New Orleans City Council and the PSC can act by ordering Delta to spread cost increases over several months, banning residential shutoffs, creating aprogram —similar to Energy Smart forelectric customers —tohelp residents reduce gas usage, and eliminating our dependence on gas, diversifying our energy sources, using solar and wind —which have no fuel costs —and battery storage.

LOGAN BURKE executivedirector Alliance for Affordable Energy

Thepolitical instantreplay

In sports, the instant replay was invented and first used by aman named Tony Verna on the Dec. 7, 1963, broadcast of theArmy-Navy footballgame on CBS.

The political “instant replay” has no single author or starting date, but its overuse has produced few resolutions of the major problems confronting the country.What it has produced is a deepening cynicism about politics and so much else.

Cal Thomas

Toomany Americans now see their fellow Americans who are of a different partyorpersuasion as abiggerenemy than Iran or Russia. Long-term friendships have been destroyed over whether one loves or hates President Donald Trump. At least the sports instant replay usually leads to the affirming or overturning of adecision by the referee. The politicalinstant replay solves nothing, even when the “players” are shown to be wrong. The result in too many cases has been political paralysis.

Cable news and more than afew newspapers are increasingly obsessed with the November elections,as if they will somehow change thepolitical game. We are bombarded with the “truth” that the party that controls the White House is bound to lose seats in Congress, although there have been exceptions.

Voters who are angry at Trump for whatever reason had best be careful what they wish for.

Despite his occasional bad demeanor and crude language, Trumphas succeeded whereother presidents and congresses have failed.DoDemocrats want to run on aplatform of reopening the southern border? Allowing more people from many nations and possibly terrorists to cross the border in violation of our immigration laws would also increase the number of deadly drugs that have killed thousands of Americans. Imagine the effectinstant replays of workers tearing down the wall and watching aflood of people pour across would have when a majority of voters say they approve of border control.

Would Democrats, should they regain House and Senatemajorities, continue to back biological males playing on femalesports teams andusing locker rooms and restrooms restricted to women and girls? Would their party continue tosupportgender reassignment surgery for prison inmates with taxpayersfooting thebill? Would their opposition to showing identification before voting and proof of citizenship before registering continue? All of these are “80-20” issues, in some cases higher What about taxes? Would Democrats run on raising taxes when it’s the spending that needs to be cut to reduce the unsustainable $38 trillion debt?Would Democrats, whose party created Social Security,Medicareand Medicaid, lead the way in reforming these programs before they runout of money (estimated to be in seven years for Social Security) and benefits substantially cut, or taxes substantially

raised,orboth? It doesn’ttake asoothsayer to predict Democrats would seek revenge on Trump by again impeaching him, possibly morethan once, though he will have fewer than two yearsleft in office and theSenate, even with a Democrat majority,would not likely convict him and removehim from office. The problem with political instant replays is that few,ifany,problems are solved. It’s all about the politicians, not thepeople. Ultimately,they are not completely at fault. We are, becausewekeep electing the same people, expecting adifferent outcome. Voters, especially thelow-information kind, areguiltyofcreating the political instantreplay.Aslong as we keep rerunning thetape, nothing will change.

Email Cal Thomasattcaeditors@ tribpub.com

Whereisthe arcofjustice headed?

Former President Barack Obama liked to quote Martin Luther King Jr.’sline that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Of course, whatwas an expression of optimism for themoral reformer King was more in the nature of avictory spike of the football for acompetitor in azero-sum electoral contest like Obama. More importantly,the belief that things are moving toward justice comes more naturally to believers in Americanexceptionalism, of which Obama isn’tone. He famously said that he believed in America’sexceptionalism only as much as “Brits” believe in British exceptionalism or Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.

and their archaeological colleagues can describe marked declines of civilization enough for one of them to titlea book “1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Edward Gibbon, listening to the monks chanting vespers on the steps of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, was inspired to write thehistory of thedecline and fall of the Roman Empire, thefirst volume of which came outinFebruary 1776 and is still in print today

Great Again” mantra suggests moving back to some unspecified moment in thepast.

War-making is president’s business,not Congress’

In the maelstrom of modern war, presumed certainties crumble like piecrust. Consider twoquestions asked in the wake of U.S. attacks on Iran.

In April 1943, American code breakers in the Pacific Theater decrypted flight plans of Adm Isoroku Yamamoto, whohad conducted Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.Days later,his plane was destroyed. The NewYork Times headline was: “‘Gosh!’ Says Roosevelt On Death of Yamamoto.” Wasthis targeted killing of aparticular person of military importance an assassination? Every president since Gerald Ford, whowas responding to harebrained Kennedy administration plans to kill Fidel Castro, has officially respected Ford’sfinding that assassinations violate international law,and hence disserve U.S. interests. The second question is: What is constitutionally (never mind prudentially) obligatory concerning Congress’sinvolvement in uses of military force? The answer is: almost nothing. An ethical calculus that can answer the first question is elusive. And as the war against Iran illustrates, the twoquestions are inseparable: Surprise is asubstantial military asset. If the Trumpadministration had briefed legislators in advance, could it have achieved the targeted killings crucial to its regimedecapitation objective —anobjective intended to economize violence? Less than twoyears after the targeted killing of Yamamoto, on March 9, 1945, morethan 300 B-29s leftthe Mariana Islands, bound forTokyo. There they dropped 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs that destroyed one-sixth of Japan’scapital, killing between 80,000 and 100,000 or more. Try, without experiencing moral vertigo, to disapprove Yamamoto’sassassination, which it was, in awar that included the incineration of Tokyo. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention initially was going to vest in Congress the power to “make war.” Instead, it vested the power to “declare war.” The convention did this because Congress is often dispersed, whereas presidents are on the job 24/7. And because presidents can act with moreenergy and dispatch than Congress even when it is in session. And because if the power to makewar were vested in Congress, the president might lack the power to respond unilaterally to sudden attacks. And because throughout history, warshave often been declared by the launching of them.

But British and Greek exceptionalisms look to distant pasts and encompass the idea of decline, which, if not the opposite of justice, is certainly not positive. Britons may look withpride on the British Empire, but not without atwinge of regret that it has all but disappeared. Greeks may look back on theastonishing creativityofAthens 2,500 years ago, but not without recognizing that it was held down under the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires for almost all the centuries since.

In contrast, the United States has a history that can be easily,ifperhaps oversimply,interpreted as astory of continual winning. Economic growth —the exception rather than the rule before 1800 in European lands —has been cumulative over time. Cultural progress abounds: the abolition of slavery,equality for women, and civil rights for Black people, all have advanced, though with some setbacks over the years. In such an environment,itmay seem natural to believe that, as ageneral rule, anyway,things get better.Yet the long run of history teaches different lessons. Historians of ancient cultures

Historians continue to dispute just how much and even whether the Roman Empire declined. But it seems indisputable that itsmilitaryforces dwindled, its long-distance tradepetered out, and itstechnological advances were forgotten. It took centuries for Europeans to figure outhow to build adome like that of the Pantheon in Rome, but there it is today In American politics over the last century,ithas been theDemocrats whose rhetoric proclaims them as the partyofprogress. Some of this has a Marxist base, the New Deal idea that a complex industrialized society should have an increasingly large government to protect and guide individuals To many since at least the 1980s, that argument seems antique. Biggovernment has not managed to build asinglemile of track for California’shigh-speed railline in 19 years, while the privatesector has developed artificial intelligence at astonishing rates. Note also that in this century Americans, including recent immigrants, have been moving out of big-government states like New York Illinois and California, and into smallgovernment states like Florida, Tennessee and Texas Republicans under Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes made the argument and provided some proof that market-friendly policies can produce more than big government.But President Donald Trump’s“Make America

Perhaps to the low-immigration, high-family-formation, high-churchgoing 1950s in which Trump and his baby boom predecessors, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, grew up. In any case, Trump’s inevitable retirementleaves Republicans uncertain and probably divided on what progress and decline mean. For articulate Democrats, the focus has moved from economics —on which they make vague promises of more redistribution to theless affluent —and toward cultural issues. Buton that, theirconfidence that the arc of justice moves theirway has encountered some turbulence. They have seen American opinion do so on some issues, notably same-sex marriage, but not on abortion or immigration.

Or,asthe liberal economistNoah Smithargues,intheir isolated communities —trendy central city neighborhoods,affluent suburbs and university towns— and sycophantic media, they have failed to notice that most Americans don’tbelieve, or aren’tmoving closer to believing, that “racial preferences in hiring, leniency toward petty crime and illegal immigration, and transwomen on women’ssports teams are basic rights.”

My sense is that thearc of history moves around, andsometimes in a malign direction. Notably,among the sharply increasing antisemitism of theuniversity Left (now installed in New York’s Gracie Mansion) and in theemergence of aless numerous but equally disturbing antisemitismon thefringes of the podcastRight from Southwestoutposts to thewoods of Maine. Thereare some directions in which thearc of history should never head again.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Industrialism and conscription —nations, not just militaries, mobilized forwar —have blurred the distinction between combatants and civilians whose farms, factories and transportation systemssustain combat. Hence the wholesale destruction during Gen.William Tecumseh Sherman’s march through Georgia andSouth Carolina. Hence theWorld WarIIbombing of residential areas to “de-house” (the Allies’ antiseptic term)German and Japanese civilians. Other aspects of the modern state that have partially erased the distinction between military and nonmilitary factors are organizational bureaucracies, mobilizing propaganda and forced-draft science (e.g., the Manhattan Project).

Albert Einstein supposedly said, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” In law,constitutional and other,and in war, which is even difficult to define, we should emulate Einstein. We should makedistinctions as clear as possible, but not clearer

That our nation is planted thick with lawyers is part cause and part consequence of the American yearning forrules to govern those whogovern us. Codifying behavior in order to circumscribe governmental discretion is mostnecessary,but mostdifficult, regarding executive latitude in war-making. There is only one large and clear example of Congress asserting primacy: It wielded its power of the purse to end what remained, in 1975, of U.S. participation in Vietnam.

Other than among his devotees, Donald Trump has only the trust and empathy he has earned: none. It is too late forhim to prudently increase Congress’sbuy-in with his Iran policy by consulting it. So, the language and processes of law are the only arrows in his critics’ quivers. Those are, however,unavailing. Courts will not intervene where Congress is, as apractical matter,precluded by presidential nimbleness. There are manykinds of wars, and as manyways for presidents to evade Congress. Non-state actors (e.g., Hamas) can initiate and wagewars. Presidents can marginalize Congress by calling awar a“police action” (Korea, 1950).

For decades, this column has been atireless to somereaders, atiresome—critic of the swollen, often lawless, modern presidency.Now more than ever it is urgent to regard executive power as, in Daniel Webster’swords, “a lion which must be caged.” But conditions, threats and capabilities change, so moral and political imperatives do, too. Changes in modern circumstances, including technologies, often strengthen, if not the argument for, then the opportunity for, executive unilateralism

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com

George Will

Michael Barone

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President Donald Trumplistens to areporter during the swearing in for Homeland Security SecretaryMarkwayne Mullin in the Oval Office of the White House on March 24.

BY HOLLYRAMER and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press

Vermont’seffort to make fossil fuel companiespay for damage causedbyclimate changewas tested Monday in afederalcourtroom, where the state argued that two lawsuits challenging its groundbreaking 2024 lawshould be thrown out.

Vermont became the first state to enact aclimate superfund law, modeled on the federal superfund law that taxed petroleum and chemical companies to pay to clean up sitespollutedbytoxic waste. It took action after suffering catastrophic summer flooding in 2023aswell as damage from other extreme weather,whichscientistssay is occurring more frequently due to climate change. The money it collects would be used for climate adaptationprojects, such as upgradestostormwater drainage systems, sewage treatment plants and roads.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and atop oil and gas industry trade group,the American Petroleum

Institute, sued Vermontoverthe law in December 2024, calling it unconstitutionaland aviolation of federal law. The Department of Justice also sued Vermontand NewYorkafterPresident Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against states that may be overreaching their authority in how they regulate energy development. In suing, Bondi called Vermont’slaw and a similar one signed by New York’s Democratic Gov.KathyHochul “burdensomeand ideologically motivated” and saidthey threaten American energyindependence and national security

In asking ajudge to dismiss the lawsuits Monday,Vermont argued that it has the authority to raise revenue, protect thehealth and welfare of its citizens and mitigate environmental harms.

Thestate also said that the law does notconflict with federal law or policy,regulate fossil fuel emissions or punish fossil fuel producers.

“As asovereignstate, Vermont getstodocertain things that are exercises of atraditional stateau-

BY MICHAEL BIESECKER and JASON DEAREN Associated Press

WASHINGTON— About 100ofthe nation’smostcontaminatedtoxic waste sites are in areas prone to floodingand wildfires, apotential public healththreat to millionsof Americans in surroundingcommunities, the internalwatchdog at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found. The EPA’sOffice of Inspector General issued two new reports last week that are part of aseries assessingthe weather-relatedvulnerabilities of the 157federalSuperfund sites prioritizedfor cleanup due to the serious risk they pose to public health and the environment. About 3million Americans live within amile of aSuperfund site, while 13 million people live within 3miles. Some of the Superfund sites were found to be at risk from multiple natural-disaster threats. Thestud-

ies found 49 in coastal areas are at risk from sea-level rise or storm surge from hurricanes, with many locatednearhighlypopulated areas andimportant ecological locales like Chesapeake Bay. Another47 are in low-lyingsites prone specifically to inlandflooding from heavy rain.The review also found 31 sites

Vermontdefends itslandmarkclimate superfundlaw

thority.The Superfund Act operates squarely in those areas of traditional state authority,” Jonathan Roseofthe Vermont attorney general’s office said in U.S.District Court in Rutland

The plaintiffs in both cases,however,argue that Vermont can’tlegally impose liabilityorpenalties on out-of-stateenergy producers forharms arising from out-ofstate andglobalgreenhouse gas emissions.

“Thiscase is notabout Vermont’s abilitytoraise revenueand protect the healthand welfare of its residents. It’sabout Vermont’sattempt to subject global energy production activity to Vermont law,which brazenlydisregards the constitutional division of power in thefederal government and the states, said DOJattorney Riley Walters.

While other courtshave allowed the application of astate law to out-of-state conduct, thosecases involved direct and traceable connections between the behavior and theharm, he said.

“It’simpossible to trace in-state harm to any particular source of greenhouse gas emissions, let

in areas at high risk for wildfires. Despitethese risks, thefive-year plans governing theexpensive and time-consumingcleanups at the sites often failedtoaccount for damage posedbyflooding from sea-level rise andmorefrequent storms and wildfire, the inspector general’sreview found.

alone to the fossil fuel production thatiseven further down along the alleged causal chain,” he said. “Thereisnot adirect and traceable connection between oil that’s extractedinTexasorinSaudi Arabia and aflood or someother weather event that takes place in Vermont.”

West Virginia, atop producer of natural gas and coal,isleading two dozen states intervening in the case with theChamber and API, out of concern that Vermont will demand to recover billions of dollars from majorenergyproducers andoil refiners in their states.

Meanwhile, the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental advocacy groupinNew England, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont are supporting Vermont in the litigation. Attorney Adeline Rolnick, representing the conservation foundation and farmers, toldthe judge Mondaythat granting the plaintiffs’ motions to strike down thelaw “would give the federal government this roving license to seek toenjoin any state law that it disagrees with simply by pleading

preemption.

“Thatwould be quiteanexpansion of the federal role in our state-federal system, and the court should instead require the United Statestoshowconcrete imminent injury like any other litigant,” she said.

Judge Mary Kay Lanthier took the motionsunder advisement and said she would issue rulings as soon as possible.

Republican Gov.Phil Scott allowed the bill to becomelaw without his signature, saying he was concerned aboutVermonttaking on theoil industry alone. Since then, the idea has gained traction elsewhere. In addition to New York, other Democratic-controlled states are also considering climatesuperfund laws, while others are seeking damages from fossil fuelcompanies in state courts for harmscaused by climate change.

“This is the first timethat astate legislature has taken the gigantic step of pursuing pollutersand holding them accountable to clean up the mess thatthey’ve made, said Jennifer Rushlow,interim vice president forCLF Vermont.

“That is abig problem because it meansthe site managers are not planning mitigation measures,” said Betsy Southerland, aformer director of the agency’swater protection division who spent over 30 yearsatthe EPA.

“The communities living near those sitesshould be madeaware of this planning failure and should insist on robust plans,” she said.

At locations with little or no planning forfloods, contaminants could be released into surrounding communities andtaxpayerdollars alreadyinvestedinremediation could be wasted, the review found.

The EPAsaiditisreviewing the inspector general’sfindings and that the Superfund program does factor “the impacts of extreme weather events and other hazards as astandard operating practice in the development and implementationofcleanup projects.”

Lastyear,President Donald Trump firedEPA Inspector General Sean O’Donnellatthe begin-

ning of Trump’ssecond term,and the office’snew review makes no mention of climate change, aterm the Republican administration has scrubbed from federal websites. But the new reports issued by the office’sremaining staff still lay out the risks posed by awarming planet to the nation’smost dangerous toxic waste sites. Lara J. Cushing, aprofessor at the University of California, Los Angeles who has studied the effects of achanging climate on the nation’s toxic waste sites, petrochemical plants and other hazardous areas, called thenew reports “noteworthy and important.”

“Although President Trump may wish to ignore it, the fact is the climate is changing and we need to be proactive in responding to rising seas and more extremeweather or facethe consequences of increasingly frequent cascading naturaltechnological disasters that poison communities andlocal ecosystems,” said Cushing.

SPORTS

KAMARA WATCH

Moore’slatestcommentsdon’t clearuprunning back’s

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

PHOENIX On thesurface,KellenMoore sounded more optimistic Monday about AlvinKamara playing forthe New Orleans Saints in 2026 thanhedid two weeks ago.

The Saints coach, speaking to reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings,said he could find ways forKamaraand Travis Etienne to share abackfield.And he answered affirmatively when asked whether Moore was planning for Kamaratobe on the roster nextseason. He reiterated that the Saints “love”Kamara and thathe means “the worldtous.”

Butinthose sentences, therewas enough vaguenessand caveats to leave an out that makes Kamara’sreturnfar from aguarantee

Moore said there is afull “process”to go through this offseason, without providing any clarity on what thatprocessen-

tails. Andthough he mentioned that Kamara was on the roster,hesaid it in away that left open thepossibility that it could change.

Moore was even asked whether anything had changed withthe running back since thecoach last spoke to reporters two weeks earlier,when he was far more vague about thesituation.

“No,” Moore said. “No, we haven’t(talked).

The end result added anew layer of confusion, one the Saints seem content to string along. The Saints, to be fair,don’t have to make adecision now.Mandatory minicamp —let alonetraining camp and the start of the season —ismonths away Kamara alsohas abig say in his future if he decides to retire

But Tuesday was not Mooredoing a180 in the way he once did withDerek Carr.

Newcoach Wade relishes second chance at LSU

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry didn’thide from the facelift the LSU men’sbasketball program neededwhenhe took over for predecessor Scott Woodward.

“I came here to alot of (basketball) games lately,” Ausberry said. “It was half empty.” The culture change started at Monday’sintroductory news conference for returning coach Will Wade in front of excited fans, administrators andalumni at the PeteMaravich Assembly Center.

“In fact, there were more people here today,probably, than some of our last basketball games,”Ausberry said about Wade’snews conference. “So we had to change our culture.” Wade is back in BatonRouge after being fired for cause by LSUin2022 over allegations of NCAA rule infractions. Wade, the last coach to lead LSUtothe NCAA Tournament, aims to get the Tigers back to MarchMadness and beyond afteratwo-year stint at McNeese State and, most recently, his loneseasonatNC State. Wade made theNCAA

Tournament in all three seasons combined at the two schools.

“Did Ithink this was possible?” Wade saidabout coming backtoLSU.“Imean, Iguess younever countanything out in life. But when we left here, we neverthoughtwe’dbeback. No, Iwouldn’tsay Ithought it was possible.”

Wade’s return came together quickly.Traction picked up Wednesday as LSU worked to hire McNeeseState athletic director HeathSchroyer to becomeits senior deputyathletic director and executive director of external relations for the LSU System. Schroyer hired Wade at McNeese in 2023and also will reunite with LSU president Wade Rousse,who held the same position at McNeese before taking over at LSU last year.

“There wasn’tsome formal interview process,” Wade said.

“Weall knoweachother.We’ve all known each other foralong time. Really,what’s today,Monday? It really pretty much kicked into gear on Wednesday of last week. Thatwas pretty much when the first contact was made, and that was when the

Pelicans’ GLeague team moving to Kenner

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

The NewOrleansPelicans’ GLeague

affiliate is moving closer to its parent team.

The Pelicans announced Monday morningthat theirG Leagueteam will be relocating from Birmingham, Alabama, to Kenner.The team will be rebrandedasthe Laketown Squadron. The team hasplayed in Birmingham since2021. It played thetwo seasons before thatinPennsylvania as the Erie BayHawks.

“Weare proud to bring the Squadron and NBA GLeague basketball to the City of Kenner and Laketown Park,” Pelicans ownerGayle Benson said in astatement. “Wethank Kenner Mayor Michael Glaser and the Kenner City Council fortheir partnership in making this move possible, and we look forward to growing our basketball fan base and investing in this vibrant, family-oriented community.”

The Laketown Squadronwill begin playing games at the Pontchartrain Center in the 2026-27 season beginning in the fall.

future

Forthosethatdon’t recall,Moorewas equally noncommittal about thequarterback’s future when Moore was hiredby the Saints in February 2025. Then, weeks later at thecombine, Moore was seemingly on board withCarr.

“Wefeel fortunate to have Derekhere,” he said back then. (The Saints’ plans obviously changed when Carr later retired thatoffseason). Until then, Kamara’sfuture remains up in theair.The saga continueseven after theSaintstookmeasurestoaddressthe 30-year-old’scontract. Earlier this month, New Orleans used acreativeaccounting trickand alittle-known salary-cap rule to alter Kamara’scap hit ratherthan aconventional restructure. The move lowered Kamara’scap hitto$10.4 million and cleared $8 million in cap space. But then the Saints signedEtienne and new questions emerged. ESPN,for

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

Wade embodies LSU,

The lights went down, thefog machine kicked in and like arock star,Will Wade strode intothe Pete Maravich Assembly Center with his entourage: wife Lauren and their daughter Caroline. From thespeakers high above the PMAC floor,Thin Lizzy started belting out its 50-year old classic, the appropriately chosen

As part of therelocation,the Squadron and city of Kennerplantocomplete arenovation of thePontchartrain Center that will include new locker rooms, upgraded audioand lighting systems, andenhanced video boards. Capacity at the Pontchartrain Center is 3,700.

David Chaix, CFO for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, said in a Kenner City Council meetinginFebruary that relocating closer to New Orleans will make the operation more efficient while helping “deepen our organization’sinvestment in the local community.”

Plans to relocatehavebeengoing on for the past 18 months.

Joe Dumars,inhis first year as the Pelicans executivevicepresidentof basketballoperations, gave astatementonthe advantages of having the G League affiliate closer to New Orleans.

“The close proximitytoKenner gives us the ability to better align our basketball operations and coaching

ä See PELICANS, page 3C

“The Boysare Back in Town.”

“Guess who just got back today …” Wade is back to coach basketball at LSU. Abit older,abit chastened by apast that Monday still tugged at the elbow of his tan sportscoat, but as defiantly confident as ever

“We’re coming back to make history,” Wade told afrothed-up assemblage of LSUboosters, studentsand major domos. “We’re going to makehistory one way or the other.We’re coming back to trytohang abanner,win anational championship or I’m going to be thefirst coach fired from the sameschool twice. “But one way or another,we’re going to makehistory.It’sgoing

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints running back AlvinKamara runs up themiddle againstthe TampaBay Buccaneers defense during agame at theCaesars Superdome on Oct.26.

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON NewLSU men’sbasketball coachWill Wade holdsupan‘L’ hand sign

Scott Rabalais

6p.m. Auburn at Georgia Tech ESPN2

7p.m. Campbell at North CarolinaACCN

7p.m. Kansas at Missouri SECN WOMEN’SCOLLEGE BASKETBALL

5p.m. NJCAA Division IChamp.: TBD ESPNU

5p.m. Penn St. at Pittsburgh ACCN

5p.m. Wichita St. at Oklahoma SECN

6p.m.Girls McDonald’s: East vs.West ESPN

8p.m.BoysMcDonald’s: East vs.West ESPN MLB

5:40 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia MLBN

8:40 p.m. N.y.yankees at Seattle TBS,TRUTV NBA

7p.m. Newyork at Houston NBC,Peacock

10 p.m. Portland at L.A.ClippersNBC,Peacock MEN’S SOCCER

10:50 a.m.Norwayvs. Switzerland FS2

1:30 p.m.Bosnia-Herzegovina vs.Italy FS1

1:30 p.m.England vs. Japan FS2

3:55 p.m.Congovs. Jamaica FS1

10 p.m.Iraq vs. Bolivia FS1

6p.m.Knoxville at Asheville City CBSSN

6p.m.U.S.vs. Portugal TNT,TRUTV TENNIS

10 a.m. WTAEarly Rounds Tennis

Eyes of TexasonFinal Four again

Booker,Harmon

shineasLonghorns eliminate Michigan

BY STEPHENHAWKINS Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas— Madison Booker had 19 points and seven rebounds, fifth-year senior guard RoriHarmon has 13 assists and Texas is going to the women’sFinal Four for the second year in arow after a77-41 rout over Michigan in the Fort Worth Regional 3championship game Monday night.

The Longhorns missed only one shot in the first quarter,quickly buildingadouble-digit lead and maintaining control even through extended periods of poor shooting by both teams after that in the only regional final matching the top two seeds.

Justice Carlton added 15 points while Kyla Oldacre added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Texas (35-3), which built as much as a 40-point lead.

Top-seeded Texas is going to its fifth Final Four.The only othertime the Longhorns had madeback-toback appearances was their undefeated 34-0 national championship in 1986and semifinal loss the following season.Before last year’s loss to South Carolina, theyhadn’t made it to the final weekendof MarchMadness since 2003.

Next for Texas is Friday in Phoenix against UCLA (35-1), another topseed and arematchagainst the only team to beat the BigTen champion this season. TheBruins have won 29 in arow since a7665 loss to the Horns in the Players Era Championship on Nov.26. Olivia Olson and MilaHolloway

each had 11 points forMichigan (28-7), which tied the single-season school record for wins. It was in the Elite Eight for only thesecond time and hasn’tmade it past that. TheWolverines finished 22.8% (13 of 57) from the field, included several missed layups. Booker,anAPAll-American forward, had bookend baskets in an early 10-0 Texas run that made it 12-2. In the middle of that, she made anifty pass to Harmon, who made anequally impressivequick flip pass to 6-foot-4Breya Cunningham inside foraneasy basket.Cunningham had11points.

The Longhorns, who finished shooting 46.9% (30 of 64), made 11 of 12 shots in thefirstquarter for a22-9 lead. They thenmissed 12 of their first 14 shotsinthe second quarter,including their top 3-pointer shooter Jordan Lee missing five from beyond thearc before Booker hadconsecutivebasketslatefor a34-21 halftime lead. Even when missing their first seven shotsout of the break, they were up 37-23whenHarmon’s 3-pointersnappedthe skid, and were off and running to Phoenix. Texas built as muchasa 69-29 lead with just under6 minutes

left, right before Harmon leftthe gameand went to the bench to join Booker,who didn’tplay at all in the fourth quarter

The largest margin of victory in an Elite Eight game was UConn’s 90-50win over Florida Statein 2010. Texas and UCLA will play in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time, having split their first four postseason meetings. The Longhorns won asecond-round game in 2021 and aSweet 16 matchup in 2016. The Bruins wonaSweet 16 matchup in 2018, and asecondround gamein1992.

True Cinderella missingfrommen’s FinalFour

BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press

All that talent at Arizona and Michigan. All that momentum and good vibesatUConn. And somebody has to play the part of the unheralded “little guy.” At the Final Four next weekend, that role belongs, improbably,to Illinois.

In asign of the times, the Illinii —aBig Tenteam with more wins in the conference over the past seven seasons than any other program —will pass for something resembling Cinderella when college basketball’sbiggest party kicks off in Indianapolis on Saturday The first challenge forcoach Brad Underwood’steamwill be stoppinga hard-charging UConn juggernaut that came from 19 points down and got agamewinner from the logo with 0.4 seconds left from an Indy native —Braylon Mullins —tomake its third Final Four in the past four years. The past two times theHuskies reached this point, they won the championship.

“It’saUConn culture, aUConn heart,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Webelieve we’resupposed to win this time of year.”

All these teams do.

Arizona, led by Brayden Burries, and Michigan, with Yaxel Lendeborg, have up to nine NBA prospects between them.

The Wildcats opened as slight favorites —atplus-165 towin the championship, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. That was ashade ahead of the Wolverines, who are plus-180 after their 95-62 romp over Tennessee on Sunday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABBIEPARR UConnforward Tarris Reed celebrates after theHuskies’ win against Duke in the EliteEight of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Washington.

tion’ssixth most populous state and aschool with an enrollment of nearly 60,000 —feelsmost like thisyear’sout-of-nowhere underdog speaks more about the current state of college hoopsthan theIllini themselves.

They are aNo. 3seed —the highest number at the FinalFour in twoyears.(UConn is a2.Last season, all four No. 1s madeit.)

This year’s meeting of 1vs. 1 —Michigan vs. Arizona— is a heavyweight matchup of power teams from power conferences meetingwitheverything at stake.

Twoyears ago, they won 11 and sent oneteam (NC State) to the FinalFour.

Not surprisingly, Underwood the coach who landedonthe Illinois radara decadeago by coachingdouble-digit seed Stephen F. Austintoapair of upset wins in the tournament —views his program’s trip to theFinal Four more as destinythana once-in-alifetime story

It is, however,the first trip for Illinois since 2005, when it lost to North Carolina in the title game.

ä MEN’SFINAL FOUR No. 3Illinois vs. No. 2UConn, 5:09 P.M. SATURDAy,TNT/TRUTV No. 1Michigan vs. No. 1Arizona, 7:49 P.M. SATURDAy,TNT/TRUTV

—haveapotential NBA lottery pickoftheir owninguard Keaton Wagler. Even so, the best-known name on the Illini rostermight be Andrej Stojakovic,whose father, Peja, was athree-time NBAAllStar.Illinoisisthe third school in threeyearsfor the younger Stojakovic,who spent oneseason at Stanford andanother at Calbefore joining Underwood’s crew

The task for Illinois: Figuring outwho to keyonacross aroster that has five players who averagedouble figures, led by Tarris Reed Michigan vs.Arizona

The Wildcats-Wolverines game is ahigh-powered matchup of programsthat have shownthere’s more thanone way to amass talent in the era of the unlimited transfer portal andbig-money name, image andlikeness deals.

Four of the five starters for Tommy Lloyd’sWildcatsbegan their careers in Tucson; the fifth, Big12player of theyear Jaden Bradley,moved over from Alabama and hasbeen withthe Wildcats forthree years.

Tulane assistant leaving for similar role at Memphis Memphis announced the hiring of Sean Mock as an assistantmen’s basketball coach on Monday,ending his longtime association with Tulane head coach Ron Hunter Mock hadbeenanassistanton Hunter’sstaff for his seven-year tenure with the Green Wave after joining him forhis final season at Georgia State in 2018-19 as aspecial assistant to the head coach He was director of playerdevelopment andrecruiting coordinatoratTulane before being promoted to benchassistant whenKevin JohnsonlefttocoachSouthern in 2023. The continuity on Hunter’sstaff has been strong. Associate head coach RayMcCallum andNo. 2assistant Claude Pardue also arrived with him from Georgia State.

Super Bowl heading back to LasVegas in 2029

LAS VEGAS

The Super Bowl will return to Las Vegas in 2029 for the second timeafter NFLowners votedMondaytoaward the nation’sgambling and entertainment capital the big game.

Las Vegas getting the Super Bowlback after Kansas City defeated San Francisco 25-22 in overtime in February 2024 seemed like only amatter of time.

Commissioner Roger Goodell all but gave that possibility his blessing after the first Super Bowl in a city the league long shunned because of concerns aboutlegalized sports betting.

“We’re excited to bringthe SuperBowlbacktoLas Vegasand provide ourfansanother incredible experience in one of America’s greatest sport and entertainment destinations,”Goodellsaidina statement.

NBA Board of Governors approvessaleofBlazers

NEWYORK— The NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of controlling interest in the Portland Trail Blazers from Paul Allen’sestate to agroupled by investor Tom Dundon on Monday

The league said in astatement it expects the deal to close this week. ESPN previously reported it was for $4 billion. In March, the Boston Celtics sold for$6.1 billion.

Dundon’sgroup includes Portland-based Sheel Tyle,the co-founder of investment firm Collective Global; Marc Zahr,co-president of Blue Owl Capital; and the Cherng Family Trust, the family office and investment firm of the co-founders of Panda Express. Earlierthis month, Dundon sold aportion of the NHL’sCarolina Hurricanes to three newminorityowners, atransaction reportedly worth $332.5 millionfor 12.5% of the team

Sun to be sold to Rockets owner,movetoHouston

The Connecticut Sun says it will move to Houston in 2027 after reaching an agreementtosellthe team to Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta in adeal worth arecord $300 million, according to aperson familiar with the sale. The WNBA Board of Governors still needs to approve the sale and the move. The team will playinConnecticutfor the upcoming season before moving to Houston and becoming the Comets again. This will end a23-year run by the team in NewEngland after the team moved to Connecticut from Orlando in 2003.

But, in one of afew strange twists on the odds chart, the Wildcatsare 11/2-point underdogs to Michigan in Saturdaynight’s marquee semifinal, amatchup of No. 1seeds. Illinois is a11/2-point favorite over UConn and, in reality,it’sthe Huskies, at plus-550, who are the biggest long shot in Indy Even so, the fact that Illinois the flagship university in the na-

It’safar cry from amere three yearsago,when mid-majors Florida Atlantic (coached by Dusty May, whonow leads the Wolverines) and San Diego State crashed collegebasketball’sbiggest party Sincethen, NIL and the transfer portal have reshaped the contoursofplayermovement, another spasm of realignmenthas made thebig conferences bigger (Arizona, now in the Big 12, was in the Pac-12 in 2023), and the highachieving underdogs whousedto makeMarch Madness what it is have gone into aslump.

“I don’twant to sound arrogant,”saidUnderwood,whose teams have won96Big Tengames since2019-20, two morethanPurdue. “I’ve neverdoubted us getting to aFinal Fourwould happen. Ihavethought we have hadother teamscapable. ButI also know howdoggone hard it is to do it.”

The Big Tenknows all about this. Both Illinois andMichigan have achance to deliver atitle for the conference for the first time sinceMichigan Statewon it all in 2000.

Illinoisvs. UConn

Meanwhile,the topfour players in minutesplayedatMichigan— Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliot Cadeau —all arrived from thetransfer portal.

In atwist thatmakes perfect sense these days, both coaches parlayed rootsinthe mid-majors to aspotonthe sport’sbiggest stage.Lloyd spentdecades as atop assistant for Mark Few at Gonzaga before heading to Arizona to rebuild theprogram after the ouster of Sean Millerin2021.

NC State reachesdeal with Vols assistant Gainey NC State has an agreement with Tennessee assistant coach and former Wolfpack player Justin Gainey to lead its men’s basketball program,aperson with knowledge of thesituation toldThe Associated Press on Monday

The deal requires approval by the school’sboard of trustees to becomeofficial, with trustees scheduling an emergency meeting forTuesday to “consider apersonnel matter.”

The school also said Mondaythat it would hold anewsconference forits next coach on Wednesday Gainey would replace Will Wade, wholasted just one season in Raleigh before leaving forLSU Gainey,49, served as the Volunteers’ associate head coach under Rick Barnes since the 2022-23 season, when he also took over as the team’s defensive coordinator On TV BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE Noon DARCity vs.Al Ahl Ly NBATV COLLEGE BASEBALL

Double-digit seeds won atotal of five games in this tournament (not counting the play-in round).

TheIllini, ledbythe so-called “BalkanBloc”— acohort of players with roots in Eastern Europe

May led FAUtothe FinalFour before heading to the Michigan program thathad thrived, then collapsed, underformer Fab Five star JuwanHoward

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TONy GUTIERREZ Texasguard Rori Harmon stepsback to shoot against Michigan guard Olivia Olsonduring theirElite Eight game on Monday in FortWorth, Texas.

Wade previews plan forstaff,roster

BY TOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

In one breath, Will Wade dropped aplayful quip about returning four years afterhewas fired as the LSU men’sbasketball coach. Not long after,hebecamevery serious when discussing his goals in Baton Rouge.

“LSU and Louisiana deserve a winner,and that’swhat we’re going to deliver,and we’regoingto deliver that in short order,” Wade said at his introductory news conferenceonMonday at thePete Maravich AssemblyCenter

Making LSU aperennial winner is the focus for Wade, and he’ll get his shot when the transfer portal opens April 7. Before that, Wade will have to get afew assistant coaches, which he said will happen by next week. He also explained why he’snot abeliever in having a large coaching staff.

“Staffs havegotten so big now,” Wade said. “We’re not going to have the biggest staff in the world. Idon’twant to have100 people running around and walking on top of each other.But we’re going to have our shell recruiting staff in place here in hopefully by the first of next week.”

Wade didn’tmention any coaches whom he intends to hire. Once he gets his first few assistants on staff, he said he’ll fill the other staffopenings in about six weeks.

Wade made it clearthathe’sessentially the “head coach and the general manager” at LSU right now,and any final decision on who dons apurple-and-gold jersey will come from him.

“I’ll get input from everybody else, but it’sgoing to be me,” Wade said. “That’s my job as ahead coach. They’re not paying me all

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in abig bear hug of “Son, we’ve missed you, have something to eat” Louisiana-style emotionsthat Wade clearly reveled in.

He knows he’sbeen excoriated in the media, from the days of being caught on afederal wiretap talking about a“strong-ass offer” to arecruit to leaving NC State after just one season, reportedly via an email from his agent to the athletic director. He’shad to learn to live with opinions about him that Wade knows he helped create and likely never will change.

“I long ago quit worrying about my perception,” he said. “That part doesn’tbother me too much

“I know people have beentalking about us alittle bit. Iunderstand. I’m not for everybody,and we understand thatLSU isn’tfor everybody.But one thing we both understand is I’m for LSUand LSU is for me. Make no mistake about that.”

Those words go right to the heart of what makes this Liz Taylor/Richard Burton rekindled romance between LSU andWade work. LSU —already the home base of widely criticized coaches

WADE

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process started. But because of everybody’sfamiliarity with each other,itmoved pretty quick.”

Ausberry said Wade was the only coach the university targeted and spoke to about theposition.

Wade previously led LSU (201722) to three NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons, with an overall record of 105-51 and a Southeastern Conference record of 56-33.

Wade doesn’tforesee it taking long to return the basketball program back to where he feels it should be: competing for national titles.

“We’re going to build awinning program, and we’re goingto build this thing quick,” Wade said. “This is not something that’sgoingto take long. We’re coming back to try to hang abanner,win anational championship or I’mgoing to be the first coach fired from the

PELICANS

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that money to have other people make decisions on things. Ithink that I’m going to have aheavy hand in what we’re doing and decidingwho we take and what we do.”

Wade, who coached LSU (201722)tothree NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons and an overall record of 105-51, said completinghis staff isn’tsome-

such as Lane Kiffinand Kim Mulkey —iscomfortable playing the role of the villain. It’spractically apoint of pride.

And Wade —who spent five tumultuous, NCAA-shrouded but fruitful seasons at LSU from 201722 —isthe point manfor that. The poster child. If former football coachLes Miles was the Mad Hatter, Wade is the Black Hatter. He embodiesthe “Wedidn’tcome here to be liked, we came here to win and drink all your beer” ethos that the LSU fan base lapsup. Wade admittedhenever thought he’d getasecond chance at LSU.

Now that he has one, he said part of the equationfor himisgiving backtothe school that gave him his first big career break. Aschool that is doubling down on himtodo it again and even do it better

“I’ve neverconnected with a fanbase and with people likeI have with LSU and Louisiana,”

Wade said. “I feel like we left the bookopena little bit. We left some chapters unfinished.

“Tohave the opportunity to come back and finish that off and to bring pride and joy to people that Icare about and people that meana lot to me, yeah, Ifeel a heavy burden towards that. That’s abig reason Icame back

“I’m excited to represent LSU

same school twice.”

Wade didn’t shy awayfrom his past at LSU. He saidthe LSU jersey he was given to takeapicture with, which had theNo. 26 to signify the year of his return,should also have No. 22 since that’swhen his first stint ended.

One word that was repeated by multiple peopleMonday was “alignment.” Rousse connected thesuccess Wade had at McNeese with what he believes will occur at LSU. Wade led McNeese (202325) to regular-season and Southland Conference Tournament championships to earn an NCAA Tournament berthineach of his twoseasons there.

“The way Ilook at this is what we had at McNeese, we did it on aregional scale,” Wade said. “We can take that same formula with more resources and more support just becauseofthe financial aspect of it all …and movethat to LSU,and we can make us anationalforce.”

There’s also alignmentfrom the notion Wade simply fitsLouisiana

strategies, integrate player development and enhance roster flexibility throughout the season,” Dumars said. “Weare excited to announce this move and look forward to deepening our connectionwith the local community.”

thing he’sina rush to do.Hesaid he had182 text messages relating to people wantingtojoinhis staff the last time he checked his phone. LSU will be in thenationwide race to recruit players in the transfer portal starting next Tuesday Wade said that he’s hadconversationsabout thebudgetfor players withthe LSUathletic administration, naming athletic director

andLouisiana again.”

If you’re notfromLouisiana, if youdon’tunderstand the place and itspeople, you probably can’tunderstand why Wade and LSU fit so well together.

Iran intoTasmin Mitchell an LSU basketball great who grew up and becameahigh school legend just across the Amite RiverfromBaton Rouge in Denham Springs —onmyway into the PMAC on Monday Mitchell was an assistant coach and director of player personnel on now former LSU coach MattMcMahon’sstaff. His future with his alma mater is, obviously,now much in doubt Wade was asked about whether he would have astaff assembled in time for the April 7opening of the transferportal window, an essentialbuilding block for Wade’s first second-time-around team, but his answer was noncommittal

Although Mitchell’sown future is uncertain, his thoughts on the hire were definitive

“They got the right guy for the job,” Mitchell said of Wade.“You can quote me on that.”

Thattells youa lotabout this LSU-Will Wade thing.

“Spread theword around.

Guess who’sback in town?”

culture with his spirit and attitude.

“I understand,I’m not foreverybody,and we understand also that LSUisn’t for everybody,” Wade said. “But one thing we both understandisI’m forLSU and LSU is forme, andmake no mistake about that.

“This is home.Iwasn’t born in Louisiana, but Louisiana is home for me and my family.”

Wade saidhewants to bring joy back to thePMACand not have the men’sbasketball programbe a“stopgap” between football and baseball seasons.

“Wehave alot of work to do, but Ipromise you we’re going to get this programbacktothe NCAA Tournament and back to thetop of the SEC in short order,” he said. “I’m honoredtobeyourcoach and represent this state and this great school. It’sthe honor of alifetime to be back.

“You neverget second chances in life, but we getone here and we’re going to make thisbetter than thefirst time.”

Thereare severalbenefitsto theGLeague team being closer to NewOrleans. Injured players can rehab with the GLeague teamwithout having to make the 61/2-hourdrive to Birmingham. G League players alsocan share resources such as medical staff and training facilities. Coaches and front office personnel can attend more games. Also, attendancemay improve The Birmingham Squadron played at Legacy Arena,where the capacityis17,000. Attendance for Squadrons games in Birminghamdwindled over the years. The first game in 2021

pete in the SEC,” Wade said.

It was reported by The Athletic that LSU can spend “at least $12 millionto$15 million —between revenue-sharing and NIL —on player payroll.”

Wade predicts the total cost of players in his first season will be higherthaninfuture yearsbecause most of the roster will come from the portal.

“We’re going to have to go get abunch of newplayers, and the new players and the good players cost,” he said. “They ain’tcheap.

“The first year,yeah, there may be some sticker shock, but we’ve got agood plan.”

Wade has confidence that once aplayerisatLSU, he’llhavean easier timeretaining them

Threeplayers fromlastyear’s roster already intend to enter the transfer portal: guards Dedan Thomas andRon Zipper, andforward Jalen Reed. There are six remainingplayers on the team witheligibility, including freshman point guard Jalen Reece, who was in attendanceatWade’s news conference.

Wade said he’shad one-on-one meetings with “five or six” players. In those sessions, he brought up hisexperience coachingformerLSU player and second-round NBA draft pickSkylarMays, who stayed withthe program after his initialcoach,JohnnyJones, was fired.

Verge Ausberry,president Wade Rousse and senior deputy athletic director and executive director of external relations forthe LSU SystemHeath Schroyer,who he reports to directly Wade said he wasinstructed to craftaroster that allows LSU to win.

“It’sspend until you feel like you have agood enough team to com-

“Those conversationswillcontinue,” Wade said. “We’re going to support theguys,whatever they want to do.Iftheywantto stay here at LSU, we’re going to support them and find arole forthem. And if they want to go somewhereelse, we’re going to support them in that as well.”

Koepka,Lowry to team for2026 Zurich Classic

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The all-star team of Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry has committed to playinthe upcoming Zurich Classic, tournament officials announced Monday Koepka, afive-time major winner,will make his first appearance in the NewOrleans PGA eventsince 2019. In his first year back on the PGATour since returningfrom athree-plus-year run withLIV Golf, he is ranked No.162 in thelatest WorldGolf Ranking.

Lowry,who paired with Rory McIlroy to winthe 2024 Zurich is ranked No.32inthe world after his 28th-placefinish at the Houston Openlastweekend.

“This should be amostpowerful team,” said Steve Worthy theCEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, whichoperates the tournament for the PGA Tour.“Both of these players have wonmajor titles, and both have extensive experience in major international team competitions.”

Koepka is the first major player to return to thePGA Tour after leaving for LIV.Aspart of his conditions to return through the returning member program, he reportedly hadtomakea$5million charitable donation, forfeit 2026 FedEx Cup bonus eligibility andforgo playerequityshares for five years. While ineligible for sponsor exemptions into 2026 signature events,heisrequired to earn his way into those fields throughplayinfull-fieldPGA Tour events such as the Zurich. So farthisseason, he hastied for ninth in the Cognizant Classic, tied for13th in The Players Championship and tied for 18th in theValsparChampionship. He teamed with his brother Chasetotie forfifth in the 2017 Zurich Classic, thefirst year the tournament adopted the team format.

drew acrowd of 5,000. Attendanceatthe team’s finalgame in Birmingham last Tuesday was 1,744.

He has won the PGA Championship three times and the U.S Opentwice amonghis nine PGA Tour titles. He ranked No.1 in theworldfor 47 weeks from October 2018 to February 2020. He played on four U.S. Ryder Cupteams and one Presidents Cup squad. In 15 Ryder Cup matches,hehas posted arecord of 7-6-2, ranking 18th on the alltime American pointslist This will be Lowry’sseventh appearance at theZurich. His best performance this year cameatthe Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach,Florida, where he finished tied forsecond after leading the tournament with three holes to play.Healso tied for eighth in the AT&T PebbleBeach Pro-Am, where he finishedsecondin2025. Lowry hasextensive experience in team playlike the Zurich, which will be playedApril 2326 at the TPCofLouisiana.The 38-year-old Irishman has played forEuropeonthe last three Ryder Cup teams. He sank theputtthat clinchedthe 2025 RyderCup for the European team at Bethpage Black last September

He wonBritish Openin2019 at Royal PortrushGolf Club by firingacourse-record 63 in the third round to win by six shots over Tommy Fleetwood. He has wonseven other titles, four on the DP World Tour and the WGC-BridgestoneInvitational in 2015 that earned him his PGA Tour card Lowry also hasposted atie for third in the Masters, atie for fourth in the PGA Championship anda tiefor secondinthe 2016 U.S. Open Lowryrecorded12top-25finishes last season, including atie for 12th at theZurich. He enjoyed one of his best yearsonthe PGA Tour in 2024. In addition to his Zurich Classic victory,hepostedsix top10 finishes, including asolo sixth in the PGAChampionship and a tie forsixth in the British Open.

“Weare extremely grateful for thepartnership we have built with theCityofBirmingham including the fans, community partners, and civic leaders who supported the Squadron on and offthe court,” Benson said.“Birmingham remains an important part of ourregion, andwethank MayorRandall Woodfin andBJCC CEO TadSnider for their leadershipand support throughthis transition.”

EmailRod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU presidentWade Rousse, left, and athletic directorVerge Ausberry,right, holdawin bar as they introduce newmen’s basketball coach Will Wade during anewsconference on Mondayatthe Pete MaravichAssembly Center

MooresaysSaintswant to extend WR Olave

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

PHOENIX The New Orleans Saints are attempting to sign wide receiver Chris Olave to along-term contract extension, coach Kellen Moore said Monday Moore, speaking at the NFL owners’meetings,saidthe effort has continued after thetwo sides talked during the season.An agreement has yet to be reached, andOlave is entering the final year of his rookie-scale contract after New Orleans picked up his fifthyearoption.

“There’sconversations, and that’swhat this time of yearisall about,” Moore said. “That’sobviously the business side of this thing that inevitablycomes up. It’s just about aworking relationship for everyone, what works best for everyone and find agood situation.

“Weknow we love Chris, and we’re excited about his future.” Olave is in aposition to get paid after acareer season. The25-yearold hauled in 100 catches for 1,163 yards in 16 games, bouncing back after an injury-plagued 2024. That year,Olave dealt with several concussions —includingone that ended his seasoninNovember and caused himtocontemplate retirement. The Saints and Olave were proud of the wide receiver’sresilience, and now he’sset to cash in.

Another factor is the wide receiver market has exploded. Jaxon Smith-Njigba of Seattle signed afouryear,$168 million contract last week, months after Jets receiver Garrett Wilson inked afour-year,$130 million deal. Nine receivers currently have an average salary of $30 million annually,and three make more than $35million per year

“These timelines are all different,” Moore said when asked whether there’sabenefit in getting Olave extended in the earlier part of the offseason. “I think it’s hard to try and say everyonehas to follow the same timelines. There are alot of conversations, alot of variables that go into those things We’ll just continuetokeep work-

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instance, reported that teams wondered whether the Saints would be open to tradingKamara, while the NFL Network reported others wondered whether Kamara could retire. As of now,the Saints have the most salary-cap dollars and overall cash committed to their running backs across the NFL in 2026. New Orleans structuredEtienne’sfour-year,$52 million contract in away that makes the first year of his cap hit ($5 million) palatable. Would having Etienne and Kamara be manageable if they were both on the books for $16

ingthrough that.”

Olave has said he wants to remain with theSaints.The former 2022 first-rounder is also recovering from ablood clot that caused himtomiss thefinal gameoflast season, but Moore said he believes thewide receiver is doing well.

“This is their offseason, so we’re not around theseguys every day, but he’sawesome,”Moore said.

QB competition

The Saints won’tbeholding a starting quarterback competition this summer,but there will be a battle for thebackup spot.

Aftersigning ZachWilson last week,Moore confirmed Monday thatthe Saints’ newestadditionto the quarterback room will compete with Spencer Rattler to be starter Tyler Shough‘s backup.

“Our job is alwaystomake those environmentsascompetitive as possible,”Mooresaid. “Wefeel goodabout watching Zach over the time of his journey.(I’ve) followed him, evaluatedhim anumberof times now, and soIfelt like the opportunity was right.”

TheSaints wanted to addanother quarterback because they had only two on theroster,Moore said.

Third-stringer Jake Haener departed for the Kansas CityChiefs this offseason and fourth-stringer Hunter Dekkers joined the UnitedFootball League. Rattler has been thesubject of traderumors,though the Saints feel no urge to part ways with their former starter Wilson has experienced awhirlwindsince entering the NFL as the secondoverall pick in 2021. He went from ahigh-profile prospect to flaming out with the Jets before serving as abackup with the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins. Though he’saroundthe sameage as Shoughand Rattler, Wilsonhas considerably more starting experience with 33 starts.

Wilson said last week thathe signed with the Saints to learn under Moore, aformer quarterback turned coach. The 26-year-old has seen quarterbacks suchas Sam Darnold and BakerMayfield turn their careers aroundafter rocky starts,

million —$2million lessthan Kamara’soriginal cap hit for2026?

Eventhen, Kamaraiscoming offthe worst season of his career,and it’s worth wondering whether he can bounce back.

He had career lows in several categories —including rushingyards (472) and yards per attempt (3.6)— and missedthe final six games because of knee andankle injuries.

It’salso fair to wonder about how Kamara will co-exist with Etienne. Kamara,tohis credit, has been at his best when he’shad another legitimatethreat to manage the workload. But Etienne and Kamara share similar skills, particularly in how they can be a factor in the passing game.

On that front, Moore was willing

Bucs confident QB

Bayfor thelonghaul

BY ROBMAADDI AP pro football writer

PHOENIX The Tampa Bay Buccaneersare confident Baker Mayfield will be their quarterback beyond the 2026 season.

Mayfieldisenteringthe final season of athree-year,$100 million extension he signed after reviving his career in Tampa Bay in 2023. Bucs general manager Jason Licht said he’shad conversations with Mayfield’srepresentatives andanticipates getting an extension done.

“Baker is still our quarterback. He’s one of thetoughest guys on the team. He’sagreat leader,” Lichtsaid. “Everything kind of revolves around the quarterback spot. At some point, I’m sure we’ll figure something out. There’sno timetable on that.”

Mayfieldhas thrived withthe Buccaneers since replacing TomBrady.Once discarded by three teams,the 2018 No. 1overall pick led Tampa Bay to adivision title and aplayoff win in 2023. He followed that up with his best season in 2024, completing 71.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptionsfor a106.8 passer rating.

field’steam.

Licht isn’tconcerned about his quarterback holding out.

“Baker is atrue professional. He’saleader of this team. Ihave confidence we’regoing to be OK,”Licht said. Licht also isn’tworried that Mayfield might want to play out his contract year and increase his value on the open market

and he hopestofollowasimilar path. Moore said he believes a“healthy environment” in New Orleanscan benefit Wilson.

“You do some homework on it, youevaluate everything,” Moore said. “Zach went through alot early in New York. His experience going to Denver (in 2024) wasareally healthy situation. That preseason filminDenver was really,really good.

“Obviously,wehavetiesand know what thatoperation looked like for him, and we can provide an opportunity for him to just get better as aquarterback.”

Door open

The door remains open for Cam Jordan to return to theSaints.

Mooresaid Monday that the team would “continue to have conversations” with the 36-year-old aboutwhetherJordan will playa 16th season in New Orleans.

Amongthe issues theSaints and Jordan have tohash out is the pass rusher’srole. After aresurgent

101/2-sack season last year,Jordan hassaidhewants an opportunity to earnanother 10-13 sacks and climb up theNFL’s all-time sacks leaderboard.

Is thatfeasible in NewOrleans?

“I thinkthose areall just the fun, healthyconversations that we all get to have,” Moore said. “Obviously,weloveCam. He’s obviously afree agent (and his) responsibilityistoput yourself in thebest positiontobesuccessful. And so Camgets to do that. That’s acredit to him,his journey and the performance that he had lastyear

“I thought he did areally good job for us, and so we’ll continue to have those conversations.”

Jordan told former teammate Terron Armstead earlier this month that he hasreviewed three optionswith hiswife, Nikki,and indicated he was open to playing elsewhere. But Jordan still holds an affinity for the Saints andthe city of New Orleans, most recently appearing at aPelicans game Sunday for aCam Jordan bobblehead night.

to acknowledgethathealready had envisioned howthe two could complement each other.

“Both of them obviously have the explosive, elusive abilityto playinall three phases, whichis beneficial,”Moore said. “I feel like ourrunning back room is a really healthy room right now, with just the depth andthe experience and all the guys that are in there.” Pick apartMoore’swords close enough, andeventhatmight havecontained acaveat. Right now? Does that mean theroom is subject to change?

The lack of concrete answers just widens theguessing game.

Email MatthewParas at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

Mayfield wasanearly frontrunnerfor NFL MVP last year when the Bucs opened 6-2, but the injury-riddledteam unraveled andfailedtowin itsfifth straightNFC South title. Mayfield, playing through injuries, saw hisproduction drop. He threwfor 3,693 yards, 26 TDs, 11 picks and had a90.6 passer rating. The Buccaneers lost six-time ProBowlwide receiverMike Evans in free agency and veteran linebacker Lavonte David, so thisisunquestionably May-

“Baker is atrue pro. Baker has never let us down. I’m not going to deal with hypotheticals. We love Baker,” Licht said.

The team alsowants to extend outside linebacker YaYa Diaby’scontract. He’sentering thefinal season of his rookie deal.

“I’d love to have YaYa here long term,” Licht said. “He’sa very good,young player that’s probably alittle bit underappreciated, Ithink, overall for what he’sdone. He’sagood, young player.Welike him a lot.”

Harbaugh,OBJ talk aboutreceiver’s possible N.Y. return

PATLEONARD Newyork Daily News (TNS)

PHOENIX John Harbaugh and Odell Beckham Jr.have discussed apossible New York Giants reunion. Theytextfrequently

Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won’t. But it’scome up.

“The obvious answer would be you look at every option, and if Odell’sanoption, we’ll be looking at it, for sure,” Harbaugh said about the former LSU star on Monday at the NFLowners’ meetings. “He and Idotalk, and we do text. We’ve maintained a really good relationship.He’sone of my very favorite people in the world.

“It’snot like you don’ttalk to guys aboutthings like that. Certainly we have. We’ll just have to see where it allgoes, what’sbest for him, what’sbest forthe Giants.That’sthe number onething is it’s what’sbest for our team, and any player,ifhehelps you be abetterteamand canmakeyou better,then you’re gonna pursue that.” Beckham,33, has not played in an NFL gamesince 2024 forthe Miami Dolphins. But he wants to play again, and he hasn’tbeen shy aboutmaking clearthat he would

love to run it back in New York. He playedfor Harbaugh’sBaltimore Ravens in 2023 priorto his stopinSouth Beach, so signing with the Giants would be a reunion with both the football team and Harbaugh as his head coach Beckham rekindled hype around his highlight-reel talents with aone-handedtouchdown catch at theFanaticsFlagFootball Classic recently.And Giants co-owner John Mara —who is in attendance at the owners’ meetings —has spokenseveral times since trading Beckham to Cleveland in March 2019 about how strong of an affinity he stillhas forOBJ.

Signing aplayer like Beckham whodoes not play special teams to aone-year,low-cost contract wouldn’tbethe normal allocation of those assets on an NFLroster But Beckham’ssupernova Giants career keeps him belovedinthe Big Apple.

Beckham’s intention wasto play here for along time. He signeda major contract extensionin2018 shortly before Dave Gettleman traded himaway in March 2019. But with Harbaugh as the head coach, areunion is nowa possibility

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

NewOrleansSaints wide receiver Chris Olave scoresa touchdown on a23-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Shough as he beats Newyork Jets safetyDeanClark during the second half on Dec.21atCaesars Superdome.

AP FILEPHOTO By LyNNE SLADKy

Tampa BayBuccaneers

quarterback Baker Mayfieldcalls aplayduring the first halfofa game against the Miami Dolphins on Dec.28inMiami Gardens, Fla

STAFFFILE

PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD Saints running backAlvin Kamara goes down during the first halfofthe game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Caesars SuperdomeonNov.23.

LSUrestructures athletic department

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU athletics will have anew reporting structure under athletic director Verge Ausberry,heannounced Monday shortly after Will Wade’sintroductory news conferenceasthe new LSU men’sbasketball coach.

Ausberry will oversee thewhole department, but he revealed that he’stabbed ahandful of administrators to lead the charge withraising money for certain programs.

“This is anew day and age,”Ausberry said. “Notthe same days of the old athletic director sitting in theofficesand just dictating what you’re doing. Now we’ve got to be out there,concentrating andfocusing on how we generate revenue.”

Executive deputy athletic director and chief operatingofficer Julie Cromer will carryonasthe overseer of the football team, butshe’ll also be doing it alongside deputy AD and chief revenue officer Clay Harris, who has been tasked with being the point person for raising money for the football program.

Heath Schroyer —LSU’s new senior deputy AD and executive director of external relationsfor the LSU System, who was hired Thursday away from McNeese State —is the new lead administrator for the men’sbasketball team.

Schroyer was the athletic director at McNeese before arriving at LSU, and he hired Wade atMcNeese in 2023. Ausberry is optimistic that Schroyer’s connections in southwestLouisiana can open up a new stream of revenue for theathletic department.

“I think that’sthe thing Heath does, he brings alot of new money to us, anew donor pool to us,”Ausberry said. “It gives us the southwest part of the state where he’s from …and (he) can work some anglesdown there that we haven’t been able to get to in along time.”

DanGaston, the senior associate AD for facilities operations and events, will continue to oversee baseball, but LSU also hastasked deputy AD and chief strategy officer Zach Greenwellwithleading thechargewhenitcomes to raising NIL money for the program.

Ausberry also noted that Miriam Segar, senior associateADand senior woman administrator,issupervising the women’sbasketball team.

“It’s great alignment. It makes my worldeasier,”Ausberry said.

“Like Isaid,our new alignment in our department,those guys, you’re notgoing to findthem in that office.

Most people are going to be on the street, mainly raising revenue.”

In additiontoannouncing the restructuring, Ausberry clarified that each team’s pieceofthe revenue-sharingpie won’tchangeunderthe athleticdepartment’snew structure, despite LSU’s renewed investment in men’sbasketball.

Football still will receive 75% of the $20.5millionthat LSUwill be allowed to directly spend on athletes. Men’sbasketballisset to get 15%,women’sbasketball will collect 5% and the rest will obtainthe remaining 5% to share.

“We’re goingtobeout therebeating the streets,” Ausberry said.

“LSU is acharity. Like (Skip Bertman) usedtosay,LSU as an athletic department is acharity.Sothat’s the way we’re lookingatthis.”

LSU’sdecision to hire Wade is the latest chapter in the department’s recent spending spree. It signed Wade to aterm sheet Friday that locks him into aseven-year,$30 million contract.The program also paid a$4million buyout to get Wade released from his contract at NC State, anditowes roughly$8 million to former coach Matt McMahon.

That spending follows the sevenyear,$91 millioncontract handed out to Kiffin last winter,and the $54 million buyout the program is on the hook for to ex-coach Brian Kelly

Those figures don’t include the money LSU has spent, or is about to spend, on its rosters forbothsports, or the money forked out to assistant coaches coming and going for football and men’sbasketball.

“My job is to generate revenue forthe whole department,” Ausberry said. “And make sure this department is in alignment, the president’soffice, the board and everythingelse, (so) that we win in every sport.”

BASKETBALL TEAMS

LSUbaseballpersistsduring wild weekendvs. Kentucky

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

That was certainly something.

LSUbaseball won its first series in Southeastern Conference play lastweekend againstKentucky but it was anything but conventional. There was yelling, big mistakes on bothsides of the ball and awhole bunchofwalks, for bothteams.

However,despite trailing7-0 on Sunday withthe series tied at agameapiece,the Tigers came through.

Here are five takeawaysfrom acrazy weekend at Alex Box Stadium:

Mixedbag forthe starters

LSU’sfirst weekend without right-hander Cooper Moorewasn’t always smooth, to saythe least Sophomore right-handerCasan Evans walked sixbattersinthe first three innings on Friday.Redshirt junior right-hander Gavin Guidry,replacing Moore, gave up sixearned runs andcouldn’tget out of the second inning.

But there were some positives for LSU coach Jay Johnson. Evans gave up one hit after thesecond inning and retired nine of the last 10 battershefaced. Sophomore right-hander William Schmidt had his bestSEC start yet,tossing 51/3 shutout innings.

Evans has thepotential to be an ace, and Schmidt has consistently kept LSU in games.The main question remaining now,besides howLSU will fill itsthird rotation spot with Mooreout,ishow LSU andJohnson can get Evans to be the pitcher he was against Oklahomamore consistently

“I toldhim after theouting, like, he wants to be better there,” Johnsonsaid. “But if he can do that when he’s notathis best,he’ll pitch for along time as astarting pitcher.”

WhereisArrambide?

Johnson turned to anew path at catcher this weekend.

Instead of startingsophomore Cade Arrambide behind the plate for at least two games this weekend, as he has every week heading into this series, thesophomore didn’tsee the fieldonceagainst Kentucky.Stretching back to Tuesday, Arrambide has been on the bench in LSU’spastfour games

He was not listedonLSU’s availabilityreport headinginto last weekend’sseries or during it.

Johnson also confirmed on Friday that he was healthy Arrambide hadbeen dropping in the batting order.Hehit ninth against OklahomaonMarch 21 and was 1for hislast 11 at the plate after astrong showing against Vanderbilt.Despite his strugglesagainst theSooners, he was still LSU’sbest defensive option behind thedish. But that didn’tseem to matter forJohnson.FreshmanOmar Serna started all threegames instead, and Johnson turned to redshirt junior Eddie Yamin behind thedish in the ninth inning on Friday,not Arrambide.

HasDardarlockedupsecond?

No Tiger had abigger weekend at the plate than SethDardar,the

Kansas State transfer whoentered Friday withfive hits in his previous 39 at-bats.

Dardar smacked three doubles on Friday before recording three walks on Saturday and hitting a go-ahead three-runhomeronSunday.Bythe end of the weekend, he had gone6for 10 with five runs driven in, andhis batting average went up from .220 to .275.

“I think I’mabetter hitter when I’malittle more aggressive,” Dardar said. He also playedimproved defense, taking over for junior Trent Caraway,who struggledat second base on Friday.Hehelped turn two double plays and fielded all threeground balls hit to him in Saturday and Sunday’sgames.

“I’ve been working alot before practice, after practice with(LSU defensive director of player development Justin Bridgman), working alot on turning double plays, which Iwas happy with this weekend,” Dardarsaid. “I know coach Bridgman was fired up for me every time Icame in the dugout,just fist-bumped me,telling me, ‘Let’sgo!’

If Dardar can contribute with the bat and, most importantly adequately field second base, that wouldprovide amassive boostfor theTigers moving forward. Whocan Johnsontrust in relief?

It’shard to find reliable arms in thebullpenbesidessenior righthanderZac Cowan at the moment. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin has someofthe best pure stuff on the team and was dominantfor mostofnonconference play,but he gave up two hits, including atwo-run double, on Sunday.Sophomore righthanderMavrick Rizy continued to strugglewith his command on Sunday and walkedtwo of the three batters he faced. Sophomore left-handerEthan Plog gave up three earned runs on Friday and has 10 walks in 11 appearances after going through nonconference play as LSU’stop left-hander out of the bullpen. Juniorleft-handerSantiago Garcia, who had allowed just twoearned runs in his past eight appearanc-

BYSCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

LSU is hosting an NCAA gymnastics regional this week, and LSUgymnastsare takinganarmful of All-Americahonors into that competition.

FourTigers earned atotal of nine regular-season All-America awards Mondayfrom theWomen’s Collegiate GymnasticsAssociation, led by Kailin Chio

Chio earnedfourfirst-team awards in theall-around and on vault, beam andfloor.The sophomore’sseason National QualifyingScore averageisrankedfirst nationally in the all-around and on vault and beam and tied for fifth on floor

Chio earned four first-team awards in theall-around and on vault, beam andfloor.The sophomore’sseason National QualifyingScore averageisrankedfirst nationally in the all-around and on vault andbeam, and tied forfifth on floor

Twoother Tigers —junior Konnor McClain and sophomore KaliyaLincoln —also werefirst-team honorees on barsand floor,respectively

McClain also wasasecond-team All-American on beam while Lincoln,the co-SEC floor champion, wasa second-teamer on vault. Junior Amari Drayton was also asecondteam selection on vault.

WCGA regular-season AllAmericahonors are determined by NQSrankings at the end of the regular season, going to the top 16 gymnastsoneach eventand in the all-around.

Single-session tickets

Individual session tickets for thisweek’sNCAA regional at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center are now on sale through LSU Tickets foreach session start at

ON DECK

WHO: LSU(19-10) vs Southern (10-16)

WHEN: 6:30 p.m.Tuesday

WHERE: Alex Box Stadium

ONLINE: SECNetwork+

RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1 (Baton Rouge); WWL-AM, 870 (New Orleans);KLWB-FM, 103.7 (Lafayette)

RANKINGS: None

PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU TBA; Southern— TBA PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate.com/lsu ON X: @KokiRiley

WHATTOWATCH FOR: LSU has wonthree consecutive midweek games over Louisiana Tech, Grambling and Creighton after strugglinginthose affairs during nonconferenceplay. Last Tuesday was arguably itsstrongest midweek showing,a 15-5 win in eight inningsoverLouisiana Tech. Southerniscoming off aseries victoryoverPrairieViewA&M at home in SWAC play.

es,also gave up atwo-run double on Sunday Cowan getting back to his old form hasbeen massive for LSU’s relief corps, but the Tigers still need acouple morearmsto emerge forthem to fully turn things around on the mound. LSUshowedsomereal fight Trailing 7-0 in the third inning, LSU could have easily rolled over on Sunday. Guidry—aplayer whom Johnson has repeatedly said that he’d bet his life on gave up six earnedruns in 11/3 innings, and Johnsoncouldbeheard from the dugout screaming at him as he struggled in the first. Johnson wasextremely animated through the first three innings, and that wasn’tbyaccident.

“I think an overused thing I hear coaches say all the time is the best thing Ican do is be myself.No, the best thing Ican do is be exactly what my team needs me to be when they need me to be it,” Johnson said. “And I’mnot going down. Like, we may lose. We may play awful, but hey,man, if Iwant them to be tough, competitive, into it, (I havetoshowthat) …and theyneededsomething, because, Imean, they didn’tshow up ready to play today.”

There have been several games this season where LSU has failed to answer Johnson’scall to action. Both Sacramento State losses. The second Vanderbilt defeat. The twotight losses to Oklahoma. But Sunday wassomething different. For maybe the first time all year,the Tigers punched back. And that’satrait Johnson hopes his team continuestohaveas LSUbegins thesecondhalfofits schedule.

“Wedon’t have it.Wehaven’t shownthe consistency that we’ve got anything,” Johnson said, “but I’mhappy to winorlose with that amount of fight and competition that our team showed today.”

$12, with tickets for all three sessions starting at 30.

The regional begins at 2p.m. Wednesday with afirst-round meet between Air Force and Nebraska.The winneradvances to SessionIIofThursday’ssecond round at 7p.m.against No. 2-seeded LSU, No. 15 Clemson and Auburn. Session Iisat1 p.m ThursdaywithNo. 7Stanford, No. 10 Michigan, North Carolina and Utah State. The top twoteams from each Thursday’sregional semifinals advance to the regional final at 5p.m.Saturday. Thetop two teams from there go on to the NCAA Championships. LSU gymnasticsagain ledthe nation in averageattendance with 12,389 per meet,but coach JayClark said Mondaythatsofar about 5,000 regional tickets have been sold.

“For whatever reason,regional tickets areatoughersell,”hesaid. “It’snot part of the season-ticket package and the NCAA dictates theprices. Hopefully ourfans will get in there and we’ll have an electric environment that we’re accustomed to.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU second baseman Seth Dardar fires the ballto first baseon Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU athletic director VergeAusberry talksabout hiring Will Wade as coach of the men’sbasketball team during an introductory news conference on Mondayatthe Pete Maravich Assembly Center

AN ELEGANTBUT ABSTRACT DESIGN

Moreno,Adler’s team up fornew keytocity

MayorHelena Moreno’s new‘keytothe city’ is an elegant, streamlined design meant to herald achangein administration

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

It is customaryfor the mayor of New Orleans to awardceremonial“keystothe city”to visiting dignitaries, celebrities and philanthropists.Now that a new mayor has thekeys to the castle,asthe saying goes, she hascollaboratedwithAdler’s Jewelry to create anew design that symbolizesthe changeshe

aims to bring to the city Mayor Helena Moreno presented 70 such keys to Carnival royalty during the2026 Mardi Gras season. The sleek, bronze-toned keys include aglowing fleur-de-lis on one end and astylized cityscape on the other, connected by the MississippiRiver,winding along the key’sshank. The smooth curves andstreamlined abstraction lend the key an art

deco vibe,thoughTiffany Adler, designerofthe new key,said she didn’thave the elegant, early 20th-century style in mind. Adler, of Adler’sJewelry storeonCanal Street,saidher concept was to create aceremonial object that symbolized “a new day in NewOrleans.”

The design is “a little moreunderstated”for an object imbued

SIGN TIMES

BYPOETWOLFE | Staff writer

NexttoTed’s Frostop Diner in Uptown New Orleans, an oversized,foamy root beer mugrises above South Claiborne Avenue —first abeacon of roadside Americana, later adefiant symbol of HurricaneKatrinarecovery.

Now, the14-foot-tall sign will outlast the diner itself, which is set tobedemolished to makeway for student housing for Tulane University’sUptown campus. Frostop will return as the anchor tenant in thenew building.

The demolition marks the lossofanother deep-rooted establishment in acitylong resistant to change,from its neighborhoods andbusinesses to its traditions.Frostop joins

agrowing list of longtime establishments NewOrleans has bidfarewell to in the past year,including Milan Lounge, Palace Cafe and, as of Tuesday, Checkpoint Charlie. Though Frostop became alocal icon after opening Uptown in the 1950s, the restaurant’s storybegins farfromNew Orleans. Founded by L.S. Harvey,Frostop root beer began brewing in 1926 in Springfield, Ohio, with the goal of creating the “creamiest, most flavorful root beer imaginable”using real cane sugar,according to the company.That same year, Harvey opened his first stand

ä See FROSTOP, page 2D

BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ

of the work will get done in your head,because you’re notsitting in frontofa laptop just staring at ascreen going, ‘I can’tcome up with anything,’”Meegan said. The practice is growing in popularity among workers and gaining acceptanceinsomeorganizations as away to improve work-lifebalance. The remote and hybrid arrangements that came out of the coronavirus pandemic left some people achingfor time to care for others or themselves once returnto-office mandates were issued. “As more managers andmore organizations get better adept at giving alittle bit of autonomy, this is becoming not only alittle more popular,but it also gives employees the motivation and almost the license to ask for this,” Kevin Rockmann, aprofessor of management

The root beer mugsign has thatwonderful old roadside charmatTed’sFrostop on Calhoun Street near theTulane campus. | STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Lamentingthe loss of tablemanners

Dear Miss Manners: WhenIwas growing up, my mother was adamant that Ilearn proper manners, especially at the dinner table. Bad table manners were my mother’spet peeve, and they became mine, as well. Ihave ahard time understanding why other people were not taught this growing up. Am Ijust old-school, and manners are outdated now? Even basic things have gone to the wayside, like: no electronics at the table; wait till everyone is seatedbefore starting toeat; don’tuse your fingers; ask tobe excused before leavingthe table; andsoon.

By The Associated Press

Where havethe manners gone?

Gentle reader: Andyou haven’t even mentioned the greatest loss of what used to be learned at thefamily dinner table: conversation.

done that day.Inother words, to learn to socialize.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Beingtaught society’s standard eating rituals, so as not to disgust others by violatingthem,was certainly auseful part of ordinary child-rearing. Yet manynow think of it as a wasteful ritual requiring compliance to petty rules. In reality,instruction in table manners was incidental to the main lesson, which was how to exchangeideas, frame apolite argumentand,ifnecessary, pretend to be interested in what others had

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Tuesday,March 31, the90th day of 2026. There are 275 days left in theyear

Todayinhistory:

On March 31, 1968, at the conclusion of anationally broadcast address on Vietnam, Democratic PresidentLyndon B. Johnson stunned listeners by declaring, “I shallnot seek,and Iwill not accept,the nomination of my party foranother term as your president.”

Also on this date:

In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued the Alhambra Decree, an edict expelling Jews from Spanish soil, except those willingto convert to Christianity

In 1854, Japan and the United States signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened two Japanese ports to American vessels and marked the beginning of Japan’stransition away from isolationism.

In 1889, the Eiffel TowerinParis opened for dignitaries; at 1,024 feet, it was the world’stallest building (the tower would open to the publicthe followingMay).

In 1931, Notre Dame collegefootball coach Knute Rockne, 43, was killed in the crash of aTWA plane near Bazaar, Kansas.

In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally shot to deathduring the filming of amovie in Wilmington, North Carolina, when he washit by

KEY

Continued from page1D

with grandeur,but it’sclear the key was made to fit the Crescent City. “I knew exactly what Iwanted to do,” she said, “make somethingnot in your face.” Adler said she had not studied the design of the previous key to the city distributed by former mayorLaToya Cantrell. The earlier key was ahandsome, more ornamental object that included aFrench Quarter lamp surrounded by ahalo of light and wrapped in what may have been asecond-line parade sash. The teeth of the previous key were based on decorative wrought iron. Style-wise, the current and previous keys are yin and yang. Over its 127-year history,the Adler’s jewelers have made several variations on the key,aswell as keys for several other regionalcities. Thelast time Adler’smade akey for New Or-

SCHEDULES

Continued from page1D

at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business. Here’swhat some workers, managers and experts have to say about the pros and cons of microshifting.

Boosting creativity,productivity

While some independent contractors say they’vebeenmicroshifting for years,the term is catching on among people holding down jobs that traditionally require set, contiguous hours. Some companies offer such flexibilityor acknowledge they have employees working this way even if the method isn’texplicitly condoned

Proponents argue that working in increments boosts productivity by giving the brainbreaks. Taking walks or attending achild’s school function can be reinvigorating for people who get drained from sitting at adesk or lookingatacomputer screen, supporterssay

“Fromacreativity standpoint, it’sgood to take breaks,” Rockmann said. “When you stop thinking about atask is when yourbest ideas come to you.”

When ShellieGarrettled an eight-person team as director of investigations and appeals at Okla-

ButMiss Manners supposes that you must know what has happened: theloss of nightly family dinner.That was where all this was taught, in amore or less pleasant atmosphere.

With all due sympathy for the difficulties of scheduling acommunal meal amongcompeting activities —not to mention cooking (or procuring) thefood and luring people away from their electronics —itiswell worth the trouble. Surely,atthis time, we can all recognize that civilized sociabilityisnot our natural state, and that it takes instruction to maintain it.

Dear Miss Manners: What is the

abullet fragment that had become lodged inside aprop gun. In 1995, Tejano music star Selena, 23,died after beingshot by Yolanda Saldívar,the president of Selena’s fan club, who was found to have been embezzlingmoney from the singer (Saldívar was later convicted of firstdegree murder andsentenced to life in prison.)

In 2004,fourU.S. civilian contractors were killedbyIraqi insurgentsin Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds then draggedthe burned, mutilated bodies andhanged twoofthem from abridge.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo, 41, died at ahospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, 13 daysafter her feeding tube was removed in awrenching court battle that began in 1998.

In 2022, scientists announced they hadfinishedfully sequencing the humangenome, thefull genetic blueprint forhuman life.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor William Daniels is 99. Actor Shirley Jones is 92. Musician-producer Herb Alpert is 91. Actor Christopher Walken is 83. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is 82. Former Vice President Al Gore is 78. Actor Rhea Perlman is 78. Rock musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 71. Hockey Hall of FamerPavel Bure is 55. Actor Ewan McGregor is 55. Actor Brian Tyree Henry is 44. Filmmaker Chloé Zhao is 44. Musician-producer Jack Antonoff is 42. Singer-songwriter Dounia is 29.

leansmay have been during the Moon Landrieu or Dutch Morial administrations, Adler said. In November,news spread that the longtime jewelry store on Canal Street, known asthe Tiffany’softhe South, would close sometime in 2026.

Viaher press secretary Jonah Gilmore, Morenosaidthe choice to employ Adler’stomold the new key was atributetothe landmark business before it disappears. Tiffany Adler saidshe doesn’tviewthe memento as the business’ swan song “One chapter is ending,” shesaid of theCanal Street store, “but our future is to be determined.”

Gilmore said the administration “worked closely”withAdler to conceive the new keytothe city.The back of the keyisengraved with “Helena Moreno.”

The Mayorreceived 250 keys from Adler’s,atacost of $55.50 each, and $13,875 overall, paid for using election campaignfunds.

EmailDoug MacCash at dmaccash@ theadvocate.com.

homa Community Cares Partners, an entity createdtocheck theveracity of rental assistance claims during thepandemic, she allowed thepeopleshe managed to set their own schedules, aside from weekly team meetings

“Everybodyneededtomaintain availability foremergencyquestionsorissues. But Ilet people determine what worked bestfor them productivity-wise,” Garrett said. “Ifproductivity was lapsing, we had to figure out different solutions. But overall, Ifeel like giving that autonomy led to better production andhappier employees.”

While on the clock, her team members updated spreadsheets, cross-referenced documents or did investigative work. In their off-hours, one employee was nursinganinfant and homeschooling a preschooler,and another worked a second job as areal estate agent. Impact on relationships

Amanda Elyse, who works as a full-time professoroflegal writing at Seattle University School of Law and apart-time policy and programs lead at the Northwest Animal Rights Network, said microshiftingallows her to have meals with her partner, who works nights,and to playwith herdogs during the day

“There’sjust so many little things in the day that, when you’re

proper greeting when being introduced to someone? It used to be “How do you do,” but is that outdated now?

Gentlereader: Apparently it is, because Miss Manners notices how startled people are when she says it

They seem to wonder: Why is she probingtoknow the welfare of those sheismeeting forthe first time? Should they,orneed they,tell her about the state of their health? Or did she mean “what,” not “how,” and wants to know abouttheir jobs?

That it is merely aconventional statement, not aquestion, is puzzling to those whotake all speech literally.But there has not been an adequate substitute found.

“Pleased to meet you” is ridiculed as recklessly endorsing a stranger,while any remark approaching “What do you do?” has the opposite problem of seeming to weigh whether the stranger is worth one’sacquaintance. For those forwhom “How do you do” is too formal, or too confusing, asimple “Hello” will have to do until someone comes up with something better

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

Ted’sFrostop on Calhoun Street near the Tulane campus in NewOrleans.

FROSTOP

Continuedfrom page 1D

to promotethe soda. Frostop peaked by the late 1950s, when fast-food chains like McDonald’sand Burger King were rising in popularity, serving thequintessential American meal of burgers, fries and milkshakes. By then, there were more than 350 Frostop locations nationwide. JeffersonParish became home to Louisiana’sfirst Frostop outpost in 1954. To draw in customers, franchisee T.W. Ganus decidedtoproducea 14-foot-tall root beer mug to place outside his restaurant, the company said. The towering mughelped popularize the brand,with morelocations sprouting acrossthe New Orleans area soon after.Without it, theUptown diner may have never existed.

Ayear later,Ted Sternberg bought thefranchise. Sternberg, whodiedin2014, later said in an interviewthathe purchasedFrostop —and lent his nametothe brand —because he wantedtoown his own business after returning from theKorean War, where

in control of your schedule,you can take thattime to do,”Elyse said.

While microshifting is often good for personal relationships, it can damage professional ones, Rockmannsaid. Effective teams are committed to working together collaboratively,but “thewhole idea of microshifting is taking careofyourself,” he said.“It’s notthattakingcare of yourself is bad. It places theemphasis on theindividual, notthe relationships.”

Pranav Dalal, the founder and CEO of California-based remote staffing firmOffice Beacon, manages employees in India, the Philippines,Mexico andSouth Africa. Theywork for American companies in areas suchascustomer service, finance and logistics.Dalal knows some employees are microshifting to take care of personal needs.

“It’shappening without apolicy and withoutmesaying it, and those areinpositions wherethey’re more managerial positions,”he said. “I don’treally questionit becauseI knowthatpeople are getting their work done at those levels.”

As asingle father,Dalal says he understands. Butthere are times when people take it toofar When one team member routinely showed up late to in-person work

he served as afighter pilot. At its peak, he owned 15 Ted’sFrostops, including the location on South Claiborne Avenue. In a1982 interview with The Times-Picayune, Sternberg said Ted’sFrostop began“as avery simple operation,” with strictly walk-up service and no indoor seating. He later upgraded the diner with overhead fans and peacock chairs, while preserving its nostalgic atmosphere and fast service.

Spaghetti andmeatballs, roast beef sandwiches, fried shrimp andtheirsignature “Lot-O-Burger” were among the popular menuitems. Nectarsodas —a distinctly New Orleans concoction —were especially popular among Tulane and Loyola University students

The root beer was also ahit, with Sternberg noting in a1982 interviewthat it “blends especially wellwith ice cream.” At thetime, the Uptown outpost was theonly onestill serving fountainsodas androotbeer floats in frozen mugs, just as the sign suggests.

During HurricaneKatrina, the sign wastoppled and remained upside downfor years, serving as aconstant reminder of the disaster.But in 2012, it

events because they weretending to personal business, it created problems, so Dalal let that employee go.

“If someone really abuses that, it becomes destructive to the team because then resentment builds,” Dalal added. “As an employer,it definitely is abig shift for companies. And the shift is, essentially, can you deliver thesame quality service, reliably,whenthere’s microshifting happening?”

Helpingmanagehealth

Isabelle “Izzy” Young’sjob as a political organizer in Texas is allconsuming but she can choose her ownhours, for the most part, as long as she’sgetting the job done.

The ability to self-schedule helps Young manage herautism anda chronic illness called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which can cause arapid heart rate or dizziness whenstanding up. If she needs moresleep, she may set meetings forlater in theday.Ifshe needs to reset her nervoussystem, she can take an hour or two middaytocall afriend or read abook before working into the evening.

“I am very lucky to have aprincipal that is acompassionate person,” Young said. “He’s acutely aware that life happens, and you can be incredibly productive and chronically ill.” One downside is she feels like

returned—spinning once againatop itspole— under new ownership.

Though Sternberg retired after Katrina,heremained aregular at the diner,eating there once aweek andcatching up with staffinto his 80s. Frostop’sdemolition, as well as construction of thestudent housing complex, is expected to begin in late summer and be completedbythe startof classes in 2027.

The Robert family —owners of theRobert’sFresh Market grocery chain —isdeveloping thecomplex,which will house around 160 students in 39 apartments and include a ground-floor parking garage andspace for neighborhood shops.

This will be the family’slargest real estate project to date, according to Matthieu Robert, whoishelping lead the project through the family’sreal estate company,RCR Ventures The Frostop acquisition in 2025 also included the restaurant, alongwith its recipes andbranding. MatthieuRobert said his family intends to preserve its legacy

Staff writer StephanieRiegel contributed to this report.

she’salmost always working. “The job never ends, so you’re never really off the clock.”

Garrett, the team leader in Oklahoma, worked in two-hour blocks, which helped her manage the ups and downs of chronic conditions including an autoimmune disease and premenstrual dysphoric disorder,she said. She could have a burst of creativity and then take a nap or go to the gym

“Microshifting was honestly a godsend,” Garrett said. “I don’t knowifIcould have done this job without being able to do that.”

Making theask

When asking an employer forthe flexibility to set your own hours, tell them how they’re going to benefit, Garrett suggested.

“You have to go into the interviewand sellit,” she said. “You have go in andsay,‘I’mwillingto do whatever schedule and put my best foot forward,but if youwant me to be most productive or most creative, this is how Iwork best, if this is something you’re willing to work with.’

Share yourstories andquestions about workplacewellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’sBeWellcoverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, dietand mentalhealthathttps://apnews. com/hub/be-well.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Take a moment, breathe deeply, relax your mind and body and rethink your next move. Start with baby steps and adjust as you go.

tAURUs (April 20-May 20) Whatever you choose to reveal will impact your life, work and friendships. An unexpected change will turn out to be more advantageous than you anticipate.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) The people you meet will offer insight and connections to those who can help you further your agenda. Don't sit idle when you have some bridges to burn and others to build.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Beopen,discuss the possibilities and rely on experts and the facts and figures. Participation will reconnect you to the people and things that make a difference to you.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Take a walk and consider the changes you can make and the outcomes that will follow. Your relationships will be tested if you let divisiveness interfere.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Seize of any chance you get to move ahead. Refuse to let self-doubt or competition stop you from giving your all and pursuing your dreams. Show passion, desire and the will to come out on top.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Too much of anything will weigh you down. Shed your burdens and focus on what you can achieve. Believe you can do it, and

you'll convince the powers-that-be to support your efforts.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Let your mind wander, listen to what others say and pick what works best for you. Combining all the skills you have accumulated will help you make a splash.

sAGIttARIUs (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Get your papers, finances and health in order Start discussions that can help regulate how you run your personal and business interests. Try your best in all things.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Deception will result in confusion. Observation, research and forging an authentic path forward are the way to go for you today. Monitor your time, money and health to avoid shortcomings.

AQUARIUs (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take better care of yourself. Protect, prepare and promote what you want to achieve, and turn your thoughts into a reality. Out with the old and in with the new.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Indulge in something that puts a smile on your face and makes you look and feel your best. Get active, have some fun and include loved ones in your interests.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLUE: s EQUALs G

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

George Orwell claimed, “One does not establish adictatorshipinorder to safeguard arevolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish adictatorship.” At the bridge table, one sometimes establishesawinner in order to safeguardacontract —asinthis deceptive deal. Southreaches four hearts. What shouldhedoafterWestleads the diamond king? North’s three-diamond jump-cue-bid belowthreeofpartner’ssuitwasaMixed Raise.Itshowedfour-cardheartsupport, 7-9 high-card points and nine losers: a hand too good for apre-emptive jumpraise to three hearts and tooweak for a game-invitational two-diamond cue-bid raise. Theoriginal South wonwithhis diamond ace, drew trumps and played a spade to dummy’s 10. East wonwithhis jack and returned adiamond. Declarer ruffedand took asecond failing spade finesse. Later, he losttwo club tricks to go down one.

Agreed, it was unlucky that all four key cards were offside, but South could have survived. After drawing trumps, declarer should have attacked clubs. Westwouldhavewonwithhisqueenand shiftedtoaspade, but South wouldhave takenafinesse.Eastwouldhavewonand led back adiamond.South would have ruffedand played the club king.

West could have won this trick or the next and ledaspade, but declarer would havewonwithdummy’saceanddiscardeddummy’slastspadeonhisfourthclub. Then, finally, Southwould have ruffed his third spade. He would have taken one spade, five hearts, one diamond, two clubs and that spade ruff on the board. ©2026 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

InstRUctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD coMBUsts: kom-BUSTS: Burns.

Average mark16words Time limit 25 minutes

Can you find 21 or morewords in COMBUSTS?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —GAInFUL

today’s thought “Unless your law had been my delights, Ishould then have perished in my affliction.” Psalms 119:92

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles hidato

mallard fillmore

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

ken ken

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

WiShinG Well

Scrabble GramS

roSe

DuStin

Drabble

the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

JEFFERSON 2469 Alex KornmanBlvd. AptC 2BR/1.5BATHApt.$1250/mo

1BR/1BA$225k.Mike 985-232-2280 mdangelo200@gmail.com

2850 IDAHOAVENUE 1Block to Vets &Williams AllAmenities *Pool *Parking Studio/1 BedApt *Starting$650/Mo

(504) 451-1310 (cell) or emailatelaineea@bellsouth.net 182486-Mar 31-!pr2,3t $109

Harvey,LA70058 call (504) 349-7667, or email a requesttothomas. doster@jpschools.org Participationbyminority andfemale-ownedbusi‐nessesisencouraged.

TomDoster Director of Purchasing & Procurement 181029-MAR24-31-2T $24.36

PUBLIC NOTICE

ADVERTISEMENTFOR BIDS Sealed bids will be re‐ceived by Jefferson Parish Schools,

Harvey,LA70058 call (504) 349-7667, or email a requesttothomas. doster@jpschools.org. Participationbyminority andfemale-ownedbusi‐nessesisencouraged. TomDoster Director of Purchasing & Procurement 181022-MAR24-31-2T $24.36

PUBLIC NOTICE -

ADVERTISEMENTFOR BIDS

Sealed bids will be re‐ceived by Jefferson Parish Schools, 501 Man‐hattan Blvd Suite2200, Harvey,LA70058 until 11:00 a.m. on April14, 2026 andshall be opened andreadaloud for: IFB# 3401 –FSBread Items Bidpacketmay

nessesisencouraged. TomDoster Director of Purchasing & Procurement 181021-MAR24-31-2T $24.36

ADVERTISEMENTFOR PROPOSALS Sealed proposalswillbe received by theJefferson Parish School Board, 501 ManhattanBlvd.,Ste 2200, Harvey,LA, 70058 until 2:00 p.m. CST, April 16, 2026 for: RFP# 3406 –MovingCon‐tractorService Contract Amandatory pre-pro‐posal meetingwillbe held at theJefferson Parish School BoardPur‐chasingDepartment, 2200 ManhattanBoule‐vard,Suite 2200, Harvey Louisiana70058 at 10:00 a.m. CSTonApril 9, 2026. Proposal packet maybe picked up from thePur‐chasingDepartmentat 501 ManhattanBlvd. Suite2200, Harvey,LA 70058, or by emailre‐questtothomas.doster@ jpschools.org. Participationbyminority andfemale-ownedbusi‐nessesisencouraged.

TomDoster Director of Purchasing & Procurement 182381-MAR31-APR7-2T $30.44

Bidspecificationsmay be obtained from the Purchasing Office of School Food &Nutrition Services,65 Fontainebleau Dr Suite 207, NewOrleans,LA 70125, Monday through Friday between thehours of 7:00am and2:00pm. 504-596-3443. In accordance with Fed‐eral lawand U.S. Depart‐ment of Agriculture (USDA) civilrightsregu‐lationsand policies,this institutionisprohibited from discriminating on thebasis of race,color national origin,sex (in‐cludinggenderidentity andsexualorientation) age, disability,and reprisal or retaliationfor priorcivil rights activity Program information maybemadeavailable in languagesother than English. Personswith disabilitieswho require alternativemeans of communication forpro‐gram information(e.g. Braille,large print, audio‐tape,and American Sign Language), should con‐tact theresponsible stateor localagency that administersthe pro‐gram or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice andTTY)orcon‐tact USDA throughthe FederalRelay Serviceat (800) 877-8339. School Food &Nutrition Services is funded 46% with Federalfundsfor a totalofapproximately $7,994,975.91.

182325-mar31-apr7-2t $460.22

PUBLIC NOTICE

School Food and NutritionServicesofNew Orleans, Inc. Invitation to Bid WasteDisposalServices School Food andNutri‐tion Services of NewOr‐leansissolicitingbids forWaste Disposal Ser‐vicesfor the2026-2027 school year forArchdio‐cese of NewOrleans School cafeterias Sealed Proposalswillbe received by School Food &Nutrition Services Pur‐chasingOffice,Attention: SandyLogrande,65 FontainebleauDr.,Suite 207, NewOrleans,LA 70125 until 9:30 am Fri‐day, April24, 2026, when they will be opened and publicly read.Latebids, forany reason,willnot be accepted.Bidsshall be addressed“Bidfor WasteDisposal” Bidspecificationsmay be obtained from the Purchasing Office of School Food &Nutrition Services,65 FontainebleauDr.,Suite 207,New Orleans, LA 70125, Monday through Friday between thehours of 7:00am and2:00pm. 504-596-3443. In accordance with Fed‐eral lawand U.S. Depart‐ment of Agriculture (USDA) civilrightsregu‐lationsand policies,this institutionisprohibited from discriminating on thebasis of race,color national origin,sex (in‐cludinggenderidentity andsexualorientation), age, disability, and reprisal or retaliationfor priorcivil rights activity Program information maybemadeavailable in languagesother than English. Personswith disabilitieswho require alternativemeans of

communication forpro‐gram information(e.g. Braille, largeprint,audio‐tape,and American Sign Language), should con‐tact theresponsible stateorlocal agency that administersthe pro‐gram or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice andTTY)orcon‐tact USDA throughthe FederalRelay Serviceat (800) 877-8339.

School Food &Nutrition Services is funded 46% with Federalfundsfor a totalofapproximately $7,994,975.91. 182324-mar31-apr7-2t $450.00

PUBLIC NOTICE

Sewerage andWater BoardofNew Orleans 2026-SWB-20 Requestfor Information Assessment of Re‐pair/Replacement Tech‐nologies forWater Infra‐structure TheSewerageand Water BoardofNew Orleans (SWBNO)isissuing this Requestfor Information (RFI)togatherinforma‐tion from qualified ven‐dors,manufacturers consultants, research in‐stitutions,and technol‐ogy providersregarding currentand emerging technologies fordetec‐tion,prediction, andcon‐dition assessment of watermains This RFIisissuedsolely forinformationand plan‐ning purposes anddoes notconstitutea competi‐tive solicitation resulting in an awardedcontract. RFIwillbeavailable March27, 2026, fordown‐load at thefollowing websites: SWBNO: https://www2 swbno.org/business_bid specifications.asp LAPAC: https:// wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/OSP/LaPAC/dspBid cfm?search=departm ent&term=181 Inquiriesand/orRe‐quests forClarification aredue to KevinSmith on April10, 2026, no later than 5:00 p.m. CDT viain writingoremail to ksmith6@swbno.org. All responseswillbeposted in addendum on or be‐fore April17, 2026. Proposalswillbere‐ceived by theSewerage andWater BoardofNew OrleansProcurement De‐partment by April30, 2026, by 4:00 p.m. (CDT). Forsubmissioninstruc‐tions, seeproposaldocu‐ments. LATE PROPOSALSWILL NOTBEACCEPTED 182379-mar31-apr7-2t $70.26

thattheyhold license of proper classifications in full force andeffect at the time the specificationsare obtained. License number shall be shown on the outside of the sealed proposal.

Plaquemines Parish Government is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.The

NOTICE OFFICALNOTICE SOLICITATIONFOR SERVICEPROPOSALS St.Tammany Councilon Aging, Inc. –(COAST) has establisheda Disadvan‐tagedBusinessEnter‐prise(DBE) Program.As asub-recipient of fund‐ingfromthe US Depart‐

Pursuant

be submitted to the electors of the state, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law,a proposal to amend Article X, Section 2(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows: §2. Classified and Unclassified Service Section 2.(A)

(B) Unclassified Service. The unclassified service shall include the following officers and employees in the state and city civil service:

(1) elected officials and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;

(2) the heads of each principal executive department appointed by the governor,the mayor,orthe governing authority of acity;

(3) city attorneys;

(4) registrars of voters;

(5) members of state and city boards, authorities, and commissions;

(6) one private secretary to the president of each college or university;

(7) one person holding aconfidentialposition and one principal assistant or deputy to any officer,board, commission, or authority mentioned in (1), (2), (4), or (5) above, except civil service departments;

(8) members of the military or naval forces;

(9) teaching and professional staffs, and administrative officers of schools, colleges, and universities of the state, and bona fide students of thoseinstitutions employed by any state, parochial, or municipal agency;

(10) employees, deputies, and officers of the legislatureand of the offices of the governor,lieutenant governor,attorney general, each mayor and city attorney,ofpolice juries, school boards, assessors, and of all offices provided for in Article Vofthis constitution except the offices of clerk of the municipal and trafficcourts in New Orleans; (11) commissionersofelections, watchers, and custodians and deputy custodians of voting machines; (12) railroad employees whose working conditions and retirement benefits areregulated by federal agencies in accordance with federal law; and (13) the director,deputy director,and all employees of the Governor’sOffice of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Additional positions may be added to the unclassified service and those positions may be revoked by rules adopted by a commission. Additional officers, positions, and employees may be added to the unclassified service in the state civil service by law and such additional officers, positions, and employees may be removed from theunclassified service only by law.

Section 2. Be it further resolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana at astatewide election to be held on April 18, 2026, if House Bill No. 625 of the 2025 Regular Session of the LegislatureofLouisiana becomes effective. If HouseBill No.625 of the2025 Regular Session of the Legislatureof Louisiana does not become effective, this proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana at astatewide election to be held on November 3, 2026.

Section 3. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at said election thereshall be printed aproposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted to vote YESorNO, to amendthe Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as follows:

“Do you support an amendment to allow the legislaturetoremove or add officers, positions, and employees to the unclassified state civil service?” (Amends ArticleX,Section 2(B))

Proposed Amendment No. 2 Regular Session, 2025 ---ACT No. 218 ----

SENATE BILL NO.25

BY SENATOR EDMONDS AND REPRESENTATIVE CHENEVERT

AJOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing to amend Article VIII, Section 13(D)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to certain effects and purposes for the proposed St. George community school system in East Baton Rouge Parish which shall be regarded and treated as aparish and shall have the authority granted parishes with respect to operating aschool system, including the purposes of certain funding and the raising of certain local revenues for the support of elementary and secondaryschools; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the electors; to specify an election date for submission of the proposition to electors and to provide for aballot proposition

Section 1. Be it resolved by the LegislatureofLouisiana,two-thirds of the members elected to each house concurring, that thereshall be submitted to the electors of the state, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law,aproposal to amend Article VIII, Section 13(D)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:

§13. Funding; Apportionment Section 13. ** * (D)(1) Municipal and Other School Systems. For the effects and purposes of this Section, the Central community school system, the St. George community schoolsystem, and the Zachary community school system in East Baton Rouge Parish, and the municipalitiesofBaker in East Baton Rouge Parish, Monroe in Ouachita Parish, andBogalusa in Washington Parish, and no others, shall be regardedand treated as parishes and shall have the authority granted parishes. Consistent with Article VIII of this constitution, relevant to equal educational opportunities, no state dollars shall be used to discriminate or to have the effect of discriminating in providing equal educational opportunity for all students.

Section 2. Be it furtherresolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana at astatewide election to be held on April 18, 2026, if House Bill No. 625 of the 2025 RegularSession of the Legislature of Louisiana becomes effective. If House Bill No. 625 of the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislatureof Louisiana does not become effective, this proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana at astatewide election to be held on November 3, 2026. Section 3. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at said election thereshall be printed aproposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted to vote YES or NO,toamend the Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as follows: Do you support an amendment to grant the St. Georgecommunity school system in East Baton Rouge Parish the same authority granted parishes for purposes of Article VIII, Section 13 of the Constitution of Louisiana, including purposes related to the minimum foundation program, funding for certain school books and instructional materials, and the raising of certain local revenues for the support of elementary and secondary schools? (Amends Article VIII, Section 13(D)(1)) Proposed Amendment No. 3 Regular Session, 2025

Constitution of Louisiana, to enact Article VII, Section 10.17, and to repeal Article VII, Sections 10(F)(4)(d), 10.1, 10.8(A)(3) and (C)(3), and 10.16(A)(9), relative to monies in the

savings realized from payment of those retirement system liabilities; to requireadditional state general fund expenditures for the Minimum Foundation Program relative to such pay raises; to direct the state treasurer to take certain actions with respect to monies in repealed funds; to provide for calculation and transfer of such monies to the OvercollectionsFund for use by specified entities pursuant to outlined restrictions; to execute technical changes; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the electors; and to provide for related matters. Section 1. Be it resolved by the LegislatureofLouisiana, two-thirds of the members elected to each house concurring, that thereshall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law,a proposal to amend Article VII, Section 10.8(A)(1), (2), and (4), (B), and (C)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana and to enact Article VII, Section 10.17 to read as follows:

§10.8. Millennium Trust Section 10.8. Millennium Trust (A) Creation. (1) Thereshall be established in the state treasury as aspecial permanent trust the “Millennium Trust”. After allocation of money to the Bond Securityand Redemption Fund as provided in Article VII, Section9(B)ofthis constitution, the treasurer shall depositinand credit to the Millennium Trust certain monies received as aresult of the Master Settlement Agreement, hereinafter the “Settlement Agreement”, executed November 23, 1998, and approved by Consent Decree and Final Judgment entered in the case “RichardP.Ieyoub, Attorney General,exrel. StateofLouisiana v. Philip Morris, Incorporated, et al.”, bearing Number 98-6473 on the docket of the FourteenthJudicial District for the parish of Calcasieu, state of Louisiana; and all dividend and interest incomeand all realized capital gains on investment of the monies in the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall deposit in and credittothe Millennium Trust the following amounts of monies received as aresult of the Settlement Agreement: (a) Fiscal Year 2000-2001, forty-five percent of the total monies received that year (b) Fiscal Year 2001-2002, sixty percent of the total monies received that year (c) Fiscal Year 2002-2003 and each fiscal year thereafter seventy-five percent of the total monies received that year each fiscal year as aresult of the Settlement Agreement. However,beginning in Fiscal Year 2011-2012 after the balance in the Millennium Trust reaches atotal of one billionthree hundred eighty milliondollars, the The monies deposited in and credited to the Millennium Trust, received as aresult of the Settlement Agreement,shall be allocated to the various funds within the Millennium Trust as provided in Subsubparagraphs (2) (b), (3)(b), and (4)(b) and (c) of this Paragraph. TOPS Fund. (d) For Fiscal Year 2000-2001, Fiscal Year 2001-2002, and Fiscal Year 2002-2003, ten percent of the total monies received in each of those years for credit to the Education Excellence Fund which, notwithstanding the provisions of Subparagraph (C)(1) of this Section, shall be appropriated for the purposes provided in Subsubparagraph (d) of Subparagraph (3) of Paragraph (C) of this Section.

(2)(a) The Health ExcellenceFund shall be established as a special fund within the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall credit to the Health Excellence Fund one-third of the Settlement Agreement proceeds deposited each year into the Millennium Trust, and onethirdofall investment earnings on the investment of the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall report annuallytothe legislatureastothe amount of Millennium Trust investment earnings credited to the Health Excellence Fund.

(b) Beginning Fiscal Year 2011-2012, and each fiscal year thereafter,the The treasurer shall credit to the HealthExcellence Fund one-third one-halfofall investment earnings on the investment of the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall reportannually to the legislature as to the amount of Millennium Trust investment earnings credited to the HealthExcellenceFund.

(c) (b) Beginning on July 1, 2012, after After allocation of money to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund as provided in Article VII, Section9(B)ofthis constitution, the state treasurer shall depositinand credit to the Health ExcellenceFund an amount equal to the revenues derived from the tax levied pursuant to R.S. 47:841(B) (3).

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(4)(a) The TOPS Fund shall be established as aspecial fund within the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall deposit in and credit to the TOPS Fund one- thirdofthe Settlement Agreement proceeds deposited into the Millennium Trust, and one-third of allinvestment earnings on the investment of the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall report annually to the legislatureastothe amount of Millennium Trust investment earnings credited to the TOPS Fund. (b) Beginning Fiscal Year 2011-2012, and each fiscal year thereafter,the The treasurer shall credit to the TOPS Fund one hundred percent of the Settlement Agreement proceeds deposited into the Millennium Trust, and one-third one-halfofall investment earnings on the investment of the Millennium Trust. The treasurer shall report annuallytothe legislatureastothe amount of Millennium Trust Settlement Agreement proceeds and investment earnings credited to the TOPS Fund.

(c) Uponthe effective date of this Subsubparagraph, the state treasurer shall deposit, transfer, or otherwise credit funds in an amount equal to such Settlement Agreement proceeds deposited in and credited to the Millennium Trust received by the state between April 1, 2011 and the effective date of this Subsubparagraph to the TOPS Fund. ***

(B) Investment. Monies credited to the Millennium Trust pursuant to Paragraph (A)ofthis Sectionshall be invested by the treasurer with the same authority and subject to the same restrictions as the Louisiana Education QualityTrust Fund. as provided by law However,the portion of monies in the Millennium Trust which may be invested in stock may be increased to no morethan fifty percent by aspecificlegislativeinstrument which receives afavorable vote of two-thirdsofthe elected members of each house of the legislature. The legislatureshall provide for procedures for the investment of such monies by law.The treasurer may contract, subject to the approval of the StateBond Commission, for the management of such investments and, if acontract is entered into,amounts necessary to pay the costs of the contract shall be appropriated from the Millennium Trust. (C) Appropriations. (1)(a) Appropriations from the Education Excellence Fund shallbelimited to an annual amount not to exceed the estimated aggregate annual earnings from interest,dividends, and realized capital gains on investment of the trust allocated as provided by Paragraph (A) of this Sectionand as recognizedby the Revenue Estimating Conference. Amountsdetermined to be available for appropriation shall be those aggregate investment earnings which areinexcess of an inflation factor as determined by the Revenue Estimating Conference. The amount of realized capital gains on investment which may be included in the aggregate earnings available for appropriation in any year shall not exceed the aggregate of earnings from interest and dividends for that year (b)(i) For Fiscal Year 2011-2012, appropriations from the Health Excellence Fund shallbelimited to an annual amount not to exceed the estimated aggregate annual earnings from interest,dividends, and realized capital gains on investment of the trust and credited to the HealthExcellence Fund as provided by Subsubparagraph (A) (2)(b) of this Section and as recognized by the Revenue Estimating Conference. (ii) For Fiscal Year 2012-2013, and each fiscal year thereafter appropriations Appropriations from the Health Excellence Fund shall be limited to an annual amount not to exceed the estimated aggregate annual earnings from interest,dividends, and realized capital gains on investment of the trust and credited to the Health Excellence Fund as provided by Subsubparagraph (A)(2)(b)

legislatureinconformity with the provisions of Article VIII, Section 13(B). (c) Funding amounts required pursuant to the provisions of Item (a)(ii) of this Subparagraph shallbemaintainedfor each public school system at the level establishedfor thatsystem for the 20262027 school year until anew minimum foundation program formula thatincludesthe funding andpermanentsalary increase required pursuant to Subsubparagraph (a) of this Subparagraph is adopted by the State BoardofElementary andSecondary Education or its successor andisapproved by the legislatureinconformity with the provisions of Article VIII, Section 13(B). (3) For the purposes of this Paragraph, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise: (a) “Personnel” shall mean persons employed in the positions for whichanacross-the-board pay raise wasproposed in the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 minimum foundation program formula for that fiscal year andfor whicha stipend wasprovided for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 in ActNo. 4ofthe 2024 RegularSession of the Legislature (b) “Public school system” shall mean anycity,parish, or other local public school board; charter school; andany otherelementary or secondary school governing authority Section 2. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana,two-thirds of the members elected to each houseconcurring, thatthere shall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana,for their approvalor rejection in the mannerprovided by law, aproposal to repeal Article VII, Sections 10(F)(4)(d), 10.1, 10.8(A)(3) and(C)(3), and10.16(A)(9). Section 3. Within two weeks of the effective date of this Act, the Department of Education shall coordinate with the Department of Treasury to certify amounts maintainedinthe Education ExcellenceFund held to the creditofa political subdivision or school. The state treasurer is hereby authorized anddirected to transfertothe Overcollections Fund an amount equal to the totalcertified balance. Notwithstanding anyprovision of constitution or lawtothe contrary,moniesheldinthe OvercollectionsFund pursuant to the provisions of this Section maybe withdrawn by the Department of Education without appropriation in order to remit to each entity its certified amount prior to the endof fiscal year 2026-2027. Use of moniesreceived pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be restricted to expenditure for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade instructionalenhancement for students, including early childhood education programs focusedonenhancing the preparation of at-risk children for school, remedialinstruction, andassistance to children who fail to achieve the required scores on anytestspassage of whichare required pursuant to state laworrule for advancement to asucceedinggrade or othereducational programs approvedbythe legislature. Expenditures for maintenance or renovation of buildings, capital improvements, andincreases in employee salaries areprohibited. Section 4. Within two weeks of the effective date of this Act, the State BoardofElementary andSecondary Education andthe BoardofRegents shall each coordinate with the Department of Treasury to certify amounts maintained in the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund held to the agency’scredit within the fund. The state treasurerishereby authorized anddirected to transfertothe Overcollections Fund an amount equalto the certified balances of each agency.Moniesheldinthe Overcollections Fund for each agency shall be appropriatedand usedinaccordance with the following:

(A) HigherEducation. Moniesattributable to the certified balance of the BoardofRegents shall be appropriatedtothe Board of Regents and allocated for anyorall of the following highereducational purposes to enhanceeconomic development:

(1) The carefully defined research efforts of public andprivate universities in Louisiana

(2) The endowment of chairs for eminent scholars.

(3) The enhancementofthe quality of academic,research,or agriculturaldepartments or units within acommunity college,college or university.These funds shall not be usedfor athletic purposes or programs.

(4) The recruitment of superior graduate students.

(B)Elementary andSecondary Education.Moniesattributable to the State BoardofElementary andSecondary Education shall be appropriated to the State BoardofElementary andSecondary Education andallocated for anyorall of the following purposes:

(1) To provide compensation to city or parish school board professional instructionalemployees.

(2) To insureanadequate supply of superior textbooks, library books, equipment, andotherinstructionalmaterials.

(3) To fund exemplary programs in elementary andsecondary schools designed to improve elementary or secondary studentacademic achievementorvocational-technical skill.

(4) To fund carefully defined research efforts, including pilot programs, designed to improve elementary andsecondary studentacademic achievement.

(5) To fund school remediation programs andpreschool programs.

(6) To fund the teaching of foreign languagesinelementary and secondary schools.

(7) To fund an adequatesupply of teachers by providing scholarships or stipends to prospective teachers in academic or vocational-technical areas where there is acritical teacher shortage.

Section 5.(A) Notwithstanding anyprovision of this Acttothe contrary anytransfer to the Teachers’ RetirementSystem of Louisiana pursuant to the provisions of this Actshall be netofamounts needed to satisfy the requirements of Sections 3and 4ofthis Actand amounts needed to satisfy 2025-2026 fiscal year appropriations from the following funds:

(1) Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund.

(2) Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund.

(3) Education ExcellenceFund.

(B) Unexpended monies in each of the funds listedinParagraph

10(F)(4)(d), 10.1, 10.8(A)(3) and (C)(3), and 10.16(A)(9)) Proposed Amendment No. 4 Regular Session, 2025

ACT No. 221 ---HOUSE BILL NO.366 BY REPRESENTATIVE DESHOTEL AJOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing to amend Article VII, Sections 10.15(F)(1) and 18(A) and (B) and to add Article 3VII, Sections 20.1, 20.2, and 21(P) of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to ad valorem taxes; to authorize certain payments to certain parishes; to provide for the classification of certain property; to authorize the exemption of certain property under certain circumstances; to provide for effectiveness; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the electors; and to provide for related matters.

Section 1. Be it resolved by the LegislatureofLouisiana,two-thirds of the members elected to each house concurring, that thereshall be submitted to the electors of the state of Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law,a proposal to amend Article VII, Sections 10.15(F)(1) and 18(A) and (B) and to add Article VII, Sections 20.1, 20.2, and 21(P) of the ConstitutionofLouisiana,toread as follows: §10.15. Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund Section 10.15. Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund. (A) The Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund is hereby established in the state treasury as aspecial trust fund, hereinafter referredtoasthe “fund”. ** * (F)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this